Archaeological Anthropology Commons^™

A Geophysical Survey Of Fort St. Joseph (20be23), Niles, Michigan, Daniel P. Lynch

Masters Theses

Fort St. Joseph is a 17th-18th century French (and later English) mission-garrison-trading post complex located in southwest Michigan. A geophysical survey was performed and the results of the survey were tested through archaeological excavation. The geophysical methods included ground penetrating radar, electromagnetic induction, electrical resistivity, magnetic gradiometry, and magnetic susceptibility. The results of the archaeological excavations demonstrate that magnetic gradiometry was the preferred geophysical method at this particular site. The magnetic gradiometer survey included both terrestrial and possible submerged portions the site. Laboratory analysis of the magnetic susceptibility and magnetic viscosity of soils and rocks demonstrated that the archaeological features …

Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project Annual Report, 2007-08, Michael S. Nassaney

Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project

This past year (September 1, 2007 through August 31, 2008) was arguably the most productive for the Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project since the site was initially identified on the ground by Western Michigan University archaeologists in 1998. The project has become one of the premier public archaeology programs in the Midwest, guided by the philosophy of community service learning in which students provide a community service and learn through civic engagement. Investigations and interpretations have spawned a number of significant recent developments. First, the City of Niles and Western Michigan University entered into a 10-year collaborative agreement to ensure …

Black Women, Beauty, And Labor: Towards An Archaeology Of African-American Women In Indianapolis, Indiana, Genesis M. Snyder

Masters Theses

For two consecutive summers (2002 and 2003), I conducted fieldwork in the Ransom Place Archaeology neighborhood on the near Westside of Indianapolis, Indiana. I found myself increasingly drawn to the material culture left behind by the African-American women who had lived in the area roughly 100 years ago. Such material culture begs many questions: What social and political forces influenced the construction of African-American women's understandings of self in the early twentieth century? Who was responsible for the construction and dissemination of beauty ideals, notions about women's work, and how did those ideals differ across the color line? Using as …

Ferro Ingenio: An Archaeological And Ethnohistorical View Of Labor And Empire In Colonial Porco And Potosi, Brendan J. M. Weaver

Masters Theses

Porco, Bolivia, is known as the source of silver which ornamented the Inca temple of Coricancha, and as the seat of the earliest Spanish mining operations in the Andes. The colonial silver processing site of Ferro Ingenio, on the outskirts of Porco, is comprised of domestic and industrial structures, constructed and used over multiple occupations. Ferro Ingenio is the best preserved and most complete site of its kind in the Porco region and the first Andean stamp-mill ever to be excavated. This investigation uses ethnohistorical and archaeological evidence to examine the organization and the changing social roles of colonial labor. …

Archaeology, History And Activities At Fort St. Joseph 8: Religious Life At Fort St. Joseph, Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project

Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project

Panel 8.

Written documents indicate that the Jesuit priests settled among neighboring Native American groups and were successful at creating some converts at the St. Joseph mission.

Archaeology, History And Activities At Fort St. Joseph 7: Public Archaeology At Fort St. Joseph, Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project

Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project

Panel 7.

The Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project practices community service learning.

One of the main goals of the Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project is to incorporate the local community in all aspects of the archaeological enterprise in the investigation.

Archaeology, History And Activities At Fort St. Joseph 3: Change And Continuity At Fort St. Joseph, Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project

Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project

Panel 3.

At Fort St. Joseph, evidence points to many instances of cross-cultural exchange between the French fort inhabitants and neighboring Native American groups such as the Potawatomi, Miami and Sauk.

Archaeology, History And Activities At Fort St. Joseph 5: Project History, Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project

Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project

Panel 5.

Investigations at the long lost fort were begun in 1998 by WMU archaeologists.

Archaeology, History And Activities At Fort St. Joseph 1: What Is Archaeology?, Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project

Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project

Panel 1.

What is Archaeology and Historical Archaeology?

Archaeology, History And Activities At Fort St. Joseph 2: Fort History, Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project

Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project

Panel 2.

The French established Fort St. Joseph in 1691 in present day Niles.

Archaeology, History And Activities At Fort St. Joseph 4: Commercial Activities At Fort St. Joseph, Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project

Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project

Panel 4.

Fort St. Joseph was an important link in the chain of frontier outposts that marked the far reaches of New France and facilitated the fur trade between the French and Native Americans in the Western Great Lakes region.

Archaeology, History And Activities At Fort St. Joseph 6: Military Presence At Fort St. Joseph, Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project

Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project

Panel 6.

