Anthropology Commons^™

Khallat Abu ḤAlaḥ: A Byzantine-Period Structure At Ramot Menashe / ח'לת אבו חלאח: מבנה מן התקופה הביזנטית ברמות מנשה, Ron Be'eri

Qadum: Journal of Excavation Reports from Israel

The excavation at Khallat Abu Ḥalaḥ uncovered part of a Byzantine-period structure comprising several rectangular rooms, corresponding to five construction phases. One of these rooms may have functioned as a bathhouse. Remains of another nearby structure decorated with a cross were also revealed, along with the upper fragment of a small chalkstone altar incised with a cross; a road paved with small stones and flanked by two walls that led to the site and continued toward Naḥal Dalia; and several field walls, one of which may have served as an enclosure. The finds from the site—including a fragment of a …

Anthropology Lab - Archaeology Catalog, Naomi Cleghorn, Sydney Lowenthal, Cameron Ditore, Daniel Bright, Kaylean Salazar, Ellie Hong, Jay Williams, Emily Vento, Nawaf Albalawi, Amber Lewis, Alex Helm, Robert Holman, Gareth Nutt, Jazmine Reyna, Lisa Zealey, Amanda Rios, Nichole Clemmons, Kat Frazee, Xandy Clement, Olivia Franklin, Prabhashi Jayawardhana, Sangho Shin, Anna Gonzalez, Irene Flores, Angele Phillips, Citlali Concha, Mickey Lopez, Bianca Martinez, Tapiwaso Chitaya, Alyssa Tomancik, Cain Camarillo, Juan Gonzalez

Anthropology Laboratory - Archive

The Anthropology Laboratory of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at UTA houses the archaeological collections of many sites from Texas and around the world. These objects reflect the technology, culture, and values of past people. Studying them can tell us about the decisions those people made and reminds us of the breadth of human achievements.

In 2024, Anthropology students at UTA developed a database for these objects and began recording basic attributes of the collections to make them more accessible to the public. Many volunteers contributed to this database (and are listed as authors here). Data are provided here …

Snake Spirits, Fishermen And Water Birds On Lake Victoria: A Case Study Of Cultural Conservation In The Musambwa Islands, Uganda, And Prospects For Tourism To Improve Local Livelihoods, Joel T. Heinen, Henry Batenda

Journal of Ecological Anthropology

Abstract.

Using a combination of site visits, document reviews, focus group and key informant surveys of fishermen, we explore the cultural beliefs, taboos and norms that protect Musambwa Islands, Uganda. The islands form part of a large protected wetland with nesting habitat for thousands of water birds and a large population of highly-venomous forest cobras that coexist in and around fishermen dwellings. There are strong taboos against cutting trees, allowing women on the island, and harming cobras. We present some of our ideas on how to improve the economic situation of fishermen through the promotion of nature-based and cultural tourism …

Eshta’Ol: The Lithic Assemblages, Omry Barzilai

Qadum: Journal of Excavation Reports from Israel

This report presents four lithic assemblages recovered from Areas B–F at the site of Eshta’ol. All assemblages primarily utilize locally available flint types, notably brecciated Campanian and semitranslucent Eocene/Senonian flints. The technological organization is dominated by flake and flakelet industries, with evidence of local knapping activities and the reuse of older tools across periods. Diagnostic tools and technologies indicate distinct occupational phases associated with the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB), Pottery Neolithic (Yarmukian), Early and Late Chalcolithic (Wadi Rabah, Ghassulian) and Early Bronze Age. Despite prolonged occupation, formal tool frequencies remain low, particularly during the Early Bronze Age, suggesting that Eshta’ol …

Eshta’Ol: Faunal Remains From The Chalcolithic Period And Bronze Age, Edward F. Maher

Qadum: Journal of Excavation Reports from Israel

This article presents a zooarchaeological study of a small faunal assemblage recovered from Areas B, D and E at Eshta’ol, dating to the Late Chalcolithic period (Stratum IV), Early Bronze Age IB (Stratum III) and Intermediate Bronze Age (Stratum II). A total of 250 bone fragments were analyzed, with 86 identifiable specimens representing eight species, primarily from the EB IB stratum. The assemblage is dominated by domestic animals—especially caprines, cattle and pigs. Mortality profiles based on epiphyseal fusion and dental wear indicate a preference for secondary products—such as wool, milk and dung—over meat consumption. Small-scale farming and agricultural activity may …

