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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
The Kruger Collection Reimagined: A Case Study In 3d Scanning And Interactive Exhibit Design, Jonathan Robert Garcia
The Kruger Collection Reimagined: A Case Study In 3d Scanning And Interactive Exhibit Design, Jonathan Robert Garcia
Anthropology Department: Theses
As archaeology and its applications into forensic contexts develop into the growing discipline of forensic archaeology, an increasing amount of literature has resulted stemming from research on the integration of common archaeological methods. However, much of this literature is intended for professional archaeologists or forensic anthropologists who are well experienced in their respective disciplines. Emerging literature generally does not consider those who leads efforts at forensic scenes in the outdoors such as law enforcement officers who often lack a background in archaeology or forensic anthropology. This thesis seeks to resolve this dilemma by creating a new and accessible manual. The …
Looted Cultural Objects, Elena Baylis
Looted Cultural Objects, Elena Baylis
Articles
In the United States, Europe, and elsewhere, museums are in possession of cultural objects that were unethically taken from their countries and communities of origin under the auspices of colonialism. For many years, the art world considered such holdings unexceptional. Now, a longstanding movement to decolonize museums is gaining momentum, and some museums are reconsidering their collections. Presently, whether to return such looted foreign cultural objects is typically a voluntary choice for individual museums to make, not a legal obligation. Modern treaties and statutes protecting cultural property apply only prospectively, to items stolen or illegally exported after their effective dates. …
Whose Data Is It Anyway? Lessons In Data Management And Sharing From Resurrecting And Repurposing Lidar Data For Archaeology Research In Honduras, Juan C. Fernandez-Diaz, Anna S. Cohen
Whose Data Is It Anyway? Lessons In Data Management And Sharing From Resurrecting And Repurposing Lidar Data For Archaeology Research In Honduras, Juan C. Fernandez-Diaz, Anna S. Cohen
Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology Faculty Publications
As a response to Hurricane Mitch and the resulting widespread loss of life and destruction of Honduran infrastructure in 1998, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) conducted the first wide-area airborne lidar topographic mapping project in Central America. The survey was executed by the Bureau of Economic Geology at the University of Texas at Austin (BEG) in 2000, and it was intended to cover 240 square kilometers distributed among 15 flood-prone communities throughout Honduras. The original data processing produced basic digital elevation models at 1.5-meter grid spacing which were used as inputs for hydrological modeling. The USGS published the results …
Ethics In Archaeological Lidar, Anna S. Cohen, Sarah Klassen, Damian Evans
Ethics In Archaeological Lidar, Anna S. Cohen, Sarah Klassen, Damian Evans
Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology Faculty Publications
Airborne laser scanning or lidar has now been used by archaeologists for twenty years, with many of the first applications relying on data acquired by public agencies seeking to establish baseline elevation maps, mainly in Europe and North America. More recently, several wide-area acquisitions have been designed and commissioned by archaeologists, the most extensive of which cover tropical forest environments in the Americas and Southeast Asia. In these regions, the ability of lidar to map microtopographic relief and reveal anthropogenic traces on the Earth’s surface, even beneath dense vegetation, has been welcomed by many as a transformational breakthrough in our …
Who Owns World Heritage? The Effects Of Western Based Cultural Heritage Management On The Local Populations Of Angkor Wat Archaeological Park, Lee Nelson
Outstanding Student Work in Asian Studies
The region of Angkor, Cambodia has historically been in a constant state of adjustment. From the early Angkorian Civilization, to the French colonization of 1863 to 1953; and from the Khmer Rouge era to the popular tourist destination it is today, the Angkor region has always been in flux. In 1992, Angkor Wat Archaeological Park was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in response to the critical condition of the historical monuments. This declaration has caused a rapid increase in tourism, tourist accommodations, and massive implementations of Western-based cultural heritage management programs. This increase has resulted in the displacement …
Maffenbeier, John, 1905-1978 (Sc 3199), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives
Maffenbeier, John, 1905-1978 (Sc 3199), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives
MSS Finding Aids
Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 3199. Correspondence of John Maffenbeier, Newark, New Jersey, relating to collecting and selling Native American artifacts. Some of the correspondence is related to Lost City, an archaeological tourist site in Logan County, Kentucky.
