Background
Denevan, William Maxfield was born on October 16, 1931 in San Diego, California, United States. Son of Lester W. and Wilda M. Denevan.
(Cultivated Landscapes of Native Amazonia and the Andes ex...)
Cultivated Landscapes of Native Amazonia and the Andes examines Indian agriculture in South America. The focus is on field types and field technologies, including agricultural landforms such as terraces, canals, and drained fields, which have persisted for hundreds of years. What emerges is a picture of mostly successful indigenous farming practices in difficult environments--rain forests, savannahs, swamps, rugged mountains, and deserts.
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educator geographer historical ecologist
Denevan, William Maxfield was born on October 16, 1931 in San Diego, California, United States. Son of Lester W. and Wilda M. Denevan.
Bachelor, University California, Berkeley, 1953. Master of Arts, University California, Berkeley, 1958. Doctor of Philosophy, University California, Berkeley, 1963.
He also worked in the Gaylord Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies at the same university. His interests are in historical ecology and indigenous demography of the Western Hemisphere. Motivated by the German guest professor Herbert Wilhelmy, his dissertation (1963) was on "The Aboriginal Settlement of the Llanos de Mojos: A Seasonally Inundated Savanna in Northeastern Bolivia," which he edited into a book in 1966.
In 1963 he became Assistant Professor at Wisconsin, where he remained throughout his career, serving as chair of the department from 1980–1983, and becoming the Carl O. Sauer Professor of Geography in 1987.
In 1977, he was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship. In 2001, he became a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
In his book The Native Population of the Americas in 1492 (1976), he provided an influential estimate of the Pre-Columbian population of the Americas, which he placed at 57.3 million, plus or minus 25 percent. The second edition (1992), after reviewing more recent literature, he revised his estimate to 54 million.
His research often deals with how native peoples of the Americas changed their landscape.
This is in contrast to what he calls "the pristine myth," the idea that these people had minimal impact on the environment.
(Cultivated Landscapes of Native Amazonia and the Andes ex...)
Served with United States Navy, 1953-1955. Member Association American Geographers (Honors award 1987), American Geography Society, American Anthropological Association, Society for American Archaeology. M C.
Married Patricia Sue French, June 21, 1958. Children: Curtis, Victoria.