Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Perils On The High Seas: The Effects Of Submersion And Containment On Human Decomposition In Saltwater, Celene Aundrea Sotkowy

Masters Theses

Forensic analysis of decomposing human remains in a submerged and contained aquatic environment is an area of research that lacks systematic evaluation and hinders the ability to accurately determine time since death/submersion. Expanding our understanding of how submersion and containment affects the known taphonomic agents pursuant to aquatic environments will contribute to the knowledge base on human decomposition in a multitude of environments.

In response to this limited knowledge base, this thesis reviews ten marine and air incidents occurring along the coast of British Columbia, Canada in which the bodies of eighteen individuals were recovered from inside the submerged wreckage …

A Geophysical Survey Of Fort St. Joseph (20be23), Niles, Michigan, Daniel P. Lynch

Masters Theses

Fort St. Joseph is a 17th-18th century French (and later English) mission-garrison-trading post complex located in southwest Michigan. A geophysical survey was performed and the results of the survey were tested through archaeological excavation. The geophysical methods included ground penetrating radar, electromagnetic induction, electrical resistivity, magnetic gradiometry, and magnetic susceptibility. The results of the archaeological excavations demonstrate that magnetic gradiometry was the preferred geophysical method at this particular site. The magnetic gradiometer survey included both terrestrial and possible submerged portions the site. Laboratory analysis of the magnetic susceptibility and magnetic viscosity of soils and rocks demonstrated that the archaeological features …

Single Muslim Young Adults: Negotiating Identities, Religion And Desire, Zarinah El-Amin Naeem

Masters Theses

This ethnographic thesis is an empirically rich, critical analysis of the singlehood of Muslim young adults. Based on interviews with 21 single Muslims aged 18-36, and participant observation of Muslim spaces, I demonstrate that while Islam and Muslim communities present "ideal" behaviors, Islam is not alone. Instead, like identity, the singlehood of American Muslims is created and recreated through dialectical relationships with several cultural "wombs" including religion, popular culture, family, and ethnicity. As Muslim young adults encounter these often contradictory ideologies, they accept and reject parts, and negotiate their identities, religion and desires - all while struggling to maintain a …

Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project Annual Report, 2007-08, Michael S. Nassaney

Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project

This past year (September 1, 2007 through August 31, 2008) was arguably the most productive for the Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project since the site was initially identified on the ground by Western Michigan University archaeologists in 1998. The project has become one of the premier public archaeology programs in the Midwest, guided by the philosophy of community service learning in which students provide a community service and learn through civic engagement. Investigations and interpretations have spawned a number of significant recent developments. First, the City of Niles and Western Michigan University entered into a 10-year collaborative agreement to ensure …

Participant/Observer Vol. 2. No. 1 Fall 2008, Anthropology Department

Participant/Observer

A Newsletter for Friends of the Western Michigan University Department of Anthropology

Table of contents:

• Christine Cronk named 2007 Distinguished Alumna
• Letter from the Chair
• Ready takes helm at Walker Institute
• Archaeology Field School Students Excavate at Fort St. Joseph
• Meet Brit Hartenberger, Visiting Assistant Professor
• Alumni News
• Department News: New faculty member Jacqueline Eng

Black Women, Beauty, And Labor: Towards An Archaeology Of African-American Women In Indianapolis, Indiana, Genesis M. Snyder

Masters Theses

For two consecutive summers (2002 and 2003), I conducted fieldwork in the Ransom Place Archaeology neighborhood on the near Westside of Indianapolis, Indiana. I found myself increasingly drawn to the material culture left behind by the African-American women who had lived in the area roughly 100 years ago. Such material culture begs many questions: What social and political forces influenced the construction of African-American women's understandings of self in the early twentieth century? Who was responsible for the construction and dissemination of beauty ideals, notions about women's work, and how did those ideals differ across the color line? Using as …

Ferro Ingenio: An Archaeological And Ethnohistorical View Of Labor And Empire In Colonial Porco And Potosi, Brendan J. M. Weaver

