Archaeological Anthropology Commons^™

The Orphanage At Schuyler Mansion, Lois Feister

Northeast Historical Archaeology

Doll parts, toy tea set fragments, and other toys were excavated from the late 19th-century through early 20th-century occupation layers at the Schuyler Mansion State Historic Site in Albany, New York. Their occurrence raised questions about the orphans hosed their during that time period. Archival research and archaeological analysis resulted in increased understanding of the care received by homeless children during that period.

A Retrospective On Archaeology At Fort William Henry, 1952-1993: Retelling The Tale Of The Last Of The Mohicans, David R. Starbuck

Northeast Historical Archaeology

Fort William Henry was a British frontier fort constructed on the orders of Sir William Johnson in September of 1755 at the southern end of Lake George in upstate New York. After its destruction by a French army under the leadership of the Marquis de Montcalm in August of 1757, at which time many of its defenders were "massacred", the outline of the fort lay exposed until 1952 when archaeological excavations began to expose the charred ruins of the fort. Regrettably, while this was one of the largest excavations ever conducted on a site of the French and Indian War, …

Is Archaeology Destructive Or Are Archaeologists Self-Destructive, Pierre Beaudet, Monique Elie

Northeast Historical Archaeology

The conducting of archaeological excavations for the purpose of research without the justification of eminent destruction is often referred to, in cultural resource management literature and elsewhere, as a destructive practice- one to be avoided whenever possible. The following pages discuss the validity of a such deferral approach to archaeological research both in reference to resource conservation and to understanding the past.

Book Review: The Jeffersons At Shadwell By Susan Kern, Laura J. Galke

Northeast Historical Archaeology

The Jeffersons at Shadwell, by Susan Kern, 2010, Yale University Press, New Haven, 384 pages, 56 black-and-white illustrations, $30.00 (cloth).

Book Review: Excavating The Sutler's House: Artifacts Of The British Armies In Fort Edward And Lake George By David R. Starbuck, Richard Veit

Northeast Historical Archaeology

Excavating the Sutler's House: Artifacts of the British Armies in Fort Edward and Lake George, by David R. Starbuck, 2010, University Press of New England, Lebanon, New Hampshire, 132 pages, 161 illustrations, 4 half-tones, 157 color, $24.95 (paper).

Book Review: Beneath The Ivory Tower: The Archaeology Of Academia Edited By Russell K. Skowronek And Kenneth E. Lewis, David R. Starbuck

Northeast Historical Archaeology

Beneath the Ivory Tower: The Archaeology of Academia, edited by Russell K. Skowronek and Kenneth E. Lewis, 2010, University Press of Flordia, Gainesville, 352 pages, 115 illustrations, $59.95 (cloth).

Book Review: The Archaeology Of American Labor And Working-Class Life By Paul A. Shackel, James A. Delle

Northeast Historical Archaeology

The Archaeology of American Labor and Working-Class Life, by Paul A. Shackel, 2009, The American Experience in Archaeological Perspective Series, University Press of Florida, Gainesville, 160 pages, 20 illustrations, $69.95 (cloth), $19.95 (paper).

Book Review: Death In The New World: Cross-Cultural Encounters, 1492-1800, By Erik R. Seeman, Richard Veit

Northeast Historical Archaeology

Death in the New World: Cross-Cultural Encounters, 1492-1800, by Erik R. Seeman, 2010, Early American Studies Series, University of Pennsylvanie Press, Philadelphia, 384 pages, 28 illustrations, $45.00 (cloth), $24.95 (paper).

Book Review: Ethnographies And Archaeologies: Iterations Of The Past, Edited By Lena Mortensen And Julie Hollowell, Christina J. Hodge

Northeast Historical Archaeology

Ethnographies and Archaeologies: Iterations of the Past, edited by Lena Mortensen and Julie Hollowell, 2009, Cultural Heritage Studies Series, University Press of Florida, Gainesville, 288 pages, 9 illustrations, $69.95 (cloth).

Book Review: Ceramic Makers' Marks By Erica S. Gibson, Patricia Samford

Northeast Historical Archaeology

Ceramic Makers' Marks, by Erica S. Gibson, 2010, Guides to Historical Artifacts, Left Coast Press, 147 pages, 253 black-and-white illustrations, indexes, $89.00 (cloth), $24.95 (paper).

