Archaeological Anthropology Commons^™

Geographic Information Systems Correlation Modeling As A Management Tool In The Study Effects Of Environmental Variables’ Effects On Cultural Resources, Brian Wallace

Anthropology Graduate Projects and Theses

Utilizing Geographic Information Systems (GIS) offers the field of Cultural Resource Management greater capacity in managing resources. New regression analysis tools recently released in ESRI ArcGIS software offer potential for determining more accurate statistical analyses of the relationships between cultural material and environmental variables. The contemporary trend of federal cultural resource managers and GIS analysts working with smaller budgets is to allocate fiscal resources for tools which will enable them to continue successfully managing their resource. ArcGIS software continues to be the industry standard in managing spatial data to accurately represent the existence, condition, and location of cultural material. With …

Nutrition And Stature: The Residents Of The Island Of Gotland, Sweden Killed In The Battle Of Wisby, 1361, Michelle A. Miller

Masters Theses

This research examines stature in order to assess the socio-economic status of Gotland, an island (and municipality) off the coast of Sweden, before the 1360's. Gotland was known as a wealthy and autonomous peasant republic although it was loosely ruled by the Swedish Crown. In 1361, the Danish Army laid siege on the seaport city of Wisby to obtain its riches. Three days after the battle, the approximately 1800 dead Gotlanders were tossed haphazardly into five common graves. Archaeological excavations took place from 1905-1930 by Bendt Thordeman, among others. The human remains were analyzed in 1937. Osteological analysis in the …

A Viking Age Political Economy From Soil Core Tephrochronology, Kathryn Anne Catlin

Graduate Masters Theses

Saga accounts describe Viking Age Iceland as an egalitarian society of independent household farms. By the medieval period, the stateless, agriculturally marginal society had become highly stratified in exploitative landlord-tenant relationships. Classical economists place the origin of differential wealth in unequal access to resources that are unevenly distributed across the landscape. This irregularity is manifested archaeologically as spatial variations in buried soil horizons, which are addressed through thousands of soil cores recorded across Langholt in support of the Skagafjörður Archaeological Settlement Survey. Soil accumulation rates, a proxy for land quality, are derived from tephrochronology and correlated with archaeological and historical …

Flint At The Fort: Investigating Raw Material Scarcity And Locations Of Lithic Activity At Monhantic Fort, John M. Kelly

Graduate Masters Theses

The Monhantic Fort site on the Mashantucket Pequot reservation in southeastern Connecticut has yielded many insights into Pequot life in the late 17th century. This fortified village, occupied during King Philip's War, has given archaeologists a glimpse of the domestic practices and organization of the people who lived within as well as details about how they engaged with military expeditions. In this thesis, I examine the lithic assemblage from Monhantic Fort. This assemblage, comprised of European flint employed to create tools like gunflints and strike-a-lights, can be used to investigate how the Pequots utilized new stone tool technologies and negotiated …

Farmstead And Household Archaeology At The Barrett Farm, Concord, Massachusetts, Thomas P. Mailhot

Graduate Masters Theses

Changes in the landscape across the Barrett farmstead in Concord, Massachusetts, are examined and related to changes in the household during the 1850s and 1860s. Although the Barrett family had a long and prosperous tradition of farming in Concord, this changed at the end of the 19th-century, as the farm was reduced in size and the operation reduced in scale. The majority of artifacts and data recovered from an excavation in 2007 by UMass Boston dealt with the 19th-century occupation of the farmstead. Changes in the household and across the farmstead in the 19th-century can be seen archaeologically through the …

Breasts Are For Feeding: An Anthropological, Archaeological Examination Of Breastfeeding, Blaize A. Uva

Social Sciences

No abstract provided.

