Hidden Dimensions: The Cultural Significance of Wetland Archaeology

by Kathryn Bernick

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Summary

Wet landscapes have figured significantly in the development of human societies and in the lives of many people through the ages. The water-saturated, low-oxygen conditions in these sites help preserve wood and other plant remains for thousands of years, thus saving fragile material evidence that would otherwise be absent from the archaeological record.

Hidden Dimensions is a collection of essays drawn from papers presented at an international conference in Vancouver, British Columbia in April 1995. Scholars from around the globe examine several aspects of wetland archaeology in North America, Mexico, Europe, eastern Siberia, and New Zealand. Some of the essays in this volume explore environmental and historical contexts of wet-sites as well as past human adaptation to wetland environments. Others concentrate on the contributions of wetland archaeology to reconstructions of cultural history and the interpretation of unique perishable materials. In addition to discussions on the dynamic nature of wetlands and concern about the future of the cultural resources they contain, the authors look at practical issues of land management and object conservation.

In Hidden Dimensions the authors seek to raise awareness of the significance of wetland archaeology issues at a time when wetlands around the globe are rapidly shrinking and their cultural contents are at risk of disappearing.

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