Arts and Humanities Commons^™

A Gis Approach To Landscape Scale Archaeoacoustics, Kristy Elizabeth Primeau

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This research presents the development and critical assessment of an Archaeoacoustics Toolbox for Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology written in the Python programming language, and applies this methodology to cross cultural case studies exploring the importance of soundsheds in an anthropological-archaeological context. As counterpoint to a common critique of experiential theoretical approaches the Soundshed Analysis and Soundshed Analysis-Variable Cover tools provide a replicable means of modeling baseline estimates of the experience of sound. Testing against modern acoustical studies establishing scientific accuracy, and explanations of the sound physics calculations performed by the tools are provided. The tools are then applied to …

The Subsistence Economy In Urban Mayapán : Sustainability And Resiliency Through Diversity, Caroline Elizabeth Antonelli

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Agrarian states are often viewed as premodern manifestations of complex urbanism, with environmental constraints limiting growth and their sustainability. Pre-Columbian states in the Northern Maya Lowlands were one context where these conditions were thought to apply. However, despite environmental constraints such as a scrub forest, periodic droughts and hurricanes, and an uneven distribution of resources, civilization flourished. Critical to the success of these states were social and economic institutions that supported highly effective landscape management strategies. The impact of these systems is still apparent today.Multiscalar approaches are critical to understanding the complex structures of subsistence economies in premodern urban places. …

Courtland Street, Lake George : A Bioarchaeological Study Of The Skeletal Foot Morphology Of Early Revolutionary War Soldiers, Alexandra Grace Decarlo

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

In 2019, an unmarked burial ground was discovered in the town of Lake George, NY. Under the leadership of the Bioarcheology department at the New York State Museum, numerous interments were excavated. A few of the remains had been bisected, leaving only their lower limbs. Additionally, many of the remains were commingled within a large mound of dirt. Upon analysis, the remains recovered from the Courtland Street site were determined to be associated with the Revolutionary War and the early Battle of Quebec in 1775. Due to the state of the remains, it was only possible to focus an analysis …

The Materiality Of Metaphor In Mayan Hieroglyphic Texts : Metaphor In Changing Political Climates, Rebecca Ann Dinkel

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Recent research on the discursive and rhetorical forms of Mayan hieroglyphic texts has demonstrated how language and writing were used to frame, not just represent, Pre-Columbian Mayan history. Research on the role of metaphor in this framing has only just begun, and despite the well-known multimodal character of Mayan hieroglyphic texts, research on the role of metaphors in pictorial images has been even more limited. Previous research has not fully documented metaphor variation, particularly as it materializes across different modalities, media, places, and times. Doing so will allow for more subtle and elaborate interpretations of metaphor use and meaning in …

The Materiality Of Metaphor In Mayan Hieroglyphic Texts: Metaphor In Changing Political Climates, Dinkel A. Rebecca

Anthropology Theses & Dissertations

Recent research on the discursive and rhetorical forms of Mayan hieroglyphic texts has demonstrated how language and writing were used to frame, not just represent, Pre-Columbian Mayan history. Research on the role of metaphor in this framing has only just begun, and despite the well-known multimodal character of Mayan hieroglyphic texts, research on the role of metaphors in pictorial images has been even more limited. Previous research has not fully documented metaphor variation, particularly as it materializes across different modalities, media, places, and times. Doing so will allow for more subtle and elaborate interpretations of metaphor use and meaning in …

To Burn Or Bury? That Is The Question : The Late Bronze Age And Iron Age In Northern Europe, Petra N. Peretin

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Changes in social organization can be studied through several different avenues one ofwhich is through mortuary patterns. Here we will be looking at changes in social organization during the Late Bronze Age and Iron Age in Northern Europe using mortuary and osteological data. If we study how each community interacts, mourns, stores, transports, and buries their dead then we can learn about the underlying mechanisms that transform and maintain a society, and gain insight into the societal and economical shifts of the Late Bronze Age and Iron Age in this region. These changes will be determined by analyzing the distribution …

Economy, Exchange, And Political Power At Lomas Entierros, Central Pacific Costa Rica, Yajaira Maria Nunez-Cortes

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Archaeology's focus on long-term transformations in society provides a unique perspective to understand the rise and development of political and economic power and its effects on different groups of society. Comparative archaeological analyses of complex societies have demonstrated that there is a high degree of variability in the expression of such complexity, as well as in the processes that led to its emergence around the world. Within this broader context, this study focuses on intra-site and household economy patterns to gain insight into the sources of political and economic power, and reveal other forms of organization that may differ from …

