Anthropology Commons^™

Constructing Trust Among Large-Scale Organizations: An Archaeological Case Of Collective Action From Tlaxcallan, Mexico, Marc Daniel Marino

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Within nation-states, agencies, cooperatives, and other groups seeking to coordinate in the management of resources, conflicting interests can hinder cooperation and preclude joint action. Increasing transparency in resource management policies and facilitating communication among groups can reduce cooperative dilemmas by building trust. Developments in collective action research have demonstrated that increased communication and transparency among participants can build trust because future outcomes and behaviors can be predicted based on observations of past actions. Archaeology provides case studies to explore some of the earliest attempts by nation-states to reduce tensions caused by competing factions. This dissertation explores one such case study …

Cultivating Atmosphere In Independent Coffee Shops: Reflections On How Atmospheres Are Created Through Sensory Experiences, Brooke Bierhaus Sutton

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Affective atmosphere is a fundamental component to the allure of coffee shops that is cultivated through sensory experience. In this thesis I examine how the sensory experience of sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch, create atmospheres in coffee shops. I ask, “how do coffee shops cultivate an affective atmosphere?” Through an exploration of material culture, design, affect, and the intentional production of third places, I illustrate the ways in which independent coffee shops have their own unique identities and atmospheres. By using memoir and reflexive analysis of my decade in global coffee culture, as well as an extensive literary review, …

The Role Of The Patterning Cascade Model In Human Mandibular Premolar Variation, Molly Militello

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Human mandibular premolars represent a morphologically transitional tooth class, possessing a relatively caniniform third premolar (P3) and a more molariform fourth premolar (P4). Marked variation in cusp height and lingual cusp number are characteristics unique to these postcanine teeth. The aim of this study is to determine if human premolar variation aligns with predictions outlined by the patterning cascade model (PCM). The PCM posits that tooth size and enamel knot spacing/surrounding inhibitory fields (approximated by cusp tip positioning) play a role in determining ultimate crown morphology, providing a predictive framework for examining crown variation within and between individuals. While there …

Linear Enamel Hypoplasia In Homo Naledi Reappraised In Light Of New Retzius Periodicities, Mark Fretson Skinner, Lukas Kyle Delezene, Matthew M. Skinner, Patrick Mahoney

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Objectives

Among low-latitude apes, developmental defects of enamel often recur twice yearly, linkable to environmental cycles. Surprisingly, teeth of Homo naledi from Rising Star in South Africa (241–335 kya), a higher latitude site with today a single rainy season, also exhibit bimodally distributed hypoplastic enamel defects, but with uncertain timing and etiology. Newly determined Retzius periodicities for enamel formation in this taxon enable a reconstruction of the temporal patterning of childhood stress.

Methods

Using high resolution casts of 31 isolated anterior teeth from H. naledi, 82 enamel defects (linear enamel hypoplasia [LEH]) were identified. Seventeen teeth are assigned …

Where One Puts Wood On The Fire: The Political Economy Of P’Urépecha Urban Neighborhoods At The Site Of Angamuco, Michoacán, Kyle Ryan Urquhart

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation seeks to understand the political and economic relationships in the organization and use of neighborhood public space at the archaeological site of Angamuco in Michoacán, Mexico. Ethnohistoric sources describe multiple distinct social classes for the P’urépecha people at the time of European contact, but they are ambiguous about the exact political and economic relationships among them. There is some description of how these different interest groups articulated at the level of the city-state, but there is not much information on the internal dynamics of neighborhood or district-level subdivisions of the city-state. The discovery of the remains of a …

Increasing Accessibility For Hard-To-Reach Cultural Heritage Sites Using Low-Cost Drone Photogrammetry, Eray Can

