XXIII. Poster Session

Human life depends on plant biodiversity, and the ways in which plants are used are culturally determined. In the context of an increasingly theory-driven field of ethnobotany and the availability of larger datasets, frameworks for macro-analyses are currently being discussed. Here we describe how PCMs in particular, and cultural evolutionary theory in general, provide a framework to study the diversity of plant applications cross-culturally, and to infer changes in plant use through time. Anthropologists have used phylogenetic comparative methods (PCMs) to gain increasingly sophisticated understanding of the evolution of political, religious, social and material culture, but to date plant use has been almost entirely neglected. These methods account for the non-independence of data when testing for ecological or cultural drivers of plant use. With cultural, biological and linguistic diversity under threat, gaining a deeper and broader understanding of the variation of plant use through time and space is pressing.

My poster presentation will showcase Celtic ethnobotanical garden designs. The design of gardens reflects traditions, culture, landscape design, herbal medicines, and native plants. By promoting culture and its relationship with the natural world, ethnobotanical gardens can illuminate ancestral stories of the past to present day. Using examples from Celtic gardens, I show how gardens are an interactive way for all people to experience Indigenous culture and regain a sense of awe for our natural environment.

Abstract: The plant Cyclea pelata has great medicinal value and is used for medicinal purpose, both, internally as well as externally. External application of the paste of its roots and leaves is extremely beneficial, in infected wounds, sinuses and skin diseases. A study concerning antimicrobial activity and phytochemical analysis was carried out. The results revealed the following important findings: Solvent extracts of Cyclea peltata showed prominent inhibition zones against Klebsiella pneumonia and Staphylococcus aureus as compared to all other bacterial cultures. Different solvents with leaf extracts of Cyclea peltata exhibited remarkable antifungal activity in all the organisms tested. Phytochemical characterization revealed the presence of amides, alkyl halides, aliphatic amines and alkanes. Based on the present investigation, Cyclea peltata seems to be a potential herbal medicine for future commercial exploitation.

Animal rights activist often argue that rodeos are cruel and promote animal abuse. Are rodeo’s nothing more than an eight second battle between man and beast, ending in the domination of on or the other? Or does the public only see a fraction of the relationship between cowboys and their broncs?

My research aims to understand, through an ethnographic study of the human-horse relationship, how traditional equestrian knowledge shapes the value and meaning of rodeo bronc riding and horses as agents in our contemporary society. Within this framework I focus on knowledge transition and cultural constructs of partnership & equine agency. My poster presentation will demonstrate the results of a pilot study for my dissertation research, for which I emply the conventional ethnographic methods of participant observation and semi-structured interviews.

The main purpose of this research project is to examine clam diets, environmental stressors, and sources within First Nations clam garden structures in the traditional territories of the Laich-Kwil-Tach and Coast Salish First Nations on Quadra Island, British Columbia, Canada. I aim to determine which environmental factors and food sources lead to increased health indices for bivalves in Kanish Bay. I will work within cultural parameters during our work and strive for open communication with communities during the research period. I will aim to determine main dietary and abiotic factors associated increased Butter clam (Saxidomus giganteus) health of Quadra Island beaches. Stable isotope, fatty acid, and abiotic environmental data will be compared against condition indices for bivalves according to beach dynamics. Data analysis will be conducted using Multiple Regression and MDS-SIMPER modeling to examine how variables affect individual condition, and mechanisms relating to bivalve growth in clam gardens.

Wild foods contribute to resilient food systems through the availability of local, diverse, and non-market food sources to support food security. This study investigates the role of wild foods for contributing to food security and cultural identity within the context of environmental change on the Flathead Indian Reservation in Northwestern Montana. Structured interview responses were analyzed for frequency and, open-ended responses were coded to identify prevalent themes. Findings indicate that half of the respondents were food insecure and those who engaged in one or more wild food procurement activity experienced lower levels of food insecurity than those who did not procure wild foods. Findings highlight the multidimensional valuation of wild foods for taste, freshness, nutritional quality, as well as being a traditional practice that provides a sense of self-sufficiency. Results further indicate that environmental change is impacting wild foods with increased variability in seasonality and precipitation, increased fires, and overharvesting.

