Digital Commons Network^™

The Hybridization Of Home: Establishing Place Between The Garrison And The Wilderness In Mary Rowlandson's (1682) Captivity Narrative, Brooke M. Weltch

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Scholarship surrounding captivity narratives long agrees that the psychological and philosophical beliefs of their authors lend insight into the contemporaneous hegemonic power structures through literary forms. Looking beyond these forms to the places they describe, however, illustrates the extent to which cultural perceptions infiltrate even the mere relationships that individuals have with their environment as well as the material structures surrounding them. I focus the role of place in Mary Rowlandson’s narrative, The Soveraignty and Goodness of God (1682). I argue that Rowlandson forms an attachment with the wigwam on account of her traumatic experiences while in captivity. Her displacement …

Specialization In Small-Scale Societies: The Organization Of Pottery Production At Kolomoki (9er1), Early County, Georgia, Travis Laforge

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Investigating the organization of production systems can reveal much about a society, in particular how resources and labor were allocated, and the influence that economic, political, social, and ceremonial institutions had on the production process. Interpreting the nature of specialized production is useful for understanding how production was organized. In turn, the degree of standardization exhibited by the goods being produced is used to determine the nature of specialization. While archaeological research regarding specialized production has expanded over time to incorporate a wide range of societies, such research is often focused on complex societies. The research presented here focuses on …

Nearer, My Farm, To Thee: A Spatial Analysis Of African American Settlement Patterns In Hillsborough County, Florida, Matthew Andrew O'Brien

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have demonstrated their utility in predictively modeling the location of archaeological sites, and providing a framework for cataloging sites eligible for heritage management status. The intent of this GIS-based study is to begin to create a geohistorically organized database of information culled from historic documents and archaeological excavation. In this case study of postbellum land tenure in Hillsborough County, Florida, a GIS-based approach is used to demonstrate the impacts of federal and state land ownership policy decisions during the Reconstruction Era and beyond. GIS data are also used to reveal information about how people use their …

The Dirt On Prehispanic Water Management At Palmarejo, Honduras, Zaida Darley

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Water is an essential resource for human life. Even in the tropical environment of the Maya Lowlands, water scarcity is a concern, because the region cycles between abundant rainfall and seasonal droughts. To understand how societies flourished during periods of water scarcity, archaeologists have studied prehispanic water management in the Maya Lowlands. Yet, water management research has tended to focus predominantly on large urban Maya populations, excluding smaller-scale societies that face the same challenges associated with water scarcity. This study investigates the neighboring non-Maya society of Late Classic (A.D.650-900) Palmarejo in northwestern Honduras to explore how water management was organized …

The Clash Of Heritage And Development On The Island Of Roatã¡N, Honduras, Alejandro J. Figueroa

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The present study examines the spatial relationship between archaeological sites on the island of Roatán, Honduras and their topographical and biophysical location, as well as how these relationships are and continue to be impacted by the island's current socioeconomic context. Despite several studies and explorations conducted on the island's history, archaeology, and geography since the early twentieth century, little is known of its place and role within the larger cultural and socioeconomic spheres of interaction in this region: Mesoamerica and the Intermediate Area. Previous archaeological research has shown that hilltops on Roatán were chosen in prehispanic times for the location …

Archaeology And Indigeneity, Past And Present: A View From The Island Of Roatã¡N, Honduras, Whitney Annette Goodwin

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Project Roatán was initiated in 2008 as a collaboration between the University of South Florida (USF) and the Honduran Institute of Anthropology and History (IHAH) to investigate the prehistory of the island of Roatán, Bay Islands, Honduras. Based on data from the 2009 field season of Project Roatán, this study examines the ways in which native islanders of the Postclassic period (A.D. 900-1500) expressed their social identity and cultural affiliations with contemporaneous groups on northeastern mainland Honduras through their ceramic traditions. These initial investigations serve to evaluate the relationship between islanders and mainland groups and any major differences in terms …

Multi-Elemental Chemical Analysis Of Anthropogenic Soils As A Tool For Examining Spatial Use Patterns At Prehispanic Palmarejo, Northwest Honduras, Kara A. Rothenberg

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Plazas and patios were important spaces for expressing power and social identity in prehispanic Mesoamerica. However, plazas can be analytically problematic, because they were often kept clean of material debris. Previous geoarchaeological studies of anthropogenic soils and sediments have shown that specific activities leave characteristic chemical signatures on prepared earthen surfaces. The research presented here uses soil chemical residue analysis and excavation data to examine use patterns in the North Plaza of Palmarejo, Honduras during the Late Classic period. The goal is to determine whether the plaza was used for residential or ceremonial purposes. The chemical results indicate that activities …

An Absence Of Presence: The Voices Of Marginalized Communities In The Development And Implementation Of Cultural Resource Management Initiatives In The British West Indies: A Case Study, Kelley Scudder-Temple

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation research is the study of cultural resource management initiatives and

the extent to which archaeological surveys and excavations include or exclude African

Caribbean contemporary and historic communities, throughout these processes. Varying

types of archaeological sites identified by archaeologists, along with community

inclusionary measures are examined to determine as to the degree to which

archaeological surveys and excavations are reflective of historic and contemporary

African Caribbean communities.

