Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Anthropological Archaeology journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jaa Thepersistenceofplace:Hunter-gatherermortuarypracticesandland-usein the Trent Valley, Ontario Samantha Walker McGill University, Canada ARTICLEINFO Keywords: Ontario archaeology Geographic information systems GIS Hunter-Gatherers Geospatial modelling Eco-Cultural Niches Spatial analysis Mortuary archaeology Hopewell Late Archaic Middle Woodland Southern Ontario ABSTRACT Hunter-gatherermortuarypracticesidentifiedintheTrentValleyregion,ONarehighlypatternedfortheMiddle Woodlandperiod(400BCE-700CE),buttheimportanceofmanyofthesemortuarysitescanberecognizedasfar back as the Late Archaic period (2500–1000 BCE). A geospatial modelling approach is used to predict the distribution of mortuary sites based on ecological factors that may have influenced land use strategies. The assessment reveals that Late Archaic and Middle Woodland mortuary sites were primarily located near aerobic wetlands that were likely rich in emergent plant life. The predicted suitably of mineral soil horizons, when comparedwithTrentValleyfloodplainbehaviour,suggeststhatwildricemayhavebeenaparticularlyabundant resource near mortuary sites. The position of wild rice in Anishinaabe traditional stories is discussed to con- textualize its potential early food value to Indigenous occupants of the Trent Valley, prior to the resource’s documented historic importance. The highly selective positioning of mortuary sites and their continuity within the Trent Valley region shed light on how ancestral ties to key places were established and maintained in precolonial hunter-gatherer societies. 1. Introduction The investigation of ancient place-making is integral for under- standing the cumulative processes through which precolonial hunter- gatherers produced and maintained their respective landscapes. This paper investigates place-making within a terrestrial and wetland fora- ging context through a case study of mortuary site placement in the Trent Valley region of Ontario, one of the most studied archaeological areas in Eastern North America (Boyle, 1897; Conolly et al., 2014; Johnston, 1968a; 1968b; Ritchie, 1949:3-18; Spence et al., 1984). The Trent Valley is known for its concentration of Middle Woodland burial mounds (400 BCE-700 CE) which are often associated with the Point Peninsula culture (Byers, 2011; Kenyon, 1986; Spence et al., 1978; Smith, 2000:365).Themoundsarespeculatedtohavebeenadjacentto primeresourcesareas,perhapsservingasseasonalaggregationspotsfor social and economic activities, although this has yet to be formally tested (Conollyetal.,2014;Kenyon,1986;Spence,1986;Spenceetal., 1990). Recent research demonstrates that the Point Peninsula mounds are not the first elaborate burial sites to emerge in the Trent Valley, as the region is also home to the earliest known cemetery in southern OntarioattheJacobIsland2site(Conolly et al., 2014; Conolly, 2015), which points to a local mortuary tradition beginning by the Late Ar- chaic (2500–1000 BCE). This provokes two central questions regarding early place-making practices in the Trent Valley: Were Late Archaic and Middle Woodland mortuary sites restricted to a shared environmental setting? And, if so, how might mortuary site selection relate to broader landscape prac- tices? These questions are explored through a paleoecological assess- ment and geospatial analysis of hunter-gatherer mortuary sites in the Trent Valley. The analysis suggests highly selective mortuary site pla- cement near fertile wetlands, where emergent plant species – in parti- cular wild rice – were likely abundant. The study builds on previous theoretical frameworks in hunter-gatherer archaeology which suggest that place-making practices often served as social signalling for co- operative land tenure systems in areas with predictable resource pat- ches that are otherwise regionally scarce (Buikstra and Charles, 1999; Ingold,1986;Kelly,2001;Saxe,1970;Goldstein,1981).Theanalysisis followed by an ethnohistoric exploration of the potential relationship between mortuary practices and wetland resources in a mobile hunter- gatherer landscape. 2. Background This study considers the emergence of elaborate hunter-gatherer mortuary sites as resulting from recursive interactions between plants, animals, and people. These historical processes produced and https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaa.2019.03.002 Received 22 September 2018; Received in revised form 6 March 2019 E-mail address: sam.walker@mcgill.ca. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 54 (2019) 133–148 0278-4165/ Crown Copyright © 2019 Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. T