Anthropology Commons^™

A Technical Analysis Of Ground Stone From The Group Iv Neighborhood At Palenque, Mexico, Alexandra Castillo Espinoza

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Ground stone tools (manos and metates used to grind food) are among the most recovered yet least studied artifacts in Classic Period Maya archaeology. Their consistent association with women's domestic labor has contributed to their analytical neglect, producing a gap in what is known about daily food production, household organization, and the lives of the people most responsible for both. This thesis addresses that gap through a technical analysis of 211 ground stone artifacts recovered from the Group IV neighborhood at Palenque, Chiapas, Mexico, by the Proyecto Regional de Palenque (PREP) between 2016 and 2025. It is the first systematic …

Impairment And Disability In Mesoamerica: Bioarchaeological Evaluation And Interpretation Of The Maya Of Palenque, Dayanira Lopez

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The application of disability theory to the past is of growing interest among bioarchaeologists, both nationally and internationally. However, its application poses greater challenges when considering ancient contexts, such as Mesoamerica. Nonetheless, engagement with disability studies has led to the development of various theoretical frameworks in bioarchaeology, including dis/ability. This model views physical impairment as a fluid state that may exhibit adaptability and resilience rather than a biological deficit. Importantly, it views ability on a spectrum and does not make assumptions about social and cultural perceptions of ability where there is a lack of contextual data. Thus, it is a …

Automation, Migration, And Development: Geography Of Job Precarity In South Asia And North Africa, Keshav Bhattarai, Ambika P. Adhikari

Himalayan Research Papers Archive

This article examines how accelerating automation and the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) in advanced economies reshape labor markets across the Global South through interconnected channels of production, migration, and remittances. Drawing on the theories and practices of economic geography, labor economics, and development studies, the analysis conceptualizes automation as a transnational shock that contracts demand for migrant labor while simultaneously amplifying employment precarity in labor-surplus economies. The article advances a geographically grounded framework linking technology adoption in core industries with labor displacement, youth unemployment, and urban labor saturation in South Asia and North Africa. It further highlights the macroeconomic …

Creating Space For The Public In Anthropology, Madison Joseph, Grace Tucker

2026 Symposium

This ongoing collaborative research project between Grace Tucker and Madison Joseph aims to evaluate an overlooked gap of knowledge and linguistic understanding concerning how anthropological findings are presented to both disciplinary experts and the general public. We will examine ways to improve public anthropology through improving our understanding of how to utilize everyday speech and specialist jargon simultaneously in the field. This project will include an extensive literature review of educational barriers and language use in anthropological research to identify solutions to remedy accessibility to, and dissemination of, these findings. We argue that museums and libraries are designed with the …

Analyzing Best Practices In Large-Scale Digital Archaeological Databases, Chloe M. Vizier

Honors Theses

Archaeological databases, the foundation of archaeological analyses, have changed drastically alongside the rise of new digital tools in the twenty-first century. Digital databases, alongside other digital tools, must therefore be evaluated for their efficiency and effectiveness within the field. This thesis seeks to determine a set of best practices within large-scale digital archaeological databases through analyzing an existing example: The Paleoindian Database of the Americas (PIDBA). PIDBA is composed of multiple state-level datasets, a trait that both invited collaboration and creates discrepancies in data entry. Though examining both PIDBA's user-facing website and one of its most robust state-level datasets, the …

Assessing College Tuition And Wage Prospects For Careers In Archaeology, Angelina H. Gutierrez

Honors Capstones

The pressures of rising college tuition are raising questions about whether a degree in higher education is worth the return on investment in today's society and economy. This study aims to acknowledge the issues of affording college and the opportunities granted in the face of college wealth premiums from the perspective of the field of archaeology. The college wealth premium is understood as additionalopportunities and increased salaries offered to those with a degree in higher education compared to those without. Using the Midwestern United States as a case study, I discuss the gender/race wage gap, college debt, loan inequity, and …

Lifestyle And Activity Patterns Of The Classic Period Maya From Chac Balam And San Juan, Ambergris Caye, Belize, Abigail L. Hornbeck

Honors Theses

Bioarchaeological research often uses skeletal remains to reconstruct patterns of activity and labor in past populations. This study examines potential sex-based differences in long bone morphology among individuals from the Classic Maya sites of Chac Balam and San Juan on Ambergris Caye, Belize. These coastal communities participated in maritime trade networks, and daily activities such as cargo transport, canoe travel, and fishing may have placed distinctive mechanical stresses on the skeleton. The goal of this study was to evaluate whether measurable differences in bone structure between males and females reflect differences in habitual activity patterns.

