Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Anthropology Commons™

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Discipline
Institution
Keyword
Publication Year
Publication
Publication Type
File Type

Articles 14611 - 14640 of 115982

Full-Text Articles in Anthropology

Exploring The First Ground Stone Quarry Discovered In The Casas Grandes Region Using Ethnoarchaeology, Michael T. Searcy, Todd Pitezel Jan 2014

Exploring The First Ground Stone Quarry Discovered In The Casas Grandes Region Using Ethnoarchaeology, Michael T. Searcy, Todd Pitezel

Faculty Publications

Several researchers have noted and studied the exquisitely formed manos and metates of the Casas Grandes region of northern Mexico. During a survey project in 2013, we located the first quarry ever discovered where these tools were manufactured of vesicular basalt using a suite of stone tools. This paper explores the morphology of the site, the toolkit of the metateros (metate makers), and ethnoarchaeological implications resulting from the study of modern metateros.

Go to article

Male Tibetan Macaques’ (Macaca Thibetana) Choice Of Infant Bridging Partners, Briana Bauer, Lori K. Sheeran, Megan D. Matheson, Jin-Hua Li, R. Steven Wagner Jan 2014

Male Tibetan Macaques’ (Macaca Thibetana) Choice Of Infant Bridging Partners, Briana Bauer, Lori K. Sheeran, Megan D. Matheson, Jin-Hua Li, R. Steven Wagner

Anthropology and Museum Studies Faculty Scholarship

Adult male Tibetan (Macaca thibetana), Barbary (M. sylvanus), and stump-tailed macaques (M. arctoides) engage in bridging, a ritualized infant-handling behavior. Previous researchers found a bias toward the use of male infants for this behavior, but its function is debated. Explanations include three hypotheses: paternal care, mating effort, and agonistic buffering. We studied a group of habituated, provisioned Tibetan macaques to test whether adult males’ affiliative relationships with females predicted their use of an infant for bridging. We also examined biases for sex, age, and individual in males’ choice of bridging infant. We collected data via all …

Go to article

Discourses Of Menstruation: Public And Private Formations Of Female Identity, Emily G. Matteson Jan 2014

Discourses Of Menstruation: Public And Private Formations Of Female Identity, Emily G. Matteson

Scripps Senior Theses

Menstruation is a biological process, but it is also laden with cultrual meanings that produce society's understandings of both the body and "womanhood." The experiences of those who menstruate both reveal and inform the ways that culture mediates the relationships between biology, the body, sex, and gender. This study examines the ways that students at Scripps College, a women's college in Claremont, CA, understand and experience menstruation as part of living in an environment where the majority of students identify as female. Through ethnographic interviews, I demonstrate the ways that students use menstruation to re-envision distinctions between public and private …

Go to article

Superstitious Precebo Illusion : Does Luck Charm Really Gives You Luck? It's Mere Possession Does!, Pik Ying Chan Jan 2014

Superstitious Precebo Illusion : Does Luck Charm Really Gives You Luck? It's Mere Possession Does!, Pik Ying Chan

Bachelor of Social Sciences – Senior Theses

Superstition is quite common in the modern society, people still hold superstitious beliefs and often engage in superstitious rituals that bring good luck. For example, Feng shui is the most popular superstition among Chinese and carrying a Feng shui luck charm such as mystic knot and red envelopes was believed to bring good luck. Likewise, in Western superstition, similar astrological talismans are believed to strengthen different qualities of the possessor. When one believes that certain object carried mystical power, having possession of it would grant the owner access to those powers. Nonetheless, the mystic power of these talismans is questionable …

Go to article

Childhood Growth In An Oneota Community: Examining Long Bone Growth Differences In The The Juveniles At Norris Farms 36, Whitney Broughton Jan 2014