Interactions Between Jefferson County Iroquoian Women And Men As Explored Through Social Network Analysis Of Pottery And Pipe Decorative Motif Traits, Jessica L. Vavrasek

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Pottery and pipe decorative motifs are generally thought to change across time, space, and group affiliation. While pipes and pottery have been extensively study using various methods, they have only recently been studied in present-day New York, southern Ontario, and Quebec (Northern Iroquoia) using social network analysis. Analyses to date have primarily focused on Pan-Iroquoian networks rather than on regions within Northern Iroquoia. To better understand the Jefferson County Iroquoians living in and around present-day Jefferson County, New York, social network analysis methods have begun to be utilized to analyze pottery and pipe decorative motifs to elucidate village interactions within …

Tribute From The Underworld : The Historical Ecology Of The Maya Postclassic Fish Trade With Isotopic Analysis Of Otoliths From MayapáN And Caye Coco, Jeffrey Michael Bryant

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This dissertation investigates the Maya fish trade through the extensive analysis of fish otoliths (ear stones), from the Postclassic sites of Mayapán, and Caye Coco, and provides an initial foundation for the development of a historical ecology program. Through osteometry, thin-section microscopy of growth rings, and microscale stable isotope analysis (δC13 and δO18), a spectrum of data is produced to characterize the Postclassic fish trade. These data are used to illuminate themes of the seasonality of the fish harvest, diet, biodiversity, fish population demography, environmental change, sustainability, and resilience. The timing of a seasonal intensification of the harvest is viewed …

Bayesian Analysis In Adult Skeletal Age-At-Death Estimation, With Additional Consideration Of Pathological Variables, Jessica L. Campbell

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

A common task bioarchaeologists face is to estimate age-at-death in populations that have no corresponding documentation. This poses many challenges, the first of which is that age-at-death is highly variable within and among populations and can be further confounded by genetic and environmental influences, as well as other components of the biological profile. Estimating age-at-death in a historic sample can be even more challenging due to missing age indicators or taphonomic changes that obscure the features. Bayesian Analysis offers the potential to mitigate these challenges and to estimate age-at-death with lower degrees of uncertainty and higher probabilities of increased accuracy …

Migration, Resettlement, And Transition In The Aftermath Of The Maya Collapse : A Case Study Of A Terminal Classic Maya Community In Northern Belize, Josalyn M. Ferguson

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

While there is consensus that the processes of decline and abandonment at many sites associated with the Terminal Classic Maya “collapse” (A.D. 750-1050) included the movement of peoples across the Maya lowlands, there has been little focused archaeological research on the resettlement and regeneration of these migrant groups. The movement of peoples across the Maya landscape was partially encouraged by a declining and ever increasingly taxed environment, as well as a revolution in exchange systems, with a notable increase in entrepreneurialism across the Maya subarea. This more integrated economic system focused on a wider range of commodities that served to …

Human Interactions With The Late Holocene Landscape On Martha's Vineyard, Jessica Watson

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The role of humans in pre-Contact ecosystems has been a focus of archaeological attention for decades in New England, where Native groups continue to live after over 10,000 years of settlement. On Martha’s Vineyard, a small island off the southern coast of Massachusetts, research has often focused on models of coastal specialization, particularly within the many shell middens that litter the coastline. This dissertation seeks to understand human interactions with this environment from two shell middens: the Frisby Butler and Hornblower II sites, located on the shores of Squibnocket Pond in southwestern Martha’s Vineyard. This study was motivated by three …

A Consideration Of Ancient Residues And Their Analysis, Jennifer A. Cardinal

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Identification of specific use(s) of ancient pottery vessels through empirical verification is currently very limited for archaeological investigations. Although we can postulate a range of purposes or functions for certain vessels, empirical confirmation of actual use has been determined only for a minuscule portion of the available vessels. This thesis will provide a broad review of organic analyses as applied to foodstuff residues left on ancient artifacts as well as discuss several considerations for such analysis that are unique to their application to archaeological specimens.

