Anthropology Commons^™

North Atlantic Hurricane Winds In Warmer Than Normal Seas, Jill C. Trepanier

Faculty Publications

Tropical cyclones devastate coastlines around the world. The United States and surrounding areas experienced catastrophic extreme events in recent hurricane seasons. Understanding extreme hurricanes and how they change in a warming ocean environment is of the utmost importance. This study makes use of the historical, positive relationship between average summer sea surface temperatures (SSTs) and maximum hurricane wind speeds across the North Atlantic Basin from 1854-2018. Geographically weighted regression shows how the relationship between hurricane winds and SSTs varies across space. Each localized slope is used to increase historical wind speeds to represent winds in a three-degree Celsius warmer-than-average sea …

Climatology And Spatiotemporal Analysis Of North Atlantic Rapidly Intensifying Hurricanes (1851-2017), Kathleen M. Benedetto, Jill C. Trepanier

Faculty Publications

In recent decades, the scientific ability to project tropical cyclone (TC) intensities and tracks has improved. Hurricanes undergoing the process of rapid intensification (RI) have created new barriers in formulating predictions of TC paths and peak velocities. Current research suggests the warming climate may produce more intense TCs with a higher probability of undergoing RI during their life cycle. The increased likelihood of rapidly intensifying TCs necessitates the development of an RI climatology spanning the current North Atlantic record. A time series count analysis suggests a significant increasing trend of RI events in the Atlantic basin by 29.1% (17%-45%) from …

Trend Analysis Of Multiple Extreme Hourly Precipitation Time Series In The Southeastern United States, Vincent M. Brown, Barry D. Keim, Alan W. Black

Faculty Publications

Annual trends in extreme hourly precipitation time series were examined at 50 first-order weather stations across the southeastern United States from 1960 to 2017. Results indicated that the magnitude of annual maximum 1-, 3-, 6-, 12-, and 18-h periods did not broadly change at the sites analyzed; however, the numerical value that defines a (station specific) 90th-percentile hourly accumulation significantly (p ≤ 0.05) increased at 36% (18/50) of the stations. No station had a significant decreasing trend in annual 90th-percentile hourly event magnitude. Stations in Texas observed the largest increase in annual 90th-percentile hourly event magnitude, where parameter estimates showed …

Charros: How Mexican Cowboys Are Remapping Race And American Identity, Andrew Sluyter

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Informe Tecnico De Los Trabajos De Campo Del Proyecto De Investigación Arqueológica Cerro San Isidro, Valle De Nepeña, Costa De Ancash -- Temporada 2019, David Chicoine, Jeisen Navarro

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Effects Of Forced Migration On The Houma Of Louisiana, Jessica R. Parfait

LSU Master's Theses

This thesis seeks to understand the effects of multiple forced migrations on the Indigenous Houma of southern Louisiana. The causes of these migrations have taken many forms such as the dispossession of land and relocating for access to resources. Through ethnographic interviews and historic research, I seek to critically engage the past to understand how it has molded the present and the lives of tribal citizens. I evaluate the power dynamics enacted upon the Houma who have recorded contact with Europeans dating to 1686 but have never been recognized as a sovereign entity by the United States.

Searching For Galveztown: Employing Multiple Methodologies To Identify Features Of The Galveztown Settlement, Ashlee Taylor

LSU Master's Theses

Galveztown (1778-1806) was a Spanish fort and settlement located in southeastern Louisiana. This site was historically important as it provided protection for the city of New Orleans during a time of constantly shifting geopolitical environment. Today, this site is among the most important historical archaeological sites in Louisiana. Culturally, this site is significant as the descendants of the settlers still live within the Baton Rouge metropolitan area. Archaeologically, the site is significant due to the limited disturbance and lack of urban development at the location which has protected the archaeological record.

Galveztown is also one of the best documented Canary …

Crafting Identity: Language, Gender, And The Internet In The Arab World, Connor C. Rouillier

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

Wetland Biomass And Productivity In Coastal Louisiana: Base Line Data (1976-2015) And Knowledge Gaps For The Development Of Spatially Explicit Models For Ecosystem Restoration And Rehabilitation Initiatives, Victor H. Rivera-Monroy, Courtney Elliton, Siddhartha Narra, Ehab Meselhe, Xiaochen Zhao, Eric White, Charles E. Sasser, Jenneke M. Visser, Xuelian Meng, Hongqing Wang, Zuo Xue, Fernando Jaramillo

