XXIV. Poster Session

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A complete and updated paleoclimate history of the Willamette Valley is critical in order to further archaeological and environmental research in the area. This study explores the broad climatic trends of vegetation and fire through charcoal influx rates, palynological records, and historical documents in respect to the archaeological record. By synthesizing data and recalibrating radiocarbon dates from existing paleoclimatic research, this study provides a complete and up-to-date history of the Willamette Valley’s climate over the past 12,000 years. This overview aims to deepen our understanding of climate change through time and provides insight into our current climate crisis.

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Moi (Polydactylus sexfilis) is a highly valued resource fish in Hawaiʻi, traditionally monitored by lawaiʻa (fishers) and konohiki (resource managers). Moi experienced significant declines in the mid 20th century, prompting a seasonal fishing ban aligned with then-recorded spawning periods. Master lawaiʻa and konohiki, Uncle Mac Poepoe, recently observed spawning season changes, likely due to habitat and environmental stressors, indicating that the ban is no longer effective for protecting moi during extended spawning periods. In response, Uncle Mac formed Nā Kai ʻEwalu, a collective of lawaiʻa, to study these changes across islands. This paper details the research process, priorities and methodologies rooted in indigenous knowledge and driven by Kanaka ʻŌiwi (Native Hawaiians). Our synchronized lawaiʻa monitoring network and trans-disciplinary collaboration informs effective fishing regulations and adaptive management in the face of an uncertain climate and human coastal impact, and can be applied in other resource settings.

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This poster reports on an ethnobotanical survey with the Ende tribe in Western Province, Papua New Guinea, an under-researched hotspot of biocultural diversity. Building on a foundation of collaborative linguistic research, we worked with local Ende people as well as botanists from the New Guinea Binatang Research Centre to collect voucher specimens, match Ende plant names to their Latin species names, document their uses, and video-record the process of making items such as grass skirts, baskets, and animal traps. We identified about seventy plant species with uses including food, medicine, fish poison, snake repellent, and materials for traditional crafts. We corroborate the documented uses of some plant species and also note a few novel uses. Finally, we conducted an inductive thematic analysis of the Ende food system using narratives and conversations originally recorded for linguistic research, situating the ethnobotanical work in a broader cultural context.

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How do we learn to live with fire? It is a complex, yet fundamentally simple question we need to ask ourselves and others. For many, memories of fire in California are shrouded with fear. Although wildfire has become a common topic on the news and emerged as a higher priority for state and federal governments, the western narrative and public understanding of fire are severely lacking in the ecological and cultural components of fire. Indigenous communities have been actively engaged in fire stewardship in what is now known as California long before colonization. Today, Indigenous communities continue to resist and survive generations of land dispossession and physical/cultural genocide through eco-cultural revitalization. Through centering the stories of how the North Fork Mono Tribe is revitalizing their cultural fire practices, we are able to learn about the past, present, and future possibilities for Indigenous sovereignty and fire stewardship.

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In ever-growing and globalized communities, also effected by increasing climate change-related events, public policy must be crafted with the goal of balancing short- and long-term health and needs of the environment and people. A potential key to adaptation in the shifting tides of public policy is the use of applied anthropological methods that connect ethnographic research to the praxis. Through research done in the Lake Tahoe Basin and surrounding watersheds, this project aims to bridge the gap between anthropological studies, public policy, and environmental protection by suggesting new methods, based in ethnography and collaborative research, to be used in policy development that aims to decolonize unbalanced processes of water policy design. As the demand for the fresh waters of Lake Tahoe increase, it is imperative to do this research to ensure that chosen policies promote equal access to the fundamental human right to clean water and a healthy environment.

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Goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis) is a vulnerable eastern North American deciduous forest herb that is often used for its medicinal properties. Increasing demand and unsustainable harvesting practices have contributed to the plant’s decline. The objectives of our 5-year study are to examine: 1) effects of experimental harvests on naturally occurring populations; 2) success of rhizome propagation for root production and forest farming practices; and 3) phenology to investigate developmental stages of goldenseal and how that relates to harvester interviews. Study plots (1 m²) were established in naturally occurring populations in Kentucky and Ohio. In each plot, density, height, leaf size, and reproductive status were recorded, and experimental harvests conducted. Harvested rhizomes were transplanted into cultivation plots to monitor regrowth across the study period. Results recorded from this project are used to better understand population recovery and sustainable harvest levels, with our data suggesting higher harvest intensities do significantly impact Goldenseal populations.

