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Full-Text Articles in Anthropology
Amaro E Piccante: The Production And Use Of Terroir In The Scandal Of Italian Extra Virgin Olive Oils, Daniel Gene Shattuck Ii
Amaro E Piccante: The Production And Use Of Terroir In The Scandal Of Italian Extra Virgin Olive Oils, Daniel Gene Shattuck Ii
Anthropology ETDs
This dissertation explores the revalorization of Italian extra virgin olive oils after a food scare that revealed some oils to be inauthentic or adulterated. In the process of distinguishing products, producers and tasters looked toward terroir or the “taste of place” as proof of their declarations of authenticity and as a method for differentiating oils. However, in this attempt, they engaged with other pervasive tropes of difference including those that intersected with belonging, the local and global, and race. This dissertation argues that terroir is a material-semiotic object; that while it may be grounded in the materiality of oils is …
The Bioarchaeology Of Changes In Social Stratification, Warfare, And Habitual Activities Among Iron Age Samnites Of Central Italy, Vitale Sparacello
The Bioarchaeology Of Changes In Social Stratification, Warfare, And Habitual Activities Among Iron Age Samnites Of Central Italy, Vitale Sparacello
Anthropology ETDs
This study uses a bioarchaeological approach to investigate the behavioral and social correlates of changes in skeletal properties during the Iron Age of central Italy. This was a period of demographic growth, increase in sociopolitical complexity, and social stratification. Early states were developing from simpler forms of social aggregation, and expansionistic, large-scale warfare was beginning. I analyzed the mechanical properties of Iron Age human skeletons (844 individuals) from 11 necropoleis belonging to the Oscan ethno-linguistic group (Samnites). The analysis of grave goods allowed for a division of individuals by status categories. Iron Age samples show an increase in stature compared …
Florentine Palaces, Costly Signaling, And Lineage Survival, Michael Church
Florentine Palaces, Costly Signaling, And Lineage Survival, Michael Church
Anthropology ETDs
My dissertation evaluated whether the palaces built in Florence, Italy during the Renaissance are a form of costly signaling. Costly signaling theory was developed to explain why organisms have attributes and behaviors that appear to defy basic Darwinian logic by having costs that are not offset by obvious benefits. The theory proposes that such attributes and behaviors persist because they are reliable signals of information about the signalers. Signal audiences use the information content of signals to rank signalers and to modify their interactions with signalers in ways that benefit signalers. These interactions can involve mate choice, predation avoidance, status …