Archaeological Anthropology Commons^™

Comparing A Surface Collection To An Excavated Collection In The Lower Skagit River Delta At 45sk51, Sherri M. Middleton

All Master's Theses

In the Puget Sound Lowland of the Pacific Northwest, archaeologists have investigated a shift in settlement and subsistence patterns occurring in the mid-Holocene Epoch. The artifacts used as the evidence of this shift are interpreted with a concept known as resource intensification. This shift in artifact frequencies has been studied only in the last thirty years and in limited areas of the Puget Sound Lowlands. An opportunity to investigate a site dating to after the shift presented itself when Central Washington University acquired the Lower Skagit River Delta Surface Collection (LSRDSC). This artifact assemblage was collected from a plow-zone surface …

Editorial—Culture And Cosmos : The Marriage Of Astronomy And Culture, Volume 21, Frank Prendergast, Nicholas Campion, Liz Henty, Bernadette Brady, Darrelyn Gunzburg, Fabio Silva

Book/Book Chapter

This volume of Culture and Cosmos draws together a selection of papers delivered at the 24th annual conference of the European Society for Astronomy in Culture (SEAC). The conference, titled 'The Marriage of Astronomy and Culture: Theory and Method in the Study of Cultural Astronomy', occurred between the 12th and the 16th September 2016 and was held at The Bath Literary and Scientific Institution (BRLSI), which has been hosting research endeavours since it foundation in 1824. SEAC 2016 combined history with the latest in twenty-first century developments and, for the very first time, was webcast to SEAC members who could …

Architecture, Fire, And Storage: Cathlapotle And Meier Features, Kenneth M. Ames, Katie Henry, Stephanie Butler, William Gardner-O’Kearney, Emily E. Shepard, United States. Department Of The Interior, U.S. Fish And Wildlife Service, Region 1, Portland State University. Department Of Anthropology

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

This report is one in a series on the archaeology of the Wapato Valley region of the Lower Columbia River. Most of the reports discuss aspects of the excavations and archaeology of two sites, the Meier site (35CO5) and Cathlapotle site (45CL1). Other related topics are also treated.

Attached supplemental files: feature catalogs for Meier and Cathlapotle sites

See Also: Preliminary Report and Catalogs: Archaeological Investigations at 45CL1 Cathlapotle (1991-1996) , Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge Clark County, Washington (1999)

Much as lithic tools or faunal remains, features have the potential to be independent lines of evidence in archaeological hypothesis testing. …

State Dependency Of The Forest-Tundra-Short Wave Feedback : Comparing The Mid-Pliocene And Pre-Industrial Eras Using A Newly-Developed Vegetation Model, Pablo Paiewonsky

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The forest-tundra-short wave feedback is the dominant short wave (SW) vegetation feedback at mid-to-high northern latitudes and is an important feedback in Earth’s climate system, especially due to its potential role in modulating glacial cycles. Little research has been done on how the strength of this feedback might vary with the background climate state. It is hypothesized that the feedback has generally strengthened over the last four million years. The feedback mechanism is hypothesized to be weaker under warm Northern Hemispheric conditions when tundra is primarily confined to the high Arctic than under cooler conditions in which the forest-tundra boundary …

Agent-Based Modelling Of The Relationships Among Kinship, Residence, And Exchange, James R. Allison

Faculty Publications

In the North American Southwest, archaeological research has documented ceramic exchange networks in which spatially proximate households in consumer communities have greatly varying amounts of imported pottery. This paper uses agent-based modelling to gain insight into the processes responsible for these distributions. The agent-based model used here tracks kinship ties among agents representing individuals who give birth, marry, co-reside with spouses, and exchange things in a virtual landscape filled with small settlements of up to a few hundred individuals. Exchange of goods in the model flows through the kinship networks. The results suggest that the differential distribution of goods among …

Sourcing Basalt From The Santiago Quarry In Chihuahua, Mexico Using Xrf, Michael T. Searcy, Todd Pitezel, Eric Christiansen

Faculty Publications

During survey in 2013, we identified the only known vesicular basalt quarry in the Casas Grandes region in northwestern Chihuahua, Mexico. Using XRF, we analyzed basalt from the Santiago Quarry and compared the results to the chemical characterization of formal tools (mostly mano and metate fragments) recovered at the site of Paquimé in order to determine if this quarry was one of the sources exploited by prehistoric stoneworkers during the Medio period (AD 1200–1450).

