Multispecies Entanglements in Great Lakes Agricultural Landscapes: A Case Study from the Late Woodland Arkona Cluster Sites, Ontario

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Multispecies Frameworks in Archaeological Interpretation: Human-Nonhuman Interactions in the Past, Part II" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

This paper explores the multispecies entanglements in and along the edges of Western Basin maize fields ca. AD 1000–1300 in southern Ontario, Canada. As these communities became increasingly reliant on agriculture, their construction and management of new field landscapes catalyzed novel social relationships with weedy and wild plants and animals. Using a case study of four archaeological sites including Bingo Village, Van Bree, Figura, and Inland West Pit Location 3, I consider how paleoethnobotany (macrobotanical analysis) and a posthumanist approach can reveal the agency of various plant species. Plants like staghorn sumac (Rhus typhina) and bramble (Rubus sp.) were quick to colonize field edges and enticed farmers with their bright, tart fruit. Maize attracted foraging deer necessitating new practices like garden hunting. Even after abandonment, through the maintenance of connections to ancestral places, fields remain the setting through which I illustrate the heterarchical nature of these social relationships in the fabric of Western Basin life.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Multispecies Frameworks in Archaeological Interpretation: Human-Nonhuman Interactions in the Past, Part II   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 36915.0