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Articles 211 - 240 of 307

Full-Text Articles in Anthropology

Inter-Caste Adoption In India: Effects On Kinship And Caste As Understood By The Adoptive Family, Kelly Hacker, Dr. Charles Nuckolls Jun 2013

Inter-Caste Adoption In India: Effects On Kinship And Caste As Understood By The Adoptive Family, Kelly Hacker, Dr. Charles Nuckolls

Journal of Undergraduate Research

In his studies of kinship (1984), David Schneider put forth the theory that kinship is not inherently biologically-based, but is rather a symbolic and flexible understanding of the relationship between individuals. Inter-caste adoption in India, where a husband and wife adopt an unrelated child born to parents of a different caste, presents itself as an interesting testing ground for this theory, as both biological unrelatedness and a difference in caste must be overcome in the creation of kinship between adoptive family and adoptee.


Millenniums And Messiahs: Literature Review In Messianic Religions In Context Of The Hmong Diaspora, John Whitton, Dr. Joacob Hickman Jun 2013

Millenniums And Messiahs: Literature Review In Messianic Religions In Context Of The Hmong Diaspora, John Whitton, Dr. Joacob Hickman

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Initially, the research proposed consisted of two sections constituting the last two semesters of my undergraduate education. The first included collecting published sources regarding millenarianism and messianism within the larger global context and organizing them into a database. The second included systematically cataloging each source in the database for future analysis, not only for Dr. Hickman’s personal use but also for the larger academic and professional community. These circles will encompass the study of nationalism, religion, globalization, and in Dr. Hickman’s specific use, the Hmong diaspora and generational views of morality.


Do You Know How To Dance?: Mediating Identity Through Film And Dance In Visakhapatnam, India, Kaitlin Patterson, Dr. Charles Nuckolls Apr 2013

Do You Know How To Dance?: Mediating Identity Through Film And Dance In Visakhapatnam, India, Kaitlin Patterson, Dr. Charles Nuckolls

Journal of Undergraduate Research

I went to India to study gender relations in the family, but as I spent more time there I came to know a group of striking individuals and instead focused my research on a similar topic, film as a mediator of culture, but in this case a mediator for the deaf. The Omkar and Lions School for the Deaf (OLSD) looks out onto the bright blue bay of Visakhapatnam, India. Despite the beautiful view, the students rarely spend time in the water; their time is consumed with other things. They have school to go to, homework to complete, temple to …


A Modern Ethnohistorical Understanding Of Ancient Plant Use, Emphasis On The Fremont Near Goshen, Utah, Insight Into Diet And Medicine, Madison Mercer, Dr. Michael Searcy Apr 2013

A Modern Ethnohistorical Understanding Of Ancient Plant Use, Emphasis On The Fremont Near Goshen, Utah, Insight Into Diet And Medicine, Madison Mercer, Dr. Michael Searcy

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The research for this project began in August 2011 and finished in April 2012. The goal was to understand how plants were anciently used for food or medicine. To determine this, archaeological data would have to be coupled with more modern ethnographic data of living peoples. This is because there is no clear way to determine how people anciently used plants and because it is possible that modern indigenous groups used plants in similar ways.


Prophets, Scripts, And Nations: Hmong Religious And Ethnonational Borders In Northern Thailand, Belinda Ramirez, Dr. Jacob Hickman Apr 2013

Prophets, Scripts, And Nations: Hmong Religious And Ethnonational Borders In Northern Thailand, Belinda Ramirez, Dr. Jacob Hickman

Journal of Undergraduate Research

As a sociocultural anthropology major, my ORCA project entailed spending three months on an ethnographic study. I chose to conduct this study in northern Thailand among the Hmong, a small hill tribe ethnic group. During my stay in a Hmong community near Pua, Nan Province, I spent much of my time with a small messianic religious group known as Is Npis Mis Nus (pronounced “ee bee mee new”), or Is Npis for short. My goals were to understand the various concepts of nationalism and ethnicity for both the Is Npis and the Hmong in general, which I ascertained largely through …