Two complementary methods were used …

Becoming Mandan: The Collaborative Life History Of Robert O’Brien, Douglas D. Meigs

Sociology and Anthropology Theses, Dissertations, and Student Creative Activity

This thesis examines how separation from—and later discovery of—an Indigenous family and culture shapes ethnic identity formation. Grounded in Charles Horton Cooley’s theory of the looking-glass self, it uses collaborative life history methodology to analyze the process of Indigenous identity formation experienced by Robert O’Brien, a Native American orphan who discovered his Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara (MHA) heritage as an adult. Drawing on two decades of reflexive research, unstructured interviews, participant observation, and archival documents, the case study shows how O’Brien’s sense of identity developed in response to shifting and often contradictory social mirrors.

Living Archaeology: A Comparative Perspective On How Archaeologists Can Study And Document The Present, Alia S. Moran

Honors Capstones

Archaeology has long remained a social science that has tended to exclude sustained consideration of contemporary societies in the analysis of material culture. In recent decades, approaches such as ethnoarchaeology and the archaeology of the contemporary have expanded the field to include the study of present-day societies through material culture. Inspired by my involvement in the Thais in Illinois Project, which focused on documenting the Thai American immigrant experience in the greater Chicago area to produce an oral history collection, alongside other goals, this thesis intends to further explore how archaeological practice can be used to understand everyday issues in …

Kafr Kama: The Marble Finds, Anastasia Shapiro

Qadum: Journal of Excavation Reports from Israel

The study of 127 marble fragments from the excavation of the Umayyad building at Kafr Kama revealed that most of the samples are made of Proconnesian marble and originally belonged to panels that likely decorated a church demolished by the earthquake of 749 CE. The collapse of the building caused the breakage of the panels, which then became spolia. They were marked and reshaped into small geometric forms, such as octagons or trapezoids measuring up to 20–30 cm. Given that no completed items were found, the studied assemblage probably represents the workplace of a stonemason active in Umayyad-period Kafr Kama.

Kafr Kama: The Coins, Robert Kool

Qadum: Journal of Excavation Reports from Israel

The excavation at Kafr Kama yielded five coins. One coin, minted in Rome, dates to the reign of Constantius II, while the others are from the Early Islamic period. Among these are a gold dinar and two silver dirhams from the early Abbasid period, including a rare dirham minted in al-Haruniya during the brief reign of the caliph al-Hadi. The coin assemblage attests to activity at the site during the third quarter of the eighth century CE.

Kafr Kama: Building, Oil Press And Glass Industry From The Late Byzantine–Early Umayyad Periods And Remains From The Middle Bronze Age, Roman And Mamluk Periods / כפר כמא: מבנה, בית בד ותעשיית זכוכית מהתקופות הביזנטית המאוחרת–האומיית הקדומה ושרידים מהתקופות הברונזה התיכונה, הרומית והממלוכית, Omar Zidan

Qadum: Journal of Excavation Reports from Israel

A salvage excavation south of Kafr Kama revealed four occupational strata (IV–I). The two lowermost strata yielded meager architectural remains dating to the Middle Bronze Age (Stratum IV) and the Roman period (Stratum III), indicating early settlement at the site. Stratum II, which comprised two distinct occupational phases, yielded a building, an oil press and a glass-production furnace, along with glass-production debris, dating from the transition between the Byzantine and Umayyad periods. The site appears to have been abandoned during the late Umayyad period, with resettlement occurring in the Mamluk period, as indicated by a Mamluk-period refuse pit uncovered in …

