Anthropology Commons^™

Material Culture Notes: Dating Colorless Glass Bottles, Douglas C. Wilson, Bob Cromwell

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

The article discusses the many ways to date a colorless glass bottle, focusing on artifacts found at Fort Vancouver, Washington.

People Of Snowy Mountain, People Of The River: A Multi-Agency Ethnographic Overview And Compendium Relating To Tribes Associated With Clark County, Nevada, Douglas Deur, Deborah Confer

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

The current document has been undertaken to assist agencies in meeting their obligations for federally mandated compliance and consultation with Indian tribes that have historical associations with Clark County. The document has been designed in part to provide an overview of the territorial associations of various tribes with ties to this area. This is accomplished using ethnohistorical documentation as well key legal documents, such as treaty language and Indian Claims Commission findings, that establish parameters for agency consultation responsibilities. Managers of Clark County’s federal lands have been eager to identify those tribes that are tied to the area in various …

Comments On Anarchism And The Archaeology Of Anarchic Societies: Resistance To Centralization In The Coast Salish Region Of The Pacific Northwest Coast, Kenneth Ames

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

The author discusses how the paper contributes to several important trends in our understanding of Northwest Coast social evolution.

Book Review Of, Environmental Social Sciences: Methods And Research Design, Jeremy Spoon

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Reviews the book "Environmental Social Sciences: Methods for Research Design," by Ismael Vaccaro, Eric Alden Smith, and Shankar Aswani

An Ethnohistorical Overview Of Groups With Ties To Fort Vancouver National Historic Site, Douglas Deur

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

This document summarizes the outcomes of an effort to identify the diverse human populations associated with Fort Vancouver. Through a review of ethnographic, historical, and ethnohistorical information found in various research libraries and archives, this research has sought to illuminate the many reasons that Native Americans converged at the fort and to reconstruct the paths taken by these people after their departure. In the process, we are able to identify those modern communities that are significantly linked to the history of Fort Vancouver – in turn, this will allow the NPS to better engage these contemporary groups in the protection …

The Produced And The Perceived : Transnationalism, The Production Of Space, And The Role Of Media In Constructing Popular Perceptions Of Mexican (Im)Migrant Communities, Rachel Marie Forbes

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

There were approximately 11.5 million unauthorized immigrants in the United States in 2011 according to the Department of Homeland Security. Of those, approximately 59 percent were of Mexican origin. These men and women likely risked their lives--many crossing through the least guarded but most dangerous part of the nearly two thousand mile long border--with the hope, not of starting a new life in America, but of creating a better life in Mexico. Migrants, most typically agricultural workers, once travelled seasonally to work as needed and returned home at seasons end with the earnings that would help sustain their families and …

Grains, Greenbacks And Governance : The Political Economy Of Rural Microfinance In Nicaragua, Courtney B. Kurlanska

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This research examines the livelihood strategies of rural agriculturalists in Nicaragua in relation to the availability of microcredit and microfinance. Since its emergence as a tool for development in the 1970 microlending has become a key tactic for many developing countries in their attempt to reduce poverty and improve the lives of the poor. With the arrival of the global recession, however, the weaknesses of this strategy were highlighted as growing numbers of individuals around the globe struggled to make payments on their microloans. Faced with shame, loss of land and property, or jail, debtors around the globe responded to …

Anthropometric Correlates Of Reproductive Success, Facial Configuration, Risk Taking And Sexual Behaviors Among Indigenous And Western Populations : The Role Of Hand-Grip Strength And Wrist Width, Jeremy Andrew Atkinson

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Correlating a sexually dimorphic trait with reproductive success (RS) remains the `gold standard' in evolutionary psychology research. Within each sex, if more dimorphic individuals have increased RS then this is strong evidence that the trait is an important phenotypic fitness marker and potentially used as a same-sex and/or mate-assessment criterion. Many studies have investigated some of these traits, like shoulder to hip ratio (SHR) in males and waist to hip ratio (WHR) in females and have found that a more sex-typical body configuration does indeed indicate higher phenotypic quality and is used in mate assessment. However these traits are aggregate …

Stewards Of The Land : Demonstrations Of Agricultural Authenticity In Columbia County, Ny, Jaclyn Rose Bruntfield

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The origins of food in the U.S. have come under close public scrutiny in recent years. An increasing number of farmers markets, certified organic products, and Community Supported Agriculture programs indicate that Americans are seeking out alternatives to the mainstream food system. The industrialization of food production in the post-World War II era, while providing larger amounts of inexpensive food than ever before, has arguably compromised people's relationships with food. While farming was once a common way of life in the U.S., today only one percent of Americans identify farming as their primary occupation.