Novicehood: Exploring Skill Level And How It Relates To Mass Analysis, Justin V. Morales

Honors College Theses

Lithic artifacts are among the most common remnants evidencing our ancestors’ intelligence and survivability. They can reflect many aspects of a culture’s practices and use of natural materials. The analysis of such remains is a mainstay of archaeology, but not all lithic analysis is the same. Analysis varies by method (mass flake analysis, individual flake analysis, etc.), and by the level of experience of the analysts themselves, creating debate on the comparability and the accuracy of each approach. This research is a case study of my effectiveness, being a novice level archaeologist, at Mass Flake analysis, using a contemporary collection …

Sherds With Style: A Ceramic Analysis From A Protohistoric Site In Oktibbeha County, Mississippi., Allison Smith

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A key part of understanding the lesser known contact period in the Southeastern United States is studying the effects of contact on Mississippian chiefdoms and their descendant population. The Starkville Archaeological Complex is an archaeological pattern of a distinct clustering of contact-era sites in the Blackland Prairie physiographic district of northeast Mississippi. Atkinson (1979) defined these sites as a dispersed settlement pattern with distinct ceramic assemblages associated with European metal. The ceramics are characterized as sandy historic Chickasaw pastes with Mississippian-like distinct curvilinear or angular surface decorations. This thesis is an analysis of the ceramic assemblage excavated in 2016 from …

Project 400: The Plymouth Colony Archaeological Survey Report On The 2016 Field Season Cole’S Hill, Brewster Garden, And Burial Hill, Plymouth, Massachusetts, Christa M. Beranek, David B. Landon, John M. Steinberg, Brian N. Damiata

Andrew Fiske Memorial Center for Archaeological Research Publications

In May and June of 2016, a field school from the Fiske Center for Archaeological Research at the University of Massachusetts Boston, in partnership with Plimoth Plantation and the Town of Plymouth, undertook a fourth season of work as part of Project 400: The Plymouth Colony Archaeological Survey. The approaching 400th anniversary (1620-2020) of the founding of Plymouth Colony, New England’s first permanent English settlement, provides a unique opportunity to revisit our scholarly understanding of the Colony’s history. Working with community partners and descendant organizations, including the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, the General Society of Mayflower Descendants, and local museums, we …

Kinship And The Self-Organization Of Exchange In Small-Scale Societies, James R. Allison

Faculty Publications

Circulation of material goods is common in small-scale societies. Even where exchange is not coordinated above the level of the household, goods produced in one area are consistently conveyed to distant settlements. Numerous ethnographic studies demonstrate that exchange transactions are common among kin, and that the circulation of goods in small-scale societies is structured by kinship ties. From an individual’s point of view, the number of kinfolk available to exchange with and where they live strongly affect access to nonlocal goods. This paper explores the interrelationships among kin networks, settlement organization, and exchange using agent-based modeling, ethnographic studies, and archaeological …

The Analysis Of Contact-Era Settlements In Clay, Lowndes, And Oktibbeha Counties In Northeast Mississippi, Emily Lee Clark

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this project is to compare the spatial distribution of sites across Clay, Lowndes, and Oktibbeha counties between the Mississippi and Early Historic periods using site files from the Mississippi Department of Archives and History. Using Geographic Information Systems (GIS), sites were mapped chronologically to examine change through time to investigate how people reacted to European contact and colonization. Site locations and clusters also were used to evaluate possible locations of the polities of Chicaza, Chakchiuma, and Alimamu discussed in the De Soto chronicles. Sites in Clay, Lowndes, and Oktibbeha counties were chosen due to the existence of …

An Assessment Of Trace Elements Distribution In Teeth Utilizing A Sample Group From Postclassic Lamanai: The Application Of La-Icp-Ms In Bioarchaeology And Forensics, Michelle Hawkins

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Trace element analysis of skeletal remains and teeth is a common research technique in biological and forensic anthropology. In particular, LA-ICP-MS has become a widely-accepted tool for analyzing and mapping the distribution of trace elements in teeth. Investigation into the relative spectral intensities and spatial distribution of thirteen trace isotopes (13C, 24Mg, 27Al, 31P, 44Ca, 47Ti, 52Cr, 55Mn, 56Fe, 66Zn, 88Sr, 138Ba, 208Pb) within teeth was undertaken using LA-ICP-MS. The total archaeological sample of teeth (N=26) was comprised of four tooth types (UCI, ULI, UPM1, and UPM2) and 18 individuals from a Postclassic Lamanai site. In preparation for analysis, teeth …

