Anthropology Commons^™

Review Of Tales Of Dionysus: The Dionysiaca Of Nonnus Of Panopolis, Dominic Greenlee

Field Notes: A Journal of Collegiate Anthropology

No abstract provided.

Egyptianization: Tackling Faulty Narratives With Respect To Ancient Nubian And Ancient Egyptian Relationships, Antony Schultz

Field Notes: A Journal of Collegiate Anthropology

The study of Ancient Nubia has been beset by barriers to accurate information. One such barrier, Egyptocentrism, negatively impacts the narrative of Ancient Egyptian and Ancient Nubian relationships by solely placing focus on Egypt without regard to Nubia. Egyptocentric thought, such as the idea of “Egyptianization”, and the theory of Egypt in a vacuum are two of the most poignant narratives perpetrated by scholars. Egyptianization implies the assimilation of Egyptian traits and downplays Nubian identity, agency, and culture. It suggests that Nubians lacked a distinct culture of their own and relied upon Egypt for their identity and ability to nation …

Folklore And Zooarchaeology: Nonhuman Animal's Representation In The Historical Narrative, Nicholas Miller

Field Notes: A Journal of Collegiate Anthropology

It has been argued before that archaeology and folklore go hand-in-hand, with a variety of scholarship and studies focusing on landscapes and monuments in reference to this pair; however, this research argues for a different approach. As the title suggests, this paper engages with folklore topics and zooarchaeological data to argue that faunal remains (along with landscapes and monuments) are intertwined and cannot be separated from the historical narrative. While faunal evidence helps provide scientific explanations of the natural interconnectedness of humans and nonhuman animals, folklore aids in creating and developing cultural understandings. By exploring the relationship between humans and …

Characteristic And Defining Markers Of Pcos, Chawki A. Belhadi

Field Notes: A Journal of Collegiate Anthropology

Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) is one of the most frequently occurring endocrine disorders in women. The syndrome is diagnosed through a heterogeneous combination of androgen excess, anovulation, and ovarian dysfunction and is characterized by a host of resulting markers. This paper will paint the overall diagnostic picture of the condition and review a number of these markers to build an essential picture of PCOS. It will concentrate first on its principal metabolic markers then describe its physical, neurological and psychobehavioral markers. Each section will then abstract an essential picture from the data it presents. Finally, the review will conclude with …

Juvenile Play Behavior In Cohabitating Captive Siamangs (Symphalangus Syndactylus) And Orangutans (Pongo Abelii), Jo Gansemer

Field Notes: A Journal of Collegiate Anthropology

This research looks at the social play habits of a juvenile orangutan and juvenile siamang housed together at the San Diego Zoo, hypothesizing that the juvenile apes would prefer heterospecific juveniles as play partners over conspecific adults in the absence of conspecific juveniles. Using the San Diego Ape Cam for ten hours of focal animal sampling, the activity budgets for the juveniles were assembled, with emphasis on the rates of social versus solo play. The study confirmed, in this specific context, that the apes preferred heterospecific juvenile play to conspecific play with adults.

One Day At A Time, Four Decades Apart: An Analysis Of The Doxic, Mimetic, And Diagnostic Performances In The Original And Rebooted Pilots Of The Classic Norman Lear Show, Katrina Frank

Field Notes: A Journal of Collegiate Anthropology

In the modern era, it has become easier than ever to watch serial shows, whether they air on primetime television or are released on subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) services. However, the lack of Latinx representation in these shows is severely lacking. This is why shows like the rebooted Norman Lear classic One Day at a Time are so important to the audiences it reaches. Shows with Latinx actors and storylines can impact the way their Latinx audience members view themselves and break the stereotypes associated with them (Contreras 2021).

