Digital Commons Network^™

Music In The Northern Woods: An Archaeological Exploration Of Musical Instrument Remains, Matthew Durocher

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Archaeological and historical literature neglects music and sound. The quantity and distribution of musical remains found during archaeological excavations at Coalwood, a Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Company (CCI) logging camp active from 1901-1912 in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, addresses the importance of music to the people that lived there. Musical reed plates from harmonicas, concertinas, and accordions were recovered and examined. These musical remains have traditionally been ignored as a diagnostic artifact, but here, I use them as primary evidence to access the daily lives of people in the northern woods. To do this, I will present how CCI developed Coalwood …

Searching Through Debris: A Mass Analysis From The Carter Robinson Mound Site In Lee County, Virginia, Robert Capps

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Mississippian period is one of the most widely studied periods in the prehistoric Southeast, but there are areas such as the Mississippian frontier that have not been explored in great detail. Carter Robinson is a Mississippian chiefdom located on the frontier in southwest Virginia during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. To better understand the people living at this site a mass analysis was conducted to examine the lithic debris left behind by the people living there. The purpose of this thesis is to identify the degree of tool production at Carter Robinson and to identify areas of tool production, …

Paleoparasitology And Pathoecology In Russia: Investigations And Perspectives, Sergey Slepchenko, Karl Reinhard

Karl Reinhard Publications

Russia, both as the USSR and the Russian federation, provided a source of parasitological theory for decades. A key figure in Russian parasitology was Yevgeny Pavlovsky. He developed the nidus concept, the conceptual basis for the field of pathoecology. He also coined the term “paleoparasitology.” Pathoecology is a foundation concept in archaeological parasitology. Paleoparasitology, as defined by Pavlovsky, is an avenue for understanding of host parasite evolution over very long time periods. These contributions are not fully recognized internationally. Similarly, the long history of Russian paleontological and archaeological investigations are not fully known. Most recently, discoveries from archaeological sites show …

The Paleoepidemiology Of Enterobius Vermicularis (Nemata: Oxyuridae) Among The Loma San Gabriel At La Cueva De Los Muertos Chiquitos (600–800 Ce), Rio Zape Valley, Durango, Mexico, Johnica J. Morrow, Karl Reinhard

Karl Reinhard Publications

One hundred coprolites excavated from La Cueva de los Muertos Chiquitos (600–800 CE) in the Rio Zape Valley of present-day Durango, Mexico, were examined for the presence of helminth eggs utilizing standard archaeoparasitological techniques. Eggs of the human pinworm (Enterobius vermicularis) were recovered from 34 of the 100 coprolites examined. Eggs of parasites were photographed and measured before egg concentration values were calculated for each positive sample. Egg concentration values demonstrated an overdispersed pattern of distribution among the samples (66% uninfected, 25% less than 100 eggs/g, 8% between 100 and 500 eggs/g, and 1% more than 500 eggs/g). …

Autologous Bone Flap Resorption Years After Subtemporal Craniotomy, John Oladapo Obafunwa, Emily E. Hammerl, David Jaskierny, Livia A. Taylor, Lynette Russell, Karl Reinhard

Karl Reinhard Publications

In Spring of 2012, the partially undressed and skeletonized remains of a homeless adult Hispanic male was found in a fairly open wooded area in Nebraska. The remains showed evidence of extensive pathologies, which included healed traumas and surgeries. Examination of the decedent's medical records revealed that he had a history of kidney and liver problems, alcohol abuse, several traumas including a major head injury that necessitated a craniotomy, and radiological features of neurocysticercosis. The autologous bone flap, which was replaced after the craniotomy, had resorbed significantly away from the edges of the injury. Death was variously attributed to craniocerebral …

An Ethnoarchaeological Perspective On Ground Stone Production At The Santiago Quarry In The Casas Grandes Region Of Chihuahua, Mexico, Michael T. Searcy, Todd Pitezel

