Archaeological Anthropology Commons^™

Investigating The Relationship Between Noun Classes And Plant Folk Taxonomy In Chasu Language Of Kilimanjaro Region In Tanzania, Peter Rabson Mziray

Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

The current study investigates the relationship between noun classes and plant folk taxonomy in Chasu (G 22). The study focuses on two objectives: the first objective is to describe the plant folk taxonomy in Chasu and the second objective is to determine the relationship between noun classes and plant folk taxonomy in Chasu. Data were collected from rural villages in Same and Mwanga districts by using free listing, field interviews (jungle-walk-and-identify), and written texts containing Chasu plant names. The findings reveal that Chasu folk taxonomy reflects different ethnobotanical categories; including a unique beginner which is mmea/mimea ‘plant(s)’, and three life …

Proceedings Of The 12th Research Symposium At Mammoth Cave National Park, Pat Kambesis Editor, Lee Anne Bledsoe Editor, Ana K. Celis Editor

Mammoth Cave Research Symposia

Proceedings of the 12th Research Symposium at Mammoth Cave National Park: Celebrating 100 Years of Scientific Research & Resource Management in the Mammoh Cave Region.

The Human Legacy: Agriculture, Civilizations, Strife, And Pandemics Changing Our Climate, Jacalyn M. Wittmer Malinowski

Climate Change and the Individual, 2025-26

For most of human history, climate has shaped our lives, while our influence on it remained minimal. However, the notion that early humans had no measurable impact on the climate before industrialization is inaccurate. Early in human history, activities – such as the rise of agriculture, the growth of civilizations, periods of conflict, and pandemics – altered greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere. These changes contributed to significant periods of climate change long before the burning of fossil fuels set us on the path to today’s global climate crisis.

Anthropogenic Prairies Of The Southern Salish Sea: Ethnographic And Archaeological Landscapes, South Puget Sound, Washington., Jamey D. Taylor Ms.

All Graduate Projects

This project report has been completed to fulfill requirements of the Master of Applied Science of Cultural and Environmental Resource Management (MAS-CERM) at Central Washington University. The project models the cultural landscapes of the southern Salish Sea. These landscapes include anthropogenic prairies, travel routes (trails and roads), salmon runs, and archaeological sites. This study maps the historic boundaries of prairies and recent data sets for key plant species. The locations of prairies and indicator species are overlaid with ethnohistoric settlements, archaeological site locations, and trail systems. The spatial correlations of these data are used to interpret the prominence of anthropogenic …

The Role Of Christianity In Shaping Agrarian Policies And Environmental Interactions: A Comparative Analysis Of The Uk And The Netherlands, Grace N. Brimble

University Honors Theses

This thesis explores the enduring influence of Protestant Christianity on agrarian practices and environmental policies in the UK and the Netherlands, focusing on how historical religious values shape modern ecological and political landscapes. Despite increasing secularism, Protestant ethics--emphasising stewardship, diligence, and moral responsibility--persist culturally, influencing debates on sustainability, rural identity, and land use. Using case studies such as nitrogen policy protests in the Netherlands and post-Brexit agricultural transitions in the UK, this analysis highlights the symbolic role of Christian values in framing resistance and adaptation to contemporary challenges. The research combines discourse analysis and ethnographic perspectives to uncover the interplay …

Faunal Use And Distribution At The Site Of Nixtun-Ch'ich', Petén, Guatemala, Jemima Georges

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation delves into the pre-Columbian Preclassic Maya civilization, examining the societal dynamics, subsistence strategies, and cultural practices at Nixtun-Ch’ich’, Guatemala through the analysis of animal bones. Animal bones are used as indicators of dietary habits, social structures, and ideological beliefs. The findings highlight a diet that evolved from favoring a complex array of strategies in the Middle Preclassic period to one that concentrated on a few mammals and freshwater resources. These decisions were influenced by sociopolitical changes from the Middle to Late Preclassic periods. Excavations of three residences (J1, C2/1, R2/1, and R1/2) and four public spaces (Mound ZZ1, …

