Archaeological Anthropology Commons^™

Species Identification Of The Stylohyoid Bone For North American Artiodactyls, Thomas A. Hale

All Master's Theses

Zooarchaeologists cannot identify mammal species by their stylohyoid bones. Current trends in zooarchaeological research stress the need for rigorous and accessible identification methodology. I examined the stylohyoids of 15 hooved mammals: cattle, bison, domestic sheep, bighorn sheep, Dall sheep, mountain goat, domestic goat, elk, caribou, white-tailed deer, mule deer, moose, pronghorn antelope, domestic pig, and horse. Objectives included documenting how to side the stylohyoid (left or right), and producing species identification criteria based on large samples. A total of 325 samples were measured from eight repositories. Written descriptions, photographs, and success ratios for metrics and distinct traits are included for …

An Economic Approach To Modeling Archaeological Settlement Patterns In Central Idaho, Anthony J. Saunders

All Master's Theses

Archaeologists can gain a better understanding of subsistence strategies by analyzing the net advantage of exploiting certain resources over others across a large area with the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and application of economic. GIS modeling is a powerful tool used by archaeologists to catalog and analyze site information in a spatial context. Economic models interpret human behavior in terms of cost and benefit. Little archaeological research has been done in central Idaho. This thesis develops economic models of hunting, gathering and fishing for the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness (FC-RONRW). This research builds upon previous …

Mapping And Radiocarbon Dating Archaic Period Monuments: La Alberca Structure Complex, Highland Michoacán, Mexico, Mark F. Steinkraus

All Master's Theses

Ongoing collaborations with the Comunidad Indígena de Nuevo San Juan Parangaricutiro hold great potential for exploring the origins of sedentary ranked communities that predate others in Mesoamerica by as much as one thousand years. Three carbon samples from the lower buried portions of the Central Structure at La Alberca Complex yield a date range of 7245-6470 cal B.P. The carbon sample laying on an upper tier of the feature yields a date of 4780 cal B.P. These dates suggest that the feature is 7000 to 6000 years old and may have been in use as recently as 5000 to 4000 …

Alternatives To Charcoal For Improving Chronometric Dating Of Puget Sound Archaeological Sites, James W. Brown

All Master's Theses

Radiocarbon dating of archaeological sites in the Puget Lowlands can be problematic. Dating specific cultural events associated with features and sites is difficult due to the ubiquity of charcoal in forest soils and poor preservation of bone in acidic soils. These conditions have impeded the development of regional cultural chronologies. The lack of dates for critical time periods also inhibits testing processual models of cultural change. Evidence for the timing and rate of ecological, economic, and political change is critical for testing evolutionary models in the Pacific Northwest (PNW). Radiocarbon dating highly burned bone (calcined bone) and luminescence dating fire-modified …

Landscapes Of Interaction: Understanding Social Landscapes Through Quantitative Models Of Artifact Distributions, James R. Allison

Faculty Publications

Exchange of material goods is one of the most basic forms of human interactions. By tracing the distribution of ceramics, stone tools, and other materials archaeologists are often able to make inferences about the nature of interactions, and about the economic and social relationships of the people involved. These artefact distributions are a fundamental feature of social landscapes, with the potential to reveal much about the structure of social life. But artefact distributions are often complex and difficult to describe, especially at large spatial scales, and they often require some form of abstraction to make them comprehensible. Archaeologists have therefore …

Dietary Patterns Of Paquimé: New Evidence From Dental Calculus And Microfossils, Daniel King, Michael T. Searcy, Kyle Waller

Faculty Publications

As part of a larger multinational project, we gathered and analyzed 112 samples of dental calculus (fossilized plaque) from human remains discovered at Paquimé and other sites in the Casas Grandes river valley to identify various microfossils still present in the silica matrix. Once identified, we used the prehistoric plant remains to reconstruct human/plant relationships present during the Viejo and Medio periods in and around Paquimé. Our data suggest that maize was used throughout both time periods, which supports current theories regarding Paquimean diet. Various types of grasses were also found, as were unspecified types of algae. Using our data, …

A Comparison Of Field Methods At Camp Lawton (9js1), William C. Brant

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Camp Lawton was a Confederate POW Camp located in Jenkins County, Georgia during the latter part of the Civil War. This research uses shovel testing, metal detection, magnetometry, soil phosphate analysis, and terrestrial LiDAR scanning to attempt to ascertain which method, or combination of methods, is more effective on mid-19^th century components in the Georgia Coastal Plain. Findings were inconclusive, but indicate that shovel testing and metal detection are the more effective methods. Data also suggest that areas of Confederate occupation at Camp Lawton probably covered a much larger area than previously anticipated.