Childhood Growth In An Oneota Community: Examining Long Bone Growth Differences In The The Juveniles At Norris Farms 36, Whitney Broughton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Oneota migration into the central Illinois River valley around ad 1300 resulted in a number of different interactions with Mississippian groups. Milner and colleagues (1991) identified significant numbers of perimortem injuries at the Norris farms 36 cemetery, along with biological markers for poor health, such as cribra orbitalia and porotic hyperostosis. They suggested that the threat of violence may have forced the Oneonta at Morton village to limit subsistence activities to circumscribed areas close to the settlement, thereby reducing the resource base and negatively impacting the health of the community. However, recent research (Bengtson et al. 2012; Bengtson and O'Gorman …

Go to article

Cohonina Social Organization And The Role Of Forts In Integration And Interaction: A View From The Pittsberg Community., Travis Brent Cureton Jan 2014

Cohonina Social Organization And The Role Of Forts In Integration And Interaction: A View From The Pittsberg Community., Travis Brent Cureton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the role of "forts" in the sociopolitical organization of a prehistoric people known as the Cohonina through the application of settlement systems analysis and functional studies. The primary objective of this thesis is to test ideas of Cohonina sociopolitical organization through an examination of the functional characteristics of forts and their positions on the landscape using a combination of theory derived from settlement and landscape archaeology, deployed in a geographic information system work environment. A Cohonina fort site known as the Pittsberg Fort Complex, was placed in its community context through broad scale survey. Artifact, architectural, and …

Go to article

Transnational Marriage: Modern Imaginings, Relational Realignments, And Persistent Inequalities, Coralynn V. Davis Jan 2014

Transnational Marriage: Modern Imaginings, Relational Realignments, And Persistent Inequalities, Coralynn V. Davis

Faculty Journal Articles

In the context of shifting cultural anchors as well as unstable global economic conditions, new practices of intimacy and sexuality may become tactics in an individual’s negotiation of conflicting desires and potentials. This article offers reflection on the interface between global forces, powerful transcultural narratives, and state policies, on the one hand, and local, even individual, constructions and tactics in regard to sexuality, marriage, migration, and work, on the other. The article focuses on the life trajectory of Gudiya, an ambitious young Hindu woman who started out life with little social capital and few economic resources in a dusty corner …

Go to article

A Paradoxical Paradise: The Marquesas As A Degenerate And Regenerative Space In The Western Imagination, Christine A. Zenel Jan 2014

A Paradoxical Paradise: The Marquesas As A Degenerate And Regenerative Space In The Western Imagination, Christine A. Zenel

Scripps Senior Theses

The Western imagination has ascribed histories and identities of the Marquesas Islands throughout centuries of evolving discourses and representations as a paradoxical paradise, bolstering colonialist ideologies of social evolutionary theory. The islands have either been represented as backwards on a social scale to justify Western dominance, or have been represented as being in a state of authentic human nature out of colonial guilt and imperialist nostalgia. These representations reveal a paradox in which the Marquesas is ascribed in the Western imagination as a degenerate space, yet also as a space where the regeneration of human nature is made …

Go to article

America The Yogiful: Insights Into American Yoga Culture Today, Carolina Castaneda Jan 2014

America The Yogiful: Insights Into American Yoga Culture Today, Carolina Castaneda

Master of Liberal Studies Theses

Originally a spiritual technology, yoga has been practiced in India and surrounding areas for thousands of years. In the late nineteenth century the practice of yoga gained popularity as a physical, mental and spiritual commodity among the masses in America and the world. Yoga is now a globally recognized fitness routine, part of the everyday lives of men and women seeking relaxation, stretching and mental sanity. In today’s fast paced world it is easy to understand yoga is appealing to the masses, however, as a yoga practitioner myself I often wondered if Americans are gaining all the benefits of the …

Go to article

Crafting, Community, And Collaboration: Reflections On The Ethnographic Sala Project At The Pukara Lithic Museum, Peru, Elizabeth A. Klarich Jan 2014

Crafting, Community, And Collaboration: Reflections On The Ethnographic Sala Project At The Pukara Lithic Museum, Peru, Elizabeth A. Klarich

