Paper short abstract:

Seeking to show the mutually constitutive relationship between life and decomposition, this paper describes not only the life cycle of peat as partially decomposing matter, but also the multiple life cycles this slow decay makes possible.

Paper long abstract:

This paper explores processes of decay through peat: partially decomposed organic matter accumulating under wet conditions. My ethnographic focus is on the East Anglian fens and the time depth of the landscape revealed through the processes of peat formation, as well as the time scale of labour which has caused the wastage of peat. In focusing on the partial decomposition of organic matter within peat, I seek to show the mutually constitutive relationship between life and decomposition, and to show human activity against this backdrop of a long-term ecological process of decay. As a habitat (and, indeed, as a carbon sink), the gradual life cycle of peat's slow decay is entwined with the life cycle of those who dwell in and near peat fen. Those dwellers include humans: historically the cutting and drying of peat for fuel was been a major occupation within fen communities, while the peat soil itself, once drained, is seen as particularly fertile land for intensive arable farming - although the process of using the land for such a purpose is self-defeating in the long term, as the peat shrinks and wastes away once drained. I therefore set out to provide not only a life cycle of peat as partially decomposing matter, but also to reveal the multiple life cycles this slow decay makes possible.