Faculty Publications

Coastal Louisiana hosts 37% of the coastal wetland area in the conterminous US, including one of the deltaic coastal regions more susceptible to the synergy of human and natural impacts causing wetland loss. As a result of the construction of flood protection infrastructure, dredging of channels across wetlands for oil/gas exploration and maritime transport activities, coastal Louisiana has lost approximately 4900 km2 of wetland area since the early 1930s. Despite the economic relevance of both wetland biomass and net primary productivity (NPP) as ecosystem services, there is a lack of vegetation simulation models to forecast the trends of those functional …

Climatology And Trends In Hourly Precipitation For The Southeast United States, Vincent M. Brown, Barry D. Keim, Alan W. Black

Faculty Publications

This research introduces a climatology of hourly precipitation characteristics, investigates trends in precipitation hours (PH) and hourly accumulation, and uses four different time series to determine if precipitation intensity is changing across the southeastern United States from 1960 to 2017. Results indicate hourly intensity significantly increased at 44% (22/50) of the stations, accompanied by an increase in average hourly accumulation at 40% of the sites analyzed (20/50). The average duration of precipitation events decreased at 82% (41/50) of the stations. However, the frequency of 90th percentile hourly events and events above station-specific average hourly totals did not show a broad …

Investigation Of Spectral Variation Of Pine Needles As An Indicator Of Arsenic Content In Soils, Ji Hye Shin, Jaehyung Yu, Lei Wang, Jieun Kim, Sang Mo Koh

Faculty Publications

The spectral response to arsenic (As) stress of pine needles (Pinus densiflora Siebold and Zucc.) from an abandoned lead (Pb)–zinc (Zn) mine was investigated based on chemical and spectroscopic analyses. The correlation analysis between the content of As in needle samples and that of soils and spectral parameters of the needle samples were conducted. The results showed very high correlation between As content in pine needles and soils. The major spectral response of pine needles to the As stress were characterized by the increase in the green and red color reflectance, the decrease in the first derivatives at 1648 nm, …

Ancient Maya Obsidian Trade: Frenchman’S Cay, Belize, Emily Cook

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

A Comparison Of Hominin Teeth From Lincoln Cave, Sterkfontein L/63, And The Dinaledi Chamber, South Africa, Juliet K. Brophy, Joel Irish, Steve E. Churchill, Darryl J. De Ruiter, John Hawks, Lee R. Berger

Faculty Publications

Prior to the recovery of Homo naledi from the Dinaledi Chamber of the Rising Star Cave system, the Middle Pleistocene fossil record in Africa was particularly sparse. With the large sample size now available from Dinaledi, the opportunity exists to reassess taxonomically ambiguous teeth unearthed at the nearby site of Sterkfontein. Teeth recovered from Lincoln Cave South and area L/63 at Sterkfontein have been considered ‘most probably Homo ergaster’ and ‘perhaps Archaic Homo sapiens’, respectively. Given the similarities shared between Lincoln Cave, area L/63, and the Dinaledi Chamber with regard to climatic/geologic depositional context and age, two teeth from the …

The Social Logic Of Space In Early Horizon Peru: 3d Reconstructions Of Residential Compounds At Caylán, Nepeña Valley, Ashleigh V. Passafume

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

Demystifying Jadeite: An Underwater Maya Discovery At Ek Way Nal, Belize, Heather Mckillop, George Harlow, April Sievert, C. Wayne Smith, Michael C. Wiemann

Faculty Publications

Jadeite artefacts at Maya sites are normally associated with ritual and ceremonial locations, with high-quality jadeite reserved for elite objects. The discovery of a jadeite gouge with a wooden handle at a Classic Maya salt-working site submerged by sea-level rise - Ek Way Nal, Belize - is therefore unexpected and provides new information about the utilitarian use of this stone. The extremely high quality of this jadeite tool is particularly surprising, offering new insight into the Classic Maya exchange systems and the role of salt makers such as those based at Ek Way Nal.

"La Llorona": Evolución, Ideología Y Uso En El Mundo Hispano, Raquel Sáenz-Llano

LSU Master's Theses

This thesis studies the evolution, ideology and use of the myth of La Llorona through time in the Hispanic World. Considering this myth as one of the most known traditional narratives of the American continent, I begin by providing visual, ethnohistorical and ethnographical insights of weeping in Mesoamerica and South America and the specific mention of a weeping woman in some Spanish chronicles to say how western values were stablished in “the new continent” through this legend. I suggest that during the postcolonialism the legend did not tell anymore about a mother that cries and search a place for their …

"Sir, I Cannot Entertain You": Tour Guides As Agents Of Truth And Transformation At The Whitney Plantation, Sarah Latham