Faculty Publications

Grinding stones, and more specifically manos and metates, are ubiquitous tools found at archaeological sites throughout the Americas. These tools were important, even to foragers, and grew in importance with the spread of agriculture, especially maize cultivation. Analyses of grinding stones recovered from archaeological sites are a common aspect of site reports, but these tend to generate data that emphasize the middle and end of the use-lives of these tools (Searcy 2011:8). The prehistoric manufacture of ground stone tools has received scant attention, and we suggest this may be due to two primary factors. First, the quarries where much of …

Aerial Imaging Using Uavs (Drones) In Chihuahua And Nayarit, Mexico, To Map And Archive Archaeological Sites, Michael T. Searcy, Scott Ure, Michael Mathiowetz, Haylie Ferguson, Jaclyn Eckersley, Mauricio Garduno Ambriz, Jose Carlos Beltran Medina, Jorge Morales Monroy

Faculty Publications

In 2017, we used UAVs (drones) to record eight archaeological sites from the air. As this type of technology becomes more refined, we have found that it is especially useful in carrying out three specific tasks: contour mapping, archiving site conditions, and identifying architecture. This paper reports our findings resulting from aerial images captured while flying archaeological sites in Nayarit and Chihuahua, Mexico.

Weathering The Storm: Effects Of Storm Periods On Ancient Populations Of Coastal Florida, Brett Parbus

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Understanding human response to natural disasters is a core problem for environmental archaeologists. Hurricanes are often devastating to coastal populations, and recognizing behavioral change in response to these major storm events provides context for the resilience and adaptability of ancient coastal people. This research project focuses on retrodicting periods of increased storm frequency and intensity for regions of the Florida coast and comparing those storm periods to the existing archaeological record in order to determine if there are correlations between increased storminess and periods of site abandonment and/or changes in subsistence strategy. These potential correlations may aid in our understanding …

Occupational Seasonality And Paleoenvironmental Reconstruction At Quebrada Jaguay 280, Stephanie Melissa Gruver

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Quebrada Jaguay 280 (QJ-280) is one of the oldest maritime archaeological sites in the New World. Previous excavations of the southern Peruvian coastal site have dated occupation from ~13,000-8,000 cal yr BP. These excavations also determined that the occupants of the site used preferential maritime resource procurement strategies and had an interzonal connection to the highlands. In 2017 a new excavation was conducted at QJ-280 and the remains of the marine mollusk Mesodesma donacium were recovered. Geochemical examinations on the shell remains informed on the occupational seasonality of the site and reconstructed sea surface temperatures experienced off the coast of …

Indigenous Pottery From Sonora, Mexico: Examining Typologies And Spatial Distribution, Hunter M. Claypatch

Graduate Dissertations and Theses

A wealth of archaeological surveys and excavations has been conducted in Sonora, Mexico within the past century. Despite the establishment of Centro INAH Sonora, and numerous binational projects, little attempt has been made to synthesize the state’s growing literature. This thesis provides the first detailed study of indigenous ceramics from Sonora, Mexico. Archaeological projects within Sonora have been bifurcated by nation-state boundaries and divergent academic schooling—both possessing their own distinct research goals and methodologies. On a pragmatic level, a synthesis of prehistoric and protohistoric Sonoran pottery is necessary to establish a methodological consensus for classifications and typologies. On a broader …

The Shape Of Diversity: A Morphometric Analysis Of Late Archaic Bifaces From Lamoka Lake, Samuel M. Bourcy

Graduate Dissertations and Theses

The general assumption of Late Archaic peoples in the Northeast is that they were one homogeneous culture group, but through the study of Lamoka Lake bifaces found at the Lamoka Lake Site, as well as applying the concepts of community of practice, I have shown that tool shape variation could indicate distinct social groups. Using computer software to digitally outline bifaces I compared the shape of over 400 bifaces from Lamoka Lake and statistically analyzed their morphologies in order to provide material correlates of social diversity. Whether this morphological variation is representative of the conscious or unconscious design choices made …

Zero To Hero: Elite Burials And Hero Cults In Early Iron Age Greece And Cyprus, Alina M. Karapandzich

