Anthropology Commons^™

The Collecting Culture: An Exploration Of The Collector Mentality And Archaeology's Response, Tamie Sawaged

Nebraska Anthropologist

The collecting of cultural remains and the looting of sites have serious repercussions for the preservation of the archaeological record. The scientific community has long bemoaned this situation but has developed few effective, proactive measures to stem the activities of collectors and looters. This lack of success can be attributed partially to a failure in researching and understanding the driving forces behind the collecting phenomenon. Thus, this paper has several main goals: to provide the archaeologist with some basic understanding of the collecting culture from the collector's perspective; to encourage the use of an integrated, multidisciplinary approach to address this …

Yellow Powder Yellow Lungs, Meghan Sittler

Nebraska Anthropologist

Uranium mining began on the Navajo Reservation during World War II and continued for several years following the war. Many components of uranium mining operations and policies have left a trail of serious, social, physical, cultural, and environmental consequences which have impacted, and continue to impact the people of the Navajo culture. Each of these ramifications will be discussed through the incorporation of Navajo beliefs, and social organization, which have further compounded the effects of the United States government's exploitation of uranium and the Navajo people.

The Status Of Refugees In Lincoln, Nebraska's - Low-Income Housing And Racial Segregation: A Contribution Or Contrast To Neighborhood Solidarity?, David Baker, Kristy Feldhousen

Nebraska Anthropologist

The process of becoming a refugee is lengthy, complicated, and arduous. It involves timing, political, religiolls, and economic considerations - and luck. The United Nations High Commission for Refugee's (UNHCR) in combination with the Department of State (DOS) have established their own particular criteria for granting refugee status and placement policy. After granting refugee status, the UNHCR places the refugee into three optional resolutions: repatriation to the refugee's home country, local resettlement in the country of first asylum, and resettlemellt to a third country (US Dept of Health, 1995). 1n the post World War II era an influx of refugees …

Commercialization In Archaeology: Problems, Old And New, Ann C. Bauermeister

Nebraska Anthropologist

Archeology has long enjoyed popularity among the public. Such interest is an asset to the discipline, for it can generate the support integral to the profession and to the study of the archeological record. Unfortunately, the allure of archeology also has the potential to be destructive to the archeological record. When archeology is viewed as a hobby is when problems can--and do--arise. The term "amateur archeologist" has been applied to nonprofessional or untrained persons who pursue archeological work. Why our profession is thought of as one where amateurs are welcome is not entirely clear, though perhaps it is due in …

Slavery In The Platte Region, H. Jason Combs

Nebraska Anthropologist

Missouri's bid for statehood reflected the struggle to extend the southern slave culture onto the western frontier of settlement. The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 and the Missouri Compromise set specific geographic boundaries for the extension of slavery, which in turn created distinctive patterns of migration and settlement on the frontier. The Platte Purchase region of northwest Missouri is one of the areas that reflect slavery's influence on settlement. This paper will discuss slave ownership, the need for slavery, and explain the geographic distribution of slaves in the Platte region.

Teen Pregnancy: A Cross-Cultural Phenomenon But A Western Problem?, Tina Brown

Nebraska Anthropologist

Teen pregnancy (broadened to "premarital pregnancy" for research purposes) was investigated cross-culturally. Using the electronic Human Relations Area Files and literature review, attitudes toward premarital pregnancy, the incidence of premarital pregnancies, and outcomes of premarital pregnancies were compared in "African" and "Eurasian" social systems (as defined by Goody, 1976). Despite considerahle variance, there were no significant differences in approval or disapproval of premarital sex or pregnancy in African and Eurasian systems. There was no difference in incidence rates of premarital pregnancy in African and Eurasian systems; however. not taking marital status into consideration. developing countries have higher rates of adolescent …

Nebraska Anthropologist Volume 15: 1999-2000 Table Of Contents

Nebraska Anthropologist

Conservation Ethics: The Web Linking Human and Environmental Rights (Meghan Sittler)