Spytinĕv (Ce 875-915), Duke Of Bohemia: An Osteobiographic Perspective On Society Status And Stature In The Emerging Czech State, Marshall Joseph Becker

Anthropology & Sociology Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Etruscan Gold Dental Appliances, Marshall Joseph Becker

Anthropology & Sociology Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Archaeological Gis Analysis Of Raised Field Agriculture In The Bolivian Amazon, Thomas W. Lee

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Modern agricultural systems have been criticized for their detrimental effects on the environment and a general emphasis on crop yield rather than long-term sustainability. Traditional forms of agriculture may provide case-specific examples of sustainable alternatives for contemporary societies. In the seasonally inundated savannas of the Llanos de Mojos, pre-Columbian Indians piled earth into ‘large raised field platforms’ elevated high enough above the floodplain to allow crops to grow. Archaeological evidence indicates that raised field agriculture supported much larger populations than those found in the Beni today. The examination of satellite imagery has revealed more than 40,000 individual fields spread across …

A Stylistic Analysis Using Multivariate Statistics Of Oneota Pottery From The Upper Mississippi, Blue Earth, And St. Croix River Valleys, Michelle Neumann

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Pottery is one of the most abundant artifact types recovered from late pre-contact habitations sites in the upper Midwest. As a material with inherent plasticity, pottery reflects changes in people's preferences and traditions in aspects of its form and design quickly through time and space. Analyzing different facets of pottery has the ability to provide extensive information about people in the past: their resource utilization, technology, traditions, economic exchange, regional interaction, ideology, and or group identity. Yet, a significant challenge in pottery analysis is deriving comprehensive and testable conclusions in terms of types and styles that reflect patterned cultural behavior …

What Can Gis + 3d Mean For Landscape Archaeology?, Heather Richards-Rissetto

Department of Anthropology: Faculty Publications

Until recently Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have held center stage in the archaeologist's geospatial toolkit, and there is no doubt that archaeologists have moved beyond the mapdbut into what? In the early years, criticisms voicing GIS as environmentally-deterministic were abundant. What methods and tool have archaeologists used to overcome these criticisms? New geospatial technologies such as airborne lidar and aerial photogrammetry are allowing us to acquire inordinate amounts of georeferenced 3D datad but do these 3D technologies help overcome criticisms of environmental determinism? TogetherdGIS þ 3Dd can link georeferenced 3D models to underlying data adding a ground-based humanistic perspective lacking …

Vertebrate Faunal Analysis Of The Anderson Creek Site (45kp233), Robert Holstine

All Master's Theses

The Anderson Creek archaeological site (45KP233) was excavated by the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) in 2015, as part of a fish passage replacement project in Puget Sound. Faunal analysis of remains from this excavation was completed by the author in collaboration with Dr. Megan Partlow. Analysis documented a variety of mammal and fish remains, consisting primarily of salmon, flatfishes, deer and elk. In addition to general faunal results reported to WSDOT, I discuss bone fragmentation, herring in regional sites, and the value of 1/16” fine screen sampling and analysis. To address the last, I compared fish identifications from …

Upland Land Use And Intersite Lithic Assemblage Variation Across Two Rockshelter And Three Open-Air Archaeological Sites In Mount Rainier National Park, Caitlin Limberg

All Master's Theses

Two sites from the Late Holocene period, the Fryingpan and Berkeley Rockshelters, are analyzed using an evolutionary archaeology model to test hypotheses about site-type expectations. Under the existing theoretical model, rockshelter sites on the slopes of Mount Rainier were used for a more limited activity set than some open-air sites. Rockshelter sites are thought to be places of short-term occupancy consistent with hunting and/or overnight residence activities. Large open-air sites with relatively dense and materially diverse lithic artifacts are thought to be longer-term residential base camps. Technological and functional paradigmatic lithic classifications are used to measure how rockshelter and larger …

The Hidden History Of Western Washington Logging Camps: St. Paul And Tacoma Lumber Company’S Camp #5 Ca. 1934-1947, Kayley Bass

All Master's Theses

Despite the importance of logging to Washington State’s heritage, there is little information on the life in the logging industry and the lumbermen who helped shape western Washington. The St. Paul and Tacoma Lumber Company (SPTLC) harvested the Kapowsin Timberlands from the early 1900s to the late 1950s. The logging camps located within these timberlands can provide information on the organization of these industry camps as well as on the daily lives of the men that would help build one of the most important industries in Washington. This thesis employed archaeological and historical approaches to understand this period of history. …