LSU Master's Theses

According to the Louisiana office of tourism, one out of every nine workers in Louisiana relies on the state’s tourism industry for their wages, of which plantation tourism is a growing part (2016). This research examines the experiences of tour guides at the Whitney Plantation. How do tourists’ expectations and concepts of heritage affect the way tour guides do their jobs? What are tour guides’ experiences of being objectified by visitors? How are tour guides’ experiences shaped by race and racialized expectation? Specifically, I examined tour guides at The Whitney Plantation Museum in Wallace, Louisiana. This project drew on participant-observation …

A Retrospective Analysis And Method Validation Of Postmortem Interval Estimation In Louisiana, Sophia Reck

LSU Master's Theses

Forensic anthropologists are often called upon to assess the postmortem interval (PMI; i.e. time since death) of remains in varying states of decomposition and skeletonization. These assessments rely on familiarity with general taphonomic sequences and processes, in addition to experience with how these processes present in local environments and conditions. Assessment using such qualitative methods is a subjective process. Therefore, some researchers have developed formulae whose purpose is to estimate PMI in an objective format. In these instances, the resultant PMI estimation formulae were developed using local data and therefore have the potential for local applicability. Additionally, for some regions, …

Estimating Sex Using The Human Mandibular Canine, Brittney Blevins

LSU Master's Theses

Sexual dimorphism can be quantified in human mandibular canines; therefore, these teeth can be used to estimate sex of skeletonized individuals. This study complements and expands previous research by comparing mesiodistal diameter (MD), buccolingual diameter (BL), and crown area of human mandibular canines. Measurements were taken from a sample of skeletal individuals from the Terry Collection (n=677), the Maxwell Museum of Anthropology Skeletal Collection (n=86), and a random sample of dental casts from the James K. Economides Orthodontic Case File (JKE, n=624), for a total study sample of 741 males and 677 females. Both left and right canines were measured, …

Using Entheseal Length To Infer Locomotor Type, Antonio R. Otero

LSU Master's Theses

An enthesis is a marking (tuberosity or impression) on bone where a muscle or tendon attaches and it can be influenced by age, sex, physical activity, and muscle size. This study ascertains whether entheses, long bones, and their respective ratios can be used as an indicator for mode of locomotion in four primate species: Ateles geoffroyi (Geoffroy’s spider monkey), Colobus guereza (mantled guereza), Hylobates lar (lar gibbon), and Macaca mulatta (rhesus monkey). Seven entheses on four long bones were chosen based on importance of the muscle in relation to specific locomotor types, use in other studies, and …

Monumental Discourse: Elite And Grassroots Disputes Over White Supremacist Monuments In New Orleans, Jude Bumgardner

LSU Master's Theses

This thesis explores elite and grassroots discourse concerning disputes over monument removal in New Orleans, Louisiana. By means of participant observation, narrative ethnography, and critical discourse analysis, I ground this study of political and academic arguments about Confederate monuments in the context of grassroots concerns regarding white supremacist symbols to inquire about how these divergent discourses relate to inequality in New Orleans. Ultimately, I argue that what is most at stake in each case studied here is speakers’ control over the “public mind” via their control over dominant narratives (van Dijk 1993a, 44-45). In order to preserve their power, each …

Use Of A Behavioral Health Framework To Assess Perceptions Of Hurricane Evacuation Support Services In New Orleans, Louisiana, Aubry Kyle

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation presents research conducted during the hurricane seasons of 2017 and 2018 in New Orleans, Louisiana. The research’s purpose was to assess citizen perceptions of evacuation support services offered during mandatory evacuation events. A prospective quantitative survey and qualitative, open-ended, semi-structured interview assessed perceptions. Both research methods were designed and assessed using the constructs of the Health Belief Model, a public health model created to assess perceived barriers, benefits, risks, severity, self-efficacy, and cues to action regarding health programming. Quantitative research yielded 211 surveys, representing opinions of New Orleans residents within 1-km Euclidian distance of an evacuation pick-up marker. …

The Child Ethnographer In The Field: Examples From English, Spanish, And French Caribbean Literature, Emily Ann O'Dell

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

In this dissertation I consider the child to be an ethnographer in works of fiction and autofiction from the Caribbean islands. Through their liminality as culturally and developmentally betwixt or between, their cultural malleability, their linguistic fluidity, and their curiosity, the child becomes a "native" ethnographer who is capable of translating the culture (both linguistically and culturally) for the reader in order to establish understandings of Caribbean cultures. This is accomplished through the creation of hybridized or creolized texts that have many of the same characteristics as postmodern ethnographies.