Body Size And Mortality In Post-Medieval England, Gail Margaret Hughes-Morey

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Short stature and body mass at both extremes of the distribution have consistently been linked to poor health outcomes in modern populations, but the nature of the relationship between body size and mortality is poorly understood. This dissertation examines the relationship between stature, body mass, and mortality, and how that relationship may have varied with socioeconomic status and evidence of morbidity in post-medieval England. Adults from Chelsea Old Church, an 18th-19th century high status skeletal collection from the outskirts of London, and Lower Saint Bride's, an 18th-19th century low status skeletal collection from central London, both housed at the Museum …

Maya Cosmopolitans : Everyday Life At The Interface Of Archaeology, Heritage, And Tourism Development, Sarah Ruth Taylor

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The village of Ek'Balam is located approximately 300 meters from the ceremonial center of the archaeological zone by the same name. The ruins at Ek'Balam are some of the most impressive pre-Columbian stuccoes found in the Maya World. In 1994, the archaeological zone opened to the public, and since then this village of around 350 residents has experienced numerous changes. While residents have always had ties to the regional economy, the opening of the archaeological zone represented their first extended engagement with the tourism industry. A major agent of change in Ek'Balam is a community-based tourism project, funded primarily by …

A Comparison Of Robusticity Of Archaic, Woodland, And Historic Period Populations Within New York State As Based On Musculoskeletal Markers, Julie Emily Ferguson

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The purpose of this project is to compare the relative robusticity between native populations in New York State from the Archaic, Woodland, and Historic time periods. Musculoskeletal markers are used to determine any similarities and differences in robusticity between ages, sexes, and time periods. Relative robusticity is also assessed in terms of upper and lower limbs to further investigate any habitual activity patterns that can be discerned between groups. It is hypothesized that the Archaic populations would be comparatively more robust than the Woodland and Historic periods. In addition, males would be more robust than females, and robusticity would increase …

Clovis Blade Technology At The Topper Site (38al23): Assessing Lithic Attribute Variation And Regional Patterns Of Technological Organization, Douglas A. Sain

Occasional Papers – Southeastern Paleoamerican Survey

This monograph, by Douglas A. Sain, is based on his master’s thesis research on the organization of Clovis blade technology. This second monograph of the Occasional Papers series of the Southeastern Paleoamerican Survey closely follows the first in terms of the meticulousness of the study, and the new information it provides about the Topper Site. Detailed studies of Clovis material are eagerly sought by Paleoindian archaeologists, enthusiasts, and particularly by lithic analysts. Sain provides a well-rounded literature review for these groups, and an innovative approach to identifying technological blades. The “mixed assemblage” problem resulting when multiple lithic technologies were used …

The Prison Fix: Race, Work, And Economic Development In Elmira, New York, Andrea R. Morrell

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Based on more than a year of ethnographic and archival research in Elmira, New York and, to a lesser extent, New York City, this dissertation analyzes the social, economic, and political processes through which Elmira, New York was transformed by the construction of the Southport Correctional Facility in 1988 as a project of economic development during a period of massive expansion of the New York State prison system. It focuses on the unfolding of the project of mass incarceration and its impact on the lives of Elmira's citizens and workers, as well as the men incarcerated in Elmira's prisons and …

Mais Bonito Da Região: The Cacao-Producing Region Of Cachoeira Alta, Bahia, And The Transition From Wage Labor To Small Farming, Rodney D. Parker

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The support needed for upward social mobility within the field of agriculture, from a laborer to a self-sufficient, small farmer, requires an agricultural and market-based knowledge to which few wage laborers are privy. Small-scale farmers suffer shortcomings within regional and global markets because of their inability to respond to increased demand due to a lack of access to assets and capital. Despite such difficulties, in some agricultural sectors wage laborers have successfully made the transition to small landholders. In this thesis I seek to answer what factors led to the emergence of a smallholding cacao-producing population from a wage-laboring class …