Slavery in the Platte Region (H. Jason Combs)

Still an Open Book: Analysis of the Current Pre-Clovis vs. Debate from the Site of Meadowcroft Rockshelter, Pennsylvania and Monte Verde, Chile (Jay T. Sturdevant)

Mormon Polygamy in the Nineteenth Century: The Practice of "The Principle" in Reality (William Volf)

Teen Pregnancy: A Cross Cultural Phenomenon but a Western Problem? (Tina Brown)

Fact and Fiction of Vikings in America (Karri L Springer)

Commercialization in Archaeology: Problems, Old and New (Ann C. Bauermeister)

Geophysical Survey as a Conservation Tool (Anne M. Kern) …

Contamination Nation, Kurt T. Mantonya

Nebraska Anthropologist

The Navajo, like many other North American Native populations have been adversely affected by mining. Termination of tribal status, forced relocation, and exposure to radioactive elements are just a few of the tragedies these people have faced. This paper will take an ethnohistorical approach to mining on Navajo  ands as well as investigates important case law that have been established over the past 100 years.

Why Should Fathers Father?, Patricia Draper

Department of Anthropology: Faculty Publications

The findings about the ways in which components of men's human capital is translated into human capital of offspring are intriguing both for what the findings show about secular trends in fertility, consequences for child accomplishment, and for what they show about the importance of the child's mother in linking the father to the child. It is this issue, the mother as link to child and the nature of the father's relationships with the mother that I make the center of my remarks.

There are several things to keep in mind when we try to grasp the evolutionary big picture …

Rough Cilicia Archaeological Survey Project: Report Of The 1998 Season, Michael Hoff, Nicholas K. Rauh, Rhys Townsend, Luann Wandsnider

Department of Anthropology: Faculty Publications

During the 1998 season the Rough Cilicia Survey team shifted the focus of our research to the discovery and analysis of rural sites and rural field tracks in the southern coastal portion of the survey zone (between ancient Selinus, modern Gazipasha, and ancient Nephelion (modern Muzkent). To learn more about historic landscape use in the area, the field team surveyed 21 transects comprising more than 17 linear kilometers of survey terrain. To record our finds we employed GPS tracking devices to track our progress on 1:5000 topographical maps acquired from the Tapu ve Kadastro Genel Müdürlügü (all sites are identified …

Human Dental Microwear Caused By Calcium Oxalate Phytoliths In Prehistoric Diet Of The Lower Pecos Region, Texas, Dennis Danielson, Karl Reinhard

Karl Reinhard Publications

Recent research demonstrates that silica phytoliths of dietary origin are associated with microwear of human teeth. Previous research has shown that severe enamel microwear and dental wear characterizes Archaic hunter-gatherers in the lower Pecos region of west Texas. Calcium oxalate crystals are especially common in Archaic coprolites. The vast majority are derived from prickly pear and agave, which were the dietary staples in west Texas for 6,000 years. The calcium oxalate phytoliths are harder than enamel. Therefore, calcium oxalate crystals are the most likely source of previously documented dental microwear and wear in the lower Pecos region.Am J Phys Anthropol …

Mummies And Mummification Practices In The Southern And Southwestern United States, Mahmoud Y. El-Najjar, Thomas M. J. Mulinski, Karl Reinhard

Karl Reinhard Publications

Mummification was not intentional for most North American prehistoric cultures. Natural mummification occurred in the dry areas of North America, where mummies have been recovered from rock shelters, caves, and overhangs. In these places, corpses desiccated and spontaneously mummified. In North America, mummies are recovered from four main regions: the southern and southwestern United States, the Aleutian Islands, and the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas. This chapter is limited to a discussion of burial practices and a tabulation of the location of mummies in the southwestern United States with some comments on mummies of the southern United States, including the Ozarks.

