Archaeological Anthropology Commons^™

"An Ample Provision For Our Posterity": Transportation, Ceramic Diversity, And Trade In Historic Arkansas, 1800-1930, Katherine Rose Cleek

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation I present a method to study transportation using ceramic diversity and access to transportation infrastructure. Ceramic tableware richness, or the number of types present, is analyzed over time as a proxy for access to local transportation infrastructure at seven sites in Arkansas, dating from approximately 1800 to 1930. Previous efforts to look at trade in historical archaeology including Adams (1976), Riordan and Adams (1985), and Adams, Bowers, and Mills (2001) have not thoroughly assessed transportation as a means of trade. This dissertation looks at the many ways of assessing diversity in archaeology, biology, business, and economics, as …

Agricultural Production And Stability Of Settlement Systems In Upper Mesopotamia During The Early Bronze Age (Third Millennium Bce), Tuna Kalayci

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates the relationship between rainfall variation and rain-fed agricultural production in Upper Mesopotamia with a specific focus on Early Bronze Age urban settlements. In return, the variation in production is used to explore stability of urban settlement systems. The organization of the flow of agricultural goods is the key to sustaining the total settlement system.

The vulnerability of a settlement system increases due to the increased demand for more output from agricultural lands. This demand is the key for the success of urbanization project. However, without estimating how many foodstuffs were available at the end of a production …

Prehistoric Human Ecodynamics In The Rub Al-Khali Desert: Results Of Remote Sensing And Excavations In Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Jason T. Herrmann

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Archaeological investigations in the Emirate of Dubai, UAE conducted by the Dubai Department of Archaeology and the University of Arkansas demonstrate that the desert inland of the Oman Peninsula was occupied not only during the Arabian Neolithic (8000-4400 BC), when the region experienced a moist period referred to as the Holocene Climatic Optimum (HCO), but also during the more arid millennia following the decline of the HCO into the Christian Era. During this period, desert settlement clustered near a band of oases, in contrast to the more widespread spatial distribution of remains of nomadic pastoralists from the Neolithic. Excavations at …

Urbanism In The Northern Levant During The 4th Millennium Bce, Rasha El-Endari

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The development of urbanism in the Near East during the 4thmillennium BCE has been an important debate for decades and with recent scientific findings, a revival of this intellectual discussion has come about. Many archaeologists suggested that urban societies first emerged in southern Mesopotamia, and then expanded to the north and northwest. With recent excavations in northern Mesopotamia, significant evidence has come to light with the finding of monumental architecture and city walls dated to the beginning of the 4th millennium BCE, well before southern Mesopotamian urban expansion. These discoveries reflect important administrative systems and stratified sociopolitical structures within these …

Population Dynamics In Predynastic Upper Egypt: Paleodemography Of Cemetery Hk43 At Hierakonpolis, Ernest King Batey Iii

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The site of Hierakonpolis is considered to have played an important role in the development of the Egyptian state, which formed at end of the fourth millennium BC. Archaeological evidence suggests that, for the Middle and Late Predynastic periods (ca. 3900-3200 BC), Hierakonpolis may be characterized as having experienced the following: a growth in both settlement and population size, an increased reliance on cereal agriculture, development of craft specialization, and the presence of a Social hierarchy as interpreted from an observed increase in the differentiation of mortuary behavior. Historical data suggest that these Social and economic changes would have affected …

Kites For Low Cost Near Earth Aerial Archaeological Photography, Robert Joseph Brandon

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis presents an overview of kite aerial photography (KAP) as a platform for archaeologists to acquire time sensitive unmanned near earth aerial photography for archaeological research. The methods and tools reviewed in this thesis are limited to those that make this technology accessible to the typical poorly funded archaeologists working in remote locations. The KAP methods detailed here have a low start up cost, are easy to transport, and a can be easily learned by archaeologists. The goal of this thesis is to promote KAP as a significant and regularly utilized tool for archaeological projects.

Dental Microwear Texture Analysis Of Pliocene Bovids From Four Early Hominin Sites In Eastern Africa: Implications For Paleoenvironmental Dynamics And Human Evolution, Jessica Renee Scott

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Many researchers have suggested that Plio-Pleistocene climate change was a motive force for human evolution. The basic idea was that a shift toward drier, more open settings, led to adaptations for bipedality and the consumption of savanna resources, including large grazing mammals. However, more recent paleoenvironmental reconstructions suggest that Pliocene hominins occupied variable or mosaic habitats including both open and closed settings. Many techniques have been used to refine our understanding of the paleoenvironments of eastern Africa; however these have not led to consensus reconstructions. At Kanapoi, ecological diversity analysis indicates that at least part of the site was composed …

