Conclusion: Living within and with the Wetlands

Summary

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

Wetlands are valuable ecosystems for many animal species, but they also present critical ecosystems for humans. By protecting against floods, erosion and improving water quality, wetlands present a valuable source for human food procurement and activities. In this paper, I exemplify the role of wetlands from the Southern Carpathian Basin by presenting settlement evidence for the human-wetland interaction during the Copper (4500–2700 BC) and Bronze Age (2700–1500 BC). By showing how different communities utilized wetlands for over 2,000 years, I stress the importance and coexistence with such ecosystems in the region in the past. To conclude, this paper will also stress how society undermined wetlands’ importance from the nineteenth century onward. Seen in lieu of recent natural disasters, climatic changes, and lack of water management practices, this study hopes to emphasize the importance of such ecosystems and advocate for the maintenance of those still remaining.

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): 37890.0