Trees as Cultural Resources: Contemporary Landscape Features that Transcend Time

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Critical Issues in Contemporary Archaeology & Historical Archaeology: Limits, Opportunities, Challenges", at the 2025 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

In this paper, we discuss trees as contemporary landscape features that transcend time. Trees may gain historic significance through a variety of cultural mechanisms. For example, trees may be culturally modified as part of an altered landscape of resource procurement, including maple sugaring and bark harvesting. Trees may bear witness to historic events and tragedies – remaining the only visible marker of the past. Trees may also gain social meaning through their context within a landscape, the oral history and anecdotes surrounding them, and even false historical narratives. We will discuss several examples from Michigan to make a case for why archaeologists should document culturally significant trees, particularly for archaeological districts and traditional cultural landscapes.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Critical Issues in Contemporary Archaeology & Historical Archaeology: Limits, Opportunities, Challenges   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2025

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Nicole Haddow