Anthropology Commons^™

The Expansion Of Class Concepts And The Colorado Coal Field War Project, David M. Amrine

Nebraska Anthropologist

The Colorado Coal Field War Project was an attempt by McGuire, Reckner, and others to develop a 'working-class' archaeology that served the public as well as the archaeologists performing excavations and research. The attempt was successful, promoting and supporting ideas that had been discussed in archaeology about gender, class, and the treatment of archaeology as a craft. Their example of using archaeology to benefit communities as well as academic interests can and should be tested in other regions of the United States as well as the rest of the world.

A Preliminary Survey Of Lesser-Known Polyandrous Societies, Katie Starkweather

Nebraska Anthropologist

To challenge the common misconception that there are only four societies in the world that allow polyandry, this paper uses types of polyandry, suggested by Levine and Sangree (1980), to identify polyandrous societies from India, Africa, South America, and North America. Basic issues of these societies are examined within the context of four commonly cited attempts to explain the existence of polyandry. The goal of the paper is a preliminary look at the existence of polyandry around the world and an initial exploration of issues that mayor may not be associated with this form of marriage.

Temporal Insanity: Woodland Archaeology And The Construction Of Valid Chronologies, Erin C. Dempsey

Nebraska Anthropologist

This paper will bring to light the problems existing in the current, working chronology employed in Woodland Period archaeology and determine how, possibly, these problems can be alleviated. I assert that creating new chronologies that speak to specific research questions and doing away with a static and unchanging culture-historical perspective in Woodland Period archaeology will help archaeologists better investigate how people lived and interacted during this time and, more importantly, how they facilitated and experienced cultural change in the Eastern Woodlands of North America. By lifting the framework culture history has superimposed on the archaeology of Woodland peoples (i.e. Adena, …

Technological Introductions And Social Change: European Technology On The Great Plains, Andrew Labounty

Nebraska Anthropologist

This paper will explore the changing structure of American Indian society with the introduction of Euro-American technology and practices on the Plains. I intend to compare and contrast social aspects of Indian culture before and after contact, including the presence and intensity of marriage exchanges, levels of exogamy, the intensity of polygyny, and degree of stratification among native groups. These comparisons will shed light on the mechanisms of culture change, showing the entire process to be gradual and often due to conscious, immediately beneficial decisions.

Collective Memory Of The Prehistoric Past And The Archaeological Landscape, Cynthia J. Wiley

Nebraska Anthropologist

The crossroads of archaeological investigation and indigenous oral tradition are ripe with potential for increased interaction between archaeologists and Native Americans. This interaction may become increasingly mandated in the future as NAGPRA affects excavations and material culture collections. Currently this body of information is not being fully utilized. However, as examples of chronologically lengthy prehistoric memory develop, including myths and traditions related to Pleistocene mammals, archaeologists must be prepared to incorporate this information into research designs and interpretations. Strong (1934) and Echo-Hawk (2000) provide a way to critique and organize oral tradition for analysis. Archaeologists must build on this foundation …

Nebraska Anthropologist Volume 23 : 2008 Table Of Contents

Nebraska Anthropologist

In Search of Blood-Stained Earth: A Consideration of Battlefield Archaeology's Applicability to Pre-Historic Conflict in the Eastern and Central Regions of North America (Andrew P. McFeaters)

Technological Introductions and Social Change: European Technology on the Great Plains (Andrew LaBounty)

Temporal Insanity: Woodland Archaeology and the Construction of Valid ChronologIies (Erin C. Dempsey)

Time Perspectivism, Temporal Dynamics, and Battlefield Archaeology: A Case Study from the Santiago Campaign of 1898 (William E. Altizer)

Collective Memory of the Prehistoric Past and the Archaeological Landscape (Cynthia J. Wiley)

Cultural Mentoring at Lincoln North Star High School: A Case Study (Stephen Damm)

