Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Collecting In Context: A Study Of The Milwaukee Public Museum's French Paleolithic Faunal Collection, Rebecca Fetzer

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis investigates the history of collecting practices of individual collectors and

museums of French Paleolithic archaeological material between 1869 and 1945. During this time period, thousands of French archaeological artifacts were dispersed to museums throughout North America, many with scant provenience. National agendas and the social and economic factors of the time greatly affected their dispersal. The individual agendas of the collector also played a role. This in turn had impacts on the overall understanding of these collections as well as the contemporary construction of archaeological knowledge relating to the study of early humans.

A sizable French Paleolithic faunal …

The Sickle's Edge: An Experimental Use-Wear Approach To Investigating Sickle Deposition In Bronze Age Europe, Barbara Ellen Mcclendon

Theses and Dissertations

Prehistoric hoards—containing items such as precious metals, tools, ornaments, and weapons—have long fascinated archaeologists and the general public alike. The practice of intentional wealth deposition in hoards was particularly prolific during the European Bronze Age; however, the motivations behind this practice remain unclear. Comparisons of the contents of hoards through space and time can yield valuable data regarding the purpose and process of deposition, but one of the most common items found in Bronze Age hoards—bronze sickles—remains understudied. In order to generate a standardized approach to the comparative analysis of prehistoric sickles in a variety of contexts, I propose a …

Land Use Analysis Of The Milwaukee County Institutional Grounds: A Chronological And Spatial Depiction Of Cultural Change, Sarah Klingman-Cole

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis uses GIS analysis of spatial data and historical documentation to determine land use change in the Milwaukee County Institutional Grounds (MCIG) located in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin. This chronological and spatial land use analysis specifically examined aspects of the grounds in relationship to historically documented changes taking place during MCIG operations from 1850 to 1980. The purpose of this thesis is to provide a more accurate account of the grounds throughout the timeframe. This thesis, featuring a GIS model, includes a series of digitized maps that provide for a more accurate account of the grounds throughout the timeframe studied. Results …

A Preliminary Museological Analysis Of The Milwaukee Public Museum's Euphrates Valley Expedition Metal Collection, Jamie Patrick Henry

Theses and Dissertations

Destruction of ancient sites along the Euphrates River in northern Syria due to the construction of the Tabqa Dam resulted in excavations conducted between 1974 and 1978 by the Milwaukee Public Museum (MPM) at the site of Tell Hadidi, Syria, by Rudolph Dornemann. The hundreds of thousands of artifacts at the MPM have never been completely published. This preliminary analysis presents an inventory and analysis of the 941 metal artifacts as well as new archival information about the Tell Hadidi/ Euphrates Valley Expedition, whose publication has recently become critical, in order to make the material more useful for future research.

Regional Perspective Of Recuay Mortuary Practices: A View From The Hinterlands, Callejón De Huaylas, Peru, Victor Manuel Ponte

Theses and Dissertations

Archaeological investigations of burial chambers in the north-central highlands of Peru constitute the corpus of this thesis. Most of the stone structures correspond chronologically and culturally to the Recuay Tradition, a time span of 100 to 800 CE. The study area is located in the Cordillera Negra of the Callejón de Huaylas basin (Ancash Department). CRM projects developed in the impact zone of the Pierina mine have contributed valuable information on the mortuary practices of a Recuay agro-pastoral community. This thesis relied on grave goods inventories, osteological analysis, and types of stone architecture in the burial chamber. Data from this …

Entheses And Activities: The Multivariate Mechanisms Of Entheseal Change For Individuals Represented By The 2013 Excavations Of The Milwaukee County Institution Grounds Cemetery, Jessica L. Skinner

Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

ENTHESES AND ACTIVITIES: THE MULTIVARIATE MECHANISMS OF ENTHESEAL CHANGE FOR INDIVIDUALS REPRESENTED BY THE 2013 EXCAVATIONS OF THE MILWAUKEE COUNTY INSTITUTION GROUNDS CEMETERY

by

Jessica L. Skinner

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 2015

Under the Supervision of Professor Fred Anapol

The analysis of the features that mark tendon and muscle insertion sites on bone has been used in an attempt to reconstruct past life activity patterns of individuals and populations represented by skeletal remains. Many of these analyses have focused on comparing evidence from these individuals with known musculoskeletal and biomechanical data. Recent experimental tests have illustrated that defining these …

Head And Shoulders Above The Rest: Birch-Bark Hats And Elite Status In Iron Age Europe, Cara Melissa Reeves

Theses and Dissertations

As competition between Celtic elites increased in Iron Age continental Europe (c. 800-25/15 BC), ornamentation of the head figured prominently in status displays across the Celtic world. Mortuary and iconographic contexts reveal that headgear made of both metal and organic materials marked elite status, but materials varied regionally by gender and age throughout the Iron Age. The purpose of this project was to capitalize on the rare opportunity provided by birch-bark hats from west-central European elite burials to investigate organic headgear and the possibility that different types of headgear may have marked different social positions within the elite class. Birch-bark …

Vertebrate Evidence For Diet And Food-Processing At The Multicomponent Finch Site (47 Je-0902) In Jefferson County, Southeastern Wisconsin, Zachary Ryan Stencil

Theses and Dissertations

The focus of this study is the intrasite analysis of the vertebrate faunal assemblage from the Finch Site. The Finch Site (47JE-0902) is located in Jefferson County, southeastern Wisconsin, roughly one mile east from Lake Koshkonong’s southeastern shoreline and the Rock River drainage. Stratigraphy and diagnostic artifacts from numerous cultural features indicate that the site was repeatedly occupied over a temporal span of several thousand years including Paleoindian, Archaic, and Woodland periods. Faunal remains were recovered from 169 excavated units and 119 cultural features across the full horizontal extent of the site.

