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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons

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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Prehistoric Subsistence Strategies On The Pecho Coast: An Experimental Collection Of California Mussels And Turban Snails, Kate S. Knox Dec 2022

Prehistoric Subsistence Strategies On The Pecho Coast: An Experimental Collection Of California Mussels And Turban Snails, Kate S. Knox

Social Sciences

Shellfish exploitation by ancient Indigenous people can be observed in archaeological assemblages from shellfish middens throughout California (Erlandson 1988; Glassow 1992; Kennett 2005; Kennedy 2005; Whitaker 2008). Indigenous Californians relied upon the resources from open rocky coast ecosystems as early as 9,000 years BP, yet archaeological researchers continue to debate the actual dietary value of and energy required for procurement of such shellfish (Erlandson 1988; Jones 2003; Jones and Richman 1995). In order to discern the costs and benefits associated with shellfish exploitation, researchers have conducted archaeological experiments to try to replicate prehistoric shellfish foraging. The empirical data produced from …


The Role Of Native Hawaiian Spiritual Practices In Social Systems And Environmental Stewardship, Christina A. Hornbaker Jun 2022

The Role Of Native Hawaiian Spiritual Practices In Social Systems And Environmental Stewardship, Christina A. Hornbaker

Social Sciences

The purpose of this paper is to examine how Native Hawaiian spiritual practices played a role in social systems and stewardship practices. Lightfoot and colleagues (2013) suggest that more archaeological research is needed on traditional resources and environmental management practices. The authors point out that “landscape management practices… are subtle and not prone to leaving smoking guns in the archaeological record” (Lightfoot et al. 2013), which makes such sites difficult to document without ethnographic accounts. Due to this subtlety, I will mainly be pulling information from interviews or oral histories from Hawaiian descendants, early explorers and missionary accounts, ethnographers, and …


Resource Scarcity Drives Lethal Aggression Among Prehistoric Hunter-Gatherers In Central California, Mark W. Allen, Robert Lawrence Bettinger, Brian F. Codding, Terry L. Jones, Al W. Schwitalla Oct 2016

Resource Scarcity Drives Lethal Aggression Among Prehistoric Hunter-Gatherers In Central California, Mark W. Allen, Robert Lawrence Bettinger, Brian F. Codding, Terry L. Jones, Al W. Schwitalla

Social Sciences

The origin of human violence and warfare is controversial, and some scholars contend that intergroup conflict was rare until the emergence of sedentary foraging and complex sociopolitical organization, whereas others assert that violence was common and of considerable antiquity among small-scale societies. Here we consider two alternative explanations for the evolution of human violence: (i) individuals resort to violence when benefits outweigh potential costs, which is likely in resource poor environments, or (ii) participation in violence increases when there is coercion from leaders in complex societies leading to group level benefits. To test these hypotheses, we …


A Bead Analysis Of Northern Chumash Village Site, Tstyiwi: Ca-Slo-51/H, Kaya Wiggins Sep 2016

A Bead Analysis Of Northern Chumash Village Site, Tstyiwi: Ca-Slo-51/H, Kaya Wiggins

Social Sciences

In the Spring of 2015, California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly), San Luis Obispo, conducted a field methods class at CA-SLO-51/H, led by Dr. Terry Jones. The site was found to correlate to the Northern Chumash village, Tstyiwi. The site included a rich assemblage of shell beads. Of the 302 beads recovered from the site, 27 different types of beads were identified. The diagnostic Olivella (Callianax biplicata) shell beads indicate a village occupation spanning from the Early Period through to contact and early post-contact. Shell bead manufacturing at the site is demonstrated by abalone shell bead blanks and …


An Environmental And Historical Study Of The Nipomo Mesa Region, Jason C. Carr Mar 2013

An Environmental And Historical Study Of The Nipomo Mesa Region, Jason C. Carr

Social Sciences

No abstract provided.


An Analysis Of Coastal Marine Impacts Caused By Prehistoric And Historic Fishing Practices In Morro Bay, Ca, Darin Schmicking Jun 2012

An Analysis Of Coastal Marine Impacts Caused By Prehistoric And Historic Fishing Practices In Morro Bay, Ca, Darin Schmicking

Social Sciences

No abstract provided.


Breasts Are For Feeding: An Anthropological, Archaeological Examination Of Breastfeeding, Blaize A. Uva Jun 2011

Breasts Are For Feeding: An Anthropological, Archaeological Examination Of Breastfeeding, Blaize A. Uva

Social Sciences

No abstract provided.


Energetic Path Finding Across Massive Terrain Data, Andrew N. Tsui Jun 2009

Energetic Path Finding Across Massive Terrain Data, Andrew N. Tsui

Master's Theses

Before there were airplanes, cars, trains, boats, or bicycles, the primary means of transportation was on foot. Unfortunately, many of the trails used by ancient travelers have long since been abandoned. We present a software tool which can help visualize and predict where these forgotten trails might lie through the use of a human-centered cost metric. By comparing the paths generated by our software with known historical trails, we demonstrate how the tool can indicate likely trails used by ancient travelers. In addition, this new tool provides novel visualizations to better help the user understand alternate paths, effect of terrain, …