History Commons^™

Forks Of Cypress Archaeological Excavation To James Jackson, 7.16.1993, William L. Mcdonald

Correspondence

Correspondence from William L. McDonald to James Jackson concerning archaeological excavation near a cabin at the Forks of Cypress.

Edward O'Neal Home Cistern Correspondence To Steve Blevins, 11.12.1993, William L. Mcdonald

Correspondence

Correspondence from William Lindsey McDonald to Steve Blevins concerning an archaeological project to cover the cistern at the Edward O'Neal home in Florence, Alabama. The historical marker for the site can be accessed here.

An Alignment Of Absences: The Medicalization Of Death And Its Implications On Archaeological Methodology, Makayla J. Bowman

Departmental Honors & Graduate Capstone Projects

Absence describes something that is "expected, wanted, or looked for [but] is not present or does not exist," (Merriam-Webster Dictionary 2026). The archaeological discipline interacts with absence in many profound ways, largely in its study of the past dead. This paper focuses on the ways in which the medicalization of death has influenced, limited, and misaligned archaeological methodology, and how the result of those methodologies produces archaeological analysis that is absent of or misrepresents our understanding of life, personhood, and our position within a greater, interconnected biosphere. Thus, I present an anthropological critique of the ways in which death and …

What Bombs Cannot Occupy: Memory, Heritage, And War In Ukraine, Dalton D. Conden

The Penguin Review

Air-raid sirens have become part of the daily soundscape in Ukrainian cities. They interrupt meals, classes, conversations, and sleep. When they blare, people gather what they can and move quickly sometimes to shelters, sometimes to basements, sometimes nowhere at all. Families lock their doors without knowing whether they will ever turn the key again. Children carry backpacks filled with whatever seemed important in the moment: a photograph, a stuffed animal, a book pulled hastily from a shelf. Around them, buildings that once anchored everyday life—churches, museums, historic neighborhoods— have been damaged or destroyed.

Annual Archaeology Update: The Valley Of Kings, Sophia Shapiro

The Penguin Review

There can be no contest for the Review’s annual archaeological highlight for 2025. Exactly one hundred years after Egyptologists discovered the tomb of King Tutankhamun (King Tut) in the Valley of Kings, archaeologists discovered a series of steps buried by rockfall.

Interpreting “Vampire” Burials In Medieval Eastern Europe, Arleen Chau

UROP Posters

Since the early twentieth century, various atypical or deviant graves have been excavated across Eastern Europe, particularly in Poland. These discoveries have prompted much speculation, as the individuals were interred with items such as sickles placed over their necks or abdomens, along with other mortuary artifacts not considered normative compared to those found in typical community burials. Such practices suggest that these individuals were regarded as deviant or pariahs within their social contexts. Consequently, many have been quick to label these as “vampire burials,” interpreting them as measures intended to keep the dead from rising. However, this definition is problematic, …

An Ideological Target Through The Archaeological Archive: The Islamic State’S Destruction Of Palmyra And Its Impact On Local Syrian Identity, Tristen A. Leone

Pomona Senior Theses

This paper investigates how Palmyra's multicultural archaeological archive incited ISIS's destruction of the site during the Syrian Civil War through an analysis of sepulchral and religious architectural structures and onomastic practices. In contributing the cultural heritage scholarship, this paper places the motives of Islamic extremist groups in conversation with intellectual discourse around the multicultural identities of the Ancient Near East during the Roman Imperial Period. Further, through anthropological methodological frameworks and the photographic archive of excavation efforts at Palmyra, I aim to center modern local communities' experiences of living on and near an archaeological site like Palmyra. In consulting modern …

Forging Industry: Craft Practice At The Delaware Mine Blacksmith Shop, Lucy A. Gibbs

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

This thesis examines the archaeological remains of a nineteenth-century blacksmith shop associated with the Delaware Mine Site in Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula. Blacksmiths played an important role in early mining operations, providing the metalworking services and tool maintenance necessary to support mineral extraction. Drawing on evidence from the 2025 Michigan Technological University field school, the study investigates the shop’s operational lifespan, organization, and potential activities as it supported daily mining operations. Artifact analysis, spatial reconstruction, soil testing, and archival sources assist in reconstructing shop functions and history.

