Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Investigating Land Use By The Inhabitants Of Western Cyprus During The Early Neolithic, Katelyn Dibenedetto

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This study presents the first of its kind in Cyprus that combines the use of ancient crop (two-grained einkorn wheat, hulled barley, and lentils) and animal (domestic sheep, goat, cattle, pig, and wild deer) stable isotopes (carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen) for reconstructing land use by the Kritou Marottou Ais Giorkis (Cypro-PPNB, 7956-7058 cal BC) inhabitants in western Cyprus. Current definitions of this time period employ the strict forager/farmer dichotomy, even though archaeological evidence suggests otherwise. In addition, it is still assumed that Cyprus was a barren landscape whose inhabitants were isolated from one another and the mainland. An integrated stable …

Investigating The Role Of Liminality In The Cultural Transition Of The Late Eighth Millennium Bc On Cyprus, Levi Keach

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The Near East has the earliest and best documented Neolithic in the world. However, most research attention has focused on the mainland. The spread of the Neolithic to the adjacent Mediterranean islands was once considered relatively late. The last three decades of research has changed this perception, demonstrating that the spread of the Neolithic to Cyprus was contemporary with its continental development.

This work addresses the change between the archeologically defined cultures of the Cypro-Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (Cypro-PPNB) and the Khirokitian Culture (KC) on the island of Cyprus between the 9th and 6th millennia cal BC. The purpose of this …

A Middle Pueblo Ii Production Zone For Shivwits Ware Ceramics: Implications For Understanding Settlement Patterns And Socio-Environmental Responses On The Shivwits Plateau, William Morrow Willis

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The distribution of ceramics from upland regions in Northern Arizona into Southern Nevada is one of the many curiosities concerning the Virgin Branch Puebloan culture. From the Shivwits Plateau, it is more than 100 kilometers to the Moapa Valley, yet Shivwits Wares make up a sizeable proportion of sherds found at many lowland sites. These networks appear to reach their height in the Middle Pueblo II period and then collapse sometime around AD 1150. The reason for this is not yet fully understood; however, research performed on the southern end of the Shivwits Plateau concerning landscape usage and settlement placement …

Humans Thrived In South Africa Through The Toba Eruption About 74,000 Years Ago, Eugene I. Smith, Zenobia Jacobs, Racheal Johnsen, Minghua Ren, Erich C. Fisher, Simen Oestmo, Jayne Wilkins, Jacob A. Harris, Panagiotis Karkanas, Shelby Fitch, Amber Ciravolo, Deborah Keenan, Naomi Cleghorn, Christine S. Lane, Thalassa Matthews, Curtis W. Marean

Geoscience Faculty Publications

Approximately 74 thousand years ago (ka), the Toba caldera erupted in Sumatra. Since the magnitude of this eruption was first established, its effects on climate, environment and humans have been debated1. Here we describe the discovery of microscopic glass shards characteristic of the Youngest Toba Tuff—ashfall from the Toba eruption—in two archaeological sites on the south coast of South Africa, a region in which there is evidence for early human behavioural complexity. An independently derived dating model supports a date of approximately 74 ka for the sediments containing the Youngest Toba Tuff glass shards. By defining the input of shards …