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Mountain Development In Nepal: Settlements, Infrastructure, And Economic Transformation, Keshav Bhattarai, Ambika P. Adhikari

Himalayan Research Papers Archive

As Nepal urbanizes, expands infrastructure, strengthens local governments, and explores deeper connectivity with India and China, climate change is increasing floods, landslides, heat, and water insecurity. Rapid internal migration, rising disaster risks, youth outmigration, and dependence on remittances are also revealing the limits of conventional urban development, especially in the mountainous region. The central challenge for Nepal is no longer just to accommodate growing towns and cities, but to build settlements that are safe, productive, environmentally resilient, and capable of sustaining long-term prosperity.

This paper argues that Nepal's urban future must be guided by a new development paradigm centered on …

Landslides, Erosion, And Inequality: Assessing Social And Environmental Change At Neighboring Farmsteads In Northern Iceland, Zachary N. Guttman

Graduate Masters Theses

Hof and Hólar are adjacent farms in Hjaltadalur, North Iceland settled during the Viking Age. While Hof is mentioned prominently in the saga literature, its importance fades. Conversely, Hólar becomes the most powerful farm in North Iceland and the seat of the northern bishop after the introduction of Christianity. This thesis sheds some light on this apparent shift in power by assessing how social and environmental factors may have influenced the relationship between the two sites. Using a program of soil coring and targeted excavation, as well as a novel environmental sampling procedure, this study assesses if environmental factors such …

Legacy - Fall 2023, South Carolina Institute Of Archaeology And Anthropology--University Of South Carolina

SCIAA Magazine - Legacy & PastWatch

Contents:

The Camden Burial Project, Part II: Triumph and Defeat

Director's Notes

New and Improved Equipment for the Maritime Research Division

The Camden Burial Project, Part II: Triumph and Defeat

Dr. Christopher R. Moore Appointed Director of the Southeastern Paleoamerican Survey (SEPAS)

Forensic Evidence Suggests Paleo-Americans Hunted Mastodons, Mammoths and other Megafauna in Eastern North America 13,000 Years Ago

Update on the Southeastern Paleoamerican Survey 2022-2023

Finding a Revolutionary War Skirmish Site: Lower Bridge

Arms and Armor from Santa Elena: A Photographic Inventory

Historic Archaeology SCIAA Staff Visit the Windy Ridge Site in 1977

Reuniting People, Place, and Associated Historic …

The Impacts Of Site Formation Processes On Excavation Methodology: The Study Of A World War Ii B-24 Crash Site In Munster, Germany, Alicia J. Lawson

Department of Anthropology: Theses and Student Research

Academic partnerships between universities and the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) are a recent development to provide top research universities resources to assist in recovering and identifying MIA service members since World War II. A University of Nebraska–Lincoln (UNL)/DPAA Partner excavation revisited a WWII B-24H crash site in Münster, Germany in the summer of 2022. B-24H [redacted] crashed into three agricultural fields on 23 March 1945. Utilizing quantitative and qualitative data collected on the incident-related and archaeological osseous remains and artifacts recovered from the fields and the fields’ land use history, this thesis focuses on analyzing the site formation processes …

Ancient Landscapes Of South Texas At The Nexus Of Natural And Social History: An Educational, Community Engagement And Research Initiative For The Twenty-First Century, Roseann Bacha Garza, Juan L. Gonzalez, Edward González-Tennant, Starr E. Hein, Christopher L. Miller, Russell K. Skowronek

Anthropology Faculty Publications

Prior to 2009 the geoarcheological landscape of the lower Rio Grande valley was virtually a tabula rasa within the scholarship of archeology and geology. To rectify this shortcoming the Community Historical Archeology Project with Schools (CHAPS) Program was created from an interdisciplinary team of scholars with research interests in the Rio Grande valley while working initially with undergraduate and graduate students conducting in-depth studies of family farms and working with collectors to identify archeological sites. Through time the CHAPS Program created forums for locally focused K-12 education while developing community engagement initiatives to encourage public heritage tourism. One, the Ancient …

Community Health Workers In Central-Southern Amazonia: An Ethnographic Account Of The Munduruku People Of Kwatá Laranjal Indigenous Land, Daniel Scopel, Raquel Dias-Scopel, Esther Jean Langdon