Reconstructing Plant Use And Food Practices: Microbotanical Evidence From Starch Grain Analysis In The Manteño Occupation At Río Blanco, Manabí, Ecuador, Jocelynne Alexandra Ayala Vera

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The research examines plant resource management and food processing practices of the Manteño occupation of the Río Blanco, Manabí, Ecuador, through the analysis of starch grain residues recovered from archaeological artifacts. Twenty-six samples from four archeological sites (N4C4-044, N4C4-064, N4C4-068, N4C4-090) associated with domestic artifacts such as fragments of comales, vessels, and metates were analyzed, from which a total of 546 starch grains were identified, corresponding to several plant taxa including maize (Zea mays), beans (Phaseolus spp.), sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas), manioc (Manihot esculenta), chili pepper (Capsicum spp.), and squash (Cucurbita …

Maa': An Analysis From The May Weber Ethnographic Study Collection, Claire T. Chilla

Department of Anthropology

Research of a maa’ textile within the May Weber Ethnographic Study Collection (MWESC) from Central Sulawesi, Indonesia. Report discusses different knowledge systems including technical and physical as well as cosmological and spiritual from the Toraja people. Also analyses affects of colonialism, trade, spirituality, tourism, and funerary practices.

Predator Or Prey: The Analysis Of Gender And Race On The Perception Of Black Men As Sexual Assault Victims, Jordyn Livingston, Dr. Florencia Cornet

Caravel Undergraduate Research Journal

Men sexual assault victims have gained more attention in recent years. Despite the growing sociological literature on violence against men, previous research provides little acknowledgment of Black men sexual assault victims. In this manuscript, I analyze emerging literature in the socio-medical sciences to explore how gender and race affects the perceptions of Black men as sexual assault victims. Specifically, I utilize intersectionality as a theoretical framework to synthesize literature on blackness and masculinity in sexual assault victims to conclude that there is an intersectional point that disadvantages Black males, portraying them as sexual predators. In so doing, I provide research …

The Cranial Morphology Of Large Wild Versus Captive Felids, Bryttin Boyde, Hannah Selvey

Caravel Undergraduate Research Journal

Studies have shown that carnivores in captivity that are fed soft diets have more periodontal problems and that the morphology of their skeletons, skulls specifically, responds to environmental and behavior factors. Considering that captive diet affects teeth and gums, we have conducted research on Dr. Adam Hartstone-Rose’s hypothesis that variation will also be discernible through the examination of cranial morphology. We compared captive and wild lions Panthera leo and tigers Panthera tigris to see if differences were present, then analyzed data collected by a microscribe using a 3D morphometric analysis program. Next, Principal Component Analysis was completed to account for …

Objects In The Sunset, Iskander Guetta

Masters of Environmental Design Theses

This research explores everyday design practices in the Maghreb shaped by economic, political, and ecological struggles amid transnational debates on decolonizing design. To do so, it looks at objects in, through and with the sunset. Taking المغرب — the place where the sun sets — as a conceptual lens, Objects in the Sunset illuminates the savoir-faire born from dispossession, scarcity, and epistemic violence. Working across different scales of the built environment — infrastructures, spaces, objects, and materials — it shifts design away from Eurocentric conceptions: from rationalization to resourcefulness, homogeneity to heterogeneity, optimization to adaptation, disposability to repair, and universal …

Who Can Dance If They Want To?: Intersections Of Dance, Gender, And Political Control In Late Archaic And Early Classical Athens, Adeline P. Strickler

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

This thesis investigates the evidence for women's public choruses in the polis of Athens and the wider Greek world prior to the 6th century BCE and their decline in Athens following the Kleisthenic reforms of 509/508 BCE. Emphasising analysis of visual sources through Athenian fabric vases in the Beazley archive, and supporting literary evidence, this research seeks to establish a base of evidence for a neglected area of dance and women's research in the classics. Additionally, by analyzing the significance of choral dance in polis social and political life, this research seeks potential reasons for the lack of a culture …

Examining Organizational Factors Contributing To Burnout In Community College Employees: An Anthropological Perspective, Jesse N. Blue

