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Nebraska Anthropologist Volume 20: 2005 Table Of Contents

Nebraska Anthropologist

Women and Warfare: How Human Evolution Excluded Women (Brett Kennedy)

Romantic Love and Marriage: An Analysis of the Concept and Functionality of Romantic Love as a Marital Stabilizing Agent (Emily Sorrell)

Bone Dispersion, Weathering, and Scavenging of Cattle Bones (Melinda Potmesil)

Omaha Metals, Coinage, and Syntax: Outside Influence? (Rory Larson)

Native Americans in Prison: The Struggle for Religious Freedom (Stephanie Beran)

Punitive Behavior in eBay Auctions (Kyle Gibson)

Female and Male Perceptions of Attractiveness: What is Attractive and Why? (Ryan Schacht)

Theory of Mind in Chimpanzees: A Rationalist Approach (Benjamin Grant Purzycki)

Postpartum Depression: An Evolutionary Perspective (Mark Tracy)

Analysis …

Mestizaje And Law Making As Interrelated Processes In Indigenous Identity Formation In Northeastern Brazil: “After The Conflict Came The History”, Jan Hoffman French

Sociology and Anthropology Faculty Publications

This article explores issues of authenticity, legal discourse, and local requirements of belonging by considering the recent surge of indigenous recognitions in northeastern Brazil. It investigates how race and ethnicity are implicated in the recognition process in Brazil, based on a successful struggle for indigenous identity and access to land by a group of African-descended rural workers. This article argues that the relationship between two processes – law making and indigenous identity formation – is crucial to understanding how the notion of mixed heritage is both reinforced and disentangled. It illustrates how these two processes interact over time and how …

Evidence Of Pre-Clovis Sites In The Eastern United States, Albert C. Goodyear

Faculty & Staff Publications

Over the past 25 years, a number of archaeological sites in eastern North America have manifested evidence of human occupations dating earlier than 11,500 RCYBP. These sites include Meadowcroft Rockshelter, Penn.; Cactus Hill, Va.; Saltville-2, Va.; and Topper, S.C. Except for Topper, pre-Clovis (earlier than 11,500 RCYBP) remains were encountered incidental to conducting normal research. Topper was intentionally tested for the possibility of pre-Clovis remains. This paper is a brief review of the geological contexts, dating, and artifactual evidence of these sites. Collectively, they indicate a late-glacial time range of approximately 12,000 to 16,000 RCYBP. Technologically, Meadowcroft Rockshelter and Cactus …

Shades Of Dispossession: Neoliberalism And The Social Production Of Credibility, In Machu Picchu, Peru, Pellegrino A. Luciano

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation ethnographically examines the inconsistencies experienced by district residents in the historic and nature Sanctuary of Machu Picchu, over the Peruvian government's drive to implement neoliberal policies. Heritage conservation in the southern Peruvian Andes is increasingly shaped by current neoliberal policies. The people who live in the district of Machu Picchu live in a protected area that gives the state expropriating powers to claim the land as a public good. The central problem is that under neoliberalism, a public asset is used for private gain at the expense of residents. Inhabitants experience changing juridical relationships as a contradiction between …

Bone Dispersion, Weathering, And Scavenging Of Cattle Bones, Melinda Potmesil

Nebraska Anthropologist

In this research project, the goal was to study the pattern of disbursement of cattle bones from the site of death, observe any signs of scavenger marks and categorize the degree of weathering on the bones. In order to have a comparative data set, three sites with different characteristics were chosen. The three sites were chosen because of the ability to date the death of each cow, the length of time between each death, and the different locations, which each animal died The oldest site was a one-year-old yearling heifer which died in May of 1992. The next site was …

Burial Practices In Southern Appalachia., Donna W. Stansberry

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study was conducted in an attempt to determine whether certain burial practices are unique to the people of Southern Appalachia. Eight individuals were interviewed, including a minister and a funeral director. As a result of the research, it was found that, although a strong sense of community and religion still prevails, making certain burial rituals distinctive to the people of Southern Appalachia, they are slowly eroding due to the growing presence of the modern American funeral industry.

Qualitative research methods were used to analyze a segment of the Southern Appalachian population, with literature reviews of related material and in-depth …

Histories And Historicities In Amazonia, Minna Opas

Tipití: Journal of the Society for the Anthropology of Lowland South America

Book review of Histories and Historicities in Amazonia. Neil L. Whitehead, editor. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2003. xx + 236 pp., maps, illustrations, notes, bibliography, index. ISBN 0-8032-9817-X.