Human-Environment Interactions In Coastal Belize: Insights Into Sea-Level Rise And Ancient Maya Activities At The Paynes Creek Salt Works, Cheryl Mae Foster

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Dissertation excavations were carried out in 2019 and 2022 at the underwater sites of Ta’ab Nuk Na and Ek Way Nal in Paynes Creek National Park, Belize. Sea-level rise submerged the sites in antiquity and preserved the artifact record in red mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) peat. Red mangrove peat can be used as a proxy for sea-level rise. The goals of the two excavations included: 1) excavating a 14m-long transect within and extending beyond building J at Ta’ab Nuk Na to determine the function of the building, 2) investigating the production of salt making pottery at Ta’ab Nuk Na; …

Barley As A Human Companion Species - Exploring The Relationship Between Barley And North Atlantic Peoples: 4000 Bc – Ad 1200, Chloe Combs

Theses and Dissertations

Barley (Hordeum vulgare) is an ancient cereal crop originating in the Fertile Crescent approximately 12,000 years ago and is presently one of the most important cereal crops globally. Barley has a long and complex history. This thesis aims to explore one dimension of this history through the lens of human companion species using archaeobotanical data collected from the islands of the North Atlantic from the Neolithic (4,000 BC) to the Norse period (AD 1200).

Gallardo, Guisinde Y Hacer Puntas Agudas De Huesos De Guanacos: Un Análisis De Fuentes Etnográficas Sobre Tecnologías Elaboradas Sobre Materias Primas Duras De Origen Animal, Benjamin Van Rooy

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Tierra del Fuego has been home to hunter-gatherer-fisher societies since time immemorial, and over time these societies developed quite distinct subsistence economies. Among these are the Yaghan and Selk'nam, who traditionally practiced nomadic hunting and gathering, with marine centered and pedestrian subsistence economies respectively. For these, they had developed a diverse and specialized assemblage of technologies. Among these technologies were those which came from bone and shell, which although well preserved in the archaeological record of Tierra del Fuego, remain poorly understood. For this study an analysis of a number of ethnographic sources was undertaken to compile data on these …

Down The Bay Oral History Project Newsletter - Summer 2023, Center For Archaeological Studies, Mccall Library

Down the Bay Oral History Project Newsletter

Public newsletter sharing information about progress and discoveries during the ongoing Down The Bay Project.

The Role Of Native Hawaiian Spiritual Practices In Social Systems And Environmental Stewardship, Christina A. Hornbaker

Social Sciences

The purpose of this paper is to examine how Native Hawaiian spiritual practices played a role in social systems and stewardship practices. Lightfoot and colleagues (2013) suggest that more archaeological research is needed on traditional resources and environmental management practices. The authors point out that “landscape management practices… are subtle and not prone to leaving smoking guns in the archaeological record” (Lightfoot et al. 2013), which makes such sites difficult to document without ethnographic accounts. Due to this subtlety, I will mainly be pulling information from interviews or oral histories from Hawaiian descendants, early explorers and missionary accounts, ethnographers, and …

Destruction Is A Must-See: Coastal Heritage Site Erosion And Public Perception Of Climate Change, Haley Borowy

Senior Theses

Archaeological sites in South Carolina are vanishing. As sea level rise, and therefore coastal erosion, worsen, more sites will disappear. The questions of how erosion at these sites is measured and how the public perceives the effects of climate change have been studied separately, but not together. Here, the intersection of these is discussed, alongside how sites are portrayed affects how the public perceives them, and therefore their importance. Studies on measuring coastal erosion, local news reports, government documents, and public perception of coastal management and sea level rise illuminate how people eventually decide what is worth saving.

A Call For The Library Community To Deploy Best Practices Toward A Database For Biocultural Knowledge Relating To Climate Change, Martha B. Lerski

Publications and Research

Abstract

Purpose – In this paper, a call to the library and information science community to support documentation and conservation of cultural and biocultural heritage has been presented.

Design/methodology/approach – Based in existing Literature, this proposal is generative and descriptive— rather than prescriptive—regarding precisely how libraries should collaborate to employ technical and ethical best practices to provide access to vital data, research and cultural narratives relating to climate.

