Digital Commons Network^™

Zambian Nurses And The Aids Crisis: Towards A Socio-Cultural Analysis Of Hiv/Aids, Alicia Worley

Masters Theses

This study addresses the need for AIDS research that goes beyond quantitative in formation to deal with the complexities of local context. Sociocultural analyses have been frequently lost in a sea of research that is rooted in a biomedical/quantitative paradigm. As a result of this, issues of political economy, culture, and human agency are often handled at best, tangentially-this to the detriment of prevention and control programs. This study underscores the factors involved in the spread of HIV that lie outside the realm of physiology and medical "fact." The perception and responses of Zambian nurses at a governmental training hospital …

Wintertime Observations On Pig (Sus Scrofa) Decomposition, David Glynn Mcbride

Masters Theses

Detailed knowledge of the behavior of insects and other arthropods associated with decomposing remains is essential to estimate the time since death. To date, many studies have been conducted on human and animal decomposition rates in warm and/or humid climates, but little is known about decomposition rates in a northern wintertime environment. This study was undertaken to document the progression of decay and arthropod activity under these conditions and provide data that can be utilized for estimating time since death in such climates.

Six stillborn pigs (Sus scrofa Linnaeus) were placed in cages in a woodlot near Western Michigan …

The Use Of Three Dimensional Laser Imaging For Facial Reconstruction, Susannah M. Addyman

Masters Theses

This thesis outlines the examination and test of a method developed by the University College, London, Department of Medical Physics and Bioengineering for facial reconstruction using the latest technology in three dimensional laser imaging. The University College technique involves a skull on a rotating platform as the focal point of a laser beam fanned out into a straight line. A video camera placed obliquely to the skull records the distortions in the laser beam created by the surface contours. These distortions are recorded from two directions through the use of four surface-silvered mirrors which allows for the triangulation of all …

Ella Sharp's Hillside Farm: Expressions Of Class And Gender In Nineteenth Century Rural Michigan, Carol A. Nickolai

Masters Theses

This study examined ways in which social class and gender were expressed in the landscape and material culture of the Merriman-Sharp Farm, a nineteenth century upper class farm owned by women in Jackson, Michigan. Material culture studies, landscape architecture, and architectural history were used in addition to available documents to focus on how the Merriman-Sharp family reflected their class and gender affiliations.

The social construction of reality is an ongoing process at the Merriman-Sharp farm through the Ella W. Sharp Park and Ella W. Sharp Museum. The ways in which the Ella W. Sharp Park and Ella W. Sharp Museum …

Children's Tool Making Capabilities: Implications For Hominid Intelligence Models And Skill Acquisition Theory, Jill S. Mccleary

Masters Theses

The focus of this study was on morphological differences in stone tools that could be attributed to varied instruction and cognition levels.

In this study two groups of children, one second grade class and one fourth grade class, were selected to make stone tools. The tools that they made included both Oldowan-type flake tools and Acheulean-type handaxes. The primary variables considered in this study were the subjects' level of cognitive development (pre-operational versus concrete operational) as determined by a series of Piagetian tests, and the effects of varied instructional techniques.

Results suggest that Oldowan flake tools can be produced, at …

Evidence For The Endoparasite Giardia Lamblia In Human Paleofeces From Salts Cave. Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky, Lisa Karen Ruppert

Masters Theses

Three desiccated human feces recovered from Salts Cave, Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky, were analyzed for evidence of parasitic infection, specifically Giardia Lamblia. Positive detection of Giardia cysts was made using a direct immunofluorescent assay (IFA) technique. Scanning electron microscopy revealed what appear to be Giardia lamblia trophozoites. One additional fecal sample, analyzed for its dietary content, was composed primarily of Helianthus annuus (sunflower) and Chenopodium berlandieri (goosefoot). Over one hundred seeds of Cucurbita pepo (squash) were also contained within this specimen. This sample has been radiocarbon dated to 2420±90 B.P., falling into the cluster of previous dates from …

Diet In The Urban Environment: A Trace Element Analysis Of A Nineteenth-Century Cadaver Sample From The Cluskey Building, Medical College Of Georgia, Augusta, Georgia, Paul Christopher Dillingham

Masters Theses

In 1989 human skeletal remains were excavated from three basement rooms of the Cluskey Building, the main medical building of the Medical College of Georgia from 1835-1912. These remains evidently had been discarded there following dissection. The only way a medical student could learn anatomy was to dissect cadavers; unfortunately, dissection was illegal in Georgia until 1887. Therefore, the cadavers had to be obtained by robbing local cemeteries or obtained by request for cadavers robbed from cemeteries in cities such as Savannah, New York, and Baltimore.