Factors Controlling Pre-Columbian And Early Historic Maize Productivity In The American Southwest, Part 2: The Chaco Halo, Mesa Verde, Pajarito Plateau/ Bandelier, And Zuni Archaeological Regions, Larry Benson

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Chemical and nutrient analyses of 471 soil samples from 161 sites within four archaeological regions (Pajarito Plateau/Bandelier, Zuni, Mesa Verde, and the Chaco Halo) were combined with historical climate data in order to evaluate the agricultural productivity of each region. In addition, maize productivity and field-life calculations were performed using organic-nitrogen (N) values from the upper 50 cm of soil in each region and a range (1–3%/year) of N-mineralization rates. The endmember values of this range were assumed representative of dry and wet climate states. With respect to precipitation and heat, the Pajarito Plateau area has excellent agricultural potential; the …

Recent Archaeological Survey And Excavation Around The Greater Kalokol Area, West Side Of Lake Turkana: Preliminary Findings, Amanuel Beyin

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

After the long period of arid conditions in the terminal Pleistocene, the global climate turned to wet and humid at the onset of the Holocene Interglacial ~10 ka BP (Gasse 2000; Hassan 1997). Under the wet and intermittently dry conditions of the early Holocene (10-6 ka BP), lakeshores, seashores and rivers became attractive for human exploitation in many parts of the world (Erlandson 2001). In Africa, sites associated with aquatic intensification have been reported in the Sahelian-Saharan belt, dating roughly from 9500-5000 years BP (Holl 2005). The Turkana Basin in northern Kenya became a mega-lake in the early Holocene, with …

Cacao Use And The San Lorenzo Olmec, Terry G. Powis, Ann Cyphers, Nilesh W. Gaikwad, Louis Grivetti, Kong Cheong

Faculty Articles

Mesoamerican peoples had a long history of cacao use—spanning more than 34 centuries—as confirmed by previous identification of cacao residues on archaeological pottery from Paso de la Amada on the Pacific Coast and the Olmec site of El Manatí on the Gulf Coast. Until now, comparable evidence from San Lorenzo, the premier Olmec capital, was lacking. The present study of theobromine residues confirms the continuous presence and use of cacao products at San Lorenzo between 1800 and 1000 BCE, and documents assorted vessels forms used in its preparation and consumption. One elite context reveals cacao use as part of a …

Book Review Of "The Archaeology Of North American Farmsteads" By Mark Groover, Louann Wurst, Dustin Conklin

Northeast Historical Archaeology

No abstract provided.

Book Review Of "The Archaeology Of Institutional Confinement" By Eleanor Conlin Casella, Sherene Baugher

Northeast Historical Archaeology

No abstract provided.

Book Review Of "The Archaeology Of Race And Racialization In Historic America" By Charles E. Orser, Paul A. Shackel

Northeast Historical Archaeology

No abstract provided.

Book Review Of "Past Meets Present: Archaeologists Partnering With Museum Curators, Teachers, And Community Groups" Edited By John H. Jameson, Jr. And Sherene Baugher, Lynn Evans

Northeast Historical Archaeology

No abstract provided.

Health And Disease On Hiwassee Island: A Study Of Late-Mississippian Human Remains, Cassandra Pardo

Theses and Dissertations

The intensive agricultural subsistence strategy of late pre-Columbian populations of North America has long been associated with chronic nutritional and disease stress as a consequence of episodic or recurring agricultural shortfall and the compromised community health of aggregate village settlement. Social stratification, defined archaeologically by burial location and grave goods, is thought to be a primary force in shaping different health patterns within these communities.

This study is a bioarchaeological review of the Dallas phase (AD1300-1550) skeletal collection from Hiwassee Island in east Tennessee. The purpose is to gain an understanding of community health and to explore status-related differences in …

Seasonality On The Oregon Coast: Avian Faunal Remains From Whale Cove (35-Lnc-60), Jessica Watson

Senior Honors Projects

The northwest coast of the United States was one of the first regions to receive Homo sapiens immigrants in the Western hemisphere and is rich in archaeological sites.  The Whale Cove site, first excavated in 1985, was initially analyzed by Ann C. Bennett-Rogers and R. Lee Lyman.  Their findings included an introductory analysis of lithic, bone, antler, and shell artifacts and general inventory of all pieces examined.  Bennett-Rogers found preliminary evidence for changes in vegetation and shellfish taxa at the Whale Cove site over time and has hypothesized that these changes were due to a tsunami event. Robert J. Losey …

An Evaluation Of The Performance Characteristics Of Olivine Temper In Pueblo Ii Virgin River Puebloan Ceramics, Sharlyn Anderson

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The purpose of this study is to examine the technological properties of the three dominant temper types - olivine, sand, and sherd - used by the Virgin Branch Puebloan during the Pueblo II era (AD 1000-1500) to explain the high proportion of Moapa Gray Ware traded to the Moapa Valley at that time. The research is guided by the hypothesis that olivine tempered pottery - or Moapa Gray Ware - possessed superior technological qualities than locally made wares, and that these qualities fueled the demand of Moapa Gray Ware ceramics.