Anthropology: Faculty Publications

The Museo Lítico Pukara (Pukara Lithic Museum) is an archaeological site museum in the small highland town of Pucará in the northwestern Lake Titicaca Basin of Peru. Recently, an ethnographic sala (exhibition space) was developed and installed within the museum that focuses on local craft production and its role within the agro-pasto- ral economy, regional exchange systems, and other house- hold-level and community activities. The sala is the culmination of a decade-long effort by national and foreign archaeologists, anthropologists from the regional univer- sity and their students, the Peruvian Ministry of Culture, and the townspeople of Pucará. This article presents …

Go to article

Late Classic Maya Provisioning And Distinction In Northwestern Belize, David J. Goldstein, Jon B. Hageman Jan 2014

Late Classic Maya Provisioning And Distinction In Northwestern Belize, David J. Goldstein, Jon B. Hageman

Anthropology Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Go to article

Perspectives On The Nature Of Science From A Group Of Students Attending Predominantly Hispanic West Texas High School, Cameron King Wilson Jan 2014

Perspectives On The Nature Of Science From A Group Of Students Attending Predominantly Hispanic West Texas High School, Cameron King Wilson

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The United States is falling far behind the rest of the world in its ability to fulfill its needs for qualified workers in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields. The Hispanic population is now the largest minority in the United States but is proportionally underrepresented in the STEM fields today. It is shown that students who have a good understanding of the Nature of Science (NOS) are far more likely to be interested in science which may lead to an interest in careers in STEM fields. There is very little if any research identifying Hispanic high school students' view …

Go to article

Expensive Errors Or Rational Choices: The Pioneer Fringe In Late Viking Age Iceland, Orri Vesteinsson, Mike Church, Andrew Dugmore, Thomas Mcgovern, Anthony Newton Jan 2014

Expensive Errors Or Rational Choices: The Pioneer Fringe In Late Viking Age Iceland, Orri Vesteinsson, Mike Church, Andrew Dugmore, Thomas Mcgovern, Anthony Newton

Publications and Research

Just as the colonies established on the North Atlantic islands in the Viking Age were peripheral to Europe, so these islands had their own peripheral areas. In Iceland the highland margins have long been a focus of archaeological research and the prevailing view has been that highland settlement failed because people had made unrealistic assessments of carrying capacity. This paper presents a case study of the northern highland valley of Krókdalur and argues that the dating and pattern of settlement in that valley indicates that its settlers were keenly aware of its limitations. It also suggests explanatory frameworks that can …

Go to article

Folkloric Musicians Among The Bugakhwe, Robert Veith Jan 2014

Folkloric Musicians Among The Bugakhwe, Robert Veith

Masters Theses

Increased access to global media by traditional culture in remote parts of Africa has, in many cases, seen indigenous music marginalized in favor of imported forms. In some places, a folkloric tradition thrives, though this music may face extinction if those who practice it do not document their art in a way which can be passed down to future generations. For this project, I recorded seven musician/composers of the Bugakhwe, a Khoisan people group living in the Okavango Delta region of Botswana. Two were given enough studio time to create a complete CD-length set, so as to show off the …

Go to article

Interdisciplinary Perspectives On Corruption, David Jancsics Jan 2014

Interdisciplinary Perspectives On Corruption, David Jancsics

Publications and Research

Corruption has become one of the most popular topics in the social scientific disciplines. However, there is a lack of interdisciplinary communication about corruption. Models developed by different academic disciplines are often isolated from each other. The purpose of this paper is to review several major approaches to corruption and draw them closer to each other. Most studies of corruption fall into three major categories: (i) rational-actor models where corruption is viewed as resulting from cost/benefit analysis of individual actors; (ii) structural models that focus on external forces that determine corruption; and (iii) relational models that emphasize social interactions and …

Go to article

Positional Plagiocephaly Among Tribal Societies And Contemporary Western Societies: A Comparison Of Treatments, Results, And Effects, Jacinda Rose Ruggles Jan 2014

Positional Plagiocephaly Among Tribal Societies And Contemporary Western Societies: A Comparison Of Treatments, Results, And Effects, Jacinda Rose Ruggles