Findings – COVID-19 and climate destruction signal urgent global challenges. Library best practices are positioned to respond to climate change. Literature indicates how libraries preserve, share and cross-link cultural and scientific knowledge. …

Wrack Lines Volume 21, Number 2, Fall/Winter 2021-22, Nancy C. Balcom, Judy Benson, Syma A. Ebbin, Kira Goldenberg, Judy Preston, Howard "Mickey" Weiss

Wrack Lines

"Discovery, Rediscovery and Rebirth: new eyes, new understanding of familiar places" is the theme for the Fall-Winter 2021-22 issue. The main article package consists of five stories about the lands and waters that will comprise the Connecticut National Estuarine Research Reserve (CT NERR). These are: overview and introduction; Great Island; lower Thames River; Bluff Point State Park; and Haley Farm State Park. Other articles include one on research into the cause of invasive Cladophora seaweed dominating Little Narragansett Bay; and another on the transformation of the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History.

The Material Culture Of Temperature: Measurement, Capital And Semiotics, Scott W. Schwartz

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Temperature was invented in the 17th century. While cosmologists affirm that fluctuations in heat are as old as the universe, the intensive quantified scale marking these fluctuations has a relatively short history. This dissertation analyzes why temperature developed when it did and what temperature does for and to its users. I demonstrate that the ubiquitous and quotidian epistemological artifact temperature epitomizes capitalized methods of seeing, measuring, and knowing. At its broadest, the concern of this dissertation is the material culture of knowledge production among capitalizing populations—those that believe in and practice the perpetually accelerating asymmetrical growth of wealth.

In this …

Cultivating Historic Farms: A Study Of Late-Nineteenth Century Maryland Farms, Sarah N. Janesko

Northeast Historical Archaeology

This study examines late-19th century farmsteads in Anne Arundel County, Maryland to measure and explain changes in agriculture and the effect of farming strategies on the local landscape. Agricultural census data from 1850–1880 in the county’s First Election District are used to measure significant changes in crop production after the Civil War. From this local level analysis, one farmstead is analyzed to understand those agricultural changes at the household level. Results from exploratory statistics, two-sided independent t tests, and one-way analysis of variances demonstrate that mean production of tobacco, wheat, and corn decreased significantly in the decades after the Civil …

Cultural Resources Investigation Report Of The Proposed City Of Jefferson 48-Inch Rcp (Pipeline) Drainage Improvements Along Valve Street In Marion County, Texas, James S. Belew, Michael Ryan

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

Sphere 3 Environmental, Inc. (Sphere 3) conducted an intensive pedestrian cultural resources survey of approximately 0.12 hectares (0.29 acres) of land designated as the Project Area/Area of Potential Effects on September 16 and 17, 2020, in response to the proposed pipeline replacement in Jefferson, Texas. The City of Jefferson retained Sphere 3 to conduct a cultural resources survey of the proposed pipeline replacement location. The cultural resources survey was conducted to identify properties eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) or worthy of listing as a State Antiquities Landmark (SAL). A total of 12 shovel tests …

Cultural Resources Survey For The Proposed Dam No. 101 Project Within The Upper Brushy Creek Wcid, Williamson County, Texas, Steve Ahr, Patricia Hutchins, Tanya Mcdougall, Beth Reed

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

AECOM was contracted by the Upper Brushy Creek Water Control and Improvement District (UBCWCID) to conduct a cultural resources survey for the proposed Dam No. 101 project, located in Williamson County, Texas. AECOM evaluated a 189-acre area of potential effects (APE), which includes the conceptual dam footprint plus a 150-foot (ft) buffer, the inundation area, and any additional areas that could be potentially affected by key construction activities. The project is bisected by O’Conner Drive on the north side of State Highway 45 and partially overlaps the existing Dam No. 9. AECOM conducted an intensive cultural resources survey within the …

The Intensive Cultural Resources Survey For The Tceq Npdes Permitted Location On The Canyon Ranch Tract Comal County, Texas, James J. Hill

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

Gram Vikas Partners, Inc. (Sponsor) is proposing the development of the approximate 400-acre Canyon Ranch Tract (Project) in northwest Comal County, Texas. The Project would occur approximately eight miles northeast of Spring Branch, Texas along Farm to Market Road (FM) 306. The Project will consist of a mix of both residential and commercial properties, associated roads, utilities and a wastewater treatment facility. As part of the development, an approximate six-acre wastewater treatment facility will be constructed in the west-central portion of the Project area, approximately 0.9-mi northwest of FM 306 and County Road (CR) 401 intersection.

