History of Art, Architecture, and Archaeology Commons^™

Incorporating All For One: The First Emporer’S Tomb Mound, Jie Shi

History of Art Faculty Research and Scholarship

The towering earthen mound standing at the center of the First Emperor of Qin, Qin Shihuangdi’s (259–210 B.C.E.) Lishan necropolis at present-day Lintong in Xi’an, Shaanxi province was arguably the single greatest burial marker in ancient China. For centuries, this

gigantic unopened monument has sparked curiosity and aroused interest among people regarding its nature. Without physically damaging the target, in 2001–2003 Chinese archaeologists used a new geophysical remote sensor to scan the surface of the mound, digitally probed into its inner structure, and detected a nine-stepped wall that bounds an aboveground burial shaft stretching down deep into the ground. This …

Household Economies : The Production And Consumption Of Plumbate At Miguel AlemáN, The Conquista Campesina Complex And The PiñUela Complex, Marx Navarro-Castillo

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The Soconusco region of Chiapas, Mexico, where the sites of Miguel Alemán, the Conquista Campesina Complex (Conq-18) and the Piñuela Complex (PIN) are located, has been an object of study by archaeologists since the beginning of the nineteenth century. My project focused at this locale is concerned with craft production as related to the organization and the development of hierarchical social relations and how this relationship is reflected through diverse indexes. Although Plumbate ceramics are my principal source of information, I studied other ceramic types as well.

Carbon And Nitrogen Isotope Analysis Of Archaeological Faunal Material From Dutchess Quarry Caves, Ny, Jessica Zuhlke

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The purpose of this study was to do an isotopic analysis to determine the carbon and nitrogen isotope concentrations of archaeological faunal material found in the Dutchess Quarry Caves in Orange County, NY. These isotope values were then used to compare the taxa from which the samples were taken to determine if and how trophic relationships were formed. The main focus of this comparison spotlighted a sample from a human femur; to establish the human's position trophically with the other large and small mammal samples collected. The human had been previously radiocarbon dated to have lived between 2877 and 3180 …

A Biocultural Perspective On The Transition To Agriculture In Ukraine, Jordan Kenneth Karsten

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The development of agriculture and its spread around the globe is one of the most consequential events in the history of our species. The transition to agriculture is associated with many cultural developments, such as craft specialization, urbanization, and the creation of social hierarchies. Many social theorists believe that these changes associated with the adoption of farming were beneficial to the human condition, however, not all agree. The goal of this research is to evaluate the impact of the adoption of agriculture on human health. To do this, bioarchaeological analysis is employed, comparing the skeletal and dental health of Mesolithic …

Turrialba, Una Encrucijada : ArqueologíA Regional Y Rutas De ComunicacióN En Un Valle Del TróPico HúMedo De Costa Rica (11.000 A.C.-1600 D.C.), Ricardo Vazquez Leiva

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Routes are related with human occupation and social changes from the end of the Pleistocene to the beginning of the Spanish colonization in the Turrialba Valley, Costa Rica. The archaeological research was conducted in conjunction with the Angostura Hydroelectric Project, within a 120-km-square survey area and 145 sites. A limited number of them were excavated.

Museum Representation : Ethnostatic Representations Of Culture, Brynna Elizabeth Tussey

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Museums act as knowledge production centers for cultural objects. The knowledge produced and distributed frequently portrays the Other as being immobilized in ethnostatic history. Models and modes of representation serve to reinforce these perceptions, rather than aid in the development of new forms of knowledge production. Through the discussion of these models, my research presents new theoretical perspectives for the agencies within the museum, and proposes possible new models for displaying objects from other cultures and the dialogues around said objects.

Lithic Analysis Of The Becker Site : Continued Reevaluation Of The Culture-Historic Approach, Christopher Joseph Sobik

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The Becker Site was originally interpreted as a River Phase, Late Archaic central base camp. While excavations at the site yielded numerous Normanskill projectile points, the diagnostic artifact for this phase, several rounds of radiocarbon testing yielded dates firmly in the Woodland Period. A literature review of the history of the use of the culture historic approach in New York State Archaeology, as well as several modern critiques on the same subject was undertaken with the goal of interpreting the site free of its constraints. A lithic analysis of both the formal tools and lithic debitage was undertaken in order …

The Blackness Of Black (W)Holes, Eric M. Anderson

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The Blackness of Black (W)holes analyzes Toni Morrison's Sula, William Faulkner's Sanctuary, and Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man as against establishing the illusion of a coherent, recognizable self through relational identities and subservience to denotative language and categories of identity. These novel’s feature characters packing knives, I claim, because they advocate for what I term stylistic self–extrication: a rupture with prevailing forms of identity and cliché ways of speaking through rhythmic, sonorous, experimental language use. Characters who succeed at the task, I argue, are associated with a blackness in excess of racial markings, because they become unclassifiable as a result. In …

From Instantaneities To The Eternal: Shifting Pictorial Temporalities In Monet's Rouen Cathedral, Kaleigh Paige Winchell

Wayne State University Theses

This paper focuses on Monet's Rouen Cathedral paintings, a set of canvases painted by the artist between February 1892 and May 1895. This series has traditionally been hailed as Monet's greatest and most significant, but historical scholarship has addressed the series within an Impressionist framework. However, this paper argues instead that the Cathedral paintings no longer represented Monet as an Impressionist, but instead as an artist with entirely original and different goals for whom the nature of time had taken on new meaning. Where Monet began his endeavors in seriality with a feverish focus on the temporary and elusive - …

