Natural Disasters and Interregional Interactions:the establishment and maintenance of long-distance connections beyond the Northern Plains

Summary

Some 7627 calendar years ago, the Plinian eruption of Mount Mazama prompted small, dispersed bison hunting groups to abandon temporarily their traditional homelands and seek refuge among their distant relatives in the east. During their stay, they established new social ties and learned new technologies such as the use of stone boiling to extract nut oils. Returning to their homeland, they adapted this technology to extract bone grease and produce pemmican. As a reliable, storable, portable, and nutritious foodstuff, pemmican provided food security for the Northern Plains groups and gave them a valuable trade good to exchange with their eastern and western neighbours. As such, this natural disaster initiated a series of practices designed to maintain and expand the social safety net instituted during a time of need. From the simple exchange of goods and information to the development of extensive trade centers, the bison hunters and their neighbours established an ever-expanding network where economic, social, ritual and historical practices evolved in tandem with local developments. The objective of this presentation is to explore these developments in long distance interactions through time.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• The North American Continental System: Interaction and Exchange across the Continent   •
• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 13242