Honors Program Theses

This study explores the two causes of positional plagiocephaly, or abnormal head shape in infants as well as effects and treatments. To do so, two groups were chosen for comparison: contemporary western societies and tribal Native American societies. In the first group, the medical condition known as positional plagiocephaly is considered before, during and after the Safe to Sleep campaign of the 1990’s. In the second group infant head flattening is discussed as a result of cradling practices and carrying techniques. The importance of this study is to contribute new insight into positional plagiocephaly and its treatments. The study combines …

Go to article

Excavation And Stratigraphic Analysis Of A Late Nineteenth Century Boiler House, Ariel Marie Williams Jan 2014

Excavation And Stratigraphic Analysis Of A Late Nineteenth Century Boiler House, Ariel Marie Williams

Honors Program Theses

An archaeological excavation was carried out in November of 2013 on the block of 13th and Tremont Streets in the city of Cedar Falls, Blackhawk County, Iowa. The site examined was home to a late nineteenth century boiler house that powered several greenhouses on the property. Greenhouses occupy a distinctive industrial niche and have rarely been studied using an archaeological approach. The goals in excavating at the boiler house site were to determine what formation processes led to the creation of the stratigraphy as initially observed by the property owner, and what the layers and artifacts recovered from them tell …

Go to article

Color Vision Variation As Evidenced By Hybrid L/M Opsin Genes In Wild Populations Of Trichromatic Alouatta New World Monkeys, Barbara Welker, Yuka Matsushita, Hiroki Oota, Mary S. Pavelka, Shoji Kawamura Jan 2014

Color Vision Variation As Evidenced By Hybrid L/M Opsin Genes In Wild Populations Of Trichromatic Alouatta New World Monkeys, Barbara Welker, Yuka Matsushita, Hiroki Oota, Mary S. Pavelka, Shoji Kawamura

Anthropology

Platyrrhine (New World) monkeys possess highly polymorphic color vision owing to allelic variation of the single-locus L/M opsin gene on the X chromosome. Most species consist of female trichromats and female and male dichromats. Howlers (genus Alouatta) are an exception; they are considered to be routinely trichromatic with L and M opsin genes juxtaposed on the X chromosome, as seen in catarrhine primates (Old World monkeys, apes, and humans). Yet it is not known whether trichromacy is invariable in howlers. We examined L/M opsin variation in wild howler populations in Costa Rica and Nicaragua (Alouatta palliata) and …

Go to article

Still More Studies In Rio Grande Valley History, Milo Kearney, Anthony K. Knopp, Antonio Zavaleta Jan 2014

Still More Studies In Rio Grande Valley History, Milo Kearney, Anthony K. Knopp, Antonio Zavaleta

Studies in Rio Grande Valley Regional History Series

Resaca, a poem / Josie Mixon -- Matamoros before the Texas Revolution : becoming Mexico’s pivitol port city on the northern frontier / Craig H. Roell -- The Great Sequoyah Mystery : a cover-up that stretched from the Cumberland Mountains to the Rio Grande Delta (and into Mexico) / Don Clifford -- Immigration to South Texas, 1850-1900 / Thomas Daniel Knight -- Cattle barons and the creation of an empire : a case study of the expansion of the Kennedy Ranch of South Texas / Elmer Sierra, William Yaworsky, and Amy Frazier -- A history of the Brownsville Police Department …

Go to article

La Violencia En El Fútbol: El Caso De América Latina, Corey X. Argumosa Jan 2014

La Violencia En El Fútbol: El Caso De América Latina, Corey X. Argumosa

CMC Senior Theses

In Latin America, violence inside and outside of soccer stadiums has generated negative publicity and has given the sport a negative image. This violence is often premeditated and carried out by the barrabravas, organized groups of radical fans who have strong senses of identity and attachment to their soccer club. Members of these groups are mainly young men from lower socio-economic backgrounds who have found themselves to be marginalized by society. Moreover, these groups are usually employed by club officials, and even have connections with politicians and political parties. This thesis will closely examine this issue, performing case studies of …

