Plenary Session: Historical and Archaeological Perspectives in Ethnobiology

Many ethnobiologists specialize in studying either contemporary or past societies, in part because of the specialized methods and techniques peculiar to each perspective. However, many benefits accrue to research that transcends these disciplinary divisions in order to better understand how and why human relations with animals, plants, and ecosystems change over time. Members of the Society who have successfully ventured into this territory will present and discuss their work with particular attention to the benefits and difficulties of tracing the path between present and past. This task involves the integration of diverse data sources and methods (archaeology, history, ethnography) and explanatory frameworks in order to better understand the development of ethnobiological knowledge and behavior. Participants are Society members who 1) study contemporary peoples but consider the record of the past critically important to their research; or 2) study past cultural systems through archaeology or history, but also make use of ethnographic data or link their research to contemporary values, behavior, or public policy.

Session Chair: Kris Gremillion

Presenters:

Paul Minnis, University of Oklahoma
Nancy Turner, University of Victoria
Christine Hastorf, University of California, Berkeley
Eugene Hunn, University of Washington
Cecil Brown, Northern Illinois University
Kay Fowler, University of Nevada, Reno
Kitty Emery, Florida Museum of Natural History
Denise Glover, University of Puget Sound
Dana Lepofsky, Simon Fraser Univeristy