In the English Caribbean Xuela provides an ethnographic perspective of Dominican …

Review Of The Herds Shot Round The World: Native Breeds And The British Empire, 1800—1900, By Rebecca Woods, Andrew Sluyter

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

An Analysis Of The Effect Of Tooth Wear On Bovid Identification, Juliet K. Brophy, Gregory J. Matthews, George K. Thiruvathukal

Faculty Publications

Previous research provides a method for reducing the subjectivity in taxonomic identification of species in the family Bovidae by quantifying the occlusal surface of molar teeth using elliptical Fourier analysis. In this current study, we specifically test what effect medium to late tooth wear has on the identification of bovids when using the form (size and shape) of the occlusal surface to classify specimens. To achieve this, the classification results of teeth with ≥85% of their occlusal surface (training data set) were compared with the results of teeth with 87% of the time with both Alcelaphini and Reduncini classifying correctly …

Identification Of Experimental And Control Areas For Cctv Effectiveness Assessment—The Issue Of Spatially Aggregated Data, Adam Dabrowski, Piotr Matczak, Andrzej Wójtowicz, Michael Leitner

Faculty Publications

Progress in surveillance technology has led to the development of Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) systems in cities around the world. Cameras are considered instrumental in crime reduction, yet existing research does not unambiguously answer the question whether installing them affects the number of crimes committed. The quasi-experimental method usually applied to evaluate CCTV systems’ effectiveness faces difficulties with data quantity and quality. Data quantity has a bearing on the number of crimes that can be conclusively inferred using the experimental procedure. Data quality affects the level of crime data aggregation. The lack of the exact location of a crime incident in …

A Comparison Of Machine Learning Techniques For Taxonomic Classification Of Teeth From The Family Bovidae, Gregory J. Matthews, Juliet K. Brophy, Maxwell Luetkemeier, Hongie Gu, George K. Thiruvathukal

Faculty Publications

This study explores the performance of machine learning algorithms on the classification of fossil teeth in the Family Bovidae. Isolated bovid teeth are typically the most common fossils found in southern Africa and they often constitute the basis for paleoenvironmental reconstructions. Taxonomic identification of fossil bovid teeth, however, is often imprecise and subjective. Using modern teeth with known taxons, machine learning algorithms can be trained to classify fossils. Previous work by Brophy et al. [Quantitative morphological analysis of bovid teeth and implications for paleoenvironmental reconstruction of plovers lake, Gauteng Province, South Africa, J. Archaeol. Sci. 41 (2014), pp. 376–388] uses …

The Urban Archaeological Supersite Paradigm: Integrating Archaeology And Hgis Into Heritage Management, Andrea P. White

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The archaeological heritages of many of the world’s historic cities are at risk. If these urban archaeological resources are destroyed before excavation and documentation using sound archaeological techniques, the material histories of these cities are erased. The Urban Archaeological Supersite Paradigm is presented as means to address some of the threats facing urban archaeological sites.

The urban archaeological supersite paradigm is both an applied and a scholarly research framework useful for examining and interpreting the urban past and for helping to address urban archaeological heritage at risk. It conceptualizes the historic city as a supersite made up of numerous archaeological …

Landscapes Of Persistence And Ritual Architecture At The Cosma Complex, Upper Nepeña Valley, Peru., Kimberly Elizabeth Munro

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation focuses on the Cosma Complex, a multi-component archaeological site located at the headwaters of the Nepeña River, on the western slopes of the Cordillera Negra in the modern Department of Ancash, Peru. The overarching goal of this study is to understand not only Cosma’s influence as a religious center within the Nepeña Valley and the surrounding region, but its recurring occupation over a 5000-year time span and its role in religious networks within the valley through its function as a cultural landscape resource or persistent place.

The Cosma complex extends over 250 hectares and includes two multi-storied temple …

Measurement And Modeling Of The Spatiotemporal Dynamics Of Beach Surface Moisture Content, Phillip P. Schmutz, Steven L. Namikas

Faculty Publications

The spatiotemporal dynamics of surface moisture exert a significant influence on the operation of aeolian transport systems at many beaches. However, we currently lack the detailed understanding of variability in surface moisture required to incorporate it into aeolian models. This problem is addressed here through direct measurements and simulation modeling of beach surface moisture over a twelve-day period, and through quantification of the relative contributions of evaporation, condensation and groundwater inputs to surface moisture. It was found that the beach surface can be characterized spatially in terms of three moisture zones: a consistently dry zone (40%). The relative influence of …