Social and Cultural 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 …

Foodways, Families, And Festivities: Ethnobiology And Cultural Conservation In A Rural Missouri Community, Ian Carter Smith

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Food customs and traditions bind human groups together in many ways--Socially, geographically, temporally, and emotionally. This thesis describes the intricate relationships between food, ritual, and cultural identity in a rural German-Catholic community in Missouri. By drawing on the anthropological, cultural geographical and folkloric literature surrounding rural Missouri, a portrait of foodways emerges, which in turn illuminates valuable, often understated regional cultural traditions. Religion and ritual are understood as crucial to the continuity of regional identity--it is reinforced and made resilient through shared Social action. The dispersal of ritual feasts and fasts throughout the calendar year regulates collective behavior, interactions, conversations, …

Missionaries In Latin America: A Study On Short-Term Missionaries And The People They Help, Katharine Serio

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The last few years have seen the emergence of growing anthropological interest in short-term mission work, examining the phenomenon though a variety of denominations and mission locations around the world and analyzing the representations and experiences of both the host communities and mission teams traveling to them. This thesis explores how United Methodist short-term mission participants attempt to embody an ideal "mission self" while doing missionary work and the role that narratives about the experience at home played in this. I examine the ways in which members of a Louisiana based UMC team on a medical mission conceptualized their trip …

The Consciousness Of Water: Narrative Flows, Environmental Change, And The Voice Of Yemen, Tricia Nellessen

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Icebergs are melting in the Arctic. The Gulf of Mexico is warming and producing hurricanes such as Katrina. The delta of the southern United States is drying. And, Yemen will be the first country in modern history to experience a lack of accessible ground water, as soon as 2017 possibly. Yemen's situation has been tracked by scholars and governments since the 1960s. Despite this fact, cities have expanded in Yemen and the population has increased its use of water while little has been invested in desalination or infrastructure to offset growth. Climate change has affected humans for thousands of years; …

Representations Of Argentine National Identity Via El Museo Nacional De Bellas Artes, Lindsay Newby

Inquiry: The University of Arkansas Undergraduate Research Journal

National identity is a concept that every nation constructs and celebrates through the remembrance of important events or persons, the projection of literary works, and the erection of monuments. Yet, in order to truly understand a nation’s self-imagery, one must examine and chart all of its different periods through time. This allows one to avoid narrow, static definitions by viewing a nation in a more holistic sense. In this study, it is hypothesized that museums function to preserve, assert, and disseminate a sense of heritage and, in the case of the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, a sense of what …

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 …

Of Dice And Men: An Ethnography Of Contemporary Gaming Subculture, Christopher Shane Brace

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Tabletop roleplaying is a dynamic and flourishing hobby that has become increasingly accessible to a wide variety of participants. The games themselves, as well as the gaming subculture, offer players a number of personal and Social benefits that continue to enrich their lives long after they leave the table. Using Goffman's theories of Dramaturgy and Frame Analysis, this paper seeks to examine the positive impact of gaming in three key areas.

The first is an analysis of the subculture which includes the evolution of the games, the growth and diversification of the roleplaying community, and the current shift in stereotypes …

Navigation And Accessibility For Persons With Disabilities: An Anthropological Study Using Gis On The University Of Arkansas Campus, Deborah Jean Raiees-Dana

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The University of Arkansas was founded in 1871 on the top of a hill overlooking the Ozark Mountains, resulting in a campus that has steep slopes and numerous historical buildings that were not designed with ADA regulations in mind. This makes getting around campus especially difficult for students with limited mobility, and no campus maps exist that include handicapped accessibility features to help navigate the terrain and limited parking options. This study examines this issue using a holistic approach that explores cultural and technological factors to produce a map of the Historic Core District of campus.

Geographical Information Systems enable …

Modern Modesty: The Renegotiation Of Female Pious Dress In Modern Pentecostal Assemblies, Amanda Beth Phillips

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Hair buns, high necklines, long sleeves, ankle length skirts, and simple yet practical work style shoes have exemplified Pentecostal women's dress throughout the history of the movement. Their bodies fervently protected from impropriety and immorality, through prescribed attire, are the sites upon which the church inscribes its vision of the modest Pentecostal woman. How dress is used within the community to `set apart' those assembly members whom have achieved the appropriate holiness lifestyle not only makes them upstanding members of the church assembly but also defines them as `saints' (sanctified ones, holy assembly members) and helps to develop their relationship …

Reconstructing History: An Inter-Generational Perspective On Collective Memories And Constructed Identities In Post-Genocide Rwanda, Heather Randall

Inquiry: The University of Arkansas Undergraduate Research Journal

In the 18 years since the Rwandan genocide, which left approximately 1,000,000 people dead in 100 days, much has changed for Rwandans. This paper will examine the history of the genocide, including the international response to the killings and developments in peace and reconciliation. This paper also examines anthropological data from college-age Rwandese, whose names have been fictionalized, and historical information from older generations who lived through the genocide. I argue that the students represent a significant social change in the history of Rwanda. Their experiences contrast sharply with those of their parents, who grew up in a colonial world …

The Symbolic Creation Of Cultural Performance At The Walnut Valley Festival, Maggie Colleen Cobb

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Through two years of ethnographic fieldwork and 19 interviews, I synthesize symbolic interaction and a sociological framework of culture to examine the ways in which the Walnut Valley Festival is created and experienced as a unique form of cultural performance, one that is always shifting in response to the emergent cultural creation and reception of attendees. No work to date combines the dimensions of both production and reception of music festivals as a unique form of cultural performance. In bringing back the oftentimes ignored affective dimension in cultural studies, I use Griswold's (2004) metaphor of a cultural diamond, examining the …

