Biological and Physical Anthropology Commons^™

U2.38.383_Ta3 06.17.21 Femora.Ta3, Alyssa Bolster, Hannah Jeanlouis

Bolster et al. 2024 AJBA

Objectives We estimate adult age distributions from Unar 1 and Unar 2, two late Umm an-Nar (2400-2100 BCE) tombs in the modern-day Emirate of Ras al-Khaimah, United Arab Emirates. These collective tombseach contained hundreds of skeletons in commingled, fragmented, and variably cremated states. Previous studies placed the vast majority of this mortuary community in a generalized “adult” category, as have most analyses of similar tombs from this period. We sought to test how adult age estimation methods compare in identifying young, middle, and old age individuals in commingled assemblages.

Materials and Methods We employed Transition Analysis 3 (TA3) and traditional …

U2.38.561_Ta3 06.17.21 Femora.Ta3, Alyssa Bolster, Hannah Jeanlouis

Bolster et al. 2024 AJBA

Objectives We estimate adult age distributions from Unar 1 and Unar 2, two late Umm an-Nar (2400-2100 BCE) tombs in the modern-day Emirate of Ras al-Khaimah, United Arab Emirates. These collective tombseach contained hundreds of skeletons in commingled, fragmented, and variably cremated states. Previous studies placed the vast majority of this mortuary community in a generalized “adult” category, as have most analyses of similar tombs from this period. We sought to test how adult age estimation methods compare in identifying young, middle, and old age individuals in commingled assemblages.

Materials and Methods We employed Transition Analysis 3 (TA3) and traditional …

Analysis And Observation Of Decomposition Of Immature Pigs In The Minnesota Winter/Early Spring, Rachael Herbes

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

This study analyzes the multiple factors affecting the decomposition of pigs in the Minnesota Winter/Early Spring within the first twelve weeks postmortem. The winters in the Minnesota River Valley can vary in regard to weather patterns and temperature changes. Adding the variable of location and accessibility to the study creates a mix of important research conducted in a less populated area. Pig carcasses were used in lieu of human remains to allow the data to be as close to a real scenario as possible. One pig was placed next to a farm site and the other about a half of …

U2.38.543_Ta3 06.18.21 Femora.Ta3, Alyssa Bolster, Hannah Jeanlouis

Bolster et al. 2024 AJBA

Objectives We estimate adult age distributions from Unar 1 and Unar 2, two late Umm an-Nar (2400-2100 BCE) tombs in the modern-day Emirate of Ras al-Khaimah, United Arab Emirates. These collective tombseach contained hundreds of skeletons in commingled, fragmented, and variably cremated states. Previous studies placed the vast majority of this mortuary community in a generalized “adult” category, as have most analyses of similar tombs from this period. We sought to test how adult age estimation methods compare in identifying young, middle, and old age individuals in commingled assemblages.

Materials and Methods We employed Transition Analysis 3 (TA3) and traditional …

U2.37.1377_Ta3 06.24.21 Ps.Ta3, Alyssa Bolster, Hannah Jeanlouis

Bolster et al. 2024 AJBA

No abstract provided.

U1.37.159_Ta3 06.24.21 Ps.Ta3, Alyssa Bolster, Hannah Jeanlouis

Bolster et al. 2024 AJBA

Objectives We estimate adult age distributions from Unar 1 and Unar 2, two late Umm an-Nar (2400-2100 BCE) tombs in the modern-day Emirate of Ras al-Khaimah, United Arab Emirates. These collective tombseach contained hundreds of skeletons in commingled, fragmented, and variably cremated states. Previous studies placed the vast majority of this mortuary community in a generalized “adult” category, as have most analyses of similar tombs from this period. We sought to test how adult age estimation methods compare in identifying young, middle, and old age individuals in commingled assemblages.

Materials and Methods We employed Transition Analysis 3 (TA3) and traditional …

U2.38.104_Ta3 06.18.21 Femora.Ta3, Alyssa Bolster, Hannah Jeanlouis

Bolster et al. 2024 AJBA

Objectives We estimate adult age distributions from Unar 1 and Unar 2, two late Umm an-Nar (2400-2100 BCE) tombs in the modern-day Emirate of Ras al-Khaimah, United Arab Emirates. These collective tombseach contained hundreds of skeletons in commingled, fragmented, and variably cremated states. Previous studies placed the vast majority of this mortuary community in a generalized “adult” category, as have most analyses of similar tombs from this period. We sought to test how adult age estimation methods compare in identifying young, middle, and old age individuals in commingled assemblages.

