An archaeological approach to people-tree interactions: The ethnoarchaeology of firewood procurement and consumption among the Benga people of the island of Mandji (Corisco, Equatorial Guinea, Central Africa)
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present an ethnoarchaeolgical study of firewood management among the Benga people of the island of Manjdi (Equatorial Guinea), offering actual ethnographic data to discuss theoretical assumptions and methodological practices in order to build up a more comprehensive approach to firewood procurement and consumption in anthracology (and archaeology).
About: This article is published in Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports.The article was published on 2020-12-01. It has received 3 citations till now. The article focuses on the topics: Firewood & Ethnoarchaeology.
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TL;DR: A critical review of the main methodological achievements in sampling and quantitative analysis in anthracology, the study of wood charcoal macro-remains from archaeological contexts is provided in this paper.
34 citations
Cites background from "An archaeological approach to peopl..."
...…woodland use practices and the question of fuel selection beyond properties linked to pyrology and/or environmental availability addresses some of these complex issues in greater detail (Dufraisse et al., 2007; Henry, 2011; Picornell-Gelabert et al., 2011; Delhon, 2018; Picornell-Gelabert, 2020)....
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TL;DR: In this paper , the authors present an approach for taxa growing in Western Europe combining different dendro-anthracological parameters, an anthraco-typological approach based on modern-day wood stands, identification of anatomical signatures revealing particular forestry practices, and stable carbon isotopes.
Abstract: In many societies, livelihood strategies are based on a combination of economic strategies, including natural resources such as trees for wood, leaves, and fruits. Archeological wood charcoals are residues of human activity related to fire. They provide evidence of fuelwood and, in some contexts, timber, handcraft activities, and fruit production. They represent a detailed record of the way ancient woodlands were exploited. However, charcoal analyses are often confined to the study of taxa and their relative frequency, and socio-economic interpretations are thus limited. In the last two decades, dendro-anthracological studies have been developed. Tree-ring widths, radius of curvature, and carbon isotope contents are increasingly used as indicators of wood gathering practices, woodland management and climate. Nevertheless, in the absence of standards, measurement procedures and data processing are very diverse. The challenge for archeological charcoal analyses is thus to improve analytical tools, especially on dendro-anthracological and isotopic aspects, in order to improve the interpretation of archeological assemblages and advance the discipline. As an example, we present a new approach for taxa growing in Western Europe combining (i) different dendro-anthracological parameters, (ii) an anthraco-typological approach based on modern-day wood stands, (iii) identification of anatomical signatures revealing particular forestry practices, and (iv) stable carbon isotopes. This opens the discussion on methodological perspectives and the associated scientific questions focusing on woodland exploitation and climate, and on the interest of a systemic approach for the analysis of charcoal in archeological contexts.
2 citations
TL;DR: In this paper , the authors consider the Tuwali-Ifugao people of the Cordillera Central (Luzon, Philippines), who resisted Spanish colonial subjugation from the 16th to the mid-nineteenth century, in part through the development of a world-renowned system of intensive wet-rice terrace agriculture.
Abstract: Land use modelling is increasingly used by archaeologists and palaeoecologists seeking to quantify and compare the changing influence of humans on the environment. In Southeast Asia, the intensification of rice agriculture and the arrival of European colonizers have both been seen as major catalysts for deforestation, soil erosion, and biodiversity change. Here we consider the Tuwali-Ifugao people of the Cordillera Central (Luzon, Philippines), who resisted Spanish colonial subjugation from the 16th to the mid-nineteenth century, in part through the development of a world-renowned system of intensive wet-rice terrace agriculture. To quantify changes in how the Tuwali-Ifugao used their environment, we model land use in Old Kiyyangan Village, a long-inhabited settlement, at two timepoints: circa 1570 CE, prior to the Spanish arrival in Luzon, and circa 1800 CE, before the village was sacked by Spanish military expeditions. Our model demonstrates that between 1570 and 1800 the adoption of rice as a staple and the corresponding expansion in terrace agriculture, along with a general diversification of diet and land use, enabled the village’s population to double without increasing total land use area. Further, this major intensification led to the solidification of social hierarchies and occurred without a proportional increase in deforestation.
