Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Seeing Red: Characterizing Historic Bricks At Sylvester Manor, Long Island, Ny 1652-1735, Martin John Schmidheiny

Graduate Masters Theses

The goal of this project is to develop a basic material characterization of the bricks excavated at the site of Sylvester Manor on Shelter Island, New York. In the early Manor period of 1650-1690, this early Northern provisioning plantation supplied Barbadian sugar operations and pursued mercantile interests independent of state control. Accounting for the range of production defects and material characteristics of the bricks suggests on-site or local manufacture as a regional ceramic industry developed. Qualitative visual analysis and petrographic thin-sections were used to characterize the internal composition, variation and production evidence in the bricks. Interpreting the results of this …

Going Up The Country: A Comparison Of Elite Ceramic Consumption Patterns In Charleston And The Carolina Frontier, Rebecca E. Shepherd

Theses and Dissertations

The 18th century colonial world is characterized by a dramatic increase in the consumption of goods identified as the “consumer revolution.” During this period fashionable material culture and the social performances associated with their use became universally recognized symbols of group membership. This thesis uses archaeological evidence to explore variation in the degree of participation in the consumer revolution between urban and rural settings in late eighteenth-century South Carolina. The data used for this research will be taken from excavated ceramic assemblages of two domestic archaeological sites, both of which were homes owned consecutively by the wealthy Brewton and Motte …

At The Margins Of The Plantation: Alternative Modernities And An Archaeology Of The "Poor Whites" Of Barbados, Matthew Connor Reilly

Dissertations - ALL

This dissertation is an historical archaeological examination of the "poor whites" or "Redlegs" of Barbados. Excavations were undertaken from October 2012 to July 2013 in an abandoned tenantry, Below Cliff, on the east coast of the island, once inhabited by dozens of families locally referred to as the "poor whites" or "Redlegs", said to be the descendants of seventeenth century European indentured servants. Combining archaeological, ethnographic, and historical methodologies, this dissertation explores class relations of Below Cliff residents to processes of capitalism as well as other island laborers, including Afro-Barbadians. Additionally, racial categories are interrogated through an analysis of complex …

Saudi Aramco And The Politics Of Cultural Heritage, Anahid Hanounik Huth

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Culture Heritage in recent decades has become a catch word within world discourse. It is increasingly receiving generous attention in both money and time form private and public sectors on preservation policy. The application of so-called preservation and restoration projects, the alleged care for Cultural Heritage, has become a motive and battle cry of UNESCO, World Bank, private companies, banks, NGOs, European Council, and Western governments' foreign policy. This leads us to ask what is behind this increasing attention, and whether we should see it as Christina Luke 2013 suggested in her article--is Heritage increasingly being seen as a soft …

Using X-Ray Fluorescence Spectrometry To Assess Variance In Obsidian Source Distribution In Southern Idaho, Marielle Loryn Pedro Black

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

This study explores the use of portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectrometry to assist in associating artifacts with geological sources of obsidian from Southern Idaho. XRF spectrometry measures trace element abundance within obsidian artifacts, which is then compared, using a variety of statistical techniques, with known obsidian source geochemical profiles. Results from previous obsidian provenance studies have been used in archaeology as a proxy in measuring prehistoric hunter-gatherer mobility. Artifacts from 11 site assemblages were measured using pXRF to augment data for previously analyzed sites and to collect artifact geochemical data from previously unanalyzed sites. Using pXRF …

Investigating Town Design And Social Organization At Port Tobacco, Maryland, Through The Use Of Archaeology And Geophysics, Peter Craig Quantock

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the connection between town planning and social organization at the small town site of Port Tobacco in south-central Charles County, Maryland from the beginning of the 18th century through to the end of the 19th century. By employing a methodology of both geophysical techniques and archaeological excavations, I was able to locate and map numerous structures and features associated with town planning and examine how these spaces were used. This data was used to show how social order, power, and wealth transformed the town layout from a linear settlement along the river into a grid-like pattern. Specifically, …

Hohokam Population Dynamics: Settlement Organization And Migration At The Sabino Canyon Ruin Site, Arizona, Daniel Shereff

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Hohokam people occupied the southern Arizona desert for more than one thousand years from approximately 450 A.D. to 1450 A.D. Beginning approximately 1100 A.D., the Hohokam underwent a dramatic cultural change. This change was reflected in many aspects of the Hohokam way of life including architecture, trade, subsistence, and ceramic production. Contemporaneous with these changes, there was an influx of people from the north who migrated into the Tucson Basin. The archaeological record of several Classic Period sites in the Tucson Basin demonstrates the presence of locally produced non-native ceramic styles. The Sabino Canyon Ruin site, located on the …

