Marking the Land: Hunter-Gatherer Creation of Meaning in their Environment (Routledge Studies in Archaeology)

__Marking the Land__ investigates how hunter-gatherers use physical landscape markers and environmental management to impose meaning on the spaces they occupy. The land is full of meaning for hunter-gatherers. Much of that meaning is inherent in natural phenomena, but some of it comes from modifications to the landscape that hunter-gatherers themselves make. Such alterations may be intentional or unintentional, temporary or permanent, and they can carry multiple layers of meaning, ranging from practical signs that provide guidance and information through to less direct indications of identity or abstract, highly symbolic signs of sacred or ceremonial significance. This volume investigates the conditions which determine the investment of time and effort in physical landscape marking by hunter-gatherers, and the factors which determine the extent to which these modifications are symbolically charged. Considering hunter-gatherer groups of varying sociocultural complexity and scale, __Marking the Land__ provides a systematic consideration of this neglected aspect of hunter-gatherer adaptation and the varied environments within which they live. Marking the Land- Front Cover 1 Marking the Land 2 Title Page 6 Copyright Page 7 Contents 8 List of figures 10 List of contributors 13 Chapter 1: The Creation of Landscape Meaning by Mobile Hunter-Gatherers 16 REFERENCES CITED 22 SECTION I: The Northern Latitudes 26 Chapter 2: Initializing the Landscape: Chipewyan Construction of Meaning in a Recently Occupied Environment 28 PROBLEM AND CONTEXT 28 ORIGINS OF THE SOUTHERN CHIPEWYAN 30 ENTERING THE COUNTRY: WAYFINDING BY UNMODIFIED LANDSCAPE FEATURES 32 INITIALIZING THE LAND: TRAILS, ENCLOSURES AND SACRIFICIAL TREES 38 DOMESTICATING THE LANDSCAPE: VILLAGE SITES, STRUCTURES AND REMAINS 42 SACRALIZING THE LANDSCAPE: MORTUARY SITES AND PILGRIMS 46 DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION 49 NOTES 52 REFERENCES CITED 55 ARCHIVAL SOURCES 58 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 59 Chapter 3: Places on the Blackfoot Homeland: Markers of Cosmology, Social Relationships and History 60 THE CULTURAL CONTEXT 61 THE PLACE 62 IMPRINTS OF SECULAR ACTIVITIES 65 IMPRINTS OF SACRED ACTIVITIES 70 CONCLUSIONS 77 REFERENCES CITED 78 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 81 Chapter 4: Markers in Space and Time: Reflections on the Nature of Place Names as Events in the Inuit Approach to the Territory 82 WAYFINDING, AND THE LARGE FRAMES OF SPATIAL REFERENCE 84 VISUAL MARKERS: DEFINING A RELATIONSHIP TO THE LAND THROUGH SPACE AND TIME 87 HUMAN-MADE MARKERS 88 TOPOGRAPHIC MARKERS 91 PLACE NAMES AS EVENTS 93 PLACE NAMES IN SPACE 95 PLACE NAMES AS EVENTS IN SPATIAL-TEMPORAL AXES 97 CONCLUSION 99 NOTES 101 REFERENCES CITED 101 Chapter 5: Inuksuk, Sled Shoe, Place name: Past Inuit Ethnogeographies 104 INTRODUCTION 104 INUIT TRAVEL AND MOBILITY 106 PORTABLE TRAVEL TECHNOLOGIES 110 NAVIGATIONAL MARKERS 118 OTHER TRAVEL TECHNOLOGIES 123 CONCLUSION 124 REFERENCES CITED 125 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 130 Chapter 6: Network Maintenance in Big Rough Spaces with Few People: The Labrador Innu-Naskapi or Montagnais 131 THE NATURE OF INDIVIDUALS AND THEIR IMPORTANCE 133 “TRAVELING ALONE IS DANGEROUS” 133 LANDSCAPE MARKING, NAMING TERMINOLOGY, AND DEVICES 134 THE CONFLUENCE/JUNCTURE OF THE GROUP, LOCATION, MOBILITY, AND LANDSCAPE MARKING 138 WHY AND WHEN SHOULD A LANDSCAPE BE MARKED? 