Does That Belong in a Museum? Conceptualizing Western Oregon Stone Bowls as Potential Funerary Objects

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Future Directions for Archaeology and Heritage Research in the Willamette Valley, Oregon" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Stone bowls are common archaeological objects in Western Oregon, often displayed in museum contexts, yet research into the cultural practices associated with stone bowls has been minimal. Recent community discussions at the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde concerning the potential funerary context of a decorated stone bowl have prompted a reexamination of the definitions of and appropriate care for these objects. This paper presents a practice-derived categorization of belongings as *miməlust ikta* (funerary objects). The challenges of operationalizing this schema in archaeological contexts and the implications for culturally linked communities, archaeologists, and collections managers are discussed.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Future Directions for Archaeology and Heritage Research in the Willamette Valley, Oregon   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 36008.0