Laxgalts’ap (Old Town) is a cultural keystone place for the Gitga’at Tsimshian peoples on the northern Coast of British Columbia, a powerful landscape that is deeply interwoven with Gitga’at cultural identity. As the main village until the mid-1800s, and an important fishing, hunting, and gathering place routinely occupied until the 1950s, Gitga’at Elders have lived experiences at and memories of Old Town, and oral records recall a history of occupation deep into the past. Laxgalts’ap is a geomorphologically active landscape, constantly being transformed by changing sea levels and fluvial processes. We present results of a study that reconstructs the deep-time histories of landscape change at Laxgalts’ap that plant and animal inhabitants would have experienced since deglaciation of the area after the Last Ice Age. We present archaeological evidence for nearly 9000 years of human occupation of this dynamic landscape, adding another “voice” to the record of its cultural significance.

Since its introduction as a garden edible in the late 19^th century, the invasive plant Alliaria petiolata (Garlic Mustard) has gradually overgrown forests, fields, and urban spaces alike across Eastern and Central North America. Owing its success to its chemical ecology and lack of native predators, its advance has proven to be difficult and costly to manage. However, in addition to its allelopathic and strong antifeedant abilities, its phytochemistry also demonstrates a potential benefit towards human nutrition and health, predominantly in the form of glucosinolates. The need for control, combined with its ethnobotanical significance, makes A. petiolata an excellent candidate for the use of foraging as a supplementary management strategy. This research aims to understand how the impacts of human activity, specifically foot-traffic, affect the phytochemistry of A. petiolata, and ultimately how this could improve upon both its control and nutritional benefit.

The Dhufar Mountains region features high ecological diversity in discrete zones largely due to the effect of waning summer monsoon cloud precipitation. Broadly, the Ancient Socio-Ecological Systems in Oman (ASOM) project examines how climate fluctuation in prehistory impacted human settlement and how this dynamic integrates with the emergence of territoriality. One paleoecological proxy is phytoliths, silicon dioxide microfossils formed in the cellular and intercellular spaces of living vascular plants, which previous research demonstrates are well preserved in the sediments of the region. Due to uneven rates of formation based on plant family, it is best to study phytoliths on the assemblage-scale using a reference collection reflecting the local vegetation. To this end, I collected thirty-eight specimens from herbaria and field survey, based on two criteria 1) indication of zone, and 2) phytolith production potential. Post-field lab analysis enabled me to investigate morphotypes unique to specific taxa and ecological zones.

The Dong people in southwest China have a long history making pickled fishfor culinary, medicinal, social, and ritualistic purposes. However, little ethnobiological research related to the pickled fish has been published. This study uses ethnobiology, microbiology, food science, and cultural anthropology approaches to examine the rich traditional knowledge of making pickled fish by the Dong people. Plants as fermentation starters played an important role in the process of making pickled fish. The nutritional components and the degradation of heavy metals during different fermentation stages of fish pickling were analyze, and the safety of the final product was evaluated. The pickled fish is one of the most important foods with multiple purposes in the Dong communities. Further studies are needed to reveal more information about this special ethnic food.

The Huu Lien Nature Reserve is located in a high biodiversity karst zone in northeast Vietnam. It is one of the poorest regions with strong dependence on forest resources that are particularly valuable for ethnic minorities. This ethnobotanical study aims to document the diversity and use of plant resources with focus on wild food plants, to assess the distribution of the local traditional knowledge and to preserve it. Randomly chosen participants were interviewed using free-listing and semi-structured questionnaires. Several quantitative indices as Relative frequency of citation, Smith’s salience and Use value were calculated to analyze the cultural importance of recorded species. A total of 58 species were cited as edible, used mostly as fruits (72%). Several interesting species as e.g. Xerospermum noronhianum (Sapindaceae) have been identified. Documentation of these useful species will provide basic information for conservation and possibly for further exploitation to help the local communities.

