For months now I have been working diligently at writing about an Archaeology of Belonging. I finished an early draft of my Belonging chapter for my PHD finally, based on earlier even rougher drafts from a the years as I have developed. I think I have finally sorted what I mean whey I say that Belonging is a way of not only forming attachments to landscapes but translating those attachments into identity. My four themes on this consists of identity, emotional ties, instrumental ties, and performativity. I will not give away too much here as I really should write it all down for a journal article (finally?).
Here is the interesting part, as I was preparing to give a lecture in a Modern Archaeology course I came across Hefting.
Ollie Douglas of the Museum of English Rural Life blog wrote back in 2012 about this idea of hefting. He describes hefting as "process of intensively herding flocks of upland sheep until they become
accustomed to a particular grazing area. Once hefted in this way, such
groups retain a kind of homing instinct that lasts across generations."
Continuing his ideas he proposes people can form hefting relationships with landscapes as well. His ideas sound a lot like Belonging. It was a few years back so I will have to find if I can get in touch.
