Representing space and place : hunter-gatherer perspectives
(2020) 12th International Conference on Hunting and Gathering Societies In Hunter Gatherer Research 4(3). p.287-309- Abstract
- The anthropological sciences have long been interested in how hunter-gatherers perceive and interact with their spatial environment. The spatially flexible and dynamic modes of subsistence and residence typical of many hunter-gatherer communities have been considered to be key factors in the social organisation and ideological framing of such communities. However, close attention to spatial representation—in the form of categories and distinctions as they surface in everyday communication and behaviour, for example—has so far been largely restricted to certain subfields within the language and cognitive sciences. This inquiry, on the other hand, has not been concerned with the hunter-gatherer category as such, and it has rarely addressed... (More)
- The anthropological sciences have long been interested in how hunter-gatherers perceive and interact with their spatial environment. The spatially flexible and dynamic modes of subsistence and residence typical of many hunter-gatherer communities have been considered to be key factors in the social organisation and ideological framing of such communities. However, close attention to spatial representation—in the form of categories and distinctions as they surface in everyday communication and behaviour, for example—has so far been largely restricted to certain subfields within the language and cognitive sciences. This inquiry, on the other hand, has not been concerned with the hunter-gatherer category as such, and it has rarely addressed spatial representations in their sociocultural context. The present special issue aims to highlight the potentials of a closer integration of these different research perspectives in advancing our understanding of hunter-gatherer space. The contributions—written by experts on a diverse set of communities—address a range of representational phenomena of core concern to this aim. This introductory paper presents space as a domain of inquiry into meaning, it reviews the literature on spatial representation among hunter-gatherer communities, and it outlines some of the major patterns of hunter-gatherer spatial strategies that emerge from the literature and the present contributions. Pointing to both diversity and commonalities across communities, the data offer new views of promising ways forward in the inquiry into hunter-gatherer relationships with the environment. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/187f01bc-59db-47fb-9f90-9724c4b72484
- author
- O'Meara, Carolyn ; Burenhult, Niclas LU ; Rothstein, Mikael and Sercombe, Peter
- organization
- publishing date
- 2020-05
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- space, language, spatial cognition, place, landscape, hunter-gatherers
- in
- Hunter Gatherer Research
- volume
- 4
- issue
- 3
- pages
- 287 - 309
- publisher
- Liverpool University Press
- conference name
- 12th International Conference on Hunting and Gathering Societies
- conference location
- Penang, Malaysia
- conference dates
- 2018-07-23 - 2018-07-27
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85085469425
- ISSN
- 2056-3264
- DOI
- 10.3828/hgr.2018.19
- project
- Language as key to perceptual diversity: an interdisciplinary approach to the senses
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 187f01bc-59db-47fb-9f90-9724c4b72484
- date added to LUP
- 2020-02-01 12:27:22
- date last changed
- 2023-12-04 13:40:38
@misc{187f01bc-59db-47fb-9f90-9724c4b72484,
abstract = {{The anthropological sciences have long been interested in how hunter-gatherers perceive and interact with their spatial environment. The spatially flexible and dynamic modes of subsistence and residence typical of many hunter-gatherer communities have been considered to be key factors in the social organisation and ideological framing of such communities. However, close attention to spatial representation—in the form of categories and distinctions as they surface in everyday communication and behaviour, for example—has so far been largely restricted to certain subfields within the language and cognitive sciences. This inquiry, on the other hand, has not been concerned with the hunter-gatherer category as such, and it has rarely addressed spatial representations in their sociocultural context. The present special issue aims to highlight the potentials of a closer integration of these different research perspectives in advancing our understanding of hunter-gatherer space. The contributions—written by experts on a diverse set of communities—address a range of representational phenomena of core concern to this aim. This introductory paper presents space as a domain of inquiry into meaning, it reviews the literature on spatial representation among hunter-gatherer communities, and it outlines some of the major patterns of hunter-gatherer spatial strategies that emerge from the literature and the present contributions. Pointing to both diversity and commonalities across communities, the data offer new views of promising ways forward in the inquiry into hunter-gatherer relationships with the environment.}},
author = {{O'Meara, Carolyn and Burenhult, Niclas and Rothstein, Mikael and Sercombe, Peter}},
issn = {{2056-3264}},
keywords = {{space; language; spatial cognition; place; landscape; hunter-gatherers}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{3}},
pages = {{287--309}},
publisher = {{Liverpool University Press}},
series = {{Hunter Gatherer Research}},
title = {{Representing space and place : hunter-gatherer perspectives}},
url = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/79929573/hgr.2018.19.pdf}},
doi = {{10.3828/hgr.2018.19}},
volume = {{4}},
year = {{2020}},
}