Anthropology Commons^™

“From The Beginning Of Time”: The Colonial Reconfiguration Of Native Habitats And Indigenous Resource Practices On The British Columbia Coast, Chief Adam Dick (Kwaxsistalla Wathl’Thla), Daisy Sewid-Smith (Mayanilth), Kim Recalma-Clutesi, Douglas Deur, N.J. Turner (Galitsimġa)

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Indigenous Peoples’ lives, cultures, and values are defined largely by their long-term relationships with the lands, waters, and lifeforms of their territories. Their stories, names, ceremonies, and connections with the plants and animals on which they have depended over countless generations are cornerstones of their knowledge systems, systems of governance and decision-making, traditions of intergenerational knowledge transmission, and values and responsibilities associated with natural and human domains alike. For First Nations of North America’s Northwest Coast, as for many other Indigenous Peoples, the arrival of European newcomers disrupted both the natural world and associated cultural practices in interconnected ways. The …

Direct Evidence For Geophyte Exploitation In The Wyoming Basin, Kaley Joyce, Lisbeth A. Louderback, Erick Robinson

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

In the Wyoming Basin, archaeological sites dating from the Early Archaic to Late Prehistoric are often found associated with or adjacent to dense populations of Cymopterus bulbosus (springparsley), a nutritious geophyte that would have been an important food source for prehistoric humans living in the region. Experimental data have shown that the caloric return rates of C. bulbosus were enough to support seasonal exploitation by foragers, yet there has been no direct evidence for the use of this geophyte from the archaeological record. In this study, we examine starch granules from 10 ground stone tools excavated from two stratified, multicomponent …

Madagascar Terrestrial Camera Survey Database 2021: A Collation Of Protected Forest Camera Surveys From 2007–2021, Erin M. Wampole, Brian D. Gerber, Jean Claude Razafimahaimodison, Mahandry Hugues Andrianarisoa, Claude Jacquot Ralazampirenena, Patricia C. Wright, C. Delaid Rasamisoa, Dean Gibson, Natalie Vasey, Multiple Additional Authors

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Madagascar is a threatened global biodiversity hotspot and conservation priority, yet we lack broad-scale surveys to assess biodiversity across space and time. To fill this gap, we collated camera trap surveys, capturing species occurrences within Madagascar into a single standardized database. This data set includes nine distinct protected areas of Madagascar and encompasses 13 subprojects, 38 camera arrays, and 1156 sampling units (independent camera site per survey) within two important biodiversity eco-regions: western dry deciduous forest and eastern humid rainforest. Camera surveys were conducted from June 2007 to January 2021. The final data set includes 17 unique families of mammals …

Looking Back, Looking Forward: Resilience And Persistence In A Klamath Tribal Community, Thomas J. Connolly, Christopher L. Ruiz, Douglas Deur, Perry Chocktoot Jr., Jaime L. Kennedy, Dennis L. Jenkins, Julia A. Knowles

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

The process of human culture entails a perpetual negotiation between the familiar and the new. In the Americas, this process was much accelerated and amplified within Native communities by the historical processes of colonization. We use the record of the Beatty Curve archaeological site in south-central Oregon to examine how members of the Klamath Tribes and their ancestors selectively adopted, adapted, or repurposed introduced materials and practices most compatible with traditional lifeways and values while also maintaining many traditional practices, both overtly and covertly. Transformations from pre-contact to reservation life, and through Termination and Restoration in the 20th century, are …

P3k14c, A Synthetic Global Database Of Archaeological Radiocarbon Dates, Erick Robinson

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Archaeologists increasingly use large radiocarbon databases to model prehistoric human demography (also termed paleo-demography). Numerous independent projects, funded over the past decade, have assembled such databases from multiple regions of the world. These data provide unprecedented potential for comparative research on human population ecology and the evolution of social-ecological systems across the Earth. However, these databases have been developed using different sample selection criteria, which has resulted in interoperability issues for global-scale, comparative paleo-demographic research and integration with paleoclimate and paleoenvironmental data. We present a synthetic, global-scale archaeological radiocarbon database composed of 180,070 radiocarbon dates that have been cleaned according …