Oldowan Hominin Behavior And Ecology At Kanjera South, Kenya, Thomas W. Plummer, Laura C. Bishop

Publications and Research

The Early Stone Age archaeological record does not become persistent and widespread until approximately 2.0-1.7 million years ago, when Oldowan sites spread across Africa and ultimately into Eurasia. However, good records of hominin behavior from this important time interval are uncommon. Here we describe recent findings from the two million year old Oldowan site of Kanjera South, on the Homa Peninsula of southwestern Kenya. Kanjera South is the oldest Oldowan site with large assemblages of stone artifacts and well-preserved archaeological fauna. Our research indicates that hominin activities were situated in an open habitat within a grassland dominated ecosystem, the first …

A Comparison Of Shovel Testing And Surface Collection As Archaeological Site Discovery Methods: A Case Study Using Mississippian Farmsteads, Cameron Smith Howell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Shovel testing and controlled surface collection are commethods of archaeological site investigation that are generally approved by state and federal agencies as well as the academic community for cultural resource management projects and research. While both techniques are equally utilized, little research has been conducted on how equivalent these techniques are in terms of their efficacy for finding site. This thesis seeks to find a way to compare these techniques by creating mathematical models to describe how well the methods behave when tested on known datasets generated from Mississippian period farmsteads. The predicted performance can then be compared to real …

Linearly Stressed To Death: Consideration Of Early Childhood Stress As A Main Contributor To The Regional Variability In Classic Maya Mortuary Profiles, Nicholas Billstrand

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Late and Terminal Classic periods were times of great social, economic, and political change in Maya civilization. Scholars have suggested that increasing levels of dietary stress during this time may have been the result of ecological instability, drought, warfare, and significant levels of population movement across the Maya lowlands. All of these processes may have affected human health and left measurable markers of stress in human skeletal material. The burial population recovered from two sites on Ambergris Caye, located near the coast of Belize, have significantly more sub-adult individuals than sites in inland Belize, such as Actuncan, suggesting the …

Powering An Industry: The History Of The Calumet And Hecla Electrical System And The Environmental Consequences Left Behind, Emma M. Zawisza

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

The Calumet and Hecla Copper Mining Company in Houghton County, Michigan, was established in 1865 and closed its doors in 1968. This company was a major contributor in developing secondary copper processing and used these methods to produce copper even when its underground mines were closed. C&H built its own electrical transmission system that could have rivaled many during its time. This allowed the company to have the ability to produce and control its electrical network and expand, but it had major environmental effects. Polychlorinated biphenyl compounds (PCBs), used in transformer oil and other components were produced between about 1930 …

Paleoparasitological Evidence Of Pinworm (Enterobius Vermicularis) Infection In A Female Adolescent Residing In Ancient Tehran (Iran) 7000 Years Ago, Niloofar Paknazhad, Gholamreza Mowlavi, Jean Dupouy Camet, Mohammad Esmaeili Jelodar, Iraj Mobedi, Mahsasadat Makki, Eshrat Beigom Kia, Mostafa Rezaeian, Mehdi Mohebali, Siamak Sarlak, Faezeh Najafi

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Library Materials

Background: The Molavi street archeological site south of Tehran, Iran accidentally provided a unique opportunity for paleoparasitological studies in Iran. A female skeleton was unearthed and evaluated to be 7,000 years old. Soil samples were collected around the pelvic and sacrum bones.

Findings: Careful microscopic investigation of rehydrated soil samples revealed the presence of one Enterobius vermicularis egg attached to the skeleton sacral region.

Conclusion: The present finding likely represents the oldest evidence of a human pinworm infection in Asia.

Bioarchaeological Investigations Of The Red House Archaeological Site, Port Of Spain, Trinidad: A Pre-Columbian, Mid-Late Ceramic Age Caribbean Population., Patrisha Meyers

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In 2013 structural assessments associated with ongoing renovations of the Red House, Trinidad and Tobago's Parliament building, revealed human remains buried beneath the foundation. Excavations and radiocarbon dating indicate the remains are pre-Columbian with 14C dates ranging between approximately AD 125 and AD 1395. Due to the small overall sample size and the inability to attribute all individuals to a specific Amerindian period, the skeletal sample was considered as an aggregate. A bioarchaeological assessment of excavated graves and associated human skeletal material was conducted to determine the demographic profile and the pathological conditions exhibited by the collective skeletal 'population.' Osteological …

The Western Stemmed Point Tradition: Evolutionary Perspectives On Cultural Change In Projectile Points During The Pleistocene-Holocene Transition, Lindsay D. Scott

