Anthropology Commons^™

A Comparative Analysis Of Appalachian And Chukchi Folktales, Maggie Bishop

Honors Theses

Comparative folktale studies have revealed high quality emic data in past Anthropological study, but not nearly enough studies have been done. This thesis proposes an ideal avenue of study for delineation of patterns to reveal historically particular emic data as well as universal ideals. The avenue of study is that of comparative analysis of six folktales from two vastly different cultures. The people of the icy Chukotka peninsula in Northern Russia and the people of the temperate Appalachian Mountains share rich folktale traditions that provide a look into the cultural valuables and undesirables within both of these cultures. Through a …

2017-2018 Fuels Management Class Iii Inventory, Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument, Teller County, Colorado, Richard Olsen

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Between May 2017 and July 2018, Utah State University (USU) conducted Class III cultural resource surveys of Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument (FLFO) for the National Park Service to identify cultural resources for a prescriptive fuel management project. [redacted]. The survey included block surveys, as well as new site and isolated find recording. Block surveys covered approximately [redacted] acres at [redacted] transect intervals. The survey was completed in three ten-day sessions during each of the two field seasons. The survey found [redacted] sites, [redacted] isolated finds, and [redacted] culturally modified trees (CMTs). Of these discoveries, [redacted] sites and [redacted] isolated …

Atomization As Colonial Strategy In Palestine., Christian Alexander Brawner

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Walid Daka, a Palestinian political prisoner in Israel since 1986, contends that Israel’s “final solution” to quell Palestinian resistance is currently unfolding in Israeli prisons where, as he describes, Palestinian prisoners are being divided from one another through seemingly unrelated actions and policies. Daka argues that current Israeli practices have replaced traditional physical brutality with seemingly harmless administrative decisions and actions taken by prison authorities that are aimed at instilling mistrust among Palestinians, substituting collective struggle and solidarity with individualized interests, and altering Palestinians’ awareness of national struggle. As Daka puts it, it is a set of endeavors to remold …

Plant Processing Experiments And Use-Wear Analysis Of Tabon Cave Artefacts Question The Intentional Character Of Denticulated Stone Tools In Prehistoric Southeast Asia, Alfred Pawlik, Hermine Xhauflaira, Sheldon Jago-On, Timothy Vitalese, John Rey Callado, Danilo Tandang, Trishia Palconit, Dante Manipon, Claire Gaillard, Angeliki Theodoropoulou, Nicole Revel, Hubert Forestier

Sociology & Anthropology Department Faculty Publications

The presence of notches on European Palaeolithic flaked stone tools termed ‘denticulates’ has been variously ascribed to cultural, functional and taphonomic factors. In Southeast Asia prehistoric stone tool assemblages are dominated by unretouched flakes, so the rare retouched lithics, including denticulates, can be considered unique testimonies of the intention of the tool makers to control the shape and properties of tool edges. Here we report the results of plant processing experiments with modern unretouched flakes made of red jasper. Splitting plants with the help of a specific hand and arm movement (“twist-of-the-wrist”) resulted in a series of use-wear traces that …

Brothers As Men: Masculinity, Homosociality, And Violence Among Fraternity Men, Daniel Mccloskey

Honors Scholar Theses

A significant aspect of gender study, specifically when dealing with men, is the idea that there is no single masculinity and that there are many different constructions of masculinity. This project engages fraternity men about their constructions of masculinity and how these constructions affect behavior. In addition to these constructions of masculinity, this study is concerned with issues of homosociality and views of sexual violence. This project utilizes research techniques including semi-structured and structured interviews as well as free listing and pile sorting.