In the absence of any established Mycology curriculum, a handful of students gathered to generate a platform in the pursuit of mycological exploration. Budding mycologists founded the club on the ideas of philanthropy, lab cultivation, and wild foraging. Under the supervision of Dr. Scott Herron, Ferris State’s mycelial network flourished as members began working with liquid cultures of mycelium to inoculate sterilized grain bags. After 100% colonization, these bags were then expanded to a species dependent substrate, like straw, for fruiting. An automated fruiting chamber was erected to maintain ideal light, temperature, humidity, and oxygen/carbon dioxide levels. Coinciding with indoor cultivation, knowledgeable mycologists from the community have facilitated foraging forays identifying numerous wild gourmet mushrooms along with a slew of medicinal and toxic fungi. Currently, club members are researching the inconsistencies between medicinal compounds of lab cultivated and wild forged Reishi mushrooms.

Shellfish are a vital marine resource on the Pacific Northwest Coast, as evidenced by massive shell midden sites throughout the region, and yet shellfish assemblages are often under analysed reflecting a status as secondary or tertiary resources in the archaeological record. Aside from clams, mussels, and barnacles, most shellfish are considered rare or insignificant archaeologically due to their comparative low abundance value. This presentation re-examines previously analyzed shellfish assemblages including over 500 samples from across 19 archaeological sites on western Vancouver Island using a non-proportional approach to shellfish quantification that quantifies frequency of occurrence (ubiquity). Through this, we document that a much wider range of shellfish species was regularly harvested, managed, and consumed than indicated from a weight-based proportionality. This revised archaeological harvest profile broadens perspectives on intertidal resource management practices and has the potential to connect archaeological data to contemporary Indigenous rights and resource management issues.

By observing temporal changes in vegetation, we can better understand how vegetation is altered by natural and anthropogenic processes.  As climates change, environmental resources for subsistence are altered. Human responses may include social changes which feedback into desert vegetation. This study tests the hypothesis that there have been vegetation changes within the Dhofar over the past 1500 years BP.

From 19 middens samples, I extracted identifiable macrofossils.  I use incident light microscopy and digital camera to compare specimens with modern reference. By identifying the fragmented macro-botanical plants, I will assess the past vegetation.

My preliminary analysis of 5 of the 19 middens samples suggests that the plant vegetation has diversified. My results suggest that there is no large structural change but change within the composition of taxa. These comparisons between proxy records suggest that the vegetation developed for stable arid climates.

Between 2012 and 2016, the Karen Environmental and Social Action Network and Indigenous Karen women researchers conducted a study of wild orchid diversity in the Kheshorter forest, within the recently-established Salween Peace Park. This study, relying on Karen women's traditional knowledge of orchids and their forest habitat, identified 121 species from 37 genera. Four of these species were previously unknown to local people. One species (Paphiopedilum villosum) is classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List and 95 are listed under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).

In Karen tradition, orchids are used to mark the seasons, for religious ceremonies and for beauty. Traditional taboos prohibit trade in orchids. My poster presentation will showcase the close relationship between Karen villagers and the forest, which has contributed to the long-lasting conservation of orchids. The international community should support this mobilization of Karen Indigenous knowledge for conservation.

The herbals enshrined in the treatise “Arunthamizh Maruthuvam 500” and the contemporary ethnomedicines of six different hills in the Eastern Ghats of south India were inventoried. A total of 71 medicinal plants belonging to 42 plant families listed in the verses 485 to 500 of the treatise found dwindled in the ethnobotanical field studies conducted during June to August 2018 with a total of 54 (76%) medicinal plants belonging to 34 families. However, in both the inventories, Fabaceae (nine and five ethnomedicines) followed by Euphorbiaceae and Solanaceae (four each in both) were the dominant families, indicating their pharmacognostic significance. The leaves (25%) and paste form (46%) are the predominant plant part and drug type used respectively in the hills surveyed. The findings of single ethnomedicine families (70%) and the overall depletion (24%) call for the conservation traditional Siddha medicines.