Investigations of faunal remains from archaeological sites can …

A Partial Reading Of The Stones: A Comparative Analysis Of Irish And Scottish Ogham Pillar Stones, Clare Jeanne Connelly

Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

A PARTIAL READING OF THE STONES: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF IRISH AND SCOTTISH OGHAM PILLAR STONES

by

Clare Connelly

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 2015

Under the Supervision of Professor Bettina Arnold

Ogham is a script that originated in Ireland and later spread to other areas of the British Isles. This script has preserved best on large pillar stones. Other artefacts with ogham inscriptions, such as bone-handled knives and chalk spindle-whorls, are also known. While ogham has fascinated scholars for centuries, especially the antiquarians of the 18th and 19th centuries, it has mostly been studied as a script and a …

Molecular Identification Of Mycobacterium Tuberculosis In The Milwaukee County Institution Grounds Cemetery, Helen Marie Werner

Theses and Dissertations

The possibility of identifying Mycobacterium tuberculosis in skeletal remains has been a debated topic for many years. This study utilizes the remains from the 1991 and 1992 excavations of the Milwaukee County Institution Grounds Cemetery, a collection of human skeletons ranging from 1882 to 1925, of various ages and sexes, to address that possibility. To test the utility of previously used methods of osteological identification of tuberculosis, the collection has been analyzed for the IS6110 repetitive element marker using molecular biological techniques, such as Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). Eighty-six skeletons from the collection have been analyzed, with nine of them …

Incorporating The Skeletal Remains Of Two German Lutheran Cemeteries Into The Surrounding Immigrant Population Of Mequon, Wisconsin, Jacquelyn I. Bluma

Theses and Dissertations

The skeletal remains of 24 individuals were disinterred from the Altenburg Lutheran Church Society Cemetery and the German Evangelical Lutheran Cemetery (Stolz Site) in 1987 and 1989, respectively. Both unmarked cemeteries were located in Mequon, Wisconsin. The majority of these individuals were interred during the mid-nineteenth century, a time when German populations were becoming established as a major cultural and ethnic force within the region. Although these cemeteries have undergone multiple analyses, they have not been incorporated into larger discussions of settlement and mortuary practices in the area. By characterizing German immigrant settlement and mortuary practices, it is possible to …

Oneota Ceramic Production And Exchange: Social, Economic, And Political Interactions In Eastern Wisconsin Between A. D. 1050 - 1400, Seth Allen Schneider

Theses and Dissertations

The time between A. D. 1050 – 1400 is a period of dynamic cultural change in the

Western Great Lakes region. During this time period in eastern Wisconsin three distinct

and contemporary cultural groups are present: Oneota, Middle Mississippian, and Late

Woodland. Many studies have focused on the origins, presence and interaction between

these groups. Six Oneota pottery assemblages from three geospatially distinct localities in

eastern Wisconsin are examined: Koshkonong, Grand River, and Waupaca localities.

Pottery assemblages from two sites in each locality were selected for comparison to

determine interlocality social, political, and economic interaction. Ceramic attribute and

compositional analyses …

Forgotten Sherds: Analysis Of Archaeological Ceramics From The Riverside Site (20me01), Michigan, Devyn Mcilraith

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis provides an analysis of the ceramic sherds recovered from the Milwaukee Public Museum (MPM) and the Oshkosh Public Museum’s (OPM) 1961-1963 excavations at the Riverside site (20ME01) in Menominee, Michigan. The Riverside site is most well known as a Late Archaic/ Early Woodland Old Copper/Red Ocher burial site. This analysis focuses on using the ceramic assemblage to refine the Riverside site’s cultural chronology and relationship to the Riverside II site (20ME40). More than 1,300 sherds were collected from the site between 1961 and 1963 and they have been permanently housed at the MPM for the past 60 years. …

Re-Examined And Re-Defined: An Exploration And Comparative Analysis Of Moche Ceramic Vessels In The Milwaukee Public Museum Collections, Kirsten Marie Mottl

Theses and Dissertations

For this thesis, I studied Moche ceramic vessel collections from three museums, the Milwaukee Public Museum (MPM), the Field Museum in Chicago, and the Logan Museum of Anthropology at Beloit College in Beloit, Wisconsin. All three collections originated around the turn of the twentieth century, with the earliest accession in 1893 and the most recent in 2007. These Moche ceramic vessel collections clearly illustrate the evolving museum documentation systems used in natural history and anthropology museums and the challenges of trying to standardize object names, descriptions, and attributes in the museum record. My research for this thesis included personally examining …