Archaeological Anthropology Commons^™

Taking Archaeology To The Classroom: A Model For A Fifth Grade In-Class Fieldtrip, Tamara J. Luce

Anthropology Department: Theses

Public archaeology has grown over the last decade due to interest in the field and Cultural Resource Management requirements (Smith and Smardz 2000:25). One group that is often overlooked in outreach efforts is children.

For my thesis I designed an in-class archaeology fieldtrip for fifth grade students. The overarching goal of my program is to introduce children to the field of archaeology in an age-appropriate way that teaches basic archaeological concepts and generates interest and awareness of the field. To create the strongest program possible I conducted research on outreach programs, and surveyed public archaeologists and teachers to determine what …

Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project Annual Report, 2011-12, Michael S. Nassaney

Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project

The Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project continued its multifaceted program of research, teaching, and public outreach focused on the study of the fur trade and colonialism in southwest Michigan, while involving the community in the process with the support of the Fort St. Joseph Archaeology Advisory Committee. Over the past year (September 1, 2011 through August 31, 2012) Western Michigan University students and faculty, along with various stakeholders and community volunteers, collaborated to investigate the site of Fort St. Joseph and disseminate information to increasing numbers of people. Here are some of the year’s highlights.

• The project was the recipient …

The Contact Period Of Central Peten, Guatemala In Color, Timothy W. Pugh, Leslie G. Cecil

Faculty Publications

When Bernal Díaz del Castillo passed by Nojpeten with Hernán Cortés in 1525, he remarked upon the Itza capital’s brilliant whiteness, even from a great distance (Jones 1998:69). However had he stood in the central plaza, he would have discerned that the sun’s reflection eclipsed artifacts and architecture of a variety of colors. The archaeological record is frequently similarly whitewashed by our focus upon form, weight, and distribution. Nevertheless, color helped imbue the Contact period (AD 1525-1697) world of the Maya of the Petén lakes region of Guatemala with significance. This paper investigates the colors of ritual paraphernalia encountered in …

Bulletin Of The Massachusetts Archaeological Society, Vol. 73, No. 2, Massachusetts Archaeological Society

Bulletin of the Massachusetts Archaeological Society

• Editor's Note (Curtiss Hoffman)
• In Memoriam: Jeffrey Boudreau (William Moody)
• In Memoriam: Jean-Jacques Rivard (Kathryn Fairbanks)
• Discerning Placemaking: Archaeology and Native Histories of the Den Rock Area, Lawrence and Andover, MA (Edward L. Bell)
• Shipbuilding on the Upper Taunton River (William B. Taylor)
• A Context for Studying Rock Piles in Massachusetts (Peter Waksman)
• An Eastern Agate Basin Component on Martha’s Vineyard (William Moody)

Hawaiian Presence At Fort Vancouver National Historic Site, Douglas C. Wilson

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Fort Vancouver, as the colonial "Capital" of the Pacific Northwest in the 1820s-1840s, supported a multiethnic village of 600-1,000 occupants. A number of the villagers were Hawaiian men who worked in the agricultural fields and sawmills of the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) operations. Identification of Hawaiian residences and activities has been an important element of studies of Fort Vancouver National Historic Site, Vancouver, Washington, since the 1960s.

Kauanui calls for a "broad research agenda that accounts for Hawaiian movements in their respective contexts of conditions, periods, reasons, and desires, to allow us to better account for Hawaiian presence on the …

Southern Nevada Agency Partnership Cultural Site Stewardship Program – Program Expansion And Steward Retention: Quarterly Progress Report, Period Ending September 30, 2012, Margaret N. Rees

Cultural Site Stewardship Program

• Stewardship transfers site information and personal data to State database
• Regional areas and sites are introduced to state volunteer coordinators
• Core stewardship class will be held October 6 at UNLV

Choosing The Best Plant For The Job: A Cost-Effective Assay To Prescreen Ancient Plant Remains Destined For Shotgun Sequencing, Nathan Wales, J. Alberto Romero-Navarro, Enrico Cappellini, M. Thomas P. Gilbert

