Theme:
The archaeology of material culture, bodies and landscapes
Session format:
Session, made up of a combination of papers, max. 15 minutes each
Title:
The bioarchaeology of landscapes
Content:
Landscape archaeology has become a well-established discipline during the last decade with the adoption of multidisciplinary approaches. Although landscape archaeology has played an important role in the analysis of ancient food production, the incorporation of data gathered by bioarchaeological analyses (archaeobotany and zooarchaeology) is still rare in landscape discourses, which tend to rely more on palaeoenvironmental and geoarchaeological data. This is mostly due to bioarchaeological studies being conducted at site level while landscape research usually restricts the use of site data to their location, distribution, chronology and function without fully exploring other lines of site-related evidence. Nevertheless, the integration of bioarchaeological and landscape data has enormous potential to open new avenues for the study of ancient food production, storage, distribution and consumption; human impact on the environment; the consequences of environmental change in terms of adaptation, change and resilience; the cultural value of traditional food derived from specific landscape settings; the reproduction of landscape settings beyond their original environment for the production of culturally valued food (transported landscapes) and the symbolic representation of particular landscapes embodied in food.
This session aims to start bridging the gap between landscape and bioarchaeological data by showcasing: (1) studies where both types of data have been meaningfully combined; (2) integrative workflows or methodological approaches involving the use of these datasets; and (3) theoretical perspectives on their integration. Papers addressing any of the abovementioned or related topics are welcomed.
Keywords:
Landscape, bioarchaeology, archaeobotany, zooarchaeology, food
Session associated with MERC:
no
Session associated with CIfA:
no
Session associated with SAfA:
no
Main organiser:
Dr Hector Orengo (United Kingdom) 1
Co-organisers:
Dr Alexandra Livarda (United Kingdom) 2
Dr Josep Maria Palet Martinez (Spain) 3
Affiliations:
1. McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge
2. Department of Classics and Archaeology, University of Nottingham
3. Catalan Institute of Classical Archaeology
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