By analyzing several scenes from both the 1975 and 2017 pilot episodes …

An Analysis Of The Friezes At Huaca Del Dragón, Morgan Moore

Theses and Dissertations

The archaeological site of Huaca del Dragón, located near modern Trujillo, Peru, was constructed by the Chimú civilization in the tenth or eleventh century CE. The site is named for the low-relief imagery that decorates its walls, the central motifs of which are interpreted as dragons and rainbows. These images diverge from much of the visual and material culture produced by the Chimú. Interpretations of the imagery at Huaca del Dragón have been debated by scholars for decades. While the relief decoration seems enigmatic, this analysis considers both iconography and style to argue that the friezes reflect on a visual …

Early Village Communities: Fort Ancient Village Formation In The Middle Ohio Valley, Marcus Schulenburg

Theses and Dissertations

How do people form communities, and how do these communities change, persist, interact, and re-form during times of dramatic social change? This dissertation is an analysis of two early Fort Ancient villages in southwest Ohio and southeast Indiana dating to the Late Precontact period. These sites represent some of the first appearances of villages in the Middle Ohio Valley, ca. AD 1050, and offer a case study in the development and social responses of people living in large, permanent settlements. The study examines these settlements for signs of communities that might exist within the village as well as signs of …

The Old Copper Complex In Sheboygan County, Wisconsin: Giving New Life To Legacy Collections At The Milwaukee Public Museum Through Typology And Provenience, Timothy Piatek

Theses and Dissertations

The Old Copper Complex of the Middle and Late Archaic periods in Wisconsin is poorlyunderstood by archaeologists. The Milwaukee Public Museum and the Sheboygan County Historical Society and Museum contain some of the largest collections of copper artifacts found in Sheboygan County, Wisconsin dating to the Old Copper Complex. This thesis applied a modified version of a copper artifact recording schema to objects at each museum, providing robust descriptions of legacy collections, and allowing for cross-collection comparisons. Objects at the Milwaukee Public Museum are also assigned potential provenience through a detailed study of known archaeological site records within the Wisconsin …

Care Among Strangers: Empathy And Care At A Midwest Crisis Hotline, Angela Jacksack

Theses and Dissertations

Crisis hotlines are a rapidly expanding phenomenon in the United States. Since the rebranding of the Suicide Prevention Lifeline to 988 more people than ever are aware of, and using, hotlines. This paper focuses on a small, Midwestern crisis hotline and the listeners who volunteered at it. Much of my analysis throughout relies on anthropological writings on empathy, as well as the philosophical writings of Nel Noddings. The majority of my research focuses on the construction of care within the hotline, particularly through the use of empathy. Using participant observation and interviews, I outline the volunteers’ use of empathy to …

Imagery In Nasca Cross-Knit Looped Textiles From The Milwaukee Public Museum, Katherine A. Cianciola

Theses and Dissertations

Textiles associated with the Nasca culture (0-650 C.E.) from Peru’s South Coast have been recognized for their complex and colorful ecological, anthropomorphic, and geometric imagery. Little, however, has been written about their three-dimensional cross-knit looping and embroidery. Cross-knit looping produced three-dimensional figures that were part of an elaborate border on clothing and a style specifically associated with the Nasca (Sawyer 1997:24, 27, 41, 97, 131-132, 136 for example). This thesis focuses on Nasca textiles primarily from the Malcolm K. Whyte (Accession Numbers: 18046 and 20517) collection at the Milwaukee Public Museum (MPM) and includes three-dimensional cross-knit looping of ecological and …

Squaring The Circle: Talking About Accessibility At Discovery World, Ariel Butler

Theses and Dissertations

In recent years, museums have made a concerted effort to consider accessibility and the needs of the broader community in their programming. This thesis analyzes how Discovery World, a science and technology museum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, can better accommodate diverse learning styles and disabilities in their 2023 Summer Camp program through a case study of implementation. The thesis analyzes the impact of the plan to improve accessibility and inclusivity in the classroom for children in grades 1-8, focusing on how staff conceptualize the ideal setup and aims to provide valuable insights to enhance inclusivity and accessibility in informal educational settings. …

Dancing Mi Cultura: The Production Of Ethnic And National Identity In Midwestern Mexican-Americans Through The Performance Of Ballet Méxicano Folklórico, Katrina J. Frank

