Bear-Human Relationships in Native Eastern North America

This volume’s case studies recognize the black bear (Ursus americanus) to be among the most socially consequent of species in Native Eastern North America, despite meager remains at many archaeological sites. Indeed, that sparseness offers valuable evidence for the social roles long played by bears. Ethnohistorical sources suggest bear population densities in some habitats were greater than seen today in Eastern North America. Most archaeological assemblages of bear skeletal remains have skull parts and foot bones but lack most other postcranial elements, often reflecting ritual off-site discard of post-cranial remains and feasting on head and feet. Differences in quantities of bear remains, their relative proportions to other mammals, and differing representations of various parts of the bear skeleton are sensitive indicators of a society’s relationship with black bears. We apply precepts of the new animism, or the ontological turn, to animate the zooarchaeology of bears in Eastern North America.