Megadrought and Megadeath in 16th Century Mexico

2002/04/01 by Rodolfo Acuña-Soto, David W. Stahle, Malcolm K. Cleaveland +1 · 1 voice · 6 citations
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Environmental Science · Medicine · #Fire effects on ecosystems #Tree-ring climate responses #Viral Infections and Vectors

paper · doi:10.3201/eid0804.010175

openalex publication_date 2002/04/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/03

Abstract

The native population collapse in 16th century Mexico was a demographic catastrophe with one of the highest death rates in history. Recently developed tree-ring evidence has allowed the levels of precipitation to be reconstructed for north central Mexico, adding to the growing body of epidemiologic evidence and indicating that the 1545 and 1576 epidemics of cocoliztli (Nahuatl for "pest") were indigenous hemorrhagic fevers transmitted by rodent hosts and aggravated by extreme drought conditions.

Cited by

• Ancient viral genomes reveal introduction of human pathogenic viruses into Mexico during the transatlantic slave trade
• Climate change and society in the 15th to 18th centuries
• Interannual to decadal climate and streamflow variability estimated from tree rings
• Salmonella enterica genomes from victims of a major sixteenth-century epidemic in Mexico
• List of epidemics and pandemics [wikipedia]
• List of natural disasters by death toll [wikipedia]

Discussions

• (6/6) "The Mexican population did not recover to pre-Hispanic levels until the 20th century." Source: Acuna-Soto R, Stahle DW, Cleaveland MK, Therrell MD. "Megadrought and megadeath in 16th century Me [bsky, 1 points, 0 comments]

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