Anthropology Commons^™

A Geophysical Survey Of Fort St. Joseph (20be23), Niles, Michigan, Daniel P. Lynch

Masters Theses

Fort St. Joseph is a 17th-18th century French (and later English) mission-garrison-trading post complex located in southwest Michigan. A geophysical survey was performed and the results of the survey were tested through archaeological excavation. The geophysical methods included ground penetrating radar, electromagnetic induction, electrical resistivity, magnetic gradiometry, and magnetic susceptibility. The results of the archaeological excavations demonstrate that magnetic gradiometry was the preferred geophysical method at this particular site. The magnetic gradiometer survey included both terrestrial and possible submerged portions the site. Laboratory analysis of the magnetic susceptibility and magnetic viscosity of soils and rocks demonstrated that the archaeological features …

Single Muslim Young Adults: Negotiating Identities, Religion And Desire, Zarinah El-Amin Naeem

Masters Theses

This ethnographic thesis is an empirically rich, critical analysis of the singlehood of Muslim young adults. Based on interviews with 21 single Muslims aged 18-36, and participant observation of Muslim spaces, I demonstrate that while Islam and Muslim communities present "ideal" behaviors, Islam is not alone. Instead, like identity, the singlehood of American Muslims is created and recreated through dialectical relationships with several cultural "wombs" including religion, popular culture, family, and ethnicity. As Muslim young adults encounter these often contradictory ideologies, they accept and reject parts, and negotiate their identities, religion and desires - all while struggling to maintain a …

Ferro Ingenio: An Archaeological And Ethnohistorical View Of Labor And Empire In Colonial Porco And Potosi, Brendan J. M. Weaver

Masters Theses

Porco, Bolivia, is known as the source of silver which ornamented the Inca temple of Coricancha, and as the seat of the earliest Spanish mining operations in the Andes. The colonial silver processing site of Ferro Ingenio, on the outskirts of Porco, is comprised of domestic and industrial structures, constructed and used over multiple occupations. Ferro Ingenio is the best preserved and most complete site of its kind in the Porco region and the first Andean stamp-mill ever to be excavated. This investigation uses ethnohistorical and archaeological evidence to examine the organization and the changing social roles of colonial labor. …

Black Women, Beauty, And Labor: Towards An Archaeology Of African-American Women In Indianapolis, Indiana, Genesis M. Snyder

Masters Theses

For two consecutive summers (2002 and 2003), I conducted fieldwork in the Ransom Place Archaeology neighborhood on the near Westside of Indianapolis, Indiana. I found myself increasingly drawn to the material culture left behind by the African-American women who had lived in the area roughly 100 years ago. Such material culture begs many questions: What social and political forces influenced the construction of African-American women's understandings of self in the early twentieth century? Who was responsible for the construction and dissemination of beauty ideals, notions about women's work, and how did those ideals differ across the color line? Using as …

An Investigation Of Kavilorai: A Hero Stone Site In The Nilgiri Mountains Of South India, Jacob Landon Bach

Masters Theses

This study explores the hero stones of the Nilgiri Mountains of South India. This project has focused on the site of Kavilorai for developing a stylistic base to compare other sites of the region with. After analysis it was determined that Kavilorai contained four separate, but connected stylistic expressions carved on the hero stones. The findings when compared with other upper elevation sites corresponded to a high quality/low quality theme, often incorporating the ritual suicide sati. When comparing the stylistic representation of the carved figures to the Badaga Lingayat temple of Seminatum there surfaced strong thematic and stylistic connections. The …

Living And Dying On The Margins: A Journey Into The Culture Of Pink And Black Women’S Narrative Accounts Of Breast Cancer, Cleothia Gill

Masters Theses

This thesis examines black women's understandings of and experiences with breast cancer through the use of narratives. These narratives offer different positions from which to critically analyze the dominate conceptualization of breast cancer in American society, which is primarily associated with white, middle class, heterosexual women. There is a focus on issues such as breast cancer 'risk', increased mortality rates among black women, dominate discourses and media representations of breast cancer, and mastectomy and body image. African American women's stories are used to 'deconstruct' and reveal how this disease is socially constructed in ways that has profound impact on their …

