Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Archaeology

Discipline
Institution
Publication Year
Publication
Publication Type
File Type

Articles 61 - 90 of 3211

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

To Pot Or Not To Pot: Understanding Technological Investment In Ceramics And Marine Mammal Oil Rendering In Kodiak, Alaska, Elizabeth Groat Aug 2024

To Pot Or Not To Pot: Understanding Technological Investment In Ceramics And Marine Mammal Oil Rendering In Kodiak, Alaska, Elizabeth Groat

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Why do groups choose to use certain technologies, but not others? This study focuses on an especially confusing instance of this question: the adoption of pottery in Kodiak, Alaska. This event was strange for two reasons. First, by AD 1500, when Alutiiq ancestors in the Kodiak Archipelago began making pottery, their neighbors on the mainland had already been doing it for centuries—so why did they wait so long? Second, pottery is also only found in the south of the islands—so why did some people use it, but not others? Whale and seal are more abundant in southern Kodiak, so one …


Island-Wide Characterization Of Agricultural Production Challenges The Demographic Collapse Hypothesis For Rapa Nui (Easter Island), Dylan S. Davis, Robert Dinapoli, Gina Pakarati, Carl P. Lipo Jun 2024

Island-Wide Characterization Of Agricultural Production Challenges The Demographic Collapse Hypothesis For Rapa Nui (Easter Island), Dylan S. Davis, Robert Dinapoli, Gina Pakarati, Carl P. Lipo

Anthropology Faculty Scholarship

Communities in resource-poor areas face health, food production, sustainability, and overall survival challenges. Consequently, they are commonly featured in global debates surrounding societal collapse. Rapa Nui (Easter Is- land) is often used as an example of how overexploitation of limited resources resulted in a catastrophic popula- tion collapse. A vital component of this narrative is that the rapid rise and fall of pre-contact Rapanui population growth rates was driven by the construction and overexploitation of once extensive rock gardens. However, the extent of island-wide rock gardening, while key for understanding food systems and demography, must be better understood. Here, we …


Island-Wide Characterization Of Agricultural Production Challenges The Demographic Collapse Hypothesis For Rapa Nui (Easter Island), Dylan Davis, Robert J. Dinapoli, Gina Pakarati, Terry L. Hunt, Carl P. Lipo Jun 2024

Island-Wide Characterization Of Agricultural Production Challenges The Demographic Collapse Hypothesis For Rapa Nui (Easter Island), Dylan Davis, Robert J. Dinapoli, Gina Pakarati, Terry L. Hunt, Carl P. Lipo

Anthropology Faculty Scholarship

Communities in resource-poor areas face health, food production, sustainability, and overall survival challenges. Consequently, they are commonly featured in global debates surrounding societal collapse. Rapa Nui (Easter Island) is often used as an example of how overexploitation of limited resources resulted in a catastrophic population collapse. A vital component of this narrative is that the rapid rise and fall of pre-contact Rapanui population growth rates was driven by the construction and overexploitation of once extensive rock gardens. However, the extent of island-wide rock gardening, while key for understanding food systems and demography, must be better understood. Here, we use shortwave …


The Use Of Laja In Construction In Ancient Mesoamerica: A View From The Southern Gulf Lowlands Of Veracruz, Mexico, Lauren E. Smith Jun 2024

The Use Of Laja In Construction In Ancient Mesoamerica: A View From The Southern Gulf Lowlands Of Veracruz, Mexico, Lauren E. Smith

Steeplechase: An ORCA Student Journal

The archaeology of the southern Gulf lowlands of Veracruz, Mexico is notable for its research pertaining to the Olmec culture (Jaime-Riveron 2016; Loughlin 2012; Pool 2006). The region was home to the Colossal Olmec Heads: large, easily identifiable sculptures crafted from the volcanic rock of the Tuxtlas Volcanic Field. The use of volcanic resources in such grand presentations may instill a bias in the research of some archaeologists, but it is important to consider how these and other volcanic resources might have been used in everyday life (e.g., Jaime-Riveron 2016: 86). The consolidated volcanic ash in this region is referred …