The Art Of Going Beyond In Hossana, Ethiopia, Megan Elizabeth Flowers

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this study, I examine what education as development means for the men and women who live in Hossana town, Ethiopia. The ethnographic focus of this study is on understanding how education as development evokes different meanings for socio-political participation by rural students at a teacher training college and townspeople respectively. I discuss these conceptual differentiations in relation to the changes in beliefs and strategies that have occurred in Hossana and greater Ethiopia elsewhere over the course of several decades of local and global changes in the social order. I use the emic category of yilhunnta, as the social recognition …

Cracker Barrel's Culture: Exporting The South On America's Interstate Exits, Susan Nicola Penman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Cracker Barrel Old Country Store® is a chain restaurant and gift shop with its origins in the South. Formed in 1969 in Lebanon, Tennessee, its success story is one that has much to do with how the company has decided to market and advertise itself along regional lines. This thesis explores the regional elements in Cracker Barrel's language, products, and reputation. It focuses on the company's geographic origins, its history and company lore, and the impact of imitating a historically segregated space (the "old country store"). In addition to that, an integral part of this thesis is the role of …

In Memoriam: Roderick Sprague, 1933-2012, Karlis Karklins

BEADS: Journal of the Society of Bead Researchers

An archaeologist, educator, and a pioneer in North American trade bead research, Dr. Roderick Sprague passed away in Moscow, Idaho, on 20 August 2012. A staunch supporter of the Society of Bead Researchers, he served as its president from 2004 to 2007, and chaired the Editorial Advisory Committee for a good number of years as well. He also contributed a number of useful articles, news items, and reviews to both the Society's publications. His moral support and the useful comments and suggestions he made concerning these publications will be sorely missed.

Beads: Journal Of The Society Of Bead Researchers - Volume 24 (Complete)

BEADS: Journal of the Society of Bead Researchers

No abstract provided.

Ethnography On The Pottery Place, Ciara Reilly

A with Honors Projects

This project outlines my observations made while working at the Pottery Place, specifically about older customers.

Low Frequency Temperature Variability And Native American Horticulture In The Northern Southwest And Eastern Great Basin, James R. Allison

Faculty Publications

Recent paleoclimatic studies reconstruct low-frequency variability in temperature that may have affected the success of Native American horticulture. Potential effects of this temperature variability include shifts in the range of elevations within which horticulture was viable, and changes in the northern limits of horticulture- based economies. This paper examines radiocarbon dates and other chronological data from Fremont and Puebloan sites in Utah, eastern Nevada, and northwestern Arizona, comparing the low-frequency temperature reconstructions with the timing of expansion and contraction in the northern frontier of maize horticulture and temporal shifts in the elevations of farming settlements.

Meanwhile, In The West: Early Pueblo Communities In Southeastern Utah, James R. Allison, Winston B. Hurst, Jonathan D. Till, Donald C. Irwin

Faculty Publications

The early Pueblo settlement of what is now southeastern Utah exhibits patterns that complement and contrast with trends in better-known regions such as southwestern Colorado (see Wilshusen et al., Chapter 2). Shortcomings in the current data limit the detail we can include in this description, but a number of patterns are clear. This chapter elucidates the patterned variability in the area's settlement strategies, the basic trends associated with social organization, and the basic demographic trends through time. We hope to develop, in the end, a basic historical narrative for these last centuries of the first millennium.

Word Diffusion And Climate Science, R. A. Bentley, P. Garnett, Michael J. O'Brien, W. A. Brock

History Faculty Publications (Archived)

As public and political debates often demonstrate, a substantial disjoint can exist between the findings of science and the impact it has on the public. Using climate-change science as a case example, we reconsider the role of scientists in the information-dissemination process, our hypothesis being that important keywords used in climate science follow "boom and bust" fashion cycles in public usage. Representing this public usage through extraordinary new data on word frequencies in books published up to the year 2008, we show that a classic two-parameter social-diffusion model closely fits the comings and goings of many keywords over generational or …

Statistical Analyses Cannot Be Divorced From Archaeological Theory: A Reply To Potter, A. Mesoudi, Michael J. O'Brien

History Faculty Publications (Archived)

Potter criticizes our experimental study of the roles played by indirect bias and guided variation in shaping prehistoric Great Basin projectile point variation. His criticisms are technically correct from the standpoint of statistical convention, but he fails to understand the theoretical rationale of our study. Without such an understanding, hi s assertion that our conclusions are questionable is incorrect. Here we point out again (1) how our experimental work bridges the gap between cultural-transmission theory and the empirical record and (2) why our conclusions are indeed valid.