Who Is “We”?: Community Development In El Salvador, Hilary Munger, Dr. Jacob Hickman Apr 2013

Who Is “We”?: Community Development In El Salvador, Hilary Munger, Dr. Jacob Hickman

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Where will you be vacationing for Fiestas Agostinas? During the weeks leading up to the most anticipated holiday in El Salvador I was asked this question by almost every individual with whom I came into contact. As a new comer to the country and its customs reusing others greetings and topics of conversation from one social interaction to the next became a common practice as I endeavored to give the impression that I understood what was going on around me. As I traveled outside the capitol to indigenous communities living in the periphery, both literally and figuratively, my assumptions of …


Change And Continuity In A South Indian Fishing Village, Andrew Pieper, Dr. Charles Nuckolls Apr 2013

Change And Continuity In A South Indian Fishing Village, Andrew Pieper, Dr. Charles Nuckolls

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Vasuvanipalem, a once isolated fishing village on the South Eastern coast of India has in recent years been absorbed in to the rapidly growing city of Visakhapatnam. The accompanying changes of urbanization and modernization within this community have changed dramatically the lives of fishermen within the community and their families.


Short-Distance Cultural Remittances Of Shakti Among Domestic Workers In Vizag, India, Kirk Hepburn, Dr. Charles Nuckolls Apr 2013

Short-Distance Cultural Remittances Of Shakti Among Domestic Workers In Vizag, India, Kirk Hepburn, Dr. Charles Nuckolls

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The project under question has taken turns dramatic enough to make it nearly unrecognizable and its title almost entirely inapplicable. Problems, faced early in research but insurmountable, make it necessary that the collected data be used for purposes beside my original intent. While I originally planned to study the remittance of shakti notions among domestic workers, the project now seeks to describe the social power-based elaborations and subtractions that made translation work among this group unwieldy and useless for my purposes. While I cannot address my original hypothesis, this current iteration of my project speaks to literature detailed in the …


To Stand On Their Own Legs: Independence And Other Motivations For Women’S Pursuit Of Post- Graduate Studies, And Their Parents’ Influence On Them, In Vishakhapatnam India, Colleen Mcdermott, Dr. Charles Nuckolls Apr 2013

To Stand On Their Own Legs: Independence And Other Motivations For Women’S Pursuit Of Post- Graduate Studies, And Their Parents’ Influence On Them, In Vishakhapatnam India, Colleen Mcdermott, Dr. Charles Nuckolls

Journal of Undergraduate Research

In recent years, there have been countless studies on the benefits of educating women. Though there is a general consensus on the positive results of women’s education, their access to education is still rather limited in many areas of the world. One such area is India, where traditional views of gender are still very widespread and female education levels are extremely low. Despites these rates, a minority of women in India are pursuing higher education. I interviewed female students living at a hostel (college dormitory) and attending the post-graduate institution Andhra University inquiring about their motivations for continuing school, their …


Household Variation, Public Architecture, And The Organization Of Fremont Communities, Katie K. Richards, James R. Allison, Richard Talbot, Scott Ure, Lindsay Johansson Jan 2013

Household Variation, Public Architecture, And The Organization Of Fremont Communities, Katie K. Richards, James R. Allison, Richard Talbot, Scott Ure, Lindsay Johansson

Faculty Publications

The Fremont were small scale agriculturalists spread across the northern Colorado Plateau and eastern Great Basin from before A.D. 400 until the A.D. 1300s. Fremont residences are typically pit structures—although late adobe surface structures do occur—established as individual farmsteads, small hamlets, and villages of variable size, the largest with hundreds of occupants. In this paper we discuss how Fremont society was variably organized through time and space, including as households, communities, and dispersed communities. We describe architectural forms that denote not only residential, but also public, communal, and ritual functions. We then present a preliminary model of Fremont organizational strategies …


