Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

San Pasqual Valley; Reexamination Of An Archaeological Collection Using Non-Invasive And Invasive Techniques, Ariana Yanez

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This thesis will focus on re-evaluating the CA-SDI-09674 collection at San Pasqual Battlefield State Historic Park. The purpose of the research is to provide more evidence that supports the preservation of the archaeological and indigenous record within archaeological sites. Research with noninvasive techniques will include macro botanical analysis, re-examination of archaeological collections, and if permitted, invasive techniques such as radiocarbon c-14 dating. The purpose of analyzing charcoal samples is to comprehend a chronology of occupation within SPB-SHP. The macro botanical analysis would provide insight into the natural resources that were available within the area during the precontact habitation of the …

Ecological Stability Of Late Pleistocene-To-Holocene Lesotho, Southern Africa, Facilitated Human Upland Habitation, Robert Patalano, Charles Arthur, William Christopher Carleton, Sam Challis, Genevieve Dewar, Kasun Gayantha, Gerd Glexiner, Jana Ilgner, Mary Lucas, Sara Marzo, Rethabile Mokhachane, Kyra Pazan, Diana Spurite, Mike W. Morley, Adrian Parker, Peter Mitchell, Brian A. Stewart, Patrick Roberts

Biological and Biomedical Sciences Department Faculty Journal Articles

Investigation of Homo sapiens’ palaeogeographic expansion into African mountain environments are changing the understanding of our species’ adaptions to various extreme Pleistocene climates and habitats. Here, we present a vegetation and precipitation record from the Ha Makotoko rockshelter in western Lesotho, which extends from ~60,000 to 1,000 years ago. Stable carbon isotope ratios from plant wax biomarkers indicate a constant C3-dominated ecosystem up to about 5,000 years ago, followed by C4 grassland expansion due to increasing Holocene temperatures. Hydrogen isotope ratios indicate a drier, yet stable, Pleistocene and Early Holocene compared to a relatively wet Late Holocene. Although relatively …

Folsom Activity, Mobility, And Flaked Stone Technological Organization At The Rio Rancho Folsom Site, New Mexico Locus 4147 And As-2, William A. Skidmore-Farren

Anthropology Graduate Student Publications

What are the similarities and differences within locus 4147/AS-2 technological organization? Determining the function of the site may reveal new adaptive strategies used by Paleoindian groups and perhaps tell us more about their social and technological organization. By measuring, identifying, analyzing, and comparing the lithic components of the locus 4147/AS-2, I hope to further our understanding of the Rio Rancho site’s function and technological organization. A study of the spatial distribution of various artifact types within the locus will also help determine the function. Chemical (XRF) and physical analysis of the variety of lithic materials from the sites will also …

Informe Tecnico De Los Trabajos De Campo Del Proyecto De Investigación Arqueológica Cerro San Isidro, Valle De Nepeña, Costa De Ancash -- Temporada 2022, David Chicoine, Jeisen Navarro

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

A Study Of The Cultural And Geological Environment Of The Magic Mountain Site In Golden, Colorado, Brianna K. Dalessandro

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Magic Mountain site, located in Golden, Colorado, has been the subject of intensive academic studies since the 1950s because of its extensive artifact assemblage and long habitation periods. The aim of this thesis was to use ground-penetrating radar, magnetometry, GIS models, and lithic analysis to further study when and how the Magic Mountain site was used during prehistoric times and contextualize a variety of hypotheses about site habitation and migratory patterns of prehistoric people in Colorado.

The results of these analyses indicate the habitation and migratory pattern of the Magic Mountain site was a periodic, but consistent, proximal visitation …

Down The Bay Oral History Project Newsletter - Summer 2023, Center For Archaeological Studies, Mccall Library

Down the Bay Oral History Project Newsletter

Public newsletter sharing information about progress and discoveries during the ongoing Down The Bay Project.

Down The Bay Oral History Project Newsletter - Spring 2023, Center For Archaeological Studies, Mccall Library

Down the Bay Oral History Project Newsletter

Public newsletter sharing information about progress and discoveries during the ongoing Down The Bay Project.