Breaking The Be Nice Rule: Direct Action Community Organizing, Adriana Rosas

Masters Theses

Focusing on the Kalamazoo Homeless Action Network (KHAN), this thesis explores the dynamics of transformation in community organizing, and the crucial and often complicated role of anger in that process. Current Anthropological literature on the topic of resistance and poverty leaves unexamined the micropolitics of individuals' transformation as they become civically engaged as well as the laborious organizing techniques culminating in such events that lead to social change and individual empowerment. I will contribute to the literature on poverty and resistance by examining the 'behind-the-scenes' dimensions of direct action community organizing that influence individual and social transformation. Through this examination …

An Unequal Consumption? Sex And Gender Differences In Tuberculosis, Sarah K. W. Avink

Masters Theses

In the developing world today, tuberculosis (TB) accounts for 26% of avoidable deaths (Holmes et al 1998). Poverty is considered to be a main risk factor for TB, and since some estimates show that women make up 70% of the world's poor (Thorson and Diwan 1998:11), one might conclude that the incidence of TB worldwide would be much higher for women than men. However, reports reviewed in this thesis show the reverse to be true, with an adult annual male notification ratio for TB at 1.5 to 2.1 times higher than that of females. Both biological reasons and social factors …

An Analysis Of The Woodland Ceramics From Galum Crossing (Site 21c4-29): An Early Late Woodland Occupation In The Southern Illinois Interior, Gabrielle Aberle

Masters Theses

Situated on upper Galum Creek at the northwest margin of the Big Muddy River drainage basin, the primary occupation at Gal um Crossing consisted of an early Late Woodland habitation dating from approximately A.D. 450 to the early A.D. 700s. The cultural-historical affiliation of the Woodland occupation and the relationship of Galum Crossing to local and regional contemporaneous sites were assessed using radiocarbon dating and an attribute-based analysis of the Woodland ceramic assemblage. This provided data for examining the designation of the proposed Jamestown phase (Moffat 1991, 1992) as a transitional unit between the Middle Woodland Crab Orchard Tradition and …

Building A Predictive Model For Paleo Indian Archaeological Site Location Using Geographic Information Systems, Zachary Jaime

Masters Theses

This research is a multi step method to predict unknown Paleoindian archaeological site locations within Pine Bluffs, Wyoming, situated in the southeastern corner of the state, using a Geographic Information System (GIS). The GIS technology is being used to predict Paleoindian archaeological site locations and will help demonstrate the geographic similarities and differences between already known Paleoindian archaeological sites and random non-site locations in the Pine Bluffs region. Using GIS, one can note the similarities and differences between the Paleoindian sites and the surrounding landscape and, with help of logistic regression analysis, one can predict the location of unknown Paleoindian …

The Gyftakis Site: A Reevalutation Of A Middle Woodland Site After 30 Years, Michael R. Fournier

Masters Theses

This research is the catalogue and study of the Gyftakis Site (20MK51) excavated in 1973 by Dr. James Fitting. The first part of this study involves the cataloguing and description of the artifacts excavated by Dr. James Fitting at the Gyftakis site located on the Marquette Mission block in St. Ignace, MI.

The second part of the research involves using SPSS to analyze the decorative techniques used on the Gyftakis pottery. A chi-square test was performed first to see if the ceramic decorations were not just defined by a random distribution. After that the ceramic decorations were analyzed in both …

Incisal Dental Microwear Of The Prehistoric Point Hope Communities: A Dietary And Cultural Synthesis, Kristin L. Krueger

Masters Theses

The prehistoric coastal communities of Point Hope, Alaska have been considered important Arctic archaeological sites since their initial excavations in 1939. The majority of the archaeological artifacts are grouped into two temporally distinct cultural components, the Ipiutak (2100-1500BP) and the Tigara (800-300BP). Although debated, Arctic archaeologists have suggested that the Ipiutak depended heavily on land mammals with only seasonal reliance on sea mammals, whereas the Tigara relied primarily on sea mammals including whales. While both groups clearly utilized foraging subsistence economies, the contrasts in their food acquisition strategies would have placed different demands on the males and females, particularly with …