Dogs Produce Distinctive Play Pants: Confirming Simonet Et Al. (2001), Shelly Volsche, Hannah Gunnip, Cameron Brown, Makayla Kiperash, Holly Root-Gutteridge, Alexandra Horowitz

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Identifying meaningful vocalizations in nonhuman animals can help explain the evolution of human communications. However, non-speech-like sounds, including laughter equivalents, are not well studied, although they may be meaningful. In this pilot study we investigate whether dogs perform a domain-specific pant during play by capturing vocalizations and behaviors during three interactions: training, play, and rest. Sixteen human and dog dyads participated in a session that included all three interactions in the same order: training, play, rest. During these sessions, each partner wore wireless microphones that transmitted to a receiver and digital recorder, while a standalone digital camera captured video of …

The Difference Is In The Details: Attachment And Cross-Species Parenting In The United States And India, Shelly Volsche, Rijita Mukherjee, Madhavi Rangaswamy

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

The purpose of the current research was to explore changes in Indian attitudes and practices with pet dogs and cats and compare them with responses from the United States. Pet parenting, defined as the investment of money, emotion, and time in companion animals, is a form of alloparental care (care given by someone other than the offspring’s biological parents). Pet parenting appears to emerge in cultures that (1) demonstrate high rates of urbanization, (2) have declining total fertility rates (average births per woman), and (3) support life orientations beyond reproduction (collectively called the second demographic transition). A total of 1,417 …

New Research Suggests Cat And Dog ‘Moms’ And ‘Dads’ Really Are Parenting Their Pets: Here’S The Evolutionary Explanation Why, Shelly Volsche

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Have you noticed more cats riding in strollers lately? Or bumper stickers that read, “I love my granddogs”? You’re not imagining it. More people are investing serious time, money and attention in their pets.

It looks an awful lot like parenting, but of pets, not people.

Can this kind of caregiving toward animals really be considered parenting? Or is something else going on here?

Public And Community Archaeology In The Pacific Northwest, Douglas C. Wilson

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

The author reflects on the integration of multiple communities of Pacific Northwest archaeological practitioners in a single setting at Portland State University’s (PSU) Archaeology Roadshow. Pioneered by Dr. Virginia Butler, since 2011 this program has integrated agencies, tribes, museums, private-sector CRM firms, archaeology volunteers, elementary schools, and the students of PSU’s Public Archaeology class, to provide exhibits, hands-on activities, and an opportunity for collectors to interact with experts in artifact identification.

On The Past 40 Years Of Archaeology In The Pacific Northwest, Virginia L. Butler

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Butler reviews changes she has witnessed in the practice of archaeology in the Pacific Northwest since her 1975 field school at Lind Coulee. While enormous changes have occurred in technology (e.g., computers, GIS), analytic methods (e.g., aDNA, isotope geochemistry), and research questions and goals, the most profound change has been the increasing role of tribes and Indigenous peoples. Enlarging the scope of “who” does archaeology gives us new insights about our collective past, but also supports justice, equity and inclusion, values of increasing importance to society at large.

Virginia Butler: Commitment, Service, And Mentoring At Portland State University, 1993–2020, Michele Ruth Gamburd

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

No abstract provided.

Recovering Salmon: Zooarchaeology And Oral Tradition In The Documentation Of Extirpated Cultural Keystone Species In The Upper Klamath Basin, Douglas Deur, Perry Chocktoot Jr.

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

As this special issue attests, Dr. Virginia Butler and her students have made significant and lasting contributions to the study of human-environment relationships over deep time in the Pacific Northwest. Beyond this, their contributions suggest the potential of archaeological research to engage the public and to address pressing natural resource issues of our time. Their investigations of Pacific salmon harvests in the Klamath River Basin are an important case in point. Applying the methods of zooarchaeology to the study of anadromous fish in the Upper Klamath Basin, Butler and her students provide clear corroboration of Tribal oral tradition. In turn, …

Reflections On The State Of Northwest Archaeology: Essays In Honor Of Virginia Butler: Introduction, Shelby L. Anderson, Jeremy Spoon

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Introduction to the Fall 2021 issue of Journal of Northwest Anthropology. Essays in Honor of Virginia L. Butler, Portland State University.

