About Our Logo

The Society of Ethnobiology logo design represents a split-twig figurine, made of a lemonade berry (Rhus aromatica) or willow (Salix) switch. Split-twig figurines appeared as a cultural trait in the American Southwest about 2000 B.C. among Archaic-age hunting and gathering populations in the Grand Canyon area of Arizona. They have also been found in Utah, Nevada and California, and are thought to have had some magical/religious significance concerning hunting practices. For more information, see an American Antiquity article by Alan R. Schroedl (1977, Vol 42(2):254–265).