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

In this thesis I analyze the cultural techniques of Paleoindians in North America by examining the diversification and fusion of stemmed projectile point traditions using an evolutionary analysis. The Western Stemmed Point tradition has an extensive regional and temporal distribution throughout the Intermountain West and High Plains during the Paleoindian period. In an effort to determine how stemmed projectile point technologies relate to each other, I applied a phylogenetic approach to construct heritable patterns of projectile point histories. By measuring the physical traits of those points and using a macro-evolutionary theoretical approach, changes in artifact form can be acquired and …

The Early Pottery Of San Antonio, Department Of Chinandega, Nicaragua, Kelsey I. Willis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

I analyzed the potsherds (n=732) recovered from the 2009 archaeological excavations at the site of San Antonio in Chinandega, Nicaragua. I classified the pottery in accordance with the Type: Variety-Mode system that is used almost exclusively in Mesoamerica and the Greater Nicoya Sub-Region. Identifications of known ceramic wares, groups, types, and varieties were made through comparisons with reference specimens from type collections housed at several institutions. New taxa were defined as needed in accordance with the established protocols of the Type: Variety system (e.g., Smith et al. 1960) and as subsequently amended (e.g., Rice 1976). In the thesis, I describe …

A Reflection Of Maya Representation, Distribution, And Interaction: Ceramic Figurines From The Late Classic Site Of Cancuén, Petén Department, Guatemala, Erin L. Sears

Theses and Dissertations--Anthropology

This project explores intersecting spheres of technological, stylistic and contextually patterned relationships expressed by ceramic figurines associated with the major Maya polity Cancuén. Cancuén is situated by assessing its external contacts by reference to figurines recovered from several Late Classic settlements, and hieroglyphic texts recorded as interacting polities. By focusing on these sites along connecting waterways, I attempt to discern directions of influence and change with regard to figurine use patterns relative to those seen in other ceramic representations. Traditional archaeological criteria were used to obtain excavated figurines at specific sites. Stylistic and technological information are augmented through an intensive …

Pre-1900s Chinese Placer Mining In Northeastern Washington State: An Archaeological Investigation, Lindsey M. Evenson

EWU Masters Thesis Collection

"The lack of organized historical and archival documentation regarding the pre-1900s Chinese placer miners in northeastern Washington has left the historical and archaeological records fragmented. Documentation of the Chinese placer mining activities in the region is poor, at best, and the scars left on the landscape by these miners are often inundated by the damming of the Columbia River (and other major waterways), or the sites are heavily eroded and damaged. The available historic and archival data has been organized and synthesized to create an historical context regarding the pre-1900s Chinese placer miners in the region. Furthermore, archaeological sites previously …

Knife River Flint Distribution And Identification In Montana, Laura Evilsizer

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

An examination of the spatial, temporal, and functional distribution of Knife River flint in Montana, and a study in misidentification of Knife River flint in archaeological assemblages. Lithic sourcing has the potential to provide a plethora of information to archaeologists: resource procurement strategies, mobility patterns, trade networks, and the preferencing of particular lithic material types. However, without proper identification it is impossible to study the distribution of lithic materials from their source. Knife River flint, a brown chalcedony, is a particularly fascinating material, geologically occurring in a small area, but culturally distributed over a large area. I analyze the distribution …

Late Fremont Cultural Identities And Borderland Processes, Michael T. Searcy, Richard K. Talbot

Faculty Publications

he spread of maize farming across the American Southwest reached its northernmost extent west of the Rockies by the first or second centuries ad (James Allison, personal communication, 2014; Allison 2014), in the area encompassing the Colorado Plateau north of the Colorado River and the eastern portion of the Great Basin. he practitioners of farming in this area, the Fremont, generally resemble other Southwest farmers in material culture, social structure, settlement, and land use. hey are markedly different from contemporaneous hunter- gatherers to the west, north, and east in these same characteristics and in general economic strategy. Changing paradigms have …

Chronology, Climate, And Fremont Maize Farming In The Great Salt Lake Region, Christopher J. Allison, James R. Allison

Faculty Publications

Archaeologists usually say that Fremont maize farming in the Great Salt Lake region began at about AD 400, and that a mid-1100s drought caused the ancient inhabitants of the region to give up farming. But radiocarbon dates from the region do not support these dates. The earliest dated maize and the earliest dated human skeletal remains with bone chemistry suggesting maize consumption both suggest that maize was not grown in the region until after AD 600. Also, recently obtained dates on maize from Fremont villages indicate that farming in the region continued into the AD 1200s. If the end of …