Results indicate that the shop was likely constructed during the earliest development of the …

Mississippi Dugout Canoes: An Ethnohistorical And Archaeological Analysis From 1538-1900s, Sean N. Mccraw

Master's Theses

Watercraft remains an overlooked aspect of Southeastern historical and archaeological scholarship. A more complete understanding has the potential to illuminate aspects of the human social process in anthropology and a more accurate construction of historical events. Recent Developments in Southeastern Archaeology, published in 2012, mentions the importance of the connections that water travel facilitated, but the work does not mention any serious investigation. While history has investigated the role native trails played in the development of the region, and while Andrew Lippmann has illustrated the agency that boat skills and watercraft gave Natives in the coastal North American region during …

Indian Cosmology And Archaeoastronomy Of The Khmer Stone Temples In Sakon Nakhon-Thailand, Duangden Boonpok

International Review of Humanities Studies

This article is multidisciplinary study of cosmology, archaeology and astronomy of the Khmer stone temples in Sakon Nakhon. The study investigates of the temple’s architectural structure and environmental geography which related to the astronomical knowledge. The result of study found that the plan and structure of temples is influenced by the concept of Indian cosmology which has Mount Meru as the central axis. Buildings is signified as mountain or heaven with high and multi-layered base. The main building is symbolically important as the origin of power for the whole temple. The objects and positions are the transforming of cosmology concept …

The Role Of Imagination In Archaeology: Linking Contemplation And Method At The Amache National Historic Site, Sami Zepponi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Archaeology is both a science and an interpretative process, blending material discovery with imagination to reconstruct past experiences. This research, conducted through the 2024 University of Denver Amache Field School, explores the archaeological imagination and the creative and cognitive engagement that shapes historical interpretation. Using Amache, a WWII Japanese American incarceration site, as a case study, this thesis examines how material culture, landscape modifications, and reflection inform archaeological understanding. This study explores how imagination connects tangible findings to cultural narratives by integrating community-based archaeology, place and landscape theory, and contemplative inquiry. Findings highlight imagination as essential to archaeology, enabling deeper …

The “Deviant” Dead: (De)Constructing Personhood In Mycenaean Mortuary Landscapes, Aidan J. Gregg

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

Despite increasing standardization in mortuary practice during the Mycenaean palatial period, there remains a significant degree of variation in burials. This project seeks to elucidate the reasons for the wide variability in the Mycenaean mortuary program with theories of anthropological personhood as a guiding framework. I focus on the palatial period, from LHIII A2 - LHIIIB2 (1410-1190) because of the pervasiveness of Mycenaean culture throughout the Aegean, but especially in Greece’s northeastern Peloponnese, during that time. I use mortuary data from 12 cemeteries in the Argolid and Korinthia to trace trends in burial practice, in the hope of establishing a …

Healthcare Access And Agency In Material Culture: A Specialized Analysis Of Pharmaceutical Artifacts From Louisville’S West End., Sara Marian (Deurell) Ignacio

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The American Victorian Period of the 1870s to 1920s was a time of significant transitions in medicine. In Louisville, Kentucky, this period saw an influx of Black healthcare professionals and the founding of Louisville National Medical College, the state’s first medical school open to people of color. A number of these professionals lived and/or practiced in the Beecher Terrace study area, which was excavated between 2017 and 2020. Patent medicine brands and archival records were examined qualitatively in order to understand neighborhood and case study household health concerns and consumer choice. Statistical analyses of the medicine bottles recovered during the …

Shifting Social Identities In The Iron Iia: A Household Perspective From Tel Gezer, Charissa D. Wilson

Doctoral Dissertations

Recent archaeological excavations have gathered a significant amount of data from which to view the regionality that still existed in the Jezreel Valley, the Yarkon Basin and at several Shephelah sites in the Iron Age IIA as a continuation of what has been termed “Canaanite enclaves” from the previous period. It had previously been assumed that Canaanite social traditions had diminished by the 10th century B.C. or had fallen by the wayside due to new economic and political systems from emerging states in the southern Levant. Tel Gezer, a once powerful Canaanite stronghold, was a city on the edge of …

Of Cordial Ladies And Independent Women: An Analysis Of The Ceramic Assemblage Of The 19th Century Cooper-Frost-Austin House, Mikayla Roderick

