IN-PERSON: Prague – Section A

Abstract

Living plants embody and express different sorts and spans of time than constructions of human hands. They are natural and evocative counterpoints to archaeological remains and our experience of their landscapes. Plants’ roles may be ambiguous, especially at publicly accessible, designated archaeological sites. Uninvited, plants may offer clues to what lies below ground or to the site’s former life. On the other hand, plants may seem irrelevant to the heritage with which the site is concerned; they may be a danger or a guardian to what preservationists seek to protect; they may find needed refuge in a site’s special conditions; they may provide habitat for both desirable and undesirable animals. When plants are part of site’s contemporary landscape design they likely perform formal and instrumental functions: framing, sequentially ordering, accentuating, stabilizing, sheltering, hiding, revealing,… Here we are most interested in plants’ roles in people’s experience, both visitors who come from a distance and local residents. Plants roles in experience of archaeological sites, primarily in North American and Europe, were examined through field research, landscape design, historical narratives, and contemporary literature from multiple disciplines. In this richly illustrated presentation we survey the variety of such experiences but are particularly concerned with plants’ recent roles in landscape design and programming at three publicly accessible designated archaeological sites: the Lykeion of Aristotle in Athens, Monte Albán in Oaxaca and Tzintzuntzan in Michoacán. These examples demonstrate how plants can variously enhance an archaeological site’s cultural resonance even while enriching individuals’ experience and ecosystems’ functions.