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Archaeology

Failure and how to avoid it

Nature volume 440, pages 752–754 (2006)Cite this article

Nothing lasts for ever, not least human civilizations. There are many reasons why societies stand or fall, and these lessons from the past require investigation at various places and on various timescales.

Archaeology, it seems, really is a matter of life and death — this was the theme to emerge from a meetingFootnote 1 convened to address the question of what makes societies more likely to collapse or to achieve long-term sustainability. Just as we do today, our ancestors faced problems of resource depletion, environmental degradation, political instability, demographic pressure and social upheaval. And, as today, success in dealing with these challenges was never assured.

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Figure 1: Societal collapse: the case of the Classic Maya.

Notes

  1. *How Societies Chose to Fail or Succeed, Global Institute of Sustainability Workshop, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA, 31 January to 2 February 2006.

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  1. the Department of Anthropology, University of Chicago, 1126 East 59th Street, Chicago, 60637, Illinois, USA

    Kathleen D. Morrison

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  1. Kathleen D. Morrison
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Morrison, K. Failure and how to avoid it. Nature 440, 752–754 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/440752a

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