Theme:
The archaeology of material culture, bodies and landscapes
Session format:
Session, made up of a combination of papers, max. 15 minutes each
Title:
Beyond the farmlands: wild resources in the past of Central and Northern Europe
Content:
Our classical narratives hinge on the concept that the adoption of food production techniques based on agriculture and animal husbandry has fundamentally changed the relationship between humankind and nature. While this made humans less dependent on natural resources through control of their own food supply, it tied them to a specific place for a longer period of time.
However, in regions with poor soils and relatively short growing seasons, such as the North European Plain and Scandinavia, overall food acquisition strategies remained diverse long after the introduction of farming.
Wild resources, even in quite recent times, were sought-after and commonly present in the everyday life of European rural communities: as a source of food including delicacies, and as raw material for making tools, containers, clothing. Despite this, archaeological narratives concerning the Neolithic and later periods usually fail to consider the role of wild resources in the economy of that time.
This session aims to bring together archaeological, archaeobotanical and zooarchaeological perspectives to develop a more integrated approach to Neolithic and post-Neolithic subsistence strategies.
Possible topics include:
- The contribution of the wild food to the diet - regular supply or hunger marker?
- Wild sources of fibres and leather for textile and container production.
- Gathering wild resources for human consumption or/and animal winter fodder.
- Natural dyes and adhesives
- Plant-based construction materials
- Fishing, small vertebrate hunting, and invertebrate gathering
Regional summaries, detailed studies of single sites or deposits, and experimental studies are equally welcome.
Keywords:
wild resources, post-Neolithic, archaeobotany, zooarchaeology
Session associated with MERC:
no
Session associated with CIfA:
no
Session associated with SAfA:
no
Main organiser:
Dr Katarzyna Slusarska (Poland) 1
Co-organisers:
Dr Dawn Elise Mooney (Norway) 2
Ms Magdalena Przymorska-Sztuczka (Poland) 3
Ms Dominika Kofel (Poland) 4
Affiliations:
1. Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology University of Gdańsk
2. Universitetet i Stavanger Arkeologisk museum
3. Institute of Archaeology Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun
4. The Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology Polish Academy of Sciences
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