Archaeomalacological Studies In The North Atlantic Islands, Kelly A. Mclafferty May 2024

Archaeomalacological Studies In The North Atlantic Islands, Kelly A. Mclafferty

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis expands upon the archaeomalacological narrative of the North Atlantic islands (the Faroe Islands, Iceland and Orkney) from the mid-8th through the 20th century. The main objectives are to identify exploited mollusk populations and ecological zones; investigate the roles of mollusk exploitation; contribute to laboratory methods of marine shell.


The Use Of Laja In Construction In Ancient Mesoamerica: A View From The Southern Gulf Lowlands Of Veracruz, Mexico, Lauren Smith May 2024

The Use Of Laja In Construction In Ancient Mesoamerica: A View From The Southern Gulf Lowlands Of Veracruz, Mexico, Lauren Smith

Honors College Theses

The archaeology of the southern Gulf lowlands of Veracruz, Mexico is notable for its research pertaining to the Olmec culture (Jaime-Riveron 2016; Loughlin 2012; Pool 2006). The region was home to the Colossal Olmec Heads: large, easily identifiable sculptures crafted from the volcanic rock of the Tuxtlas Volcanic Field. The use of volcanic resources in such grand presentations may instill a bias in the research of some archaeologists, but it is important to consider how these and other volcanic resources might have been used in everyday life (e.g., Jaime-Riveron 2016: 86). The consolidated volcanic ash in this region is referred …


Reconstructing Roman Corinthian Identity, Sophia Loeta Graham May 2024

Reconstructing Roman Corinthian Identity, Sophia Loeta Graham

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

This project focuses on the ways that social and cultural identity are projected through material culture in Roman-occupied Greece, specifically in the Corinthia region. Using anthropological and archaeological theories on identity, systems, and creolization, I develop an interpretive framework for understanding how Roman Corinthians used material culture to project their identities in a mortuary context. This project is inspired in part by pre-existing research on the fluidity of cultural identity in Roman-occupied Greece but is designed to fill a gap in that scholarship that does not inspect the ways that identity can be displayed in a mortuary context. I use …


A Grim End For Europe's First Civilization: The Fall Of Minoan Crete, Ashley Arp May 2024

A Grim End For Europe's First Civilization: The Fall Of Minoan Crete, Ashley Arp

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Early popular theories about the collapse of the Minoan civilization center around natural disasters, but geoarchaeological research from the past few decades has disproved these earlier theories. It is evident that the Minoan civilization continued to thrive for around a century after the volcanic eruption and subsequent tsunami that had previously been credited as the cause for the collapse. Evidence of manmade destruction has been uncovered across the island of Crete c. 1450 BCE and this period was quickly followed by a drastic cultural shift that included more Mycenaean elements than had been found on the island previously. These destructions, …


Interpreting Geochemical Sourcing In The Northwest Great Basin: The 26wa12962 Sample Study, Tyler Alexander Reinholt May 2024

Interpreting Geochemical Sourcing In The Northwest Great Basin: The 26wa12962 Sample Study, Tyler Alexander Reinholt

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Located in Northwest Washoe County Nevada along the California and Nevada border, 26WA12962 is an upland spring site consisting of habitation debris and several thousand pieces of debitage on the surface. The purpose of this research project is to interpret energy dispersive x-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) results of 80 random samples of obsidian, and fine grain volcanics such as basalt and dacite from the excavations on 26WA12962 that were conducted in 2021. This thesis will investigate if there is a preference for a specific source, as well as assisting in gathering data within a lithic landscape. To accomplish this goal, I …


Developing A Methodology For Evaluating The Sensitivity Of Rock Imagery Sites To Vandalism In Washington County, Ut, Erin C. Haycock May 2024