Anthropology Articles

DNA extracted from ancient plant remains almost always contains a mixture of endogenous (that is, derived from the plant) and exogenous (derived from other sources) DNA. The exogenous ‘contaminant’ DNA, chiefly derived from microorganisms, presents significant problems for shotgun sequencing. In some samples, more than 90% of the recovered sequences are exogenous, providing limited data relevant to the sample. However, other samples have far less contamination and subsequently yield much more useful data via shotgun sequencing. Given the investment required for high-throughput sequencing, whenever multiple samples are available, it is most economical to sequence the least contaminated sample. We present …

Genetic Characteristics Of An Ancient Nomadic Group In Northern China, Haijing Wang, Lu Chen, Binwen Ge, Ye Zhang, Hong Zhu, Hui Zhou

Human Biology Open Access Pre-Prints

Nomadic populations have played a significant role in the history of not only China but also in many nations worldwide. Because they had no written language, an important aspect in the study of these people is the discovery of their tombs. It has been generally accepted that Xiongnu was the first empire created by nomadic tribe in the 3rd century B.C. However, little population genetic information is available concerning the Donghu, another flourishing nomadic tribe at the same period because of the restriction of materials until Jinggouzi site was excavated. In order to test the genetic characteristics of ancient people …

Laser Ablation-Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry Analysis Of Lower Pecos Rock Paints And Possible Pigment Sources, Jon Russ, Kaixuan Bu, Jeff Hamrick, James V. Cizdziel

Master of Science in Analytics (MSAN) Faculty Research

Chemical analyses of prehistoric rock paints from the Lower Pecos Region of southwestern Texas were undertaken using laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry. This technique allowed us to measure the chemical composition of the paint pigments with minimal interference from a natural rock coating that completely covers the ancient paints. We also analyzed samples representing potential sources of paint pigments, including iron-rich sandstones and quartzite from the study area and ten ochre samples from Arizona. Cluster analysis, principle component analysis and bivariate plots were used to compare the chemical compositions of the paint and pigment sources. The results indicate that limonite …

Hidden Earthworks In The Forests Of The Bolivian Amazon, John H. Walker

ProSIGAB Documents

No abstract provided.

Review Of Clovis Lithic Technology: Investigation Of A Stratified Workshop At The Gault Site, Texas. By Michael R. Waters, Charlotte D. Pevny, David L. Carlson, Et Al. Foreword By Michael B. Collins., Heather M. Rockwell

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences

This volume is a valuable contribution to the growing knowledge of Early Paleoindian behavior in the Southern Plains. It offers a thorough description of excavations and analyses conducted on collections from the Excavation Area 8 ofthe Gault Site in central Texas. The book is organized into ten chapters detailing the site setting, formation processes, Clovis tool manufacture patterns, microwear analyses, faunal analyses, and interpretations of the site's organization and purpose. ... Clovis Lithic Technology is a valuable contribution to researchers interested in the archaeology of the Great Plains, Paleoindian research, lithic analysis, and New World colonization research.

Dynamic Reconfiguration Of Pawnee Social Organization In The Proto-Historic And Historic Eras, Amanda F. Callahan-Mims

Anthropology Department: Theses

The standardized practices and closed context of burials has created an excellent opportunity to observe social change among the Pawnee over time. The Proto-historic Period and Historic Period on the Plains are marked by external trade with Euro-Americans, requiring adaptation among Plains tribes to trade goods from the east. External and internal economies were altered by this trade. Levels of material wealth changed dramatically during these two periods. The purpose of this research is to gauge economic changes that occurred, and, if possible, make determinations based on ethnohistorical data as to why these changes transpired. Additionally, it may be possible …

Southern Nevada Agency Partnership Cultural Site Stewardship Program – Program Expansion And Steward Retention: Quarterly Progress Report, Period Ending June 30, 2012, Margaret N. Rees

Cultural Site Stewardship Program

• Personal information permission forms received from stewards
• Five required Steward Refresher Courses given
• Refresher course presentation modified to new SHPO guidelines
• CSSP Round 6 Compendium completed