The Archaeology Of Archaeology: 2012 Excavations At Alkali Ridge Site 13, James R. Allison Jan 2013

The Archaeology Of Archaeology: 2012 Excavations At Alkali Ridge Site 13, James R. Allison

Faculty Publications

Alkali Ridge Site 13 is one of the largest, and most extensively excavated Pueblo I villages in the Northern Southwest. It also is one of the earliest Pueblo I villages, dating to the late A.D. 700s. The site was first excavated in 1932 and 1933 by J.O. Brew of Harvard University, who dug all or part of 118 storage rooms, 11 pit houses, and 25 surface habitation rooms belonging to the early Pueblo I component. In 2012, the first excavations at the site since Brew’s work focused on reexcavation of several storage rooms previously excavated in 1932, screening of backdirt …


Accessories Of Modern Mayan Grinding Stones, Michael T. Searcy Jan 2013

Accessories Of Modern Mayan Grinding Stones, Michael T. Searcy

Faculty Publications

The mano and metate are seen as natural companion pieces in the archaeological record. Ethnographic resources suggest there may have been other tools associated with daily grinding activities including biconically drilled (donut) stones and wooden boards. This paper presents evidence for these findings and explores their archaeological implications. It also demonstrates the valuable information that can be gleaned from the modern Mayan groups living in Highland Guatemala today.


Roman And Early Byzantine Burials At Fag El-Gamus, Egypt: A Reassessment Of The Case For Religious Affiliation, Kristin Hacken South Dec 2012

Roman And Early Byzantine Burials At Fag El-Gamus, Egypt: A Reassessment Of The Case For Religious Affiliation, Kristin Hacken South

Theses and Dissertations

The Late Roman necropolis of Fag el-Gamus on the eastern edge of Egypt's Fayum Oasis is a valuable archaeological site for exploring issues of personal and cultural identity in Roman Egypt. Former scholarship regarding the people buried at Fag el-Gamus has claimed-based on narrow evidence--that they represent an exceptionally early Christian community in Egypt. However, a more careful look at the evidence-using recent theoretical approaches, data-driven analyses, and comparisons with contemporary sites throughout Egypt and neighboring areas-reveals a more complicated portrait of their religious affiliation and other aspects of their identity. This study examines several potential markers of religious affiliation …


Parowan Fremont Faunal Exploitation: Resource Depression Or Feasting?, Sara E. Stauffer Jul 2012

Parowan Fremont Faunal Exploitation: Resource Depression Or Feasting?, Sara E. Stauffer

Theses and Dissertations

The faunal remains of large game such as mule deer, pronghorn, and mountain sheep are abundant at Fremont sites, as are jackrabbits and cottontails. The proportions of these species in Fremont faunal assemblages fluctuate through time. Explanations for these variations range from resource depression to communal activities. This thesis provides the results of the faunal analysis from three previously unreported sites. Paragonah (42IN43), Summit (42IN40), and Parowan (42IN100) are large Fremont sites in the Parowan Valley located 20 miles north of Cedar City in Utah. The purpose of this thesis is to determine if the variations in the faunal assemblage …


Ceramics From Wolf Village, Kari Schrade, James Allison Mar 2012

Ceramics From Wolf Village, Kari Schrade, James Allison

FHSS Mentored Research Conference

Ceramics have been found all over the world and in most cultures. Ceramics can be a form of art or can be strictly utilitarian. Most cultures have tried to create pottery that is unique to them. These styles and tempers help archaeologists determine where a piece of ceramic has come from. Pottery decorations and the different tempers found in the ceramics at Wolf Village present evidence that the Fremont traded with people outside their local community. Great Salt Lake one of the largest counts is associated with northern Utah, especially around the Great Salt Lake. All of the other types …


Dating A Mummy: Determining Background On Museum Objects With No Provenience, Shannon C. Wood, Paul Stavast Mar 2012

Dating A Mummy: Determining Background On Museum Objects With No Provenience, Shannon C. Wood, Paul Stavast

FHSS Mentored Research Conference

An Egyptian falcon mummy donated to BYU's Museum of Peoples and Cultures had no provenience and thus aroused a lot of curiosity. At first, noninvasive research procedures were used in order to see inside the mummy. Results were inconclusive, so only after these procedures were followed were more invasive techniques carried out. It is important that museums follow these procedures in order to build a background for their objects without a history.