Developing A Methodology For Evaluating The Sensitivity Of Rock Imagery Sites To Vandalism In Washington County, Ut, Erin C. Haycock

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

This study uses statistical analysis to examine the relationship between the characteristics of rock imagery (also known as rock art) sites and intentionally caused damages in Washington County, Utah. This project aims to create an index for public land managers to respond proactively to vandalism at rock imagery sites. Included here is an analysis of the severity and frequency of damage to the sites and an inventory of the types of site damage to determine the most common and destructive types of vandalism. Site attributes such as the number of figures in a panel, the type of images, and panel …


Across The Snake River Plain: Terminal Pleistocene, Early Holocene, And Early Middle Holocene Land-Use In Southeast Idaho, Jennifer Finn May 2024

Across The Snake River Plain: Terminal Pleistocene, Early Holocene, And Early Middle Holocene Land-Use In Southeast Idaho, Jennifer Finn

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

The range of mobility demonstrated to overcome challenges with resource distribution is a hallmark of hunter-gatherer societies. Previous studies in southeast Idaho have investigated the possibility that precontact human movement was impacted by climatic differences. According to preliminary studies on regional obsidian toolstone conveyance, land use patterns were already changing throughout the early Holocene due to increased aridity. However, the geographical distribution of Northern Side-notched projectile points suggests a significant expansion in mobility at the early Holocene/middle Holocene transition. This thesis tests the hypothesis that precontact early middle Holocene human mobility in the study area was conditioned by environmental factors …


A Manual On The Planning And Integration Of Archaeological Methods In To Outdoor Forensic Search Investigations, Jonathan Robert Garcia May 2024

A Manual On The Planning And Integration Of Archaeological Methods In To Outdoor Forensic Search Investigations, Jonathan Robert Garcia

Department of Anthropology: Theses and Student Research

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 …


Racing The Tides: Three Virginia Islands Threatened By Climate Change And The Challenge Of Preserving Their Stories, Sean M. Restivo Apr 2024

Racing The Tides: Three Virginia Islands Threatened By Climate Change And The Challenge Of Preserving Their Stories, Sean M. Restivo

History Honors Projects

Among the tidal marshes of Virginia’s York River, there are three relatively obscure groups of uninhabited islands, all with fascinating stories, and all rapidly disappearing: the Goodwin Islands, the Catlett Islands, and Poropotank Island. These islands have been almost entirely overlooked by existing historical and archaeological research, and they are all imminently threatened by climate change-induced sea level rise and erosion. In the summer of 2023, I embarked on an interdisciplinary research project to study cultural heritage sites scattered across the islands. Drawing on my experience of studying these islands, as well as other related case studies, I demonstrate that …


Transatlantic Traditions: The History Of Welsh Quarrying And Its Connections To Newfoundland Slate, Alexa D. Spiwak, Johanna Cole Apr 2024

Transatlantic Traditions: The History Of Welsh Quarrying And Its Connections To Newfoundland Slate, Alexa D. Spiwak, Johanna Cole

Northeast Historical Archaeology

Previous archaeological investigations have conclusively shown that the presence of Welshmen has co-occurred with the practice of local slate quarrying in Newfoundland since the early colonial ventures of the 17th century. The island experienced a resurgence in Welsh culture in the 19th century when a number of small slate quarries were established overlooking both the Bay of Islands on the west coast and Smith Sound in Trinity Bay. The following article outlines the history of these 19th-century Newfoundland quarries, as well as the social, political and economic factors which encouraged the migration of Welsh quarrymen across the Atlantic to remote …


Introduction, Barry Gaulton Apr 2024

Introduction, Barry Gaulton

Northeast Historical Archaeology

No abstract provided.


Editor's Introduction, Maria O'Donovan Apr 2024

Editor's Introduction, Maria O'Donovan

Northeast Historical Archaeology

No abstract provided.