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

This article analyzes the role of Munduruku indigenous community health workers (CHW) with the expansion of biomedical services as part of state presence and territorial control in Brazil. Centuries of interethnic contacts among the Munduruku have resulted in a plurality of health practices. Since 1999, Primary services have increased significantly, when the Indigenous Health System (SASI) was created. CHWs were incorporated as part of the health teams serving the indigenous lands. Munduruku CHWs have not only assumed an important role in the delivery of biomedical services, but also are key in the articulation between different traditions of care. Although there …

Investigating Depth Estimation To Archaeological Magnetic Source Bodies, Jeremy G. Menzer

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Magnetometry is the most widely applied archaeo-geophysical technique. Current practice standards employ the technique to map only in a two-dimensional plan view fashion, but in deep geologic studies depth estimators are routinely applied to magnetic datasets. These estimators provide three-dimensional information to magnetic source-bodies. There are many different depth estimators employed in geologic study that all require various degrees of processing complexity. This study investigates two mathematically simple techniques, half-width rules and multi-height methods. Half-width rules are likely the oldest depth estimators within the field while multi-height techniques are but a minor footnote in the literature. The applicability of these …

Legacy - December 2021, South Carolina Institute Of Archaeology And Anthropology--University Of South Carolina

SCIAA Magazine - Legacy & PastWatch

Contents:

Tommy Charles (January 3, 1932-July 30, 2021) Tribute

Director's Notes

Spanish Halberds in South Carolina?

The Mica House Revisited

Santa Elena Research Trip to the Warren Lasch Conservation Center

The Civil War at Santa Elena

Update on the Southeastern Paleoamerican Survey 2021

Maritime Research Division: A Year of Fieldwork in Review

A Legacy of Land: From Dynasty to Death: The Redistribution of Land and Wealth Explored Through the Lens of Genealogy

A Cosmic Impact Demolshed an Ancient Middle Eastern City and Everyone in It

Historic Archaeology: The St. Patrick's Day Flood

Annual Report 2021

ART/SCIAA Donors August 2020-January 2022

Update On The Southeastern Paleoamerican Survey 2021, Albert C. Goodyear, Joseph A. Lindler Jr.

Faculty & Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

The Cobb-Pool Site, A Caddo Settlement In The Mountain Creek Valley, S. Alan Skinner

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

The Cobb-Pool site was excavated in 1985-1986 by the Archaeology Research Program at Southern Methodist University (SMU) before Joe Pool Lake was constructed. The site had been located by the late R. King Harris in the 1930s and Harris collected early Caddo pottery, a Gahagan biface, Alba arrow points, and other chipped stone tools from the surface. SMU located the posthole pattern of three house structures, a large roasting pit, and several other features. Recovered during the excavation was an assemblage that complemented the Harris collection but also included a large sample of maize unlike that found in any other …

Sedimenting Territory: A Political Geology Of Oil, Earth, And Spatial Politics In Turkey, Zeynep Oguz

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Building on the recent turn to the material and earthly aspects of resources and political power in environmental anthropology and political geography, this work historically and ethnographically examines the kinds of territorial politics that oil’s materiality, geological qualities, and infrastructures have generated in Turkey. Despite being surrounded by oil-rich neighbors in the Middle East, Turkey’s domestic oil reserves supply only 7 percent of the country’s oil, all of which has been drilled in the Kurdish provinces of Batman, Diyarbakır, and Adıyaman in Turkey’s southeast, where the PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party) has been fighting the Turkish state since 1984 for cultural …

Archaeological Survey Of The Proposed Dwu 84-Inch Wastewater Main 16-357/358e, Cid 5910 Dallas County, Texas, Philip Fisher

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

The City of Dallas is proposing to construct an 84-inch diameter wastewater main across the old Trinity River channel in Dallas County, Texas. The project area is located in the floodplain of the old Trinity River channel, northeast of the Market Center Boulevard and Turtle Creek Boulevard intersection in Dallas, Texas. AR Consultants, Inc. (ARC) conducted trench monitoring in an area approximately 40-meters long by 4.25-meters wide (0.04-acres) on March 7, 2019 under the authority of Texas Antiquities Permit number 8680. Two trenches one meter in width were excavated to the depth of proposed disturbance, approximately 8 ft (2.45 m), …

