The late Mesolithic hunter-gatherers of what is now Denmark have long captivated archaeologists, who have meticulously studied the archaeological remains of their foraging economy since the mid-twentieth century. However, these studies – predominantly focused on subsistence – have often overlooked how individual decisions based on social and environmental settings can greatly structure foraging behaviours and, subsequently, the patterns observed in the zooarchaeological record. Perceiving hunting not just as an activity, but as a cultural practice shaping identities and social bonds, underscores the importance of considering social, symbolic and economic dimensions in Mesolithic hunting research. This study bridges this gap by integrating theoretical frameworks from human behavioural ecology (HBE), such as optimal foraging theory (OFT), costly signalling theory (CST) and notions of prestige. By doing so, it aims to elucidate the complex motivations underlying prey selection among the Ertebølle hunters. Through analysis of five sites from the Danish Ertebølle period (5400–3950 BC) using a simplified prey choice model (PCM), this research seeks to shed light on the interplay of ecological and social factors shaping hunting practices. The findings are discussed through the lens of optimal choice and prestige to examine patterns of prey selection at these archaeological sites.
{"title":"Re-evaluating late Mesolithic economies","authors":"S. F. Hellerøe","doi":"10.3828/hgr.2024.15","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3828/hgr.2024.15","url":null,"abstract":"The late Mesolithic hunter-gatherers of what is now Denmark have long captivated archaeologists, who have meticulously studied the archaeological remains of their foraging economy since the mid-twentieth century. However, these studies – predominantly focused on subsistence – have often overlooked how individual decisions based on social and environmental settings can greatly structure foraging behaviours and, subsequently, the patterns observed in the zooarchaeological record. Perceiving hunting not just as an activity, but as a cultural practice shaping identities and social bonds, underscores the importance of considering social, symbolic and economic dimensions in Mesolithic hunting research.\u0000 This study bridges this gap by integrating theoretical frameworks from human behavioural ecology (HBE), such as optimal foraging theory (OFT), costly signalling theory (CST) and notions of prestige. By doing so, it aims to elucidate the complex motivations underlying prey selection among the Ertebølle hunters. Through analysis of five sites from the Danish Ertebølle period (5400–3950 BC) using a simplified prey choice model (PCM), this research seeks to shed light on the interplay of ecological and social factors shaping hunting practices. The findings are discussed through the lens of optimal choice and prestige to examine patterns of prey selection at these archaeological sites.","PeriodicalId":36941,"journal":{"name":"Hunter Gatherer Research","volume":"53 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-08-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141923897","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The Orang Asli is a term commonly used to describe one of the indigenous people in Peninsular Malaysia. The Semai, a subgroup of the Orang Asli, remain reliant on the rainforests for wild edible plants and wild game for their nourishment. As such, this research was conducted to identify the food consumption patterns and gender role allocation regarding hunting and gathering practices among the Semai. A total of 24 informants from three villages were interviewed for this research using both semi-structured interviews and participant observation methods. The findings show that the Semai consume rice, cassava, wild edible plants and wild animals based on their geographical location. Gender allocations can be observed in all three villages where the men hunt wild animals and the women gather wild edibles. The findings of this study may provide insights into Semai food culture and contribute to the development of culturally appropriate nutrition programmes and interventions for this community.