Mediated Histories: Representations Of Nineteenth-Century American Life At Greenfield Village And Crossroads Village, Jaclyn Millichamp

Wayne State University Theses

Living history museums are a prevalent form of history museum in which periods in history are portrayed through the use of artifacts and structures from the era, as well through the use of interpreters, which demonstrate processes from the past or discuss events with visitors. These sites have been scrutinized in the last few decades due to their constructed nature that often downplays negative aspects of the past. Since history is multi-faceted, it is impossible to present a clear recreation of history, and therefore, the creators of these sites have considerable leeway in how they choose to depict aspects of …

Review Of The Imagery Of The Athenian Symposium, Justin St. P. Walsh

Art Faculty Articles and Research

A review of Kathryn Topper's The Imagery of the Athenian Symposium.

Glass Beads From Champlain's Habitation On Saint Croix Island, Maine, 1604-1613, James W. Bradley

BEADS: Journal of the Society of Bead Researchers

One of the earliest French attempts at settlement in northeastern North America occurred on a small island in the St. Croix River along the Maine/New Brunswick border. Built under the auspices of Pierre Dugua, Sieur de Mons, and his young lieutenant, Samuel de Champlain, this settlement barely survived the winter of 1604-1605 and was abandoned the following summer. Given its clear historical association and brief occupation, the glass beads from St. Croix Island are an important archaeological marker for reconstructing French influence during the first decades of the 17th century. Knowing who used these beads in trade, however, does not …

Captions And Color Plates (V. 26, 2014)

BEADS: Journal of the Society of Bead Researchers

No abstract provided.

Beads: Journal Of The Society Of Bead Researchers - Volume 26 (Complete)

BEADS: Journal of the Society of Bead Researchers

No abstract provided.

Review Of Portraits Of The Artist As A Young Woman: Paintings And The Novel In France And Britain, 1800-1860 By Alexandra K. Wettlaufer, Heather Belnap Jensen

Faculty Publications

Alexandra K. Wettlaufer’s ambitious study of real and fictitious woman painters in early nineteenth-century France and Britain explores the subject of female artistic self-fashioning at a critical historical juncture. Characterizing this as an auspicious time for the development of the woman artist, the author seeks to examine how historical figures and fictional characters both marked as well as facilitated this process. The stated rationale for the use of a comparative approach is that it enables the author “to highlight the dialogic context in which these novels and paintings were produced and consumed, and to map out aesthetic and political intersections …

Anxiety Of The Unknown In Art: Xu Bing's A Book From The Sky, Abigail Sease

Undergraduate Research Awards

Discusses Xu Bing's A Book from the Sky, an art installation piece composed of books, scrolls and banners written in pseudo-Chinese characters. The author posits that the purpose of the piece is to reflect the viewer's anxieties about the comprehension of language and information back onto themselves. The author's entry essay for the 2014 Undergraduate Research Awards is included.

2014 Bethsaida Field Report, Rami Arav, Kate Raphael, Carl Savage, Nicolae Roddy, Toni Fisher, Gregory C. Jenks

Field Reports

The 2014 excavation season at Bethsaida took place during May 18th to July 5th. One hundred and twenty five faculty, students and volunteers took part in the expedition. The expedition was housed for four weeks at Kibbutz Hukok and two weeks at Kibbutz Ginosar. We are very grateful for the extraordinary hospitality that we have had in the two places.

From Geology To Art History: Ceramist Alexandre Brongniart’S Overlooked Contribution To The Developing Science Of Art History In The Early Nineteenth Century, Julia A. Carr-Trebelhorn

Theses and Dissertations--Art and Visual Studies

Alexandre Brongniart was known for his work as an important geologist and as an administrator at the Sèvres Porcelain Manufactory, but his roles as art historian and museologist are overlooked. Brongniart created a holistic methodology taken directly from science and applied it to ceramic art of all cultures and eras. He had a uniquely modern perspective on time, world culture, and archeology. Brongniart wrote about the art of Asia and the Americas on an equal status with that of the Classical West at least fifty years before it became a mainstream idea. Brongniart integrated scientific principle and practice into the …

Looking To The Future, Selling The Past: Churchill Weavers Marketing Strategies In The 1950s, Cassandra White-Fredette

Theses and Dissertations--Art and Visual Studies

This thesis explores the Churchill Weavers stereocards housed at the Kentucky Historical Society and Berea College based on visual analysis. By examining the stereocards as advertisements and comparing them to a series of short films created by the company, I will discuss how the Churchill Weavers created a brand that emphasized both an image of traditional American rural production and modern urban consumption. I will further discuss how the marketing strategies used by the Churchill Weavers exemplify a larger trend in American advertising in the years following World War Two.

Edward Steichen And Hollywood Glamour, Alisa Reynolds

Theses and Dissertations--Art and Visual Studies

As a word, glamour is hard to define, but is instantly recognizable. Its association with Hollywood movie stars fully emerged in the 1930s in the close-up celebrity portraits by photographers like George Hurrell. The aesthetic properties in these images that help create glamour are characterized by the Modernist style, known for sharp focus, high contrast, seductive poses, and the close-up (tight framing). My essay will explore the origins of the visual aesthetics of glamour, arguing that their roots can be found in the still life photographs of the 1910s, produced by fine art photographers such as Edward Steichen. This essay …