Human-Environment Interactions In Coastal Belize: Insights Into Sea-Level Rise And Ancient Maya Activities At The Paynes Creek Salt Works, Cheryl Mae Foster Apr 2024

Human-Environment Interactions In Coastal Belize: Insights Into Sea-Level Rise And Ancient Maya Activities At The Paynes Creek Salt Works, Cheryl Mae Foster

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Dissertation excavations were carried out in 2019 and 2022 at the underwater sites of Ta’ab Nuk Na and Ek Way Nal in Paynes Creek National Park, Belize. Sea-level rise submerged the sites in antiquity and preserved the artifact record in red mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) peat. Red mangrove peat can be used as a proxy for sea-level rise. The goals of the two excavations included: 1) excavating a 14m-long transect within and extending beyond building J at Ta’ab Nuk Na to determine the function of the building, 2) investigating the production of salt making pottery at Ta’ab Nuk Na; …


The Necropolis Of Lattara: An Examination Into Gender, Socioeconomic, And Ethnic Identities In A Funerary Context Following The Roman Conquest Of Mediterranean Gaul, Heather Fusco Apr 2024

The Necropolis Of Lattara: An Examination Into Gender, Socioeconomic, And Ethnic Identities In A Funerary Context Following The Roman Conquest Of Mediterranean Gaul, Heather Fusco

Student Publications

This paper investigated how material goods both represented and actively created ethnic identity, gender, and socioeconomic status in a funerary context during a colonial period. Relying on evidence collected from a Roman-period necropolis from Lattara in Mediterranean France, these results were then examined alongside funerary evidence from the necropolis of the nearby Iron Age settlement of Ambrussum to compare pre-Roman and Roman funerary practices. Specifically, within the two necropolises, the grave goods, inscriptions, and biologically sexed remains were the main points of comparison. This paper also utilized the ideas and concepts from the subdivision of funerary archaeology, as well as …


Identidad Bajo Amenaza En Chinchero, Perú: El Megaproyecto Del Aeropuerto Internacional Plantea La Cuestión: ¿Cuál Es Más Importante Para El Estado Peruano—El Turismo O El Patrimonio?, Celeste Funari Muse Apr 2024

Identidad Bajo Amenaza En Chinchero, Perú: El Megaproyecto Del Aeropuerto Internacional Plantea La Cuestión: ¿Cuál Es Más Importante Para El Estado Peruano—El Turismo O El Patrimonio?, Celeste Funari Muse

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

El megaproyecto del Aeropuerto Internacional de Chinchero inicialmente fue propuesto hace 46 años, así que ha sido un símbolo del futuro del distrito durante casi cinco décadas. Ubicado a sólo una hora de distancia de la ciudad de Cusco, el pueblo de Chinchero es conocido por su hermoso paisaje, tradición e impresionantes ruinas incas. De todo el mundo, los turistas desembarcan en el aeropuerto de Cusco y pasan por Chinchero de camino al valle sagrado y Machu Picchu. Desde el inicio de la construcción en 2017, el sitio del nuevo aeropuerto es visible desde casi cualquier lugar de Chinchero, como …


Gaining Insight Into Lithic Technology In Eastern Pennsylvania Through The Study Of An Amateur Collection, Khori Newlander, Linda Zuniga Mar 2024

Gaining Insight Into Lithic Technology In Eastern Pennsylvania Through The Study Of An Amateur Collection, Khori Newlander, Linda Zuniga

Anthropology and Sociology Faculty Research

The farm fields of east-central Pennsylvania contain an abundance of artifacts that span much of regional prehistory. Not surprisingly, many of these artifacts have been collected by local amateurs. Here, we analyze an assemblage of projectile points collected from the Kramer Farm in Kutztown, Pennsylvania. We explore how morphometric attributes (e.g., size, shape), indices of retouch, and raw material vary in relation to projectile point type. Our analysis provides insight into projectile point design, lithic resource preferences, technological organization, and land use. Despite the imperfections that often characterize amateur collections and the controversy that surrounds their study, our analysis demonstrates …


