Anthropology Colloquium is the department’s speaker series that invites a mixture of anthropologists from within and outside of UBC to present their research. This speaker series is scheduled throughout the academic year, typically with a lunch reception in the AnSo Lounge.
12th January, Thursday, 11:30 – 1:00pm, ANSO 134
Professor Madonna L. Moss, University of Oregon
Northwest Coast: Archaeology as Deep History – A Discussion
Archaeologists typically classify Northwest Coast societies as “complex hunter-gatherers,” and invoke them as exemplars for prehistoric and historic societies such as the Calusa, Jomon, and Natufians. The Northwest Coast is seen as representative of “middle-range” societies of the last 12,000 years of human history around the world. Simultaneously, the Northwest Coast is often characterized as anomalous because complex social forms, such as hereditary inequality, slavery, and elaborate ceremonialism, evolved in the absence of agriculture.
This open discussion-based presentation will provide perspective on the concept of ‘hunter-gatherers’ on the Northwest Coast and discuss recent research throughout the coast.