The Analysis Of Ceramic Symbolism From The First Street Site In Barbados, Aya Hashimoto

Masters Theses

The expression of race and racism in material culture is of increasing interest in historical archaeology ( e.g., Epperson 1990, 1999, 2000; Mullins 1996, 1999). This study investigates 6 ceramic sherds from one vessel associated with a white urban domestic site on First Street, in Holetown Barbados. This vessel conveys a racist message. A black slave in a loincloth serving tea to a white person is transfer printed on the ceramic. The ceramic seems to be an annular designed pearlware from England in the first half of the 19^th century.

By interpreting the meanings of the ceramic decoration, this …

Vertebral Age Estimation: An Examination Of The Seventh Cervical, Seventh Thoracic, And Fourth Lumbar Vertebrae, Holly Hernandez

Masters Theses

This project examines the utility of vertebral osteophyte development to estimate age at death. Skeletal joint degeneration is a common method for estimating individuals' age at death, however studies regarding vertebral degeneration and age estimation are lacking. My study follows the work of Stewart (1958) in comparing stages of osteophytic lipping of vertebral bodies to age at death.

I examined the seventh cervical (C7), seventh thoracic (T7), and fourth lumbar (L4) vertebrae in 100 individuals of known ancestry, sex, and age at death from the Hamann-Todd skeletal collection. Degenerative stages and composite scores were analyzed through descriptive statistics and chi …

Linear Enamel Hypoplasia And Dental Disease: Implications Of Health And Lifestyle Behaviors Of The Urban Enslaved From Two Burial Grounds In Bridgetown, Barbados, Jennifer Yamazaki

Masters Theses

This project investigates aspects of diet, health, and lifestyles of enslaved Africans of Bridgetown, Barbados during the 17th-19th centuries. The dentition of 10 Pierhead and Fontabelle individuals was examined to provide evidence of stress and coping capacities experienced within the urban context of slavery. Linear enamel hypoplasias (LEH), dental disease, and cultural modifications were noted. The frequencies of the pathologies were calculated and the peak age of stress occurrence for LEH were timed and compared with other New World enslaved populations in order to determine if differences existed in overall health and lifestyle experiences between those enslaved in cities and …

Neoliberalism, Hegemony And Community Imaginings, Boone W. Shear

Masters Theses

The idea of "community" evokes many long held, positive imaginings. Community implies neighborliness, togetherness, helping each other, tolerance and understanding. Community is set against modem society and is commonly understood to be a solution to the deleterious impacts of capitalism and the state. Although community can be a site of resistance, I am also interested in the ways in which the ideology of community assists in facilitating capitalist inequalities.

The latter part of the twentieth-century saw a significant restructuring of capital in the United States as privatization and deregulation were accompanied by a decline in the welfare state. These efforts …

Occupational Stress And Slavery: Evidence From Bridgetown, Barbados, Sarah Muno

Masters Theses

In 1996 and 2000, construction workers uncovered unmarked burial grounds in the Pierhead and Fontabelle sections of Bridgetown, Barbados. The human remains were removed in salvage excavation and are now housed at the University of the West Indies and the Barbados Museum and Historical Society. The associated grave goods, documentary record, and initial osteological analysis indicate these individuals were part of the enslaved workforce during the early to mid- eighteenth century. This thesis will explore the presence of vertebral osteophytosis, vertebral anterior wedge compression fractures, vertebral apophyseal facet remodeling and musculoskeletal stress markers among the human remains from Pierhead and …

A “Southern Tradition?”: Stockcar Racing As Contextual Tradition, Patrick A. Lindsay

