Islands of fertility: a multispecies ethnography of human-termite interactions and their implications for human ecology and the archaeology of gender in the tropics

IF 1.8 2区历史学 0 ARCHAEOLOGY

WORLD ARCHAEOLOGY Pub Date : 2021-08-08 DOI:10.1080/00438243.2021.1997637

J. Farr

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

ABSTRACT Using multidisciplinary literature, this paper takes a multispecies approach to human-termite interactions across the tropics to demonstrate how termites exploit ecological effects of human behaviours and in turn provide humans with significant ecosystem services. These provisions are deeply entangled within cultural practices and ideologies. Conceptualisations of human and landscape fertility, and the role of termites in facilitating life, create gendered interactions that are manifested in ecological knowledge and praxis relating to termites and termite mounds. The strong association between termites and farmers in particular, may offer insights into past human settlement patterns and their relationships with ecosystems. This paper proposes the use of geomorphology, thin-section ceramic petrography, and stable isotope analysis to investigate these relationships across the tropics. A multispecies approach creates new possibilities for a diachronic understanding of human ecology and raises important questions for the Anthropocene and the future of farming in the tropics.

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生育岛:人类与白蚁相互作用的多物种人种志及其对热带地区人类生态学和性别考古学的影响

摘要利用多学科文献，本文采用多物种方法研究了热带地区人类与白蚁的相互作用，以展示白蚁如何利用人类行为的生态影响，进而为人类提供重要的生态系统服务。这些规定深深地纠缠在文化实践和意识形态之中。人类和景观肥力的概念化，以及白蚁在促进生活中的作用，创造了性别化的相互作用，表现在与白蚁和白蚁丘有关的生态知识和实践中。尤其是白蚁和农民之间的强烈联系，可能会让我们深入了解过去的人类定居模式及其与生态系统的关系。本文建议使用地貌学、薄片陶瓷岩相学和稳定同位素分析来研究热带地区的这些关系。多物种方法为人类生态学的历时性理解创造了新的可能性，并为人类世和热带农业的未来提出了重要问题。

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来源期刊

WORLD ARCHAEOLOGY ARCHAEOLOGY-

CiteScore

2.60

自引率

0.00%

发文量

期刊介绍： World Archaeology was established specifically to deal with archaeology on a world-wide multiperiod basis. Thirty years after it was founded it remains a leader in its field. The first three of the year"s quarterly issues are each dedicated to a particular theme of current interest. The fourth issue, Debates in World Archaeology, is a forum for debate, discussion and comment. All papers adopt a broad comparative approach, looking at important issues on a global scale. The members of the editorial board and the advisory board represent a wide range of interests and expertise and this ensures that the papers published in World Archaeology cover a wide variety of subject areas.