Maritime Archaic Spearpoints : A New Examination Of Their Context And Chronology, John Michael Garbellano

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This research focuses on the morphology, chronology and provenience of nipple-based spearpoints found in Newfoundland and Labrador and their relationship to larger-scale cultural processes during the Archaic period of that Province. Nipple-based points are primarily thought to date between 7500-6000 B.P. and are associated with the early Maritime Archaic tradition, the earliest inhabitants of Newfoundland and Labrador. A recent find of a nipple-based point at the Stock Cove site (CkA1-3) in eastern Newfoundland could mean that part of the island was colonized earlier than previously thought. Lithic analysis of the Stock Cove artifact will be discussed, and the results will …

Lock, Hull, Wheel, And Rail : An Archaeological Study Of The Construction Of Ethnicity And Industry In New York, Jordon Douglas Loucks

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This study examines the efficacy of archaeological interpretation of ethnicity within the confines of nineteenth-century material culture available from the New York State Museum’s archaeology collection and the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation Cultural Resource Information System. The goals of this evaluation are to discuss the limits of archaeological interpretation of ethnicity, the utility of material indications of racism in the archaeological record, and the archaeological footprint of immigrant groups by considering the economic development history of New York State. This study focuses on the canals and railroads of New York State as a mechanism …

Finding The Foundation : Exploring A Historic Stockade Property In Schenectady, New York, Hanna Marie Pageau

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Schenectady County Community College Community Archaeology Program researchers have been excavating in the Stockade Historic District, an area dating back to the Dutch colonization period. Sites located on the current property of the First Reformed Church of Schenectady, located within the district, include a house razed in 1938, but which appears according to existing deed records, to have originally been built in the late 1700s. Two primary finds have come from the excavation, including the presence of two different strata with significant amounts of burnt debris that is believed to represent the most significant fires on the property (1861/1948). In …

Forming Community Partnerships, Lori Foley

CHAR

In the event of a disaster, regardless of the type or scope, the first response is always local. For the institutions and organizations charged with safeguarding the nation’s cultural and historic resources – museums, historical societies, libraries, and municipal offices, to name just a few – building relationships with local first responders and emergency managers before disaster strikes is key to ensuring the safety of staff and collections. State emergency management agencies are also collaborating with their state cultural agencies to protect these valuable and vulnerable resources. The resulting emergency networks better position the local community and the state to …

Lessons Learned From Culture In Crisis; Or Protecting The Past To Save The Future, Laurie Rush

CHAR

At the midpoint of the second decade of the 21^st century, the world is experiencing deliberate destruction of cultural property at a scale not seen since the Second World War. Future protection and preservation of cultural heritage depends on learning from tragedy and applying these lessons as pro-actively as possible. First, we are discovering that no matter the threat, there are people who risk their lives to save artifacts and features of their culture, and the motives for this courage are retrospectively clear. For a community to survive a conflict or disaster as a corporate entity, elements of shared …

Keynote Address - When Violent Nonstate Actors Target Cultural Heritage Sites, Victor Asal

CHAR

Why would organizations attack or kill people at cultural heritage sites or destroy such sites? Using data from the Big Allied and Dangerous insurgent dataset that has data on 140 insurgent organizations from 1998-2012, and data from the Global Terrorism Database, this presentation examines the factors that make insurgent groups more likely to attack such sites or kill people at such sites. We look at the impact of organizational ideology, organizational structure and power as well as country level factors.

Mitigation, Response And Recovery, Richard Lord

CHAR

Abstract: Hurricane Harvey ravaged Texas and Louisiana nearly five years after Superstorm Sandy devastated the East Coast and caused 53 deaths, destroyed or severely damaged 100,000 Long Island homes, and left an estimated $42 billion in damages across New York State.

This session will provide an overview of the disaster relief and assistance programs available under the Stafford Act, when they are triggered, and how private non-profit and cultural institutions can plan for natural hazards and take full advantage of available aid. There will also be discussion of the NYS Hazard Mitigation Plan, the Community Risk and Resiliency Act, and …

Informing Responders Using Gis And Gps, Deidre Mccarthy

CHAR

Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast in August 2005 and created the single largest disaster for cultural resources that the United States has witnessed since the inception of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) in 1966. Notably, the NHPA created the National Register of Historic Places, our nation’s catalog of important cultural resources. The NHPA also stipulates that any federal undertaking which may adversely affect National Register eligible resources be mitigated. For the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Katrina created the largest compliance project ever under Section 106 of the NHPA.

Although causing a great deal of damage, Katrina also …

Keynote Address: Climate Change: From Global To New York Scale, Christopher D. Thorncroft

CHAR

This talk is concerned with the science and impacts of climate change from global to New York scales. It will provide an assessment of how the climate has changed over the past Century based on a purely observational perspective. The scientific basis for anthroprogenic climate change will be explained and discussed including a description of the “greenhouse effect” and why it is important for life on this planet. We will briefly discuss global and local consequences of a warmer climate and what we need to be prepared for going forward in the coming decades.