From 1691 to 1698 and from 1717 to 1761, French military personnel occupied Fort St. Joseph to defend the site's strategic position on a major trade route near the portage between the St. Joseph and Kankakee rivers, while maintaining alliances with friendly Native American groups to facilitate the trade in furs.

Building A Predictive Model For Paleo Indian Archaeological Site Location Using Geographic Information Systems, Zachary Jaime

Masters Theses

This research is a multi step method to predict unknown Paleoindian archaeological site locations within Pine Bluffs, Wyoming, situated in the southeastern corner of the state, using a Geographic Information System (GIS). The GIS technology is being used to predict Paleoindian archaeological site locations and will help demonstrate the geographic similarities and differences between already known Paleoindian archaeological sites and random non-site locations in the Pine Bluffs region. Using GIS, one can note the similarities and differences between the Paleoindian sites and the surrounding landscape and, with help of logistic regression analysis, one can predict the location of unknown Paleoindian …

110- Geophysical And Archaeological Survey Of Lake Bluff Park, St. Joseph, Michigan, Michael Nassaney, William Sauck

Reports of Investigations

Geophysical and archaeological surveys were conducted in a segment of Lake Bluff Park immediately west of Lake Boulevard in St. Joseph, Michigan during Fall 2005. The surveys were conducted because background research had indicated the potential for archaeological remains in the project area, particularly the construction of Fort Miami in the vicinity in 1679 and encounters with human burials along the bluff edge in the nineteenth century. The City of St. Joseph requested the survey to avoid disturbing potentially significant subsurface remains during excavations to replace utility lines beneath Lake Boulevard.

Sixteen geophysical blocks were surveyed, comprising approximately 35% of …

A Bioarchaeological Investigation Of Two Unmarked Graveyards In Bridgetown, Barbados, Christopher Crain

Masters Theses

In 1996 and 1999 two previously unknown graveyards were discovered in separate sections of Bridgetown, Barbados. Emergency excavations of the sites recovered the skeletal material of at least thirty-two (MNI=32) individuals as well as a number of grave goods. While the artifacts were from the historical period there was continuing speculation as to the ancestry of the individuals interred within these graveyards. During the summer of 2004 the first preliminary osteological analysis of the skeletal material was conducted to identify the biological characteristics, including the ancestral affiliation, of these individuals. The analysis determined that the individuals interred at these sites …

Crafting Culture At Fort St. Joseph: An Archaeological Investigation Of Labor Organization On The Colonial Frontier, Brock A. Giordano

Masters Theses

The study of labor organization through the examination of craft production in complex societies has been a topic of intense scholarly interest (Blackman et al. 1993; Costin and Hagstrom 1995; Shafer and Hester 1991). A number of scholars have hypothesized that goods produced in mass quantities by particular specialists can be recognized by their high degree of standardization or homogeneity (Blackman et al. 1993:61; Schiffer and Skibo 1997). As such, this study employs the theoretical framework that in an archaeological context it is possible to differentiate centralized production from noncentralized production by identifying any standardization or variation within the manufacturing …

An Intensive Surface Collection And Intrasite Spatial Analysis Of The Archaeological Materials From The Coy Mound Site (3ln20), Central Arkansas, William Glenn Hill

Masters Theses

Surface collected materials from the Coy Mound site (3LN20), Lonoke County, Arkansas, are utilized in order to address questions regarding site temporal occupations, resource utilization, internal site configuration, and the socio-political organization of the Baytown-Coles Creek period Plum Bayou culture. Artifact distribution plots revealed the presence of a mound and plaza site configuration in addition to potential domestic and off-mound midden deposits. While the site organizational plan has implications for a hierarchical socio-political organization, the absence of inter- and intrasite variability in ceramic types and lithic materials support the hypothesis that limited social differentiation was present in Plum Bayou culture …

Social Agency And Dieffenderfer Ware: A Multiscalar Analysis Investigating Current Archaeological Perspectives Concerning Style, Social Dynamics, Chaine Operatoire And Practice Theory, Timothy L. Bober

Masters Theses

Dieffenderfer Ware is a recently defined ceramic type found exclusively at the Dieffenderfer site (20SJ179) in southwest Michigan. This Late Woodland (ca. A.D. 1000-1400) pottery exhibits Iroquoian traits which are atypical in this region, but beyond that, very little is known about this ceramic type and the people that produced it. Research assessing the social agency of the producers of Dieffenderfer Ware was carried out by employing the chaine operatoire model, which examines the life history of artifacts. Dieffenderfer Ware was compared to the locally produced Allegan Ware. Social groups will procure, construct, use, and discard ceramics differently. Significant differences …