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis studies how Mexican Americans living in the northwest suburbs of Chicago produce connections to their Mexican heritage and culture through the performance of ballet Mexicano folklórico. Through ethnographic interviews of current and former folklórico dancers, as well as participant observation of adult folklórico dance practices, I contextualize the experiences of the interviewees using the anthropological theories of habitus, continuous and discontinuous selves, double-consciousness, liminality, and collective effervescence, as well as the works of Simone de Beauvoir, Michel Foucault, and Frantz Fanon, with the discussion of folklórico as an art, and the concept of institutional use of dance as …

“Artifacts Of Stone And Pottery”: An Analysis Of The Linn Site (Ias U-28) Collection At The Milwaukee Public Museum, Anastasia Tesfaye Demaio

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis focuses on an understudied archaeological collection at the Milwaukee Public Museum (MPM) from the Linn Site (IAS U-28) in southern Illinois, acquired in the 1930s. Using archaeological methods and archival research, the research aims to characterize the collection's physical attributes and temporal and period affiliations and to contextualize it. This is accomplished through detailed analyses of ceramics and other materials, as well as comparison with other collections from the Linn Site, demonstrating the value of collections-based research. The significance of the research lies in utilizing unstudied materials as archaeological sites disappear. The research highlights ethical tensions and interpersonal …

Ghost Town Living: Presenting The Past On Youtube, Alannah Ray

Theses and Dissertations

Cerro Gordo is a privately-owned historic mining town in California, and the YouTube channel Ghost Town Living, with over 1.6 million followers, documents the current owner's goal of preserving and restoring the town for visitation. This thesis explores how Cerro Gordo and Ghost Town Living can be understood together through the lenses of museology, digital anthropology, and archaeology. Based on a site visit, analysis of digital media, and interviews with staff and people connected to the site, I explore the intersection between heritage sites and social media, and more widely, changing perceptions of American heritage, including who has the right …

Deconstructing Decapitation In Late Roman Gloucestershire And Oxfordshire, Uk, Shaheen M. Christie

Theses and Dissertations

The Roman conquest in Britain (AD 43) led to significant changes in indigenous settlements and agricultural systems, population diversity, social organization, economic activities, and funerary traditions. Archaeological investigations of burials from the first to fifth centuries AD in Britain have revealed a complex array of burial treatments and attitudes toward the dead, including decapitation burials, which are the most common form of differential burial represented in this period. Traditional interpretations of these burials have included infanticide, punitive execution, trophy taking, fear of the dead, and veneration practices. This project investigates a sample of decapitation burials from Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire dating …

Life Styles, Death Styles, And Posthumous Portraiture: Elite Female Burials In Iron Age Europe, Emily Ryan Stanton

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation analyzes the grave good assemblages in 222 burial contexts from HallstattD (c. 600-400 BCE) tumulus cemeteries in west-central Europe to test the hypothesis that certain combinations of grave goods were associated with particular categories of persons based on an intersectional marking of gender, status, age and social role. The primary data set consists of high-status graves – male, female, ungendered/pre-gendered subadults, and those of indeterminate gender – in the Heuneburg interaction sphere in southwest Germany. The results of this analysis are compared to a secondary data set of comparable burials from other west-central European locations, to determine whether …

A Paleoethnobotanical Comparison Of Mortuary And Village Langford Tradition Sites In Northern Illinois, Tania Lee Milosavljevic

Theses and Dissertations

Archaeologists working in northern Illinois have conducted research on Langford Tradition (ca AD 1100-1450) sites for more than a century. The last 40 years have seen increasing methodological sophistication providing for a relatively nuanced understanding of food technology and resource use. Paleoethnobotany has provided one way to observe the diversity of plant use among Langford site occupants. Using standard paleoethnobotanical practices, plant macroremain from the Robinson Reserve Site (11CK2) are analyzed. The results of the plant macroremain analysis are then compared to existing floral data from the Washington Irving Site (11K52). This research investigates whether site functionality is distinguishable between …

Visibility And Intervisibility: A Viewshed Analysis Of The Oneota Component Of The Lake Koshkonong Locality, Rebekah Joy Gansemer