Nike, Goddess Of Victory: Symbol Of Ancient Greek Identity, Shannon C. Wood, James Allison Mar 2012

Nike, Goddess Of Victory: Symbol Of Ancient Greek Identity, Shannon C. Wood, James Allison

FHSS Mentored Research Conference

The importance of the Ancient Greek goddess of victory, Nike, has traditionally been ignored or understated in Classical studies. However, I would argue that because the Greeks idolized traditional values that Nike had patronship over, and because there is evidence in the archaeological record that demonstrates Nike's importance and presence across a broad spectrum of worship, Nike is in fact one of the more important deities when considering the relation of Greek religion to Greek identity.


Social Variability In The Emergence Of The Pueblo World, Richard Wilshusen, Gregson Schachner, James R. Allison Jan 2012

Social Variability In The Emergence Of The Pueblo World, Richard Wilshusen, Gregson Schachner, James R. Allison

Faculty Publications

Between A.D. 650 and 950, there was a near total reorganization of society in the northern Southwest. In some areas, intensive agriculture, high population growth rates, and large villages appeared. In others, diverse mixes of subsistence strategies enabled the creation of aggregated communities and semi-sedentary settlements within the same landscape. A third pattern of high mobility and seasonal use of smaller settlements defined much of the periphery. In many areas, people pursuing more than one of these patterns resided simultaneously. We propose that the patterns established by A.D. 800 were integral in the shaping of later Pueblo history.


Low Frequency Temperature Variability And Native American Horticulture In The Northern Southwest And Eastern Great Basin, James R. Allison Jan 2012

Low Frequency Temperature Variability And Native American Horticulture In The Northern Southwest And Eastern Great Basin, James R. Allison

Faculty Publications

Recent paleoclimatic studies reconstruct low-frequency variability in temperature that may have affected the success of Native American horticulture. Potential effects of this temperature variability include shifts in the range of elevations within which horticulture was viable, and changes in the northern limits of horticulture- based economies. This paper examines radiocarbon dates and other chronological data from Fremont and Puebloan sites in Utah, eastern Nevada, and northwestern Arizona, comparing the low-frequency temperature reconstructions with the timing of expansion and contraction in the northern frontier of maize horticulture and temporal shifts in the elevations of farming settlements.


Meanwhile, In The West: Early Pueblo Communities In Southeastern Utah, James R. Allison, Winston B. Hurst, Jonathan D. Till, Donald C. Irwin Jan 2012

Meanwhile, In The West: Early Pueblo Communities In Southeastern Utah, James R. Allison, Winston B. Hurst, Jonathan D. Till, Donald C. Irwin

Faculty Publications

The early Pueblo settlement of what is now southeastern Utah exhibits patterns that complement and contrast with trends in better-known regions such as southwestern Colorado (see Wilshusen et al., Chapter 2). Shortcomings in the current data limit the detail we can include in this description, but a number of patterns are clear. This chapter elucidates the patterned variability in the area's settlement strategies, the basic trends associated with social organization, and the basic demographic trends through time. We hope to develop, in the end, a basic historical narrative for these last centuries of the first millennium.