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

New recording technologies have ushered in a transformative era in archaeological research, with drone photogrammetry emerging as a pioneering tool in this field. This innovative approach leverages unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) equipped with high-resolution cameras to capture precise aerial imagery of archaeological sites. Drone photogrammetry offers numerous advantages, such as cost-efficiency, rapid data collection, and the ability to access remote or challenging terrain. By seamlessly integrating photogrammetric techniques, these technologies offer archaeologists the ability to create highly detailed 3D models. This study delves into the principles and applications of low-cost drone photogrammetry in archaeology, highlighting its potential to enhance site …

The Effects Of Diet, Size, And Phylogeny On Primate Dental Proportions, Rudolph J. Wilkins

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

It is generally appreciated that there is a relationship between the relative size of the incisors, mandible length, and diet in primates. More specifically, the differences in relative incisor size among primate species are believed to be evolutionary adaptations to their use during food processing and acquisition. While this satisfactorily explains relatively large incisors, it fails to address the relatively small incisor size seen in many taxa. One hypothesis is that there is a trade-off between molar size and incisor size in species with relatively short mandibles. The following study uses two-way ANOVA to evaluate the possibility that spatial constraint …

Skeletal Age During Hurricane Impacts Fluctuating Asymmetry In Cayo Santiago Rhesus Macaques, Ashly N. Romero, Edwin Dickinson, Cassandra M. Turcotte, Claire E. Terhune

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

As natural disasters become more frequent due to climate change, understanding the biological impact of these ecological catastrophes on wild populations becomes increasingly pertinent. Fluctuating asymmetry (FA), or random deviations from bilateral symmetry, is reflective of developmental instability and has long been positively associated with increases in environmental stress. This study investigates craniofacial FA in a population of free-ranging rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) that has experienced multiple Category 3 hurricanes since the colony's inception on Cayo Santiago, including 275 individuals from ages 9 months to 31 years (F = 154; M = 121). Using geometric morphometrics to quantify …

Holocaust Education In Arkansas: An Exploration Of Policy Process And Implementation, Toby Klein

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Holocaust was the attempted extermination of the Jewish people--a fact previously considered to be common knowledge. However, recent national surveys find that Arkansas students have the lowest levels of knowledge of the Holocaust in the United States. A recent law mandated the teaching of the Holocaust for 5-12th grade public school students in Arkansas, however, little is known about the policy process and implementation of such a mandate. Given the magnitude of the gaps in the literature on this topic, this dissertation uses a three article format to address specific gaps and make specific contributions to the literature by …

Functional Morphology Of The Platyrrhine Humerus And Talus: Implications For Inferring Locomotor Behavior In Extinct Primates, Liam Michael Zachary

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Platyrrhines are a diverse radiation of primates that exhibit a range of locomotor adaptations. The relationships between extant primate locomotor behavior and variation in postcranial morphology are often used to make functional interpretations of skeletal anatomy in extinct primates. However, a comparative baseline of form-function relationships in the extant platyrrhine postcranium is lacking compared to other primates, which limits understanding of platyrrhine locomotor evolution. The humerus and talus are two of the best represented skeletal elements in the platyrrhine fossil record and are informative of locomotor behavior. Therefore, quantification of morphological variation in extant platyrrhine tali and humeri can provide …

Spatial Layout At Isgrig: A Menard Complex Site In The Lower Arkansas River Valley, Noelle King

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Late Mississippian sites in the Lower Arkansas River Valley, or Menard Complex sites, are not well understood especially as they relate to the larger question of Mississippian response to colonial contact. In this thesis, I will explore how the Menard Complex manifests at Isgrig (3PU0015), a site located on the Arkansas River south of Little Rock. I will examine the spatial layout of the site and use ceramic analysis to understand if the site changed significantly over time. Finally, I will compare Isgrig with other Menard Sites in the Lower Arkansas Valley to understand regional trends in site function during …

Understanding The Environmental And Genetic Influence On Fluctuating Asymmetry And Developmental Instability In Primates, Ashly N. Romero