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We investigate the domestic economy, cuisine, and gender roles of the Viru people (ca. 200 BCE-600 CE) through household archaeology and archaeobotany at Puerto Malabrigo, Chicama Valley of northern Peru. In households, people prepare, cook, eat, store, and throw away food, reinforcing identities or making new dietary choices with social meaning (Hastorf 2017). In an area where occupations fluctuated, households provide records of larger social transformations as residents actively adapt to changes (Billman 2021). In 2023, Proyecto de Investigación Arqueológica de Puerto Malabrigo excavated Viru household units in Puerto Malabrigo. We combine archaeobotanical analysis of household contexts with research on contemporary cultures like the Moche, to examine Viru foodways, discerning social relationships and gender roles within the household. Finally, we compare Malabrigo foodways to domestic food practices at the Viru capital, Huaca Gallinazo, Viru Valley, examining how changes in women’s domestic roles reflect shifts in societal power dynamics.

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Land and agrarian conflicts have intensified Colombia's internal war, particularly through land grabbing and dispossession, victimizing rural communities. National agrarian policies favor capitalist agriculture, marginalizing traditional smallholder practices. This issue is acute in Colombia's Caribbean region, where violent conflicts and market pressures have eroded farmers' socioeconomic conditions and biocultural memory. This research, using social mapping and historical records, examines how territorial conflicts have influenced agricultural practices and agrobiodiversity at the scale of a village. Findings show that armed conflict and capitalist agricultural models supported by the state, have transformed local farming practices and decreased agrobiodiversity.

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The 2020 COVID outbreak in Ecuador rapidly spread into Amazonian Kichwa, Shuar and Waorani communities through migrants working as first responders in cities. Many COVID survivors in these communities attributed their recovery to the preventative and curative properties of medicines derived from the maticu (Kichwa, Piper spp.) plant. Traditionally used as a decongestant to treat pneumonia, leaves steeped in hot water were ingested as tea or inhaled as vapor to treat COVID symptoms. Multiple Piper spp. may have been identified as maticu within these communities. Leaves from one such plant were extracted and analyzed using LC-MS/MS, revealing the major constituent, a C-glycosylated flavonoid that had previously been studied as an anti-hypertensive treatment. Hypertension can be elicited by COVID, suggesting maticu may have beneifts beyond its decongestant properties. Here we describe the confirmation of this maticu chemical structure by NMR, and potential COVID symptom-relieving properties of maticu chemical constituents.

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Avocados provided a significant source of dietary fat for individuals throughout ancient Meso- and South America. This study quantifies the effects of carbonization and desiccation on the size and weight of fresh avocado pits to establish correction factors that accurately reconstruct the altered dimensions of archaeological samples. Haas avocado pits (n=128) underwent experimental carbonization and desiccation, with each pit’s length, width, and weight recorded pre- and post-treatment. Linear regression models of these measurements confirm significant relationships between raw and altered measurements, enabling the creation of measurement correction factors with high R² values. Results indicate that desiccation has a greater effect on pit morphology than carbonization, with individual correction factors necessary for each treatment type and measurement. This information provides insights for researchers analyzing avocado pits subjected to similar taphonomic processes, ensuring the reliable reconstruction of archaeological data and interpretation of avocado tree management through time.

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This research employs a historical-socioecological framework to examine the impacts of anthropogenic land use on Indigenous forest garden species in British Columbia. Forest gardens, cultivated by Indigenous communities, are ecosystems of fruit- and nut-bearing trees, shrubs, and edible plants within coniferous forests. These landscapes supported Indigenous food systems for millennia, reflecting deep cultural stewardship. This study analyses the impacts of land-use changes from historical to contemporary times, emphasizing integrated approaches to biodiversity conservation.

Preliminary findings reveal that over 70% of ice-free land globally has been modified by human activity. In British Columbia, logging and oil and gas exploration have drastically reduced plant diversity and degraded habitats. Using historical records, ecological data, and tools like MaxEnt and the InVEST Habitat Quality model, this study identifies areas most affected by anthropogenic pressures and highlights key regions for conservation and restoration.

The findings offer insights into protecting culturally significant plants and landscapes under evolving climate and land-use scenarios in BC.

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Recent research demonstrates that ancient Mesoamericans engaged in forest management long before they domesticated field crops like maize (Zea mays) and beans (Phaseolus spp.). Our research from El Gigante, a dry rockshelter in southeastern Honduras boasting an extensive desiccated plant assemblage, provides additional evidence for the antiquity of tree management practices in several different economically useful species over a period of 10,000 years. This presentation focuses on ciruela (hog plum; Spondias purpurea), represented at El Gigante by more than 2,000 seeds. Chronological control of the assemblage has been well established based on Bayesian analysis of 292 directly-dated macrofossils, allowing for a fine-grained morphometric analysis seed size and shape through time. Statistical analysis of seeds reveals a long history of domestication by local groups during the last 8,000 years, evidenced by size increases and a trend toward more elongated seeds.