Theses and Dissertations

This research was conducted to analyze the visual relationship between Oneota village sites, Late Woodland habitations, and mound sites during a period of time that saw all of these groups living contemporaneously on Lake Koshkonong. My research seeks to not only understand what and who Oneota sites could see on the landscape, but also who might have been able to see them. This research adds to the discussion of Lake Koshkonong Oneota relationships with contemporaneous groups during the 11th-15th centuries.This study focuses on four sites within the Lake Koshkonong Locality that date to the Oneota period: Crescent Bay Hunt Club …

The Dehumanizing Violence Index: An Old World/New World Comparison Of Overkill In Archaeological Contexts, Paul Moriarity

Theses and Dissertations

THE DEHUMANIZING VIOLENCE INDEX: AN OLD WORLD/NEW WORLD COMPARISON OF OVERKILL IN ARCHAEOLOGICAL CONTEXTS

Paul J. Moriarity

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 2023Under the Supervision of Professor Bettina Arnold

Extreme forms of violent behavior appear in various cultural contexts throughout human history. This study compares so-called “overkill” sites from the late Central European Neolithic and the Pueblo Period of the American Southwest to develop a systematic approach to distinguishing between the levels of violence exhibited in overkill assemblages, compare and define possible motivations and choices for extreme violent behavior, and determine whether the purposeful use of extreme violence in temporally and …

Soul Quest Church Of Mother Earth: Ayahuasca Decriminalization And The Struggle Of An Institution To Become A Church, Tarryl Janik

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines the process by which Soul Quest Church of Mother Earth Inc., an ayahuasca church, in Orlando, Florida, seeks to become a legal church in order to be exempted from the Controlled Substances Act of 1970 which classifies DMT, the psychedelic by-product of the boiled ayahuasca vine and chacruna leaf, as an illicit substance. The three-year study charts the process by which Soul Quest undertakes to demonstrate their practice and belief in terms that will conform to the State’s idea of what “church-ness” looks like and how sincere belief should be demonstrated in terms the law will find …

Monitoring Welfare In Captive Chimpanzees (Pan Troglodytes) Using Individual Positional Behavior And Substrate Use Profiles, Joseph Lara

Theses and Dissertations

The welfare of captive chimpanzees partly depends on the structural features present in their enclosure. An individual’s manner of expressing positional behaviors depends on these environmental characteristics and may be reflective of their physical and mental health. This thesis seeks to further the scientific understanding of the relationships between positional behavior, substrate use and captive chimpanzee welfare. In pursuit of this goal, I designed and installed a novel vertical climbing aid onto a climbable platform structure within an enclosure at the chimpanzee sanctuary, Chimp Haven, in an effort to encourage mobility and vertical space use in the enclosure’s residents. Additionally, …

The Role Of Fake And Fraudulent Objects Within The Museum Context: A Case Study Of Tiwanaku Ceramics In The Milwaukee Public Museum Collection, Armando Manresa

Theses and Dissertations

During the 20th century thousands, if not millions, of fake and fraudulent artifacts made their way into museum collections around the world through purchases, donations, and museum exchanges. The growth in Pre-Columbian collections, in particular, was precipitated by the many archaeological discoveries during that time as well as the continued looting of known and unrecorded sites across Latin America. As authentic items flooded the collectors’ market and from there into art and natural history museums, a mass-scale industry in fake and fraudulent artifacts arose to meet the demand. These items were primarily created for tourists, but some artists became so …

Entangled Conquest: A Study Of Cultural Hybridization And Change In Norman Ireland, Sean Mcconnel

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis employs entanglement theory and new geophysical macro-analytical methods to

examine the spread of Norman culture in late medieval Ireland. The traditional theories of

Anglo-Norman conquest by mass migration, by military conquest, and by political conquest are

reviewed and compared to a more nuanced theory of Normanization, which suggests that

genetically Irish people, who spoke Irish, practiced Irish law, and pursued Irish interests were

primarily responsible for what is considered "Norman" material culture on the Island. This

dissertation presents the idea that adherence to the English king was a necessary and expedient

action on the part of Irish lords …

Let Go And Let God: An Ethnographic Study Of Overeaters Anonymous, Subjectivity, And Extreme Eating Distress, Abby Forster