The Kanza Indians resided in the northeastern corner of what is now Kansas in the Midwest region of the United States during the late seventeenth century until 1873 when they were removed to Indian Territory. They remained mobile while in Kansas, annually travelling between their hunting grounds and sedentary villages. Through the use of ethnohistorical research focusing on the Kanza use of natural resources, I have assembled a tentative timeline of the Kanza tribe’s settlements and movements through northeastern Kansas. An emphasis was placed on native plants harvested near the village, and wild animals hunted at each location. I originally hypothesized that that the resources associated with the villages would change with each new location. I discovered, instead, that native resources utilized were consistent while the tribe resided in northeastern Kansas due to the Kanza people’s knowledge of the land and choice of village locations.

In 2018, the archaeological site of Sim-Ata, a fortified site located on the outskirts of the ancient city of Kath, was excavated in Khorezm, Uzbekistan. The city of Kath was founded in the 4th c. CE and rose to prominence in the Islamic Golden Age as an important agricultural hub with Silk Road connections. Excavations at surrounding sites suggest that complex agricultural practices developed earlier than previously believed and 2018 excavations revealed complex architecture built off large mudbrick fortification walls. Here we present the results of macrobotanical (seed and plant parts) analysis from Sim-Ata which indicate the presence of irrigated summer crops: naked wheat, broomcorn millet, and pulses. Both wood and ruminant animal dung were used for fuel. The high density of carbonized chenopodiacous seeds introduced through dung fuel burning reflects animal grazing in steppe and desert landscapes adjacent to the Amu Darya river valley.

Pre-contact, indigenous peoples of the Americas processed corn in various ways to exploit its nutrients. Nahuas traditionally boil dry corn kernels with lime, producing nextamalli, widely known in Mexico as nixtamal. This process chemically modifies the corn making a larger percentage of corn´s nutritional value available. Larger cities alter this practice; incorrectly processing corn results in non-nutritional food products. Innutritous corn products are problematic in Mexico, Latin American countries, and African countries. Industrial countries export corn as food aid and crop to impose a sedentary lifestyle. Previous research has demonstrated that imposing a sedentary lifestyle on pastoralist or hunter-gatherer societies negatively affects their health and wellbeing. This paper explores the health impacts of non-lime processed corn by reviewing existing literature. Understanding how varying corn processing methods impacts the nutritional value of food will have a great impact in public health sectors as well as future government aid to “developing countries.”

The state of Oaxaca, Mexico is the center for the origin and diversity of maize (Zea mays). This diversity has been threatened as free trade agreements and climate change limit the ability of many communities to continue their subsistence agricultural practices. My research seeks to understand how ideas of contamination and localness shape rural Oaxacans' perspectives on their seeds and efforts to conserve them despite the decreasing practice of subsistence agriculture. I conducted ethnographic research and collected maize samples from farmers in San Miguel del Valle, a Zapotec community in the Central Valleys of Oaxaca. By combining a genetic study to test for transgenic contamination in native maize varieties with ethnographic accounts of seed saving practices and perspectives on local crops and agricultural practices, this project aims to provide insight into how conceptions of crop locality and purity shape community members' agricultural practices and feelings about their seeds and food. 

An estimated three-quarters of the world's population rely on herbs and traditional folk medicines to treat diseases like cancer. Cordyceps is a fungus used in Asia containing cordycepin, a bioactive nucleoside inhibiting tumor growth and metastasis. Recently Cordyceps militaris has become a popular commercially available supplement as the medicinal fungus industry experiences enormous growth with few quality control standards. There are no universally recognized methods for quality determination of Cordyceps resulting in concern with identity, purity and overall quality. We compared twelve supplements, verifying product identity via DNA analysis. Presence of cordycepin and four medicinal nucleosides was determined, and concentration assessed using semi-quantitative thin-layer chromatography. Aqueous-extracts were sonicated, filtered, and purified via hexane- methylene chloride- n-butanol fractionation or with a C18 silica cartridge. Results were compared with a cordycepin standard on silica gel plates with solvent systems: methylene chloride: methanol (60:15) and chloroform: ethylacetate: isopropanol: H₂O: triethylamine (40:8:32:2:8).