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 …

Exploring Inequality At Copan, Honduras: A 2d And 3d Geospatial Comparison Of Household Wealth, Heather Richards-Rissetto

Department of Anthropology: Faculty Publications

The archaeological site of Copan was a cultural and commercial crossroads at the southeastern Maya frontier. Research indicates that the demographics and sociopolitical circumstances of the city of Copan and its location within a circumscribed pocket (24 km²) of the larger Copan Valley varied through time. These circumstances not only influenced its social, political, and economic interactions, but likely the size, construction, and organization of households, specifically plazuelas. Copan’s plazuelas differ from those located in other Maya regions because they often have smaller house platforms, comprise more than a single patio, and exhibit a larger than normal …

Genomic Data From Paquimé: Understanding The Cultural And Genetic Ties Of The Site, Meradeth Snow, Michael Seary, Jakob Sedig, Jose Luis Punzo-Diaz

Faculty Publications

Paquimé, located in the Casas Grandes region of Northern Mexico, presents a rich cultural tradition with ties to populations to the South and North. Ancient mitochondrial DNA from Paquime’s occupants has not provided evidence of large-scale in-migration that led to the fluorescence of the site, as some scholars have hypothesized. This paper focuses on nuclear genomes that have been sequenced for 20+ Paquimé individuals, further demonstrating the complexity of the region and of the city. The emerging data (collected with approval from the Mexican Consejo de Arqueología) presents a clearer view both of the population’s genetic relationships with those to …

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 …

Plants And Environment: A Paleoethnobotanical Analysis Of The Vosburg Site (21fa002), Jaelyn Elizabeth Stebbins

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Recognized archaeologically by their distinct material culture, Oneota sites exist in many ecological zones across the Upper Midwest during the late Precontact period, c. 1000-1700 CE. Consequently, the sites are hardly homogenous. Across localities, Oneota groups are recognized as food producers who grew Zea mays (maize), Cucurbita pepo (squash), and later Phaseolus vulgaris (bean). The utilization of other wild and domesticated botanical resources across localities is not as well documented.. While extensive paleoethnobotanical analyses have been completed for the late Precontact period in southeastern Minnesota (Schirmer) and southwestern Wisconsin (Arzigian), little is known about plant utilization by Oneota groups on …

Chain As A Missing Artifact: Enslavement And Restraint On The Hernando De Soto Expedition, Chester B. Depratter, James B. Legg

Faculty & Staff Publications

The passage of the Hernando de Soto expedition (1539-1543) though the southeastern United States resulted in a scatter of artifacts distributed along the route. These materials were gifted or traded to, or taken by Native Ameri­cans, or were simply lost as Soto and his company moved from place to place. Perishable items such as clothing, fabrics, and wooden objects disappeared long ago. Non-perishable items such as weaponry, chainmail, coins, nails, bells, and a wide array of other metal objects have been recovered by both avocational and professional archae­ologists at scattered sites along the route. One class of non-perishable artifact associated …

An Archeozoological Analysis Of The Vosburg Site In Southern Minnesota, Madison M. Rutter

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The Blue Earth Oneota is a poorly defined taxon located in southern Minnesota. Few large-scale excavations have been conducted in the Blue Earth region, leading to gaps in the overall understating of western Oneota lifeway systems. This research utilizes archeozoological analysis on the zoological assemblage from the Vosburg site (21FA02), a Blue Earth Oneota site located in Faribault County. The Vosburg site is a large habitation site that has been excavated by Wilford in 1938 and 1947, Dobbs in 1979, and Schirmer in 2012. Legacy data from the 1938, 1947, and 1979 excavations was analyzed and compared to the zoological …