{"title":"Exploring the food consumption patterns and gender roles among the Semai in Peninsular Malaysia","authors":"Rachel Thomas Tharmabalan","doi":"10.3828/hgr.2024.18","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3828/hgr.2024.18","url":null,"abstract":"The Orang Asli is a term commonly used to describe one of the indigenous people in Peninsular Malaysia. The Semai, a subgroup of the Orang Asli, remain reliant on the rainforests for wild edible plants and wild game for their nourishment. As such, this research was conducted to identify the food consumption patterns and gender role allocation regarding hunting and gathering practices among the Semai. A total of 24 informants from three villages were interviewed for this research using both semi-structured interviews and participant observation methods. The findings show that the Semai consume rice, cassava, wild edible plants and wild animals based on their geographical location. Gender allocations can be observed in all three villages where the men hunt wild animals and the women gather wild edibles. The findings of this study may provide insights into Semai food culture and contribute to the development of culturally appropriate nutrition programmes and interventions for this community.","PeriodicalId":36941,"journal":{"name":"Hunter Gatherer Research","volume":"26 21","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-08-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141924921","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Natalia Castelnuovo Biraben, Julia Piñeiro Carreras
{"title":"‘Without my people, I am nothing’","authors":"Natalia Castelnuovo Biraben, Julia Piñeiro Carreras","doi":"10.3828/hgr.2024.17","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3828/hgr.2024.17","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":36941,"journal":{"name":"Hunter Gatherer Research","volume":"10 10","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-08-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141923162","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This paper examines how the nuclear family of G|ui and Gǁana, the two socio-culturally closely related hunter-gatherer groups of the San, has been (re)constructed and functioned since their resettlement in late 1990s. As with other hunter-gatherer groups, divorce and remarriage have been not uncommon among the G|ui/Gǁana. Extra-marital relationships, known as dzáã̄-kù , have also been semi-socially recognised. Consequently, the G|ui/Gǁana exhibit several stepfamily configurations. As in other San populations, the G|ui/Gǁana are known for their close mother–child relationships. However, it should be noted that non-maternal relatives have also been active participants in child-rearing. Children of stepfamilies are usually well informed about their origins and are not disconnected from their relatives, including divorced parents. The G|ui/Gǁana settlement established in late 1990s not only reduced group mobility, which had been characterised by fission and fusion of residential groups, but also led to a rapid increase in population density and fertility rates. Subsequently, the G|ui/Gǁana society has been modified in response to various difficulties. However, relationships with relatives, including divorced parents, continue to be an important social resource in this process.
{"title":"Diversity and transition of stepfamilies among the G|ui and Gǁana","authors":"Akira Takada, Tomoe Noguchi","doi":"10.3828/hgr.2024.21","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3828/hgr.2024.21","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 This paper examines how the nuclear family of G|ui and Gǁana, the two socio-culturally closely related hunter-gatherer groups of the San, has been (re)constructed and functioned since their resettlement in late 1990s. As with other hunter-gatherer groups, divorce and remarriage have been not uncommon among the G|ui/Gǁana. Extra-marital relationships, known as\u0000 dzáã̄-kù\u0000 , have also been semi-socially recognised. Consequently, the G|ui/Gǁana exhibit several stepfamily configurations. As in other San populations, the G|ui/Gǁana are known for their close mother–child relationships. However, it should be noted that non-maternal relatives have also been active participants in child-rearing. Children of stepfamilies are usually well informed about their origins and are not disconnected from their relatives, including divorced parents. The G|ui/Gǁana settlement established in late 1990s not only reduced group mobility, which had been characterised by fission and fusion of residential groups, but also led to a rapid increase in population density and fertility rates. Subsequently, the G|ui/Gǁana society has been modified in response to various difficulties. However, relationships with relatives, including divorced parents, continue to be an important social resource in this process.\u0000","PeriodicalId":36941,"journal":{"name":"Hunter Gatherer Research","volume":"12 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-08-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141923416","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The paper focuses on the material known as Mesolithic portable art. Earlier research has interpreted the material as representative art relating to ideology, mythology, prestige, ritual practices and tribalism. Such interpretations are based on theoretical frameworks that build on hylomorphism and Cartesian metaphysics, resulting in this material being viewed as static objects of art. I offer a new theoretical framework informed by a new animist perspective, coupled with Tim Ingold’s meshwork, Giordano Bruno’s theory of bonds and Chantal Conneller’s relational chaîne opératoire . I conclude that the engravings on the tools and pendants are communications to the animated subjects that make up and inhabit the environment. Furthermore, I conclude that the binary positions of function and ritual cannot be applied when studying the form-generating process of this material, as the tools and pendants along with the imagery are a result of what is in between these binary positions.