Eshta’Ol: A Protohistoric And Bronze Age Site In The Judean Shephelah, Amir Golani, Benyamin Storchan

Qadum: Journal of Excavation Reports from Israel

This report presents the results of several excavations at Eshta’ol, which revealed occupation remains from six strata, dating from the Neolithic period to the Intermediate Bronze Age. These excavations were the first to identify occupational horizons dating to the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B and Pottery Neolithic periods (Jericho IX/Lodite cultures), including significant flint and ceramic assemblages. The Early (Wadi Rabah) and Late Chalcolithic remains at Eshta’ol indicate a small settlement with two occupation phases. The large Early Bronze Age settlement at the site comprised at least four occupational phases, all associated with EB IB, reflecting a long-lived, preplanned rural village that …

Textile Work And Its Interface With Climate Change For Quechua Communities In Peru, Esmeralda Torres-Martinez

Capstone Collection

English – Indigenous communities have argued that their knowledge, lived experiences, and representation are crucial to address the climate transition because their communities have adapted to past climatic changes. Although climate change and culture can be interconnected in ways that are unique to each community, little research is done on how cultural practices can be catalysts for climate action. In fact, communities around the world have sparked socio-political movements from within their cultural context to solve both local and global issues. Therefore, this research asks how the practice of traditional textile making and weaving assist Quechua communities with adapting to …

From Larvae To Livelihoods: Examining The Realities Of Black Soldier Fly Farming In Malawi, Emily Herriott

Capstone Collection

Black Soldier Fly (BSF) larvae offer a cost-effective, nutrient-rich alternative to synthetic fertilizers and conventional feed inputs such as soy, fishmeal, and maize bran in sub-Saharan Africa. In Malawi, where smallholder farmers grapple with declining soil fertility, high input prices, chronic food insecurity, and livestock nutritional challenges, BSF farming is emerging as a promising circular agricultural innovation. Despite its technical promise, the social, economic, and ecological realities of BSF adoption remain underexplored.This study investigates the early implementation of BSF farming in Malawi through the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework, focusing on farmer experiences, challenges, and the social and structural processes shaping uptake …

A 12,800-Year-Old Layer With Cometary Dust, Microspherules, And Platinum Anomaly Recorded In Multiple Cores From Baffin Bay, Christopher R. Moore, Vladimir A. Tselmovich, Malcolm A. Lecompte, Allen West, Stephen J. Culver, David J. Mallinson, Mohammed Baalousha M.Sc, Ph.D., James P. Kennett, William M. Napier, Michael Bizimis, Victor Adedeji, Seth R. Sutton, Gunther Kleteschka, Kurt A. Langworthy, Jesus P. Perez, Timothy Witwer, Marc D. Young, Jordan Jeffreys, Richard C. Greenwood, James A. Malley

Faculty Publications

The Younger Dryas Impact Hypothesis (YDIH) posits that ~12,800 years ago Earth encountered the debris stream of a disintegrating comet, triggering hemisphere-wide airbursts, atmospheric dust loading, and the deposition of a distinctive suite of extraterrestrial (ET) impact proxies at the Younger Dryas Boundary (YDB). Until now, evidence supporting this hypothesis has come only from terrestrial sediment and ice-core records. Here we report the first discovery of similar impact-related proxies in ocean sediments from four marine cores in Baffin Bay that span the YDB layer at water depths of 0.5–2.4 km, minimizing the potential for modern contamination. Using scanning electron microscopy …

Nutrition Anthropology In Global Malnutrition In Children Under Five, Katherine Michelle Dennison Owens

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Food is essential to growth and development for people and nations. Too little or too much food can lead to undernutrition or overweight, both forms of malnutrition. While there have been improvements in undernutrition, overweight is increasing, causing the double burden of malnutrition globally, which is especially true in low-income and middle-income countries. Understanding nutrition anthropology's economic, environmental, and socio-cultural factors is critical to combat malnutrition's burden in different populations. Shaping policies and investments in malnutrition need to be strategic to have a measurable impact on malnutrition improvements. This study identified nutrition anthropology factors using six economic, environmental, and socio-cultural …

