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An Examination Of Upland South Farmsteads Using An Evolutionary Ecology Methodology, Todd Michael Ahlman

Doctoral Dissertations

The study of historic farmsteads in the Upland South has generally taken a normative approach that compared archaeologically recorded farmsteads to an idealized Upland South farmstead. This approach tends to avoid the issue of variation that is inherent among farmsteads within the region. To address this variation, a Darwinian evolutionary theoretical perspective is proposed. Of the different evolutionary perspectives in archaeology today, including selectionism, evolutionary psychology, and evolutionary ecology, it is proposed that an evolutionary ecological theoretical perspective is the best for examining and explaining the variation among Upland South farmsteads.

In employing an evolutionary ecology theoretical perspective, a resource …

Social And Biological Structures In The Mound C Cemetery, Wickliffe Mound Group (15ba4), Hugh Bryson Matternes

Doctoral Dissertations

Cemeteries are archaeological phenomena that accumulate over time. When formed in socially unstable cultural environments, the messages communicated by mortuary-based material symbols may change over the course of grave accumulation. This dissertation explores whether Mississippian Period mortuary deposits in Mound C, of the Wickliffe Mound Group (15BA4) changed over time.

Cemeteries are places where the dead's social qualities are defined. They help reemphasize important community values and provide a biologically safe repository for the dead. Symbolized mortuary features convey seven general types of social information. This relationship is sensitive to temporal change.

Several analyses placed the cemetery into socio-biological contexts. …

Ostensible Abductions, Real Anthropology, Timothy F. Mccauley

Masters Theses

A gap has developed in the research agenda of contemporary anthropology with regard to a phenomenon which has received notable attention from research professionals in other fields, such as history and psychiatry. What has been called the "alien abduction phenomenon" has had considerable impact, not only on those who sincerely believe these events are an everyday part of human experience (called "abductees") but also on the changing tapestry of American culture. Alien abduction accounts are closely related to the Unidentified Flying Object (UFO) phenomenon, a theme which has shaped American culture since the tum of the century. This thesis represents …

Reading Between The Lines: The Business Discourse Of Globalization, Using Amway As A Local Example, Darlene Bos

Masters Theses

Corporate globalization has become an increasingly discussed topic. The impacts of corporate globalization have been studied on many fronts. This thesis seeks to examine how these worldwide impacts are tied to the individuals in the U.S. that consent to and comply with corporate globalization. This thesis is specifically concerned with the impacts of corporate globalization on workers in the U.S. and around the world. Discourse is the way in which information and ideas are expressed and shared. Discourse is the key to understanding the ideology behind corporate globalization. This thesis looks at the discourse about globalization within one company, Amway. …

Marketing Gullah: Identity, Cultural Politics, And Tourism, Melissa D. Hargrove

Masters Theses

This thesis represents an ethnographic study of the current situation of the South Carolina Gullah. Research was conducted during the summer of 1998 and 1999, in the Sea Island communities of Mt. Pleasant and St. Helena Island, to determine the ways in which local grassroots organizations are combating increased tourism, resort and retirement development, and the commoditization of their cultural heritage as a boost to state revenue. The sweetgrass basket weavers of Mt. Pleasant are situated within this struggle as the living legacy to their Gullah ancestry. Their insight is particularly enlightening concerning the current predicament of native Sea Islanders …

On The Hallowed Hill: An Analysis Of The Historic Cemeteries Within The Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Jacqueline Lott

Masters Theses

Though a number of authors have stressed the importance of using cemetery data to study culture change through time, most of the available studies in this regard have been general in nature and completed without statistical analysis. Few studies have concentrated specifically on small, rural cemeteries, and fewer still have concentrated on regions outside of New England. The southern Appalachian Mountains are but one of the many regions that has yet to be studied in-depth. This thesis is an attempt to bridge some of the aforementioned gaps. Historic cemetery data collected in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park will be …

Pigs, Philistines, And The Ancient Animal Economy Of Ekron From The Late Bronze Age To The Iron Age Ii, Justin Samuel Elan Lev-Tov

Doctoral Dissertations

The assemblage of animal bones recovered from the excavation area of Field I at the site of Tel Miqne-Ekron, located in Israel, is the subject of this dissertation. This site has been identified as the ancient city of Ekron, one of the Philistine cities. The faunal remains from Ekron can be divided into three main parts, bones recovered from the Late Bronze Age, Iron Age I, or Iron Age II strata of the site. Research questions relevant to these three time periods were formulated for each corpus of animal bones. The theme which ties these subdivisions together is world systems …

Transcending Cultural Definitions: A Sense Of Peace, Susan Sanae Sakayori

MA TESOL Collection

Who am I? What am I? This paper is an attempt to tell a personal story of my struggle to answer these questions about my racial and cultural identity. As a Japanese American who has lived the first half of my life in the U.S. and the latter half in Japan, I found it increasingly difficult to find my place in either culture. I was faced with issues of ethnicity, cultural background and personal values that I didn’t realize were so important in understanding who I was. I have traveled down a road of discovery where I was given a …

Ruled With A Pen: Land, Language, And The Invention Of Maine, Gavin James Taylor

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

As Europeans expanded across North America in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, they parceled their territorial acquisitions into a variety of administrative subdivisions. Naming and dividing the land became an integral part of the project of colonization; the conquest of territory involved the transformation of unknown places into clearly defined jurisdictions. This dissertation examines the invention of one jurisdiction, the state of Maine, viewing the evolution of its borders as a reflection of the growth of state power in the region. Seeing an inextricable link between social and territorial boundaries, it ties the development of the territory of Maine to …

Critical Fantasies: Structure Of Chinese Folk Tales, Saihanjula He

Masters Theses

Folk tales provide a unique source of information for cultural studies. They come from the people. Springing from the people's imagination in a social context, they carry historical truths, stir up political undercurrents, and reveal social facts that official history books will not and cannot tell. In a time when writing was a privileged form of expression, the oral folk tale popularly communicated the injustices committed by the upper class, and gave the powerless voices of their own. Common themes of folk tales all reflect, to various degrees, the people's desires to rise above environmental, cultural, social and class constraints …