Tattoo traditions of Native North America are integral aspects of Indigenous cultural expression, which have been long undervalued by Western scholars. Iconographic evidence suggests tattoo practices dated to as early as AD 1000 in the southwestern United States. However, few tattoo tools have been identified in the archaeological record to date. Therefore, the full temporal span of tattoo traditions in the region is unknown. We recently discovered a unique perishable tattoo tool from the Turkey Pen site, Utah, which dates to the Basketmaker II period (500 BC–AD 500). We present the results of rigorous and comprehensive analysis of the Turkey Pen tool, including scanning electron microscopy, portable X-ray fluorescence, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and experimental tattooing. This tool is the oldest tattooing artifact identified in western North America and provides evidence extending the antiquity of Native American tattooing in the southwestern United States back to the first century AD.

“EkTb-9” is an outer coastal island wet-site located in Haíɫzaqv (Heiltsuk) Traditional Territory, N̓úláw̓itx̌v Tribal Area (Hakai West region). It is one of the oldest and longest occupied archaeological sites on the Northwest Coast of North America. Archaeological investigation of the wet site resulted in the recovery of a diverse assemblage of early to mid-Holocene wood artifacts and archaeobotanical remains.

This poster was developed through ongoing collaboration with members of the Haíɫzaqv Integrated Resource Management Department (HIRMD) and members of the Haíɫzaqv Language Program. We present the preliminary findings of the paleoethnobotanical research of EkTb-9, examining ancestral Haíɫzaqv use of plants through time.

No empirical evidence currently informs our understanding of the interrelationships between plants and early hunter-gatherer societies in the South-Central Andes for the period of initial Pleistocene arrival. With discrete occupation components dated to the Terminal Pleistocene (12,500 to 11,200 cal. yr BP) and Early Holocene (9,500 to 9,000 cal. yr BP), the Cuncaicha-1 rock shelter, located on the high-elevation puna in the department of Arequipa, Peru, is an ideal site from which to pursue such investigations. This work, focused on the recovery, identification, and interpretation of macrobotanical remains, provides insight into early high-Andean fuel utilization strategies. Local shrubs (Parastrephia quadrangularis), hardwood trees (Polylepis besseri), and dense cushion-plants (Azorella compacta) were employed as plant-fuels by the site's early occupants. As each have unique combustion qualities and ecological distributions, differences in recovery likely reflect the implementation of early plant-fuel selection and/or management strategies.

In 2018, the archaeological site of Sim-Ata, a fortified site located on the outskirts of the ancient city of Kath, was excavated in Khorezm, Uzbekistan. The city of Kath was founded in the 4th c. CE and rose to prominence in the Islamic Golden Age as an important agricultural hub with Silk Road connections. Excavations at surrounding sites suggest that complex agricultural practices developed earlier than previously believed and 2018 excavations revealed complex architecture built off large mudbrick fortification walls. Here we present the results of microbotanical (phytolith) analysis from Sim-Ata providing evidence of complex agricultural practices, change in plant use through time, and questions of preservation. Preliminary phytolith analyses reveal a high percentage of dicot plant material and of the inflorescences of grasses. Phytolith analysis has also revealed a significant amount of weathering and the presence of diatoms suggesting river action may have affected phytolith preservation at Sim-Ata.

While ethnography describes numerous examples of plants used in funerary rituals, the remains of plants have been rarely described in archaeological contexts absent exceptional preservation conditions, rendering this component of past human-plant interactions nearly invisible. Study of phytoliths, durable silica bodies produced by plants, overcomes some of this preservation bias. Here we present the results of integrated study of phytoliths and carbonized seeds recovered from a Middle Bronze Age (~1600-1550 B.C.E.) tomb at Tel Megiddo, northern Israel. The tomb stands out due to its excellent preservation and elaborate assemblage of high-status grave goods, including jewelry, ceramics, and animal and plant remains. Carbonized plant remains include nuts, olives, legumes, and cereals, evidently burned in the tomb during the funerary ritual. Phytolith results provide evidence of reeds and sedges, interpreted as baskets or mats. Together, these remains provide insight to how and why specific plants were chosen for this mortuary ritual.