The "How" of …

Time Perspectivism, Temporal Dynamics, And Battlefield Archaeology: A Case Study From The Santiago Campaign Of 1898, William E. Altizer

Nebraska Anthropologist

Given the unique ability of archaeology to illuminate temporal processes, archaeologists have begun employing a number of theoretical models to understand the nature of these processes, and the ways in which the modern archaeological landscape retains their physical traces. Battlefields, as discrete temporal events taking place in physical settings with their own history, offer an intriguing avenue to explore archaeological temporality. This paper reviews the ways in which archaeologists have employed the Annales approach and time perspectivism, and considers a case study in battlefield archaeology - the 1898 battlefield of EI Caney, Cuba.

The "How" Of The Three Sisters: The Origins Of Agriculture In Mesoamerica And The Human Niche, Amanda J. Landon

Nebraska Anthropologist

The origins of agriculture· in Mesoamerica have long interested archaeologists and antiquarians alike. The approaches used to understand the origins of the three sisters, maize, beans and squash, have changed over time as our understanding of the ecological context and ethnographic influences have changed. In this paper, I examine the history of the study of the origins of agriculture and assess the current evolutionary and ecological approaches to the topic. In Mesoamerica, the three sisters and humans shared a co evolutionary relationship in which humans invited the plants into the human niche and the plants thrived. Over time, the plants …

In Search Of Blood-Stained Earth: A Consideration Of Battlefield Archaeology's Applicability To Pre-Historic Conflict In The Eastern And Central Regions Of North America, Andrew P. Mcfeaters

Nebraska Anthropologist

During the last twenty-four years archaeologists have proven that we are now able to investigate a previously inaccessible part of the archaeological record: the battlefield. These fields of conflict, once inaccessible due to their nature, have become accessible to archaeologists through the use of metal detectors, the global positioning system (GPS), remote sensing, historical documents, maps, photographs (aerial and period), and the geographic information system (GIS), among the traditional methods used in archaeological research, such as surface surveys and excavation. However, battlefield archaeology's current scope is limited to those conflicts recorded by history. Is it possible for battlefield archaeologists to …

The Impact Of The Atlantic Slave Trade On West Africa: Polygyny And Female Reproductive Success, Katherine Lamie

Nebraska Anthropologist

J.D. Fage (1969) and Patrick Manning (1981; 1990) examine demographic data from historical records, in the West African political and economic context, in order to formulate theories of the impact of the Atlantic slave trade on West African populations and social structure. However, Fage and Manning come to markedly different conclusions. Fage maintains that the intensification of polygyny in West Africa that accompanied the Atlantic slave trade preserved African populations. In contrast, Manning argues that intensified polygynous marriages on the West African coast decreased the fertility of female slaves, thereby depressing population growth and affecting traditional social structures. Manning later …

The Past Is How We Present It: Nationalism And Archaeology In Italy From Unification To Wwii, Andrew P. Mcfeaters

Nebraska Anthropologist

Between the last quarter of the nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth century, Italian archaeology was greatly influenced by nationalism. The political use of archaeology by the Italian government can be seen in the years following unification and even more so when Benito Mussolini came to power, determined to make a new Italy modeled after the Roman Empire. He planned to do this by enforcing the adoption of ancient Roman culture, but also by resurrecting the Roman past through various archaeological projects to remind the Italians of their heritage. This goal guaranteed a nationalistic approach to the …

Cultural Mentoring At Lincoln North Star High School: A Case Study, Stephen Damm

Nebraska Anthropologist

Mentoring relationships are fraught with obstacles for both mentor and mentee. Despite challenges, these relationships provide assistance and guidance in ways not possible through other means. After the establishment of a theoretical framework for mentoring, the principles of community based participatory research(CBPR) are applied to a cross-cultural mentoring program between students at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) and students at North Star High School in Lincoln, Nebraska in an attempt to qualitatively analyze the program's benefits.