{"title":"An archaeology of animism","authors":"Erik Solfeldt","doi":"10.3828/hgr.2024.14","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3828/hgr.2024.14","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 The paper focuses on the material known as Mesolithic portable art. Earlier research has interpreted the material as representative art relating to ideology, mythology, prestige, ritual practices and tribalism. Such interpretations are based on theoretical frameworks that build on hylomorphism and Cartesian metaphysics, resulting in this material being viewed as static objects of art. I offer a new theoretical framework informed by a new animist perspective, coupled with Tim Ingold’s meshwork, Giordano Bruno’s theory of bonds and Chantal Conneller’s relational\u0000 chaîne opératoire\u0000 . I conclude that the engravings on the tools and pendants are communications to the animated subjects that make up and inhabit the environment. Furthermore, I conclude that the binary positions of function and ritual cannot be applied when studying the form-generating process of this material, as the tools and pendants along with the imagery are a result of what is in between these binary positions.\u0000","PeriodicalId":36941,"journal":{"name":"Hunter Gatherer Research","volume":"23 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-08-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141923388","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Animal acquisition, butchering and processing was a crucial activity continuum in the subsistence of Lower Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers bolstered by a persistent Acheulian stone toolkit. Scrapers, bifaces, flakes and other Acheulian implements were successfully used during carcass manipulation, entailing functional compatibility with the prey taxa to be processed. Major changes to the Acheulian butchery toolkit occurred in the late Lower Palaeolithic Levant, with the introduction of novel lithic trajectories stemming from anchored Acheulian traditions. This paper presents two late Acheulian innovations: Quina-like scrapers and flat bifacial knives. Both tool types emerge at a different pace and are rarely recognised in Acheulian contexts. However, numerous fully-fledged Quina scrapers used for butchery and hide working are characteristic of the proceeding Acheulo-Yabrudian Cultural Complex in the Levant, where they are supplemented by a limited number of flat bifaces. Changes to local faunal communities, marked by a decline in megaherbivore availability, may have accelerated the introduction of a new set of butchery implements oriented towards effective processing of smaller-sized ungulates, a habitual Acheulo-Yabrudian subsistence pattern. Dependency on animal-induced calories and underlaying human–animal relationships may have facilitated the development of new butchery implements acting as ‘mediators’ between humans and their preferred prey. The gradual emergence of new butchery tools may signal the practical and ontological adaptability of late Lower Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers to new ecological conditions and trophic interactions in a time of shifting faunal communities and highlight the paramount role of human–animal relationships in Lower Palaeolithic cultural evolution.
{"title":"Palaeolithic innovations in response to faunal fluctuations","authors":"Vlad Litov, Ran Barkai","doi":"10.3828/hgr.2024.16","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3828/hgr.2024.16","url":null,"abstract":"Animal acquisition, butchering and processing was a crucial activity continuum in the subsistence of Lower Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers bolstered by a persistent Acheulian stone toolkit. Scrapers, bifaces, flakes and other Acheulian implements were successfully used during carcass manipulation, entailing functional compatibility with the prey taxa to be processed. Major changes to the Acheulian butchery toolkit occurred in the late Lower Palaeolithic Levant, with the introduction of novel lithic trajectories stemming from anchored Acheulian traditions. This paper presents two late Acheulian innovations: Quina-like scrapers and flat bifacial knives. Both tool types emerge at a different pace and are rarely recognised in Acheulian contexts. However, numerous fully-fledged Quina scrapers used for butchery and hide working are characteristic of the proceeding Acheulo-Yabrudian Cultural Complex in the Levant, where they are supplemented by a limited number of flat bifaces. Changes to local faunal communities, marked by a decline in megaherbivore availability, may have accelerated the introduction of a new set of butchery implements oriented towards effective processing of smaller-sized ungulates, a habitual Acheulo-Yabrudian subsistence pattern. Dependency on animal-induced calories and underlaying human–animal relationships may have facilitated the development of new butchery implements acting as ‘mediators’ between humans and their preferred prey. The gradual emergence of new butchery tools may signal the practical and ontological adaptability of late Lower Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers to new ecological conditions and trophic interactions in a time of shifting faunal communities and highlight the paramount role of human–animal relationships in Lower Palaeolithic cultural evolution.","PeriodicalId":36941,"journal":{"name":"Hunter Gatherer Research","volume":"33 45","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-08-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141924836","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Hunting and gathering is the longest human adaptation ever to exist. Foraging peoples moved over the planet, encountered every type of habitat, engaged with their environments in flexible and innovative ways, and were witnesses to vast climatic changes. One of the most notable planetary shifts since the Pleistocene is fluctuation in global water levels and its impact on the landscapes it exposed and submerged. This dynamic would have significantly impacted foraging communities across the globe, but neither water fluctuations nor human responses to them were uniform. Rates of water oscillations were variable, including long-term, slow changes, catastrophic events and others that were likely observable on a generational basis. Human adaptations to shifting water levels likely included mobility and changes in subsistence, among others. Further responses, such as the creation and sharing of traditional ecological knowledge about water level events, were likely codified in cultural practices that are not easily discernible in the archaeological record. To address these issues, this paper presents a case study of submerged archaeological sites in the North American Great Lakes, evidence of a hunter-gatherer occupation on a now submerged landscape. Nine-thousand-year-old stone-built hunting sites represent a specific subsistence strategy used during a time of lower water levels, and an archaeologically visible example of traditional ecological knowledge. This project brings together archaeology and virtual reality with indigenous partners and other knowledge holders to explore forager responses to Holocene water levels.
