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Site Formation Processes In An Upland Paleoindian Site: The 2005 – 2007 Topper Firebreak Excavations, Darcy Shane Miller

Masters Theses

In the Southeastern United States, archaeological sites dating to the Paleoindian period are elusive. This study examined whether the Topper Site (38AL23) in Allendale County, South Carolina has buried, relatively undisturbed Paleoindian deposit using a sample excavation block removed during the 2005-2007 field seasons. Artifact horizons were defined by plotting the density of each bulk provenience against a vertical profile. The vertical displacement of refitted artifacts and the position of diagnostic artifacts were used to test the integrity of these horizons. The results indicate a discrete deposit associated with diagnostic Clovis artifacts. Subsequent analyses tested for horizontal post-depositional movement, and …

Breaking The Be Nice Rule: Direct Action Community Organizing, Adriana Rosas

Masters Theses

Focusing on the Kalamazoo Homeless Action Network (KHAN), this thesis explores the dynamics of transformation in community organizing, and the crucial and often complicated role of anger in that process. Current Anthropological literature on the topic of resistance and poverty leaves unexamined the micropolitics of individuals' transformation as they become civically engaged as well as the laborious organizing techniques culminating in such events that lead to social change and individual empowerment. I will contribute to the literature on poverty and resistance by examining the 'behind-the-scenes' dimensions of direct action community organizing that influence individual and social transformation. Through this examination …

Sexual Dimorphism In The Vertebral Column, Amanda Suzanne Allbright

Masters Theses

Determining sex from skeletal remains is important in forensic and archaeological settings. Though using the pelvis to determine sex is ideal, often remains are fragmentary or incomplete, requiring sex to be estimated from other skeletal elements. Many individual bones have been studied to evaluate sexual dimorphism and the extent to which they can be used to determine sex of an unknown individual. However, sexual dimorphism in the vertebral column has only been examined to a limited extent.

The purpose of this study is to examine the extent of sexual dimorphism throughout the entire vertebral column and, if present, to establish …

Validation Study Of Reface (Reality Enhanced Facial Approximation By Computational Estimation), Diana Kim Moyers

Masters Theses

ReFace (Reality Enhancement Facial Approximation by Computational Estimation) is a prototype facial approximation software program developed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in conjunction with GE Global Research. The prototype extrapolates an “approximation” of a face from a skull using a database of computed tomography (CT) scans of living individuals. The test set consisted of CT scans of 53 articulated human skulls from the William M. Bass Donated Skeletal Collection and the William M. Bass Forensic Skeletal Collection, which are curated at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.

Through the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Visiting Scientist Program, …

Femoral Variability On The Plateau Of North America, Erin Shumate Bledsoe

Masters Theses

The purpose of this research is to examine femoral variation within the Plateau region of North America by using external measurements. Femoral measurements from the Northern and Southern regions of the Plateau were analyzed for temporal and spatial changes in femur shape associated with a change a from hunter-gatherer lifestyle in the prehistoric period to a more sedentary lifestyle in the historic period. Results indicate that there is no significant variation between the Northern and Southern Plateau samples. Results do, however, indicate that there are differences in the femoral measurements of prehistoric and historic populations. Changes in femoral size are …

Investigation Of Second, Fourth, And Eighth Sternal Rib End Variation Related To Age Estimation, Barbara Kathleen Alsup

Masters Theses

Estimating age at death accurately can be invaluable in answering important questions in fields such as paleoanthropology, bioarchaeology and forensic anthropology. Sternal rib ends have received a great deal of research attention as an area that uniformly changes with age. The most popular methods developed in this area were developed by Iscan and coworkers (1984, 1985) using the right, fourth rib. However, the accuracy of this method has been called into question using different ribs (Yoder et al., 2001). The right, second, fourth and eighth ribs from the William M. Bass Donated Skeletal Collection were examined using the Iscan et …

Mound Versus Village: A Biocultural Investigation Of Status And Health At The Cox Site, Juliette R. Vogel

Masters Theses

A good deal of what we know regarding the prehistoric Mississippian period (1000-1600 AD) in the Southeastern United States has been provided for by mortuary studies. Archaeological investigations have uncovered what appears to be differential treatment in burial practices among some subsets of community populations. The argument has been made that those individuals buried in ceremonial mounds or interred with finely crafted or exotic grave goods make up the “elite” sector of a population while those with less spectacular burial treatment are “commoners.”

