Introduction: Wetlands, Cultural Heritage, and the Power of Archaeology

Summary

This is an abstract from the "The Archaeology of Wetlands" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Archaeologists are well poised to investigate the past, discover what cannot be seen today, and bring that knowledge to the present in meaningful and effective ways. One important field of archaeological study is that of human relationships with wetlands; many wetlands have already been destroyed worldwide, yet these ecosystems are both culturally and ecologically vital. The archaeological case study of North America’s Lake Erie will demonstrate this disconnect: today, it is notorious for high pollution and toxic waters, yet Indigenous life, community, and connection were built and sustained through millennia in this region. This represents just one example of modern ecological and public health catastrophes largely caused by the eradication of endemic wetlands. Furthermore, wetland destruction is here discussed as a dangerous means of cultural erasure. As the papers in this session will reveal, responsible and focused archaeological investigations can bring to light these human-wetland relationships and interactions of the past and rebuild lost cultural knowledge. In doing so, archaeologists can illustrate the need for protection and conservation of existing wetlands and also support motions for wetland reconstruction.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• The Archaeology of Wetlands   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 38225.0