Institutional, Evolutionary, And Demographic Contexts Of Gender Roles: A Case Study Of !Kung Bushmen, Patricia Draper

Department of Anthropology: Faculty Publications

In this chapter I have two objectives. One is to detail the consequences of changes in social structure for gender roles and to show how economic change affects the lives of males and females. The second objective is to explain how my perspective on the relationship between behavior and social structure has changed over time. More particularly, I have been influenced by ideas in evolutionary biology. Although I still see human beings as embedded in a cultural context, I also see that other insights come by viewing humans as another mammalian and primate species. These ideas will be elaborated more …

Review Of The Prehistoric Pueblo World A.D. 1150-1350, Edited By Michael A. Adler. Tucson: The University Of Arizona Press, 1996. 279 Pages, Alan J. Osborn

Department of Anthropology: Faculty Publications

Excerpt:

This volume provides the reader with very useful summaries and overviews of the archaeological record for the prehistoric Pueblo III period. It also introduces the reader to a broad range of research topics-models of demographic change, population aggregation, local and regional “abandonment,” architectural variation, settlement layout(s), living space, aspects of community integration, ceramic assemblages, land-use practices, carrying capacity, conflict, exchange, and macro regional interaction-that have been addressed recently in this area. In addition, this volume contains data about settlement numbers, sizes, and distributions for seventy-the districts within twelve regions. Districts were delineated on the basis of archeological patterns, established …

On Two Eras Of African Archaeology: Colonial And National, Clea Koff

Nebraska Anthropologist

This paper examines the role of archaeology in the political agendas of both colonial and post-colonial African governments. Both forms of government have utilized selective interpretations of the archaeological record to further their political goals. The marriage between archaeologists and colonial administrations is examined in light of the temporal coincidence between the international rise of professional archaeology in the 18908 and the zenith of colonial occupation in sub-Saharan Africa. The concurrent nature of these two phenomena resulted in employment within colonial administrations for the majority of professional archaeologists. The archaeology of the post-independenoe era reflects a shift in paradigm, as …

Nebraska Anthropologist Volume 14: 1997-1999 Table Of Contents

Nebraska Anthropologist

ARTICLES

01 Domestication of Dogs and Their Use on the Great Plains (Ruth Callahan)

12 Human Responses to Bison Nutritional Variability: An Illustration from the Central Plains (Chris Widga)

34 Winter Counts as Possible Precursors to Writing (Petra Eccarius)

39 Looted Archaeological Sites: Are They Worthy of Scientific Investigation?
(Michelle J. Lundeen)

47 On Two Eras of African Archaeology: Colonial and National (Clea Koff)

58 Factors Leading to the Uprisings at Wounded Knee in 1890 and 1973: The Other Story (Andrew Amiotte)

68 Starbucks vs. Equal Exchange: Assessing the Human Costs of Economic
Globalization (Lindsey M. Smith)

84 Monogamy vs. …

The Roasted And The Boiled: Food Composition And Heat Treatment With Special Emphasis On Pit-Hearth Cooking, Luann Wandsnider

Department of Anthropology: Faculty Publications

Heat treatment is one of the major ways humans change the composition and chemistry of food tissues, making them more digestible, less toxic, and more durable. This paper reviews salient features of food chemistry and food composition and how heat treatment, especially pit-hearth cooking, affects that composition. Ethnographic accounts of cooking indicate that traditional populations relied on pit-hearth cooking especially to alter the composition of foods high in either lipids or complex carbohydrates. Historically, pit hearths were also used to process large quantities of food. Various kinds of pit hearths figure prominently in the archaeological deposits of the American Great …

Review Of Sanumá Memories: Yanomami Ethnography In A Time Of Crisis. Alcida Rita Ramos. Madison: University Of Wisconsin Press, 1995. Xx, 346 Pp. (Paper)., Raymond B. Hames

Department of Anthropology: Faculty Publications

As I have done considerable research among the Yanomamö,1 it was with anticipation that I received notice of Alcida Ramos' publication of Sanumá Memories. This work is a useful contribution to the large and still expanding research on the Yanomamö, an Amazonian people who have become a classic case study for anthropology and the social sciences. They are probably the most widely read about tribal people in the world, largely a consequence of Napoleon Chagnon's immensely popular ethnography Yanomamö: The Fierce People (first published in 1968 and the most recent edition in 1992).

