Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

A Brief Comparison Of Two Early Neighborhoods- Consumerism And Social Class In 20th Century Lincoln Nebraska, Mariska Molnar

Anthropology Department: Theses

In the Fall of 2018, Matthew Hansen monitored the destruction of a parking lot two blocks north of the Capitol Building for the subsequent building of a geothermal system. During this period, and excavation was conducted with the aid of the UNL Campus Archaeology Project, and 12 features were identified. Five features produced artifacts, with Feature 11, a cistern, being the most fruitful. The collection was named the Capitol Wellfield, and a portion of the artifacts, which includes diagnostic glass and ceramic pieces, are housed on campus for studying.

Most research and publication have been focused on older excavations and …

Nebraska’S Medico-Legal System: A Death Investigation Analysis, Ashley Novak

Honors Theses

A large part of the founding of the United States of America focused on the idea of state control over their internal affairs. For this reason, the United States is home to a largely decentralized medico-legal system. The State of Nebraska hosts a coroner-based death investigation system as is written into their legislation regarding the establishment of their medico-legal system. By studying legislation, federal and state reports, as well as publications by academics within the field, merits and weaknesses of the Nebraskan coroner system can be uncovered. Additional considerations and understandings that are needed to be understood include: understanding what …

Tracking And Estimating The Commingling Of Missing U.S. Service Personnel: A Gis And Forensic Anthropological Approach, Mason Mckinney

Anthropology Department: Theses

During times of war, the remains of fallen U.S. military service members overseas are often difficult to track postmortem as they move from their recovery location to a permanent cemetery. After a recovery, remains are typically sent to multiple temporary cemeteries, morgues, and/or identification points before reaching their final resting place. Repeated disinterments and reinterments among vast numbers of remains in multiple temporary locations may lead to unintended commingling. This analysis is meant to examine the postmortem movement of multiple U.S. military members and assess their potential for commingling based on historical records and identification reports supplied by the Defense …

Odontometric Sex Estimation Using A Modern Forensic Skeletal Collection, Andrea Sbei

Anthropology Department: Theses

Forensic anthropologists are responsible for estimating the biological profile—the age, sex, population affinity, and stature—of unknown deceased individuals. Many methods used for estimating the biological profile are sex-specific, which implicates sex estimation as one of the most important components of the biological profile. Historically, the skull and postcranial elements have been heavily utilized for morphological and metric sex estimation methods, whereas odontometric methods have been overlooked and underutilized. Odontometric data has proven to be a worthwhile avenue for the estimation of sex in several population-based studies (Acharya et al., 2011; Adams & Pilloud, 2019; Angadi et al., 2013; Cardoso, 2008; …

Teaching Pedagogy Of Online Vs In-Person Learning: Relative To Osteology, Erik Schulz

Anthropology Department: Theses

With the Covid-19 global pandemic and the increasing need for a better way to teach on a global scale, this study focuses on a possible alternative to standard teaching that would address these issues. This research study examines the effectiveness of using 3D-scanned images vs cast bones in teaching human osteology. There are two main teaching concepts examined: the first examines the pedagogy of teaching and assessing if a 3D or online virtual classroom assessment compares favorably to a more traditional method of teaching osteology and other similar courses in a hands-on setting. The second consideration is to assess the …

Understanding Religious Tolerance In Yongchang, China, Liming Gao

Honors Theses

The formation of China is a process of national integration and a fusion of different beliefs. However, under Chairman Mao (1949-1976) and specifically during the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), people were reeducated to focus on Communism and expel remnants of traditional Chinese culture including the various religions. Although, after the Cultural Revolution, China reinstated its policy of religious freedom, there were still strict laws against religion. Despite such circumstances, Chinese people still practice their religious beliefs. The Yongchang area, located in Gansu Province in the northwest of China is a typical region of Chinese culture. At the same time, compared to …

Learning From Those Who Served: Application Of Regression-Based Body Mass Estimation Methods To The Uss Oklahoma Population, Maxwell Rooney

Anthropology Department: Theses

Current methodologies in body mass estimation are lacking in accuracy when compared to the methods of sex, age, and ancestry estimation familiar to forensic anthropologists. For this reason, the practical application of body mass estimation remains underutilized, hindering the study of a potentially advantageous aspect of the biological profile.

This study highlights body mass estimation in a forensic context while taking the osteological paradox into account through the utilization of a unique population: the US military personnel killed on the USS Oklahoma during the Pearl Harbor attack on December 7, 1942. Because these individuals were similar in age (adults, age …

Humeri Spatulate Tools Associations And Function In Chaco Canyon, Nm, Sara L. Anderson

Anthropology Department: Theses

In the two papers that comprise this thesis, I will be discussing Bone Spatulate Tools (BSTs) specifically those made of artiodactyl humeri found within Chaco Canyon, NM. These archaeological tool types permit the investigation of androcentric biases by way of legacy data acquired using the Chaco Research Archive (CRA). By redressing these archaeological biases, I hope to resuscitate an understudied tool type and highlight their function and importance in Chacoan toolkits. In chapter two, I investigate women and gendered activities by examining Humeri Spatulate Tools (HSTs) that are found at Chacoan great and small house sites. In this study, I …