Graduate Masters Theses

This thesis explores the transformation of Susan Austin’s (1807-1885) household in Cambridge, Massachusetts, from a private family home into a boardinghouse, challenging traditional distinctions between domestic and economic spaces. Using feminist and queer theoretical frameworks, it examines how Austin’s decisions blurred public and private boundaries, creating an intimate boardinghouse. Through ceramic analysis of two occupational phases and a documentary examination of the household members over time, this study identifies shifts in material culture that reflect changing household practices, social relationships, and status negotiation. Austin intentionally created an environment where commercial spaces took on a domestic appearance, integrating elements of familiarity …

[Review Of The Book Querns And Mills In Mediterranean Antiquity. Tradition And Innovation During The First Millennium Bc, By N. Alonso, T. J. Anderson, L. Jaccottey]., Jared T. Benton

Art Faculty Publications

[First paragraph] Querns and Mills in Mediterranean Antiquity (hereafter QMMA) is the publication of an EAA (European Association of Archaeologists) session on querns held in Barcelona in 2018. The purpose of the session—and by extension the volume—was to fill a gap by studying the smaller, hand-operated millstones, which have received less attention than their larger Roman-era and medieval counterparts. A second aim was to begin a conversation about standardizing the study of millstones, and particularly querns, in terminology and methodology.

Silent Testimonies: The Global Evolution Of Grave Marker Art And Meaning, Erik Culley

Bakerman Student Research Awards

Grave markers are more than simple memorials; they are meaningful cultural objects that reflect how societies understand death, identity, belief, class, and community values. The size, material, decoration, and inscriptions of gravestones change over time in response to economic conditions, religious beliefs, social structures, and consumer culture. By studying grave markers across different regions and historical periods—such as early modern Europe, nineteenth-century Germany, and immigrant cemeteries in Australia—archaeologists can trace broader cultural transformations. Research shows that the rise of external grave markers in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries was closely tied to increased material consumption and a growing emphasis on …

Feasting In Small-Scale Societies: A Fort Ancient Example., Allison Sherman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Archaeological and ethnographic feasting studies have been dominated by competitive feasts, especially those in complex societies. By studying feasting in small-scale egalitarian societies, archaeologists can better understand the range of social aspects of feasting. Turpin, an early Fort Ancient site near the confluence of the Little Miami and Ohio Rivers, provides a case study for feasting in a small-scale agricultural society. Feature 100, a large pit feature, was initially interpreted as the remains of a feasting event. Using zooarchaeological, ceramic, and paleoethnobotanical data, the assemblage of Feature 100 was compared to that of an everyday domestic deposit. Based on these …

Guns, Glass, And Metal And The Applications Of Traditional Technology In The 19th Century Southern Platte, Aaron Toussaint

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis I investigate how Indigenous communities of the North American Central Plains navigated settler-colonialism by adapting traditional hunting technology. To frame this I ask, how and why traditional technology was favored over introduced firearm technology? I investigate this by examining archaeological collections from Fort Vasquez and the Coffin's Buffalo Kill Site, ethnographic history of the Central Plains, Indigenous ledger art, and interviewing a ledger artist. This study uses a multifaceted theoretical approach to connect hybrid projectile point artifacts, with Indigenous historic documentation, to recognize Indigenous agency in the 19th century. This thesis counters historic narratives of the 19th …

We’Re Not In Texas Anymore: Archaeological Investigations In Historic Dallas, Colorado, Tristan Newberry-Cushman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This work is the product of an archaeological investigation of the former townsite of Dallas, Colorado. Archival research, drone photography, shovel test pits (STPs), and a test excavation unit were employed to learn more about how the people of Dallas lived, and how they interacted with national systems. Probabilistic and purposive sampling were used to collect data, and both quantitative and qualitative analysis were performed. The goal of this research was to determine which theoretical model best explains how Dallas was connected to national cultural and economic systems.

A Grim End For Europe's First Civilization: The Fall Of Minoan Crete, Ashley Arp

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Early popular theories about the collapse of the Minoan civilization center around natural disasters, but geoarchaeological research from the past few decades has disproved these earlier theories. It is evident that the Minoan civilization continued to thrive for around a century after the volcanic eruption and subsequent tsunami that had previously been credited as the cause for the collapse. Evidence of manmade destruction has been uncovered across the island of Crete c. 1450 BCE and this period was quickly followed by a drastic cultural shift that included more Mycenaean elements than had been found on the island previously. These destructions, …

Reconstructing Roman Corinthian Identity, Sophia Loeta Graham

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

This project focuses on the ways that social and cultural identity are projected through material culture in Roman-occupied Greece, specifically in the Corinthia region. Using anthropological and archaeological theories on identity, systems, and creolization, I develop an interpretive framework for understanding how Roman Corinthians used material culture to project their identities in a mortuary context. This project is inspired in part by pre-existing research on the fluidity of cultural identity in Roman-occupied Greece but is designed to fill a gap in that scholarship that does not inspect the ways that identity can be displayed in a mortuary context. I use …

Racing The Tides: Three Virginia Islands Threatened By Climate Change And The Challenge Of Preserving Their Stories, Sean M. Restivo

History Honors Projects

Among the tidal marshes of Virginia’s York River, there are three relatively obscure groups of uninhabited islands, all with fascinating stories, and all rapidly disappearing: the Goodwin Islands, the Catlett Islands, and Poropotank Island. These islands have been almost entirely overlooked by existing historical and archaeological research, and they are all imminently threatened by climate change-induced sea level rise and erosion. In the summer of 2023, I embarked on an interdisciplinary research project to study cultural heritage sites scattered across the islands. Drawing on my experience of studying these islands, as well as other related case studies, I demonstrate that …

Transatlantic Traditions: The History Of Welsh Quarrying And Its Connections To Newfoundland Slate, Alexa D. Spiwak, Johanna Cole

Northeast Historical Archaeology

Previous archaeological investigations have conclusively shown that the presence of Welshmen has co-occurred with the practice of local slate quarrying in Newfoundland since the early colonial ventures of the 17th century. The island experienced a resurgence in Welsh culture in the 19th century when a number of small slate quarries were established overlooking both the Bay of Islands on the west coast and Smith Sound in Trinity Bay. The following article outlines the history of these 19th-century Newfoundland quarries, as well as the social, political and economic factors which encouraged the migration of Welsh quarrymen across the Atlantic to remote …

Monitoring Of Caucasus Heritage Sites Facing Cultural Genocide, Peyton Edelbrock

The Journal of Purdue Undergraduate Research

No abstract provided.

The Implications Of Waste Streams At Camp Au Train, Timothy J. Maze

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Archaeological remains from Camp Au Train provide an opportunity to understand sanitation methods during its use as a Civilian Conservation Corps camp and later used to house German Prisoners of War during World War II. Seven refuse features from this camp were excavated and their contents linked to functional locations within the camp in order to reconstruct waste streams across the site and to observe how military aspects of sanitation were implemented by an organization infamous for its emphasis on cleanliness, order, and hygiene. While the importance of sanitation is often mentioned by historians and archaeologists in research of these …

Ethnicity, Identity, And Conceptualizing Community In Indian Ocean East Africa, Daren E. Ray

Ohio University Press Open Access Books

This volume explores how the people of littoral East Africa imagined and reimagined their communities over two millennia of engagement with Indian Ocean transformations—from the settlement of Bantu speakers near the coast around the first century CE to their participation in transoceanic commerce, imperial rivalries, colonial projects, and decolonization movements in the mid-twentieth century. Like other histories of the Indian Ocean, it emphasizes the circulation of people and ideas, but its cis-oceanic approach demonstrates how these littoral communities continued to integrate strategies from those in Africa’s interior as well as from people who traveled the ocean.

The book also clarifies …

Arms And Armor From Santa Elena: A Photographic Inventory, Heathley A. Johnson

Faculty & Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

Dulce Sueños De Tierra, Sweet Dreams Of Earth, Jordany Genao

Theses and Dissertations

Jordany's paper congregates their archival research into an art practice that examines the decolonial impulse to excavate the self and produce autonomy. Using ceramics to reference and re-animate Taino ritual objects found in museums, resulting in alternative museology, their work seeks to honor Caribbean ancestors by subverting colonial history.

Ars, Virtus, Impetus: Gladiatorial Training And Roman Legionaries, Daniel Porter

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In 105 BCE, the Roman consul Publius Rutilius Rufus employed gladiatorial training for his legionaries. This thesis examines the physiological and psychological consequences of this style of training on the human body in an effort to understand why these particular soldiers were so effective. I used experiential testing alongside primary and secondary source research to examine how this process better prepared Roman troops for engaging in actual combat.