Ancient Maya Crisis And Resilience, James Aimers

Climate Change and the Individual, 2025-26

During the Maya Terminal Classic period (from about 750-1050 AD), many Maya sites in Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras were abandoned. This radical change has been investigated for over 100 years, with drought and climate change recently given a central role. My research on the Maya collapse demonstrates great variability in the Terminal Classic, and not all sites were abandoned. In this lesson I focus on variability and resilience in the human response to climate change.

The Automation Of Aesthetics: Artificial Intelligence And Commercial Artists In North Brooklyn, Devin Sudweeks

Theses and Dissertations

Corporate elites expect generative AI to replace commercial artists but overlook their social and aesthetic expertise. This ethnographic study explores how Brooklyn-based commercial artists narrate their value amid automation, emphasizing embodied presence in cultural scenes, visual language, style, and authenticity, skills not easily mechanized but vital to aesthetic economies.

Participatory Community Archiving To Preserve And Sustain North Georgia Appalachia’S Language, Literacy Practices, And Histories, Leah Panther Dr., Lindsey Walker, Presley Dyer, Tyler Osborn, Kerri Abernathy

Georgia Library Quarterly

This case study presents Swappin’ Stories, a community-based archiving event that serves as a model for public and participatory archiving. The event aimed to address gaps and misrepresentations of southern Appalachia by gathering the voices, artifacts, and stories of Towns County residents. By centering local narratives, it sought to foster a sense of community identity and offer an authentic portrayal of North Georgia, distinct from the narratives shaped by popular media and political figures. This case highlights the potential of community-driven archives to reclaim and reshape regional histories.

At Least It's Not Hospital Food: Faunal Analysis Of A Virginia Plantation Occupied By The Union Army, Kyett U. Salamone

Graduate Masters Theses

This thesis uses faunal remains from a midden at Sherwood Forest Plantation, Stafford County, Virginia to discuss the diet and provisioning of Union soldiers. Sherwood Forest was among Virginia’s wealthiest plantations in the Antebellum Period. During winter 1862-1863, the Army of the Potomac occupied the site, treating it as an ad hoc supply depot, pastureland and field hospital. After the war, the plantation owner and his heirs repeatedly sought repayment through the court system, generating documents detailing his confiscated and damaged property. The assemblage is compared to three zooarchaeological approaches about food supply: barreled meat, 19^th century military supply, …

Truth, Justice, And The American Way: Negotiating Identity Among Superhero Cosplayers At International Comic Book Conventions, James Scanlan

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Cosplay performances in convention spaces, and the increasing commercialization and commodification of both, remain largely unexplored domains that are rapidly expanding into global phenomena. The influx of capital internationally and the growing popularity of cosplay and conventions offers the opportunity to document and describe processes of performance, identity construction, and negotiation of the global phenomena within local contexts (“glocalization”) in non-Western spaces. I conducted ethnographic research at more than half a dozen research sites throughout Europe, the Middle East, South Asia, East Asia, and South and Central America, photographing convention spaces and cosplayers and conducting interviews with cosplayers. By focusing …

“I Wish These Damned People Would Stay Put”: The Political Ambivalence Of Us Archaeologists In Guatemala, 1931–1956, Fernando Armstrong-Fumero

Anthropology: Faculty Publications

This article traces the history of how two generations of US archaeologists navigated their relationship with the Guatemalan government, from the Jorge Ubico dictatorship in the 1930s through the democratic opening of the 1940s and 1950s and the subsequent CIA-sponsored coup. Critiques of modern archaeology have focused on the discipline’s history of ideological and material collusion with different projects of US and European imperialism in the Global South. While the archaeologists discussed here benefited from US hegemony in the region, their own correspondence reflects an ambivalent relationship to formal frameworks of international law and a desire to function as autonomous …

Inside The Walls Of The Asylum: Exploring The Lives Of Individuals In The Mississippi State Asylum (1855-1935), Savannah V. Logan

Master's Theses

The Mississippi State Asylum (MSA), established in 1855, was the first such institution in but has been largely forgotten about since its closure in 1935. The cemetery associated with the facility, which is located on the University of Mississippi Medical Center campus, was recently rediscovered with new construction. As part of the Asylum Hill project, the remains of seven of the 7000 burials along with their mortuary artifacts were analyzed and allowed these forgotten individuals to once again regain their voice and tell a portion of their life story through osteobiographies.