The Yanomamö have become a focal point …

Domestication Of Dogs And Their Use On The Great Plains, Ruth Callahan

Nebraska Anthropologist

More than 12,000 years ago a bargain was struck between two species that not only benefited both parties, but changed their futures drastically. Whereas wolves and humans had once been independent hunters in competition with each other, now they were partners who shared the kill and helped each other survive in the harsh environment. We will never know which side initiated the pact, but the wolf was the first animal to cast its lot with humans and the evolutionary advantages that came with this choice were tremendous.

Factors Leading To The Uprisings At Wounded Knee In 1890 & 1973: The Other Story, Andrew Amiotte

Nebraska Anthropologist

Throughout history, the American Indians have experienced maltreatment by the invasion of outside cultures and by people with power. As the Indians have been forced to move westward by the U.S. government, many treaties have been drawn up as a promise that the tribes would never again be invaded. These broken promises influenced the placing of the indigenous people onto reservations. Also, the Indians were forced to abandon their native way of life.

This paper discusses why forcing the Lakota Sioux to live on reservations and to adopt an Anglo culture led to great misery. This new way of life …

Human Mate Selection Based On Developmental Stability As Signaled Through Physical Attractiveness: An Assessment Of The Traits Used To Determine Attractiveness And The Evolutionary Mechanisms For Their Development, Erin H. Kimmerle

Nebraska Anthropologist

What are the criteria used to select a mate? Study of this question on non-human subjects has shown many organisms choose mates based on assessments of health, youthfulness, and fertility, as signaled through certain physical characteristics. Investigations into the mating behaviors of humans, cross-cultural studies of attractiveness, and current medical research link features of attractiveness with health and support the evolutionary perspective that beauty is more than an arbitrary cultural creation. The characteristics which males and females find attractive in the opposite sex are largely the results of the evolution of sexual selection and serve to inform potential mates of …

Starbucks Vs. Equal Exchange: Assessing The Human Costs Of Economic Globalization, Lindsey M. Smith

Nebraska Anthropologist

This paper discusses the impact of economic globalization on human populations and their natural environment. Trends leading to globalization, such as multilateral and bilateral trade agreements which reduce trading barriers between countries, are discussed. According to the economic principle of comparative advantage, all countries which specialize in what they can produce most efficiently should benefit equally from fair trade. Developing countries must increasingly rely on cheap labor and low environmental standards to compete for foreign investment and capital in the global economy. Observers argue that the market is not free enough to conect the long-term damage associated with export policies …

Human Responses To Bison Nutritional Variability: An Illustration From The Central Plains, Chris Widga

Nebraska Anthropologist

The relation of prehistoric human groups to bison populations in the Central Plains has long been the subject of both speculation and debate. Recent research has shown that bison are relatively sensitive to changing environmental conditions (Bamforth, 1988; Bozell, 1995; Speth and Pany, 1978; Emerson, 1990). This sensitivity is visible in physiological and behavioral adaptations used by bison to deal with change. Ukewise, evidence for these adaptations is present in faunal assemblages from Central Plains archaeological sites. In order to determine the nature of these adaptive charaderistics, a model must be developed which goes beyond traditional presence/absence tabulations of faunal …

Winter Counts As Possible Precursors To Writing, Petra Eccarius

Nebraska Anthropologist

Native Americans of the Great Plains did not have a formal system of writing. These groups did, however, have various types of graphical representation. One such example is the Siouan winter counts, pictures recorded once each winter on buffalo hide (or later on cloth) which served as mnemonic devices for a partial oral history and calendar of the group to which it belonged. Scholars often study the subject matter of these counts in order to gain historic or cultural information about Native groups. Despite the facts that only one important or unusual event is depicted each year, and that the …