Modern Day Utopia: An Examination Of Internal Social Control Among "Rainbow Family", Ashleigh Elain Mckinzie

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis employs ethnographic fieldwork and interviews to examine internal Social control, ideological embeddedness, and resistance to mainstream culture and ideology in a utopian, counter-cultural group called The Rainbow Family of Living Light. Combining theoretical perspectives on emotions and re-integrative and dis-integrative shaming with symbolic interaction, I examine the experiences of Rainbow during a national Gathering in the summer of 2010. Through interviews and observations, I illustrate the rituals, organization of camp, stratification based on work, and solidarity building activities, that Rainbow Gatherers create to resist mainstream ideology and culture. Further, I show that they Rainbow Gatherers redefine deviance in …

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 …

Why Pentecostal? A Look At The Phenomenon Of Rapid Pentecostal Growth In Latin America, Allison Kidd Covington

Inquiry: The University of Arkansas Undergraduate Research Journal

I first got the idea for my thesis studying Spanish in Costa Rica in the fall of 2006. Not long after I arrived at my host family's home, my host mother asked me whether or not I was "evangelica". I was somewhat confused by this question because it went against my previous assumption that the majority of Latin Americans-or at least Latin American Christians were Catholic. Knowing a minimal amount of Spanish and very little about the culture, I answered yes, essentially translating "evangelica" as "Protestant". I would soon learn, however, that the term "evangelica" had much deeper meaning and …

"Holiness Is Not A Luxury Of The Pure": Blessed Mother Teresa Of Calcutta And The Struggle Over Symbols, Emily Petty Puckett Rodgers

Anthropology Undergraduate Honors Theses

“Holiness is not a luxury of the pure” (Mother Teresa 1987). The quote that forms part of the title for this paper is from an interview with Mother Teresa that appeared in Anne and Jeanette Petrie’s film “Mother Teresa” in 1986. Mother Teresa is referring to the forms of holiness that can appear in unlikely places, such as in the homeless and dying of Calcutta. Just as these forms of holiness are constructed in unexpected and conceivably impure places, so are symbols. Neither holiness, nor symbols are necessarily pure, although their users may want to project them as such.

From Truck Bed To Bare Feet: The Anthropology Of Tourism, Lee Ballard

Inquiry: The University of Arkansas Undergraduate Research Journal

In the summer of 2004, three companions and I set out on an adventure after a month of archaeology work in the northwest jungles of Belize. This essay is not only a loose account of some exploits and misadventures, but it also illustrates how the tourism industry has affected this region. Through my experiences I was able to create a dichotomy of two contrasting countries, Belize and Guatemala, in order to convey how tourism can affect the culture and structure of different societies. Here I present a portrait of how socio-economic changes, complex acculturation, and changes in environmental stability have …

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 …

Cultural Atrocity Expressed In Cultural Art, Marlie Mcgovern

Inquiry: The University of Arkansas Undergraduate Research Journal

Some of the most horrific chapters in human history have involved an ethnic dimension, notably the centuries-long obliteration of traditional Nigerian cultures by European colonizers, the attempted destruction of European Jews in the Holocaust, and the World War ll decision to assault the Japanese with atomic bombs. The consequences of the above atrocities are not contained within temporal or cultural barriers, but hold profound and pervasive ramifications within contemporary society in its entirety. More recent conflicts in Africa, Southeast Asia and the Balkans reemphasize the horror and suffering brought about by cultural collisions. One of the most potent reactions to …

Machismo Syndrome: A Residential Correlate Of Its Expression In A Mexican Peasant Community, J. M. Brueske

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

The Michaelson Goldschmidt hypothesis states that in peasant societies wherein male dominance is an ideal, matrilocal residence tends to encourage the expression of the machismo syndrome of behaviors. Recent ethnographic research in a Mexican peasant community supports the hypothesis by the finding that interpersonal violence (one measure of machismo) during a fiesta was perpetrated in every extreme instance by men who were residing matrilocally. The hypothesis thus effectively predicts, in this case, matrilocality as the variable most closely associated with the violent dimension of machismo.

Observation On Female Cooperation Among The Zapotecs, An Indigenous People Of Southern Mexico, J. M. Brueske

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

Cross-cultural study has suggested that the presence of an extradomestic market for women's produce is one precondition for the development of female solidarity groups, and that such groups seem to be antecedent to female public power and/or authority. If status is defined in these terms, then the Zapotec women of Asuncion, a village of the inland Isthmus of Tehuantepec in southern Mexico, have not attained the preconditions of public power and/or authority. The complementary nature of husband and wife in the economic sphere assures women of some domestic power, however, and women do not seem to perceive their status as …

Antiques - Objects Of Lateral Cycling?, Cheryl Claassen

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

After a brief discussion of the various ways the use-life of an object can be prolonged, an additional method is illustrated, that of adjacent cycling, Antiques are used as examples. The role of antiques as status symbols is suggested to be the reason for their prolonged use-life. The archaeological implications of adjacent cycling also are discussed.

Population Profiles By Factor Analysis: Study Of A Rural Arkansas Community, Mary Jo Grinstead, Sandra Scholtz

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

Factor analysis was used as a preliminary data analytic technique to delineate population profiles in a rural, poverty-level community. The technique was useful in defining the nature of sociological interdependencies in the population so that the heterogeneity in the community could be understood. Four factors identified as representing socio-economic status, age-work attitudes, morality, and participation dimensions were extracted from the correlation matrix.

Environmental Adaptation: The Otomi Indians Of The Mezquital Valley, Gloria A. Young

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

No abstract provided.

Art And Culture Among The Ashanti Of Ghana, Charles E. Johnson

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

No abstract provided.

Preliminary Description Of The Blue Snake Society, Diana L. Weathersby

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

No abstract provided.