>I think you make my point for me. You can "prove" nothing with RW
>comparisons, but if RW comparisons fail utterly, it's a considerable
>challenge to convincingly imagine and evocatively describe.
The trouble is none of the RW comparisons have failed at all, never mind utterly. The best we have are actual population figures which may not be particularly reliable when we need to know the maximum population that an area could support given a particular level of technology.
>> The total amount of land is fixed (subject to minor changes) so any
>> increased usage is due to improved technology or climate changes making
>> more or less land available for cultivation.
>
>Note that this certainly isn't true in either Heortling lands or the RW,
>where clearing forests and "wildlands" was (and still is...) part of
>the equation. Which itself is significant of course, depending how
>viable "Hunter" is as a Heortling occupation...
Hunting is a use of land and at a given level of technology may be the most effective. In other cases land may shift from wildland to farmland and back depending on population levels.
>"None at all" to "some" is also an "improvement"... What I'm objecting
>to is that magic is automatically or necessarily an improvement over
>otherwise uncontroversial (if there are any of those...) terrestrial
>analogues. Or that it makes such analogues totally unapplicable.
I'm not saying either of those things, just that it is another factor in the equation which can move the answer either way by a considerable factor.
>From
>your posts, I'd be tempted to infer you were suggesting Sartar and
>Heortland were somewhat like Iron Age Britain, but with higher
>population densities due to the populace and land being magically
>healthier and more productive. From Jeff's, I'd be tempted to imagine a
>more cultivated mid-Medieval landscape. Aside from my aesthetic issues
>with each, we can at least note that the two are rather different.
Definitely not, I'm saying we can take any pre-industrial revolution rural area and compare with a similar area in Glorantha. Only if we can find evidence of RW emigration at population levels significantly below those in Glorantha can we conclude that the area in Glorantha is overpopulated.
If I were to suggest equivelents I would compare Sartar with Scotland/ Northern England (probably excluding parts of the more remote highlands) rather than Iron Age Britain in general. The more productive lands of South East England I would compare to Esrolia.
-- Donald Oddy http://www.grove.demon.co.uk/
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