ABSTRACT
The second group of writers has tended to reject early testimony and declare that Indian technology could not support the densities indicated. One of the most prominent members of this group was the famous Scottish historian Robertson.4 Another famous member, A. L. Kroeber, has made as careful a study as Sapper's, using the same technique of estimate on the basis of technology and resources, but applying also experience gained in the areas of relatively sparse settlement of western Anglo-America. He arrived at a total for the New World of 8.4 millions, of which three millions were in the Incan Empire, another three millions in Meso-America (of which half were in what Cook and Simpson have designated as Central Mexico-that is, Meso-America north of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec) and only 200 000 in all of the West Indies.5 Angel Rosenblat would raise these estimates to a total of 13.4 million for America in 1492.6 I should emphasize the point that in the long series of discussions during nearly five centuries and especially since the writings of Robertson and Humboldt there has been a great range of estimates for the Hemisphere and for various regions, of which I have merely given samples. In general, those who uphold large initial estimates have accepted the idea of a catastrophic drop in the aboriginal population whereas the upholders of the smallest estimates have tended to minimize the probable degree of such a drop or even to deny that a substantial one took place.