Revisiting The Blue Earth Oneota Taxon, Samuel Marcucci

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Clark Dobbs’ 1984 dissertation on Blue Earth Oneota settlement patterns is often the go-to treatment for the Blue Earth taxon. Since the publication of his work, new methods of archeological research have been employed within the field and new data have been uncovered from both Blue Earth sites in Minnesota and Oneota sites throughout the Midwest. This thesis attempts to ask if the modern archeology of Blue Earth Oneota is still comprehended by Dobbs’ 1984 publication. Feature analysis of material recovered from refuse pit features during the 2012 excavation at the Vosburg site (21FA02) was utilized in this research along …

Living In Ilopango’S Shadow: Using A Figurative Analysis Of Grave Goods Excavated From Ciudad Nuevo Cuscatlán In El Salvador To Investigate The Community’S Relationship To The Ilopango Volcano, Kari O'Doran

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis is to determine what can be learned about the people living near the Ilopango Volcano during the Classic period of Mesoamerican history by conducting a figurative analysis of the living subjects depicted on the ceramics and figurines excavated from the area, to determine what, if any, relationship the people there had with the volcano. I examine the frontier Mesoamerican village of Ciudad Nuevo Cuscatlán by analyzing grave goods found in the mortuary burials located in the area and determining the meaning of the figural subjects on each using established diagnostic elements from experts in the …

Ancient Migrations In West Mexico: Mtdna Analyses, Patricio Gutiérrez Ruano

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Despite the mounting evidence that suggests The Aztatlán tradition in West Mexico was a major cosmopolitan region during the Postclassic period (AD 900-1521) with connections to the rest of what is now Mexico, archaeologists have characterized items in West Mexico as culturally distinct from the rest of Mesoamerica. Recently, endogenous, and exogenous material culture has been interpreted as movement and exchange of goods and ideas between subregions and surrounding areas, all of which mention physical contact and trade were involved between Aztatlán and elsewhere. This has included interacting with areas as far as the U.S. Southwest, as well as in …

A Portrait Of The Leadership Of Women In Early Christianity: An Archaeological Study In Light Of The Historical And Socio-Cultural Contexts, Carina Prestes

Dissertations

Problem

The participation of women in the Early Christian communities is widely accepted. Nevertheless, there is no consensus on what was their role in these communities. Until now the study of women in the Early Christian communities has focused mostly in the writings of some ancient authors and a few biblical texts. These studies have been done mostly by theologians and historians. Such studies rarely take a deep look at the Greco-Roman background and at the historical, socio-cultural contexts. This contextualization can be quite fruitful and should be informed by recent archaeological discoveries of the first centuries of Christianity. Thus, …

An Inventory And Analysis Of Human Remains From The Aklis Site (12vam1-42) Curated At Mississippi State University, Kaelyn Olson

Theses and Dissertations

This project was an inventory and analysis of human remains from the Aklis archaeological site (12VAm1-42), located in the Sandy Point National Wildlife Refuge, St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. The human remains inventoried during this project were collected by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and MSU during surface collection and emergency salvage excavations at Aklis. The statistical analysis of the data focused on the minimum number of individuals (MNI) per square meter, the degree of long bone completion, skeletal element counts across excavated features, and the degree of weathering. Results indicate that the assemblage curated at MSU includes a …

Presenting The Afriarch Isotopic Database, Steven Goldstein, Sean Hixon, Erin Scott, Jesse Wolfhagen, Victor Iminjili, Anneke Janzen, Kendra Chritz, Elizabeth Sawchuk, Emmanuel Ndiema, Judith C. Sealy, Abigail Stone, Gretchen Zoeller, Leanne N. Phelps, Ricardo Fernandes

Faculty Publications – Sociology and Anthropology

AfriArch is an archaeological and paleoenvironmental data community designed to integrate datasets related to human-environmental interactions in Holocene Africa. Here we present a dataset of bioarchaeological stable isotope (C/N/O) and radiocarbon measurements from African archaeological sites spanning the Holocene. Modern measurements, when reported together with archaeological data in original publications, are also included. The dataset consists of 5568 entries and covers the entirety of Africa, though most isotopic research has been concentrated in southern Africa. The AfriArch isotopic dataset can be used in paleodietary, paleodemography, paleoclimatic, and paleoenvironmental studies. It can also be employed to highlight data gaps across space …

