Digital Commons Network^™

Living In The Low Country: Modeling Archaeological Site Location In The Francis Marion National Forest, South Carolina, Jason M. O'Donoughue

Masters Theses

The Francis Marion National Forest, located in the Lower Coastal Plain of South Carolina, has a rich archaeological record generated from years of compliance-based research. Much of the cultural resource management activity in the Forest has been guided by a probabilistic model of archaeological site location. This model is an invaluable tool for Forest Service personnel conducting land-use planning and resource management, but it has seen only limited testing. This study examined the spatial location and environmental associations of the entire sample of archaeological sites in the Francis Marion National Forest to evaluate the extant probabilistic model and develop an …

Subadult Sexual Dimorphism In The Luís Lopes Collection, Miriam E. Soto

Masters Theses

Previous works on subadult sexual dimorphism have focused on the pelvis, cranium, or dentition. The results of these studies have been inconsistent regarding the existence of significant sex differences prior to puberty. For the most part, subadult long bone dimensions have been ignored in previous studies. This study evaluated subadult sexual dimorphism in long bone dimensions using a sample from the Luís Lopes collection. The results of MANCOVA tests and logistic regressions indicate that subadult long bone dimensions are significantly sexually dimorphic and hold some promise for sex determination. Clavicle measurements proved to be fairly accurate sex predictors for subadults. …

Biological Affinity And Sex Determination Using Morphometric And Morphoscopic Variables From The Human Mandible, Gregory Eugene Berg

Doctoral Dissertations

This study determined that morphometric and morphoscopic variables of the human mandible can be used to estimate the partial biological profile of an individual. Specifically, these mandibular variables were used in linear discriminant function analyses designed to estimate the biological affinity or sex of an individual, with or without biological a priori knowledge. The study data set is composed of 17 world samples including U.S. White, Black, and Hispanic individuals, prehistoric and proto-historic Native American groups, Southeast and Northeast Asian peoples, a Central American group, and a Nubian group. Eleven metric measurements were utilized: eight are standard measurements; two were …

Plasticity And Population Structure: Exploring Secular Trends In The Three- Dimensional Cranial Morphology Of The Modern Portuguese, Katherine Elizabeth Weisensee

Doctoral Dissertations

Significant secular changes have been documented in several worldwide populations over the past 200 years; these changes include increased stature and weight, increased cranial vault height, and a narrowing of the cranial vault width (Angel 1976; Boas 1912; Jantz 2001; Jonke et al. 2007; Little et al. 2006). A variety of hypotheses have been proposed as to the origins of the observed changes. This dissertation uses a documented collection of skeletons from the 19^th and 20^th centuries to describe the precise nature of the changes using three-dimensional methods and explores possible causes underlying the changes including individual environmental …

Body Mass Estimation From The Human Skeleton, Megan K. Moore

Doctoral Dissertations

The established methods for estimating average body mass from the skeleton are of two types: biomechanical and morphometric. Neither technique currently addresses the extremes of body mass (e.g. emaciation or obesity). The goal of this research is to explore several different biomechanical methods, using data collected from high resolution computed tomographic scans and macroscopic analysis of 150 known modern individuals from the William M. Bass Donated Skeleton Collection at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. This research will review the biomechanics of human gait and the biomechanical accommodations that occur with increased obesity and load bearing. The analysis will include cross-sectional …

Application Of The Western Hemisphere Health Index To Prehistoric Populations From Tennessee And The Semi-Arid North Of Chile: A Comparative Bioarchaeological Study Of The Implications Of Subsistence Choice, Elizabeth A. Digangi

Doctoral Dissertations

The Western Hemisphere Health Index was applied to prehistoric contemporaneous skeletal populations from Tennessee and the semi-arid North of Chile to ascertain four things: 1. overall health status for each culture; 2. comparison of health status between contemporaneous cultures; 3. if subsistence change (i.e., transition from gathering-hunting to agriculture) is consistently accompanied by a decline in overall health; and 4. the utility of the health index methodology. The skeletal populations analyzed from the semi-arid North of Chile were Archaic (7730 B.C. – A.D. 245) and Diaguita (A.D. 1000 – 1536). Prehistoric individuals examined from Tennessee were Archaic (8000 – 1000 …

Skeletal Asymmetry Within The New Lisbon Collection: Implications For Environmental And Mechanical Stress, Shannon Elizabeth May

Masters Theses

The purpose of this research is to investigate bilateral asymmetry within the New Lisbon Skeletal Collection, and to correlate observed levels with demographic and socioeconomic variables. The New Lisbon Collection is a historic skeletal assemblage of birthdates spanning 1805 – 1975, sourced primarily from Lisbon, Portugal. Metric long bone measurements of length and dimension were taken on a juvenile subsample (n = 82) and an adult subsample (n=248), and asymmetry indices were calculated incorporating both right and left and scaling for size.

For the juvenile samples the objective was to investigate lateralization during growth and development. No significant difference could …

Weaver’S Method Reassessed: The Relationship Between Age And The Estimation Of Sex In Juveniles Using The Auricular Surface, Jaymelee Kim

Masters Theses

The purpose of this research was to test Weaver’s method of sex estimation using the auricular surface on neonatal skeletal remains of varying ages. The age of the individual was used to examine whether or not there existed a stronger correlation between age and elevation than sex and elevation. By assessing these relationships, it could be determined if Weaver’s method is more appropriate for individuals of certain ages more than individuals of other ages. Juvenile skeletons (n = 167) ranging in age from fourteen weeks post-conception to twenty years of age were assessed from two skeletal collections, and the results …