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explored the impact of environmental factors on the development and perpetuation of fluctuating asymmetry (FA) and sought to understand the role evolution may play in the FA exhibited in two primate populations: the free-ranging Cayo Santiago rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) and the Southwest National Primate Research Center olive baboons (Papio hamadryas anubis). Demographic, ontogenetic, secular, external, and genetic factors were examined. Specifically, this dissertation investigated FA over all ontogenetic stages, across decades, between sexes, in association with ecological catastrophes, and with tooth pathology to try and tease apart factors that may influence FA and developmental instability. This dissertation …

Using Digitally-Based Recording Techniques To Manage Large Datasets In Real Time, Jessica Kowalski

TFSC Publications and Presentations

Second Annual University of Arkansas Teaching and Learning Symposium: Sharing Teaching Ideas

Managing digital data is a critical part of any archeological investigation or research project. Students in the 2023 University of Arkansas Archeological Field School learned how to record digital data in real-time using iPads in conjunction with an inventorying database designed for the Arkansas Archeological Survey.

Geographic Object-Based Image Analysis For Archaeological Site Detection: A Case Study For The Chicama Valley, Peru, Cesca Craig

Anthropology Undergraduate Honors Theses

This study represents a first attempt at applying geographic object-based image analysis (GEOBIA) for the detection of extant archaeological sites in the Chicama River Valley located in northern coastal Peru. This region is characterized by the presence of mound-like archaeological sites dispersed throughout large-scale agricultural fields. High-resolution multispectral imagery from Planet Labs was used in this study because of its high spatial and temporal resolution and availability at no cost through Planet’s Education and Research Program. The main goal for this study was to explore GEOBIA as an approach to archaeological site detection and assess the feasibility of developing exportable …

“Man, I Will Miss This Place”: An Ethnographic Account Of Place-Making On Dickson Street Through Men’S Bathroom Graffiti, Ethan S. Brown

Anthropology Undergraduate Honors Theses

Walking into a public bathroom, often we are faced with interesting, unique, and easily ignorable cases of residual humanity: bathroom graffiti. These writings, academically known as latrinalia, offer scholars a unique portrait of the people who form an immediate culture and community. By providing opportunities to produce individual and collective identities, local folklore, and contesting narratives of space, latrinalia allows authors to carve out personal or cultural place out of the impersonal materiality of space. Utilizing traditional methods of ethnographic fieldwork, latrinalia in the men’s bathrooms of three bars along the famed Dickson Street in Fayetteville, Arkansas is approached …

Fatty Females And Muscular Males: Investigating Human Sexual Dimorphism Across The Upper And Lower Skeleton, Brooklin Edwards

Anthropology Undergraduate Honors Theses

The sexual dimorphism profile of human body composition produces a unique pattern. Compared to other primates, humans have a mild size dimorphism; however, human males have a particularly muscular upper body and human females have a permanent fatty composition. These findings have resulted in varying interpretations related to sexual selection, mating systems, and male competition. Using humerus and femur measurements collected from 9 primate species, we investigated how the pronounced sexually dimorphic tissue composition of humans influences skeletal elements compared to the other primates. We hypothesized that over the course of human evolution, human females developed a body composition that …

The Scaling Method: Body Mass Reconstruction Of East African Hominins, Julianna Rose

Anthropology Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis details a series of novel methods developed to estimate body masses of hominin fossils using 3-D point cloud registration software. All analyses were conducted through 3-D modeling software that supported the remote study of five fossil femora from East Africa. The fossil computer models were repeatedly aligned with anatomically modern human femora to determine their scaling relationship with the objective of using the scaling factor of the human references to estimate the body mass of the fossils, on the basis of the femoral head breadth. Body mass estimates obtained through this technique were compared to estimates using more …

Commodification Of Korean Culture In The West: Orientalism In The Era Of Modern Social Media, Samantha Giudice

International and Global Studies Undergraduate Honors Theses

South Korea, hereafter referred to as Korea, lies within the Korean Peninsula. It currently boasts a population of 53 million people residing within 38,724 square miles and a GDP of 1.811 trillion US dollars, making it the 13^th largest economy in the world. Since the Korean War to today Korea has turned into a major economic and cultural epicenter remaining at the center of technological advancements and pop culture production. While the exportation of this pop culture has allowed the economy grow at unprecedented rates, it has also led to less favorable interactions with Korean culture by people all …

