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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Dental Microwear Textures Of Paranthropus Robustus From Kromdraai, Drimolen, And An Enlarged Sample From Swartkrans: Ecological And Intraspecific Variation, Alexandria Sachiko Peterson
Dental Microwear Textures Of Paranthropus Robustus From Kromdraai, Drimolen, And An Enlarged Sample From Swartkrans: Ecological And Intraspecific Variation, Alexandria Sachiko Peterson
Graduate Theses and Dissertations
The original microwear texture baseline for South African hominins was done by Scott et al. (2005) and concluded that Paranthropus robustus exhibited higher complexity values (Asfc) that are seen in occasional hard object feeders. Australopithecus africanus has higher anisotropy values (epLsar) consistent with consuming tough objects. This study expands upon this baseline by increasing the sample size from n = 9 for P. robustus and n = 10 for Au. africanus to n = 66 and n = 44, respectively. Additionally, this study incorporates multiple different sites and deposits. The P. robustus sample includes Drimolen, Kromdraai, and an expanded sample …
Tempo And Mode Of Domestication During The Neolithic Revolution: Evidence From Dental Mesowear And Microwear Of Sheep, Melissa Zolnierz
Tempo And Mode Of Domestication During The Neolithic Revolution: Evidence From Dental Mesowear And Microwear Of Sheep, Melissa Zolnierz
Graduate Theses and Dissertations
The Neolithic Revolution marked a dramatic change in human subsistence practices. In order to explain this change, we must understand the motive forces behind it. Researchers have proposed many different stimuli, with most theories invoking environmental dynamics, human population density increases beyond environmental carrying capacity, and the natural outgrowth of human and plant/animal interactions. However, unanswered questions remain concerning the mechanics of animal domestication. Traditional studies of changing faunal morphology and skeletal population profiles offer some clues, but such research has had limited success identifying stages intermediate between wild and domesticated forms, which makes it difficult to discern initial attempts …
Effects Of Instrumentation On Dental Microwear Textures: Reanalysis And Augmentation Of An Early Hominin Sample, Anna Jacquelyn Ragni
Effects Of Instrumentation On Dental Microwear Textures: Reanalysis And Augmentation Of An Early Hominin Sample, Anna Jacquelyn Ragni
Graduate Theses and Dissertations
Dental microwear texture analysis has been refined to a methodology relying upon scanning confocal microscopy for its advantages of repeatability and standardized quantification. A new instrument, the Plu Neox (Sensofar Corp.) confocal profiler recently entered the market, sparking questions among dental anthropologists related to the advantages and efficacy of this new technology, which has better resolution and lighting properties than previously available white-lighted based confocal profilers. This thesis reports on three complementary studies that set out to evaluate the comparability of the Plu Neox to the Plu Standard system and assess its ability to distinguish primates on the basis of …
Dental Microwear Texture Analysis Of Pliocene Bovids From Four Early Hominin Sites In Eastern Africa: Implications For Paleoenvironmental Dynamics And Human Evolution, Jessica Renee Scott
Dental Microwear Texture Analysis Of Pliocene Bovids From Four Early Hominin Sites In Eastern Africa: Implications For Paleoenvironmental Dynamics And Human Evolution, Jessica Renee Scott
Graduate Theses and Dissertations
Many researchers have suggested that Plio-Pleistocene climate change was a motive force for human evolution. The basic idea was that a shift toward drier, more open settings, led to adaptations for bipedality and the consumption of savanna resources, including large grazing mammals. However, more recent paleoenvironmental reconstructions suggest that Pliocene hominins occupied variable or mosaic habitats including both open and closed settings. Many techniques have been used to refine our understanding of the paleoenvironments of eastern Africa; however these have not led to consensus reconstructions. At Kanapoi, ecological diversity analysis indicates that at least part of the site was composed …