Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Chemical Analysis For Phytochemical Residues On Ceramics From Cape Canaveral Archaeological Sites, Jacob Woodard

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This study aims to contribute to the field of paleoethnobotany in Florida archaeology by presenting a novel approach to chemical residue analysis using UV-vis spectroscopy. The project's main goals are to develop a spectroscopic method for analyzing ceramics to identify phytochemical residues and present the findings of chemical analysis applied to ceramics from the Cape Canaveral archaeological mitigation project (CCAMP). The study focuses on two sites, the Penny site (8BR158) and Burns site (8BR85) in Florida's Indian River region.

While organic residue analysis (ORA) has been applied to various materials and regions, limited research ORA on has been conducted within …

Diet Change Over Time In The Ais Community Of Cape Canaveral, Florida, Allyson Shenkman

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Diet change over time is assessed for a Malabar II period (900 C.E. to 1565 C.E.) Ais indigenous community in Cape Canaveral, Florida, at the Penny Plot site (8BR158). To this end, 7,760 faunal fragments were examined, with 1,876 identified at the species, genus, or family level. Through identification and analysis of faunal remains, it can be concluded that, while the amounts of overall remains left behind as a whole increased, there were no significant changes in the types of fauna utilized or patterns of consumption. This suggests that the indigenous people who occupied this site managed their resources very …

Paleoethnobotanical Investigation Of Pre-Columbian Archaeological Site 8br158, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida., Jennifer I. Moreno Palacios

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Starch grain residue analysis was conducted on 18 artifacts collected in 2021 from the archaeological site 8BR158 on the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. This paleoethnobotanical analysis investigates plant use by the pre-historic inhabitants of the Central Coast of Florida where there is a lack of archaeobotanical research. The starches recovered from the archaeological artifacts were studied in order to identify plants used for culinary and/or medicinal purposes. Wild plants commonly found in Florida, such as acorn (Quercus), were identified in this study that were used for food resources. Domesticated plants such as maize and beans were also …

Evaluating Morphometric Analysis Of The Talus For Biological Sex Assessment In Ancient Maya And Egyptian Archaeological Populations, Melissa N. Marks

Honors Undergraduate Theses

When analyzing skeletal remains in bioarchaeology, the pelvis and skull provide the most accurate results for sex estimation; however, these are not always present or sufficiently preserved to provide quality data for this purpose. In addition, the amount of time spent analyzing human remains in field or museum collection contexts may be constrained. Therefore, alternate methods of sex estimation that also increase efficiency should be explored. This study aims to establish the minimum number of key measurements of the talus necessary to estimate biological sex with a level of accuracy comparable to published studies that are more time intensive in …

Fish Weirs Et Alia: A Gis Based Use-Analysis Of Artificial, Pre-Columbian Earthworks In West Central Llanos De Mojos, Bolivia, Charlotte A. Robinson

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This study employed a GIS-based use-analysis on a network of recently mapped pre-Columbian earthworks lying on the west side of a Bolivian floodplain. This wetland region, called Llanos de Mojos, is home to many different types of artificial mounds that served different roles for the ancient communities who constructed them thousands of years ago. This new set of features, which was mapped by volunteers of the Proyecto Sistemas Informaticas Geograficas y Arqueologicas del Beni (ProSIGAB) was purported to be a network of fish weirs, linear earthworks built in rivers or floodplains that are designed to trap fish by exploiting seasonal …

Hxrf Analysis Of Yugüe Obsidian, Jessica L. Clark

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Analysis was performed on a 31-artifact sample of Late Terminal Formative obsidian excavated in 2003 from the archaeological site of Yugüe in the Lower Verde Valley of Oaxaca. This analysis was performed to determine the geochemical sources of the individual obsidian artifacts and replicate a prior study of Yugüe obsidian performed by David T. Williams for his thesis at the University of Colorado. This earlier analysis determined that five obsidian sources were present. Sourcing was accomplished using a handheld X-Ray fluorescence instrument and bivariate plotting of relevant trace elements. Five sources of obsidian were found during analysis: Pachuca, Otumba, Paredon, …

Social Change And Games Of Chance At The Site Of Gallon Jug, Nicholas C. Kopp

Honors Undergraduate Theses

During the 2019 field season of the Chan Chich Archaeological Project (CCAP)/Belize Estates Archaeological Survey Team's (BEAST) work in northwestern Belize, excavations commenced at an elite household at the site of Gallon Jug, named Courtyard B-1. Excavations revealed intriguing details about the lives of the inhabitants through the presence of burials, ceramics, architecture, and – as is central to this research – Patolli boards. Patolli, a prehistoric game of chance played throughout Mesoamerican, is a relatively under researched topic within the field of archaeology. In this thesis I argue that the patolli boards at Gallon Jug portray evidence of elite …

Sex Determination Using Discriminant Function Analysis Of Carpals From Maya Sites In Belize From Pre-Classic To Spanish Colonial Period, Michelle D. Labbe

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The sexing of human skeletal remains is important for identification and demographic purposes. It is made more difficult when elements such as the skull and pelvis are not recovered or are in too poor of a condition to assess. Previous studies have used carpal (wrist) bones of contemporary populations to assess the viability of these skeletal elements exhibiting sexual dimorphism, as these bones are small, compact elements that are usually recovered in good condition. This study evaluates the use of carpal bones recovered from an ancient Maya population from Belize to determine the biological sex of individuals. The study sample …

Ceramic Analysis At Ike's Cut, Bahamas Compared With Ft. Liberte, Haiti And El Mango, Cuba, Melissa A. Kays

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This thesis compares pottery from Ike's Cut, Inagua, Bahamas with assemblages from the site of El Mango, Cuba, analyzed by Ashley Brooke Persons and the site of Ft. Liberte, Haiti, analyzed by Irving Rouse.