Style, Ethnicity, Technology, And Practice: Analysis Of A Material Culture Assemblage From The Paleoindian-Archaic Cultural Transition In The Northwestern Great Lakes, Matthew R. Laidler

Masters Theses

This study examines issues concerning the theoretical basis of style and ethnicity in archaeology through analysis of a material culture (lithic) assemblage from the Late Paleoindian-Archaic cultural transition period In the Northwestern Great Lakes region of the United States. A theoretical framework utilizing practice theory as expounded by Pierre Bourdieu is applied to an interpretation of both the theoretical and concrete issues involved in this analysis. Using the context of an interpreted ritual/mortuary site, a social archaeology concerned with the social, political, and organizational context of production, use, and deposition of technological objects is developed to address style and ethnicity …

The Urban Landscape Of Health, Hygiene, And Social Control: The Development Of Municipal Services In Battle Creek, Michigan, Jared Lee Barrett

Masters Theses

This thesis is outlining the introduction of municipal water and sewer by using archaeological evidence. First, I will lay out a theoretical framework in which this research will be conducted. It will outline what social control is, how others have examined it, and how is it used by elites to retain their position in society. Next, it will outline the health, social, political, and economic conditions that existed that would give rise to this transition from privies and cisterns to municipal water and sewer services. Then the James and Ellen White site (20CA118) will be used to give evidence of …

The Wreck Of The Rockaway: The Archaeology Of A Great Lakes Scow Schooner, Kenneth R. Pott

Masters Theses

During the 19th century, Great Lakes shipping played a vital role in the development of the economies of the United States and Canada. Regional shipyards built thousands of vessels to distribute coal, lumber, grain, iron ore and other goods throughout the Great Lakes network. In time, certain designs were selected for the advantage they offered over others employed in the same trade. The scow schooner was one class of carrier which attained a high level of use in the Lakes region.

This study examines the scow schooner Rockaway and the economic factors which influenced the building and use of this …

Exploring The Social Dimensions Of Grog-Temper Use At The Ink Bayou Site (3pu252): A Plum Bayou Culture Site In Central Arkansas, Eric Chadwick Drake

Masters Theses

This thesis explores the social implications involved with the technological decision to use grog (crushed potsherds) as a ceramic tempering agent by potters affiliated with the Plum Bayou culture of central Arkansas. The analytical technique of point-counting ceramic thin sections is used to search for patterns of grog-temper use at a single Plum Bayou culture site, the Ink Bayou site (3PU252). While the thermal properties of grog-temper may help to explain the variability of use observed at the Ink Bayou site, the social implications of producing grog-tempered pots are best illuminated by the sequence of productive operations employed by the …

Of Agrarian Landscapes And Capitalist Transitions: Historical Archaeology And The Political Economy Of A Nineteenth-Century Farmstead, Daniel O. Sayers

Masters Theses

This exposition utilizes Marxian theory in conjunction with archaeological and historiographic data to understand and interpret the significance of the landscape in the political economy of a mid-nineteenth century farmstead in Battle Creek, Michigan. The Shepard site (20CA104) was a family owned, progressive farm that went through many significant changes between the frontier era (ca. 1834) and the eve of the Civil War. By exploring the political, economic, and ideological aspects of the site architecture, the familial gender divisions of labor, and class relations between the family and non-familial workers, many aspects of the political-economic contradictions between the landscape and …

22-An Archaeological Reconnaissance Survey To Locate Remains Of Fort St. Joseph (20be23) In Niles, Michigan, William Cremin, Renee Lutes-Kurtzweil, Christine Mcmillan, Michael S. Nassaney

Archaeological Reports

An archaeological reconnaissance survey was conducted in search of material remains of Fort St. Joseph in a 15-acre parcel owned by the City of Niles, Michigan. The French established the settlement in 1691 for religious, military, and commercial purposes and it served as an important frontier outpost for nearly a century. The British came to control the fort in 1761 until the Spanish briefly captured it two decades later. The site, which was nominated to the National Register of Historic Places in the 1970s, has local, regional, national, and global significance. Its changing fortunes have given Niles the nickname, "The …

21-An Intensive Archaeological Survey Of The James And Ellen G. White House Site (20ca118), Battle Creek, Michigan, Hidetsugu Kosaka, Michael S. Nassaney, Carol Nickolai, William Sauck, Daniel Sayers, Brian C. Wilson

