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- Title
The Laguna De Mayrán and Changes in the Desert Landscape: The Desiccation of a Seasonal Lake in Southern Coahuila and Associated Human Adaptations Through Time.
- Authors
Arratia, Leticia González
- Abstract
The Laguna de Mayrán in the Comarca Lagunera was a seasonal lake within the desert. It was the repository of the Nazas River water--one of the three most important rivers in the Chihuahuan Desert--from ancient times up until the middle of the twentieth century. In all this time, from prehistory to modern times, the use of the lake and recognition of the importance of the Laguna de Mayrán changed according to the nature of the population that settled nearby. According to archaeological evidence, native people, who were desert-dwelling hunter-gatherers, revered the presence of water and visited the Laguna in large numbers to make use of this precious resource, while the western population that replaced the native residents after the Spanish Conquest chose to settle far away from the lake and closer to the mountains, leaving its shores abandoned. Finally, in the twentieth century, modern society decided to build large dams up in the mountains where the Río Nazas starts its course, ponding water that previously refilled the lake. Consequently, a number of local springs dried up leaving large tracts of ranchland in the desert with no water which resulted in the partial depopulation of the area. The purpose of this paper is to contrast the way in which three contemporaneous historical populations availed themselves of the resources provided by the Laguna de Mayrán.
- Subjects
LAGUNA de Mayran (Mexico); LAGUNA Region (Mexico); COAHUILA (Mexico : State); NAZAS River (Mexico); MEXICO; LAKES; ENVIRONMENTAL history; LANDSCAPE changes; DESERTIFICATION; WATER levels; NEW Spain; MEXICAN history; HISTORY; ECOLOGY
- Publication
Journal of Big Bend Studies, 2012, Vol 24, p151
- ISSN
1058-4617
- Publication type
Article