Historical ethnobotany: an overview of selected studies

Abstract

Historical Ethnobotany is an area of research responsible for understanding past interrelationships between people and plant using written records and iconography. The literature on this topic is scattered, and many of these studies are not recognised as such; therefore, it is difficult to compile historical ethnobotanical data. Accordingly, this study attempted to draw a general picture of the publications in this field. The Scopus, ISI Web of Knowledge and Scirus databases were used to search for articles with such keywords as “Ethnobotany + History” and “Historical Ethnobotany” among others. After the studies were selected, information was extracted that included the continents addressed and historical ages. Most studies encompassed a time frame that began in the Modern Age (54.7%), and 46% of the studies were focused on the American continent. With regard to the nature of the source, 98% of the studies included written records, and publications that used the documental analysis as a secondary data in their scope of research were among the most frequent types of studies that were found. In respect to iconographic sources, paintings were used in 6% of the studies. A total of 66% of the studies involved a species or species group as the study object. Our survey revealed the vast scope of these Historical Ethnobotany studies. We believe that this scientific field has great potential for future development and that its findings will only grow in importance considering the current ethnobotanical debate.

Early entanglement of Nova Scotian marine animals in pre-plastic fishing gear or maritime debris: indirect evidence from historic ‘sea serpent’ sightings

“…Ethnobiology can contribute to historical ecology through the use of anecdotal information, often compiled from a wide variety of nonscientific textural sources (e.g. Al-Abdulrazzek et al 2012, da Silva et al 2014, McClenachan et al 2012, Saenz-Arroyo et al 2005, 2006. This sort of work falls within the bailiwick of natural history, so it is neither appropriate to prejudicially dismiss the value of information contained within historical textual accounts (Pauly 1995), nor to insist upon rigorous hypotheses testing as per scientific procedure.…”

Urban Spaces, Plants, and People in the Nineteenth-Century Bogotá, Colombia

“…This study adopted a historical ethnobotanical approach. Defined as the use of historical methods to examine past interactions between humans and plants (Medeiros and Hanazaki 2009), this approach draws on information obtained from written and iconographic documents preserved in libraries, archives, museums, or herbariums (Silva et al 2014). Written sources included official documents, newspapers and magazines, travelers' accounts, scientific publications, and other literature, whereas iconographic sources used to expand the information provided by written sources included art and photographs.…”

As plantas comestíveis no Brasil dos séculos XVI e XVII segundo relatos de época

“…Estes diários, crônicas e cartas são um rico acervo sobre esta época e, cada qual a seu modo, descrevem costumes das populações nativas, hábitos alimentares, fauna e flora, entre outros aspectos curiosos para os colonizadores. A análise destes documentos, dentro da perspectiva da etnobotânica histórica, é importante para a reconstrução da história do Brasil pré-colonial e para compreender de que forma a flora nativa foi sendo substituída por espécies exóticas e acabou caindo no esquecimento da população geral (Silva et al 2014).…”