The Truth Between The Teeth: An Analysis Of Interproximal Tooth Wear At The Ables Creek Cemetery, Amy Reynolds Warren

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Current archaeological knowledge suggests that, by the Late Mississippian period, inhabitants of the southeastern United States had adopted maize agriculture and that maize was a key component of the normal diet. However, in some regions where wild food resources were easily attainable, there is evidence that the transition to agriculture was delayed or did not occur at all. This thesis examines Late Mississippian skeletal collections from two sites in eastern Arkansas, Ables Creek and Upper Nodena. Analysis of differences in interproximal tooth wear facet size and caries rates between the two populations reveals that the diets at these roughly contemporary …

Geoarchaeology Of The Orontes River Floodplain Surrounding Tell Qarqur, Syria, Anna Flora Wieser

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This project combines geoarchaeological soil description and GIS analysis of archaeological site distribution to investigate the history of marsh formation in the northern Ghab Basin, located within the Orontes River Valley of western Syria. Tell Qarqur, the archaeological site around which this project is focused, has a continuous occupational sequence throughout the Holocene. Annual inundation of the site by seasonal marshlands suggests that the marsh was either smaller or non-existent in the past, but its history remains unknown. The objectives of this investigation are to interpret the nature of depositional environments, particularly fluvial action, in the vicinity of Tell Qarqur, …

Trauma At Akhetaten (Tell El-Amarna): Interpersonal Violence Or Occupational Hazard, Rebecca Marie Hodgin

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The New Kingdom individuals excavated from the site of Akhetaten, modern day Tell el-Amarna in Middle Egypt, exhibit traumatic injuries relating to construction of the new city. This site is important for Egyptological and bioarchaeological interpretations because the city was only occupied for approximately 15 years. The cemetery provides an archaeological instant in history providing information on the individuals who lived, worked, and died at Akhetaten. A total of 233 individuals have been excavated and analyzed to date. The incidence of forearm fractures as chronic ulnae stress fractures instead of parry fractures are indicated by the presence of Schmorl's nodes, …

Landscape History In The G.K. Warren Missouri River Maps, Graham Alan Callaway

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In 1855 and 1856, military surveyor Gouverneur K. Warren and his assistants produced what was at the time the most accurate map ever made of the Missouri River. This series of highly detailed sketch maps records numerous cultural features and an extraordinary level of environmental detail, making it an invaluable resource for research on the history of the region. This paper represents the first attempt to comprehensively interpret the content of these maps, identifying the features recorded where possible and assessing the probability of archaeological preservation of those not previously known. A subset of the recorded environmental data, from roughly …

Reappraising The Land Behind Baghdad: Using Corona Satellite Imagery To Reassess The Archaeological Landscape Of The Diyala Plain, Iraq, James Henry Wesolowski

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

High-resolution low-cost declassified CORONA spy satellite imagery is used to detect archaeological sites and relict canals in the Diyala Plain to the east of Baghdad, Iraq. This project seeks to improve upon the ground survey conducted there in the 1950s by providing better geographic control and discovering sites and canals that were not included in the original survey. CORONA imagery provides a sub-2-meter spatial resolution and was acquired shortly after the original ground survey was conducted, providing an excellent medium for comparison. CORONA imagery is subject to significant spatial distortions because of its camera technology and the LPS package for …

Violence, Symbols, And The Archaeological Record: A Case Study Of Cahokia's Mound 72, Kathryn Koziol

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Acts of violence are not always easily distinguished in their form. Given the additional difficulties caused by the obscure nature of the archaeological record, it is no wonder that interpretations of these behaviors are so skewed both between and within fields of research. There is little consistency in this academic dialogue, which prevents researchers from grappling with the larger perspectives that should be approached. For instance, just how far back in our human history have events such as genocide occurred? Are these modern in origin? The scale of ancient events and our anthropological scopes need more adjustment to the unique …

Recommendations For The Chamlidere Petrified Forest Management Plan, Fatma Ertem

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Anything inherited from our ancestors or from nature can be considered as our heritage. Heritage can be classified as cultural and natural heritage. Turkey has been the cradle of many civilizations, religions, and ethnic groups because of the unprecedented natural heritage and critical geopolitical location of Anatolia. Given all the treasure of cultural and natural heritage in Turkey, heritage management practices have not been emphasized as they deserve. A petrified forest was found in Chamlidere, Ankara (Turkey) in 2004. Chamlidere petrified forest preserves information related to the biodiversity of forests in the Galatian Volcanic Province during the Early-Middle Miocene. When …

Archaeology And The Public: Exploring Popular Misconceptions, Tamara Rakestraw, Amy Reynolds