This thesis evaluates one possibility for explaining the transportation of …

Bricks And Brick Making At The Harriet Tubman Home: Archaeology, History And Neutron Activation Analysis, Alan D. Armstrong

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

This archaeological study examines a brick kiln and use of brick at Harriet Tubman’s farmsteads in Auburn and Fleming, New York. The study begins by presenting evidence of a brick kiln on the Harriet Tubman Home for the Aged (HTH) property and proceeds to a refined analysis of brick and clay element composition using Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA) to define source from structures and features across the property. The study uses findings relating to brick use to examine and the social and economic roles of brick making on Tubman’s properties and in the local community. The brick kiln on the …

Recent Archaeological Investigations At Three Island Crossing: Insights Regarding Late Archaic Diet Breadth And Mobility, Meghan Kim Eastman

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

In 1986 and 1987, an important Late Archaic period site was excavated at Three Island Crossing (10-EL-294), near Glenns Ferry, Idaho. As ethnographic reports depict extensive reliance upon salmon for winter consumption (Steward, 1938; Murphy and Murphy, 1960) the recovery of 19,000 fish remains was significant. Analysis of this assemblage demonstrated that the minimum number of individual fish recovered was around 300. Equally important were radiocarbon analyses that identified three distinct Late Archaic occupations. Of note was the recovery of a structure and storage suggesting semi-permanent residence. A subsequent excavation was undertaken at Three Island Crossing in 2008 to determine …

Fertility Symbols In Rock Art: Cupuls And Incised Grooves In The Lower Pecos, Texas, Cara D. Connolly

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Rock art at archaeological sites are often dismissed as a culturally symbolic representation that cannot be objectively or scientifically analyzed or interpreted adequately. Such dismissals are detrimental to understanding all aspects of a given culture. Although uninformed interpretations of rock art panels are counterproductive, systematic recording and the testing of different hypotheses is a valid way to begin to better understand the possible range of social functions of rock art. This research examines whether indigenous women's fertility is represented in rock art depictions, known as cupules and groove marks, in the archaeological record. Cupules are defined as a boulder or …

The Deer Island Site (22hr500): Prehistoric Ceramics And Their Meaning On The Mississippi Gulf Coast, Donald Louis Craig

Master's Theses

This thesis involves the analysis of 2,364 surface-collected ceramic rim sherds from the Deer Island site (22HR500), located in the Mississippi Sound near Biloxi, Mississippi. The overall goal of this thesis is to develop a baseline of information that will add to the current knowledge of prehistoric populations on the north Gulf Coast, as well as a starting point for future investigations on Deer Island. This examination of the ceramic assemblage includes ceramic typology, as well as vessel form and usage, to gain understanding of the chronology, site function, and possible interactions with other contemporary Gulf Coast populations through trade …

A “Fashionable Tailor” On Water Street:Nineteenth-Century Tailor’S Chalks Fromst. John’S, Newfoundland, Temple Blair, Barry C. Gaulton

Northeast Historical Archaeology

Excavations related to a large sewer construction project in St. John’s, Newfoundland exposed several examples of tailor’s chalk lost during the Great Fire of 1892. Made from pipe clay, these objects may be the first of their kind identified on an archaeological site in North America. This paper introduces the changing social and economic position of tailors and other clothing-related trades in St. John’s. Tailor’s chalks are discussed within the context of the clay tobacco pipe industry, particularly the non tobacco-related objects produced, and within the tailoring trade throughout the early modern period.

The John Hunt Map Of The First English Colony Innew England, Jeffrey P. Brain

Northeast Historical Archaeology

A map of Fort St. George, the first official English settlement in New England, is proved to be a remarkably accurate document. Drawn by a draftsman who was obviously trained in state-of-the-art military cartography, it is a testament to the thoughtful planning of the adventure and the competence of the principal participants, as well as a reliable guide to archaeological investigation.