Go to article

Sorting Sheep And Goats In Medieval Iceland And Greenland Local Subsistence, Climate Change, Or World System Impacts?, Thomas Mcgovern, Ramona Harrison, Konrad Smiarowski Jan 2014

Sorting Sheep And Goats In Medieval Iceland And Greenland Local Subsistence, Climate Change, Or World System Impacts?, Thomas Mcgovern, Ramona Harrison, Konrad Smiarowski

Publications and Research

Large archaeofaunal collections recovered from Viking Age and Medieval sites in Iceland and Greenland during intensive collaborative fieldwork over the past decade have demonstrated a diverging pattern in sheep and goat (caprine) management after ca. 1200 CE in the two Norse communities. Since Landnám (first settlement), flocks in both places contained a mixture of sheep and goats and survivorship profiles suggest a very mixed milk-meat-wool production strategy. By the late 13th century Icelandic herds were nearly all sheep, and zooarchaeological evidence suggests an increasing focus on wool production. Greenlandic archaeofauna indicate that farmers maintained the old Viking Age pattern …

Go to article

Review Of 'How We Die Now: Intimacy And The Work Of Dying,' By Karla Erickson, Jennifer Davis-Berman Jan 2014

Review Of 'How We Die Now: Intimacy And The Work Of Dying,' By Karla Erickson, Jennifer Davis-Berman

Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work Faculty Publications

How We Die Now: Intimacy and the Work of Dying takes the reader on an engaging journey through the terrain of aging in America, with an emphasis on how our ideas about aging itself have changed the way we view death in the United States and even the way we actually die. This book has an authenticity to it, as Erickson admits that her own experience with aging and death compelled her to enter this world and study from the perspective of insiders, those who care for older adults and the actual elders themselves. Based on hundreds of hours of …

Go to article

Indigenous Engagement And Resistance In The 21st Century: Empowering Indigenous Identity With Indigenous Film, Heather A. Hafer Cole Jan 2014

Indigenous Engagement And Resistance In The 21st Century: Empowering Indigenous Identity With Indigenous Film, Heather A. Hafer Cole

Communication & Leadership Dissertations and Theses

Indigenous people of the United States have historically been and continue to be objectified and misrepresented in art, history, science, literature, and mass media. This continued colonization contributes to loss of respect for culture, identity crisis among indigenous youth, health disparities of epidemic proportions, poor performance in education, substance abuse, violence and poverty. This qualitative study expands upon existing scholarship in media anthropology (Dilworth, 1996; Ginsberg, 1991 & 2008; and Prins, 2002) and indigenous studies (Rader, 2011; Singer, 2001; and Tuhiwai Smith, 2012) by analyzing the indigenous voice expressed through media practice, storytelling as a tool for empowering indigenous identity …

Go to article

The Benefits And Detriments Of Non-Profit Organization Work In Underdeveloped Countries Across Africa, Collyn Mccarty Jan 2014

The Benefits And Detriments Of Non-Profit Organization Work In Underdeveloped Countries Across Africa, Collyn Mccarty

Social Sciences

No abstract provided.

Go to article

Traversing The Terrain: A Least Cost Analysis On Intersite Causeways In The Maya Region, Alexander Rivas Jan 2014

Traversing The Terrain: A Least Cost Analysis On Intersite Causeways In The Maya Region, Alexander Rivas

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The study of ancient Maya causeways is crucial for understanding Maya social and spatial organization. Archaeologists have been interested in Maya causeways for decades, specifically documenting their locations. More recently, the use of Geographic Information Systems, or GIS, has been used for understanding the spatial organization of archaeological sites. GIS analyses on ancient Maya causeways however have been very limited. This thesis aims to evaluate ancient Maya causeways through GIS analysis. Specifically, five intersite causeway systems are looked at: the Mirador Basin, Yaxuna-Coba-Ixil, Uxmal-Nohpat-Kabah, Ake-Izamal-Kantunil, and Uci-Kancab-Ukana- Cansahcab. These causeway systems were evaluated using least-cost paths based on the terrain. …

Go to article

Speaking With The Orishas: Divination And Propitiation In The Lukumi Religion, Kristi Marrero Jan 2014

