Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Prehistory Of Fentress County, Tennessee: An Archaeological Survey, Jay Douglas Franklin

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation presents a synthesis of recent and ongoing archaeological investigations of the caves, rock shelters, and open air uplands of the Upper Cumberland Plateau of Tennessee. The primary working hypothesis of this research is that existing culture histories applied to this region are inadequate. Existing culture histories for Middle and East Tennessee were developed in adjacent regions, primarily lowland river flood plains. These culture histories have been boiler-plated onto the Cumberland Plateau even though comparatively little systematic archaeological research has actually been conducted in the region. Furthermore, upland regions, such as the Cumberland Plateau, have often been characterized as …

Biological Affinities Of Archaic Period Populations From West-Central Kentucky And Tennessee, Nicholas Paul Herrmann

Doctoral Dissertations

The Green River Archaic period skeletal collections represent one of the largest regionally specific aggregate hunter-gatherer sample available for study. These collections have been the focus of numerous studies on paleopathology and paleodemography. Indian Knoll (15OH2) is the largest collection with over 1000 individuals. These burials were recovered from two primary excavations directed by Clarence B. Moore and the Work Progress Administration (WPA) in the first half of the nineteenth century. The WPA excavated numerous sites along the Green River and it’s tributaries resulting in additional skeletal collections from sites such as Barrett (15McL4), Carlston Annis (15BT5), Chiggerville (15OH1), Read …

Forgotten History: An Archaeological Perspective On John Sevier At Marble Springs (40kn125), Jennifer L. Barber

Masters Theses

Marble Springs State Historic Site was the last home of John Sevier, the first governor of the late State of Franklin and the State of Tennessee. Historic documentation verifies that the Sevier family moved to the city of Knoxville, Tennessee, in 1797, after John Sevier became Governor, but the date of their move to Marble Springs plantation repeatedly has been disputed. The site is located approximately six miles south of Knoxville, Tennessee, at the foot of Bays Mountain.

Archaeological investigations at Marble Springs have aimed to document the domestic habitation of the site by John Sevier and his family from …

Developing Stature Estimation Regression Formulae For The Arikara Of The Larson And Leavenworth Sites, Kathryn A. King

Masters Theses

Stature is an important descriptive characteristic of an individual. Living stature cannot be measured directly in archaeological populations and thus must be estimated by bone. Current stature estimation formulae cannot be used with archaeological populations because the relationships between stature and the length of the various bones used in estimation differ among races and populations. Similarly, secular change in stature makes the use of formulae derived from modem populations on archaeological groups problematic.

Anatomical methods of estimating stature account for the skeletal elements that contribute to an individual's height and provide an estimate of the soft tissue component of stature. …

The Interrelationship Of Status And Health In The Tellico Reservoir: A Biocultural Analysis, Tracy K. Betsinger

Masters Theses

Anthropologists have been interested in the interaction of health and status in prehistoric populations for many years. Utilizing a biocultural perspective, this paper will investigate how social stratification affected health at sites from the Tellico Reservoir in eastern Tennessee. These sites, Citico (40MR7), Toqua (40MR6), and Tomotley (40MR5), were occupied in the late Mississippian period in Tennessee, during the Dallas phase (A.D. 1300-1600) (Schroedl, 1998). Skeletal indicators of stress were used to determine the health of the people interred at the three sites, and burial location was utilized to establish the status of these people.

Intra-site and inter-site analyses were …

Craniometric Variation Among Medieval Croatian Populations, Derinna Vivian Kopp

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study is to examine craniometric variation among a series of medieval Croatian skeletons to determine if the populations inhabiting the coastal (Dalmatian) and continental (Pannionian) regions are morphometrically dissimilar. Differing historical population movements in the regions provide possible evidence for genetic, ethnic, and cultural dissimilarity between the Dalmatian and Pannionian regions. Cranial measurements from three coastal and three continental medieval Croatian sites are subjected to multivariate analyses to assess craniometric variation among the groups. Canonical variates analysis and distance matrix comparisons are completed for male and female mean data separately.

Plots of the first two canonical …

Frozen Human Bone: A Histological Investigation, Mariateresa Anne Tersigni

Masters Theses

A plethora of research has been produced concerning the fate of human bone when it has been exposed to various external stressors. These include taphonomic processes such as natural weathering, decomposition and burning studies. Each study attempts to aid an investigator by trying to determine, for example, what exactly a human skeleton would look like after it had been exposed to an accelerated fire for thirty minutes. The result of this type of research may afford an investigator the opportunity to analyze the evidence at the crime scene and compare it to the research in order to draw educated conclusions …

Personal Identification Based On Patterns Of Missing, Filled, And Unrestored Teeth, Bradley Jacob Adams

Doctoral Dissertations

Dental comparison of antemortem and postmortem records provides one of the best avenues for establishing personal identification in the forensic sciences. The types of antemortem dental evidence are extensive (including treatment notes, odontograms, radiographs, casts, photographs, etc.) and in many instances a positive identification can be established strictly on a dental comparison. Perhaps the best form of antemortem dental evidence is the radiograph, which provides a detailed odontoskeletal record of a specific individual at a specific point in the past. Unfortunately, antemortem radiographic evidence is not always available during forensic comparisons. For example, at the U.S. Army Central Identification Laboratory, …

The Affects Of Clothing On Human Decomposition: Implications For Estimating Time Since Death, Robyn Ann Miller

Masters Theses

Several studies at the Anthropology Research Facility located at The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, longitudinally examine the process of human decomposition. However, to date, no study has focused exclusively on clothing as a variable in this process. Furthermore, few studies have been performed using animal models. Recent research demonstrates conflicting results regarding the affect of clothing on decomposition. Some authors conclude that clothing accelerates decomposition, while others maintain that it retards the process. The goal of this study is two fold: first, the process of decomposition of clothed human subjects was documented; second, it was determined whether clothing accelerates or …

Coupling Ground Penetrating Radar Applications With Continually Changing Decomposing Human Remains, Michelle Lee Miller

Masters Theses

Locating the clandestine burial of human remains has long perplexed law enforcement officials involved in crime scene investigations, and continues to bewilder all the scientific disciplines that have been incorporated into their search and recovery. Locating concealed human remains can often be compared to the proverbial search for a needle in the haystack. Many notable forensic specialists and law enforcement agencies, in an effort to alleviate some of the bewilderment that commonly accompanies the search for a buried body, suggest that multidisciplinary search efforts are becoming more of a necessity, and less of an option.

Research at the University of …