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References
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Book•
30 Nov 2021
TL;DR: The Perception of the Environment as discussed by the authors is a collection of essays focusing on the procurement of livelihood, what it means to "dwell" and on the nature of skill, weaving together approaches from social anthropology, ecological psychology, developmental biology and phenomenology in a way that has never been attempted before.
Abstract: In this work Tim Ingold offers a persuasive new approach to understanding how human
beings perceive their surroundings. He argues that what we are used to calling cultural
variation consists, in the first place, of variations in skill. Neither innate nor acquired,
skills are grown, incorporated into the human organism through practice and training in
an environment. They are thus as much biological as cultural. To account for the generation of skills we have therefore to understand the dynamics of development. And this in
turn calls for an ecological approach that situates practitioners in the context of an active
engagement with the constituents of their surroundings.
The twenty-three essays comprising this book focus in turn on the procurement of livelihood, on what it means to ‘dwell’, and on the nature of skill, weaving together approaches
from social anthropology, ecological psychology, developmental biology and phenomenology in a way that has never been attempted before. The book is set to revolutionise
the way we think about what is ‘biological’ and ‘cultural’ in humans, about evolution and
history, and indeed about what it means for human beings – at once organisms and
persons – to inhabit an environment. The Perception of the Environment will be essential
reading not only for anthropologists but also for biologists, psychologists, archaeologists,
geographers and philosophers.
5,418 citations
01 Jan 1972
Abstract: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Documents about the work Esquisse d'une théorie de la pratique (1972) / Pierre Bourdieu (1930-2002) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Pages in data.bnf.fr . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Related authors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 This page in data.bnf.fr lab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Sources and references . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Link to the main catalogue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Variant of the title
1,308 citations
01 Oct 1996
TL;DR: The authors discusses the meaning of Amerindian "perspectivism", the ideas in Amazonian cosmologies concerning the way in which humans, animals, and spirits see both themselves and other world beings.
Abstract: This study discusses the meaning of Amerindian "perspectivism": the ideas in Amazonian cosmologies concerning the way in which humans, animals, and spirits see both themselves and other world beings. Such ideas suggest the possibility of a redefinition of the classical categories of "nature", "culture", and "supernature" based on the concept of perspective or point of view. The study argues in particular that the antinomy between two characterizations of indigenous thought - on the one hand "ethnocentrism", which would deny the attributes of humanity to humans from other groups, and on the other hand "animism", which would extend such qualities to beings from other species - can be resolved if one considers the difference between the spiritual and corporal aspects of beings.
385 citations
Book•
26 Jul 2001TL;DR: In this paper, a case-study approach enables a balanced global geographic and topical coverage, including consideration of materials in French and German, and a look at ethnoarchaeology's contributions actual and potential.
Abstract: Ethnoarchaeology first developed as the study of ethnographic material culture from archaeological perspectives. Over the past half century it has expanded its scope, especially to cultural and social anthropology. Both authors are leading practitioners, and their theoretical perspective embraces both the processualism of the New Archaeology and the post-processualism of the 1980s and 90s. A case-study approach enables a balanced global geographic and topical coverage, including consideration of materials in French and German. Three introductory chapters discuss the subject and its history, survey the theory, and discuss field methods and ethics. Ten topical chapters consider formation processes, subsistence, the study of artefacts and style, settlement systems, site structure and architecture, specialist craft production, trade and exchange, and mortuary practices and ideology. Ethnoarchaeology in Action concludes with ethnoarchaeology's contributions actual and potential, and with a look at its place within anthropology. It is generously illustrated, including many photographs of leading ethnoarchaeologists in action.
370 citations