Archaeological, Geophysical, And Geospatial Analysis At David Crockett Birthplace State Park, In Upper East Tennessee, Reagan Cornett

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A geophysical survey was conducted at David Crockett Birthplace State Park (40GN205, 40GN12) using ground-penetrating radar (GPR) and magnetometry. The data indicated multiple levels of occupation that were investigated by Phase II and Phase III archaeological excavations. New cultural components were discovered, including the remnants of a Protohistoric Native American structure containing European glass trade beads and Middle Woodland artifacts that suggest trade with Hopewell groups from Ohio. A circular Archaic hearth was uncovered at one meter below surface and similar deep anomalies were seen in the GPR data at this level. A semi-automated object-based image analysis (OBIA) was implemented …

'Queertility', Daniel Thomas Bixby Sykes

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Daniel Sykes, an Anthropology student at Utah State University used his Honors Capstone opportunity to understand the evolution of reproduction over the course of two semesters. During Fall of 2019, he focused on overviewing what Biological Archaeologists, Biologists, and Chemists understand of the evolution of various forms of reproduction from the distant past. During the Spring, he focused on the cutting edge allopathic research in fertility treatments and some of the social implications. Sykes posits that human society has the opportunity to treat infertility in the queer (lgbtqia+) community, given these up-and-coming treatments, even those forms of infertility that arise …

An Instrumental Study Of Front Oral Monophthongs In Kensiu, Azizan Adilah

Student Works (2020-2029)

This paper acoustically examines the front oral vowels of Kensiu, a highly endangered Austroasiatic language spoken in Peninsular Malaysia. Although there have been initial studies on the phonology of Kensiu, (Bishop, 1996; Burenhult, 2001), these are mainly on the variety spoken in Thailand. This far, there is a lack of studies especially those based on the acoustic analysis. The changes in the sounds of Kensiu are likely to have taken place with increasing contact with the local Malay community in Kedah where the only Kensiu village is located. This paper aims to fill the gap by examining the acoustic properties …

The Sociality Of Charitable Giving In An Evolutionary Perspective, Wesley Allen-Arave

Anthropology ETDs

This dissertation draws on an evolutionary perspective to document and examine the social contexts in which charitable donations and appeals occur to increase our understanding of the role that social reputation may play in people’s charitable giving decisions. Charitable giving challenges theorists to contemplate pathways to cooperation that do not require shared genes, direct reciprocity, or immediate direct gains. This dissertation investigates the extent to which people give charitable donations in settings where donations are likely to have reputational consequences and how social relationships relate to charitable giving behavior. Data is based on face-to-face interviews with 512 participants covering the …

Acculturative Stress And Aspects Of Well-Being Among Chinese International Students In U.S. Higher Education, Liam G. Lane

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Chinese international students have been the largest demographic of international students in the U.S. for the past decade. In our increasingly globalized world, it is inevitable that more international students will immigrate to the U.S. for educational opportunities, among many others, and it is important to consider the challenges that these students may face, to ease their cultural transition. Already we have seen our world changed by the presence of the COVID-19 pandemic and it is inevitable that this will shape the experiences of all students, let alone international students, in the near future, and possibly the foreseeable future. While …

Placing Notes In The Virtual “Western Wall”: Online Memorial Culture In Chinese Social Media, Xiaoyu Zhang

Master's Projects and Capstones

Each society has a unique way of understanding death and coping with mourning. The increasing online mourners in China gradually generated a collective reference to the Weibo account that belongs to the dead, the “Western Wall.” This project searches for answers to two questions: 1) What characterizes Chinese online memorial practice? And how do these practices compare with those in the Western countries? 2) What aspects of Chinese culture and social conditions can explain Chinese online memorial practices? By combining corpus analysis with thematic analysis on 1,606 comments left on the last tweet of two accounts of deceased Weibo users, …

Zooarchaeology Of Bone, Antler, And Ivory Technologies: A Case Study From The Central Anatolian Bronze And Iron Age Site Kaman Kalehӧyük, Sarah Raffae Macintosh

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The proposed dissertation research investigates bone, antler, and ivory technologies in central Anatolia (present-day Turkey) during the Bronze and Iron Ages (ca. 3000-100 Before Current Era or BCE). At this time, rural agrarian societies were transforming into more complex polities and states. This transformation was marked by a rapid increase of social complexity as documented in the archaeological record in terms of monumental administrative and religious buildings, uniform ceramic ware, and writing. The current archaeological record also informs us about the rate of technological change in pottery, architecture, and metallurgy, as typology, style, and function are widely documented and studied …