Under the Memorandum of …

Archaeological Monitoring For The Buena Vista Corridor Project, San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas, Leonard Kemp

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

Between July 11, 2018, and February 28, 2020, The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) Center for Archaeological Research (CAR), in response to a request from the City of San Antonio (COSA), intermittently conducted archaeological monitoring for the Buena Vista (BV) Corridor project in San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas. The project goal was to foster pedestrian traffic by sidewalk, lighting, and aesthetic improvements on Buena Vista Street between S. Leona and S. Santa Rosa streets. The COSA department of Transportation and Capital Improvements (TCI; now Public Works Department) administered the BV Corridor project with the COSA Office of Historic …

Intensive Archaeological Survey For Asphalt Package 2020-2 (Upin 21103n3045-30001), Harris County, Texas, Tiffany M. Lindley

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

Raba Kistner, Inc. (RKI) was contracted by Harris County Engineering Department (CLIENT) to conduct archaeological investigations in support of road improvements along 5.35 miles (8.6 kilometer [km]) of existing road along House Road, Bauer Hockley Road, Becker Road, Kickapoo Road, and Badtke Road, located in northwestern Harris County, Texas. The purpose of this investigation was to identify any surface-exposed or shallowly buried cultural deposits within the limits of the proposed undertaking and, if possible, assess their significance and eligibility for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) and for formal designation as State Antiquities Landmarks (SALs). As the …

Intensive Archaeological Survey For Asphalt Package 4, Precinct 3 (Upin: 21103n3044-30001), Hockley, Harris County, Texas, Adam T. Birge

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

Raba Kistner, Inc. (RKI) was contracted by Harris County Engineering Department (CLIENT), to conduct archaeological investigations in support of road improvements along 7 miles of existing road along Botkins, Roberts, AJ Foyt, Nichols, and Becker Roads, located in northwest Harris County, Texas. The purpose of this investigation was to identify any surface-exposed or shallowly buried cultural deposits within the limits of the proposed undertaking and, if possible, assess their significance and eligibility for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) and for formal designation as State Antiquities Landmarks (SALs). As the project will be conducted on publicly-owned land …

Analysis Of The Hatchel Site (41bw3) Platform Mound Ceramic Vessels, Vessel Sections, Sherds, Pipes, And Other Clay Artifacts, Timothy K. Perttula

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

The Hatchel site (41BW3) is a major ancestral Nasoni Caddo village and mound center on a natural levee deposit in the floodplain of the Red River in Bowie County, Texas, just a few kilometers west of the Arkansas state line. The site was occupied by the Caddo from at least A.D. 1040 to the late 17th century; the latest temporal estimate is based primarily on the association of the Hatchel platform mound with a mound and templo illustrated on a 1691 map drawn of the site during the Teran expedition, and selected decorated sherds and vessels in the uppermost mound …

Intensive Archaeological Survey For Asphalt Package 2020-1 (Upin 21103n304101), Harris County, Texas, Adam T. Birge

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

Raba Kistner, Inc. (RKI) was contracted by Harris County Engineering Department (CLIENT), to conduct archaeological investigations in support of a road improvements along 8.09 miles (13 km) of existing road along Old Washington County Road and Binford Roads, located in northwestern Harris County, Texas. The purpose of this investigation was to identify any surface-exposed or shallowly buried cultural deposits within the limits of the proposed undertaking and, if possible, assess their significance and eligibility for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) and for formal designation as State Antiquities Landmarks (SALs). As the project will be conducted on …