Senior Independent Study Theses

Adulation of heroes, including the flawed, militaristic, authoritative men of Homeric epic, was an important feature of ancient Hellenic culture. This phenomenon is reflected in cults and shrines built in the Archaic period. How did these so-called “hero cults” form, and can Early Iron Age (EIA) elite burials form a connection between the tomb cults of the Late Bronze Age (LBA) and the hero cults of the Archaic and later Classical periods? The purpose of this study is to examine EIA burials whose elite goods and archaeologically visible tombs reflect the burial of a “heroic” person. In doing so, I …

Variation Of Native American Ceramics In The Big Bend Region Of The Lower Ocmulgee River Valley, Georgia, Ad 1540 To Ad 1715, Rachel Paige Hensler

Theses and Dissertations--Anthropology

Studies of European colonialism in the Western Hemisphere have shifted focus from areas of direct European/Native American contact, to investigate Native American groups outside of direct European contact. During Spanish colonization of the Southeastern United States (AD 1520 to AD 1715), the Big Bend region of the Ocmulgee River Valley, in Georgia, located about 160 kilometers from Spanish occupied coast, was inhabited by a Native American polity from the Late Prehistoric into the Mission period. This location is ideal for studying indirect contact.

Changes in ceramic production can be used to identify changes in Native American interaction through time. Attributes …

Late Pleistocene Adaptations In The Midsouth: The Paleoindian Occupation Of The Carson-Conn-Short Site And The Lower Tennessee River Valley, James Scott Jones

Theses and Dissertations--Anthropology

The Midsouth has long been known to be a locus of Paleoindian (13,200-10,000 yrs B.P.) populations. Paleoindian populations have generally been characterized as highly mobile hunter-gatherers with egalitarian social structure. Utilizing the theoretical lens of diversification and intensification of resource use, the Late Pleistocene adaptations of the region’s populations are examined from both a large scale or coarse grain perspective as well as more fine grain data from the site level. Previous models of Paleoindian adaptations are defined and tested in this study to determine the applicability of these models with new data. Coarse grain data are derived from lithic …

The Historical Evaluation And Significance Of The Old Joerger Ranch, Martis Valley, California, Hope Caroline Schear

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

United States history is full of adventure and pioneering but building the regional histories of the nation allows one to dig deeper into what it took to make this country develop socially and economically. In the mid 1800’s California experienced a boom like never before. In 1848, mill workers found gold at Sutter’s Mill in Coloma, California, which led to a huge influx of people and population spike that changed California forever. Once the Gold Rush subsided, agriculture replaced gold in California as a wealth generator. Early settlers discovered that the mild climate of the region allows a wide variety …

Characteristics And Functions Of Non-Mound Mississippian Sites: A Case Study Of Fitzner North End (9sn256), Lindsey R. Hinson

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

The Mississippian time period (A.D. 900-1600) in the Southeast of North America began with the development of ranked societies where the elite governed from and resided in administrative centers with earthen mounds and no formal bureaucracy. Much of the remaining population lived at smaller, non-mound sites. Given that the majority of people in these polities lived at non-mound sites, it is important to understand these places and their contexts. Current literature does not provide a clear architectural grammar of how these sites are defined socially or archaeologically. Due to variations in socio-political organization, and amount of excavation and research, site …

Lowcountry Identities, Labor, And Material Culture: An Archaeological Survey Of 38ja1138, Zachary W. Dirnberger

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Archaeologists have long struggled with understanding the relationship between material culture and actual, emic identity. Early practitioners assumed that there was a one-to-one correspondence between the two and that a suite of artifacts recovered archaeologically could be matched with a specific ethnic affiliation or peoples that produced and utilized those artifacts. Later generations of archaeologists challenged this view by demonstrating how mutable and historically situated identity is, and how often material culture crosscuts ethnic boundaries. Historical archaeologists have played a central role in this debate. In this thesis, I examine 38JA1138, a largely undocumented late eighteenth-century site in Jasper County, …

Deviating From The Standard: The Relationship Between Archaeology And Public Education, Rhianna M. Bennett

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Recent studies of the public perception of archaeology shows that while it is a popular and valued discipline, it is still greatly misunderstood. Over the last few decades, archaeologists have sought new and innovative ways to establish archaeological literacy, promote community engagement, and conduct outreach, with the K-12 classroom being one such avenue of focus. Archaeology’s mysterious and exciting reputation among the general public, along with its interdisciplinary applicability, allows educators to draw interest in students and teach a variety of lessons through the lens of archaeology. This thesis outlines survey results of educators and archaeologists on their method, frequency, …