Modern Psychics, Healers, and Mediums are known to implement plants into their practices and rituals. Plants have long been believed to possess spiritual attributes from Calendula manifesting healing abilities to Elder awakening intuition. Many have a variety of uses and are actively being used in psychic communities today. Spiritual healing is so well-known, a new branch of medicine has emerged known as holistic medicine, which can focus on a plant’s ability to heal. Therefore, a cross-sectional analysis between holistic doctors and psychics/healers could grant insight into how the spiritual and medicinal uses of plants have changed from the traditional cultural use. The analysis will include a phytochemical report of the plants and their application attempting to discover if holistic doctors and psychics usage coordinates to the biomedical uses. Furthermore, an exposition of the plant’s chemical effects on the human body will be conducted to further systematize the results.

 The Eastern Shoshone and Crow communities, amongst others Indigenous communities traditionally inhabited the regions surrounding the Sunlight Basin of northwest Wyoming and archaeological site 48PA551. This project begins to develop a synthesized body of work that includes the traditional ecological knowledge of the Eastern Shoshone Tribe and the Crow Tribe, supported by historic ethnographic research, contemporary ethnographic interviews, plant surveys, and paleoethnobotanical analysis. Following the 2018 excavations at 48PA551 the paleoethnobotanical assemblage was examined from multiple features at the site. Micro- (starch) and macrobotanical analysis in addition to contemporary interviews and examinations of past ethnographic inquiry were utilized to identify plant foods. The traditional ecological knowledge of Indigenous peoples is a vital source for the contextualization and full understanding of past human environmental relationships. These lines of investigation can uplift and support the traditional ecological knowledge of local and Indigenous communities. 

The Roman conquest of Britain instigated a profound moment of cultural contact, an interaction that has long been framed through the theoretical framework of ‘Romanization’ – the intentional act of making the other Roman. My research embraces recent efforts to deconstruct Romanization by centralizing the complexity of change that occurred during this transitionary period. I present a survey of the archaeological evidence of foodways in Britain’s Roman period, highlighting patterns of change in Roman and non-Roman food choice and consumption. Several aspects of change will be emphasized, these being: regional differences, imported foods, and wild resource usage. Through the complexity of foodways change demonstrated in this research I hope to contribute to the deconstructing of the problematic and enduring concept of Romanization.

Archaeological fisheries data are increasingly recognized as important ecological archives but zooarchaeological identifications often cannot obtain biologically relevant parameters such as age, species, and size. Here, we build on a thread of earlier scholarship and conduct an analysis of fish scales from ancient Indigenous settlement sites in Tseshaht territory on Western Vancouver Island. We make recommendations for recovery, documentation, and species level identification from fish scales and provide estimates of age at harvest for approximately 30 scales. These data expand perspective on preindustrial Tseshaht fisheries and indicate that archaeological fish scale analysis can yield useful information for contemporary fisheries conservation and management. We conclude with recommendations for integrating these data with community driven fisheries management initiatives and monitoring programs.

For millennia, education for the Hualapai was learned through intergenerational lessons that provided younger generations with the skills and knowledge needed to thrive in harsh desert environments. Over the past centuries, tribal education has undergone numerous transitions. Colonial influences and education paradigms have in many ways eliminated transmission of traditional ecological knowledge. Currently, the Hualapai Tribe’s Cultural Center holds Culture Arts and Languages Classes on Fridays throughout the school year for the Tribal community focusing on teaching Tribal language and survival arts. Few people in the community remain who remember how to manufacture rabbit skin blankets, hand woven yucca fiber rabbit harvesting nets, or traditional cradleboards made from desert plants. In some cases these items exist only in museums. Through weekly classes throughout the year we are harvesting the materials and recreating these items so the knowledge of their construction and use will remain for future generations of Tribal members.