{"title":"Anthropology underwater","authors":"Ashley Lemke","doi":"10.3828/hgr.2024.11","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3828/hgr.2024.11","url":null,"abstract":"Hunting and gathering is the longest human adaptation ever to exist. Foraging peoples moved over the planet, encountered every type of habitat, engaged with their environments in flexible and innovative ways, and were witnesses to vast climatic changes. One of the most notable planetary shifts since the Pleistocene is fluctuation in global water levels and its impact on the landscapes it exposed and submerged. This dynamic would have significantly impacted foraging communities across the globe, but neither water fluctuations nor human responses to them were uniform. Rates of water oscillations were variable, including long-term, slow changes, catastrophic events and others that were likely observable on a generational basis. Human adaptations to shifting water levels likely included mobility and changes in subsistence, among others. Further responses, such as the creation and sharing of traditional ecological knowledge about water level events, were likely codified in cultural practices that are not easily discernible in the archaeological record. To address these issues, this paper presents a case study of submerged archaeological sites in the North American Great Lakes, evidence of a hunter-gatherer occupation on a now submerged landscape. Nine-thousand-year-old stone-built hunting sites represent a specific subsistence strategy used during a time of lower water levels, and an archaeologically visible example of traditional ecological knowledge. This project brings together archaeology and virtual reality with indigenous partners and other knowledge holders to explore forager responses to Holocene water levels.","PeriodicalId":36941,"journal":{"name":"Hunter Gatherer Research","volume":"4 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-08-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141921266","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This article investigates the movement and communication of hunter-gatherers during the group moving activities, based on participant observation and interaction analysis of visual and audio materials recorded in the field. The communication aspects are multimodal while people are on the move. Based on this, diverse knowledge is generated and transmitted. However, there is limited understanding of how the hunter-gatherers encounter each other and begin communication while on the move. In particular, the physical situation during the group moving activity in environments with visual obstacles, such as the rainforest, is not clear. This article provides the case of the Baka hunter-gatherers, living in the rainforest of southeastern Cameroon, to reveal aspects of the beginning of communication during the extended group moving activity. It shows that in the tropical forest, with its restricted visibility, participants’ physical situation is dynamic. Although this limitation of visibility constrained participants’ face-to-face communication, it diversified their distant communication, which does not require seeing each other. Such non-face-to-face communication provided participants with a wider range of communication while walking together.
{"title":"Communication on the move among the Baka people","authors":"Yujie Peng","doi":"10.3828/hgr.2024.9","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3828/hgr.2024.9","url":null,"abstract":"This article investigates the movement and communication of hunter-gatherers during the group moving activities, based on participant observation and interaction analysis of visual and audio materials recorded in the field. The communication aspects are multimodal while people are on the move. Based on this, diverse knowledge is generated and transmitted. However, there is limited understanding of how the hunter-gatherers encounter each other and begin communication while on the move. In particular, the physical situation during the group moving activity in environments with visual obstacles, such as the rainforest, is not clear. This article provides the case of the Baka hunter-gatherers, living in the rainforest of southeastern Cameroon, to reveal aspects of the beginning of communication during the extended group moving activity. It shows that in the tropical forest, with its restricted visibility, participants’ physical situation is dynamic. Although this limitation of visibility constrained participants’ face-to-face communication, it diversified their distant communication, which does not require seeing each other. Such non-face-to-face communication provided participants with a wider range of communication while walking together.","PeriodicalId":36941,"journal":{"name":"Hunter Gatherer Research","volume":"2 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141796832","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This article discusses how the World Heritage Convention contradicts and coalesces with rights to culture and rights of Indigenous Peoples as asserted in international law. It describes the origin and universalistic aims of the Convention, and how the Convention’s state-centrism and Eurocentric heritage discourses have stymied the equitable participation of Indigenous Peoples in World Heritage conservation. However it also asserts that a broadening conceptualisation of World Heritage value alongside an increasing focus on synchronicity with human rights can enable recognition and protection of Indigenous Peoples’ worldviews, rights and cultural continuity under an international legal framework. Finally, the article examines the variance among states parties and the World Heritage Committee in upholding human rights standards, using case studies of five World Heritage sites: Budj Bim Cultural Landscape, Australia; Pimachiowin Aki and Wood Buffalo National Park, Canada; the Kenya Lake System in the Great Rift Valley, Kenya; and Kaeng Krachan Forest Complex in Thailand. The article concludes that despite the rights-based turn of recent years, the World Heritage system remains inconsistent in its adherence to international human rights standards.
