Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Paleoflood Record Reconstruction At An Archaeological Site On The Owyhee River, Southeastern Oregon, Stephanie Louise Vandal

All Master's Theses

The magnitude and frequency of late Holocene floods on the Owyhee River in southeastern Oregon were reconstructed from fine-grained flood deposits at three sites in the river canyon. The stratigraphy at the Birch Creek study site (BCSS) preserves a record of seven to nine large floods from the last 2800 years. Two additional study sites, the Iron Gate and Waterwheel, within a 5-km reach of the BCSS, showed 18-26 floods from the late Holocene to 1993 A.D. and 17-22 floods from 8600 B.P. to 1993 A.D., respectively. Hydrologic Engineering Center-River Analysis System modeling of the 1993 flood and several paleofloods …

Quantitative And Spatial Analysis Of The Microscopic Bone Structures Of Deer (Odocoileus Virginianus), Dog (Canis Familiaris), And Pig (Sus Scrofa Domesticus), Zoe Hensley Morris

LSU Master's Theses

Structure and morphology of bone tissue are variable by species. The influence of different factors on structure and morphology is still debated. Qualifying and quantifying these differences are necessary in the evaluation of fragmentary bones in order to identify specific species. To understand the influence of species of origin on the microscopic structure of bone tissue, the influence of developmental and biomechanical forces specific to a skeletal element must also be assessed. This research is a preliminary analysis of the histological bone structures in terms of their area, density and spatial organization. To achieve this research goal, the cross-section of …

The Chipped Stone Tool Industries Of Blackman Eddy, Belize, Matthew Patrick Yacubic

Theses and Dissertations

One of the most significant finds at the site of Blackman Eddy, Belize, is a series of superimposed structures that date between 1200 B.C.-A.D. 600 (calibrated). Because it was continuously occupied for over 1800 years, this site provides a unique opportunity to examine long-term socio-economic changes in the eastern Maya lowlands. This thesis is a diachronic study of the chipped stone tool artifacts of Blackman Eddy using technological, attribute, and use-wear analysis. The data collected for this study were examined to see what types of raw materials were used in tool production, what types of tools were produced, how they …

Analysis Of The Fly Creek Kiln Site (1ba226) Ceramic Assemblage, Miranda Cleveland

Anthropology Undergraduate Senior Theses

This thesis is an investigation of the ceramic assemblage recovered from the Fly Creek Kiln site (1BA226) in Fairhope, Alabama. This large assemblage was recovered from limited excavations in a waster pile and provides insight into the range of vessel forms manufactured at the site, as well as the technological process of salt-glaze ceramic manufacture in the nineteenth century along the Eastern Shore of Mobile Bay. In order to place the site in context, the history of designs and firing methods used by nineteenth-century potters in the southeastern United States are reviewed. The Fly Creek Kiln site is compared with …

The Past In The Present: Archaeology And Identity In A Historic African American Church, John Roby

Anthropology Theses

All across the world, people struggle daily to create and enhance their sense of identity. Such struggles are waged in many ways, including through the process of rediscovering and reinterpreting history. Mt. Sinai Baptist Church, an African American congregation in a suburb of Atlanta, is engaged in a search for its church cemetery, lost when the land was sold to the military during the nation’s mobilization for World War II. The church’s efforts are analyzed in the context of identity creation -- a search for links to a mythic and self-sufficient past. Archaeological methods reveal compelling evidence that the cemetery …

Fremont Storage And Mobility: Changing Forms Through Time, David T. Yoder

Theses and Dissertations

Groups of agriculturalist/hunter-gatherers known as the Fremont inhabited the eastern Great Basin and Colorado Plateau from roughly A.D. 1-A.D. 1350 (Madsen 1989). Fremont groups used differing storage strategies through time and across space. Storage strategies included on-site and off-site storage facilities which were constructed above and/or below-ground. These forms of storage occurred at different frequencies and times throughout the Fremont's 1350 year time span. Researchers (Binford 1980, 1990; Keeley 1988; Soffer 1989; Testart 1982; Wills 1992; Young 1996) using examples from various parts of the world have noted a correlation between the degree of residential mobility and the use of …

The Matas "Barn", Robin Plantation (16sl66), St. Landry Parish, Louisiana-History And Archaeology Of A Nineteenth Century Milk House, Sara Anne Hahn

LSU Master's Theses

The Robin Plantation Site (16SL66) is located on the left descending bank of Bayou Teche, near the town of Arnaudville, Louisiana. The site—owned by the Michael and Myra Matas—consists of 14.14 acres of land, a main house, the “barn,” a circa 1945 barn, an overseer’s house and two above-ground cistern bases. The primary goal of this thesis was to determine the age and function of Room 1 of the “barn.” The “barn” in its present form consists of two rooms separated by a breezeway: Room 1 of pièce-sur-pièce construction and Room 2 of post-on-sill construction. As noted, the focus of …