Looking Past, Looking Forward: America's National Parks, Archaeology And Climate Change, Rachel Marie Blumhardt

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

America’s National Parks are rich with cultural history, flora, fauna and some of nature’s most impressive landscapes. As climate change continues to accelerate, these parks and their cultural and natural resources are being threatened. In this project, I will present a colorful, informational booklet that concentrates on 4 specific parks: Yellowstone National Park, National Park of American Samoa, Glacier Bay National Park and Mesa Verde National Park. I will focus on the archaeology and cultural significance of these parks, while also examining the ways that climate change is putting these, and other associated assets of the parks, at risk. I …

Archeological Survey Of The Proposed Sanger Outfall Pipeline Denton County, Texas, Cody S. Davis, Joy C. Tatem, Emily D. Goetschius

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

The City of Sanger is proposing to construct the 3.06-kilometer-long Sanger Outfall Pipeline in Denton County, Texas. Alan Plummer Associates, Inc. contracted with AR Consultants, Inc. to survey a 100-foot-wide corridor along the proposed route. AR Consultants, Inc. hypothesized that there would be low potential for both prehistoric and historic cultural resources. These hypotheses were based on the location of the pipeline route in the narrow Ranger Branch floodplain and lack of mapped historic structures remaining in the project area. Fieldwork was conducted on May 31, 2018 under Texas Antiquities permit 8338, during which 19 shovel tests were excavated and …

Kinetic Landscape And Unalloyed Potential: Rethinking The Extractive Landscape Of Michigan's Native Mass Copper Mining Industry, Sean Gohman

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

This dissertation examines the extractive landscape and persistent lifespan of native mass copper mining in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. The historic native copper mining industry of Michigan lasted for over a century, though its impacts on the landscape can be broken into two distinct, though overlapping, phases of extractive practice: mass mining and disseminated lode mining. Each mined specific native copper deposits, utilized related but specialized technologies, and relied upon different sources of energy to power its practices. A first, formative phase of mass mining exploited fissures of pure metallic copper using traditional technology and organic sources of fuel. A second …

Pleistocene Deposits In The Southern Egyptian Sahara: Lithostratigraphic Relationships Of Sediments And Landscape Dynamics At Bir Tarfawi, Christopher L. Hill, Romuald Schild

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

The sedimentological and lithostratigraphic record from north-central Bir Tarfawi documents the presence of Pleistocene basin-fill deposits. Three topographic basins were created as a result of deflation during climate episodes associated with lowering of the local groundwater table. In each case, the three deflational basins or topographic depressions were subsequently filled with sediments; these basin aggradations coincided with changes from arid climate conditions to wetter conditions and a rise in the groundwater table. The oldest and highest sedimentary remnant is associated with Acheulian artifacts and may reflect spring-fed pond and marsh conditions during a Middle Pleistocene wet climate episode. Lithofacies for …

Environmental Diversity And Resource Use In The Salton Basin Of The Colorado Desert, Lindsay A. Porras

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Prehistoric life in the Colorado Desert endured a variety of environmental extremes. Episodic flooding and shifts in the course of the Colorado River resulted in the infilling of the Salton Basin and created a large freshwater lake known as Lake Cahuilla. Settlement along the different segments of the lakeshore is considered variable and may reflect accessibility to nearby viable resources. Remains from archaeological excavations at lakeshore sites show that lacustrine resources and fishing opportunities attracted prehistoric groups to the ancient lake. How prehistoric groups organized themselves and utilized lakeshore and nearby resources offer opportunities to explore the subsistence and mobility …

Zooarchaeological And Palaeoenvironmental Reconstruction Of Newly Excavated Middle Pleistocene Deposits From Elandsfontein, South Africa, Frances L. Forrest

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Increased consumption of animal tissue is arguably one of the most important adaptive transitions in early hominin behavior. A dietary shift toward regular tool-assisted meat consumption and increased competition with the carnivore paleoguild likely helped shape many important hominin adaptations such as foraging patterns, habitat preferences, and social behaviors. Yet, the ecological and behavioral implications for increased hominin carnivory remain poorly understood. This dissertation examines the zooarchaeological and paleoenvironmental history of an important Acheulean hominin locality, Elandsfontein, South Africa (ca. 1.0 – 0.6 Ma). The goal is to begin addressing under-investigated aspects of Acheulean hominin behavioral ecology and place Acheulean …