Our research uses archaeobotany to examine the relationship that late 19th to early 20th century Grand Ronde community members had with their landscape, and the impacts of colonization on their diet. Focusing on one of the first reservation habitation sites following removal, analysis of charred seeds and changes in their composition over time and space will give us a better understanding which plants the community may have been using and how that was adapted on the reservation.  The methods for our research include processing soil samples, sorting, and identifying charred seeds.  Our research will provide a protocol for identifying charred macrobotanical remains and a reference collection of seeds present in the area during this time that can be applied to future research. This research also adds to the conversation of first foods revitalization in the Grand Ronde community by exploring how the community used plants once on the reservation.

Ohio has a long tradition of honoring plant-based indigenous medicine, from the Cincinnati-based 19th century Eclectic movement to today’s Appalachia-based United Plant Savers’ botanical sanctuary movement. Antioch College, in Yellow Springs, Ohio has a 175-year old tradition of democratic learning and experiential education. The Antioch Apothecary: Teas and Tinctures, Syrups and Salves, is a hands-on course where students make plant medicine for the student-run Antioch Apothecary; harvesting and foraging from the student-run Antioch Farm, the campus, and nearby woods as well as maintaining a campus apothecary garden.  

Students make teas, tinctures, balms, vinegars, tonics, syrups, salves, poultices and healing plant-based foods for treating many common ailments. They learn basic herbal-medicine traditions and plant communication and the role that women across cultures have played in healing traditions throughout history. Commensality is included in each lesson; re-creating the commons across food and plant medicine.

Archaeobotanical analysis has only rarely focused on industrial sites, yet the ways in which workers at these sites engaged in food provisioning and consumption may hold important lessons for understanding ancient patterns of trade and social organization. We present the results of an archaeobotanical analysis carried out at the copper production site of Khirbat al Jariya (12th-10th centuries BC) in the arid Fanyan region, Jordan. A wide variety of plant remains have been unearthed at the site (such as grapes and wheat and barley) that may not have been locally grown and that may highlight trade routes to coastal areas, trade routes which have been already revealed through the analysis of copper ingots that travelled over 300 km away to coast near Neve Yam in Israel.

Since time immemorial, Indigenous people have and continue to maintain close relationships with the diverse plants and animals of coastal British Columbia. Over the past several decades, scientific researchers investigating ancient environments along the coast have begun to realize this ancient connection as well. This study combines modern palaeoenvironmental techniques including ancient environmental DNA and pollen analyses of sedimentary records from two lakes on northern Vancouver Island with ethnographic data and the voices of elders. Such multiproxy analysis allows us to demonstrate the continuous presence of culturally important species of both plants (pollen, eDNA) and animals (eDNA) on Vancouver Island extending back to deep time. Culturally and economically significant species attested by knowledge keepers including alder, cottonwood, several species of berry, salmon, trout, and grizzly bear are all corroborated in late Pleistocene deposits using multiproxy approaches. This study demonstrates the continued importance of connecting scientific and Indigenous knowledges in academia.

Large numbers of charred wild seeds have been unearthed alongside domesticated crops at Harappa, a major Indus civilization site occupied from 3300 B.C-1700 B.C (Kenoyer and Meadow 2016). Previous studies carried out on Indus civilization plant remains have interpreted such wild seeds as agricultural weeds that entered the archeological assemblage via crop processing (Fuller and Stevens 2009; Bates, Singh, & Petrie 2016). However, it is also possible that these weeds entered the archaeobotanical assemblage via dung burning (James 2018). By comparing the flowering periods of weeds and key grain crops it may be possible to ascertain if these weeds entered the assemblage at the same time as grains that were harvested(Bogaard et al. 2001). This study presents the comparisons of weed flowering time to key grain crop flowering time. Determining the formation processes responsible for the deposition of these wild seeds will dictate future archaeobotanical studies at Harappa.

Researchers are increasingly recognizing the significant impacts of human influence on environments previously thought to be natural or untouched. Interpretations of human-environmental interactions in the Pacific Northwest have often relied on charred seeds or faunal remains. Phytoliths, diatoms, and sponges have been successfully used to understand these relationships in other parts of the world, but more research is necessary for these environmental proxies to be better understood in the Pacific Northwest. We need to determine the potential and limitations of this type of evidence before they can be applied to the interpretation of anthropogenic changes on the landscape. In this research, we will explore these questions in the context of archaeological sites along the Harrison River, in the traditional territory of the Sts’ailes, in southern BC. Examination of these remains, their deposition, and their preservation provides grounding for future inferences regarding the environmental context in which people lived.

