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Testing Assumptions On The Relationship Between Humans And Their Environment: Case Studies From Cahokia Mounds, Illinois, Caitlin Gail Rankin

Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Many archaeologists argue that studying past human response to climate change can be helpful in informing future strategies to adapt to modern effects of climate change; however, archaeological research is rarely utilized in climate change policy. Much of archaeological research involves forming hypotheses to explain observations of past phenomena. However, the advancement of knowledge requires a back and forth between hypothesis forming and hypothesis testing. I argue that a lack of engagement in hypothesis testing has stalled the advancement in archaeological knowledge on the relationship between humans and their environment. Ultimately, it is this stall in the advancement of knowledge …

Environmental Legacies Of Pre-Contact And Historic Land Use In Antigua, West Indies, Anthony Richard Tricarico

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Hurricanes Irma and Maria have recently demonstrated once again the susceptibility of contemporary populations across the Caribbean to climate-driven events. For islands such as Antigua in the eastern Caribbean, this vulnerability is partly a legacy of prior land use. As such, the actions of pre-Contact and historic period inhabitants are intertwined with contemporary socio-ecological challenges faced by Antiguans today. This research sought to understand the relationship between land use and land degradation from ca. AD 100 to the present in eastern Antigua utilizing two markers of anthropic activity: soil stability and soil quality. Specifically, this research sought to examine how …

Earthen Monuments And Social Movements In Eastern North America: Adena-Hopewell Enclosures On Kentucky’S Bluegrass Landscape, Edward Ross Henry

Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Geometric earthen enclosures are some of the best known pre-Columbian monuments in North America. Across the Eastern Woodlands, many have been preserved as state and national parks. However, their chronological placement is poorly understood as they relate to the rise of complex social behaviors associated with the Adena-Hopewell florescence (500 BC–AD 500) in the Middle Ohio Valley. This is especially true for communities who built smaller enclosures referred to by archaeologists as ‘scared circles’. To better understand the timing, tempo, and nature of their construction I examined the Bluegrass Region in Central Kentucky using aerial and terrestrial remote sensing methods …

More Than Just Empty Space: Integrated Geoarchaeological Investigations Of The Crystal River Site (8ci1) Plaza, Alexander C. Delgado

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Crystal River (8CI1) is a Woodland period archaeological site on the west-central Gulf Coast of Florida, famous for its diverse suite of exotic artifacts typical of the Hopewell Interaction Sphere, as well as its monumental shell mounds which surround a central plaza. Historically, these plazas are utilized as spaces for cultural expression, daily interactions between members of the community, economic exchanges, and discourse of all types. They also serve as a symbolic space, embodying social and political relations that are critical to the formation and maintenance of cultural identity. These spaces are challenging to study using conventional archaeological techniques since …

Community Identity And Social Practice During The Terminal Classic Period At Actuncan, Belize, Kara Ann Fulton

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research examines the relationship between the ways in which urban families engaged local landscapes and the development of shared identities at the prehispanic Maya city of Actuncan, Belize. Such shared identities would have created deep historical ties to specific urbanized spaces, which enabled and constrained political expansion during the Terminal Classic period (ca. A.D. 800–900), a time when the city experienced rapid population growth as surrounding centers declined. This research contributes to the understanding of urban processes of growth and decay in this region, and how they are linked to the behaviors of social factions in settlements.

For communities, …

Geoarcheology In North-Central Texas: A Framework For Archeological Investigation, And Cultural Resource Management In The Fort Worth Highway District, James T. Abbott

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

This document represents an examination of geoarcheological issues affecting a nine– county area in and around Fort Worth, Texas. The study area includes Tarrant, Wise, Jack, Parker, Palo Pinto, Erath, Hood, Somervell, and Johnson Counties (Figure1–1), which collectively make up the Fort Worth District, a regional administrative entity of the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT). This study represents the second phase of a district– focused geoarcheological program being implemented at TxDOT. A similar study of the Houston District was published previously (Abbott 2001a), and studies of other districts are planned. The current study is intended to familiarize archeologists, planners, and …

Recalibrated Chronological Framework For Texas Archaeology-Geoarchaeology, Ken L. Lawrence

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

Radiocarbon assays from select archaeological-geoarchaeological research projects within Texas river basins were compiled and recalibrated using the same calibration curve (i.e., INTCAL09). Chronometric data from investigations within the Nueces, San Antonio, Colorado, Brazos, and Trinity River basins were uniformly calibrated to construct a consistent chronological framework. Once calibrated, the analogous chronometric data were then used to compare drainage basins, paleoenvironmental data, and cultural chronologies across Texas and the region. These comparisons revealed four periods (Synchronous Events I–IV) in the Holocene that occurred simultaneously within all of the examined drainage basins. Synchronous Event I dating to 8,750–8,250 cal yr BP (~6800–6300 …