Dental Microwear Of Miocene Primates From The Turkana Basin Of Northern Kenya, Leah K. Myerholtz

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Comprehending the dietary patterns of Turkana Basin primates from the late Paleogene and early Neogene can contextualize the role of food choice in the evolution of higher primates in Africa. Dental Microwear Texture Analysis (DMTA) quantifies wear on the enamel of a tooth and can be used as a proxy to infer aspects of a taxon’s diet in the past. DMTA can provide insight into what specific animals in the past ate, rather than what they were capable of eating, and by extension, reflect food availability related to habitat preferences or environmental fluctuation. Here, primates from six Oligocene through Pliocene …

“Born For A Storm”: Hard-Right Social Media And Civil Unrest, Daniel Karell, Andrew Linke, Edward Holland, Edward Hendrickson

Geosciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Does activity on hard-right social media lead to hard-right civil unrest? If so, why? We created a spatial panel dataset comprising hard-right social media use and incidents of unrest across the United States from January 2020 through January 2021. Using spatial regression analyses with core-based statistical area (CBSA) and month fixed effects, we find that greater CBSA-level hard-right social media activity in a given month is associated with an increase in subsequent unrest. The results of robustness checks, placebo tests, alternative analytical approaches, and sensitivity analyses support this finding. To examine why hard-right social media activity predicts unrest, we draw …

Riverine Commons And Institute Framework Plan, Community Design Center

Community Design Center Project Reports

The nonprofit Watershed Conservation Resource Center is restoring a 98-acre riparian wetland landscape near downtown Fayetteville as a River Commons and Institute. The Framework Plan combines watershed restoration with architecture and urban design to house a river education center, a visitor interpretive center, walking trails, passive recreation facilities including bird watching and canoeing, and outdoor heritage exhibitions. The Plan operates at the intersection of anthropology, ecology, and design in developing a lasting and robust riverine knowledge fund across space and time.

The Use And Challenges Of Spatial Data In Archaeology, Carla Klehm

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Spatial data, under the broader umbrella of digital data, is becoming increasingly integral to all stages of archaeological research design and dissemination. As archaeologists lean toward reuse and interoperability, with ethics on their minds, how to treat spatial data is of particular importance. This is because of the complexities involved at every life-cycle stage, from collection to publication, including black box issues that may be taken for granted, and because the size of spatial data can lead to archiving difficulties. Here, the “DIY” momentum of increasingly accessible spatial methods such as photogrammetry and handheld lidar is examined alongside forthcoming changes …

Pipe Smoking And Oral Health In Males From The Netherlands During The 18th-19th Century, Sarah Inskip, Liam Michael Zachary, Maria Serrano Ruber, Menno Hoogland

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

SUMMARY: The impact of tobacco on health is undeniable. It is a significant risk factor for multiple conditions, including oral diseases. There has been little research on pipe smoking and oral disease in the past. We compare caries, calculus, tooth loss, periapical lesions, and periodontal disease between rural 13th–16th century pre-tobacco males from Klaaskinderkerke and 18th–19th century pipe-using males from Beemster (N = 64). Pipe-smokers were more affected by all pathologies. Pipe smoking was a strongly gendered habit and possibly more common in the countryside. This work demonstrates a need to consider the impact of new imported behaviours on health …

Primate Olfaction: A Phylogenetic Analysis Of Cribriform Plate Morphology, Amber Cooper

Anthropology Undergraduate Honors Theses

Decreased olfaction, or smell, is a diagnostic characteristic of primates. Despite this, olfaction remains important for diet and social behaviors in primates. To assess how morphological changes impact olfactory-based behaviors between the two major clades of primates, Strepsirrhini and Haplorrhini, this study examined the surface area of the cribriform plate, the bony interface between the brain and nasal cavity. Previous work has found several functional associations between cribriform plate morphology and species diet/ ecology, making this structure possibly more reflective of a species reliance on olfaction in its environment. Primate social structure, such as average group size, mating system, and …