Health Impacts At The Advent Of Agriculture, Erin L. Snape

Honors College

The transition from a hunting and gathering lifestyle to one based in agriculture may have been the most crucial development made by past peoples, transforming not only diet, but social structure, mobility, and resource use. I present human skeletal evidence illustrating the consequences of agriculture on human health using case studies from prehistoric Mesoamerica, the American southwest, and regions in Asia. Such evidence has indicated that intensification of maize agriculture in the New World correlates with increased infant mortality rate, dental caries, iron-deficiency anemia, and an overall decline in general health while these health problems have little to no correlation …

Interview With Billy Sanders Gibson And Glenda (Webb) "Gaye" Gibson (Mss 707), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Oral Histories

Transcription of an interview with Billy Sanders Gibson and Glenda (Webb) "Gaye" Gibson conducted by John Bryan "Jack" LeSieur related to the mining of rock asphalt at Kyrock in Edmonson County, Kentucky.

Interview With Jackson Wayne Ashley (Mss 707), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Oral Histories

Transcription of an Interview with Jackson Wayne Ashley conducted by John Bryan "Jack" LeSieur related to the mining of rock asphalt at Kyrock in Edmonson County, Kentucky.

Bulletin Of The Massachusetts Archaeological Society, Vol. 73, No. 1, Massachusetts Archaeological Society

Bulletin of the Massachusetts Archaeological Society

• The Past Is with Us on Third Cliff Beach (Cynthia Krusell)

• Examination of Bone Harpoon from Third Cliff, Scituate, Massachusetts (Tonya Largy)
• A Deep Sea Plummet from Carver, MA (William B. Taylor)
• Looking at Archaeology in New England from Three Feet above the Water (Jonathan K. Patton)
• A Preliminary Report on Surface Collections and Initial Recovery Efforts on an Archaic Site on the Town Forest Branch Brook, Western Danvers, Massachusetts (David P. McKenna)
• Whaletail Pendants (William B. Taylor)
• A Place of Respect for the Robbins Museum (Victoria Rourke-Rooney)

Fort St. Joseph Post - Spring 2012, Department Of Anthropology

Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project

Vol. 3. No. 1

For friends of Western Michigan University’s Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project

Table of Contents:

• Welcome to the Project!
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2011
• Direct from the Lab...
• Fur Trade Booklet Now Available!
• A Report on the 2011 Field Season
• French Cloth Seal Recovered at Fort St. Joseph, Michigan
• The Digital Archaeological Record
• Public Outreach: An Important Job
• A Student’s Experience with Outreach
• 2011 was the Best Year Yet!
• Comments from 2011 Open House Surveys
• Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Open House: A Colonial Militia Muster on the Eve of Revolution
• Where Are They Now?
• 2011 Field Season …

Susquehannock Material Culture Revisited: Eight Pennsylvania Ethnographic Artifacts In The Skokloster Castle Collection In Sweden And A Possible Connection To Capt. John Smith, Marshall Joseph Becker

Anthropology & Sociology Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Southern Nevada Agency Partnership Cultural Site Stewardship Program – Program Expansion And Steward Retention: Quarterly Progress Report, Period Ending March 31, 2012, Margaret N. Rees

Cultural Site Stewardship Program

• Team completed three steward refresher courses
• One basic stewardship class produced 22 new volunteers
• Letter prepared for volunteers’ signature to transfer personal information to State

Interview With Orene (Meredith) Vincent (Mss 707), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Oral Histories

Transcription of an interview with Orene (Meredith) Vincent conducted by John Bryan "Jack" LeSieur related to the mining of rock asphalt at Kyrock in Edmonson County, Kentucky.

Interview With Madge Cardwell Lashley (Mss 707), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Oral Histories

Transcription of an interview with Madge Cardwell Lashley conducted by John Bryan "Jack" LeSieur related to the mining of rock asphalt at Kyrock in Edmonson County, Kentucky.

Kinect And 3d Gis In Archaeology, Heather Richards-Rissetto, Fabio Remondino, Jim Robersson, Jennifer Von Schwerin, Giorgio Agugiaro, Gabrio Girardi

Department of Anthropology: Faculty Publications

This paper explores the potential of using Microsoft's Kinect to create a low-cost and portable system to virtually navigate, through a prototype 3D GIS, the digitally reconstructed ancient Maya city and UNESCO World Heritage Site of Copan in Honduras. The 3D GIS, named QueryArch3D, was developed as part of the MayaArch3D project (http://mayaarch3d.unm.edu), which explores the possibilities of integrating databases and 3D digital tools for research and teaching on ancient architectures and landscapes. The developed system, based on the Flexible Action and Articulated Skeleton Toolkit (FAAST), controls in a remote and touchless mode the movements in the 3D environment in …

The Death Of Coptic?, Mariam Ayad Dr.