Masters Theses

A large number of academics who have examined stockcar racing have concluded that stockcar racing is a “Southern tradition.” While the implicit definitions of tradition may vary, many generally agree that there is a clear historical relationship between stock car racing and the South. It is my contention that the idea that stockcar racing is a “Southern” tradition does not represent the reality of stockcar racing fandom for many people outside of the South. I assert that stock car racing is instead a “contextual tradition”, a practice that became labeled a tradition through specific historical and cultural circumstances. By examining …

People Without Voice: Perceptions Of Social Bias Against Muslims In The United States, Dhiren Patel

Masters Theses

This paper is an ethnographic investigation of Muslim American perceptions of social marginalization in the United States as a by-product of various governmental and media forces, with the Kalamazoo, MI community being the regional focus. The existence of the violence-crazed zealot Muslim stereotype has had social repercussions for Muslims living in America. The first part of this research looks at the development of Muslim stereotypes before 9/11. The second half of this paper discuses the results from interviews with local Muslims Americans who have given me their perspective on prejudice against Islam in the United States.

The oral accounts provided …

The Trials And Tribulations Of Eliciting American Indian Voice, Amber Madoll

Masters Theses

In this thesis I explored the application of oral history in the collection, preservation and interpretation of American Indian cultural history. Through the analysis of written ethnographies, published works, oral histories and case studies, this research addresses some of the major debates hindering oral history's admittance as a viable ethnographic and historical resource. The overall intention of this research was to elicit the major methodological issues anthropologists face when employing oral history techniques in American Indian studies so that solid, comprehensive strategies can be created and implemented to strengthen the acceptance and practice of oral history in modem cultural studies. …

A Bioarchaeological Investigation Of Two Unmarked Graveyards In Bridgetown, Barbados, Christopher Crain

Masters Theses

In 1996 and 1999 two previously unknown graveyards were discovered in separate sections of Bridgetown, Barbados. Emergency excavations of the sites recovered the skeletal material of at least thirty-two (MNI=32) individuals as well as a number of grave goods. While the artifacts were from the historical period there was continuing speculation as to the ancestry of the individuals interred within these graveyards. During the summer of 2004 the first preliminary osteological analysis of the skeletal material was conducted to identify the biological characteristics, including the ancestral affiliation, of these individuals. The analysis determined that the individuals interred at these sites …

Patterns Of Cortical Growth As Indicators Of Population Health: An Exploratory Analysis Of Subadult Remains From The Tell Abraq Site, Uae, Jessica L. Rhodes

Masters Theses

The analysis of children in archaeological contexts is a relatively new field of study that emerged largely as a result of feminist and gender studies in the social sciences. Thus, methodologies that are typically employed in bioarchaeological analyses of children have yet to be refined and standardized. The commingling of subadult remains in archaeological contexts further confounds this issue by eliminating the ability of the researcher to establish reasonable age-at-death distributions.

This study seeks to explore the utility of analyzing patterns of cortical growth-for-diaphyseal length in commingled subadult remains. Specifically, commingled subadult remains excavated from the Tell Abraq site (UAE, …

Bone Density Testing As An Early Detection Devise For Anorexia Nervosa And Osteoporosis In Pre-Adolescent And Adolescent Girls, Kelle L. Brooks

Masters Theses

Osteoporosis has become one of the leading health problems for postmenopausal women in the United States, however, it has been shown that preadolescent and adolescent girls with anorexia nervosa are at an unusually high risk for early on-set osteoporosis and bone fractures.

Bone density testing has already proving itself as an accurate form of detection in post-menopausal women and the elderly and is widely used at medical institutions, clinics, and pharmacies throughout the United States as an inexpensive, non-invasive, and accurate technique for detecting low bone mass.