Bioprospecting And Biopiracy In Latin America: The Case Of Maca In Perú, Amanda J. Landon

Nebraska Anthropologist

Bioprospecting is a popular venture in Latin America due to the regions' high concentration of the world's biodiversity. This activity has an impact on the native peoples living in areas with potentially profitable plants. They can lose access to traditional plants and extraction processes when companies patent indigenous cultivars and knowledge. In many cases, they cannot patent their cultivars and knowledge before others due to cultural and monetary restrictions. In this paper, I examine the legal and cultural context surrounding the battle over Lepidium meyenii (maca) in Peru. Pure World, Inc., a United States pharmaceutical company, patented the extracts derived …

Overcoming The United States' Policy On The Exclusion Of Hivpositive Noncitizens: How Asylum Cases Are Beginning To Open Previously Locked Doors, Amy Vaughn

Nebraska Anthropologist

In 1987, the United States Congress enacted a policy that prohibited HIV-positive noncitizens from entering the United States for both temporary visits and immigration. Nearly two decades later, the policy still stands, making the United States one of only a handful of countries that still enforces such an exclusionary policy. Several international health organizations, including the World Health Organization, have condemned the HIV ban as "irrational and without public health justification" (Goldberg 1998). In 1993, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services attempted to remove HIV from the exclusion list based on the fact that it is not transmitted …

Cultural Identity And Continuity At The Missions Of New Spain: Examining The Native American Experience At The Spanish Missions Of Texas, William E. Altizer

Nebraska Anthropologist

The Roman Catholic missions of New Spain were an essential component of the Spanish colonial enterprise, and the effects of the missionization process on the Native American populations of the Americas were profound. How did these native populations respond to the new imperatives of colonization and religious conversion? In what ways were they able to maintain their cultural identity under the mission system? This paper examines the ways in which archaeology can address these questions of cultural continuity, with particular emphasis on the eighteenth-century Spanish missions of San Antonio, Texas.

The Influence Of Refugee Status On Palestinian Identity And The Impact Of Identity On Durable Solutions To The Refugee Problem, Michaela S. Clemens

Nebraska Anthropologist

Over the last fifty years the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has generated massive numbers of refugees. The scale and longevity of the conflict has made the Palestinian refugee problem the most protracted and largest refugee situation in the world today (Merhab et al. 2006). The processes of becoming a refugee and living as a refugee have had direct impacts on the formation of Palestinian identity. In this paper, I examine the influence of refugee status on identity and discuss how this identity affects potential solutions to the protracted refugee situation. I offer a brief historical background to the creation of Palestinian refugees. …

Getting Your Hands A Little Less Dirty: An Exercise In Using Geophysics To Understand Hopewell Earthwork Construction, Erin C. Dempsey

Nebraska Anthropologist

Hopewellian earthworks are extremely complex in their make-up and indicate precise and planned soil placement by participants in the Hopewell culture. As such, recent research at the Hopeton Earthworks in Chillicothe, Ohio has focused on understanding how earthworks were constructed. Eight backhoe trenches excavated through the earthwork walls have revealed intricate and diverse soil stratigraphy. However, researchers do not yet know where the soils originated; this study aims to answer that question. To accomplish this, magnetic susceptibility testing was conducted on soil cores taken from in and around the earthworks. These results are compared to susceptibility testing results done on …

Archaeology In Palestine: The Life And Death Of Albert Glock, Katherine Lamie

Nebraska Anthropologist

This paper provides a critical examination of the dynamic connection between archaeological research and programs of political and religious agendas in Israel and Palestine. This examination contributes to recent discipline-wide discussions concerning the powerful impact of archaeological research in areas of political and religious turmoil. The first section of this paper notes the absence of an Islamic counterpart to Biblical archaeology. While there is no archaeology that attempts to prove literal interpretations of the Qur'an, the rather complex archaeology advanced by Albert Glock (1984; 1994; 1995) serves to meet the needs of marginalized Palestinian villagers. Yet Glock's experience with the …