Astronomical Implications For The Mound Of The Cross At Paquimé, Chihuahua, Mexico, Michael T. Searcy, David Derrick Jan 2012

Astronomical Implications For The Mound Of The Cross At Paquimé, Chihuahua, Mexico, Michael T. Searcy, David Derrick

Faculty Publications

The fourteenth-century site of Paquimé represents the apogee of the Casas Grandes cultural tradition. Monumental architecture such as effigy mounds and ball courts contrast sharply with other sites in the U.S. Southwest/Northwest Mexico. In particular, the Mound of the Cross, a cardinally aligned mound structure, suggests that those at Paquimé were aware of and may have tracked celestial bodies as part of a seasonal round. Findings also suggest that the alignment of the cross can be attributed to solar patterns that are different than today’s due to earth’s precessional cycle.


A Re-Examination Of The Early Pueblo I Components At Monument Village, 42sa971, Rachel K. Pollock Dec 2011

A Re-Examination Of The Early Pueblo I Components At Monument Village, 42sa971, Rachel K. Pollock

Theses and Dissertations

The Pueblo I period (A.D. 750-900) was a time of widespread change in population and settlement organization in the Northern San Juan region of the American Southwest. One major distinguishing feature of the Pueblo I period is the rapid appearance of villages in the late A.D. 700s. Monument Village in southeastern Utah was excavated by Brigham Young University in the late 1960s and early 1970s, but has never been adequately described. Monument Village has a substantial early Pueblo I occupation but the dating of various structures and the size of the overall settlement are unclear. This thesis re-examines architectural and …


Dirty Talking Cracked Pots: Inferring Function And Use Of Decorated Ceramic Bowls At Fourmile Ruin, Az, Heather E. Bullock Dec 2011

Dirty Talking Cracked Pots: Inferring Function And Use Of Decorated Ceramic Bowls At Fourmile Ruin, Az, Heather E. Bullock

Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis, I discuss the function and use of decorated ceramic bowls at Fourmile Ruin, a Pueblo IV site located in east-central Arizona. My research focused on three wares dating to the Pueblo IV period of the American Southwest (AD 1275-1450): White Mountain Red Ware, Salado Polychrome, and Jeddito Yellow Ware. These wares represent the most abundant type of decorated ceramic bowls found at Fourmile Ruin. Ceramic wares and types are described, followed by a description of their physical and stylistic characteristics and functions, an analysis of how vessels were used, and, lastly, a discussion of the contexts within …


Macrobotanical Evidence Of Diet And Plant Use At Wolf Village (42ut273), Utah Valley, Utah., Wendy Dahle Dec 2011

Macrobotanical Evidence Of Diet And Plant Use At Wolf Village (42ut273), Utah Valley, Utah., Wendy Dahle

Theses and Dissertations

Farming played a role in the subsistence base for the Fremont culture, but there is no consensus as to how significant that role was. Maize is consistently found in Fremont sites, but evidence of wild plant use is also abundant. The use of both domesticates and foraged plants by the Fremont, combined with the diversity of the landscape and sites that were inhabited by the Fremont, contributes to the diversity of theories on Fremont subsistence. This thesis examines evidence for plant usage at Wolf Village, a Fremont site in Utah Valley. Wolf Village is ideally situated for a Fremont farming …


The Terminal Classic At El Mirador, Peten, Guatemala., Richard M. Allen May 2011

The Terminal Classic At El Mirador, Peten, Guatemala., Richard M. Allen

Theses and Dissertations

Recent excavations uncovered numerous small rooms constructed on top of the Danta Acropolis at El Mirador, Guatemala. The characteristics of the settlement and the material items indicated that it was a late occupation and lacked the features associated with large Maya polities and Classic Maya culture. This thesis focused on describing the continuities and changes that occurred from the Late Classic to the Terminal Classic at El Mirador based on the ceramic assemblage and architecture. Significant continuity and stability of the pottery making community is reflected in the ceramic assemblage. Additionally, it was desirable to gain an understanding of how …


The Origins Of The Maya: A Comparative Analysis Of Narratives, Thomasina Ilene Morris Mar 2011

The Origins Of The Maya: A Comparative Analysis Of Narratives, Thomasina Ilene Morris