Masters Theses

Porco, Bolivia, is known as the source of silver which ornamented the Inca temple of Coricancha, and as the seat of the earliest Spanish mining operations in the Andes. The colonial silver processing site of Ferro Ingenio, on the outskirts of Porco, is comprised of domestic and industrial structures, constructed and used over multiple occupations. Ferro Ingenio is the best preserved and most complete site of its kind in the Porco region and the first Andean stamp-mill ever to be excavated. This investigation uses ethnohistorical and archaeological evidence to examine the organization and the changing social roles of colonial labor. …

An Investigation Of Kavilorai: A Hero Stone Site In The Nilgiri Mountains Of South India, Jacob Landon Bach

Masters Theses

This study explores the hero stones of the Nilgiri Mountains of South India. This project has focused on the site of Kavilorai for developing a stylistic base to compare other sites of the region with. After analysis it was determined that Kavilorai contained four separate, but connected stylistic expressions carved on the hero stones. The findings when compared with other upper elevation sites corresponded to a high quality/low quality theme, often incorporating the ritual suicide sati. When comparing the stylistic representation of the carved figures to the Badaga Lingayat temple of Seminatum there surfaced strong thematic and stylistic connections. The …

Living And Dying On The Margins: A Journey Into The Culture Of Pink And Black Women’S Narrative Accounts Of Breast Cancer, Cleothia Gill

Masters Theses

This thesis examines black women's understandings of and experiences with breast cancer through the use of narratives. These narratives offer different positions from which to critically analyze the dominate conceptualization of breast cancer in American society, which is primarily associated with white, middle class, heterosexual women. There is a focus on issues such as breast cancer 'risk', increased mortality rates among black women, dominate discourses and media representations of breast cancer, and mastectomy and body image. African American women's stories are used to 'deconstruct' and reveal how this disease is socially constructed in ways that has profound impact on their …

Archaeology, History And Activities At Fort St. Joseph 5: Project History, Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project

Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project

Panel 5.

Investigations at the long lost fort were begun in 1998 by WMU archaeologists.

Archaeology, History And Activities At Fort St. Joseph 8: Religious Life At Fort St. Joseph, Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project

Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project

Panel 8.

Written documents indicate that the Jesuit priests settled among neighboring Native American groups and were successful at creating some converts at the St. Joseph mission.

Archaeology, History And Activities At Fort St. Joseph 1: What Is Archaeology?, Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project

Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project

Panel 1.

What is Archaeology and Historical Archaeology?

Archaeology, History And Activities At Fort St. Joseph 4: Commercial Activities At Fort St. Joseph, Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project

Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project

Panel 4.

Fort St. Joseph was an important link in the chain of frontier outposts that marked the far reaches of New France and facilitated the fur trade between the French and Native Americans in the Western Great Lakes region.

Archaeology, History And Activities At Fort St. Joseph 6: Military Presence At Fort St. Joseph, Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project

Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project

Panel 6.

From 1691 to 1698 and from 1717 to 1761, French military personnel occupied Fort St. Joseph to defend the site's strategic position on a major trade route near the portage between the St. Joseph and Kankakee rivers, while maintaining alliances with friendly Native American groups to facilitate the trade in furs.

Archaeology, History And Activities At Fort St. Joseph 2: Fort History, Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project

Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project

Panel 2.

The French established Fort St. Joseph in 1691 in present day Niles.

Archaeology, History And Activities At Fort St. Joseph 3: Change And Continuity At Fort St. Joseph, Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project

Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project

Panel 3.

At Fort St. Joseph, evidence points to many instances of cross-cultural exchange between the French fort inhabitants and neighboring Native American groups such as the Potawatomi, Miami and Sauk.

Archaeology, History And Activities At Fort St. Joseph 7: Public Archaeology At Fort St. Joseph, Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project

Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project

Panel 7.

The Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project practices community service learning.

One of the main goals of the Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project is to incorporate the local community in all aspects of the archaeological enterprise in the investigation.