Sacred Trust: The Voluntary Removal And Reburial Of Human Remains From A Historic Cemetery In Louisiana, Christian Williamson

LSU Master's Theses

Members of the Randolph family, a prominent plantation family that has lived in Louisiana since the late eighteenth century, contacted a team of anthropologists from Louisiana State University to help recover thirteen individuals from St. Mary’s Cemetery in Bayou Goula, Louisiana. The cemetery had been abandoned since 1970, its graves overgrown with weeds and desecrated by vandals. Of the thirteen individuals recovered, three sets of remains did not have associated grave markers. These three were taken back to the lab and analyzed using standard forensic procedures. Documentary research on the history of the cemetery, the once associated church, and the …

Models For Ancient Maya Coastal Site Development And Economy: Examination Of Pork And Doughboy Point, Port Honduras, Belize, Kevin Michael Pemberton

LSU Master's Theses

In the summer of 2003 I conducted an archaeological study at Pork and Doughboy Point, Belize, under the direction of Dr. Heather McKillop. The site, situated amidst other ancient Maya coastal settlements of the Port Honduras in southern Belize, has only been tested for offshore deposits in the three decades since it was reported. The current research involved the first reported terrestrial excavations at the site. The goals of this investigation were to recover pottery that could be used to date the ancient Maya occupation and obtain artifacts that would suggest the nature of the site. From artifact analyses I …

The Pueblitos Of Palluche Canyon: An Examination Of The Ethnic Affiliation Of The Pueblito Inhabitants And Results Of Archaeological Survey At La 9073, La 10732 And La 86895, New Mexico, Leslie-Lynne Sinkey

Theses and Dissertations

The small, above-ground masonry structures of northwestern New Mexico called "pueblitos" first came to the attention of anthropologists in over a century ago. In 1920, the noted archaeologist A.V. Kidder hypothesized that these masonry structures might have been built by Puebloan refugees fleeing Spanish reprisals in the wake of the Spanish reconquest of New Mexico after the Pueblo Revolt, and he proposed that this hypothesis be tested. Over the next several decades, however, the hypothesis remained untested, but it became both accepted as established fact and the basis for most anthropological, archaeological, and historical reconstructions of Navajo history and cultural …

What Do Tin-Enameled Ceramics Tell Us?: Explorations Of Socio-Economic Status Through The Archaeological Record In Eighteenth-Century Louisiana: 1700-1790, Jason A. Emery

LSU Master's Theses

This thesis examines the presence and distribution of tin-enameled earthenwares in what was colonial Louisiana at nine archaeological sites: Madame John's Legacy (16OR51), the ca. 1730s French Colonial Barracks (16OR136), the Lower Pontalba Building (16OR209), Galveztown (16AN39), French Site I (16PC80), the Bicentennial Gardens (22AD999), Los Adaes (16NA16), the American Cemetery (16NA67), and the Chamard House site (16NA100). To examine the ceramic diversity, a comprehensive classificatory system is proposed, with discussion and classification of vessel forms. Ceramic diversity was anticipated to be patterned following geographic and economic lines; however, this was not substantiated through the analysis of the general body …

Prehistoric Timberline Adaptations In The Eastern Uinta Mountains, Utah, Michelle Knoll

Theses and Dissertations

Excavations at a high altitude archaeological site (3350 m) in the eastern Uinta Mountains, Utah, uncovered at least three ephemeral brush structures. These temporary timberline dwellings are the highest structures excavated in Utah to date. The periods of occupation range from the early Fremont period to the post-contact era. It is believed that the Fremont occupations are logistical in nature, possibly representing male hunting parties. Logistical camps imply a departure from, and return to, a residential camp. Ethnographic studies show that most residential camps are located within proximity to culinary plants to facilitate collection by women. In the Uinta Mountains, …

Remote Sensing At The Broussard Mounds Site: A Prehistoric Multi-Mound Site Located In The Lower Mississippi River Valley, Benjamin Shenandoah Goodwin

LSU Master's Theses

In order to test the effectiveness of various types of remote sensing for applications in archaeology, remote sensing data in the form of color infrared aerial photography, Airborne Terrestrial Applications Sensor (ATLAS) imagery, 35mm (black and white) and (color) infrared photography, and ground penetrating radar (GPR) were used at the Broussard Mounds site. Additionally, light detection and ranging (LIDAR) digital elevation imagery was downloaded, processed, and interpreted. Anomalies identified through the use of remote sensing were relocated geospatially and archaeological testing procedures were used to verify the presence of subsurface archaeological remains and to document the prehistoric cultural components at …

Toward A Scientific Approach To Significant Assessments Of Prehistoric Achaeological Properties At Mount Rainier National Park, Nicholas James Smith

All Master's Theses

Managing prehistoric archaeological properties at Mount Rainier National Park (MORA) is challenging. The prehistoric archaeological record is not well known, a myriad of geomorphologic processes are at work from minute to catastrophic, and until recently, archaeologists largely ignored stratovolcanoes in the Pacific Northwest. They, therefore, lack the local and regional contexts to evaluate many kinds of prehistoric archaeological properties at MORA in terms of their data potential.