Snapshots Of Confinement: Memory And Materiality Of Japanese Americans' World War Ii Era Photo Albums, Whitney J. Peterson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The US government's incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II denied over 120,000 people basic rights and civil liberties. Limits on owning cameras inflicted unique hardship as people were unable to photographically document their lives as they had before the war. My research focuses on photographs that people managed to take and acquire in the camps, investigating the role of snapshot photography in remembering and understanding World War II experiences of incarceration. The photo albums I researched are housed in museum collections at two former sites of confinement: Manzanar National Historic Site in the Eastern Sierra of California and …

Taphonomic Considerations On Pinworm Prevalence In Three Ancestral Puebloan Latrines, Morgana Camacho, Alena M. Iñiguez, Karl Reinhard

Karl Reinhard Publications

For archaeological studies it is always necessary to consider taphonomic factors that could have influenced in ancient material preservation. Parasite eggs are usually highly degraded in ancient sites dated from all periods of time and taphonomic factors are mentioned to explain absence and low quantity of eggs found. In this study, we compare parasite egg recovery of three Great House latrines: two from Aztec Ruins (Rooms 219 and 225) and one from Salmon Ruins. We compared through statistical regression the recovery of eggs with the abundance of two classes of decomposers: mites and nematodes. These microorganisms have relation with nematode …

New Evidence Of Ancient Parasitism Among Late Archaic And Ancestral Puebloan Residents Of Chaco Canyon, Rachel E. Paseka, Carrie C. Heitman, Karl Reinhard

Karl Reinhard Publications

Archaeoparasitology provides a unique perspective on the health and habits of ancient cultures through the identification of parasite remains in archaeological materials. We identified eggs of the human whipworm, Trichuris trichiura, in coprolites recovered from Late Archaic (1926–1751 cal. BCE) and Ancestral Puebloan (1039–1163 cal. CE) sites in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico. Our findings represent the earliest record of T. trichiura in North America, the first record of the species from Chaco Canyon, and the first record of a macroparasite from a Late Archaic site (Atlatl Cave) on the Colorado Plateau. T. trichiura is common in the …

Science At Engineer Cantonment, Hugh H. Genoways, Brett C. Ratcliffe, Carl R. Falk, Thomas E. Labedz, Paul R. Picha, John R. Bozell

University of Nebraska State Museum: Mammalogy Papers

Conclusions

It is our contention that Thomas Say, Titian Peale, Edwin James, and their colleagues of the Stephen Long Expedition of 1819–1820 were heavily engaged in scientific research, which took the form of the first biodiversity inventory undertaken in the United States. This accomplishment has been overlooked both by biologists and historians, but it should rank among the most significant accomplishments of the expedition. The results of this inventory continue to inform us today about environmental, faunal, and floral changes along the Missouri River in an area that is known to be an ecotone between the deciduous forests of the …

Historical Observations And Identifications Of Plants And Animals In The Vicinity Of Engineer Cantonment In 1819-1820, Hugh H. Genoways, Brett C. Ratcliffe, Carl R. Falk, John R. Bozell

University of Nebraska State Museum: Mammalogy Papers

Historical observations and identifications of plants and animals in the vicinity of Engineer Cantonment in 1819–1820 (James 1822) are shown below in Roman and Roman italic print. Specimens identified through phytoarcheological and zooarcheological analysis of materials and believed to be reasonably associated or contemporaneous with the Long Expedition use of the site (AU4) are shown in boldface. Species present in both the historical and archeological data are marked by an asterisk (*). References used in this compilation include Benedict (1996), Brewer (1970 [1840]), Conant and Collins (1991), Ducey (2000), Evans (1997), Falk et al. (this volume), Genoways et al. (2008), …

Cantonment Belle Fontaine 1805-1826 The First U.S. Fort West Of The Mississippi River, David L. Browman