Materials and Methods We employed Transition Analysis 3 (TA3) and traditional …

U2.38.642_Ta3 06.18.21 Femora.Ta3, Alyssa Bolster, Hannah Jeanlouis

Bolster et al. 2024 AJBA

Objectives We estimate adult age distributions from Unar 1 and Unar 2, two late Umm an-Nar (2400-2100 BCE) tombs in the modern-day Emirate of Ras al-Khaimah, United Arab Emirates. These collective tombseach contained hundreds of skeletons in commingled, fragmented, and variably cremated states. Previous studies placed the vast majority of this mortuary community in a generalized “adult” category, as have most analyses of similar tombs from this period. We sought to test how adult age estimation methods compare in identifying young, middle, and old age individuals in commingled assemblages.

Materials and Methods We employed Transition Analysis 3 (TA3) and traditional …

U2.38.457_Ta3 06.18.21 Femora.Ta3, Alyssa Bolster, Hannah Jeanlouis

Bolster et al. 2024 AJBA

Objectives We estimate adult age distributions from Unar 1 and Unar 2, two late Umm an-Nar (2400-2100 BCE) tombs in the modern-day Emirate of Ras al-Khaimah, United Arab Emirates. These collective tombseach contained hundreds of skeletons in commingled, fragmented, and variably cremated states. Previous studies placed the vast majority of this mortuary community in a generalized “adult” category, as have most analyses of similar tombs from this period. We sought to test how adult age estimation methods compare in identifying young, middle, and old age individuals in commingled assemblages.

Materials and Methods We employed Transition Analysis 3 (TA3) and traditional …

U2.38.449_Ta3 06.18.21 Femora.Ta3, Alyssa Bolster, Hannah Jeanlouis

Bolster et al. 2024 AJBA

Objectives We estimate adult age distributions from Unar 1 and Unar 2, two late Umm an-Nar (2400-2100 BCE) tombs in the modern-day Emirate of Ras al-Khaimah, United Arab Emirates. These collective tombseach contained hundreds of skeletons in commingled, fragmented, and variably cremated states. Previous studies placed the vast majority of this mortuary community in a generalized “adult” category, as have most analyses of similar tombs from this period. We sought to test how adult age estimation methods compare in identifying young, middle, and old age individuals in commingled assemblages.

Materials and Methods We employed Transition Analysis 3 (TA3) and traditional …

Cleome Serrulata, Rocky Mountain Beeweed, Uses By Native Americans, Marielle Gomez, John Ubelaker

Research

This paper examines the use of beeweed (Cleome serrulata), a native annual commonly called Rocky Mountain beeplant, as a traditional dye and paint source for pottery in Northern New Mexico.

Using Gis To Better Understand The Cracker Community Of Pat's Island In The Ocala National Forest, Florida, Nicholas Kopp

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

This research uses GIS methods to contextualize a Florida Cracker community in the Ocala National Forest. My case study is drawn from two seasons of fieldwork and supporting desktop surveys associated with Pat's Island, the home of multiple Cracker families. Cracker culture is historically categorized by its efforts to avoid modernization and prevent the commercialization of traditional lifeways in the quickly shifting society of late-19th and early 20th-century Florida. The geospatial expressions of these Cracker values are an emphasis on semi-remote living, adaptations to a unique environmental context, and the development of a semi-self-sufficient community. This research evaluates how GIS …

Reconstructing Oral Health In Pre-Hispanic Peru: Antemortem Tooth Loss And Caries As Possible Evidence Of Dental Care In Túcume, Peru, Amy Rodriguez

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Evidence of dental manipulation dates back several centuries and is identifiable through modification of human skeletal remains and the remnants of ancient tools. The act of caring for dental patients, on the other hand, is much more abstract and not as explicitly documented throughout history. Through the analysis of skeletal dentition of individuals from Pre-Hispanic Peru, this research aims to understand possible early forms of dental care practices. Specifically, by calculating the frequency of common dental pathology, I evaluated the possible presence of dental care in Túcume, Peru, during the Late Intermediate Period (1000 to 1500 AD) and what this …

Plants And Environment: A Paleoethnobotanical Analysis Of The Vosburg Site (21fa002), Jaelyn Elizabeth Stebbins

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Recognized archaeologically by their distinct material culture, Oneota sites exist in many ecological zones across the Upper Midwest during the late Precontact period, c. 1000-1700 CE. Consequently, the sites are hardly homogenous. Across localities, Oneota groups are recognized as food producers who grew Zea mays (maize), Cucurbita pepo (squash), and later Phaseolus vulgaris (bean). The utilization of other wild and domesticated botanical resources across localities is not as well documented.. While extensive paleoethnobotanical analyses have been completed for the late Precontact period in southeastern Minnesota (Schirmer) and southwestern Wisconsin (Arzigian), little is known about plant utilization by Oneota groups on …

An Archeozoological Analysis Of The Vosburg Site In Southern Minnesota, Madison M. Rutter

