Gulf Coast Reed Harvest

The same reed that grows in the marshes of Iraq—Phragmites australis—also grows in the Gulf Coast of the United States.

For our project, we wanted to gather reed from Houston to show what can be done with materials available locally. While inhabitants of the Gulf Coast of America consider the reed to be a nuisance, the Marsh Arabs have built an entire way of life around an abundant resource, living in harmony with their environment. The reed is used to construct islands on which communities are built with reed structures created for shelter.

The Arab American Educational Foundation and Archaeology Now worked with Bayou Preservation Association in Houston to identify areas of reed that needed to be removed. Here are images from our days of collection.

Images courtesy of Archaeology Now and Arab American Educational Foundation