Opening Keynote Address: Using Data To Understand Cultural Destruction, Brian I. Daniels

CHAR

Brian I. Daniels, Ph.D, Penn Cultural Heritage Center, University of Pennsylvania Museum.

Why is cultural heritage targeted in conflict? Under what circumstances? By whom? Today, due in part to the recent notorious instances of cultural destruction in the Middle East and North Africa, there is perhaps more attention among the broader scientific community than ever before about the phenomenon of cultural loss. At the same time, there are many significant data and analytical gaps. Little social science literature about cultural destruction exists and many critical questions—and avenues of research—are, as of yet, unstudied. A primary reason for this lack …

The Murals Of The Dewey Graduate Library, Kristen Thornton-De Stafeno

Dewey Graduate Library History

The history and descriptions of the Great Depression-era Works Progress Administration Murals created by artist William Brantley Van Ingen, a student of Louis Comfort Tiffany, depicting the history of Albany, New York State.

The Stained Glass Windows Of The Dewey Graduate Library, Kristen Thornton-De Stafeno

Dewey Graduate Library History

The history and description of the ten 20th century stained glass windows given to the Dewey Graduate Library of the University at Albany by the senior classes of the State Normal College and the New York state college of Teachers.

Landscape Of War : A Spatial Analysis Of Village Settlements In The Middle Missouri Subregion Of The North American Great Plains, Andrew Clark

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

From the modern protests of the Dakota Access Pipeline to feuding between village dwelling horticulturalists, there is a long history of conflict along the banks of the Missouri River. This dissertation aims to investigate the interplay between the unique landscape of the semi-arid river valley and the continuing influx of culturally diverse people moving to the region, specifically, the semi-sedentary hunting farmers living in the Middle Missouri division of the North American Great Plains, between A.D. 1000 and 1750. I use a combination of ethnohistorical analysis, cross-cultural comparison, settlement history and spatial analysis (clustering, viewshed and topographic analyses) to explore …

Consciousness Engendered Throughout Lena Dunham's "Girls" : Female Subjectivity Vs The Problem Of Post-Feminism, Heeyeon Kim

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The inequality between genders is an idea still endorsed in everyday life throughout media, political discourse, and relationships. Gender discrimination spurs feminists to strive for equity and has become the motivation for the changing and progressive message in their writings and artworks. Lena Dunham’s HBO TV series Girls is such a work and is distinctly unique when compared to Hollywood’s presentation of the standard image of women, and thus, has been used as an initiation into the study of post-feminism and the contemporary media. Dunham’s attitudes and ideas shown in Girls has the same vigorous feminist movement resembling the rebelliousness …

A Zooarchaeological And Geochemical Analysis Of The Faunal Remains From The Tripolye Site Verteba Cave, Ukraine, Sarah Heins Ledogar

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This study combines zooarchaeological and geochemical analyses to examine the use of animals excavated from Verteba Cave (Ukraine), a unique archaeological site associated with the Eneolithic Tripolye culture (4900 – 2900 BC). Verteba Cave is atypical among Tripolye sites because it is located within a cave, and contains a large amount of human skeletal remains. Although research has been focused on understanding Tripolye subsistence economy, the strategies engaged for procuring domestic animals and the role of animal products in Tripolye life has been underexplored. The role of animals in social behaviors (i.e., mortuary practices, feasting) has not yet been thoroughly …

The Pottery And The People Of The Pethick Site In Schoharie County, New York, Jamie Marie Meinsen

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

In the summer of 2014, the New York State Museum Cultural Research Survey Program and the Anthropology Department at the University at Albany undertook the excavation of the Pethick Site. An archaeological field school was organized for the detection and study of the site’s Native American features associated with an agricultural village. Through the efforts of students and professional archaeologists, hundreds of Native American artifacts were found in addition to historical ceramics, glass, brick fragments, pipe stems, and metal nails. The Pethick Site produced about 58 sherds of pottery related to the time after the arrival of Europeans to the …

Child Abuse In The Archaeological Context, Nicole Marie Popielarz

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Children have been a widely ignored subject in archaeology so it follows that child abuse has not been studied in detail in the archaeological context. This paper combines both forensic anthropology studies and Bioarchaeological studies to see if child abuse is a modern phenomenon. Signs of both non-accidental trauma and neglect have been documented by authors in the archaeological record. The purpose of this paper will be to describe signs of both nonaccidental trauma and neglect. Then examples in archaeological studies will be reviewed. The future of the study of abuse in the archaeological context is also discussed at some …