2020 Annual Report: Cultural Resources Surveys Conducted For Two Anadarko E&P Onshore Llc Projects On General Land Office Property In Reeves County, Texas, Russell K. Brownlow

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

During the 2020 calendar year, Horizon Environmental Services, Inc. (Horizon) conducted intensive cultural resources surveys for two proposed Anadarko E&P Onshore LLC (Anadarko) projects located on property owned by the Texas General Land Office (GLO) in Reeves County, Texas (Project Areas). These projects included several flowline and pipeline rights-of-way (ROWs). Both projects were privately funded and did not require any federal permitting or coordination. However, as the GLO is considered to be a political subdivision of the State of Texas, the portions of the two projects on GLO property fell under the regulations of the Antiquities Code of Texas (ACT). …

Investigating A Caddo Mound Site In The Ouachita River Valley, Mary Beth Trubitt, Jami J. Lockhart, Vanessa N. Hanvey

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

Archeologists from the Natural Resources Conservation Service and Arkansas Archeological Survey employed multiple techniques to investigate a newly recorded mound site (3DA673) in the Ouachita River valley in southern Arkansas. Topographic mapping documented a large two-stage mound. Geophysical surveying around the mound revealed anomalies in the gradiometry and resistance data, and soil coring detailed floodplain soils. A test unit was excavated in a large circular anomaly that corresponded to a low topographic rise north of the main mound. While very few artifacts were found, a burned zone and a post mold feature suggest the anomaly was a burned structure covered …

Digitizing Gilcrease Museum’S Lemley Collection: Multi-Disciplinary Perspectives From Native Artists And Scholars, Jesse Nowak, Diana Folsom

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

In 2014, The Thomas Gilcrease Institute of American History and Art received a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) to fund a project that created a multidisciplinary, searchable online catalogue of ancient Mississippian and Caddo ceramic vessels, the largest of its kind to date. This paper provides a summary of the history of the Lemley collection, its contributions to Caddo archaeology, and the development of the digitization program at the Gilcrease Museum. This work also highlights the major contributions made through the collaborative effort between museum experts, Native American artists, tribal representatives, and Dr. Ann Early, …

Fluvial Sequencing And Caddo Landform Modification At The Crenshaw Site (3mi6), John R. Samuelsen, Margaret Guccione

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

The Red River in southwest Arkansas creates a changing environment that has had a large impact on those who lived there, including floods, channel movements, and the erosion of whole landforms. River movements, and the resulting oxbow lakes, create an environment favorable to fishing. This study uses historical documents, lidar data, and coring methods to sequence past river movements around a multiple-mound Caddo ceremonial center, the Crenshaw site. This information is used to determine the likely location of the Red River at the time the ancient Caddo constructed the mounds and to note where portions of the ancient site may …

Someone’S Best Friend: Caddo And The Dìitsi’, Duncan P. Mckinnon

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

The special relationship that humans share with Canis familiaris (Caddo: dìitsi’) is the result of a long history of cohabitation with a high degree of variability in the role of dogs. In this paper, I present an inventory of dog burials documented in the Caddo Archaeological Area, consider symbolic dog representations in material culture, and examine Caddo ethnographic accounts that document human-canine interactions. Results reveal numerous forms of dog burial treatment, canine symbolism in ceramic, shell, and stone media, and a shared role of dogs in human ritual. These examples highlight the special relationship between the Caddo and their dogs, …

Motifs In Motion: An Iconographic Evaluation Of Spiro Engraved Production And Distribution Between The Northern And Southern Caddo Areas, Shawn P. Lambert

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

Spiro Engraved, characterized by restricted set of curvilinear motifs, is viewed as one of the ceramic hallmarks of the Early Caddo period (A.D. 950-1150). Spatial variation in Spiro Engraved vessels has been well-documented through various provenance and stylistic studies across the northern and southern Caddo areas. However, almost no analyses of Spiro Engraved vessels have considered variation in motif occurrence and expression between the northern and southern Caddo areas. In this study, I review the most robust and comprehensive sample of Spiro Engraved vessels throughout the Caddo world to understand motif variation within the region. The results show that northern …