Amazon Sweet Sea: Land, Life, And Water At The River’S Mouth, Alf Hornborg

Tipití: Journal of the Society for the Anthropology of Lowland South America

Book review of Amazon Sweet Sea: Land, Life, and Water at the River’s Mouth. Nigel J.H. Smith. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2002. xii + 296 pp., plates, map, notes, appendix, bibliography, index. ISBN 0-292-77770-1.

La Vivienda Colectiva De Los Yanomami, Graziano Gasparini, Luise Margolies

Tipití: Journal of the Society for the Anthropology of Lowland South America

This article on the shapono, the traditional dwelling of the Yanomami, is taken from our book, Arquitectura Indígena de Venezuela. The Yanomami are one of the three indigenous groups of the tropical forest region of lowland Venezuela who build large collective dwellings that house the entire community. In contrast to the neighboring Ye’kwana and Wôthuha, who inhabit closed structures located near large waterways, the Yanomami are forest people whose traditional shapono is a structure opening onto a large central patio. Here, we examine the cultural division of space into private, semiprivate, and public areas in the context of Yanomami …

Just Behind The Mountain: Refugee Children Imagine Tibet, Emma Tobin

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Since the Tibetan diaspora began in 1959, when His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama fled Tibet for India, many Tibetans have settled and started families in exile. Today, a large percentage of Tibetan refugees have been born in exile, and have therefore never seen their country. Within Tibetan exile communities, however, the importance of Tibetan identity is strongly emphasized and people are still very much invested in the plight of Tibet. As a result, there exist strong ideas about the reality of life in Tibet within the exile community. According Jamyang Norbu, “Though the Shangri-la stereotype is a Western creation, …

An Interim Report Of A Viking-Age & Medieval Archaeofauna From Undir Junkarinsfløtti, Sandoy, Faroe Islands, Thomas H. Mcgovern, Colin Amundsen, Sophia Perdikaris, Ramona Harrison, Yekaterina Krivogorskaya

School of Global Integrative Studies: Faculty Publications

Cooperative international excavations at the site of Undir Junkarinsfløtti (27020) in the village of Sandur on the island of Sandoy, Faroe Islands in May 2003 recovered a stratified bone - rich midden deposit extending from the Viking Age to the early medieval period. The animal bone collection contains domestic mammals (cattle, sheep, dog, goat, and pig) and substantial amounts of fish (mainly cod), birds (mainly puffin and guillemot), and shellfish (mainly limpet). While the current collection has the archaeological limitations inherent in column samples, it suggests persistence of substantial pig keeping into the 13th c, and strongly indicates a sustainable …

Power, Positionality, And Conceptions Of Stewardship And Ownership In The Cleanup Of Nomans Land Island, Massachusetts, Michael Greenberg

Honors Theses

One of the most pressing issues facing Indigenous groups today, especially in the intimate New Engl'and communilties of the northeastern United States, is their ongoing struggle to reclaim and preserve sovereignty on land they once cultivated as stewards but now live on under the encroachment of larger States. In recent years, the United States government has sought to deal with issues of Native American sovereignty through granting federal recognition to tribes, thus creating a relationship of "nation-to-nation status" between a tribal government and the national government. This relationship generates a complex power structure on global, national, regional, and tribal levels, …

Roadside Memorial Practices: An Examination Of Landscapes Of Commemoration In Warren County, Kentucky, Michael Briggs

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Roadside memorials commemorating the death of automobile crash victims are scattered throughout the Kentucky landscape. This persistent cultural practice contains symbolic elements oftentimes indicative of religious connotations. Because there is a constitutional separation of church and government in the United States, these memorials can prelude controversy if located on state-maintained rights-of-way. This study examines Warren County, Kentucky, and analyzes the spatial distribution of these memorials on the landscape and the cultural implications to society because of their ties to death and dying. Scientific research in various fields of psychology, sociology, folk studies, geoscience, and religious studies was analyzed, including religious …

Defining Archaeological Stratigraphy: Evaluating Microartifact Sampling, David N. Holycross

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A variety of subsurface methods have been used to discover and evaluate buried archaeological occupations. Researchers such as Stafford (1993,1995) have proposed that micro artifacts are an effective means of defining the archaeological stratigraphy of deposits, but only limited evaluation of this approach has been undertaken. This study tested the utility of microartifacts within a range of sample size and site density characteristics at three Ohio Valley archaeological sites buried within early and late Holocene age landforms. Occupations were typically detected in unit-to-core comparisons, within acceptable margins of error, and microartifacts often revealed a more complex stratigraphy than reflected by …

