Presentation Type

Poster

Location

Portland State University

Start Date

5-2-2018 11:00 AM

End Date

5-2-2018 1:00 PM

Subjects

Ecology -- United States -- History, Niche (Ecology), Aquaculture, Wetlands, Backwater, Fish weirs

Abstract

This poster uses the existence of a possible fish weir feature in a backwater lake on Sauvie Island in the Lower Columbia to explore questions surrounding systems of resource cultivation and human ecosystem engineering. Multiple archaeological sites in backwater areas contain large quantities of freshwater fish remains; and use of technology such as weirs would provide an efficient method of capture. However, such facilities suggest more than capture method, when considered in the larger context of landscape use and the food systems that indigenous people were part of, as demonstrated by archaeology and oral traditions. By synthesizing information surrounding precontact cultural and subsistence use of the backwaters of the Lower Columbia through the lens of historical ecology, this project seeks to highlight the broader implications of technologies that represent components in interconnected systems of indigenous aquaculture and landscape use in this rich environment.

Rights

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Persistent Identifier

http://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/25100

Included in

Anthropology Commons

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May 2nd, 11:00 AM May 2nd, 1:00 PM

Cultivation of the Backwater: Weirs as a Window into Historical Ecology and Ecosystem Engineering in the Lower Columbia

Portland State University

This poster uses the existence of a possible fish weir feature in a backwater lake on Sauvie Island in the Lower Columbia to explore questions surrounding systems of resource cultivation and human ecosystem engineering. Multiple archaeological sites in backwater areas contain large quantities of freshwater fish remains; and use of technology such as weirs would provide an efficient method of capture. However, such facilities suggest more than capture method, when considered in the larger context of landscape use and the food systems that indigenous people were part of, as demonstrated by archaeology and oral traditions. By synthesizing information surrounding precontact cultural and subsistence use of the backwaters of the Lower Columbia through the lens of historical ecology, this project seeks to highlight the broader implications of technologies that represent components in interconnected systems of indigenous aquaculture and landscape use in this rich environment.