Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Oral History And Archaeology Of The Keith's Siding Site Location, Amanda Kay Flannery

Theses and Dissertations

At the beginning of the 20th century railroad logging camp settlements dotted the landscape in Northern Wisconsin in order to supply growing city populations and immigrants moving west with building materials. Many temporary towns were created in order to house the workers and their families and provide basic amenities needed to survive in an isolated environment. These communities typically lasted until the extraction of the hardwood was complete and then communities would abandon their makeshift dwellings and move on to the next stand of trees. Very few of the lumber siding settlements have been documented within the archaeological record. Great …

An Early Christian Reliquary In The Shape Of A Sarcophagus In The University Of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Art Collection, Anne O'Connor

Theses and Dissertations

This paper seeks to introduce a relatively unknown example of a small fifth or sixth century AD reliquary object in the shape of a sarcophagus now in the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Art Collection. Its material - mostly likely Prokonnesian marble - a highly prized stone in the Roman Empire - speaks to strength, permanence, endurance, and the concept of romanitas. The form, as derived from Roman burial practice, provides apotropaic powers for the viewer and for the holy person whose remains were contained within. Its design also facilitates the offering of votives and veneration, as well as requests for intercessions …

Vessel Form And Function In The Ceramic Assemblages From Bilbao And Santa Lucia Cotzumalhuapa, Guatemala, Amy Kaczmarek

Theses and Dissertations

My investigation of two ceramic assemblages from Santa Lucia Cotzumalhuapa in the Guatemala piedmont zone builds on previous ceramic studies; however, my research focuses on vessel form and decoration as possible indicators related to human activity and site development in the region. I compared data from the Pacific Coast Archaeological Project Relational Database (2002), which include type names, vessel forms, dimensions, and contextual information, with Parsons' findings from the Milwaukee Public Museum Bilbao Project (1967). My quantitative analysis focused on functional vessel attributes related to ceramic types, forms, and decorations from the Santa Lucia Cotzumalhuapa ceramic assemblages to examine the …

Historic Museum Collections As Primary Sources: Thomas Wilson's Robenhausen Material At The Smithsonian Institution's National Museum Of Natural History, Kathryn G. Maxwell

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis investigates the role of early museum curators and their collecting practices in the construction and transmission of archaeological knowledge. During the late 19th century, artifacts from Swiss lake-dwelling sites, including Robenhausen, a Neolithic and early Bronze Age site located on Lake Pfäffikon in Switzerland, were sold and traded in a "lake-dwelling diaspora" to many collectors and museums in the US and UK (Arnold 2013:877). A collection of Robenhausen material acquired by the Smithsonian Institution's (SI) United States National Museum (USNM) in 1904 is used as a proxy for the collecting practices of the time and serves as a …

Northern Flint, Southern Roots: A Diachronic Analysis Of Paleoethnobotanical Remains And Maize Race At The Aztalan Site (47-Je-0001), Jennifer L. Picard

Theses and Dissertations

Located in Southeast Wisconsin on the west bank of the Crawfish River, the Aztalan site was first settled by horticultural Late Woodland peoples. By the mid-eleventh century A.D., Middle Mississippian migrants arrived from the south. The site was eventually transformed into a fortified village with three platform mounds. During the later component, Middle Mississippian and Late Woodland peoples appear to have coexisted. This thesis consists of a diachronic comparison of floral subsistence remains and maize race at the site. The results of the analysis indicate that while the Late Woodland inhabitants grew maize, food production involving maize and native cultigens …

"The Ruins And Us Go Together": The Neoliberal Challenge To Archaeological Heritage And Patrimony In Mexico, Daniel Dean Kreutzer

Theses and Dissertations

When it comes to the pursuit of archaeology, what would archaeologists like to do, what are they required to do, and what do they end up doing? These questions are at the heart of this dissertation, which studies how archaeologists from the United States who work in Mexico negotiate the web of relationships in which they find themselves. Foucault's concept of governmentality allows us to learn more about how power flows within and between these relationships and shows the tensions that exist when these relationships are unequal. As outsiders, foreign archaeologists need to become more informed about local culture, including …

Painted Discourses: Lived Experience In The Nasca Visual System, Sean Leland King

Theses and Dissertations

This paper looks at the ancient Peruvian culture of the Nasca and discusses the ceramic iconography in terms of lived experience. By understanding the images as "discourse," a term from the philosopher Michel Foucault, scholars can begin to contextualize the iconography not simply as bearers of esoteric meaning, but sociopolitical statements regarding how the ancient peoples experienced their world.

Faunal Subsistence Strategies Among Initial Period Coastal Fishers At The Gramalote Site In The Moche Valley Of Peru, Rachel Catherine Mctavish

Theses and Dissertations

This faunal analysis focuses on vertebrate remains from the northern coastal site of Gramalote in the lower Moche Valley of Peru. Gramalote dates to the Initial Period (1800-900 BC), a time of great change due to a rise of inland agricultural and increasing sedentism. This intrasite analysis of fauna at Gramalote seeks to contextualize potential subsistence shifts through time. Subsistence specialization regarding fish exploitation of coastal fishers is explored through faunal analysis of vertebrates at this site. For an ecological perspective, this project examines the application of Moseley's Maritime Foundations of Andean Civilization and Optimal Foraging Theory models.

The sample …

Brick By Brick: A Comparative Pxrf Analysis Of Brickworks And Structures In The Belgian-American Community Of The Door Peninsula, Lisa Marie Zimmerman

Theses and Dissertations

Wisconsin's Door Peninsula was home to the largest Belgian immigrant population in the United States during the late 19th century. In 1871, a deadly firestorm engulfed large portions of Northeastern Wisconsin and tore through the land where these Belgian's resided. After the fire a household brickmaking industry emerged, creating the red brick that gives the Door Peninsula its architectural character today. Very few of the brickworks that created the iconic red brick are documented in the archaeological record. Vandermissen Brickworks is a late 19th and early 20th century brickworks that made handmade bricks for local structures following the Great Fire …

The Construction Of A Mound And A New Community: An Analysis Of The Ceramic And Feature Assemblages From The Northeast Mound At The Aztalan Site, Thomas J. Zych

Theses and Dissertations

By the start of the 12th century A.D., the Aztalan site in southeastern Wisconsin was home to Middle Mississippian immigrants from the south and local Late Woodland residents. The amalgamated population coexisted, maintained defensive works, and constructed earthen monuments in the spirit of Middle Mississippian mound construction. One mound, located within the domestic complex of the site in the northeast corner of the palisaded area, was the focus of Wisconsin Historical Society excavations during the 1960s. This thesis utilizes the unreported results of these investigations to highlight the social implication resulting from the prehistoric construction of Aztalan's northeast platform mound. …