Nebraska Anthropologist Volume 22: 2007 Table Of Contents

Nebraska Anthropologist

Cultural Identity and Continuity at the Missions of New Spain: Examining the Native American Experience at the Spanish Missions of Texas (William E. Altizer) The Impact of the Atlantic Slave Trade on West Africa: Polygyny and Female Reproductive Success (Katherine Lamie) Getting Your Hands a Little Less Dirty: An Exercise in Using Geophysics to Understand Hopewell Earthwork Construction (Erin C. Dempsey) The Past Is How We Present It: Nationalism and Archaeology in Italy from Unification to WWII (Andrew P. McFeaters) Bioprospecting and Biopiracy in Latin America: The Case of Maca in Perú (Amanda J. Landon) Overcoming the United States' Policy …

Hopewell Earthworks Of Southern Ohio: A Study Of The Purpose Of Earthworks, Erin C. Dempsey

Nebraska Anthropologist

Across the prehistoric landscape, the Ohio Hopewell constructed large mounds and earthworks, and though archaeologists have a general understanding of this phenomenon, questions remain as to the location, purpose, and construction of the earthworks. Answering them, however, is difficult due to the paucity of information, both written and archaeological, regarding the Hopewell and their culture. This paper attempts to discuss how the Hopewell chose earthwork locations, how the earthworks functioned within the culture, how culture affected the construction of the earthworks, and the logistics of time and labor that go into creating such large earthen structures.

A Landscape Approach To Bighorn Sheep Rock Art In The Dolores River Valley, Amanda M. Davey

Nebraska Anthropologist

This paper attempts to analyze the location of bighorn sheep rock art in the Dolores River Valley in relation to projected areas of bighorn sheep habitat. A landscape approach is applied in order to gain a better understanding of the reasons behind the placement of bighorn rock art presently found on the current landscape. Twenty six rock art sites recorded by Gay Ives in the Dolores River Valley of Southwestern Colorado will be analyzed in the current study. Eleven bighorn sheep elements were identified by Ives at four separate rock art sites. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is employed to conduct …

Frontier Impressions: The Role Of Daub At The Beaver Creek Trail Crossing Site, Brennan J. Dolan

Nebraska Anthropologist

In the summer of 2005 the University of Nebraska-Lincoln archaeological field school excavated at the Beaver Creek Trail Crossing Site (25SW49). Early on the excavations at this historic site began to reveal a high amount of material salvaging by site occupants. This paper takes a systematic look at daub as an investigative substance. This piece discusses what archaeologists can learn by examining daub similarly to the analyses of more traditional archaeological materials (e.g. lithics). Additionally, this manuscript addresses frontier building practices with specific consideration to salvaging activity.

There Is No Alternative To Tribalism, Denny Gayton

Nebraska Anthropologist

Tribal traditions and the western scientific tradition are not investigated for congruency or correspondences. The tribal order of the universe concerns itself with wholeness while the western order, in comparison, is fragmented The tribal order is introduced first through correspondences alluding to physics. The feature that both the tribal order and the western order, through modern physics, will speak to is reductionistic-externalistic mechanism The relativity and quantum theories illustrate inadequacy with mechanism; a feature central to the tribal Lakota order, wakan, is used to bring both theories together through its internal, qualitative nature. The tribal order clearly has no issues …

You Can Take It With You: Archaeology At The Beaver Creek Trail Crossing, Nolan Johnson

Nebraska Anthropologist

The Beaver Creek Trail Crossing Site was a fording location along the Nebraska City Cut-Off of the Oregon and California Trail, occupied from 1862 through 1871. The site was situated on both creek banks and contained a road ranch. saloon, store, and post office. Geophysical data showed anomalies corresponding to irregularities in the ground surface. While excavation units placed at these locations revealed few remnants of in situ foundations, generalized scatters of mortar, nails, and chinking or filler stones were recorded. Given the lack of timber or stone near the site, this pattern suggests most of building materials were salvaged. …