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis is to document the changes in archaeological origin narratives concerning the lowland Preclassic Maya. This was accomplished by tracking the changes in four major narratives over several decades. These narratives include Herbert J. Spinden's Ancient Civilizations of Mexico and Central America; The Ancient Maya written by Sylvanus G. Morley, with additional editors, George Brainerd, Robert J. Sharer, and Loa Traxler; Michael D. Coe's The Maya, and Richard E.W. Adams's Prehistoric Mesoamerica. The specific parts of the narratives analyzed were the origins of agriculture, ceramic technology, writing, and monumental architecture. Changes in metaphorical language …


Students Studying Students: An Assessment Of Using Undergraduate Student Researchers In An Ethnographic Study Of Library Use, Allyson Washburn, Sheila C. Bibb Feb 2011

Students Studying Students: An Assessment Of Using Undergraduate Student Researchers In An Ethnographic Study Of Library Use, Allyson Washburn, Sheila C. Bibb

Faculty Publications

This paper reports on the use of undergraduate students enrolled in an Applied Anthropology course as researcher for a library use study at Brigham Young University's (BYU) Harold B. Lee Library (HBLL). This is a common practice at BYU, but has not been reported extensively in the literature. The study was carried out by the authors with the assistance of undergraduate students, the students being the researchers and was conducted in order that the HBLL could determine student ideas for reconfiguring some newly opened space in the Periodicals room. Using students assisted the library as well as met a curricular …


The Life-Giving Stone: Ethnoarchaeology Of Maya Metates, Michael T. Searcy Jan 2011

The Life-Giving Stone: Ethnoarchaeology Of Maya Metates, Michael T. Searcy

Faculty Publications

Descendants of the ancient civilizations of southern Mexico and Central America are one of the greatest sources of information of Maya life. today the modern Maya live and work in the rural villages and towns spread out over this vast region. Many Maya communities continue to thrive culturally, while others, due to colonialism and civil war, have lost many of their traditions and customs. But even those groups ravaged by the strains of globalization ad the industrial revolution have retained some thread of cultural patrimony that ties them to their prehistoric ancestors. This is manifest in many different forms of …


Decorative Renascence: Tracing Early Ceramic Designs Into The Late Prehistoric Period In The U.S. Southwest/Northwest Mexico, Michael T. Searcy Jan 2011

Decorative Renascence: Tracing Early Ceramic Designs Into The Late Prehistoric Period In The U.S. Southwest/Northwest Mexico, Michael T. Searcy

Faculty Publications

Cordell (1997) has characterized the late prehistoric period (A.D 1200-1450) in the U.S. Southwest/Northwest Mexico as one of crystallization when ―many specific forms, designs, symbols, or motifs can be traced to much earlier periods‖ but, "they came together in new ways". This paper traces the emergence of designs and motifs among earlier ceramic traditions, such as Mimbres and Ancestral Puebloan, and their later appearance on Salado and Casas Grandes pottery. I use design analysis to explore the spread of styles and symbols throughout time and space and show how these methods contribute to interpretations of interregional interaction and cultural continuity.


Construction Of Complex A At La Venta, Tabasco, Mexico: A History Of Buildings, Burials, Offerings, And Stone Monuments, Arlene Colman Jul 2010

Construction Of Complex A At La Venta, Tabasco, Mexico: A History Of Buildings, Burials, Offerings, And Stone Monuments, Arlene Colman

Theses and Dissertations

In 1969, Paul Tolstoy commented that archaeological investigation at La Venta had become "a fairly long and at times tortuous story of excavation, interpretation, re-interpretation, and depredation at the famous site found by Stirling." This thesis adds to the torture by describing and illustrating the architecture, burials, offerings, and stone sculpture of La Venta Complex A in an effort to reconcile data into an accurate sequence of meaningful cultural events. The details derive from excavation reports, field notes, maps, photographs, and correspondence of the early investigators of the site. This study addressed three myopic perceptions regarding La Venta: (1) the …