Heritage Landscapes: Rediscovered, remembered, and recreated

Session Hosting Format:

in-person session

Organizer(s):

Natascha Beisswenger-Mooney, Western University and TMHC inc.

Contact Email:

Session Description (300 word max):

Whether in passing or on a daily basis, the spaces that we engage with hold many stories about the past. These stories may be beneath the ground, held in memory, or even hidden in plain sight. This session explores how people remember, rediscover, and recreate heritage landscapes, as well as the landscapes’ history and significance. In North America, when background research suggests that a location is culturally significant, archaeologists, especially those in CRM, may excavate to find, collect, and record artifacts and features that the landscape may have hidden beneath its surface. However, using a shovel and trowel to rediscover the heritage landscape simply scratches the surface of what can be learned. Archival studies and digital technologies offer additional ways to rediscover the community and individual histories held within heritage landscapes and recreate what the heritage landscape may have previously looked like. Additionally, the growing emphasis on descendant and community engagement through individuals’ memories or oral histories adds a human element that is essential for a more holistic understanding of the heritage landscapes. Interdisciplinary methods can help answer questions about heritage landscapes hidden in plain sight, such as repurposed or ruined buildings, or in places where excavation is highly intrusive, such as cemeteries.

Contributions that consider novel ways to retell, rediscover, and recreate heritage landscapes are welcome. Potential themes could include: How are different technologies and practices being used to rediscover and record heritage landscapes? In what ways are heritage landscapes narrated and remembered by communities? How are heritage landscapes being protected, incorporated, or recreated using various technologies?

Presentations

Handheld Landscapes: How 3D Printing Helps Preserve Heritage Homes ( Adam MacFarlane )

Presentation format: Online - pre-recorded

Author(s):

Adam MacFarlane - Western University
Natascha Beisswenger-Mooney - Western University

The ability to create digital 3D models of heritage sites and landscapes has been a great benefit to the field of archaeology. Processes like LiDAR and photogrammetry can be used to bring these places into the digital world. 3D printing offers another way to preserve and recreate these heritage landscapes. By taking the digital 3D models and printing them, the digitized landscape is transformed back into a physical object — a tangible scale model that can be easily interacted with. 3D prints are cost-effective, make hard-to-access locations accessible, serve as a tool for hands on education, and a way to provide a tangible output to a community. However, printing a 3D model is not as simple as uploading a digital model and hitting the print button. In this paper we discuss the printing process of taking the digital models of two heritage homes — currently standing in ruins in Quihi, Texas — and transforming them into 3D print-quality models. Finally, we reflect on the decisions we made regarding printing time and printed versus hand-painted colouring to balance accuracy and technological limitations.

If Walls Could Talk: The Stories Heritage Homes Help Retell ( Natascha Beisswenger-Mooney )

Presentation format: In-Person

Author(s):

Natascha Beisswenger-Mooney - Department of Anthropology, Western University

In this paper, I present early findings from my master's research regarding how the heritage landscape of German-Texan settlers in Quihi, Texas, has been remembered and engaged with by the descendant community. Quihi was settled by German migrants as part of a settler-colonial project in the 19th century. In the decades following German settlers' arrival in Quihi, they began constructing rock houses and creating a new built landscape with churches and shops. Some of these 19th-century buildings still stand, while others have fallen into ruin. My research focuses on two of the 19th-century rock houses that have fallen into ruin, as well as the landscape surrounding them. During my fieldwork, I created 3D models of the ruins using photogrammetry and conducted semi-structured oral history interviews with seven individuals from the descendant community, focusing on personal and family experiences with these houses. During the interview participants shared recollections of (re)discovery of their ancestors' homes, how those who lived there remember them, and information about the houses' lives. I conclude by discussing how the 3D models are being layered with archives and the oral histories to create public-facing outputs.

Living Heritage, Living Lands: Indigenous Youth, Cultural Stewardship and Wellness in Churchill ( Linda Larcombe )

Presentation format: In-Person

Author(s):

Linda Larcombe - University of Manitoba

The Connecting Land, Culture Heritage and Wellness (CLCHW) is a collaborative research project that is focused on Indigenous youth wellness and establishing Indigenous-led stewardship of archaeological sites in the Churchill, Manitoba. By engaging Inuit, Dene, and Cree youth with their ancestral lands, the program demonstrates how being on the Land, experiencing the cultural heritage at archaeological sites and strategizing for its preservation might serve as tools for youth and community health and identity. The project identifies a critical need for legislative reform in Manitoba to align with international Indigenous rights and prevent the loss of historical sites to erosion or development.

Researchers propose the creation of an Indigenous Cultural Heritage Trust to grant local communities’ authority over their own history and artifacts. Ultimately, the initiative seeks to transition from colonial management styles toward a model where cultural belongings are treated as living connections to relatives rather than static objects of study. Through technological mapping and land-based ceremonies, the project builds a sustainable framework for sovereign heritage management and future tourism opportunities.

Mapping and Documenting St. Dominic’s Cemetery with and for the Community ( Rory Succee )

Presentation format: In-Person

Author(s):

Rory Succee - Western University

This paper presents findings from my master’s research, which explores how the community of D’Hanis, Texas used headstones as a form of identity negotiation. Part of this research included June 2025 fieldwork where headstones were photographed and 3D modeled through photogrammetry, virtually preserving the cultural heritage landscape for future generations. Further, this project was supported by the community who provided cemetery records and maps. This paper discusses the ways that community involvement, combined with archives, in a cemetery study allows for deeper analysis of communal histories that are depicted on the heritage landscape. Further, this paper explores the possibility for digital headstone models to allow the community to engage with their ancestors and create new or recall old memories as well as advantages or disadvantages of using digitization. To close, I will discuss the ways in which descendants have continued to revisit the cemetery by replacing, updating, and relocating headstones and the heritage landscape. Overall, this project highlights how past and present community members continued to engage with D’Hanis’ heritage landscape and how 3D models potentially offer new forms of engagement with memories.

New Insights on Methodological Approaches in Examining Looted Human and Animal Remains in the Jequetepeque Valley, Peru ( Samantha (Presenter) Breau )

Presentation format: In-Person

Author(s):

Samantha (Presenter) Breau - University of Toronto
Ellen Pacheco - University of Toronto
Stephen Berquist

Mortuary practices are well documented throughout the Jequetepeque Valley in the North Coast of Peru (Alaica, 2022; Donnan et al., 1997; Huffman, 1997; Tomasto-Cagigaoet al., 2016; Zobler and Sutter, 2016; Zori and Johnson, 2011). Issues in relation to archaeological disturbances and looting activity in the region have significantly impacted how we are able to both collect and examine osteological material. As such, the need for salvage-based excavations has become necessary to provide future direction in navigating these issues. The presence of extensive looted funerary material, both osteological and other artifacts such as ceramics, within the boundaries of the Cañoncillo Archaeological Project (2004-present) in the Jequetepeque Valley presents the opportunity to explore novel approaches in such salvage-based methods. This paper presents the preliminary results from the 2025 field season and offers insight into novel approaches in the region in identifying looted versus non-looted material/structures, and how we aim to continue future exploration of the region in collaboration with the local community of Jatanca. Overall, we aim to provide alternate perspectives on the importance of the materials from looted contexts and emphasize how such material can benefit both academic and local understanding of the past.