Rethinking Greece: Despina Lalaki On Hellenism, State-Building, Archaeology And The "Democratic West", Despina Lalaki
Rethinking Greece: Despina Lalaki On Hellenism, State-Building, Archaeology And The "Democratic West", Despina Lalaki
Publications and Research
No abstract provided.
From Monuments To Ruins: An Analysis Of Historical Preservation In Jordan, Mason Seymore
From Monuments To Ruins: An Analysis Of Historical Preservation In Jordan, Mason Seymore
Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection
The city of Amman, Jordan manages a plethora of archaeological sites that date back several millennia. Unfortunately, with the limited resources the government has at its disposal, the city is unable to conserve the sites in the best way possible. Because of this, a public disconnect between the value of history and attempts that are made to preserve it has emerged. This study explored the effects of historical conservation in Jordanian society. More specifically, the study focused on the relationship between how the public and the government perceives historical conservation efforts in Jordan. This study attempted to answer two research …
Conversations Between Communities: Umass Boston Archaeology For And With The Nipmuc Nation & The Eastern Pequot Tribal Nation, Stephen A. Mrozowski, Stephen W. Silliman
Conversations Between Communities: Umass Boston Archaeology For And With The Nipmuc Nation & The Eastern Pequot Tribal Nation, Stephen A. Mrozowski, Stephen W. Silliman
Office of Community Partnerships Posters
Community-engaged scholarship, learning, and service are becoming important parts of university missions, ensuring that academic projects do not just “take” but also give back in meaningful ways. For Native American communities and archaeologists who come from and work with them, this kind of research sensitivity and community accountability is fundamentally important. Archaeological projects with, by, and for Native American communities vary as much in their structures and goals as the communities themselves. In order to meet the desires and needs of each community, two archaeological field schools at UMass Boston – Hassanamesit Woods (Grafton, Massachusetts) and Eastern Pequot (North Stonington, …
The Life Giving Stone: Ethnoarchaeology Of Maya Metates ‐ By Searcy, Michael T [Review Of The Book The Life-Giving Stone: Ethnoarchaeology Of Maya Metates, By M. T. Searcy], Jennifer P. Mathews
The Life Giving Stone: Ethnoarchaeology Of Maya Metates ‐ By Searcy, Michael T [Review Of The Book The Life-Giving Stone: Ethnoarchaeology Of Maya Metates, By M. T. Searcy], Jennifer P. Mathews
Sociology & Anthropology Faculty Research
This volume attempts to get at the interpretations of the archaeological record from the back-end by studying the modern Maya metate life cycle, including procurement, production, acquisition, use and discard. The author spent two years in Guatemala conducting ethnographic research with metate producers and users in three Maya communities. It is through this rich research that he greatly expands our understanding of metates by providing background of their complexity through several avenues. For example, he documents contemporary gifting traditions, noting that families still give metates as wedding gifts to couples, even as their use decreases with the presence of electric …
Houses In A Landscape: Memory And Everyday Life Mesoamerica ‐ By Hendon, Julia A. [Review Of The Book Houses In A Landscape: Memory And Everyday Life In Mesoamerica, By J. A. Hendon], Jennifer P. Mathews
Houses In A Landscape: Memory And Everyday Life Mesoamerica ‐ By Hendon, Julia A. [Review Of The Book Houses In A Landscape: Memory And Everyday Life In Mesoamerica, By J. A. Hendon], Jennifer P. Mathews
Sociology & Anthropology Faculty Research
A review of the book Houses in a Landscape: Memory and Everyday Life in Mesoamerica in which the author uses the material remains found in and around ancient Maya domestic spaces in three settlements in Honduras, Hendon to examine aspects of everyday life.