The Reach Of Rai: The Modernization And Globalization Of An Algerian Popular Music, Michelle Lynn Ashton

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

A 15th C. Archaeofauna From Akurvík, An Early Fishing Station In Nw Iceland, Colin Amundsen, Sophia Perdikaris, Matthew Brown, Yekaterina Krivogorskaya, Salena Modugno, Konrad Smiarowski, Shaye Storm, Malgorzata Frik, Monica Koczela, Thomas H. Mcgovern

School of Global Integrative Studies: Faculty Publications

This is a report of analysis of 15th c bone materials from the site of Akurvík in NW Iceland excavated in 1990. A small international project in Árneshreppur district recovered a series of stratified midden deposits associated with small turf structures on an eroding beachfront. Radiocarbon dates identify at least two major phases of occupation and use, one extending into the mid 13th century, and the other dating to the mid 15th century. This report documents the animal bone collection from the later 15th c occupation. Dominated by cod fish, these deposits appear to be the product of seasonal fishery …

Understanding Ethno-Nationalism: Sikh Diasporic Imaginings In Southwest Michigan, Rory G. Mccarthy

Masters Theses

Diaspora as a category is both useful and troublesome for researchers in the discipline of anthropology. It is useful, for it allows anthropologists to approach cultural studies from a position that recognizes flaws in the conception of culture as geographically bounded. Studying diasporic populations, therefore, enables anthropologists to apply new theoretical approaches to culture, without reifying and essentializing social practices. Conversely, using diaspora as a category can homogenize groups by glossing over differences in ethnicity, religion, and migratory expenence.

This study aims at bettering the understanding of diversity within a diasporic population by examining the role that religion plays in …

Cross Burning, Cockfighting, And Symbolic Meaning: Toward A First Amendment Ethnography, Timothy Zick

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

Money That Burns Like Oil: A Sri Lankan Cultural Logic Of Morality And Agency, Michele Ruth Gamburd

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

New labor opportunities have drawn Sri Lankan women to work as domestic servants in the Middle East. Many migrants complain that their remittances "burn like oil," disappearing without a trace. The gendered discourse on burning remittances both draws on and contradicts an older cultural system that fetishizes money. The emerging logic provides symbolic resources for women to spend their remittances on advancements for the nuclear family, distancing themselves from other kin. (Migration, remittances, fetishism, Sri Lanka, Middle East)

The Pueblitos Of Palluche Canyon: An Examination Of The Ethnic Affiliation Of The Pueblito Inhabitants And Results Of Archaeological Survey At La 9073, La 10732 And La 86895, New Mexico, Leslie-Lynne Sinkey

Theses and Dissertations

The small, above-ground masonry structures of northwestern New Mexico called "pueblitos" first came to the attention of anthropologists in over a century ago. In 1920, the noted archaeologist A.V. Kidder hypothesized that these masonry structures might have been built by Puebloan refugees fleeing Spanish reprisals in the wake of the Spanish reconquest of New Mexico after the Pueblo Revolt, and he proposed that this hypothesis be tested. Over the next several decades, however, the hypothesis remained untested, but it became both accepted as established fact and the basis for most anthropological, archaeological, and historical reconstructions of Navajo history and cultural …

Patterns Of Mtdna Diversity In Northwestern North America, Ripan S. Malhi, Katherine E. Breece, Beth A. Schultz Shook, Frederika A. Kaestle, James C. Chatters, Steven Hackenberger, David Glenn Smith

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of the Sciences

The mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplogroups of 54 full-blooded modern and 64 ancient Native Americans from northwestern North America were determined. The control regions of 10 modern and 30 ancient individuals were sequenced and compared. Within the Northwest, the frequency distribution for haplogroup A is geographically structured, with haplogroup A decreasing with distance from the Pacific Coast. The haplogroup A distribution suggests that a prehistoric population intrusion from the subarctic and coastal region occurred on the Columbia Plateau in prehistoric times. Overall, the mtDNA pattern in the Northwest suggests significant amounts of gene flow among Northwest Coast, Columbia Plateau, and Great …

The Lineage Model And Archaeological Data In Late Classic Northwestern Belize, Jon B. Hageman

Anthropology Faculty Publications

As central topics of anthropological study from the 1940s through the 1970s, kinship and lineage became largely discredited during the 1980s. Recent scholarship, however, has indicated that kinship and lineage, when considered as the products of social activity, can make important contributions to studies of living and past populations. This paper explores the lineage as a model of social organization distinguished by specific activities practiced by members of Late Classic Maya social groups. This model is derived from cross-cultural literature on lineages, but practices associated with lineage organization are historically and culturally specific. A suite of archaeological correlates, based on …

Rites Of Production: Technopoles And The Theater Of Work, Jan English-Lueck

Faculty Publications, Anthropology

No abstract provided.