138 NATURAL AND MODIFIED LANDSCAPES: A SOCIOGEOGRAPHY 140 DISCUSSION: “SMALL(ER AND LESS) ROUGH SPACES . . . ” 142 REFERENCES CITED 143 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 145 SECTION II: The Southern Latitudes 146 Chapter 7: Physical and Linguistic Marking of the Seri Landscape: Are They Connected? 148 SERI PEOPLE (COMCAAC) AND THEIR TERRITORY 149 PLACE NAMING IN SERI 152 PHYSICAL MARKING OF THE LANDSCAPE 157 DISCUSSION 160 NOTES 163 REFERENCES CITED 164 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 166 Chapter 8: Bonescapes: Engaging People and Land with Animal Bones among South American Tropical Foragers 167 INTRODUCTION 167 THE ECONOMIC AND THE IDEATIONAL DIMENSIONS: HUNTING, PROCESSING AND BONE DISCARD 168 THE NUKAK 171 THE HOTÏ 175 DISCUSSION 182 CONCLUSION 188 REFERENCES CITED 189 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 194 Chapter 9: Unfolding Cultural Meanings: Wayfinding Practices Among the San of the Central Kalahari 195 INTRODUCTION 195 USE AND MEMORY OF TREES 200 MEMORIES AND NARRATIVES OF PLACE 201 ACTIONS IN AND CONCEPTUALIZATION OF THE ECOSYSTEM 204 NATURAL ENVIRONMENT, FOLK KNOWLEDGE AND INTERACTION 206 NOTES 210 REFERENCES CITED 211 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 213 Chapter 10: Continuity and Change in Warlpiri Practices of Marking the Landscape 216 INTRODUCTION 216 PART 1: ETHNOGRAPHIC BACKGROUND 217 PART 2: HOW LANDSCAPE IS MARKED 225 CONCLUSION 239 NOTES 240 REFERENCES CITED 242 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 245 Chapter 11: Signaling Presence: How Batek and Penan Hunter-Gatherers in Malaysia Mark the Landscape 246 BATEK, LANDSCAPE, MOVEMENT 250 LEAVING MARKS 253 MARKING LAND 255 MARKING WATER 257 CULTURAL GEOGRAPHY OF MOVEMENT 259 LIMITATIONS OF TOPONYMY 263 SIGNALS OF BATEK AND PENAN 263 CLOSING QUESTIONS: MARKS IN THE LANDSCAPE 266 NOTES 271 REFERENCES CITED 272 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 275 SECTION III: Synthesis 276 Chapter 12: Marked Sacred Places of Hunter-Gatherer Bands 278 REFERENCES CITED 289 Chapter 13: Hunter-Gatherer Landscape Perception and Landscape “Marking”: The Multidimensional Construction of Meaning 291 REFERENCES CITED 298 Index 301 Hunter-Gatherer Creation of Meaning in their Environment Hunter-gatherer Landscape Perception And Landscape Marking : The Multidimensional Construction Of Meaning / William A. Lovis And Robert Whallon -- Initializing The Landscape : Chipewyan Construction Of Meaning In A Recently Occupied Environment / Robert Jarvenpa And Hetty Jo Brumbach -- Places On The Blackfoot Homeland : Markers Of Cosmology, Social Relationships And History / Gerald A. Oetelaar -- Markers In Space And Time : Reflections On The Nature Of Place Names As Events In The Inuit Approach To The Territory / Claudio Aporta -- Inuksuk, Sled Shoe, Placename : Past Inuit Ethnogeographies / Peter J. Whitridge -- Network Maintenance In Big Rough Spaces With Few People : The Labrador Innu-naskapi Or Montagnais / William A. Lovis -- Physical And Linguistic Marking Of The Seri Landscape : Are They Connected? / Carolyn K. O'meara -- Bonescapes : Engaging People And Land With Animal Bones Among South American Tropical Foragers / Gustavo G. Politis -- Unfolding Cultural Meanings : Wayfinding Practices Among The San Of The Central Kalahari / Akira Takada -- Continuity And Change In Warlpiri Practices Of Marking The Landscape / Petronella Vaarzon-morel -- Signaling Presence : How Batek And Penan Hunter-gatherers In Malaysia Mark The Landscape / Lye Tuck Po -- Marked Sacred Places Of Hunter-gatherer Bands / Robert Whallon -- Hunter-gatherer Landscape Perception And Landscape Marking : The Multidimensional Construction Of Meaning / Robert Whallon And William A. Lovis. Edited By William A. Lovis And Robert Whallon. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.