Understanding Strawberry Plains Through Landscape Archaeology, Leeanne Wendt

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Strawberry Plains is a site that is located in Marshall County, Mississippi and is comprised of Woodland, Chickasaw, antebellum, and postbellum components. The focus of this thesis was placed on the postbellum time period. The information presented here is intended to give a comprehensive view into the lives of the sharecroppers that resided and worked on Strawberry Plains during the early to mid-twentieth century and also understand the economic relationship between them and the landowner. Also of importance to this project was the placement of the houses and their dispersed pattern across the landscape and comparing this pattern to other …

Seeing Below The Surface With Electrical Resistivity Tomography: Exploring The Deepest Reaches Of Arkansas' Tallest Prehistoric Mounds, James Robert Zimmer-Dauphinee

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Despite decades of research and over a century of public interest, the most prominent features at Toltec Mounds Archeological State Park, Mound A and Mound B, remain virtually unexamined by modern archaeological techniques, and poorly understood. The tremendous scale and importance of these mounds makes most standard research methods difficult if not impossible. Electrical Resistivity Tomography, a geophysical technique rarely used in North America, was employed to survey both Mound A and Mound B, resulting in models of the subsurface that provide insights into the construction, modification and condition of the mounds.

Anthropogenic Ecological Impacts Of 17th And 18th Century Chickasaw Through A Study Of Faunal Remains, Marybeth Harte

Theses and Dissertations

A diachronic analysis of five faunal assemblages from Chickasaw sites is carried out to evaluate their anthropogenic ecological impacts during the colonial time period (A.D. 1650-1750). Change in faunal exploitation, diversity measures and disturbance taxa frequencies are analyzed to gauge these impacts. A comparison with late Mississippian period faunal use provides a benchmark to examine how shifts in the cultural system initiated new ecological impacts. Results from the faunal analysis are also compared with reports of faunal utilization and landscape management practices in the historical record. These reports provide a basis for assessing change in prey preferences according to the …

Production, Discard, And Urban Life At The Early Horizon Center Of Caylán, Coastal Peru, Jacob Pate Warner

LSU Master's Theses

In this thesis I examine material production, discard, and trash flow at the Early Horizon urban center of Caylán (800 – 1 cal. BC) on the Peruvian North-Central coast. Trash (or garbage, refuse, litter, or waste) is a central source of information for archaeologists examining prehistoric lifeways in Peru. Despite frequent use of trash as a source for radiocarbon samples, cultural material, and dietary evidence, few studies utilize the transportation and concentration of trash to examine human behavioral patterns. The Early Horizon, as a transitional period in Peruvian prehistory, presents an opportunity to test the utility of trash deposits in …

Cohonina Social Organization And The Role Of Forts In Integration And Interaction: A View From The Pittsberg Community., Travis Brent Cureton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the role of "forts" in the sociopolitical organization of a prehistoric people known as the Cohonina through the application of settlement systems analysis and functional studies. The primary objective of this thesis is to test ideas of Cohonina sociopolitical organization through an examination of the functional characteristics of forts and their positions on the landscape using a combination of theory derived from settlement and landscape archaeology, deployed in a geographic information system work environment. A Cohonina fort site known as the Pittsberg Fort Complex, was placed in its community context through broad scale survey. Artifact, architectural, and …

An Analysis Of Osteoarthritis Of The Upper Limbs In The Tchefuncte Site (16st1), Mallory Baldridge

LSU Master's Theses

Osteoarthritis is a degenerative disorder of the synovial joints which is frequently linked to activity and age, as well as numerous other etiologies. In particular, osteoarthritis of the shoulder is often shown to correlate with age, while osteoarthritis of the elbow is often shown to correlate with physical activity. The presence and pattern of osteoarthritis has been investigated in numerous Native American populations, but to date, its presence has not been investigated in the skeletal collection from the Tchefuncte site (16ST1), a Tchula Period shell midden site in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana. Osteoarthritis of the upper limbs is examined in …

The Comet Mine: An Engendered Study Of Victorian Consumption Practices And Material Culture On A Small Mining Landscape, Ryan E. Wendel

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The Comet mine is an early 20th-century, largely undocumented mining

community that existed along the periphery of the Coloma Mining District in the Garnet Range of western Montana. During the summer of 2010, archaeological excavations occurred at multiple features at the site. Through an analysis of cultural material found in deposits at the Comet, this study interprets the way in which patterns of refuse can reveal information about consumption behavior and evolving gender roles in mining communities in Montana, during late Victorian era.