Precious Red Coral: Markets And Meanings, Susan J. Torntore

BEADS: Journal of the Society of Bead Researchers

Beads and other ornamental items made of precious red coral have been utilized by various cultures worldwide for thousands of years. Depending on its properties and market context, this highly valued material has meant different things to different peoples through time. The current industry—based in Torre del Greco in southern Italy—reflects past traditions but also incorporates new ideas into the production of beads and jewelry for the three principal world markets: fashion, ethnic, and tourist. These reflect the historic trade and use of red coral beads in several West African, European, and American cultural settings. This article describes the Torrese …

Beads: Journal Of The Society Of Bead Researchers - Volume 16 (Complete)

BEADS: Journal of the Society of Bead Researchers

No abstract provided.

Models Of Cosmic Order: Physical Expression Of Sacred Space Among The Ancient Maya, Jennifer P. Mathews, J. F. Garber

Sociology & Anthropology Faculty Research

The archaeological record, as well as written texts, oral traditions, and iconographic representations, express the Maya perception of cosmic order, including the concepts of quadripartite division and layered cosmos. The ritual act of portioning and layering created spatial order and was used to organize everything from the heavens to the layout of altars. These acts were also metaphors for world creation, world order, and establishing the center as a position of power and authority. This article examines the articulations of these concepts from the level of caches to the level of regions from the past and present in an attempt …

Animal Bones From Sondum (27012) Sandoy, Faroe Islands 200 Season Collection, Thomas H. Mcgovern, Seth Brewington, Sophia Perdikaris, Colin Amundsen

School of Global Integrative Studies: Faculty Publications

Introduction

This paper reports on analysis of animal bones collect in 2000 by the Faroese Museum from a stratified but eroding beach front cliff in on the island of Sandoy. The site designation is Sondum, 27012 and the bone materials have been kindly sent to the CUNY laboratories for analysis by the excavator Simun Arge. While conditions of bone preservation are not as good as at the Undir Junkarinsfløtti locality to the SW across the embayment, and sample size is much smaller, a substantial amount of bone was recovered from datable which adds to our understanding of early economic patterns …

Mediterranean Landscape Archaeology Past And Present, Effie F. Athanassopoulos, Luann Wandsnider

Department of Anthropology: Faculty Publications

Recent studies of Mediterranean landscapes have emphasized their diversity, their fragmentation, and the high degree of contact between their diverse areas, that is, their connectivity (Horden and Purcell 2000). Moreover, the Mediterranean landscape record is recognized for its length and richness and the opportunity it offers to study long-term interaction between humans and their landscape, however landscape is defined. At the same time, the particular histories of archaeological perspectives that have dominated fieldwork in the region make it difficult to compare with other areas, for example, the New World. Thus, with this volume, our intent is to address issues of …

Women’S Work, Child Care, And Helpers-At-The-Nest In A Hunter-Gatherer Society, Raymond Hames, Patricia Draper

Department of Anthropology: Faculty Publications

Considerable research on helpers-at-the-nest demonstrates the positive effects of firstborn daughters on a mother’s reproductive success and the survival of her children compared with women who have firstborn sons. This research is largely restricted to agricultural settings. In the present study we ask: “Does ‘daughter first’ improve mothers’ reproductive success in a hunting and gathering context?” Through an analysis of 84 postreproductive women in this population we find that the sex of the first- or second-born child has no effect on a mother’s fertility or the survival of her offspring. We conclude that specific environmental and economic factors underlay the …

Coping With Hard Times In Nw Iceland: Zooarchaeology, History, And Landscape Archaeology At Finnbogastaðir In The 18th Century, Ragnar Edvarsson, Sophia Perdikaris, Thomas H. Mcgovern, Noah Zagor

School of Global Integrative Studies: Faculty Publications

During a cooperative archaeological project in NW Iceland (Strandasýsla) involving the Icelandic National Museum and Hunter College of the City University of New York.1990 season, a small rescue excavation at the site of Finnbogastaðir generated a quantifiable collection of animal bones dating to the early modern period, mainly to the 18th century. The 18th c was a period of hardship in much of Iceland, with widespread tenantry, adverse climate, and degradation of many terrestrial landscapes posing severe challenges to poor farmers- perhaps most intensely in the Vestfirðir. The animal bone collection from Finnbogastaðir reflects a multi-stranded subsistence economy involving seals, …