Gender Neutral Parenting: Raising A Generation Outside The Gender Binary, Toni Noelle Martinez

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In the United States, the social and cultural reality remains organized around the gender binary. The binary legitimizes itself on the widely held belief that gender is determined by biology and, therefore, is “natural.” By exploring and firmly placing gender as a cultural construct, this thesis looks at the possibilities of fracturing the binary. Borrowing from Stephan Hirschauer (1994) and Judith Butler’s (2004), this thesis theorizes what a gender neutral world could look like and examines how Gender Neutral Parents contribute toward a gender revolution. Gender Neutral Parents, a community that is mostly found online, represent a small group that …

Genetic Correlation, Pleiotropy, And Molar Morphology In A Longitudinal Sample Of Australian Twins And Families, Kathleen S. Paul, Christopher M. Stojanowski, Toby Hughes, Alan H. Brook, Grant C. Townsend

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

This study aims to expand our understanding of the genetic architecture of crown morphology in the human diphyodont dentition. Here, we present bivariate genetic correlation estimates for deciduous and permanent molar traits and evaluate the patterns of pleiotropy within (e.g., m1–m2) and between (e.g., m2–M1) dentitions. Morphology was observed and scored from dental models representing participants of an Australian twin and family study (deciduous n = 290, permanent n = 339). Data collection followed Arizona State University Dental Anthropology System standards. Genetic correlation estimates were generated using maximum likelihood variance components analysis in SOLAR v.8.1.1. Approximately 23% of deciduous variance …

The Demotechnic Index Of Nations, 1980-2018, Camden Rainwater

Geosciences Undergraduate Honors Theses

The Demotechnic Index (DI) is a non-dimensional metric that is the scalar multiple of energy consumption over and above that required for mere subsistence of a national population. Thus, the DI is a measure of energy efficiency that scales a country’s industrial energy consumption (called the total technological energy) and the energy required to meet the metabolic demand of the population (called the total metabolic energy). The DI was created by scientist John Vallentyne in 1982, refined in 1994, but never gained popularity or wide use as a sustainability metric. The objective of this thesis was to re-evaluate the DI …

Investigating The Mechanics And Chemistry Of Sickle Polish Development, Justin Jared Dubois

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This series of experiments is designed to understand the development and chemistry of sickle gloss. Sickles are common in the archaeological record and have long been studied for their eponymous “sickle gloss”. There is debate as to how this gloss is formed. Five experimental sickles containing flint and novaculite blades were used to harvest high and low moisture content rye and common fescue and associated field weeds. The differences in the development of sickle gloss were examined. High moisture content plants create thick, smooth fields of polish with undulating, billowing margins at a higher developmental speed. Low moisture content plants …

Hallucinogenic Neoshamanism As Antimodernism: Development And Ethical Considerations, Ethan Thompson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Humans have been using hallucinogenic plants and fungi for thousands of years. Historically, people around the world have made use of these substances to aid in their spiritual development. Studies of the usage of hallucinogens in indigenous societies often use the term “shamanism” to characterize the associated system of belief and ritual practices. In popular understanding, shamanism is a religious system that features highly ritualized performances in which a practitioner (shaman) utilizes an altered state of consciousness to gain access to realms inhabited by spirits with the intent of recruiting their help to resolve a problem, cure a patient, correct …

Moral Distress, Burnout, And Moral Injury In Healthcare Professionals, Sophia Gibson

Anthropology Undergraduate Honors Theses

For doctors and other health care professionals, experiences of care too often involve burnout and moral distress. Making both visible to begin addressing them takes up the main concern of my thesis. Burnout and moral distress swallow a life. Suddenly you aren’t going on that shopping trip with friends, you can forget about going to that movie or play. You are too tired to drag yourself out of bed, instead getting caught in a cycle of sleep and work with no time for a break or even to process what happened last shift. Who’s going to have a nice relaxing …