The sample, dating to 1855-1899, included five males and …

Behind The Trend: An Examination Of Primate Content On Tiktok, Kelsie K. Strong, Lilith A. Frakes, Jessica A. Mayhew, Chelsea J. Thompson, Caroline P. Ratliff

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Social media platforms today are teeming with images of wildlife as pets, and studies have emerged investigating the role social media plays on the public's perception of primates and their desirability as pets. This study explores the presentation of nonhuman primates and video engagement, defined as user interactions through likes, comments, shares, and views, on the social media platform TikTok. We examined 1378 videos from 173 different TikTok content creators sharing primate videos. Most content depicted primates within a household (43.1%), indicating they are often shown in the context of being pets. This is cause for concern because the portrayal …

Coastal Consumption: Diet And Social Organization At Four Postclassic Sites In The Yucatán Peninsula, Paramita Choudhury

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research examines Postclassic Maya food practices during CE 1200–1600 to understand how eating behaviors reflect systems of social hierarchy, political economy, and cultural identity. The investigation focuses on four archaeological sites in the northern Yucatán Peninsula—Tulum, El Rey, El Meco, and San Miguelito—to examine dietary behaviors through dental microwear texture analysis (DMTA), oral pathology, and stable isotope data within a biocultural framework. The research aims to identify whether elite and non-elite individuals exhibited notable variations in food texture consumption, access to resources, and nutritional health. High-resolution 3D surface metrology enabled DMTA to assess the mechanical properties of consumed foods, …

The Socioecology Of Indigenous Archaeological Maize In The Uinta Basin, Utah, Sara Saouma

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

This thesis investigates the phenotypic variability of maize (Zea mays spp.) from archaeological sites located in the Uinta Basin, Utah. Maize was first introduced to the American Southwest around 5,000 years ago following its migration via trade routes from its native region of southern Mexico (Vint 2017). The adaptation of maize to the arid and temperate conditions of the American Southwest and Mexico triggered significant phenotypic change resulting from human and environmental selection pressures. This thesis focuses on the analysis of uncharred maize cobs from seven archaeological sites in the Uinta Basin. The analysis includes 70 corn cobs—most …

Arican - Anth24600 Middle Eastern And North African Societies And Cultures Syllabus, Alize Arican

Open Educational Resources

No abstract provided.

Flex-Spatialities: Interior Spaces, Play, And Fantasy, Camilo Lozano-Rivera

Interiority

This article examines how interior spaces in the digital age have evolved into flexible, adaptive environments shaped by technological mediation and shifting everyday practices. Focusing on smart homes and home offices, this article introduces the concept of flex-spatiality to describe how these spaces continually reconfigure in response to changes in needs and digital interfaces. Grounded in Gregory Bateson’s (1972) theory of play and fantasy, the study explores how interior spatiality operates on two levels: as a locus for expressing identities and as a structure for organising social interaction. Through Bateson’s distinction between metalinguistic and metacommunicative functions, flex-spatiality is framed as …

Will There Be A Pill For That? ‘Money Dysmorphia’ And The Medicalization Of Struggles For Subsistence, Bojan Savic

Emancipations: A Journal of Critical Social Analysis

This article questions the rationality, operation, and effects of money dysmorphia as an emerging mental health diagnosis. It critiques the medicalization of financial angst amid the capitalist “polycrisis”, showing how the individuation and somatic pathologization of class subordination, socioeconomic precarity, and struggles for subsistence obscure capitalist inequalities, depoliticize them, and shield them from critique. I identify five concurrent strategies through which struggles for subsistence are medicalized: trivialization, reversal of social import, repetition, direct depoliticization, and the substitution of inequality with poverty. Furthermore, I show how the medicalizing discourse reifies money dysmorphia by constructing its social costs. The article concludes by …