A Historical And Archaeological Study Of The Nineteenth Century Hudson's Bay Company Garden At Fort Vancouver: Focusing On Archaeological Field Methods And Microbotanical Analysis, Elaine C. Dorset

Dissertations and Theses

The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), a British fur-trading enterprise, created a large garden at Fort Vancouver, now in southwest Washington, in the early- to mid-19th century. This fort was the administrative headquarters for the HBC's activities in western North America. Archaeological investigations were conducted at this site in 2005 and 2006 in order to better understand the role of this large space, which seems incongruous in terms of resources required, to the profit motive of the HBC. Questions about the landscape characteristics, and comments by 19th century visitors to the site provided the impetus for theoretical research of gardens as …

El Mesón Regional Survey: Settlement Patterns And Political Economy In The Eastern Papaloapan Basin, Veracruz, Mexico, Michael L. Loughlin

Theses and Dissertations--Anthropology

This dissertation examines settlement patterns and political and economic organization at the archaeological site of El Mesón, located in the Eastern Lower Papaloapan Basin, in the Mexican state of Veracruz. Monumental art from the site indicated that the primary occupation dated to the Late Formative (400 B.C.-A.D. 1) or Protoclassic period (A.D. 1-300), however aside from a small surface collection of ceramic sherds, the area remained uninvestigated archaeologically. The Recorrido Arqueológico was initiated in 2003 to provide data about the development of settlement in the area around El Mesón, and to examine how the area was organized politically and economically. …

Sailing On The Edge: A World-Systems Analysis Of Pirates And Privateers In The Atlantic And Caribbean In The Seventeenth And Eighteenth Centuries, Emily Butcher

Senior Independent Study Theses

Despite modern conceptions, pirates were not typically cruel, greedy, and dishonest men of the lowest social ranks, but often began as privateers for local navies. It was only when they attacked an unassigned target that their status changed to that of piracy in the eyes of their patrons. However, if the illegal attack was against an enemy, the Crown often allowed the action to continue. This created a fluid status between legality and treason. This study examines the nature of piracy in the Atlantic and Caribbean in a broader context, using Edward Teach as a key figure to place piratical …

The First Generation Community: What Does It Mean To Be A Youth Member?, Elissa M. Gallup

Capstone Collection

This paper examines the impact of being part of the First Generation community on the youth members. The context of Springfield, Massachusetts and the culture of First Generation are explained. The role of The Performance Project, the nonprofit through which First Generation operates, is also described, as it pertains to the context. A literature review, with other youth programs’ methodologies and findings of analyzing impacts in their programs, has been included.

Following months of work with First Generation and the literature research, qualitative interviews were crafted and conducted with members of the group. These anonymous interviews allow some insight into …

Music And Paleolithic Man The Soundtrack Of Human Cognitive Development, Samantha Angel

HIM 1990-2015

Archaeologists have pored over countless texts of the ancient civilizations, attempting to piece together bygone worlds. However, relatively little work has been done to reconstruct the musical history of these societies, and even less on why their musical histories are important. This paper aims at a synthesis between the ancient Egyptian and classical Greek archaeological records to analyze the importance of music in Paleolithic human cognitive development. Countless musical instruments have been discovered globally, ranging from pre-Columbian bone flutes in Oaxaca, Mexico to ancient trumpets in Egyptian burials (Barber et al 2009). Apart from their place in a museum, minimal …

You Have Guns And So Have We...: An Ethnohistoric Analysis Of Creek And Seminole Combat Behaviors, Nathan R. Lawres

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Resistance to oppression is a globally recognized cultural phenomenon that displays a remarkable amount of variation in its manifestations over both time and space. This cultural phenomenon is particularly evident among the Native American cultural groups of the Southeastern United States. Throughout the sixteenth through nineteenth centuries the European and American states employed tactics and implemented laws aimed at expanding the geographic boundaries of their respective states into the Tribal Zone of the Southeast. None of these groups, however, sat passively during this process; they employed resistive tactics and strategies aimed at maintaining their freedoms, their lives, and their traditional …