Analysis Of The Evolution Of The Hominin Jaw & Dentition, Matthew Koelbel

Undergraduate Theses and Capstone Projects

The food an organism consumes impacts the evolution of its dentition and facial morphology. As the teeth of early hominins are often some of the only parts of the skeleton to be fossilized, their morphological changes throughout time are better documented and understood than many other body parts. A literature review of articles focusing on the evolution of the dentition and mandibular morphology of members of the tribe Homininae was conducted. We deduced the ways in which tool use and cooking directly affected the teeth of hominins from the late Pleistocene to Pliocene from this information. The tangible ways that …

Lay Latitude: Latter-Day Saint Women's Agency In Northwest Arkansas, Andrew Tompkins

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The question of women’s agency in gender-traditional religions has been the subject of much scholarly attention over the past four decades, but little research has been done focusing specifically on Latter-day Saint women and their identities and roles within the structure and practice of the Church. In popular media representations, Latter-Day Saint women are often depicted as submissive or surviving, either powerless pawns or resistant warriors. However, many Latter-day Saint women find fulfillment and empowerment within and because of, rather than outside or in spite of, the institutional Church. In this thesis, I explore women’s agency in Northwest Arkansas’ Greendale …

An Isotopic Assessment Of Late Prehistoric Interregional Warfare In The Southcentral Us, John R. Samuelsen

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Skull burials are found all over the world. The cause of such ancient Native Americans deposits often lead to disagreement among scholars torn between warfare and ancestor veneration. One skull-and-mandible deposit, representing at least 352 people (A.D. 1253-1399), was uncovered at the Crenshaw site, a multiple-mound Caddo ceremonial center in southwest Arkansas. Most previous research suggested they were victims of interregional warfare from the Southern Plains or Mississippi Valley. One previous study hypothesized that this was a Caddo burial practice which expanded during the Middle Caddo period (A.D. 1200-1500) due to the adoption of maize as a staple and a …

Love In South Korea: Transformations Of Intimacy And Gender Relations In Korean Romantic Relationships, Alex Joseph Nelson

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Romantic love holds a central place in South Korean imaginaries, animating television dramas and pop ballads, but has been largely overlooked in Korea's ethnographic record. Drawing on data collected through 18 months of ethnographic fieldwork, survey research, interviews, and analysis of folklore, the present study investigates how South Koreans conceptualize romantic love, how those conceptions have changed over time, and the ways they are transforming with the Korean field of gender relations.

This study documents love's entwinement with marriage in South Korea. Koreans are developing companionate ideals of marriage that shift the focus of kinship from the parent-child relationship to …

Excavating Gender: The Embodiment And (Re)Presentation Of Social Relations In Mierzanowice Communities Of The Early Bronze Age, Mark Paul Toussaint

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The construction of gender in a society is based on a discursive relationship between culture and biology. Ideological components are often translated into structural factors, which condition access to social and biological resources and exposure to risk. Cumulative differential health outcomes for groups can become embodied in ways that affect the skeleton. By conducting population-level analyses of skeletal markers of health and trauma, bioarchaeologists work backwards to attempt to reconstruct social conditions. Archaeological and mortuary context is an important part of this process.

Cemeteries of the Mierzanowice Culture (MC) in southern Poland (2300-1600 BCE) offer a unique opportunity to study …

Hi God: An Autoethnography Of Loneliness In Graduate School, Grace Elisabeth Mertz

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

I may have started college too early. My fifteen-year-old homeschooled mind could not have predicted the identity shift that higher education would demand of me. I did not expect academia to be filled with people who shared my background and beliefs, but I was, in many ways, unprepared for the way my Christianity would be challenged in the classroom and in my professors’ offices. After seven years of education within the structures of academia, I certainly have not lost my faith, but the way I think about, talk about, and practice it has tangibly changed. The questions I ask of …

Debitage Attributes, Obsidian Source Analysis, And Prehistoric Mobility In Southeastern Idaho, Ben Joaquin Zumkeller

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this study is to complement existing knowledge on prehistoric mobility in eastern and southern Idaho. I add specific detail regarding the use of Skull Canyon and its well-known Birch Creek rockshelters during hunter-gatherers’ logistical foraging rounds.

In addition, my research is a case study in combining debitage attribute analysis and intensive toolstone sourcing to read prehistoric mobility. Prior research has looked to obsidian toolstone sourcing to understand prehistoric eastern and southern Idaho mobility. However, no prior research has involved sourcing an entire, stratified assemblage of prehistoric debitage.

