Paper short abstract:

Plant cultivation does not always result in soil degradation, Dark Earths are examples of societies enhancing soil nutrients and physical properties which allow for centuries of cultivation. My research applies this framework to look at Coast Salish soils in a formerly cultivated landscape.

Paper long abstract:

Traditional Coast Salish cultivation of root foods—e.g. Camas (Camassia spp.), Chocolate lily (Fritillaria lanceolata), and Nodding onion (Allium cernuum)—produced large quantities of food for consumption and trade. Cultivation was practiced extensively in the Salish Sea (British Columbia, CAN and Washington, USA) but did not degrade soil health. Instead, cultivation was coupled with selective harvesting, hand tilling the soil, and low-intensity burning of the fields at the end of the season, these practices continually aerated and added nutrients back to the soil which developed into distinctly dark coloured soils. Areas with darkly coloured soils are often found near village sites and within Garry oak ecosystems which are facing ecological decline due in part to a century and a half of forced removal of Indigenous people from managing their lands. My research is testing whether chemical signatures and physical traits of cultivated soil are useful methods in distinguishing these soils. If specific traits in the soil can be identified there is a better chance of their protection by archaeological regulatory bodies for which there is currently none.