Data were collected through archival research, interviews and surveys and analyzed

qualitatively to examine the degree to which stakeholders, particularly those who have

been historically marginalized, have been incorporated into these processes. …

Quebrada Communities In The Palmarejo Valley, Northwest Honduras, William A. Klinger

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The spatial relationships that exist between ancient and modern settlement and natural resources have the potential to suggest ways in which humans organized themselves into communities. This study evaluates the applicability of the concept, "quebrada community," for understanding human-environmental relationships in northwest Honduras during the Late Classic period (AD 650-900). Existing archaeological, quantitative, and geological evidence for quebrada communities are linked with spatial data on two contemporary local communities, Palmarejo and Palos Blancos. A geographic information system (GIS) is constructed and implemented in order to achieve this goal. It is argued that there are specific relationships that exist between ancient …

The Paleoindian Chipola: A Site Distribution Analysis And Review Of Collector Contributions In The Apalachicola River Valley, Northwest Florida, William D. Tyler

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

At the end of the Pleistocene and the beginning of the Holocene, between 12,000 and 10,000 years ago, humans began to spread throughout North America and into many areas of Florida. These first Floridians are known as Paleoindians, and their culture is largely defined by their lithic assemblage, which includes the well known Clovis point. As the Pleistocene ice age came to a close glaciers melted, rivers experienced a drastic increase in water volume and the landmass of Florida began to shrink as the sea level in the Gulf of Mexico rose. This event likely submerged many early Paleoindian sites …

Forging Identities Through Style: Elite Interaction And Identity Formation At Late Classic (Ad 650-900) Palmarejo, Northwest Honduras, Claire Novotny

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The representation of social affiliation is dependent upon material signifiers that can serve as communicative links between individuals or communities. This study evaluates the material manifestation of an elite social identity during the Late Classic (AD 650-900) period at the site of Palmarejo, northwest Honduras. Previous studies on social identity in prehistory point to the importance of site plans, monumental architecture, ceramics, and human burials in conveying sociocultural messages. A regional comparison of these types of data is made between Palmarejo and three coeval sites in northwest Honduras, La Sierra, El Coyote, and Las Canoas. I argue that the chosen …

Socio-Natural Landscapes In The Palmarejo Valley, Honduras, James R. Hawken

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Communities have traditionally been viewed as spatially bounded social units composed of multiple households whose inhabitants are integrated by shared resources and a common sense of identity. While investigating resources and identity is useful for archaeological study because of their material correlates, such views of community ultimately fail to acknowledge the dynamic interaction between cultural and environmental forces in shaping and shifting those arrangements over time. This study examines settlement, excavation, and geoarchaeological data from the Palmarejo Valley in northwestern Honduras with the aim of modeling the process of community formation at the intersection of social and natural landscapes in …

Developing An Anthropology Curriculum For High School: A Case Study From Durant High School, Hillsborough County, Florida, Kory Mcneil Bennett

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

It has become increasingly apparent that anthropology has much to offer when it comes to educating our youth. This is true for all grade levels, kindergarten through senior level studies in high school. Here, this idea will be explored further by focusing on the students of Durant High School (DHS) of Plant City, Florida.

This project was designed to explore the idea of combining widely accepted pedagogical theories (Gardner 1983, 1993, 1999; Geraci 2000; Silver, Strong and Perini 1997) with anthropological theory and methods in order to devise effective curricula for high school archaeology and other anthropology courses. More essentially, …

Use-Wear Experiments With Sardinian Obsidian: Determining Its Function In The Neolithic, Teddi J. Setzer

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study focuses on identifying the function of obsidian tools from the Late Neolithic archaeological site of Contraguda on the Mediterranean island of Sardinia. The information obtained from use-wear analysis can provide information about changes in subsistence patterns, craft specialization, social differentiation and technology.

This research began by collecting geological samples of obsidian from two of the most exploited sources in the Monte Arci volcanic complex of Sardinia. Subsequently, an experimental set of tools was made from these samples, and they were used to work various raw materials that were presumably available in Sardinia during the Neolithic. Wear patterns were …