Leadership Education Capstones

Organizational culture and systemic inequities remain under-researched factors driving the mental and physical deterioration of community college employees. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to describe and interpret the lived experiences of job-related burnout among community college employees. This qualitative short-term ethnography was conducted at Big Rock College, a rural community college in central Arkansas. The sample consisted of six volunteer participants across administrative, faculty, and staff roles. Data collection involved semi-structured interviews conducted via Zoom®. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and triangulated with institutional document analysis. Findings indicated that 84% of participants experienced varying degrees of burnout, driven by …

Let's Play A Lovegame: How College Hookup Culture Came To Be, How It Functions On A University Campus, And The Greek Organizations That Perpetuate It At Butler University, Ella Gray Tucker

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

“Let’s Play a LoveGame” examines how hookup culture functions, is perpetuated, and impacts students on a college campus. By understanding the historical context of its creation, I analyze the multitude of factors that aided it to evolve into what it is today. Although hookup culture is considered part of the undergraduate “college experience”, it is negatively impacting students' mental well-being and their understanding of romantic relationships. With Butler University as my case study, I have come to find that Greek Organizations within the National Panhellenic Conference and Interfraternity Council hold events that enable hookup culture to permeate Greek row which …

Examining The Degree Of Sedentism At A Disturbed Woodland Period Site In Pickens County, South Carolina, Kathryn Dorn

All Theses

This paper examines lithic artifacts from the Fort Rutledge archaeology site in Pickens County, South Carolina, a region of the state that is lacking in archaeological research, to investigate Woodland Period site usage and duration. Fort Rutledge, a multicomponent site now on Clemson University’s main campus, has undergone multiple cultural site transitions. These include Cherokee settlement, the Revolutionary War, the construction of a Daughters of the American Revolution monument, the damming of Lake Hartwell, and disturbances from the local community that have disrupted the stratigraphy and complicated artifact dating. Previous excavations (2020 - 2023) recovered Revolutionary War era artifacts alongside …

Dental Wear In Medieval Hungarian Populations, Sutton Walters

Honors College Theses

Dental wear can reveal past human behavior, offering insight into diet, daily activities and cultural practices (Berbesque et al., 2012; Deter, 2009; Estalrrich & Rosas, 2015; Górka, 2016; Molnar, 2008; Smith, 1984; Watson, 2014). Dental wear can reconstruct past life when other evidence is limited. This paper will address whether dental wear patterns observed in two medieval Hungarian populations, Kiskundorozsma–Kettőshatár I (KK) and SárrétudvariHízóföld (S), reflect sexual dimorphism patterns seen in hunter-gatherer vs. agriculturalist populations. Previous research demonstrates clear differences in wear between high- and lowwear subsistence strategies, whereas other studies report minimal or no sexual dimorphism and little variation …

The Dragon In The Dress: A Folklore Analysis Of Gender Bias In Ai-Generated Monster Imagery, Nicole M. Christensen

All Graduate Reports and Creative Projects, Fall 2023 to Present

When asked to generate a monster, AI image generators consistently produce masculine or genderless creatures and never female ones. This thesis documents that finding through a year-long experiment across seven generators that produced 577 monster images, not one of which depicted a female monster. Female monstrosity has deep roots in folklore and cultural tradition, yet it is entirely absent from these systems' neutral outputs. When specifically prompted, the generators handled female monstrosity in wildly different ways, ranging from hypersexualized figures to a dragon wearing a dress, while male monsters looked nearly identical across all platforms. The inconsistency between generators indicates …

Bound To Status: A Comparative Study Of Public And Private College Libraries, Lilianna Fujita

Anthropology

This ethnographic study compares student culture and behavior at two upstate New York universities — Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), a private STEM-focused institution, and the University at Albany (UAlbany), a public research university. Through two rounds of participant observation conducted in each school's library and three semi-structured student interviews, the author examines how institutional type, admissions selectivity, campus environment, and resource allocation shape student social dynamics, gender experiences, and overall well-being. The author argues that differences in student behavior reflect not only individual student dispositions but broader institutional decisions about who is admitted and what social infrastructure is supported.