I collected flake attribute data from all 2,846 pieces of …

The Ontogeny Of Sex-Typed Social Strategies Among East African Chimpanzees (Pan Troglodyes Schweinfurthii), Kristin H. Sabbi

Anthropology ETDs

Although many differences in the behavior of men and women resemble those of other mammals, their developmental roots remain hotly debated due to the strong force of culture, including gender socialization, on human behavior. However, we can examine alternative and complementary mechanisms by studying chimpanzees, a closely-related species with complex sociality but without gender socialization. This dissertation comprises a multi-year, observational study of wild chimpanzee development examining three potential drivers of sex-typed social behavior: social experience, underlying differences in attention, and hormonal physiology. Immature chimpanzees experienced differential aggressive exposure that was shaped by their own early-emerging behavioral patterns. Both sexes …

Body Language: Avatars, Identity Formation, And Communicative Interaction In Vrchat, Cristina Montemorano

Departmental Honors & Graduate Capstone Projects

What meanings do actors attach to their avatars in virtual reality platforms? How does a person’s relationship with their selected avatar impact their communications with other persons in virtual reality settings? In this thesis, Montemorano seeks to answer these questions through qualitative, ethnographic fieldwork that she conducted in 2019 in the virtual reality space known as VRChat, and in connection with anthropological literature on embodiment, sociality, and personhood. This thesis details the author’s research findings, provides a brief historical background on virtual worlds and avatars, and discusses several noteworthy ethnographic studies of virtual worlds such as Boellstorff’s Coming of Age …

Wolf, Carol E. (Fa 1374), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 1374. Student folk studies project titled: “Hazel Daniel’s Songbook,” which includes an alphabetical list of the songs in the collection including “found” and “unfound” songs, along with a bibliography and the lyrics to the “found” songs. Survey sheets may include the title of the song, lyrics and source. Daniel of Hartford, Kentucky and her nephew Larry Daniel collected songs from 1938 until 1948. The songs in this collection are a compilation of songs from student projects: FA 1262 BRADLEY, Peggy Louise, FA 1263 WILSON, Debbe Jean, and FA 1264 WELKER, Susan.

Penelusuran Jejak Islam Di Belitung, Wahyu Rizky Andhifani, Nor Huda Ali

Paradigma: Jurnal Kajian Budaya

One of the islands in Indonesia which has both tourist and mining interests is Belitung Island. Belitung Island is an island between Kalimantan Island and Bangka Island. The history of Belitung is said to have existed since the time of the Majapahit Kingdom, while in the Islamic Belitung era it had four kingdoms, namely: the Balok Kingdom (the oldest and largest), Belantu Kingdom, Badau Kingdom, and Buding Kingdom. This study aims to reveal the existence of Islam on Belitung Island, and this is because Belitung Island has many Islamic treasures, some of which have not been disclosed. This research uses …

Penerjemahan Novel Dracula Karya Bram Stoker Dari Bahasa Inggris Ke Dalam Bahasa Indonesia: Kasus Pengalihan Skema Budaya Divergen, Doni Jaya

Paradigma: Jurnal Kajian Budaya

Divergent cultural schema (DCS) is a collection of cultural knowledge required to interpret a text, which is assumed to be present in source readers (SR) but absent in target readers (TR). DCS typically takes the form of a highly concise source text without any sufficient information, so the translator applied various strategies. Bram Stoker’s Dracula, consisting of its English source text (ST) and Indonesian target text (TT), was chosen as data source due to its strong Victorian-European setting which contains many potential DCS. Data analysis generated several categories of results. The first is units of analysis (n = 758) which …

Diplomasi Budaya Indonesia Dan Rusia Dalam Lirik Lagu Rayuan Pulau Kelapa Dan Versi Rusia Pesnja Ostrova Pal’M, Edelleit Rose Widyatmoko, Hendra Kaprisma