The Ike's Cut site was a seasonally occupied location on the largest bank on Inagua, and was utilized for its access to marine resources. The migrants living here brought with them Meillacoid ceramics that were manufactured somewhere in the Greater Antilles. The objective of this research was to evaluate whether the ceramics at Ike's Cut share more in common with either the Hispaniolan or Cuban assemblages. …

Mobility And Collapse: Stable Isotope Analysis Of Oxygen-18 Isotopes From Ancient Mexico, Melanie L. St. Pierre

Honors Undergraduate Theses

When a society experiences a collapse, political authority becomes decentralized, large settlements often become abandoned, economic specialization decreases; and monumental building projects, artistic, and literary achievements slow drastically. The Rio Verde Valley, a coastal floodplain located in the region of Oaxaca in Southwest Mexico, experienced such a collapse at the end of the Terminal Formative period (150 BC to 250 AD). A period of decentralization followed, with regional centers becoming the main seats of authority throughout the region. My aim is to understand how this collapse affected residential population mobility in the lower Rio Verde Valley between the pre-collapse Terminal …

Reconstructing The Vocal Capabilities Of Homo Heidelbergensis, A Close Human Ancestor, Austin Blake Stanley

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The discovery of 5,500 Homo heidelbergensis fossil specimens at the Sima de los Huesos archaeological site in Spain has opened up the opportunity for research to be conducted on the vocal capabilities of this species. Previous research has revealed that the range of vowel sounds an individual can produce, known as the vowel space, is directly affected by the dimensions of the vocal tract. The vowel spaces of two hominins, Homo sapiens and Homo neanderthalensis, have been reconstructed through previous research. However, the vowel space of Homo heidelbergensis has not yet been reconstructed. In this research, I aim to …

New Courland, Tobago: A Gis Analysis Of A 17th-Century Settlement, Amanda Sumner

Honors Undergraduate Theses

In the 17th and 18th centuries, the Caribbean island of Tobago was contested by several European powers. Among them was an unlikely colonizer, the small Duchy of Courland, located in the western part of modern-day Latvia, which established the New Courland colony on the west coast of Tobago, in May 1654. The aim of this study was to determine the exact geographic location of this settlement through examination of historical texts, maps, and geographic information systems (GIS) data. Remote sensing and GIS methods were used to map the Courlander Fort Jacob on the site of an earlier Dutch fortification, Nieuw …

Reconstructing Ancient Burials At Loma Don Genaro, Alexandra M. Kulenguski

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This thesis reconstructs and analyzes a Classic period (AD 250-800) burial collection from the archaeological site of Loma Don Genaro in Oaxaca, Mexico. This research aims to address two main questions: 1.) What information about the burial collection is available through the archaeological archives? 2.) What does this information tell us about social organization during the Classic period at Loma Don Genaro? In order to address these questions, the following objectives were explored: to reconstruct ancient burials using archival material; to describe the burial demography across the site; to describe variation in grave goods; to relatively date and order the …

Feeding The Children: A Paleodietary Reconstruction Of Juveniles From Kuelap, Peru, Marley Denierio

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Before reaching adulthood, every individual experiences a period of dependency, the juvenile period, during which they rely on the older, more experienced members of their society for their security, subsistence and care. This juvenile period is an important stage of life for human physical and physiological development. In bioarchaeology, there has been limited research conducted on juveniles, particularly, the development of their own social identity and influences. The research method of stable carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) isotope analysis is used to reconstruct the paleodiet of juveniles to determine their dietary composition. Specifically, this research is focused on Kuelap, located …

A Method For Determining Damage Within Historic Cemeteries: A First Step For Digital Heritage, Justin E. Malcolm

Honors Undergraduate Theses

While it is true that historic cemeteries are places that contain a wealth of knowledge about the history of a community they are sometimes not well maintained. The information within can be lost as grave-markers are damaged either by natural causes or human interaction. In larger cemeteries preserving these significant places can sometimes be difficult due to a number of different factors. Therefore focusing preservation efforts on specific locations where damage is more likely to occur is crucial to ensure that the monuments that are the most at risk are preserved. One possible way of accomplishing this is through the …

A Formal Study Of Applied Ancient Water Management Techniques In The Present Water Crisis, Jesann M. Gonzalez Cruz

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Many areas of the world are experiencing the effects of the water crisis. The water crisis is a widespread phenomenon whereby many regions are experiencing a shortage of water, lacking access to clean potable water. This study uses existing literature to examine the ways in which the ecological knowledge of ancient civilizations can be applied to modern water management in attempt to address the current water crisis. The literature reviewed for this study, stemming from notable books and peer reviewed journals, were published between 1882 and the present year. As part of a purposive sample, the following civilizations were chosen: …

Archaeological Gis Analysis Of Raised Field Agriculture In The Bolivian Amazon, Thomas W. Lee

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Modern agricultural systems have been criticized for their detrimental effects on the environment and a general emphasis on crop yield rather than long-term sustainability. Traditional forms of agriculture may provide case-specific examples of sustainable alternatives for contemporary societies. In the seasonally inundated savannas of the Llanos de Mojos, pre-Columbian Indians piled earth into ‘large raised field platforms’ elevated high enough above the floodplain to allow crops to grow. Archaeological evidence indicates that raised field agriculture supported much larger populations than those found in the Beni today. The examination of satellite imagery has revealed more than 40,000 individual fields spread across …