A Pilot Study For Examining Population Movement During The Peri-Medieval Climatic Anomaly In The Nebraska Sand Hills, Nora C. Greiman

Department of Anthropology: Theses and Student Research

The Sand Hills of Nebraska comprise a dynamic environment of sand dunes that has changed much over the millennia since their formation. Periods of dune reactivation have occurred throughout history, including one such period at approximately A.D. 900-1300 associated with the Medieval Climatic Anomaly (MCA). Much is known about the geologic activity during this period but little is known about how human populations responded to changing environments. I examine the chronology of three sites occupied during the peri-MCA and the change or stasis in population movements via chemical characterization of ceramic artifacts. Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating was performed on …

The Distribution Of Paleoindian Debitage From The Pleistocene Terrace At The Topper Site: An Evaluation Of A Possible Pre-Clovis Occupation (38al23), Megan M. King

Occasional Papers – Southeastern Paleoamerican Survey

Abstract

Lithic debitage was excavated from all temporal components of the Topper Site, including stratum below Clovis-aged deposits. To determine the nature of lithic assemblage below Clovis the artifacts were carefully examined using traditional methods associated with the analysis of lithic debitage, including aggregate and individual flake analysis. Individual flakes within culturally known deposits, as well those associated with pre-Clovis aged sediments, were examined to determine if they shared characteristics associated with humanly produced tools. The distribution of lithic debitage, as well as non-cultural debris, were also compared between all strata. Statistical tests were utilized to determine the relationships between …

The Archaeology Of Hassanamesit Woods: The Sarah Burnee/Sarah Boston Farmstead, Stephen Mrozowski, Heather Law Pezzarossi, Dennis Piechota, Heather Trigg, John M. Steinberg, Guido Pezzarossi, Joseph Bagley, Jessica Rymer, Jerry Warner

Andrew Fiske Memorial Center for Archaeological Research Publications

Between 2003 and 2013 the Fiske Center for Archaeological Research at the University of Massachusetts Boston conducted an intensive investigation of the Sarah Burnee/Sarah Boston Farmstead on Keith Hill in Grafton, Massachusetts. The project employed a collaborative method that involved working closely with the Town of Grafton, through the Hassanmesit Woods Management Committee, and the Nipmuc Nation, the state recognized government of the Nipmuc people. Yearly excavation and research plans were decided through consultation with both the Nipmuc Tribal Council, their designated representative, Dr. D. Rae Gould, and the Hassanamesit Woods Management Committee. Dr. Gould also played a continuous and …

Farm-To-Market (Fm) 116 Improvements From Us 84 To Cactus Lane, Coryell County, Waco, Eric R. Oksanen, James T. Abbott

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

On March 17 and 25, 2015, archeologists from the Texas Department of Transportation Archeological Studies Branch conducted an archeological survey that included mechanical trenching along FM 116. The project Area of Potential Effects (APE) begins at United States Highway (US) 84 in Gatesville to the north and continues southward approximately 18.8 miles to Cactus Lane. All construction would occur in the existing right of way which is typically 100-feet-wide. The project would add sections of passing lanes and turn lanes at select locations and would replace the existing bridge at Cowhouse Creek with a new structure. The typical depth of …

An Archaeological Survey For The Proposed City Of Granbury Water Treatment Plant Project In Hood County, Texas, William E. Moore

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

An archaeological survey of a one-acre tract in Hood County, Texas was conducted by Brazos Valley Research Associates (BVRA) on June 5, 2015. Prehistoric site 41HD11 had been recorded in the Area of Potential Effect (APE), and the purpose of this project was to confirm its presence and identify site boundaries and site significance if possible. William E. Moore was the Principal Investigator and Jesse Todd was the Project Archaeologist who performed the survey. The Texas Historical Commission (THC) issued Antiquities Permit number 7273 to this project. The area was extensively shovel tested and no cultural materials were found. Previous …

Cultural Resources Monitoring Of Geological Study Units In Padre Canyon Area Southeast Of El Paso, Hudspeth County, Texas, David H. Greenwald, Jeffery Hanson

