Fedick-ian Approaches to Wetland Studies: Rock Alignments, Resilience, and the Pulse-Based Ecosystem

Summary

It was nearly ten years ago when Dr. Scott Fedick unleashed his graduate students Daniel Leonard and Jennifer Chmilar into the Yalahau wetlands. Upon their return, Scott asked what questions each had about the wetlands, and two projects were born. During the ensuing field seasons, and time in between, Scott helped to solidify and expand on background knowledge, encourage interdisciplinary collaborations, and offer much needed support. In time, both Dan and Jen emerged from the wetlands able to answer the questions that drew them in. This presentation will reflect on the intellectual legacy of Scott Fedick through the lens of two dissertations in the Yalahau wetlands. The first, carried out by Chmilar, focuses on the function of rock alignments in the context of detailed topography and paleoenvironmental change. The second, by Leonard, involves a regional survey to assess the nature and extent of wetland manipulation throughout the Yalahau physiographic zone. We will discuss how Scott's mentorship influenced our approach to the unique environmental archaeology of the Yalahau wetlands, and inspired the interpretations and conclusions we reached.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• The Managed Mosaic: Papers in Honor of Scott L. Fedick   •
• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage