Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

A Closer Look At Nabataean Burials, Anna Nielsen

FHSS Mentored Research Conference

The ancient city of Petra is famous for monumental rock-cut tombs. These structures contain two little-understood mortuary types: primary burial, in which corpses were interred without alteration, and secondary burial, in which corpses were exposed and defleshed. This research explores the circumstances under which Nabataeans received primary or secondary burial.

Evaluating Fall-Of Curves With Straight-Line Or Least Cost Path Distance, Robert J. Bischoff

FHSS Mentored Research Conference

A fundamental part of interaction is distance. Interaction can be modeled by plotting distance against the frequency of an object. My purpose it to evaluate whether straight-line distance is an acceptable proxy for actual distance or whether using more realistic distance measures is required. In this poster, I use the distribution of San Juan Red Ware in a portion of the southwestern United States to examine the differences between straight-line distance, the length of least cost paths (LCP), and the time to travel the LCP between points. San Juan Red Ware was produced in southeastern Utah between approximately A.D. 750 …

Collision Or Cohesion? Hmong Shamanism And Ontological Holism In France, Madison Harmer, Telisha Pantelakis

FHSS Mentored Research Conference

The Hmong are an ethnic group from Southeast Asia who’ve lived as forced migrants and political refugees for the past several hundred years. Current U.S. literature has attributed Hmong difficulties adapting to Western culture, specifically health care from shamanic practices. They claim that traditional and western healing practices are incompatible. (Franzen-Castle & Smith 2013, Fadiman 1997). While living in a small town in central France, we conducted an ethnographic study observing Hmong refugees and their interactions and beliefs between traditional healing practices and Western medicine to explore this claim.

Between Citizens And Strangers: On Laïcité And Group Rights Among Hmong In France, Austin Gillett

FHSS Mentored Research Conference

As the school year began in 1989, three Muslim girls, Samira S. and Fatima and Leïla A., started the ninth and tenth grades, insistent upon wearing their Islamic veils (Cardoso 2000). Problems arose when the girls refused to attend class at the beginning of the school year and on Saturdays, citing religious reasons. The girls were suspended from school, and eventually appealed the decision, prompting major upsets across schools in France. Schools began to act independently, issuing bans on the veils. In 1990, Jean-Juarés High School specified that “the wearing of all distinctive symbols, clothing or otherwise, religious, political, or …

Dead Men Speak: What Fremont Burials Say About Fremont Society, Rachel Hansen

FHSS Mentored Research Conference

This project examined Fremont burials to determine whether the Fremont were a rank society. Because the data show that there are not elaborate burials with many grave goods the Fremont did not have rank differences in social status. It appears that the Fremont did have specialized ritual leaders (shamans).

Mesa Verde Vegetal Survey, Stanley L. Welsh

Books by Faculty of the Monte L. Bean Life Science Museum

Abstract

This write-up is mainly concerned with plant specimens recovered and examined from major prehistoric cliff dwellings being excavated during the Wetherill Mesa Project. It also includes anecdotes from the author’s experiences in Mesa Verde. An overall summary of the species identified is presented at the end of this work, including suggestions as to how plants may have been used based on modern Native American surveys.

Table of Contents

Preface

Prologue

Introduction

Wetherill Mesa

Climate

Collections

Identification

Modern Plant Assemblage

Contemporary Species Compliment

Archeological Plant Assemblage

Plant Species Recovering from the Major Ruins

Kinds of Plant Materials Recovered

Wood-worked Items …

Ceramics From Wolf Village, Kari Schrade, James Allison

FHSS Mentored Research Conference

Ceramics have been found all over the world and in most cultures. Ceramics can be a form of art or can be strictly utilitarian. Most cultures have tried to create pottery that is unique to them. These styles and tempers help archaeologists determine where a piece of ceramic has come from. Pottery decorations and the different tempers found in the ceramics at Wolf Village present evidence that the Fremont traded with people outside their local community. Great Salt Lake one of the largest counts is associated with northern Utah, especially around the Great Salt Lake. All of the other types …

Dating A Mummy: Determining Background On Museum Objects With No Provenience, Shannon C. Wood, Paul Stavast

FHSS Mentored Research Conference

An Egyptian falcon mummy donated to BYU's Museum of Peoples and Cultures had no provenience and thus aroused a lot of curiosity. At first, noninvasive research procedures were used in order to see inside the mummy. Results were inconclusive, so only after these procedures were followed were more invasive techniques carried out. It is important that museums follow these procedures in order to build a background for their objects without a history.

Nike, Goddess Of Victory: Symbol Of Ancient Greek Identity, Shannon C. Wood, James Allison

FHSS Mentored Research Conference

The importance of the Ancient Greek goddess of victory, Nike, has traditionally been ignored or understated in Classical studies. However, I would argue that because the Greeks idolized traditional values that Nike had patronship over, and because there is evidence in the archaeological record that demonstrates Nike's importance and presence across a broad spectrum of worship, Nike is in fact one of the more important deities when considering the relation of Greek religion to Greek identity.

An Ethnology Of Tillage: The Role And Bearing Of Land A Societal Force In Midwest Agricultural Communities., Olivia Wilkinson, Sheila Bibb

FHSS Mentored Research Conference

Literary novelists have long revered the steady and resilient people of the plains. Sociologists and economic researchers have analyzed the drastic changes of the farming business in the recent decades of upheaval. Biochemists take sample after sample of dark brown earth to advance the science of crop growing.

Between Two Worlds: Relationships Between Hearing Children And Their Deaf Parents, Corinne Hoskin, John Hawkins

FHSS Mentored Research Conference

Hearing children of Deaf parents (HCDPs) — a population rarely addressed by researchers — are surrounded by the Deaf culture of their parents and Hearing culture of their peers and mentors. The differences in language and culture that they experience produce a confusing and potentially disorienting world. HCDPs accept Deafness as an integral part of their identity, as illustrated through the relationships between parent and child.

A Case For Christian Communalism: Overcoming Individualism And Racial Segregation In An Ubuntu-Infused South African Catholic Parish, Jordan R. Layton, Jeremy Grimshaw

FHSS Mentored Research Conference

Geographic, linguistic, and economic divisions between ethnic groups linger from Apartheid; but recent concerns also include divisions within ethnic groups due to Western-influenced individualism and a decline in communal values known as ubuntu. Ubuntu is a spiritual concept; thus, Christianity seems to be the ideal context for its reinforcement. But most theorists would argue that the physical and figurative walls being constructed between and within ethnic groups could not be overcome through Christianity, which is itself considered to be individualistic “self-serving redemptionism”—the theoretical opposite of ubuntu. However,one East London Catholic parish creates an anomalous interracial community by promoting communal ubuntu …

Who Do You Belong To?: Understanding A Monument Through Local Conceptions Of Belonging, Sadie J. Lee, John Hawkins

FHSS Mentored Research Conference

When major logging operations closed in the Kaibab National Forest in northern Arizona after pressure from environmental groups, many area residents lost their jobs. Plans for a coal mine on the Kaiparowits Plateau in southern Utah revived hopes for reliable employment, but establishing the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument (GSENM) in 1996 by former US President Bill Clinton effectively shut down possibility of exploitative operations on the majority of the plateau. This caused widespread disapproval among conservative local government and populations. This controversial issue has been described extensively in relation to legal disputes over its formation and use. However, no research …

Development Of Byu's Teaching Museum: A History Of The Museum Of Peoples And Cultures, Carlee Reed, Paul Stavast

FHSS Mentored Research Conference

The Museum of Peoples and Cultures (MPC) has been a part of BYU since 1966. The MPC’s mission is to “inspire students to life-long learning and service and [mentors] them in collections-focused activities.”As the MPC has developed, it has influenced many students as they gain experience for later careers, in addition to educating them on different cultures. As of 2008, there was not a thorough recording of the progression and development of the museum. Over the past five years, the archives have been organized and made easily accessible. In addition to the archives, I researched into the history of the …

Ladders To The Sky: Implications Of 'Mental Retardation' In Vishakhapatnam, India, Amber K. Bell, Charles Nuckolls

FHSS Mentored Research Conference

Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) have never been studied from an ethnographic basis in anthropology. The study originally focused on only families with autistic members. Due to Indian definitions of mental illness, the study was broadened from the cultural view of ASDs to studying the 'mentally retarded' and focused on autistics within that definition. I wanted to study: the cultural definitions of mental illness, what treatments were being used, and how these definitions affected families that included patients.

Saving The Surfer Identity: The Paddle-Out Ceremony, Charles R. Thomas, John Hawkins

FHSS Mentored Research Conference

The circle has many forms within Surf Culture, including the lei. The Circle in the Paddle-out is known as the Symbol of Eternity.

Volunteer Experience At The Museum Of Peoples And Cultures, Sadie J. Lee, Paul Stavast

FHSS Mentored Research Conference

As BYU’s “teaching” museum, the MPC provides a setting where BYU students can gain real museum experience. Under the mentorship of professional staff, museum class students and student employees are responsible for researching, developing, and installing exhibitions; processing and cataloging incoming and current collections; and organizing and cataloging excavation notes and other collection records. Beyond classes and employment, the MPC also provides an oft-overlooked educational experience for student volunteers. Under the supervision of student employees, volunteers provide assistance in creating and distributing educational materials, cataloging collections, organizing records, and other tasks necessary for the daily maintenance of museum operations. I …

The Paradox Of English In Tonga: Attributed Status Vs. Social Aversion, Pauline Tuitavuki, John Hawkins

FHSS Mentored Research Conference

My research took place among young adult Tongans, ages 18-30 on the main island of Nuku'alofa in the last remaining Pacific Kingdom of Tonga where Tongan and English are both recognized as official languages. Previous research in Tonga shows that robust sectors of the economy, involving business, tourism, and education, requires English language proficiency for good employment. Consequently, Tongans highly esteem English proficiency, although my experience revealed English practically non-existent in daily communication. Why? Divulging, interviewing, and surveying the impacts of English, past, present, and future, presented three main reasons for social aversion toward speaking English which for them, often …

Modern-Day Conceptions Of Marriage In Visakhapatnam, India: “Bridging The Gap” Between Globalized Young Women And Their Parents, Courtney E. Petersen, Charles Nuckolls

FHSS Mentored Research Conference

Though the globalization of Visakhapatnam is causing a drastic shift in how university-age women understand and relate to current marriage practices and the power relationships associated with them, I propose that the tensions resulting from this change can be overcome through a revived importance placed on communication between the young woman and her parents.

Windmills And Walls: A Social Club Harnesses The Winds Of Change In Brandenburg, Taylor C. Merkley, John Hawkins

FHSS Mentored Research Conference

The town of Lüttein Brandenburg, Germany survived a fire in 1833, but faced a bigger threat to its survival when the Wall tumbled down. Residents began to move away for better jobs and the older population began to dwindle as the local economy looked bleak. Despite these challenges, the residents have found a way to revitalize their community using what is already available to them. In the former East Germany, where many rural towns face depopulation and isolation, the thriving, modern town of Lütte maintains its distinct agrarian character and outward connections. The local club Vere in “Altes Haus” successfully …

We Are Widows, We Are Women: The Oral Histories Of Low Caste Indian Widows And How They Maintain A Sense Of Self In The Face Of Social Role Change, Suzanne Powell, Charles Nuckolls, Valerie Hudson

FHSS Mentored Research Conference

Despite having social widowhood imposed upon them, these wides are able to create a continuance of self by taking a conscious stand on their new role through utilizing value systems they maintained prior to widowhood and by giving personal meaning to the prescribed rites and behaviors associated with widowhood.

The Current State Of The Alcaldia Indigena In Light Of Its Historical Precedents: The Case Of Santa Catarina Ixtahuacán, Jonathan Luke, John Hawkins

FHSS Mentored Research Conference

The military governments of 1957-1986 abolished all forms of Maya self-government. With the signing of the Peace Accords in 1994, Mayan communities have resurrected the institution of the Alcaldia Indigena, drawing on cultural memory to reorganize it. The new manifestation builds on the Alcaldia’s former structure and seeks to connect internationally to the indigenous rights movement and gain official recognition as a local government body representing indigenous interests.

Promontory Caves Revisited: Preliminary Analysis Of Faunal Material From 42bo1 And 42bo2, Lindsay Johansson, Joel Janetski

FHSS Mentored Research Conference

Promontory Caves (42BO1 and 42BO2) are located on Promontory point and were excavated in 1930 and 1931 by Julian Steward from the University of Utah. The caves are the type site for Promontory Phase occupation in the Great Basin and the work being done currently concerning the caves is one aspect of a larger project by Jack Ives of the University of Alberta and Joel Janetski of Brigham Young University concerning the Promontory culture and its relationship to the Athapaskan migration. Based upon the presence of moccasins and ceramics recovered at the site, Steward (1937:87) concluded that Promontory cultures were …