Speaking With The Orishas: Divination And Propitiation In The Lukumi Religion, Kristi Marrero

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Lucumi religion was born in Cuba from African and European religious systems. The enslaved Yoruba were brought to the New World through the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. They were taken from their homes, family, language, and religion and brought to countries like Cuba to provide free labor to growing agricultural markets that benefited European colonizers of the Americas. The Yoruba would hold on to their religion, but in order to keep it alive, they would have to make it into a new religion. This new religion would become the religion known as Lucumi. In Cuba, Lucumi practitioners would hide their …

Go to article

Sharing Aloha On The Mainland: Cultural Identity And Connecting To Heritage Through Commercial Luau Shows In Central Florida, Brittany Hoback Jan 2014

Sharing Aloha On The Mainland: Cultural Identity And Connecting To Heritage Through Commercial Luau Shows In Central Florida, Brittany Hoback

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Polynesian luau is one of the most well-known examples of cultural tourism. As such, it has accrued plenty of criticism, from issues of authenticity to primitivizing stereotypes and bodily framing. Lost in these critiques, however, are the voices of Polynesian performers who have chosen to participate in this form of cultural presentation. Based on ethnographic research with Polynesian performers employed in tourist luau shows in Orlando, Florida, from 2012 to 2014, I argue that not only are performers presenting their culture in a way that is meaningful for them and their audience, but that they are also using their …

Go to article

Chert Tool Production And Exchange At Two Late Postclassic Coastal Maya Households, Marc Marino Jan 2014

Chert Tool Production And Exchange At Two Late Postclassic Coastal Maya Households, Marc Marino

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Chert tool production and exchange has long been studied for the Maya Preclassic to Terminal Classic Periods of Northern Belize (1000 B.C.-A.D. 950). It is increasingly clear that lithic systems of production and exchange were an integral part of the economic environment for this region, yet lithic research pertaining to the Maya Postclassic Period (A.D. 950-1530) is not well represented in the general literature. A recent examination of 110 chert, chalcedony, and obsidian small side-notched projectile points and point preforms, as well as 2,163 pieces of associated production debitage from two Late Postclassic households at Santa Rita Corozal, Belize, has …

Go to article

Catholic Healing Masses: Intersections Of Health And Healing In Yucatan, Suzanne Draper Jan 2014

Catholic Healing Masses: Intersections Of Health And Healing In Yucatan, Suzanne Draper

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The conception of illness and healing in contemporary Mexican Catholic discourse highlights both particular and ubiquitous instances of a health experience perceived locally and widespread. Catholic healing masses are utilized as supplemental methods of individual health restoration coupled with Western medicinal techniques in Catholic dramas. Aside from the spiritual and religious significance of this practice, the use of healing masses as an additional means to achieving an optimal health status implies that something is lacking in current biomedical models. The purpose of my research is to explore the humanistic terms under which healing masses operate and translate these terms into …

Go to article

Chemical Differentiation Of Human Osseous, Non-Human Osseous, And Non-Osseous Materials Using Scanning Electron Microscopy - Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectrometry (Sem/Edx) And Multivariate Statistical Analysis, Cayli Meizel-Lambert Jan 2014

Chemical Differentiation Of Human Osseous, Non-Human Osseous, And Non-Osseous Materials Using Scanning Electron Microscopy - Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectrometry (Sem/Edx) And Multivariate Statistical Analysis, Cayli Meizel-Lambert

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Identification of osseous materials is generally established on gross anatomical factors; however, highly fragmented or taphonomically altered materials are often problematic and alternative methods, such as biological, histological, or chemical analysis, must be utilized. Recently, chemical methods have been proposed to sort unknown materials according to their Ca/P ratios. Ubelaker and colleagues (2002) proposed using SEM/EDX to achieve this distinction and Christensen and colleagues (2012) have validated X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometry (XRF) for this application. An alternative method of analysis involves performing principal component analysis (PCA) on element spectra to classify unknown materials based on their trace element composition. Zimmerman (2013) …

Go to article

First Prev Next Last