Assumptions About Consumption In The Archaeology Of Late Nineteenth-Century Farmsteads, Niels R. Rinehart

Northeast Historical Archaeology

Farming is typically associated with rural environments. The Dubois Site in Albany, New York, however, presented an opportunity to look at a farmstead close to a growing urban center during the second half of the 19th century. The excavations of the Dubois Site are discussed and the results are compared to the more rural Porter Site, a contemporary 19th-century farmstead. The comparison examines how the different contexts might have impacted consumption and production at the two farms, as well as the treatment of the farmstead landscapes. The two New York sites are then contrasted with four contemporary farm sites in …

Archaeology At The 1777 Ebenezer Story Site: The Household Economy Of A Family Of Fishermen-Farmers On The Thames River, Preston, Connecticut, Ross K. Harper, Bruce Clouette

Northeast Historical Archaeology

This paper uses data from a colonial-period maritime household site to expand understanding of the economic and subsistence practices of fisherman-farmer families. The site is the 1777 homestead of Ebenezer Story on the eastern bank of the Thames River in Preston, Connecticut, about 12 miles from Long Island Sound. Like many New England Yankees, Story had a diverse household economy: he practiced subsistence farming, fished and shellfished, and owned a saltworks, boats, and cider mill in common with his family. During the Revolutionary War, Story leased part of his land for the construction of the Continental frigate Confederacy, and he …

Growing Things "Rare, Foreign, And Tender": The Early Nineteenth-Century Greenhouse At Gore Place, Waltham Massachusetts, Christa M. Beranek, J. N. Leith Smith, John M. Steinberg, Michelle G. S. Garman

Northeast Historical Archaeology

Excavations and ground penetrating radar at Gore Place in Waltham, Massachusetts, uncovered part of an early 19th-century greenhouse (ca. 1806 to the early 1840s) constructed by Christopher and Rebecca Gore. Documentary, archaeological, and geophysical data suggest that the greenhouse was a formal space intended to display exotic plants and that it was built in the relatively new lean-to style, with a tall back wall and a short front wall. The artifact assemblage included tools and small finds related to the greenhouse operation, as well as the remains of at least 149 planting pots. The greenhouse was constructed during a period …

Patriots, Tories, Inebriates, And Hussies: The Historical Archaeology Of The Abraham Staats House, As A Case Study In Microhistory, Richard Veit, Michael J. Gall

Northeast Historical Archaeology

To modern suburbanites, life on a farm may seem hopelessly boring or, alternatively, charming and idyllic. Excavations at the Abraham Staats House in New Jersey’s Raritan Valley, just upriver from New Brunswick, provide a revealing glimpse of the dynamic and contentious lives of 18th- and 19th-century farmers. The Staats family, part of the early 18th-century Dutch migration to the Raritan Valley, saw their lives transformed by the Revolutionary War, the arrival of turnpike roads, the construction of the Delaware and Raritan Canal, the emancipation of slaves, the growth of the temperance movement, and family squabbles of Shakespearean proportions. Excavations at …

The Mother Of The Father Of Our Country: Mary Ball Washington's Genteel Domestic Habits, Laura J. Galke

Northeast Historical Archaeology

The year 1743 brought hardship to the Washingtons as their family patriarch, Augustine, passed away unexpectedly. At that time, a young George Washington inherited the family’s home plantation in Fredericksburg, known today as Ferry Farm. Augustine’s will stipulated that George’s mother, Mary Ball Washington, manage the plantations of their four young boys until they came of age. Between 1743 and 1772, Mary enjoyed the personal agency that widowhood allowed her; she was responsible for the management decisions of the Washington household and the surrounding farm. Mary’s choices reflect an ambitious woman determined to participate in the genteel society her family …

Assessing Variability Among Quartering Sites In Virginia, Barbara J. Heath, Eleanor E. Breen

Northeast Historical Archaeology

The definition of what constitutes a Virginia slave quarter based on archaeological evidence is evolving. In the 1970s and 1980s, archaeologists developed an informal set of criteria that equated subfloor pits and the presence of "Africanisms" with structures occupied by enslaved people, and these criteria are still widely used. The accumulation of an archaeological and architectural data set of more than 170 Virginian quartering sites over the past 40 years has demonstrated that these sites vary across time and space, has underscored the problematic nature of site definition based on a checklist approach to ethnic or racial criteria, and has …

Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project Annual Report, 2012-2013, Michael Nassaney

Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project

The Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project continued to maintain its high standards in research, teaching, and public outreach in the examination of the fur trade and colonialism in southwest Michigan under the auspices of the Fort St. Joseph Archaeology Advisory Committee. Over the past year (September 1, 2012 through August 31, 2013) Western Michigan University (WMU) students and faculty, along with interested stakeholders and community volunteers, collaborated in both the archaeological investigation of Fort St. Joseph as well as the dissemination of information to an expanding audience. The highlights of the past year include:

• The newly released DVD, "Militia Muster,” …

Jewish Genetic Origins In The Context Of Past Historical And Anthropological Inquiries, John M. Efron

Human Biology Open Access Pre-Prints

The contemporary study of Jewish genetics has a long prehistory dating back to the eighteenth century. Prior to the era of genetics studies of the physical makeup of Jews were undertaken by comparative anatomists and physical anthropologists. In the nineteenth century the field was referred to as “race science.” Believed by many race scientists to be a homogeneous and pure race, Jews occupied a central position in the discourse of race science because they were seen as the control group par excellence to determine the relative primacy of nature or nurture in the development of racial characteristics. In the nineteenth …

No Evidence From Genome-Wide Data Of A Khazar Origin For The Ashkenazi Jews, Doron M. Behar, Mait Metspalu, Yael Baran, Naama M. Kopelman, Bayazit Yunusbayev, Ariella Gladstein, Shay Tzur, Havhannes Sahakyan, Ardeshir Bahmanimehr, Levon Yepiskoposyan, Kristiina Tambets, Elza K. Khusnutdinova, Aljona Kusniarevich, Oleg Balanovsky, Elena Balanovsky, Lejla Kovacevic, Damir Marjanovic, Evelin Mihailov, Anastasia Kouvatsi, Costas Traintaphyllidis, Roy J. King, Ornella Semino, Antonio Torroni, Michael F. Hammer, Ene Metspalu, Karl Skorecki, Saharon Rosset, Eran Halperin, Richard Villems, Noah A. Rosenberg

Human Biology Open Access Pre-Prints

The origin and history of the Ashkenazi Jewish population have long been of great interest, and advances in high-throughput genetic analysis have recently provided a new approach for investigating these topics. We and others have argued on the basis of genome-wide data that the Ashkenazi Jewish population derives its ancestry from a combination of sources tracing to both Europe and the Middle East. It has been claimed, however, through a reanalysis of some of our data, that a large part of the ancestry of the Ashkenazi population originates with the Khazars, a Turkic-speaking group that lived to the north of …

From Generation To Generation: The Genetics Of Jewish Populations, Noah A. Rosenberg, Steven P. Weitzman

Human Biology Open Access Pre-Prints

Introduction:

This year marks the 35th anniversary of two noteworthy papers—one in this journal and the other in the American Journal of Human Genetics—posing the same famous question: are the different Jewish populations from around Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa more genetically similar to each other, or are they more similar to the local non-­‐Jewish populations in the regions where they were historically located? Both studies gathered blood-­‐group and protein variation data from a variety of Jewish and non-­‐Jewish populations, compiling significant “classical marker” data sets commensurate with the standard for human population-­‐ genetic studies at the time. …

Genetics And The Archaeology Of Ancient Israel, Aaron J. Brody, Roy J. King

Human Biology Open Access Pre-Prints

This paper is a call for DNA testing on ancient skeletal materials from the southern Levant to begin to database genetic information of the inhabitants of this crossroads region. Archaeologists and biblical historians view the earliest presence in the region of a group that called itself Israel in the Iron I period, traditionally dated to ca. 1200-1000 BCE. These were in villages in the varied hill countries of the region, contemporary with urban settlements in the coastal plains, inland valleys, and central Hill Country attributed to varied indigenous groups collectively called Canaanite. The remnants of Egyptian imperial presence in the …

Genetics And The History Of The Samaritans: Y-Chromosomal Microsatellites And Genetic Affinity Between Samaritans And Cohanim, Peter J. Oefner, Georg Hõlzl, Peidong Shen, Isaac Shpirer, Dov Gefel, Tal Lavi, Eilon Wolf, Jonathan Cohen, Cengiz Cinnioglu, Peter A. Underhill, Noah A. Rosenberg, Jochen Hochrein, Julie M. Granka, Jossi Hillel, Marcus W. Feldman

Human Biology Open Access Pre-Prints

The Samaritans are a group of some 750 indigenous Middle Eastern people, about half of whom live in Holon, a suburb of Tel Aviv, and the other half near Nablus. The Samaritan population is believed to have numbered more than a million in late Roman times, but less than 150 in 1917. The ancestry of the Samaritans has been subject to controversy from late Biblical times to the present. In this study, liquid chromatographyelectrospray ionization quadrupole ion trap mass spectrometry was used to allelotype 13 Y-chromosomal and 15 autosomal microsatellites in a sample of 12 Samaritans chosen to have as …