Once thought to be of scarce data potential (cf. Boxberger 1998; Burtchard 1998; Daugherty 1963; Grabert and Pint 1978; Mierendorf et al. 1998; Smith 1964a; Zweifel and Reid 1991), the montane environments of …

Iroquoian Chert Acquisition: Changing Patterns In The Late Woodland Of Southwestern Ontario, James R. Keron

Digitized Theses

This thesis examines the organization of Iroquoian chert acquisition technology by comparing a number of sites in the southwestern Ontario. The relative amount of cherts from various sources is examined through time and space and across various types of sites looking for patterns both between sites and within sites. During Glen Meyer times a direct embedded acquisition pattern of Kettle Point chert is evident. Groups from the east of the study area could pass freely through intervening groups to acquire chert with distance being the only factor determining the quantity used. A transition to a down-the-line exchange pattern controlled by …

Freedom Of Commerce: The History And Archaeology Of Trade At St. Castin’S Habitation 1670-1701, Brooke Ann Manross

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Settled on the often disputed border of New England and Acadia during the last quarter of the 17th century, the Baron Jean Vincent de l’Abbadie de St. Castin operated a trading post at the confluence of the Penobscot and Bagaduce Rivers near the modem town of Castin, Maine. Castin was an entrepreneur who traded with the Abenaki Indians of Acadia and Maine for peltry. Although he was French, Castin exchanged this peltry with Massachusetts merchants in order to get the European trade items necessary to supply his Abenaki clientele. Castin preferred trade to warfare, nevertheless, he was often embroiled in …

Pattern And Variation In Prehistoric Lithic Resource Exploitation In The Passamaquoddy Bay Region, Charlotte County, New Brunswick, Anita L. Crotts

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examines some factors that affected choice and use of lithic resources among prehistoric peoples living within a restricted geographical area during a period of 2500 years. The raw materials of chipped stone tools from six shell middens, habitation sites in the Passamaquoddy Bay region of southwestern New Brunswick, are identified. These include rocks that are atypical of the regional geology. Source areas of indigenous materials are located. Canoe transport made the native resources accessible to the inhabitants of the sites under study, and probably facilitated acquisition of non-native rocks.

The effect that distance had on lithic resource exploitation …

Some Interactions In The Evolution Of Man And Tools, Gary W. Weston

All Master's Theses

This paper looks at some of the interactions between the development of tools and the evolution of man and his ancestors. It begins with a brief history of life up to the primates as a foundation. Next the use of tools by other animals is examined followed by the coverage of the period of time from Australopithecus to Modern Man showing the interweaving of physical and mental evolution of man and the development and refinement in his physical tools. Lastly, a look at possible future interactions in the physical and mental evolutionary developments in man as influenced by his tools …

A Re-Evaluation Of The San Juan Basket Maker Culture And Possible Relationships To Non-Ceramic Group, Charles H. Mcnutt

Anthropology ETDs

In summary, the purpose of this study may be stated as follows: by utilizing intensive and comparative archaeological data and also reasonable inference derived from ethnologic data, it is hoped that there can be presented a more precise and refined picture of the various groups of people whose material-culture remains are considered representative of the Basket Maker culture. It is the further intention of this study to examine critically the postulated development of such groups into later "culture horizons" classified as early Pueblo.

An Anthropological Investigation Of The Correo Snake Pit, Sigfred Sandberg

Anthropology ETDs

During the summer of 1949 the University of New Mexico Field Sessions in Anthropology undertook the excavation of a site located on the Albert Harrington Ranch some thirty miles due west of Albuquerque, New Mexico. Eight under-graduates participated in the work under the supervision of the author, a graduate student in Archaeology. The site was a blown out spring situated near Correo, three and one half miles southwest of the Santa Fe Railway coal and water station in Suwanee. The name "Correo Snake Pit" was assigned to the excavation.

Since this find is probably one of the more important in …

Problems Arising From The Surface Occurrence Of Archaeological Material In Southeastern Chihuahua, Mexico, Garland J. Marrs

Anthropology ETDs

The specific problems which arise in the Chihuahua area, in light of the present developments of American archaeology are:

1. What validity is there in the techniques heretofore used in the chronological placement of archaeological materials gathered from the surface of the earth?

2. What are the implications of the distribution of the different types of specimens recovered from the Bolson de Mapimi terraces?

3. To what archaeological horizons, and to what prehistoric periods, may we assign this material?

4. To what extent do the specimens recovered thus far compare topologically to those already described from like sites and periods? …