Teasing Apart Impacts Of Human Activity And Regional Drought On Madagascar’S Large Vertebrate Fauna: Insights From New Excavations At Tsimanampesotse And Antsirafaly, Laurie R. Godfrey, Brooke Crowley, Kathleen M. Muldoon, Stephen J. Burns, Nick Scroxton, Zachary S. Klukkert, Lovasoa Ranivoharimanana, Jamie Alumbaugh, Matthew Borths, Natalie Vasey

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Madagascar experienced a major faunal turnover near the end of the first millenium CE that particularly affected terrestrial, large-bodied vertebrate species. Teasing apart the relative impacts of people and climate on this event requires a focus on regional records with good chronological control. These records may document coeval changes in rainfall, faunal composition, and human activities. Here we present new paleontological and paleoclimatological data from southwestern Madagascar, the driest part of the island today. We collected over 1500 subfossil bones from deposits at a coastal site called Antsirafaly and from both flooded and dry cave deposits at Tsimanampesotse National Park. …

Bayesian Assessment Of Northern Alaskan Chronological Issues: Implications For Future Research, Thomas J. Brown, Shelby Anderson, Justin Andrew Junge, Jonathan Duelks

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Cultural interaction and exchange across the Bering Strait of northern Alaska played a central role in the emergence of Arctic maritime adaptations. Yet poor chronological control limits our ability to explore processes of cultural change over the last 5000years. We address this problem by synthesizing the available radiocarbon record for the region, carrying out Bayesian analysis of a regional radiocarbon database, and analyzing the BAR-1 (Birnirk) site using new dates published in this paper. Our synthesis and our illustrative analysis of the BAR-1 site highlights several intriguing temporal and spatial trends with implications for interaction between cultural groups. Our analysis …

Ten Years On: Engaging The Public Through The Archaeology Roadshow, Virginia L. Butler, Lyssia Merrifield, Virginia Parks, Shelby Anderson

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Public engagement is a critical part of archaeologists’ tool kit for encouraging people to look beyond the glittering but superficial appeal of “artifacts” to appreciate and respect the peoples and cultures that made them. Engagement takes many forms—from museum exhibits, archaeological site tours, K–12 curriculum, and social media to heritage tourism, documentary films, and more. Whatever the medium or approach, a common goal is to increase the public’s understanding of the broader values archaeology strives to promote (e.g., scientific literacy, cultural diversity, civic engagement, critical thinking) and to open the door for discussion of the ethical and moral issues surrounding …

Lidar Predictive Modeling Of Pacific Northwest Mound Sites: A Study Of Willamette Valley Kalapuya Mounds, Oregon (Usa), Tia Rachelle Cody, Shelby Anderson

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Archaeologists need new methods to survey large areas and overcome environmental and archaeological barriers to site discovery in heavily forested regions. LiDAR (light detection and ranging) technology is one possible solution to these challenges as LiDAR digitally clears away vegetation, facilitating large-scale remote sensing survey. The Calapooia Watershed, located in the southern Willamette Valley of Oregon, is an ideal area to utilize LiDAR. While valley lowlands are cleared for agriculture, riverine areas remain heavily wooded and are known to contain hundreds of low-lying earthwork features created by pre-colonial Kalapuyan people. To assess the potential application of LiDAR in this region, …

Behavioral Ecology Of The Family: Harnessing Theory To Better Understand Variation In Human Families, Paula Sheppard, Kristin Snopkowski

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Researchers across the social sciences have long been interested in families. How people make decisions such as who to marry, when to have a baby, how big or small a family to have, or whether to stay with a partner or stray are questions that continue to interest economists, sociologists, demographers, and anthropologists. Human families vary across the globe; different cultures have different marriage practices, different ideas about who raises children, and even different notions of what a family is. Human behavioral ecology is a branch of anthropology that is particularly interested in cultural variation of family systems and how …

Pet Parenting In The United States: Investigating An Evolutionary Puzzle, Shelly Volsche

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Fertility rates continue to decline globally amidst the second demographic transition, marked by urbanization, increased educational attainment, and most importantly, a new flexibility in life-course organization. As a result, some individuals are choosing to bring companion animals in the home rather than raising children. Purpose The purpose of this study is to explore whether these transitions result in differential companion animal attachment and caregiving behavior in the homes of parents (or those who desire to become parents) and nonparents or childfree “pet parents.” Methods A total of 917 respondents completed an online survey via Qualtrics that included demographic questions, the …