Tibetan Fraternal Polyandry: A Review Of Its Advantages And Breakdown, Jeff Willett

Nebraska Anthropologist

The fraternal polyandry marriage relationship of Tibet is widely considered
to be a means of preventing the division of a family's resources among its male heirs. As a family resource preservation strategy, Tibetan polyandry accomplishes the same goal of the European stem family system, but in a very different way. Researchers have suggested that polyandry developed in Tibet, because it provides a household with enough male laborers to fully exploit the marginal agricultural lands in the Himalayas, that it serves as a means of population control, or that it serves as a way of reducing tax obligations to feudal Tibetan …

Monogamy Vs. Polygyny In Rwanda: Round 1 - The White Fathers Round 2 - The 1994 Genocide, Clea Koff

Nebraska Anthropologist

The symbiotic relationship between European Christian missionaries and European colonizers in East Africa is well-documented (Opoku 1985:513; Uzukwu 1996:29). However, the colonial history of Rwanda reveals a collaboration between French Roman Catholic missionaries and the coexistent Belgian administration that ensured a profound transformation, not only of indigenous religious practice, but of the marriage pattern - from polygyny to monogamy. The Catholic missionaries in Rwanda, an order called the White Fathers, imported a model of ideal marriage that was an amalgam of Christian theology and their own Western European culture. The model was not immediately embraced by Rwandans and after twenty …

Looted Archaeological Sites: Are They Worthy Of Scientific Investigation?, Michelle J. Lundeen

Nebraska Anthropologist

Since the late 1800s, looting of prehistoric and historic Bles has been recognized as a serious threat to archaeological resources throughout the world (Knoll 1991}. Looting destroys both recorded and unrecorded sites in the United states (Ahlstrom 1992, Honeycutt et al. 1985, stuart 1989). With such a great amount of looting taking place, this research paper asks a basic question: Why do archaeologists not investigate looted archaeological sites as they do nonlooted sites and features? This question will be answered by reviewing the literature about looting including the archaeological reaction to looting. Two looted features, potted privies, will be discussed …

Native Americans And Diabetes, Kristina K. Lee

Nebraska Anthropologist

Type II diabetes has reached epidemic proportions among Native Americans. It Is estimated that 12.2 percent of all Native Americans in the U.S. have Type II diabetes. This compares with 5.2 percent of the general U.S. population (Diabetes Statistics 1997). The highest rate of diabetes in the world is in the Pima Nation. Half of all Pima Indians age 35 and older have diabetes (West 1974). Diabetes causes severe health complications and is a major cause of
death for Native Americans.

Review Of Archaeology And Geographical Information Systems: A European Perspective, Luann Wandsnider

Department of Anthropology: Faculty Publications

Although but six years old, our library copy of Interpreting Space: GIS and Archaeology (1990; edited by Allen, Stanton, and Zubrow) is tattered and in need of rebinding. Such has been the interest in this volume and its subject, the adaptation of Geographic Information System (GIs) technology to archaeological needs. Archaeology and Geographical information Systems complements Interpreting Space in several ways. Where the latter features mostly North American authors, European authors are the main contributors to the former. An4 in an effort to educate readers, the first offers brief reviews of hardware, software, and GIS concepts; such items are mentioned …

Regional Zooarchaeology And Global Change: Problems And Potentials, Thomas Amorosi, James Woollett, Sophia Perdikaris, Thomas Mcgovern

School of Global Integrative Studies: Faculty Publications

Zooarchaeology is a potentially critical tool for the reconstruction of past regional landscapes. The subfield is increasingly being asked to contribute to long-term studies of human interaction with the environment associated with national and international investigations of past and future global change. Intersite comparison of animal bone collections (archaeofaunas) is central to such regional approaches. However, zooarchaeologists have identified many factors of deposition, attrition, recovery, and analysis that might appear to make such comparisons problematic. Using selected examples drawn from the North Atlantic and Eastern Arctic, this paper suggests that, while intersite comparison is not a trivial problem, it may …