Anthropology Commons^™

Reconstructing Bison And Mammoth Migration During The Late Pleistocene And Early Holocene Of Central Texas Using Strontium Isotopes, Joshua John Porter

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

During the Late Pleistocene (LP; past 130,000 years), over two-thirds of large mammal (>45kg) species went extinct globally. While the role of humans is hotly debated, the effect of these extinctions is growing clearer; the extinctions resulted in widespread and lasting faunal community reorganization. However, the impact of these extinctions on dietary and migratory behavior within faunal communities is unknown. Our study examines the impact of the megafaunal extinctions on the dietary and migratory behavior of surviving Bison individuals in Texas using carbon, oxygen, and strontium isotopes. Strontium isotopes are incorporated into mammalian enamel during their tooth development and …

Climate, Ecology, And Human Evolution During The Plio-Pleistocene, Scott Adam Blumenthal

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

A major goal of paleoanthropology is to identify the selective pressures associated with hominin biological and behavioral evolution, yet establishing cause-effect relationships between climate, ecology, and human evolution remains problematic. This dissertation seeks to investigate hominin paleoecology in eastern Africa by reconstructing aspects of climate and ecology using stable isotope analysis.

The first part of this dissertation is focused on the ecology of primates and hominins. Modern tropical African ecosystems provide a useful model for understanding the ecological correlates of isotopic variation in the fossil record, and living primates provide a useful model for understanding the ecological significance of isotopic …

12,000-Year Record Of Lake-Level And Vegetative Change At Mathews Pond, Piscataquis County, Maine, Usa, Andrea Masterman Nurse

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study of late-glacial and Holocene changes in lake-level and vegetation at Mathews Pond contributes new information about Holocene environments in northeastern North America. The research establishes a 12,000-year record of paleohydrology for the watershed adjacent to Big Reed Forest Reserve, the largest stand of old-growth forest in the northeastern United States. Mathews Pond is a 7.4 ha, closed-basin, groundwaterseepage lake located in an upland, forested region of the Aroostook River drainage system. Glacial meltwater briefly filled the basin - 13.0 ka (1 ka = 1000 I4C yr BP)). The lake existed as a shallow pool in the deep area …