Theses and Dissertations

Academic discussions regarding eating disorders have been dominated by two frameworks: biomedical and feminist. While the former explains eating disorders as a product of individual pathology, the latter asserts the cause is culture. An aspect of culture that is often suggested is neoliberalism. This ethnographic study utilizes the term “eating distress” to acknowledge the localized idioms that occur outside of the bounds of biomedical settings. The research documents the experiences of many members of Overeaters Anonymous dealing with eating distress within a social context in which their body types are stigmatized. The dissertation examines the relationship between subjectivity, Overeaters Anonymous, …

Virtual Excavations: Digital Repositories, Data Reuse, And Ethically Accessible Archaeology, Allison Lindsey Densmore

Theses and Dissertations

Archaeological investigations produce massive amounts of data, yet these data are often sequestered by the original researchers or put behind paywalls that restrict access to academic publications. This inaccessibility makes it difficult to justify the destructive nature of archaeology. Open-access digital data management systems such as the Digital Archaeological Record (tDAR) provide archaeologists with new ways to preserve, share, and, most importantly, reuse archaeological data to combat this issue of data sustainability. The goal of this project is to investigate how these digital repositories allow for ethically responsible data access and reuse, thus mitigating the cycle of destruction, hoarding, and …

Differentiating Human From Nonhuman Bone: Insights From A Medical Examiner’S Collection, Kenosha, Wisconsin, Jordan L. Fourshee

Theses and Dissertations

Forensic anthropologists who work in medical examiner’s offices or similar contexts frequently need to differentiate nonhuman from human skeletal or partially decomposed remains. If we, forensic anthropologists, were more aware of which nonhuman bones were most common in such situations, we might be able to improve our training programs. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Kenosha County, southwest Wisconsin, accumulated over 1,940 nonhuman bones over a period of several years, most likely primarily between 2000 and 2005. These are the focus of this thesis, which presents a quantitative analysis of the most frequently encountered taxa and elements. The …

The Caretaking Of Eve Online: Institutional Ethics And Enactments At Ccp Games, Joshua William Rivers

Theses and Dissertations

This ethnography examines the Icelandic video game developer CCP Games, the makers of EVE Online—a massively-multiplayer online game (MMO) that takes place in a star cluster far, far away. Through my exploration of CCP Games as an institution over the span of fourteen months, I highlight how corporations are culturally-situated, enacted entities. Simultaneously, I demonstrate that these culturally-located actors who serve as the architects of our digital infrastructures undertake such efforts from their situated vantage points, thereby embedding particular ethical commitments into the digital landscapes they craft and within which we live our social lives. Created with the intent to …

Function And Aesthetic Value: An Analysis Of The Milwaukee Public Museum's Thai Royal Silver Collection, Aislinn Sanders

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis analyzes 45 objects from the Thai Royal Silver collection currently housed at the Milwaukee Public Museum (MPM). Of these, 41 were donated by a single donor, Dr. Louis Schapiro, who collected the objects during his time working as Medical Advisor for the King of Siam in 1931-1932. Following his death, his son Mark held onto the objects until 1969, when they became a part of the MPM’s collection. The chosen objects include boxes, bowls, and other types of vessels. Through researching this collection, the following questions guided the direction for this thesis: How did the silver industry begin …

The Case Of The Benin Bronzes: Exploring Repatriation In U.S. Museums, Kendra Voelz

Theses and Dissertations

The Benin Bronzes are a grouping of an estimated 10,000 works made from brass, ivory, wood, clay, as well as other materials. These objects originated from the royal palace in Benin City, located in present day Nigeria in Africa. Within the last five years, beginning in 2017, discussions surrounding the repatriation of these artifacts from museums around the world have been reignited to a high degree where institutions are actively working towards researching and, in increasing numbers, repatriating the material to Nigeria. Through video and written interviews this thesis examines the thoughts and opinions of 11 professionals in museums across …