{"title":"The World Heritage Convention, human rights and Indigenous Peoples","authors":"Irene Fogarty","doi":"10.3828/hgr.2024.7","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3828/hgr.2024.7","url":null,"abstract":"This article discusses how the World Heritage Convention contradicts and coalesces with rights to culture and rights of Indigenous Peoples as asserted in international law. It describes the origin and universalistic aims of the Convention, and how the Convention’s state-centrism and Eurocentric heritage discourses have stymied the equitable participation of Indigenous Peoples in World Heritage conservation. However it also asserts that a broadening conceptualisation of World Heritage value alongside an increasing focus on synchronicity with human rights can enable recognition and protection of Indigenous Peoples’ worldviews, rights and cultural continuity under an international legal framework. Finally, the article examines the variance among states parties and the World Heritage Committee in upholding human rights standards, using case studies of five World Heritage sites: Budj Bim Cultural Landscape, Australia; Pimachiowin Aki and Wood Buffalo National Park, Canada; the Kenya Lake System in the Great Rift Valley, Kenya; and Kaeng Krachan Forest Complex in Thailand. The article concludes that despite the rights-based turn of recent years, the World Heritage system remains inconsistent in its adherence to international human rights standards.","PeriodicalId":36941,"journal":{"name":"Hunter Gatherer Research","volume":"22 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141796680","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This paper describes the protracted nomination to the UNESCO World Heritage (WH) List of the Keang Krachan Forest Complex, Thailand and the issues it exposed. The complex was inscribed in 2021, seven years after it was first nominated, despite ongoing conflict with indigenous Karen hunter-gatherer communities. The nomination was referred back to the state party by the WH Committee in 2015, 2016 and 2019 for reasons related to inconclusive and out-of-date ecological information, and human rights issues associated with the forced resettlement of Karen hill tribe people living within its proposed boundaries. In 2020 the nomination was resubmitted during the 4th mandate of the Thai state party on the WH Committee, and the property was inscribed contrary to a formal recommendation to defer the nomination, and despite repeated communications from the Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights to the WH Centre, the Thai government and the WH Committee seeking resolution of community and human rights issues prior to inscription. Decisions that run contrary to the advice of the WH Committee’s three advisory bodies have become an abiding and troubling aspect of the Committee’s decision-making, reflecting a trend in the politicisation of Committee sessions that has increased over more than 20 years, to a point where it now threatens the integrity of the World Heritage system. This paper examines how the state party pursued its WH ambitions and the impacts this had on particular indigenous Karen communities during national designation and nomination to the WH List. It demonstrates the issues that arise due to legacy nature conservation approaches to the management of extensive natural protected areas.
{"title":"World Heritage and human rights","authors":"Margaret Gowen","doi":"10.3828/hgr.2024.8","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3828/hgr.2024.8","url":null,"abstract":"This paper describes the protracted nomination to the UNESCO World Heritage (WH) List of the Keang Krachan Forest Complex, Thailand and the issues it exposed. The complex was inscribed in 2021, seven years after it was first nominated, despite ongoing conflict with indigenous Karen hunter-gatherer communities. The nomination was referred back to the state party by the WH Committee in 2015, 2016 and 2019 for reasons related to inconclusive and out-of-date ecological information, and human rights issues associated with the forced resettlement of Karen hill tribe people living within its proposed boundaries. In 2020 the nomination was resubmitted during the 4th mandate of the Thai state party on the WH Committee, and the property was inscribed contrary to a formal recommendation to defer the nomination, and despite repeated communications from the Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights to the WH Centre, the Thai government and the WH Committee seeking resolution of community and human rights issues prior to inscription. Decisions that run contrary to the advice of the WH Committee’s three advisory bodies have become an abiding and troubling aspect of the Committee’s decision-making, reflecting a trend in the politicisation of Committee sessions that has increased over more than 20 years, to a point where it now threatens the integrity of the World Heritage system. This paper examines how the state party pursued its WH ambitions and the impacts this had on particular indigenous Karen communities during national designation and nomination to the WH List. It demonstrates the issues that arise due to legacy nature conservation approaches to the management of extensive natural protected areas.","PeriodicalId":36941,"journal":{"name":"Hunter Gatherer Research","volume":"20 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141796792","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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