Books and Monographs

A brief summary extrapolated from various unpublished archaeological and archival reports detailing the results of five seasons of test excavations from 1992 to 1997 at this National Register of Historic Places property. Some sections, as indicated, may include information from research report analysis data by former Washington University students Jennifer Bonarek, Rachel Boyarsky, Marco Brewer, Tiffany Bruckert, Ellen Chapman, Myla Coffie, Laura Downing, Jennifer Fee, Kelly Gelpi, Rui Guan, Ronald Hampton, Joe Harl, Emily Hollinger, Mary Holst, Lauren Hosek. Lauren Hunter, Alexandra Jensen, Bobby Kahlon, Stephanie Kain, Ian Kalish, Sarah Keast, Meghan Kenny, Joanna Kovalski, Catherine Koziol, Amy Kramer, Aimee …

The Sylvan Blindspot: The Archaeological Value Of Surface Vegetation And A Critique Of Its Documentation, John S. Harris

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Surface vegetation at archaeological sites is a resource overlooked in cultural resource management. Drawing upon comparative documentary surveys of site forms and human surveys of 161 archaeologists in 12 U.S. states, this thesis explores why surface vegetation offers archaeological data potential; how archaeological documentation is an artifact of archaeologists, shaped by various subjectivities; and how improvements can be made for vegetal description in cultural inventory site forms. The surveys offer a critique on how the site form records are a product of disciplinary training oversights, differing work background experience, cultural bias, limitations in botanical knowledge, regional differences in U.S. archaeological …

Chipping Through Time: The Evolution Of Lithic Spatial Organization At The Bridge River Pithouse Village, British Columbia, Ethan P. Ryan

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Archaeological investigations at Housepit 54 within the Bridge River site have, to date, exposed 15 discreet floors primarily dating to ca. 1500-1000 cal. B.P. In this thesis, the spatial distributions of lithic artifacts from every floor are examined. Questions will be addressed specifically towards formation processes and the potential relationships between the patterning of lithic distributions as they relate to hearth-centered activity areas or domestic areas and fluctuations in estimated population. In addition, this thesis explores spatial organization as a cultural trait or concept that can be transmitted through time. Using the same methodological and theoretical approach for each floor, …

Tribal Consultation: A Critical Reminder Of Cultural Resource Management Laws And Obligations, Natasha F. Larose

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

By categorizing the National Historic Preservation Act and National Environmental Policy Act as red tape hindering infrastructure, the current Presidential administration is attempting to streamline processes to approve federal undertakings. In doing so, it threatens the government-to-government relationship between federal agencies and tribal governments. This relationship is a work-in-progress that needs to be nurtured rather than reverting to assertion of plenary powers over tribal affairs. The purpose of this research is to remind federal agencies that there are legal obligations to include tribal entities in the decision-making processes for federal undertakings. Furthermore, this research can serve as a reference for …

California Creek Quarry: Regional Persepctives And Uas Mapping, David A. Schwab

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Western Montana hosts an abundance of lithic deposits useful for precontact stone tool manufacturing. Lithic sources likely factored prominently into patterns of settlement, trade, subsistence and mobility for past populations in the region. The mining of these lithic resources results in a unique land use area, a prehistoric quarry. Prehistoric quarries in Western Montana have received very little research or spatial documentation. This may be due in part to their abundance and often overwhelming size and extent. Providing even basic spatial documentation for large quarries can be prohibitively time consuming and expensive. One such understudied quarry site is the California …

Examining The Relationship Between Traditional Ecological Knowledge And Cultural Resource Management, Erin Chiniewicz

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

No abstract provided.

A Ceramic Analysis Of Two Terminal Classic Maya Sites: Examining Economic Ties Through Pottery, Kara B. Johannesen

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The objective of this thesis is to examine the relationship between two Maya sites, Cahal Pech and Xunantunich, during Terminal Classic (780-950 CE) through ceramic variability. Until recently the Terminal Classic (TC) was often misunderstood as a time of the “Maya collapse.” The TC period is now understood as a complex time with shifting political tides possibly due to environmental pressures. New evidence from a TC deposit at Cahal Pech known as “south of H-1” shows an abundance of a specific decorated ware known as Mount Maloney Black (MMB), a type more closely associated with the neighboring site of Xunantunich. …