Archaeological Reports

An intensive archaeological survey was conducted at the James and Ellen G. White House site (20CA118) in Battle Creek, Michigan over a seven-week period from May 4-June 24, 1998. The house is a well-known local landmark that was occupied from 1856-1863 by a family that was instrumental in founding the Seventh-day Adventist denominational movement. Although the original site has been subdivided and subjected to significant modification since the third quarter of the 19th century, the 1856 wood-frame Greek Revival house remains extant. Investigations were oriented towards identifying the presence of subsurface archaeological remains and site features that can inform about …

20-Historical Archaeology In Battle Creek, Michigan: The 1996 Field Season At The Warren B. Shepard Site (20ca104), Nicole Kuemin, Christine Mcmillan, Michael S. Nassaney, Carol Nickolai, William Sauck, Daniel Sayers

Archaeological Reports

An intensive archaeological survey was conducted at the Shepard site (20CA104) in Battle Creek, Michigan from April 29 through July 12, 1996. Historical background research had indicated that the site was the location of Native American activity until the 1830s when it was settled by the town's first school teacher, Warren B. Shepard. In the early 1850s, Shepard constructed a large, brick Greek Revival house on the site that stands to this day. The house and its associated landscape have been the focus of our investigations.

Documentary evidence suggested the presence of various outbuildings and other landscape features that were …

Definition And Evaluation Of The Mississippian Lithic Assemblage From The Wymer-West Knoll (20 Be 132), Berrien County, Michigan, Sean R. Brown

Masters Theses

Analysis of the lithic assemblage from the Wymer-West knoll site was undertaken with the following objectives: (1) to define the lithic technology of the Mississippian occupational component of the site, (2) to compare length, width and width/length ratios of triangular projectile points from the Wymer-West knoll with other Mississippian sites to clarify the cultural affiliation of the Wymer-West knoll, and (3) to use site function, from the perspective of the overall Wymer-West knoll material culture in general and the Mississippian lithic technology in particular, as a framework to better understand the Wymer-West knoll's place in the regional culture history.

A …

A Statistical Analysis Of The Ceramics From The Dieffenderfer Site (20sj179), St. Joseph County, Michigan, Mark A. Steeby

Masters Theses

The Dieffenderfer site, located in Constantine Township, St. Joseph County, Michigan, is a multi-component site situated in the middle St. Joseph River valley. Calibrated radiocarbon dates from several features at the site suggest multiple re-use during the Late Woodland period from A.D. 1000 to A.D. 1400, with the most intensive occupations occurring during the 12th through 14th centuries. These dates are supported by a large Late Woodland ceramic assemblage in association with three spatially discrete activity areas; two of these activity loci are represented by housefloors, suggesting a degree of permanence by the residents.

A cluster analysis performed on the …

104-Preliminary Assessment Of Archaeobotanical Remains From The Phase Ii Testing Of Sites In The New Lenox Park District Archaeological Project, New Lenox, Illinois (Midwest Archaeological Research Services), William M. Cremin

Reports of Investigations

In late 1993, Midwest Archaeological Research Services {MARS) conducted limited test excavations at a series of sites recorded earlier during Phase I reconnaissance survey of a 200 acre parcel for the New Lenox Park District in Will County, Illinois. The study area (located in the NE 1/4 of Section 15; the NW 1/4, NW 1/4 of section 14; and the sw 1/4, SE 1/4, sw 1/4, SE 1/4 of Section 10, New Lenox Township (T35N, R11E), for the most part, lies south and on the inside of a sweeping bend in the course of Hickory creek, a tributary of the …

105-Phase I Archaeological Assessment Of The Coldbrook Ada Upgrade, Coldbrook Park, Kalamazoo County, Michigan (Er-940188), William M. Cremin, Arthur Desjardins

Reports of Investigations

On 16 Jul 94, authorization (P.O. #35356) was received from the Office of County Controller for a Phase I archaeological survey of the proposed ADA upgrade at Coldbrook Park in Section 34 of Charleston Township (T2S R9W), Kalamazoo County, Michigan. A literature and site file search was initiated, and on 18 Jul onsite evaluation of the project area was undertaken in order to determine whether the proposed construction activity would adversely impact potentially significant archaeological resources.

Inasmuch as a grant application to fund the proposed construction activity was pending, and the results of our research were entirely negative, our recommendation …