Inquiry: The University of Arkansas Undergraduate Research Journal

To understand how the public views archaeology and uncover the sources of their perceptions, this paper summarizes the interviews of 58 Fayetteville area high school and college students from the Fall (2000). Using standard ethnographic techniques, including prepared questionnaires and open-ended conversation, we identified several trends in the public's perceptions of archaeology and have developed some hypotheses to account for them. As the Society for American Archaeology has only recently begun to understand, to better educate the general public about archaeology it is important to identify and understand the sources of these misconceptions. For more than a century, Hollywood, book …

Methodology For Analysis Of Diet Grit Size On Molar Attrition For Fourche Maline And Caddo People, Judith C. Stewart, Mary L. Powell, J. C. Rose

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

Using the Murphy (1959) system for scoring the degree of dentin exposure, Fourche Maline (Woodland) molars show a greater attrition rate than Caddo (Mississippian) molars. Archeological evidence suggests that this differential in attrition rates is caused by the use of stone grinders for food preparation in the Fourche Maline culture and their absence among the Caddo. Analysis of scratches on the occlusal surface of molars from these samples confirms this hypothesis. Several techniques for observing these scratches and reconstructing the grit sizes and grit particle frequencies responsible for this differential abrasion are evaluated.

Site Abandonment And The Archaeological Record: An Empirical Case For Anticipated Return, Charles M. Baker

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

Cultural formation processes of abandonment are examined in light of recently discovered hammerstone caches at an aboriginal novaculite quarry site. De facto refuse formation is shown to vary according to the conditions under which site abandonment took place.

Mississippian Communities In The St. Francis Basin: A Central Place Model, Timothy C. Klinger

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

The development of Mississippian settlement models for northeast Arkansas is reviewed. It is argued that a five-tier central place hierarchy best accounts for the variability currently known to exist among Mississippian communities in the St. Francis basin.

Collection Of Dalton Points From Yell County, Arkansas, Robert L. Brooks

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

The hypothesis that projectile points serve functions other than use as a head for a missile was examined by Morse and Goodyear in regard to Dalton points. The writer reexamined this hypothesis in light of a significant collection of Dalton points from Yell County, Arkansas, and further substantiates the hypothesis formulated by Morse and tested by Goodyear.

Historical Archaeology In Arkansas, Patrick E. Martin

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

No abstract provided.

Reconstruction Of An Arkansas Hopewellian Panpipe, Gloria A. Young

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

Panpipes have been found in North America only on Hopewell sites. A particularly well preserved specimen from the Helena Crossing Site was described by James A. Ford. From this description a reconstruction which produced a true octave was made from native cane. Since the panpipe is a more primitive instrument than the flutes in use during Hopewell florescence, it is postulated that this instrument was used by shamans in the cult of ancestor worship.

Profiling Techniques In Archaeology, Stephen E. Adams

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

No abstract provided.

Eddy Bluff Shelter Of Beaver Reservoir Of Northwest Arkansas, James D. Morrison

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

No abstract provided.

Archeological Investigation Of Bayou Bartholomew, 1969, Martha Ann Rolingson

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

Archeological investigation along Bayou Bartholomew in Ashley County was initiated with the primary objective of establishing a chronological sequence of prehistoric cultures. This paper reports the first season of fieldwork. Emphasis was placed on locating sites and obtaining adequate surface collections while only two sites were tested. The different types of sites and their relationship to the Bayou Bartholomew channels are discussed. Prehistoric occupations from four general periods are outlined, including late Archaic, early to middle Woodland, late Woodland and Mississippi.

Classification Of Some European Trade Beads From Louisiana And Mississippi, John B. Huner

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

The sources of trade beads found in archeological sites in North American may be discovered through a system of bead classification. Typology should be based on shape, size, materials, color and translucency, decoration, and method of manufacture. A chronology can then be established. Ethnological data may reveal European contact and intertribal trade.

Skeletal Analysis Of Three Bluff Shelter Burials, H. Eugene Hickman Jr.

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

No abstract provided.

Type-Variety Concept: A Possible Indicator Of Diffusion And Culture Areas, John B. Huner

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

No abstract provided.

Experiments In Aerial Photography, Dan Printup

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

No abstract provided.

Implications Of Land And Fresh-Water Gastropods In Archeological Sites, John W. Clark Jr.

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

No abstract provided.

Controlled Surface Collection At The Spinach Patch Site, Franklin County, Arkansas, Michael P. Hoffman

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

This paper discusses the technique of controlled surface collection as an interpretative aid at the Spinach Patch site, 3FR1, a prehistoric village site in Ozark Reservoir. The research involved was made possible through a cooperative agreement with the National Park Service, Southeast Region.