A Clean Slate: Green Slate Production And Exchange In The Mojave Desert, Jamie Marie Nord

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

In this thesis, I examine the procurement, manufacturing process, and subsequent distribution of cultural greenstone artifacts, historically referred to as green slate, in the Mojave Desert of southeastern California from a landscape-level framework. The San Bernardino County Museum (museum) curates a collection of incised and blank green slate artifacts (n=51) from numerous archaeological sites in the study region. These cultural materials were uncovered together in a box during routine inventory. As part of this thesis, I catalogued, rehoused, and remarried the collection with each artifact’s respective site assemblage in consultation with San Manuel Band of Mission Indians (SMBMI) in order …

Backyard Orange Groves: Archaeology And Oral History Of An Ethnic Mexican Community In Downtown Redlands, Marlen Hinojosa

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Seeking a better life, generations of Mexican immigrant families established a thriving community in the landscape surrounded by citrus orchards flanking a stretch of Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe railroad tracks in Redlands, CA. As a series of revitalization projects and developments, Statistical Research Inc. (SRI) conducted archival research from the Smiley library, ethnographic and archaeological investigations to understand better the history of this unstudied ethnic Mexican barrio community near downtown Redlands. The data acquired from the oral history interviews conducted with individuals who lived or had family living in the area provided a more explicit depiction of the artifacts …

A 14,100 Cal B. P. Rocky Mountain Locust Cache From Winnemucca Lake, Pershing County, Nevada, Evan J. Pellegrini, Eugene M. Hattori, Larry Benson, John Southon, Hojun Song, Derek A. Woller

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The remains of approximately 1000 (MNI) Rocky Mountain locusts (Melanoplus spretus) from an archaeological cache pit in Crypt Cave, Winnemucca (dry) Lake, Nevada, date to between 14,305–14,067 calendar years before present (95.4 % confidence; 12,238 ± 18 ¹⁴C yrs. B.P.). The age of this western Great Basin occupation along the shoreline of Lake Lahontan is consistent with occupation of several other Western North American terminal Pleistocene sites dating prior to 14,000 cal. B.P., including distinctive petroglyphs on the western shore of Winnemucca Lake dating as early as 14,800–13,200 cal. B.P.

Ancient Lowland Maya Neighborhoods: Average Nearest Neighbor Analysis And Kernel Density Models, Environments, And Urban Scale, Amy E. Thompson, John P. Walden, Adrian Z. Chase, Scott R. Hutson, Damien Marken, Bernadette Cap, Eric Fries, M. Rodrigo Guzman Piedrasanta, Timothy S. Hare, Sherman W. Horn Iii, George J. Micheletti, Shane M. Montgomery, Jessica Munson, Heather Richards-Rissetto, Kyle Shaw-Müller, Traci Ardren, Jaime J. Awe, M. Kathryn Brown, Michael Callaghan, Claire E. Ebert, Anabel Ford, Rafael A. Guerra, Julie A. Hoggarth, Brigitte Kovacevich, John M. Morris, Holley Moyes, Terry G. Powis, Jason Yaeger, Brett A. Houk, Keith M. Prufer, Arlen F. Chase, Diane Z. Chase

Department of Anthropology: Faculty Publications

Many humans live in large, complex political centers, composed of multi-scalar communities including neighborhoods and districts. Both today and in the past, neighborhoods form a fundamental part of cities and are defined by their spatial, architectural, and material elements. Neighborhoods existed in ancient centers of various scales, and multiple methods have been employed to identify ancient neighborhoods in archaeological contexts. However, the use of different methods for neighborhood identification within the same spatiotemporal setting results in challenges for comparisons within and between ancient societies. Here, we focus on using a single method—combining Average Nearest Neighbor (ANN) and Kernel Density (KD) …

(Re)Constructing Homescapes: “Archaeological Remote Sensing” And Ground-Truthing Of The Walker Place Homestead At Spirit Hill Farm, Tate County, Mississippi, Gabriel Griffin