Life-Course And Biography Of Things: Minangkabau Women's Headgear, Attari Putri Denendra, Irmawati Marwoto

International Review of Humanities Studies

Like men, objects also have a biography or life-course. Both biographies are intertwined, so when someone experiences a new life phase transition in their life-course, it will cause changes in the objects attached to them. This is also supported by the statement that the identity is performative. The headgear as one of the elements used by Minangkabau women also represents the identity of the wearer. This research was conducted in three stages: (1) data collection in the form of old photos and literature of Minangkabau women with headgear in Batipuh, Fort de Kock, and Payakumbuh, (2) data processing by analysis …

Social Capital And Mobility Of Starling Madura Coffee Traders In Jakarta, Yeni Priana, Manneke Budiman

International Review of Humanities Studies

This study aims to generate knowledge about the social capital underlying the resilience of Starling Madura coffee traders in Jakarta. The idea that underlies this analysis is Bourdieu's social capital theory, in which social capital formed through networks is able to provide independence in overcoming social and economic problems. In addition to social capital, mobility strategies are utilized as opportunities by Starling Madura coffee traders in an effort to survive sustainably in the context of the informal economic order in Jakarta. This study provides data and analysis that strengthen the idea that Starling Madura coffee traders adopt distinctive social capital …

Making The Macc: Communities Of Practice And Cultural Citizenship In Austin, Texas, Cassie Lynn Smith

Anthropology ETDs

Meaningful community engagement is a challenge for local governments without a thorough understanding of constituents’ histories and their relationship with City government. This dissertation investigates the City of Austin’s (COA) Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center (MACC) in Austin, Texas, to understand how this culture and arts institution engages with and is influenced by its patrons. This study analyzes the role of the MACC’s community of practice (Lave and Wenger 1991)—an evolving group of educators, activists, artists, and COA staff—in shaping public policy and educational programming as well as creating places of belonging for marginalized people in the city. …

Durkheim’S Structural Functionalism And The Integration Of Genocide In His Sociological Framework, Anthonie Holslag

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

No abstract provided.

Indian Cosmology And Archaeoastronomy Of The Khmer Stone Temples In Sakon Nakhon-Thailand, Duangden Boonpok

International Review of Humanities Studies

This article is multidisciplinary study of cosmology, archaeology and astronomy of the Khmer stone temples in Sakon Nakhon. The study investigates of the temple’s architectural structure and environmental geography which related to the astronomical knowledge. The result of study found that the plan and structure of temples is influenced by the concept of Indian cosmology which has Mount Meru as the central axis. Buildings is signified as mountain or heaven with high and multi-layered base. The main building is symbolically important as the origin of power for the whole temple. The objects and positions are the transforming of cosmology concept …

Representation Of Women’S Role In Sumbanese Ikat Weaving (Tenun Ikat), Tasya Widya Krisnadi

International Review of Humanities Studies

The craft of weaving is not merely an economic or artistic activity, but also plays a central role in the identity and social life of the Sumba community, particularly in the Kodi District of Southwest Sumba Regency. Women in Sumba play a crucial role in the practice of tenun ikat. They are not only the custodians of the skills and technical knowledge of weaving, but also the bearers of cultural values embedded in the process. This research aims to reveal the role of Sumbanese women as preservers of tradition amidst the currents of modernization. This study employs qualitative methods with …

The Influence Of The Dutch East Indies Government’S Ethnic Politics On Discrimination Against The Chinese Ethnic Group In Batavia (1946–1950), Zaky Rizqy Zaidaan Fadrin, Fajar Muhammad Muhammad Nugraha

International Review of Humanities Studies

This study explains how discrimination was experienced by ethnic Chinese in Batavia in the early post-independence period in 1946–1950, with an emphasis on the influence of ethnic politics practiced by the Dutch East Indies colonial government. The purpose of this study is to analyze the pattern of discrimination against ethnic Chinese influenced by the legacy of colonial racial segregation. The method used is qualitative historical descriptive. The main sources of this study come from letters of complaint from the Chinese community in 1946–1949 in the National Archives of the Republic of Indonesia (ANRI) and newspaper articles from 1950 from De …