Medieval Nemea: Building A Public Digital Resource, Lauren A. Vagts, Effie Athanassopoulos

UCARE Research Products

This site presents medieval ceramics from the excavations at the site of Nemea, in southern Greece. We have created a digital resource with results and artifacts from archaeological excavations conducted in the 1970s and 1980s, which have remained unpublished. The website incorporates a variety of materials, including excavation notebooks, maps, data bases, photographs, and 3D models of ceramics. Omeka was selected as the software for this project for several reasons. Omeka offers the Dublin Core metadata as a way to standardize and organize digital data, allowing its users access to a well-developed platform. Omeka is also an open source software …

Integrative 3d Recording Methods Of Historic Architecture: Burg Hohenecken From Southwest Germany, Aaron C. Pattee

Anthropology Department: Theses

This research explores the methodology and application of photogrammetric and laser-scanning recording methods to a castle ruin, with the primary purpose of digitally preserving the castle. Both methods generated interactive 3D models via the combination of still images (photogrammetry) and precise laser measurements (laser-scanning), which were then combined into a single model. The case study is the medieval castle ruin Burg Hohenecken located in the city of Kaiserslautern in southwest Germany. The castle was active from 1212-1689, as one of over fifty castles within the region of the Pfalz. The inhabitants included the noble von Hoheneck family and various …

Usda-Unl Artifacts Roadshow: The Development Of A 2d Archive Of Great Plains Projectile Points, Maia Behrendt

UCARE Research Products

The Archaeological Survey is primarily concentrated through Federal and State lands. Nebraska like much of the Great Plains is overwhelmingly privately owned. As a consequence less than 1% of the state has been subject to professional survey. Private land owners, however, know of many archaeological sites that have not been documented. Engagement with the public about sites and about collected artifacts thus has the potential to greatly increase knowledge of the past.

Over the past three years the University of Nebraska and the USDA Forest Service have conducted “Artifacts Roadshows” to talk with land owners about private artifact collections. These …

Exploring The Evolutionary Origins Of Obesity Through The Endocrine-Physical Activity-Bone Axis, Maria G. Lapera

Anthropology Department: Theses

As the global obesity epidemic spreads, scientists struggle to understand the biological, cultural, and evolutionary bases for modern fatness. Understanding the contributions of the interaction between physical activity and the endocrine system to regulating metabolism could potentially help people who are overweight or obese in losing weight and illustrate one of the evolutionary pathways that encourages modern obesity. This study used an innovative approach that integrated a lifestyle physical activity and diet questionnaire coupled with endocrine analysis (leptin, osteocalcin) and anthropometric measures in order to create baseline measurements of fit individuals. The mean osteocalcin level was 4201.46 pg/mL and the …

What Makes The Anthropology Of Educational Policy Implementation “Anthropological” ?, Edmund T. Hamann, Lisa Rosen

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

Many of the roots of interdisciplinary educational policy implementation studies are anthropological. It follows that what constitutes an anthropology of educational policy implementation should be articulated. This chapter draws on the works of Bronislaw Malinowski, Frederick Erickson, and Joseph Maxwell, among many others to identity the anthropological contributions and prospective contributions to inquiry into the study of the interface between educational policy and practice.

As sociocultural theorists (e.g., Gutiérrez and Rogoff, 2003; Orellana, 2009) have recently asserted, “culture” is something one does, rather than something one has. That is, human beings produce, perform, and reproduce culture every day. Policy implementation …

How Are The Torres Strait Islander's Traditional Hunting Practices Affected By The Current Rate Of Decline In Dugong And Sea Turtle Populations And The Australian Government's Co-Management Policies On Marine Preservation?, Katilyn Price

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

This paper will attempt to identify the extent to which the Torres Strait Islanders traditional hunting practices have been disrupted by the overall decline in dugong and sea turtle populations, which has directly correlated to an increase in hunting restrictions put in place by the Australian Government. The traditional hunting of dugongs and sea turtles provides not only a food source, but brings prestige to the men who catch them and serves as an educational platform to teach the younger generations about their culture. There are many environmental threats that impact the populations of sea turtles and dugongs though the …

Unearthing Archaeology: A Study Of The Recent Coverage Of Selected English-Language Archaeology Journals By Multi-Subject Indexes And By Anthropological Literature, David C. Tyler, Yang Xu, Emily Dust Nimsakont

UNL Libraries: Faculty Publications

Librarians, faculty, and professional researchers, and students already encounter difficulties in locating journal articles for the field of archaeology, yet, in the current budgetary climate, librarians needing to reduce subscription costs may be tempted to cancel smaller, discipline-specific indexes in favor of large multi- subject indexes with broad coverage. This study examines and compares the coverage provided to 208 archaeology and archaeology-related journals and magazines by six multi-subject indexes (Academic Search Premier, ArticleFirst, eLibrary, IngentaConnect, Wilson OmniFile, Web of Science) and by anthropology’s primary index, Anthropological Literature, over a twenty year period (1988–2007).