Plant Fiber-based Technologies: A view from the Ancient Americas - Edward A. Jolie
Channel: Museu d'Arqueologia de Catalunya
Date: 2022-05-17

Exceptional preservation of organic materials recovered from some archaeological sites has, over the last century, facilitated the development of increasingly detailed reconstructions of chronological and spatial patterning in the perishable technological traditions of the indigenous inhabitants of the Americas. This contribution presents an overview of the perishable material culture database from the Americas as it is currently known from archaeological data, and intends to draw attention to the salient American literature and contemporary research themes of most interest to our international colleagues. In addition to highlighting geographic regions and temporal periods yielding high quality data, gaps in the archaeological record are also considered. Emphasis is placed on broad trends in technological development and change, as well as wider cultural and geographic affinities, as they provide a point of comparison for similar developmental trajectories elsewhere on the planet. Prominent research themes include perishable material culture in daily life, the contribution of technological and stylistic variability in reconstructing ancient social interaction, boundaries, and identities, and the role of perishables in ritual practices.