Cenotes As Conceptual Boundary Markers At The Ancient Maya Site Of T’Isil, Quintana Roo, México, Scott L. Fedick, Jennifer P. Mathews, K. Sorensen
Cenotes As Conceptual Boundary Markers At The Ancient Maya Site Of T’Isil, Quintana Roo, México, Scott L. Fedick, Jennifer P. Mathews, K. Sorensen
Sociology & Anthropology Faculty Research
Ancient Maya communities, from small village sites to urban centers, have long posed problems to archaeologists in attempting to define the boundaries or limits of settlement. These ancient communities tend to be relatively dispersed, with settlement densities dropping toward the periphery, but lacking any clear boundary. At a limited number of sites, the Maya constructed walled enclosures or earthworks, which scholars have generally interpreted as defensive projects, often hastily built to protect the central districts of larger administrative centers during times of warfare (e.g., Demarest et al. 1997; Inomata 1997; Kurjack and Andrews 1976; Puleston and Callender 1967; Webster 2000; …
Radiocarbon Dating Of Architectural Mortar: A Case Study In The Maya Region, Quintana Roo, Mexico, Jennifer P. Mathews
Radiocarbon Dating Of Architectural Mortar: A Case Study In The Maya Region, Quintana Roo, Mexico, Jennifer P. Mathews
Sociology & Anthropology Faculty Research
The use of radiocarbon dating to analyze mortar and charcoal inclusions within mortar or plaster is a useful way to date the construction of architecture, particularly when options for other chronometric methods are limited. In the Yalahau region of northern Quintana Roo, Mexico, members of the Yalahau Regional Human Ecology Project have faced challenges in dating buildings made of large blocks of stone in the Megalithic architectural style. The Megalithic style poses serious problems for any analysis, as excavating into structures with stones weighing several tons can be dangerous, expensive, and time consuming. Additionally, there are no associated sculptures, texts …
Wetland Manipulation In The Yalahau Region Of The Northern Maya Lowlands, Scott L. Fedick, Bethany A. Morrison, B. J. Andersen, S. Boucher, J. C. Acosta, Jennifer P. Mathews
Wetland Manipulation In The Yalahau Region Of The Northern Maya Lowlands, Scott L. Fedick, Bethany A. Morrison, B. J. Andersen, S. Boucher, J. C. Acosta, Jennifer P. Mathews
Sociology & Anthropology Faculty Research
Manipulation of wetlands for agricultural purposes by the ancient Maya of southern Mexico and Central America has been a subject of much research and debate since the 1970s. Evidence for wetland cultivation systems, in the form of drained or channelized fields, and raised planting platforms, has been restricted primarily to the southern Maya Lowlands. New research in the Yalahau region of Quintana Roo, Mexico, has recorded evidence for wetland manipulation in the far northern lowlands, in the form of rock alignments that apparently functioned to control water movement and soil accumulation in seasonally inundated areas. Nearby ancient settlements date primarily …
Preliminary Evidence For The Existence Of A Regional Sacbe Across The Northern Maya Lowlands, Scott L. Fedick, D. Reid, Jennifer P. Mathews
Preliminary Evidence For The Existence Of A Regional Sacbe Across The Northern Maya Lowlands, Scott L. Fedick, D. Reid, Jennifer P. Mathews
Sociology & Anthropology Faculty Research
Ancient road systems have often been used by archaeologists to reconstruct interaction and political ties among prehistoric settlements. Roads built by the ancient Maya offer many insights into the political geography of the area, particularly in the northern lowlands where hieroglyphic texts are rare. This study examines ethnohistoric, historic, and archaeological data that suggest that a regional road, some 300 km in length, once spanned the northern lowlands from the modern location of Mérida to the east coast facing the island of Cozumel. The political implications of such a road, if it once existed, are discussed.