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The Blue Earth Oneota is a poorly defined taxon located in southern Minnesota. Few large-scale excavations have been conducted in the Blue Earth region, leading to gaps in the overall understating of western Oneota lifeway systems. This research utilizes archeozoological analysis on the zoological assemblage from the Vosburg site (21FA02), a Blue Earth Oneota site located in Faribault County. The Vosburg site is a large habitation site that has been excavated by Wilford in 1938 and 1947, Dobbs in 1979, and Schirmer in 2012. Legacy data from the 1938, 1947, and 1979 excavations was analyzed and compared to the zoological …

Meta-Analysis Of Scent Detection Canines And Potential Factors Influencing Their Success Rates, Molly Marie Jaskinia

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Objective: This is a meta-analysis focused on the success rates of scent detection canines and potential factors that could influence their accuracy. A series of statistical analyses were conducted to determine if certain demographic factors, such as the dog’s gender, age, and breed, have an effect on a scent dog’s accuracy during a search. Or if more circumstantial factors, like the dog’s level of experience in scent work, the type of target scent, and their handler’s awareness of the target’s location, affect the outcome of the search.

Materials and Methods: A dataset was created from 37 different articles consisting of …

Umfc #12: A Comprehensive Forensic Analysis Case Report, Kaylee M. Hinds

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The University of Montana Forensic Case 12 (UMFC) is a human skeleton with an MNI of one that was recovered in August 1983 from an old schoolyard in Helena, Montana, by construction workers who were building a highway. The individual was given to the University of Montana Anthropology Department following the authority’s investigation. At the time, the University of Montana aided in the analysis of the skeletal remains and both departments had deemed the case as forensically insignificant and historic. The initial recoverers believed that the individual was a descendant of the Last Chance Gulch era and reflected Chinese ancestry, …

Automated Morphological Phenotyping Using Learned Shape Descriptors And Functional Maps: A Novel Approach To Geometric Morphometrics, Oshane O. Thomas, Hongyu Shen, Ryan L. Raaum, William E. H. Harcourt-Smith, John D. Polk, Mark Hasegawa-Johnson

Publications and Research

The methods of geometric morphometrics are commonly used to quantify morphology in a broad range of biological sciences. The application of these methods to large datasets is constrained by manual landmark placement limiting the number of landmarks and introducing observer bias. To move the field forward, we need to automate morphological phenotyping in ways that capture comprehensive representations of morphological variation with minimal observer bias. Here, we present Morphological Variation Quantifier (morphVQ), a shape analysis pipeline for quantifying, analyzing, and exploring shape variation in the functional domain. morphVQ uses descriptor learning to estimate the functional correspondence between whole triangular meshes …

The Use Of Field Philosophy In Conserving The World's Rarest Ape, The Hainan Gibbon (Nomascus Hainanus): A Philosophical Engagement With Researchers And Conservationists, Jocelyn Callahan

All Master's Theses

The Hainan gibbon (Nomascus hainanus) is the world’s rarest ape. Their position on the brink of extinction raises many questions about conservation, existence, and agency. To explore these issues and draw attention to this Critically Endangered primate, I considered the Hainan gibbon from the perspective of field philosophy (i.e., philosophy carried out in the field with non-philosophers). I conducted semi-structured interviews with eight researchers/conservationists and analyzed their creative works. I collected additional information through a systematic literature review. I asked four research questions: (1) Based on their lived experiences, how do researchers and conservationists understand the Hainan gibbon? …

Activity Pattern Analysis From A Commingled And Fragmentary Necropolis: Entheseal Changes At Kourion Amathus Gate Cemetery (Kagc), Hannah Burgess Carson

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Entheseal changes (EC) have been used to reconstruct past human activity patterns, but little research has been done in Cyprus or outside of complete, well-preserved remains. The Kourion Amathus Gate Cemetery (KAGC) is a necropolis located on the southern coast of Cyprus. The Late-Roman (1-7 c. CE) cist graves contained commingled and fragmentary remains. Due to the commingled and fragmentary nature of KAGC, the primary purpose of this study was to see if EC analyses could be conducted on this population. Following that, this study sought to observe possible patterns of preservation as well as trends in EC data between …

Ancient Migrations In West Mexico: Mtdna Analyses, Patricio Gutiérrez Ruano

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Despite the mounting evidence that suggests The Aztatlán tradition in West Mexico was a major cosmopolitan region during the Postclassic period (AD 900-1521) with connections to the rest of what is now Mexico, archaeologists have characterized items in West Mexico as culturally distinct from the rest of Mesoamerica. Recently, endogenous, and exogenous material culture has been interpreted as movement and exchange of goods and ideas between subregions and surrounding areas, all of which mention physical contact and trade were involved between Aztatlán and elsewhere. This has included interacting with areas as far as the U.S. Southwest, as well as in …