The Analysis Of 18th Century Glass Trade Beadsfrom Fort Niagara: Insight Into Compositionalvariation And Manufacturing Techniques, Aaron Shugar, Ariel O’Connor

Northeast Historical Archaeology

An assemblage of 445 archaeological glass trade beads excavated from Old Fort Niagara, Youngstown, New York in 2007 were analyzed to determine their manufacturing technology and elemental composition. Analytical techniques included reflected light microscopy, handheld X-ray fluorescence (XRF), and scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDS). Optical microscopy revealed the manufacturing technology of the beads and uncovered discrepancies between the current method of visual identification for bead type and color and the structures and colors revealed through scientific analysis. Elemental analysis revealed a new turquoise blue bead composition.

Forging Ahead In The Somerset Hills: Archaeologicaldocumentation Of An 18th-Century Bloomery Forge Inbernardsville, New Jersey, Richard Veit, Michael Gall

Northeast Historical Archaeology

This paper describes the results of a program of salvage archaeology at the Leddell Forge in Bernardsville, Somerset County, New Jersey. The site, which dates from the late-18th century, was discovered during landscaping activities on private property. Small-scale ironworks, such as this forge, were once a ubiquitous part of the cultural landscape in northern New Jersey, but today they are largely forgotten. With support from the Historical Society of the Somerset Hills and private donors, the forge remains were recorded. The Leddell Forge site contained exceptionally well-preserved wooden remains which provide new information about bloomery forge layout and construction. As …

Collective Identities, The Catholic Temperance Movement,And Father Mathew: The Social History Of A Teacup, Stephen Brighton

Northeast Historical Archaeology

People use material culture and its associated symbolism to express collective identities. The aim of this paper is to illuminate class and religious conflict and negotiation between Irish Catholic immigrants, the American Roman Catholic Church, mainstream native-born Americans, and various Protestant cohorts in New York City between 1850 and 1870. To do this I explore the social meaning and significance embedded within a refined white earthenware teacup decorated with the image of Father Theobald Mathew. The cup was discovered during excavation of a mid- to late-19th-century, predominantly Irish immigrant section of New York City known as the Five Points.

The Archaeology Of The Matron’S Cottage:A Household Of Female Employees At Sailors’ Snug Harbor,Staten Island, New York, Sherene Baugher

Northeast Historical Archaeology

At Sailors’ Snug Harbor (1833 – 1976), a charitable institution for retired seamen located on Staten Island, New York, the Matron’s Cottage housed the unmarried, full-time, female employees. From 1845- 1880, it also housed the Steward and his wife in separate quarters. The women worked as seamstresses, cooks, and washerwomen. The Matron was an educated woman who could keep detailed records and was the director of the female staff. The archaeological evidence at the site of the Matron’s Cottage, together with primary source documents, reveals information on the life of these 19th-century working-class women within their household. To place the …

Council For Northeast Historical Archaeologyaward For Excellence In Service Edwards J. Lenik, Sherene Baugher, Richard Veit

Northeast Historical Archaeology

No abstract provided.

Exploratory Studies Into Possible Uses Of Calcareous Dolostone On The Shivwits Plateau, Jennifer Durk, Lauren Falvey, Karen G. Harry

Festival of Communities: UG Symposium (Posters)

Excavations at pueblo habitation sites on the Shivwits Plateau suggest that calcareous dolostone was regularly procured and used by the inhabitants of the Mt. Dellenbaugh region. Calcareous dolostone, a soft, powdery calcium carbonate, is not local to these sites but was presumably procured from somewhere beneath the rim of the Grand Canyon. In this poster, we present the results of exploratory experiments into possible uses of this resource. Specifically, we evaluate the performance characteristics of powdered dolostone with reference to two activities: pigment production and ceramic manufacture.

Issue 58, Spring 2011, Society Of Bead Researchers

The Bead Forum: Newsletter of the Society of Bead Researchers

Looking Back on 30 Years of the Society of Bead Researchers, by Karlis Karklins.

Fort St. Joseph Post - Spring 2011, Department Of Anthropology

Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project

Vol. 2

For friends of Western Michigan University’s Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project

Table of Contents:

• Greetings, Fort St. Joseph supporters!
• Work of Archaeology from September to June
• Women of New France
• After the dirt settles: lab work
• Camper Perspectives: Diane Newbury, Cathrine Davis
• 2010 Field Season Summary
• Beyond Fort St. Joseph: Alumni News and Happenings
• Alumni Write…
• Upcoming Events and Recent Outcomes