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

DMG Four Corners Research, Inc. conducted cultural resource monitoring at seven proposed geological study loci (shallow drill holes and excavation units of less than 50 feet) at the request of JOBE Materials, L.P., on Texas GLO lands southeast of El Paso, in Hudspeth County, Texas (Figure 1.1). Mineral rights are owned by the State of Texas. The geological study loci were confined to Texas GLO Block 10, Sections 15, 21 and 22 (Figure 1.2) within 1323 acres, although a larger permit area was granted. The project was initiated on January 23, 2014, and completed on January 24, 2014. No named …

Applications Of Gis Analyses And Ecological Approaches To Paleolithic Sites In Portugal., Christopher M. Sims

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Developments in landscape approaches to archaeological research have been greatly advanced by the use of geospatial technologies. Despite this boon, certain questions remain where the spatial distributions of archaeological material are complicated by other factors. Geomorphic processes significantly hinder site survivability and visibility, and complicate fieldwork. Such is the case for Paleolithic archaeological sites in Portugal, where the current landscape has been drastically altered since Paleolithic human occupation at the Last Glacial Maximum. The challenge to landscape-scale approaches is to provide a bridge between long-term environmental factors and smaller-scale evidence for human-ecosystem interaction. This requires that adaptations be made to …

Remapping Nature: Motherhood, Autonomy, And Anti-Mining Activism In Íntag, Ecuador, Ellicott K. Dandy

Honors Theses

This honors thesis explores the social changes that women engaged in anti-mining activism bring to a region in rural Ecuador. I discuss the ways in which they incorporate their activist techniques into everyday life, using their status as mothers to access public discourses of environmentalism, and ultimately rewrite gender roles locally. Framing the mining conflict as a catalyst for social change, I draw parallels between this movement and indigenous politics in Ecuador, propose new interpretations of the mestizo ethnic identity and assimilation in the Spanish Empire, and finally, make the case for a nature-centric cultural analysis in anthropology.

Legacy - March 2012, South Carolina Institute Of Archaeology And Anthropology--University Of South Carolina

SCIAA Magazine - Legacy & PastWatch

Contents:

Stanley South Has Retired!.....p. 1
Director's Note.....p. 2
Colonial Conflicts and the Carolina-Chickasaw· Connection.....p. 4
God's Fields: Landscape, Religion, and Race in Moravian Wachovia.....p. 5
2011 Activities of the Southeastern Paleoamerican Survey.....p. 6
SCAPOD Update: Public Education at the Topper Site During the 2011 Field Season.....p. 11
The 2011 Field Seasons at Robertson Farm Site 2 (38PN35).....p. 12
SCAPOD Collaboration with PAST: Public Outreach at Robertson Farm Site (38PN35).....p. 14
The Savannah River Archaeological Research Program's Cinematic Outreach Program.....p. 15
Radiocarbon and Luminescence Dating at Flamingo Bay (38AK469): Implications for Site Formation Processes and Artifact Burial at a …

2011 Activities Of The Southeastern Paleoamerican Survey, Albert C. Goodyear

Faculty & Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

Upper Pleistocene Human Dispersals Out Of Africa: A Review Of The Current State Of The Debate, Amanuel Beyin

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Although there is a general consensus on African origin of early modern humans, there is disagreement about how and when they dispersed to Eurasia. This paper reviews genetic and Middle Stone Age/Middle Paleolithic archaeological literature from northeast Africa, Arabia, and the Levant to assess the timing and geographic backgrounds of Upper Pleistocene human colonization of Eurasia. At the center of the discussion lies the question of whether eastern Africa alone was the source of Upper Pleistocene human dispersals into Eurasia or were there other loci of human expansions outside of Africa? The reviewed literature hints at two modes of early …

Exploring Desert Stone, Steven K. Madsen

All USU Press Publications

The confluence of the Green and Colorado Rivers, now in Canyonlands National Park, near popular tourist destination Moab, still cannot be reached or viewed easily. Much of the surrounding region remained remote and rarely visited for decades after settlement of other parts of the West. The first U.S. government expedition to explore the canyon country and the Four Corners area was led by John Macomb of the army's topographical engineers. The soldiers and scientists followed in part the Old Spanish Trail, whose location they documented and verified. Seeking to find the confluence of the Colorado and the Green and looking …