The purpose of this research is to determine if health status differs by burial location at the …

An Analysis Of The Woodland Ceramics From Galum Crossing (Site 21c4-29): An Early Late Woodland Occupation In The Southern Illinois Interior, Gabrielle Aberle

Masters Theses

Situated on upper Galum Creek at the northwest margin of the Big Muddy River drainage basin, the primary occupation at Gal um Crossing consisted of an early Late Woodland habitation dating from approximately A.D. 450 to the early A.D. 700s. The cultural-historical affiliation of the Woodland occupation and the relationship of Galum Crossing to local and regional contemporaneous sites were assessed using radiocarbon dating and an attribute-based analysis of the Woodland ceramic assemblage. This provided data for examining the designation of the proposed Jamestown phase (Moffat 1991, 1992) as a transitional unit between the Middle Woodland Crab Orchard Tradition and …

An Unequal Consumption? Sex And Gender Differences In Tuberculosis, Sarah K. W. Avink

Masters Theses

In the developing world today, tuberculosis (TB) accounts for 26% of avoidable deaths (Holmes et al 1998). Poverty is considered to be a main risk factor for TB, and since some estimates show that women make up 70% of the world's poor (Thorson and Diwan 1998:11), one might conclude that the incidence of TB worldwide would be much higher for women than men. However, reports reviewed in this thesis show the reverse to be true, with an adult annual male notification ratio for TB at 1.5 to 2.1 times higher than that of females. Both biological reasons and social factors …

Modern Frequency And The Significance Of Acromial Shape In The Etiological Debate Of Os Acromiale, Lorena Villao

Masters Theses

Os acromiale was first described by the anatomist Grüber in 1859. In later anthropological studies, os acromiale has subsequently been referred to as a genetic marker among African-American populations. However, Blakey (2000) and Rankin-Hill (1997) point out that biomechanical stress should be considered as a possible cause of this trait. This population has a harsh history, which is evidenced in the skeletal remains via nutritional deficiency, disease, and markers of occupational stress. A trait interpreted as genetic, may in fact be another stress marker. Frequency rates (%) in the William M. Bass donated skeletal collection, representing a modern sample, were …

Examination Of Secular Change In The Vertical Head Diameter Of The Human Femur In American Males And Females, Sandra Cridlin

Masters Theses

Secular changes in various aspects of the human skeleton can provide indications of environmental effects on growth and development. Temporal trends, as a reflection of fluctuations in health of a particular population over time, can provide evidence of how that population responds to episodic environmental transitions. Cohort comparisons of trends can reveal differing degrees of change experienced among groups within a single population or between different populations. The purpose of this study is to examine secular changes in the femoral maximum vertical head diameter of Americans male and females, and to investigate whether changes in head diameter size could be …

Methodological Considerations: Osteoarthritis And The Significance Of Porosity In The William M. Bass Donated Skeletal Collection, Kimberly Tenese Wren

Masters Theses

Osteoarthritis is one of many diseases that accompany the ascension into old age. It has been documented in animals and humans alike. The current research examines porosity’s relationship to osteoarthritis. European American females and African American and European American males from the contemporary William M. Bass Donated Skeletal Collection are analyzed.

The objective of this study is to determine whether or not a change in the relationship of osteoarthritis severity to porosity severity will occur as the criteria used to identify osteoarthritis changes from osteophytes alone (method I), to eburnation alone (method II), and then both osteophytes and eburnation (method …

Archaeological And Dendrochronological Investigations At Cagle Saltpetre Cave, Van Buren County, Tennessee, Sarah Anne Blankenship

Masters Theses

During the 19th century, the increasing demand for saltpeter, a vital ingredient in gunpowder, led to both large- and small-scale saltpeter-mining operations in caves throughout Tennessee. Although the general procedures in the historic processing of saltpeter are fairly well understood, very little archaeological research has been undertaken on specific saltpeter-mining sites. Historic documentation of mining activities within these caves is scarce, thus systematic studies of these sites are integral to a greater understanding of this early extractive industry. The research presented in this thesis is the first in the region in which archaeological and dendrochronological investigations were used in conjunction …

Building A Predictive Model For Paleo Indian Archaeological Site Location Using Geographic Information Systems, Zachary Jaime

Masters Theses

This research is a multi step method to predict unknown Paleoindian archaeological site locations within Pine Bluffs, Wyoming, situated in the southeastern corner of the state, using a Geographic Information System (GIS). The GIS technology is being used to predict Paleoindian archaeological site locations and will help demonstrate the geographic similarities and differences between already known Paleoindian archaeological sites and random non-site locations in the Pine Bluffs region. Using GIS, one can note the similarities and differences between the Paleoindian sites and the surrounding landscape and, with help of logistic regression analysis, one can predict the location of unknown Paleoindian …

The Gyftakis Site: A Reevalutation Of A Middle Woodland Site After 30 Years, Michael R. Fournier

Masters Theses

This research is the catalogue and study of the Gyftakis Site (20MK51) excavated in 1973 by Dr. James Fitting. The first part of this study involves the cataloguing and description of the artifacts excavated by Dr. James Fitting at the Gyftakis site located on the Marquette Mission block in St. Ignace, MI.

The second part of the research involves using SPSS to analyze the decorative techniques used on the Gyftakis pottery. A chi-square test was performed first to see if the ceramic decorations were not just defined by a random distribution. After that the ceramic decorations were analyzed in both …