Primate Craniofacial Trauma And Its Relationship To Socioecological Factors, Kaitlyn Harden R. Harden

Anthropology Undergraduate Honors Theses

Postmortem analysis of the skeleton can reveal patterns of trauma that have accumulated over an individual’s lifetime. Patterns of trauma within a species can also provide key insights into how that species lived and reflect aspects of their socioecology and life history. Research has been conducted often on postcranial trauma, but is rare regarding the craniofacial region and has not been examined broadly across primates. To fully understand patterns of trauma in primates, rates of trauma must be compared and placed into context of a variety of socioecological factors. To do so, I examined hypotheses including that species with higher …

Cultural Authenticity And Commercialization: The Journey Of Southwest Indigenous Jewelry, Kaytlin M. Dwyer

Anthropology Undergraduate Honors Theses

Introduction Today, Southwest Indigenous jewelry exists at the intersection of cultural expression and commercial exchange. Drawing on interviews with Native artists, this study focuses on the lived experiences of those who design, produce, market, and curate Indigenous jewelry to argue that authenticity is not defined by visual appearance alone, but by the cultural knowledge, community relationships, and generational practices embedded in each piece. As Native silversmiths navigate increasing pressures from mass production, appropriation, and global markets, they actively work to maintain both artistic integrity and cultural authenticity. At the same time, this paper explores the tension between appreciation and appropriation. …

Sacred Spaces In The African Diaspora: Archaeology Of Praise Houses And The Cultural Preservation Of The Gullah/Geechee, Libby C. Holden

Anthropology Undergraduate Honors Theses

Historical archaeology is traditionally defined as the study of remains from past cultures and societies that have supplemental historical evidence, usually in the form of written records, with the rough timeline covering 1500-present.[1] African American archaeology is a relatively new subfield in historical archaeology. The first archaeological investigations focused in African American life occurred in the 1960s by Charles H. Fairbanks, a historical archaeologist of the U.S. Southeast based at the University of Florida.[2] The sudden uptick in interest of plantation archaeology and African American archaeology during this time is likely attributed to the passage of historic preservation …

Analysis Of Volumetric Reconstruction Methods In Archaeology, Cade O'Fallon

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The use of Structure from Motion (SfM) photogrammetry in archaeological projects is entering a period of transition; a method of producing 3D data that is traditionally embraced as tool for documentation is being explored for its analytic potential. One such way SfM photogrammetry can be used analytically is through the calculation of volumes using photogrammetric data. The tools exist for archaeologists to be able to create and quantify volumetric models; however, the discourse on these methods is still so new there is no consensus on the best method for conducting volumetric work. Different methods of creating and isolating volumetric space …

Trinities In World Mythology: Why Separate Cultures Construct The Same Cosmology, Autumn Scott

Undergraduate Fellows' Research

Numerous cultures throughout the world construct mythologies and cosmologies which include a triad, triple deity, or three world cosmology. Specifically, this refers either to belief in a singular deity with three forms, belief in a distinct group of three divine beings with a common characteristic, or belief in three cosmic realms, such as the human world, underworld, and divine world. This phenomenon occurs within Europe, South Asia and East Asia, as well as North America. While many may be familiar with the Greek Moirai and the Christian trinity, this pattern appears well beyond the ancient and medieval cultures who inhabited …

Mazique (22ad502): Late Woodland Village Or Vacant Ceremonial Center?, Lonnie A. Burch Jr

Master's Theses

Overlooking the bank of Second Creek near Natchez, Mississippi, the Mazique (22AD502) site is a Coles Creek period (AD 750-1000) mound and plaza center that once featured three mounds surrounding an open central plaza. Mounds A and B still sit prominently along the southern and eastern edges of Mazique’s plaza. The location of  Mound C remains unclear. Historic agricultural and construction activities have left no visible trace of the monument. The 2021 University of Southern Mississippi archaeological field school set out to investigate potential locations for Mound C and to explore the site's functionality.

Did the Mazique site support a …