Informal And Alternative Economies On The Periphery Of New Orleans During The Early-Nineteenth Century: An Archaeological Inquiry Of 16or180, Austen E. Dooley

Senior Honors Theses

In summer of 2012 archaeological excavations were conducted at the Iberville Housing Projects in New Orleans, Louisiana. The excavations were conducted in order to gather archaeological data pertaining to the site’s history as part of New Orleans’ notorious vice district, Storyville. During excavation a cache of 765 turquoise glass seed beads was uncovered along the east wall of Test Unit #1. The cache, found at a depth of around 83 cm below the ground surface, suggests, in conjunction with other artifacts found at this level, that the beads were deposited at the site between 1810 and 1830. This cache of …

An Assessment Of Public Outreach With Children And Educators Conducted By The Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project, Erica A. D’Elia

Masters Theses

Archaeological public outreach to children can be enhanced through collaboration with school educators. While archaeologists have begun to collaborate with local and descendant communities, they have been slow to engage in work with educators in the same manner. The Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project provides the context for me to explore some of the current issues in public archaeology and the politics of education. My study was conducted to better understand the needs of both children and teachers. In my work with the archaeological summer camp for middle school students I seek to conceptualize how the camp enhances their educational …

Archaeological Geophysics, Excavation, And Ethnographic Approaches Toward A Deeper Understanding Of An Eighteenth Century Wichita Site, Michael Don Carlock

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research exemplifies a multidirectional approach to an archaeological interpretation of an eighteenth century Wichita village and fortification located on the Red River bordering Oklahoma and Texas. A battle that is believed to have occurred at the Longest site (34JF1) in 1759 between Spanish colonials and a confederation of Native Americans led to several Spanish primary documents describing the people that lived there, the fortification and surrounding village, and of course the battle itself. Investigation of the Longest site (34JF1) in Oklahoma presents a remarkable opportunity to combine extensive historical research, archaeological prospecting using geophysics, and traditional excavation techniques in …

Can Organizations Learn? Exploring A Shift From Conflict To Collaboration, Nelly Robles García, John G. Corbett

Public Administration Faculty Publications and Presentations

This paper explores organizational learning in Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History (hereafter INAH, its acronym in Spanish). INAH’s responsibility is to support research, analysis, protection, and dissemination of the country’s archaeological and anthropological heritage; it manages cultural but not natural resources.

Examining Household Identity Through Lithic Technology At The Harris Site, Justin Albert Demaio

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Utilitarian technology is often studied by archaeologists to understand what specific functions and activities these items represent in a past population's daily life. However, it is important not to forget that technology manufacture, use, and discard is embedded in a social context. Flintknapping is a skill that requires close instruction and training so that the desired outcome can be achieved. This training requires daily mentoring from other individuals in the community, many times within one's own family. These daily interactions create learning frameworks through which craft knowledge is transmitted. Technological style and domestic processing activities can be used as an …

Bert Salwen- A Recollection, John L. Cotter

Northeast Historical Archaeology

A recollection of the life and work of Bert Salwen.

"Something Rich And Strange": Reburial In New York City, Anne-Marie Cantwell

Northeast Historical Archaeology

This article describes and discusses three recent cases in New York City in which anthropologists were involved in the identification, sanctification, and reburial of human remains. These examples show how living peoples may reach back into the past and join with the dead to form a desired "imagined community." Also discussed are the roles of anthropologists in these transformations of the dead into symbols of a desired body politic. Anthropologists who once focused on interpreting past social constructions are increasingly finding themselves playing crucial roles in the creation of modern ones.

Representations Of The Local Past: Gilded Age And Bureaucratic Accounts Of The Minisink, 1889 To The Present, Wendy Harris

Northeast Historical Archaeology

The process whereby local pasts are made meaningful varies through time and among different communities. While historians, philosophers, and anthropologists have long been intrigued by the problem of historical practice, their discussions remain speculative. This paper examines the specific social conditions of production of a single local past. During the late 19th-century, the members of the Minisink Valley Historical Society in Port Jervis, New York, engaged in the imaginative construction of a place they named "the Minisink"- an early frontier region encompassing portions of the Upper Delaware River Valley. The Society's account is examined and compared to accounts produced a …