Paradigma: Jurnal Kajian Budaya

The focus of this study is the aspects of cultural diplomacy in Pesnja Ostrova Pal’m, Russian version of Rayuan Pulau Kelapa. This song was translated into Russian in 1957 by Vladimir Korchagin as an editor at the Central Studio of Documentary Film, with language formulation according to Russian perspective. As a major theory, this study uses Norman Fairclough’s three-dimension critical discourse analysis theory approach (1997, 2003, and 2013)—text analysis, discursive practice, and social practice. The result of the study shows that the language transfer between Rayuan Pulau Kelapa and Pesnja Ostrova Pal’m was a major contribution to cultural diplomacy between …

Konstruksi Maskulinitas Dalam Penari Balian Bawo Dayak Deah, Tri Sulapmi Dolina Ikeh, Aquarini Priyatna, Muhammad Adji

Paradigma: Jurnal Kajian Budaya

Balian Bawo dancer is an important figure in the traditional ceremony of the Dayak Deah tribe. A Balian Bawo is believed to be the link between humans and spirits. This dance should only be performed by a man. One representation of Dayak life is presented in the body of the dancer. This study has a qualitative design and examines the representation of masculinity that is manifested in the body of Balian Bawo dancers. Data collection was conducted by compiling photo and video documentation which was then analyzed using the theory of denotation semiotics and Roland Barthes connotations. The results of …

Kajian Sosio-Historis Tentang Pandangan Dunia Atoni Pah Meto Dalam Ritus Poitan Liana, Kristian E.Y.M Afi, Maglon F. Banamtuan

Paradigma: Jurnal Kajian Budaya

This article describes the world view of the people of South Central Timor Regency regarding Atoni Pah Meto in the Poitan Liana Rite. With qualitative descriptive methods, the paper formulated (1) Poitan Liana Rite means the kinship displayed in the role of Atoin Amaf in belief in Uis Neno, Uis Pah, and the ancestors through symbolic actions and speech; (2) Timorese view their life as an integral part of supernatural life, and the continuation of people’s lives in harmony between social order and cosmic order. Uis Neno, Uis Pah, and Ancestors are believed to be a supernatural power involved in …

Pemberontakan Komunis Silungkang 1926–1927 Sebuah Gerakan Islam Revolusioner, Amri Marzali

Paradigma: Jurnal Kajian Budaya

This article discusses what was called by the Dutch Colonial Government as ‘The Communist Uprisings of 1926-1927’. Instead of ‘the communist uprisings’, the writer tends to call this people’s resistance as ‘the Revolutionary Islamic Movement’. The writer finds the facts in which the dominant organization involved in the uprising was Sarekat Islam, a spilt faction of Sarekat Islam. The correction is based on different documents and reports, namely the resources issued by the colonial government, books written by political researchers of the West and by a local historian such as Mestika Zed, books and articles written by the local Silungkang’s …

The Emergence Of Anti-Hate Speech Activism In Japan: The Relevance Of Critical Race Theory’S Sociological Implications, Bachtiar Alam

Paradigma: Jurnal Kajian Budaya

As concern over hate speech grows into a global issue (Haraszti 2012), a recurring question confronting every democratic society is how it should restrict discriminatory speech without infringing upon the universally accepted principle of free speech. Japan’s recent experience in coping with growing hate speech presents a valuable case study. The country had staunchly protected the free speech principle enshrined in the post-World War II constitution and consistently been disinclined to pass any law that regulates hate speech. This, however, has changed dramatically in the last few years. The incidence of hate speech targeting ethnic Koreans exploded around 2012, which …

Birth Across Borders: Migueleña Maternal Experience In Palm Beach County, Florida, Inbal Mazar

Maya America: Journal of Essays, Commentary, and Analysis

Dangers for pregnant Maya women in San Miguel Acatán, a highland hamlet in Huehuetenango, Guatemala are exceptionally high. Those who migrate to Palm Beach County, Florida also face significant risks during pregnancy. However, conceptualizing migrants as vulnerable and non-agentive dismisses the opportunity to explore other dimensions of migrant women experiences. Interviews with Migueleña mothers and midwives and health professionals and advocates in both regions revealed resilience strategies Migueleña migrants create and employ as they navigate linguistically and culturally foreign medical systems. The support they provide each other results in more positive maternal experiences under arduous circumstances. Over time, Migueleñas are …