Biocultural Alamos

What unites conservation of nature with conservation of culture? What is the glue that holds together the diverse contents of this blog?

The answer is relatively simple. Methods and materials that damage Alamos' architectural heritage tend to be ecologically unsustainable as well. Alternative methods and materials that could rescue architectural heritage would have a positive impact on the environment.

The best example involves portland cement, which is destroying Alamos' architectural heritage and is damaging to the environment as well.

The best alternative to cement would be pit lime...aged lime putty made from slaked quicklime. It is the proper material to use for the restoration of old buildings, and has a positive environmental impact.

Connections between the conservation of biological and cultural diversity can also be found in the various plants mentioned in this blog. Certain species are important both to the preservation of cultural traditions and the conservation of our unique ecosystems. The best examples are indigo , brasil , and mesquite.

Economic globalization lays waste to biocultural diversity around the world, and Alamos is an ideal place to witness the sad process, which is so powerful that almost nothing can be done to slow it. Globalization means homogeneity...the loss of everything that makes Alamos unique.

Just as damage to nature and culture originates from common sources, unified strategies can be employed to mitigate the damage.

While an economy based on unlimited growth causes destruction, aesthetic and ecological concerns have to be balanced with a need to provide for a growing local population. Finding the right solutions to achieve the proper balance will require some imagination.

Human imagination may be proportional to the number of species in nature. As an artist interested in creativity, I believe nature is by far the most available and the most sophisticated model one could look to. Whether you call it God's creativity or Nature's creativity,it IS. Simply marvel at it. Any artist who can remotely approach the incredible imagination of nature's wondrous diversity is doing pretty well.

I submit the above paragraph as THE link between biological and cultural diversity....the first principle of a biocultural outlook.

Some of the information in this blog is the result of a research project entitled Investigando los enlaces entre la diversidad biologica y cultural en Alamos, supported by the Sonora state government, the Instituto Sonorense de Cultura, the Direccion General de Vinculacion Cultural del Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes, and the Programa de Estimulo a la Creacion y al Desarrollo Artistico. The opinions expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of the supporting institutions.

Ma. Luisa Vásquez de Agredos Pascual, “Las Bases de Preparación de la Pintura Mural Maya: el Papel de las Recetas Técnicas en el Marco de la Conservación y de la Creencia.” Actas XV Congreso de Conservación y Restauración de Bienes Culturales, Murcia (2004).

Lori Polette, Norma Ugarte, Jose Miguel Yacaman, and Russell Chianelli, “Decoding the Chemical Complexity of a Remarkable Ancient Paint,” Scientific American Discovering Archaeology (July /August 2000): 46-53.

José-Yacamán, “Maya Blue Paint: An Ancient Nanostructured Material.” Science 273: 5272 (1996): 223 – 225.

Mayan Pigments, Inc., http://www.mayanpigments.com (consulted 28 April, 2009).

Diana Magalona Kerpel, “La cal y los mayas,” La Pintura Mural Prehispánica en México; Boletín Informativo: Año III, Números 6-7, UNAM, México DF, (Julio-Diciembre 1997): 5-8.

Constantino Reyes-Valerio, Arte Indocristiano (México, D.F: Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, 2000). Reyes-Valerio was one of the pioneers of Maya Blue research.

Links Between Biological and Cultural Diversity: report of the international workshop, organized by UNESCO with support from the Christensen Fund, UNESCO, Paris 2008.

Oscar S. Ayala, C. Elpidio Flores, José Luis Germán, and Lombardo Rios, Génesis y Desarrollo de La Cultura Mayo de Sonora, (ITSON, 1987), 23.

Richard Stephen Felger, Matthew Brian Johnson, and Michael Francis Wilson, The Trees of Sonora, Mexico (Oxford University Press, 2001), 184.

Norma Heredia, Marco Escobar, Cristina Rodriguez-Padilla, and Santos Garcia, “Extracts of Haematoxylon brasiletto inhibit growth, verotoxin production, and adhesion of enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157:H7 to HeLa cells.” Journal of Food Protection 68:7( July 2005): 1346-1351.

David Yetman, The Guarijios of Sonora (University of New Mexico Press, 2002).

Mary Elizabeth Haude, “Identification and Classification of Colorants Used during Mexico’s Early Colonial Period.” The Book and Paper Group Annual, 16 (1997) American Institute for Conservation.

Thomas Bechtold, Handbook of Natural Colorants (John Wiley and Sons, 2009).

David Yetman and Thomas R. Van Devender, Mayo ethnobotany: land, history, and traditional knowledge in northwest Mexico (University of California Press, 2002).

Conversation with Javier Ayala Partida. The widespread use of Erythrina flabelliformis in the making of ‘santos’ is also noted in Harry A. Alden and Alvaro E. Galvis. "On the Trail of the Fathers: The Serendipitous Santos," Microscopy Today, 12: 4 (July 2004) 8-12.

Ma. Luisa Vásquez de Agredos Pascual, “Las Bases de Preparación de la Pintura Mural Maya: el Papel de las Recetas Técnicas en el Marco de la Conservación y de la Creencia.” Actas XV Congreso de Conservación y Restauración de Bienes Culturales, Murcia 2004,

Leticia Staines Cicero Beatriz de la Fuente, La Pintura Mural Prehispánica en México: Estudios, UNAM Instituto de Investigaciones Estéticas, UNAM 1998.

Yolanda L. López-Franco, Francisco M. Goycoolea, Miguel A. Valdez, “Goma de mezquite: una alternativa de uso industrial,” INCI 31: 3 (March 2006).

Francisco M Goycoolea, A Cárdenas, G Hernández, J Lizardi, G Álvarez, FJ Soto, “Polisacáridos aislados del mezquite y de otras plantas del desierto.” Utilización y Aprovechamiento de Flora Silvestre de Zonas Áridas (Universidad de Sonora. Hermosillo, 2000) 245-260.