Feasting At Nestor's Palace At Pylos, Deanna L. Wesolowski

Nebraska Anthropologist

Early in the excavation of Nestor's palace at Pylos it was apparent that the palace was a place of large-scale communal feasting. Both Homer's literary account of Nestor ' sf east sf rom the Odyssey and the overwhelming number of kylikes in the pantry rooms provided obvious evidence of this. It has only been later, after the decipherment of Linear B and reconstruction of the megaron frescoes that the purposes, reasons, and organization of the feasts began to be explored. This paper will examine the physical remains, specifically the pottery from the pantries, the wine magazine, and the faunal evidence …

Conceptions Of Humor: Lakota (Sioux), Koestlerian, And Computational, Benjamin Grant Purzycki

Nebraska Anthropologist

The Lakota (Sioux) sacred clowns (heyoka) of traditional religious practice offer a glimpse of the clown phenomenon found in many of the world's indigenous traditions. By illustrating the unified Lakota and Western conceptions of humor, the logic of how particular entities of the natural environment are understood as relatives according to Lakota thought is brought to light in hopes of introducing the idea that such insights were not only statements or observations about the external, physical world, but also about the internal or mental world.

Nebraska Anthropologist Volume 21: 2006 Table Of Contents:

Nebraska Anthropologist

An Understanding of the Relationship between Maquiladoras and Women's Rights in Central America (Mara D. Giles)

Changes in Post-Marital Residence Rules in an Era of National Reform: The Urban to Rural Disjunction in Contemporary China (Michaela S. Clemens)

Transboundary Protected Areas as a Solution to Border Issues (Catherine Pool)

Homosexuals in the Periphery: Gay and Lesbian Rights in Developing Africa (Brett Kennedy)

Frontier Impressions: The Role of Daub at the Beaver Creek Trail Crossing (Brennan J. Dolan)

You Can Take It with You: Archaeology at the Beaver Creek Trail Crossing (Nolan Johnson)

Hopewell Earthworks of Southern Ohio: A Study of …

Changes In Post-Marital Residence Rules In An Era Of National Reform: The Urban To Rural Disjunction In Contemporary China, Michaela S. Clemens

Nebraska Anthropologist

Alternatives to the traditional practice of patrilocal postmarital residence exist in modern day China and vary from urban to rural areas. Social and economic reforms that were instituted in postMao China had an influence on post-marital residence rules. These reforms include marriage laws, reproduction restrictions, the return to family farms, and greater access to employment. Government reforms had different impacts on urban and rural families, creating different family structures and compositions. Family customs, like post-marital residence, also diverged along rural and urban lines. In rural areas, patrilocality persists, but matrilocal marriage arrangements are increasing. In urban areas, a strong preference …

An Understanding Of The Relationship Between Maquiladoras And Women's Rights In Central America, Mara D. Giles

Nebraska Anthropologist

The impacts of globalization, deregulation, and free trade on Central American women, whether married or single, are numerous. On either side of the political borders, individual lives and cultures are impacted, often with dire results. Because of traditional gendered roles in these cultures, women's entrance into the formal economic sector has been slow and difficult. Maquiladoras created by globalization provide jobs for poor and undereducated women with few other options of employment. Because of the natures of the global economic system and issues of gender, the positions of these women of poverty are easily exploited. Though the consequences can be …

Lakota Struggles For Cultural Survival: History, Health, And Reservation Life, Benjamin Jewell

Nebraska Anthropologist

The effects of alcohol use on Pine Ridge are epidemic and have had a devastating impact on the current status of the residents. The historic effect of u.s. colonial relations with the Lakota has engendered a system of dependency, making the transition from an independent trading economy to capitalism difficult. This paper is an attempt to investigate the current life of Pine Ridge residents and relate how the past has shaped the present through a successful attempt by the u.s. to bring an end to the life-ways of the Lakota. This analysis will include a detailed statement of the economic …