Fertility Intentions And Outcomes In Indonesia: Evolutionary Perspectives On Sexual Conflict, Kristin Snopkowski, James Joseph Nelson

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Differential fertility preferences for men and women may provide insights into human sexual conflict. We explore whether pairbonded couples have different preferences for future offspring, which socioecological factors are associated with these preferences, and who achieves their desired fertility over time. We utilise the Indonesia Family Life Survey (IFLS), a longitudinal survey which collected data from 1993 to 2015, to compare desired future fertility for 9655 couples and follow couples who had divergent preferences. The majority of couples (64.8%) want the same number of future offspring. In 20.7% of couples, husbands want more future offspring than their wives, while the …

Understanding Short-Term Household Recoveries From The 2015 Nepal Earthquakes: Lessons Learned And Recommendations, Jeremy Spoon, Drew Gerkey, Ram B. Chhetri, Alisa Rai, Umesh Basnet, Chelsea E. Hunter

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

We assess tangible and intangible disaster recovery dynamics following the 2015 Nepal earthquakes and aftershocks in order to understand household adaptive capacity and transformation. We randomly selected 400 households in four communities across two highly impacted districts for surveys and interviews at 9 months and 1.5 years afterwards and returned at 2.5 years to share and discuss results. We found that household recoveries were heterogenous, context specific, and changing. Tangible hazard exposure, livelihood disruption, and displacement and intangible place attachment and mental well-being influenced recoveries. We also illustrate challenges related to government programs, housing designs and codes, and outside aid.

Americans Adopted Fewer Pets From Shelters In 2020 As The Supply Of Rescue Animals Fell, Shelly Volsche

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Demand for new pets certainly seemed to spike when the COVID-19 pandemic reached the United States in early 2020 and forced many Americans to spend more time isolated.

But adoptions from animal shelters and rescues actually fell 17% to approximately 1.6 million in 2020 from over 1.9 million in 2019, according to Shelter Animal Counts, a nonprofit that tracks data regarding animals that spend time in shelters.

How did Americans end up welcoming fewer rescued animals into their homes during the COVID-19 pandemic? The short answer is that there weren’t enough furry friends to go around.

“The Jesuit Mission Proves We Were Here”: The Case Of Eighteenth-Century Jesuit Missions Aiding Twenty-First Century Tribal Recognition, Andrew R. Beaupre

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Records indicate that during the French colonial period, Jesuits established four mission congregations within the territory now known as Vermont. These missions were established to preach to both French colonists and Native converts on Isle La Motte, on the Missisquoi River in Swanton, at Fort Saint-Frédéric on Lake Champlain, and in the area known as the Koas on the Connecticut River. In the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, the Abenaki peoples of Vermont have had a long and difficult road to gain state and federal recognition. These descendant communities have invoked the existence of Jesuit missions to the Abenaki as proof …

Dietary Ecology Of Alaskan Polar Bears (Ursus Maritimus) Through Time And In Response To Arctic Climate Change, Ansley S. Petherick, Joshua D. Reuther, Scott J. Shirar, Shelby Anderson, Larisa R G Desantis

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Arctic climate change poses serious threats to polar bears (Ursus maritimus) as reduced sea ice makes seal prey inaccessible and marine ecosystems undergo bottom-up reorganization. Polar bears' elongated skulls and reduced molar dentition, as compared to their sister species the grizzly bear (Ursus arctos), are adaptations associated with hunting seals on sea ice and a soft, lipid-rich diet of blubber and meat. With significant declines in sea ice, it is unclear if and how polar bears may be altering their diets. Clarifying polar bear dietary responses to changing climates, both today and in the past, is critical to proper conservation …

Chemical Mapping To Evaluate Post-Depositional Diagenesis Among The Earliest Ceramics In The Teotihuacan Valley, Mexico, Wesley D. Stoner, Barry J. Shaulis