Abstract: The traditional Sansui bamboo weaving is a renowned intangible cultural heritage. Like other traditional handicrafts in China, it had suffered a downfall in such a fast developing period. Under the joint efforts by local government, bamboo weaving companies and bamboo weavers, Sansui bamboo weaving is embracing a renaissance. Based on field investigations, 17 bamboo species for weaving were recorded and analysed. Different bamboo species has been used for different weaving purposes. Phyllostachys edulis is the most popular one 
locally. Additionally, the reason of the renaissance of Sansui bamboo weaving are comprehensively understood, in which the good governance played a vital role to support local bamboo weaving industry. The innovation of the bamboo weaving itself is also the key reason. Some suggestions for better development of Sansui bamboo weaving and other Chinese traditional handicrafts were proposed at the end of the present paper. 

Since 2003, Evergreen students have been conducting field, herbarium and library research for a natural history guide to the plants found in the camas prairies of the southern Salish Sea region. Published in 2016, the guide includes over a hundred of their botanical illustrations and hundreds of herbarium specimens which can be accessed online and in the Evergreen Herbarium. Short essays covering various aspects of these unique prairies and associated oak woodland ecosystems are included by students and professional scientists from Evergreen, Centralia College, and the Center for Natural Lands Management. The second edition, slated for publication in 2022, will include roughly one hundred more plant species and additional essays. The field guide is written for a lay audience and provides support to researchers and others involved in restoring these threatened ecosystems in our region. We hope it will aid greater collaboration with local tribes in the future.

Loss of biodiversity and biocultural diversity is one of the biggest threats facing our planet and our species.  

Voices for Biodiversity (V4B) is a nonprofit organization that gives a voice to people living in the midst of biodiversity loss: the youth who sees the environment that feeds her family being destroyed or the Elder who notices that there are fewer birds, fewer rabbits and fewer bees.  As a multimedia platform, Voices for Biodiversity supports our contributors in telling their story, through the publication of articles, photography and video to connect us with each other and our environment. The marvel of storytelling is that, once heard, we are empowered in our work, and the majority of our storytellers go on to do much in the field of conservation. In this poster, we share our story and process with you and invite you to join us in being a voice for biodversity.

The replication crisis in social sciences conjures questions about research design and publication standards in all sciences, and calls on researchers to reexamine their methods and analyses in order to produce quality data and conclusions. We present a brief overview of lessons from the replication crisis with a view toward potential applications in ethnobiology. To provide context in contemporary research in ethnobiology, we include a meta-analysis of articles describing work with living populations (non-archaeological studies) published in the last decade in the Journal of Ethnobiology and others. We base our analysis on Reyes-Garcia et al 2007, and include reported sampling strategies, informant types, analysis strategies, limitations, and reported statistics. We present our findings in order to spark conversation over future directions in quantitative ethnobiology. By understanding the present state of research, we work toward making methods and analyses more understandable and accessible for researchers and audiences.

The site of Tse'K'wa holds a well-preserved archaeological record of 12,000 years of human relationships with the land. Located near Fort St. John in Northeastern British Columbia, Tse’K’wa is on the territory of the Dunne-zaa people. We have conducted morphological and ZooMS analyses of archaeological fauna from Tse’K’wa dating from 9,000 years ago to 1950 CE. The remains of predatory mammals have been found during this study, including those of bear (Ursus sp., Dunne-zaa: sas), red fox (Vulpes vulpes), wolf (Canis lupus, Dunne-zaa: ch'one'), lynx (Lynx canadensis, Dunne-zaa: nódaa), wolverine (Gulo gulo), fisher (Martes pennanti), and marten (Martes americana, Dunne-zaa: ębaa). By studying the faunal remains at Tse'K'wa, this study examines the long-term hunting and fishing practices of the ancestral Dene people, as well as the ecology of the Peace River Valley.