This research aims to examine anorexia nervosa and its long-term effects on the …

A New Early Eocene Mammalian Fauna From The Great Divide Basin, Southwestern Wyoming: Vertebrate Paleontology, Paleoclimatology, And Biostratigraphy, Edward M. Johnson

Masters Theses

A new early Eocene mammalian fauna from a series of localities in the Great Divide Basin of southwestern Wyoming is described in this Masters Thesis. Seven localities in the vicinity of Tipton Buttes have yielded 1627 fossil specimens that have been identified, catalogued, and analyzed. The goal of this thesis is to develop a biostratigraphic framework for dating this fossil assemblage based on comparisons with well-dated assemblages from other localities in the American West. Field crews from Western Michigan University have collected fossil vertebrates from Tipton Buttes during most summer field seasons between 1995 and 2003. The analyses indicate that …

Crafting Culture At Fort St. Joseph: An Archaeological Investigation Of Labor Organization On The Colonial Frontier, Brock A. Giordano

Masters Theses

The study of labor organization through the examination of craft production in complex societies has been a topic of intense scholarly interest (Blackman et al. 1993; Costin and Hagstrom 1995; Shafer and Hester 1991). A number of scholars have hypothesized that goods produced in mass quantities by particular specialists can be recognized by their high degree of standardization or homogeneity (Blackman et al. 1993:61; Schiffer and Skibo 1997). As such, this study employs the theoretical framework that in an archaeological context it is possible to differentiate centralized production from noncentralized production by identifying any standardization or variation within the manufacturing …

An Analysis Of Service-Learning And Applied Anthropology, Danielle Nordbrock

Honors Theses

People think of others in comparison to themselves, and what they know. Anthropologists study a wide variety of things, this includes all different societies: simple and complex, ancient and modern, and in different locales. The perspective of an anthropologist tends to take on a unique cross-cultural nature, with comparisons oftentimes being central to the research. When anthropologists become engaged in a project and begin their fieldwork they experience a unique sense of understanding from living in such close proximity to another culture.

A Comparison Of Human Femoral Neck Cortical Bone: Walkers Vs. Non-Walkers, Meghan M. Moran

Masters Theses

This empirical project examines human inferior femoral neck cortical bone and the response in this region to mechanical loading in association with bipedalism. It is suggested that habitual activity induces cortical bone hypertrophy. A radiographic analysis of femoral neck cortical bone was completed using two samples of individuals. One group following a normal developmental trajectory of walking was compared to another who has never walked as a result of cerebral palsy (CP) or spina bifida (SB). Two research questions were addressed: (1) Is the amount of femoral neck inferior cortical bone equal to or different from that seen in the …

Who Are "The Japanese"?: Negotiation Of Identity Among Nikkei In Brazil, Chihiro Nagasue

Masters Theses

When Japanese immigrants arrived in Brazil in the beginning of the 20th century, they recognized, for the first time, that they were "Japanese" and different from other ethnic people since it was rare for them to meet ethnically foreign people in Japan. In the ethnically and linguistically foreign country of Brazil, the Nikkei have had to constantly redefine their identity by resisting and accommodating dominant pressures and ideologies such as the Brazilian assimilation policies before and during the Second World War as well as the essentialist ideology of Nihonjinron (what it means to be Japanese). As a result of globalization, …

Eating Ethnicity: Examining 18th Century French Colonial Identity Through Selective Consumption Of Animal Resources In The North American Interior, Rory J. Becker

Masters Theses

Cultural identities can be created and maintained through daily practice and food consum.ption is one such practice. People need food in order to survive, but the types of food they eat are largely determined by the interaction of culture and their environment. By approaching the topic of subsistence practices as being culturally constituted, the study of foodways provides an avenue to examine issues of cultural identity through selective consumption. Eating certain foods to the exclusion of others is one method for establishing social distance between peoples and is simultaneously a reflection of this relationship and the types of interactions that …

Athletic Amenorrhea: Prevalence And Awareness Among Female Athletes At Western Michigan University, Michele R. Chupurdia

Masters Theses

Women who participate in competitive sports are under enormous pressure to maintain an extremely low body weight through diet and exercise. While exercise is viewed as widely beneficial to women of all ages, the pressure to succeed in sports by achieving or maintaining an unrealistically low body weight through food restriction and high intensity training may lead some women to develop eating disorders, amenorrhea, and osteoporosis.

The research conducted for this thesis and presented here investigates female college athletes (18-24 years) from Western Michigan University, a Division I school, who are undergoing strenuous training. The goal of this study is …