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Chemical and mineral sourcing techniques are commonly employed in archaeology to reconstruct patterns of ceramic exchange and raw material procurement practices for the past, but the effects of post-depositional diagenesis are still often ignored despite a number of key studies warning that the composition of ceramics from archaeological deposits often diverges greatly from their original composition at the time of production. This current study on diagenesis derives from a large chemical and petrographic analysis of some of the earliest ceramics (1500-100 cal Before Common Era [BCE]) in the Basin of Mexico at a time when the development of ceramic trade …

Tribal Revegetation Project Final Project Report: 92-Acre Area, Area 5 Radioactive Waste Management Complex, Nevada National Security Site, Nevada, Jeremy Spoon, Brittany Kruger, Richard Arnold, Kate Monti Barcalow, Tribal Revegetation Committee, Trc

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Nuwu (Southern Paiute), Newe (Western Shoshone), and Nuumu (Owens Valley Paiute) are linguistically related, Numic-speaking peoples who are part of the broader Uto-Aztecan language group. Numic peoples view the land as a holistic, living, sentient being with feelings and purpose. The land is personified with human characteristics and it needs to be experienced to be understood through “learning by doing.” Numic peoples do not support ground disturbing activities within their ancestral lands, including activities tied to the storage of low-level radioactive waste or classified materials on the NNSS, which they view as culturally inappropriate. These deep-rooted ancestral connections are the …

Decreased Cortisol Among Hikers Who Preferentially Visit And Value Biodiverse Riparian Zones, Ellie Opdahl, Kathryn Demps, Julie A. Heath

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

While outdoor recreationists often report increases to their well-being for time spent in nature, the mechanisms through which local ecologies affect human health have been difficult to quantify, and thus to manage. We combine data from pre-post salivary cortisol measures, GPS tracks, visitor photos, and surveys from 88 hikers traversing several types of landscape within peri-urban public lands in southwest Idaho, USA. We find that time in biodiverse riparian areas and areas of perceived aesthetic value correlates with decreases in salivary cortisol and improved well-being for hikers. Wildlife sightings were not associated with changes in salivary cortisol, but were associated …

Tempo And Mode Of Neolithic Crop Adoption By Palaeolithic Hunter-Gatherers Of Taiwan: Ethno-Archaeological And Behavioural Ecology Perspectives, Pei-Lin Yu

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Archaeological evidence from the Early Taiwan Neolithic facilitates the development and assessment of predictive statements about habitat-related variance in the initial adoption of agriculture. This paper summarises archaeological research about Taiwan’s terminal Palaeolithic and early Neolithic periods, and derives working expectations from human behavioural ecology models of diet breadth, opportunity cost, and future discounting, as well as ethno-archaeological research. Expectations are evaluated using Lewis Binford’s hunter-gatherer database. Results allow for the prediction that selective forces during the Neolithic transition of Taiwan favoured mixed economies that varied according to the properties of the local habitat, the social and subsistence organisation of …

Cultural And Spiritual Significance Of Nature: Guidance For Protected And Conserved Area Governance And Management, Bas Verschuuren, Josep-Maria Mallarach, Edwin Bernbaum, Jeremy Spoon, Steve Brown, Radhika Borde, Jessica Brown, Mark Calamia

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

The cultural and spiritual significance of nature has been defined as the spiritual, cultural, inspirational, aesthetic, historic and social meanings, values, feelings, ideas and associations that natural features and nature in general have for past, present and future generations of people – both individuals and groups. These guidelines respond to a growing need to make conservation more inclusive, effective and socially just by accommodating multiple worldviews; by treating natural and cultural heritage as interlinked; and by suggesting ways for engaging and empowering all relevant groups and stakeholders in protected area design, governance and management. The guidelines also assist with creating …

The Revival Of Reindeer Herding In The North Baikal Highlands, Republic Of Buryatia, John P. Ziker

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

This paper summarizes work with two Evenki reindeer herding collectives in the Severo-Baikal’skoe nagor’e in July, 2010. Ethnographic work with reindeer herder groups Oron and Uluki, both established in the early 1990s in the Kholodnoe community, highlighted two variations on the traditional Evenki approach to reindeer herding evincing numerous commonalities. Both groups relied on natural and human-made features of the landscape to habituate reindeer to areas where reindeer herding had been abandoned for close to 20 years. Reindeer herders and reindeer mutually determine seasonal and daily mobility patterns, and reindeer herding activities are leveraged to conduct big-game hunting and furbearer …