A trace-element analysis was undertaken in an attempt to reconstruct the diet of these …

Sexual Dimorphism In Modern Black And White Cranial Vault Thickness: A Forensic Application For Sexual Discrimination, Butler Fuller Iv

Masters Theses

In forensic anthropology, the emphasis in research lies within the continual pursuit of the best methods for human identification through analysis of the skeletal remains available. Most of the methods developed by researchers both past and present have utilized the various skeletal collections curated at museums and universities throughout the country in order to try and deduce patterns and trends visible in the osseus record of human existence. Here, 126 specimens from the University of Tennessee (U.T.) William M. Bass Collection (n=31) and Terry Collections (n=95) are analyzed, to determine the level of sexual dimorphism present in the thickness of …

The Cervical Spine: Race And Sex Differences, Gwendolyn M. Haugen

Masters Theses

This study examines the possible correlation of cervical vertebrae (C2-C7) gross morphological and metric variation with race and sex. Developmental and normal anatomy of the cervical vertebrae are investigated to pinpoint any functional reason associated with this variability. The 174 individuals comprising the pooled data set consisted of black and white males and females from the William M. Bass Collection and the Terry Anatomical Collection. Five measurements and one spinous process type classification were collected on each cervical vertebra (C2-C7). A series of multivariate and discriminant statistical tests were performed on the measurement data to determine whether significant variation exists …

Evolutionary Perspectives For The Analysis Of Prehistoric Lithic Artifacts: An Example From The Western Highland Rim Of Tennessee, Andrew P. Bradbury

Masters Theses

The goal of this thesis is to develop an evolutionary framework for the analysis of prehistoric lithic artifacts. The principles of evolutionary theory are presented and then extended to the lithic artifact analysis. Methods are developed based on the theoretical framework. Lithic artifacts recovered from two Terminal Archaic Wells Creek phase sites in Houston County, Tennessee are used as a case study to demonstrate the utility of such an approach. Variability can be demonstrated with respect to morphology, technology, and function of lithic implements. Elements that may represent attributes under selective pressure are examined.

The lithic material recovered from the …

Continuity And Change In Upland South Subsistence Practices -- The Gibbs House In Knox County, Tennessee, Justin Samuel Elan Lev-Tov

Masters Theses

This report concerns the faunal remains excavated from the Gibbs House Site in Knox County, Tennessee. This site was excavated by Dr. Charles H. Faulkner of the University of Tennessee in five field seasons between 1987 and 1991. The animal bones were examined at the University of Tennessee, Department of Anthropology's Zooarchaeology Laboratory. Faunal remains were excavated from a number of deposits that dated from the late-eighteenth century up to the tum of the nineteenth century. The total assemblage was divided into, early, middle, and late period samples in order to examine changes in diet over time. The largest sample, …

A Survey Of Interracial Interaction At The University Of Tennessee, Knoxville: An Anthropological Analysis, Lillian Marie Wallace

Masters Theses

This study was designed to explore the social interaction of Black and White students at the University of Tennessee and how this interaction impacted Black students' college experience. Most of the pedagogical literature offers a psychosocial explanation of Black students' failure to fully integrate on White college campuses. Early educational anthropology literature presents a cultural difference explanation at the micro level. Present educational anthropology literature offers a more complete explanation of variability in minority school performance through a multi-deterministic approach utilizing race, class, and gender. This study moves beyond classroom performance. It attempts to discover inductively how Black and White …

Continuity And Change In Upland South Subsistence Practices -- The Gibbs House In Knox County, Tennessee, Justin Samuel Elan Lev-Tov

Masters Theses

This report concerns the faunal remains excavated from the Gibbs House Site in Knox County, Tennessee. This site was excavated by Dr. Charles H. Faulkner of the University of Tennessee in five field seasons between 1987 and 1991. The animal bones were examined at the University of Tennessee, Department of Anthropology's Zooarchaeology Laboratory. Faunal remains were excavated from a number of deposits that dated from the late eighteenth century up to the turn of the nineteenth century. The total assemblage was divided into, early, middle, and late period samples in order to examine changes in diet over time. The largest …