Human-Driven Fire And Vegetation Dynamics On The Caribbean Island Of Barbuda From Early Indigenous To Modern Times, Allison R. Leblanc, Lisa M. Kennedy, Michael J. Burn, Université Laval, Sophia Perdikaris Feb 2024

Human-Driven Fire And Vegetation Dynamics On The Caribbean Island Of Barbuda From Early Indigenous To Modern Times, Allison R. Leblanc, Lisa M. Kennedy, Michael J. Burn, Université Laval, Sophia Perdikaris

Department of Anthropology: Faculty Publications

We present a multiproxy analysis of a sediment core from Freshwater Pond, Barbuda, one of just a few inland paleoenvironmental records from the Lesser Antilles. Our results shed light on the relative contributions of climate variability and Pre- and Post-Columbian human activities to vegetation and fire dynamics on Barbuda. The presence of macroscopic charcoal and pollen of ethnobotanically-useful and disturbance-indicator plant taxa in the sediment record suggests that Pre-Columbian subsistence activities occurred within a few kilometers of the pond between ~150 BCE and ~1250 CE. Our record extends anthropogenic fires back into the early Ceramic (500 BCE–1500 CE) and possibly …


Monitoring Of Caucasus Heritage Sites Facing Cultural Genocide, Peyton Edelbrock Jan 2024

Monitoring Of Caucasus Heritage Sites Facing Cultural Genocide, Peyton Edelbrock

The Journal of Purdue Undergraduate Research

No abstract provided.


The Kitchen In The Church Complex: Work And Sacred Space At ‘Ain El-Gedida, Dana Robinson Jan 2024

The Kitchen In The Church Complex: Work And Sacred Space At ‘Ain El-Gedida, Dana Robinson

Faculty Publications - Department of History and Politics

The fourth-century church complex at ‘Ain el-Gedida, in the Dakhleh Oasis, provides a striking case study for the integration of kitchen work into social and religious space in late antiquity. Its unique features – both sociological and archaeological – reflect a dynamic, rough-and-tumble integration that both protects the sacred space of the nave and centres the productive labour of cooking. This article analyses the anteroom/kitchen B6 from the perspectives of space syntax, the communicative landscape of labour, and the sociology of graffiti. While it may have been designed as a transitional zone or service auxiliary for the primary public spaces …


Defining The Historical Significance Of Eatonville Memorial Gardens, Caroline Amein Jan 2024

Defining The Historical Significance Of Eatonville Memorial Gardens, Caroline Amein

Honors Program Theses

Eatonville, Florida is the first all-Black incorporated town in the United States and the hometown of Zora Neale Hurston. This remarkable town is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Eatonville’s historic cemetery, however, is left out. This thesis examines why Eatonville Memorial Gardens was considered ineligible for the National Register and collects data to submit a new nomination. Through ethnographic interviews and archaeological and archival data, this work explores what historic Black cemeteries mean to their communities as well as our shared history. This work also hopes to answer the question of what is lost when a cemetery …


Following The Footprints Of Iron, Marve William Nelson Jan 2024

Following The Footprints Of Iron, Marve William Nelson

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

With the advent of lead isotope analysis in the 1960’s, metallurgic studies within archaeology have grown from their infancy of organizing artifacts into typological categorizations into their own sub-discipline of archaeology: archaeometallurgy. Archaeometallurgic researchers conducts muti-phase, chemistry-based, studies to determine provenance of source metal ores as well as microchemical and metallographic analyses to identify smelting and forging techniques, culminating in multidisciplinary studies which detect shifting commerce pathways and correlate them to periods of significant cultural change. The results of these studies have offered evidence for both verification and refutation of various previous hypotheses of cultural evolution through cultural transmission. Archaeometallurgy …


