The potential of achival sources for reconstructing climate and climate related processes in Latin America

Abstract

Following the conquest of Mexico and large portions of Central and South America in the 16th century, the Spanish Colonial administration began compiling documents on population, settlements, landscapes and economic resources. Combined with the collections of judicial documents including law suits and land grants, the various pictographic, ethnohistorical sources dating back to the pre- and early post-Conquest period and the scientific reports and travelogues of visitors, this archival legacy represents an incredibly rich media of documentary information (e.g. Butzer and Butzer, 1997.