Sociology, Egyptology & Anthropology Department: Faculty Work

Tracing the Egyptian (hieroglyphic) etymology of the Coptic Paschal hymn, this paper discusses the use of Coptic as the liturgical language of the Coptic Orthodox church, and the role of the church as a cultural purveyor.

New Documents On The Life And Death Of Domenico Enegildo Frediani (1783-1823), Traveller And Poet In Egypt And The Sudan, Daniele Salvoldi Dr.

Sociology, Egyptology & Anthropology Department: Faculty Work

Domenico Enegildo Frediani (1783-1823) is that kind of forgotten travellers whose death is shrouded in the mystery of a foreign country, cursed with madness and destruction of his literary work. Even though the documentation amassed by Arturo Wolynski in 1891 is quite huge a total of seventy-six pages still much is unknown about this early Tuscan traveller. Since the publication of this first, and only, essay on his life, more documents that could shed new light on his African explorations and on his death have been uncovered.

The Rock Art Of The Blood Of The Ancestors Grotto (11sa557): The Archaeology Of Religious Theater, Lenville J. Stelle

Anthropology Faculty Scholarship

11SA557 is a pictographic rock art site in the Hill Section of southern Illinois. To date, 33 icons, both simple and complex, have been identified. The distinctive biophysical qualities of the site have compelled an interpretation that it was in some fundamental sense “female.” Ethnohistorical and ethnographic explorations inform a treatment of 11SA557 as a religious theater where female puberty ceremonies of the Dhegiha Sioux were performed. Exploitation likely dates to the Protohistoric period. Twenty-one elements of religious theater are explored archaeologically and ethnographically. The application of the heuristic model of religious theater afforded a measureable enhancement of the understanding …

Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project (20be23), Sue Reichert

Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project

This map illustrates units that have been excavated from 2002 through 2011.

Toward A Regional Radiocarbon Model For The East Texas Woodland Period, Robert Z. Selden Jr., Timothy K. Perttula

CRHR: Archaeology

The East Texas Radiocarbon Database contributes to an analysis of tempo and place for Woodland era (ca. 500 B.C. - A.D. 800) archaeological sites within the region. The temporal and spatial distributions of calibrated radiocarbon (¹⁴C) ages (n=127) with a standard deviation (ΔT) of 61 from archaeological sites with Woodland components (n=51) are useful in exploring the development and geographical continuity of the peoples in East Texas, and lead to a refinement of our current chronological understanding of the period. While the analysis of the dates produces less than significant findings due to sample size, they are used …

Modeling Regional Radicarbon Trends: A Case Study From The East Texas Woodland Period, Robert Z. Selden Jr.

CRHR: Archaeology

The East Texas Radiocarbon Database contributes to an analysis of tempo and place for Woodland era (~500 BC–AD 800) archaeological sites within the region. The temporal and spatial distributions of calibrated ¹⁴C ages (n = 127) with a standard deviation (ΔT) of 61 from archaeological sites with Woodland components (n = 51) are useful in exploring the development and geographical continuity of the peoples in east Texas, and lead to a refinement of our current chronological understanding of the period. While analysis of summed probability distributions (SPDs) produces less than significant findings due to sample size, they are used …

The East Texas Caddo: Modeling Tempo And Place, Robert Z. Selden Jr., Timothy K. Perttula

CRHR: Archaeology

Analysis of the Caddo sample (n=889 dates) from the East Texas radiocarbon database is used to establish the tempo and place of Caddo era (ca. A.D. 800-1680) archaeological sites, site clusters, and communities across the region. The temporal and spatial distribution of radiocarbon ages from settlements, mound centers, and cemeteries across the region have utility in exploring the development and geographical continuity of the Caddo peoples; establishing the specific times when areas were abandoned or population sizes diminished; and defining times and areas illustrating an intensification in mound center construction and large cemeteries became a focus of community social practices.