The Implications Of Waste Streams At Camp Au Train, Timothy J. Maze Jan 2024

The Implications Of Waste Streams At Camp Au Train, Timothy J. Maze

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Archaeological remains from Camp Au Train provide an opportunity to understand sanitation methods during its use as a Civilian Conservation Corps camp and later used to house German Prisoners of War during World War II. Seven refuse features from this camp were excavated and their contents linked to functional locations within the camp in order to reconstruct waste streams across the site and to observe how military aspects of sanitation were implemented by an organization infamous for its emphasis on cleanliness, order, and hygiene. While the importance of sanitation is often mentioned by historians and archaeologists in research of these …


“Not Much Of A Job”: Everyday Life And Labor At Camp Au Train, Josef T. Iwanicki Jan 2024

“Not Much Of A Job”: Everyday Life And Labor At Camp Au Train, Josef T. Iwanicki

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

In this thesis, I use data from Camp Au Train, a Civilian Conservation Corp camp in Michigan’s Hiawatha National Forest, as a case study to connect the everyday life of enrollees with dominant government narratives while including a focus on labor and the capitalist crisis of the Great Depression. Using the vantage point of work, play, study, and health, I integrate archaeological, historic, and photographic evidence to show contradictions between the enrollees’ real lived experience and the dominant perspectives of the CCC ‘authorities’ who organized their lives. I argue that to interpret these contradictions, the CCC needs to be connected …


Identifying The Use Of Turtles And Tortoises At The Prehistoric Penny Site At Cape Canaveral, Alexandria Griffin Jan 2024

Identifying The Use Of Turtles And Tortoises At The Prehistoric Penny Site At Cape Canaveral, Alexandria Griffin

Honors Undergraduate Theses

As people live in an area, they leave behind an assortment of cultural items they once utilized. Some of these items may include pottery or bones from animals they used as food. Analysis of these bones can give a glimpse into how they managed their resources in the environment around them, including which ecosystems they chose to exploit, and which taxa they prioritized for consumption or cultural purposes. The Indian River Lagoon in Florida is a diverse costal lagoon with many various overlapping ecosystems and ecotones available for prehistoric peoples to utilize. Comparing the frequency of taxa representing different local …


Misrepresentation Of The Archaeological Record And Identity In Italy, Julienne Zambri Jan 2024

Misrepresentation Of The Archaeological Record And Identity In Italy, Julienne Zambri

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This thesis examines the practice of the misrepresentation and manipulation of the archaeological record in Italy as it relates to identity formation through three main case studies. Moving chronologically, it begins by analyzing the Palermo National Exposition and the Mostra Etnografica Siciliana of Giuseppe Pitrè using Edward Said’s Orientalism to reveal the othering of Sicilians at this exposition. The second case study looks at the Mostra Augustea della Romanità of the Fascist era, building on the extensive scholarly discussion regarding Mussolini’s misrepresentation of ancient Roman archaeology to construct a fascist identity around the concept of romanità. Moving into the contemporary …


Swimming Through Time: Ancient Dna Analysis Of Salmonid Remains At Housepit 54, Bridge River, British Columbia, Canada, Kara K. Fox Jan 2024

Swimming Through Time: Ancient Dna Analysis Of Salmonid Remains At Housepit 54, Bridge River, British Columbia, Canada, Kara K. Fox

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The application of ancient DNA (aDNA) analysis on archaeological faunal remains has proven successful in a variety of studies that have resulted in species identification and subsistence use at ancient village sites. Fisher-hunter-gatherer societies of the Pacific Northwest have depended heavily on seasonal salmon runs as a primary staple for foodstuffs and winter storage essentials. Determining which salmonid species were chosen provides a better understanding of ancient socio-economic strategies that impact food procurement and varying preferences of food items that can lead to resource access limitations. Ultimately, this thesis is a preliminary research project to establish the groundwork for successfully …