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis focuses on an early nineteenth-century homestead known as the Walker Place homestead at Spirit Hill Farm in northern Mississippi. The goal of this thesis is to conduct a ground-penetrating radar (GPR) and shovel test survey to explore how changing landscapes simultaneously (re)create and destroy senses of place or Homescapes. Homescapes have received little attention in the field of archaeology and have not been applied to Euro-American Homescapes. I apply this theoretical construct in a novel way as a venture to further develop an avenue in archaeology to be collaborative and understand the past in a way that accurately …

Tracking And Estimating The Commingling Of Missing U.S. Service Personnel: A Gis And Forensic Anthropological Approach, Mason Mckinney

Department of Anthropology: Theses and Student Research

During times of war, the remains of fallen U.S. military service members overseas are often difficult to track postmortem as they move from their recovery location to a permanent cemetery. After a recovery, remains are typically sent to multiple temporary cemeteries, morgues, and/or identification points before reaching their final resting place. Repeated disinterments and reinterments among vast numbers of remains in multiple temporary locations may lead to unintended commingling. This analysis is meant to examine the postmortem movement of multiple U.S. military members and assess their potential for commingling based on historical records and identification reports supplied by the Defense …

Wak'as, Mallkis, And The Inca Afterlife: The Hydrological Connection Between The Incan Empirical And Nonempirical Worlds, Marius C. Vold

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

The ruling elite amongst the indigenous groups of the Andes region, often referred to as the Incas, were, before European contact, a non-literal society. Therefore, our understanding of their religious beliefs pertaining to the relationship between life and death, and the intricate relationship between this belief system and the environment surrounding the Inca is heavily influenced by post-European contact, often clouded by European propaganda and a lack of cultural relativism. This project aims at exploring the relationship between the hydrological cycle and the Incan empirical and nonempirical worlds by comparing and synthesizing post-European contact written records, ethnohistorical records, archeological evidence, …

Waqf In Transition: Tracing Local Institutional Change During The British Mandate In Palestine, Zachary Murray

Theses and Dissertations

The British Mandate’s actions of state-building in Palestine were informed by a Zionist-Western modernist envisioned past of Palestine. This state-building ideology was embedded within much of the bureaucracy of the Mandate’s system and infringed on numerous Palestinian institutions such as Waqf. Waqf was disenfranchised in particular through the implementation of urban development programs, like town planning and archaeological regimes, which sought to support the British-Zionist recasting of Palestine.

This thesis aims to show how the British’s ideology of Palestine informed the Mandate’s internal polices and actions which infringed on the rights of waqf. This was done through two axes of …

Landscape, Settlement, And Community: The Natural, Human, And Sacred Geography Of Classic Maya Civilization In West-Central Guatemala, Marc A. Wolf

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation explores the fluid and commonly multi-compositional aspects of Maya settlement patterns, which reflect concepts of space within Maya worldviews. Research will be focused on the predominantly Classic (ca. AD 650-810) era archaeological site of Cancuen and its neighbors in the Verapaz department of Guatemala. These settlements provide a complex arena where questions of identity, spirituality, and ethnic affiliations can be addressed within a spatial context. The continuing detailed settlement and environmental survey mapping within the Cancuen region is the primary source of evidence from which a more thorough appreciation of emic Maya spatial considerations will be investigated.

The …

Activity Area Analysis For The Sanders Site (45kt315), Emily Elizabeth Laplante, Rylee A. Chadwick

Symposium Of University Research and Creative Expression (SOURCE)

The Sanders Site (45KT315) was excavated in the 1970s by Central Washington University. The site is located on the Yakima Army Training Center some 12 kilometers up Johnson Canyon from the Columbia River. The site was occupied from as early as 9,000 years ago; however, the heaviest occupations with features and activity areas date closer to 3000 years ago which are associated with Frenchman Springs Phase. We are interested in how food processing and animal use at this seasonal upland site compares to sites on the river that may have been occupied year-round during the Frenchman Springs Phase.

https://source2022.sched.com/event/111rv/activity-area-analysis-for-the-sanders-site-45kt315