Other Anthropology Commons^™

The Value Of Pets To Public And Private Health And Well-Being, Leslie Irvine, Laurent Cilia

Human-Companion Animal Relationships Collection

This analysis reviews empirical studies of the health benefits of pet ownership published between 1980 and 2016 and collected in the database of the Human-Animal Bond Research Initiative, or HABRI. The analysis began with 373 titles and eventually encompassed a dataset of 151 full-text documents. Along with analysis of substantive content, each study received a score for methodological rigor. The number of studies has steadily increased, particularly since 2000, and methodological rigor has improved. The literature encompasses four topics, including cardiovascular, general, and psychosocial health, and physical activity. Overall, the research finds that pets benefit human health, although the available …

Comparison Of Chimpanzee (Pan Troglodytes) Behavior On Tour And Non-Tour Days At Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest, Allison A. Farley

All Master's Theses

In this study, I investigated the potential effect of a visitor program on captive chimpanzees’ (Pan troglodytes) behaviors at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest (CSNW) in Cle Elum, Washington. I used focal animal sampling to score behaviors from an ethogram of affiliative, aggressive and abnormal chimpanzee behaviors, as well as foraging and vigilance. During each sample, I recorded the focal’s location within the enclosure and whether he or she was situated in locations that would be in view of visitors (present or not). I analyzed 720 minutes of data from each of the seven CSNW chimpanzees. I tested the hypothesis …

Reaction To Stimulus Figures In Chimpanzee Drawings, Alexandra Bobrinskoy Casti

All Master's Theses

Seven captive chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) produced drawings at the University of Oklahoma between November 1971 and November 1972. Chimpanzees drew on sheets of paper that were either blank or had a stimulus. The stimulus was located in the center or offset from the center. These drawings were scanned and digitized. Analysis tested whether chimpanzee mark placement was contingent on the location of stimulus figures. Centroid locations significantly changed between stimulus type for all drawing categories and among participants for free choice and central figure drawings. Participants drew in the empty space opposite offset figure drawings. Findings support previous …

Bioarchaeological Analysis Of Oak View Landing (40dr1): An Archaic Population In The Kentucky Lake Reservior, Katy D. Grant-Mclemore

Master's Theses

The biocultural examination of the Archaic population recovered at Oak View Landing (40DR1) investigates the lifeways and adaptations of prehistoric people as they reflect sociopolitical and subsistence strategies.

A comprehensive bioarchaeological analysis was conducted on the adult individuals (18 males, 16 females, 16 of indeterminate sex) excavated from a multiple occupation site located along the Tennessee River in Decatur County, Tennessee. Skeletal indicators used to understand biocultural phenomena were assessed macroscopically on cranial and postcranial elements. Furthermore, mortuary data, for adults and subadults, were used to determine any patterns of preferential treatment at death.

Results from this study indicate that …

Incidence Of An Astronaut Not Closing The Pressure Garment Visor On Reentry, Cameron M. Smith

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Audiovisual records of a Project Mercury pilot's activities during an orbital flight indicate that his visor was left open during reentry and descent to the sea surface, phases of flight during which cabin pressure loss was to be mitigated by suit pressurization; however the suit could not have been pressurized with the visor open. Thus, for a presently unknown reason, a critical safety step—sealing the visor and making a pressure suit integrity test before re-entry—was overlooked in this flight, a fact itself unreported in any flight review or historical documents known to the author. The lesson is clear: even a …

Helminth Infection, Fecundity, And Age Of First Pregnancy In Women, Aaron D. Blackwell, Marilyne D. Tamayo, Bret Beheim, Benjamin C. Trumble, Jonathan Stieglitz, Paul L. Hooper, Melanie Martin, Hillard Kaplan, Michael Gurven

ESI Publications

Infection with intestinal helminths results in immunological changes that influence the odds of comorbid infections, and might also affect fecundity by inducing immunological states supportive of conception and pregnancy. Here we investigate associations between intestinal helminths and fertility in human females, utilizing nine years of longitudinal data from 986 Bolivian forger-horticulturalists, experiencing natural fertility and a 70% helminth prevalence. We find that different species of helminth are associated with opposing effects on fecundity. Infection with roundworm (Ascaris lumbricoides) is associated with earlier first births and shortened interbirth intervals, while infection with hookworm is associated with delayed first pregnancy and extended …

A Localized Approach To The Origins Of Pottery In Upper Mesopotamia, Elizabeth Gibbon

Laurier Undergraduate Journal of the Arts

No abstract provided.

Natural Sleep And Its Seasonal Variations In Three Pre-Industrial Societies, Gandhi Yetish, Hillard Kaplan, Michael Gurven, Brian Wood, Herman Pontzer, Paul R. Manger, Charles Wilson, Ronald Mcgregor, Jerome M. Siegel

ESI Publications

How did humans sleep before the modern era? Because the tools to measure sleep under natural conditions were developed long after the invention of the electric devices suspected of delaying and reducing sleep, we investigated sleep in three preindustrial societies[1–3]. We find that all three show similar sleep organization, suggesting that they express core human sleep patterns, likely characteristic of pre-modern era Homo sapiens. Sleep periods, the times from onset to offset, averaged 6.9–8.5-h, with sleep durations of 5.7–7.1-h, amounts near the low end of those industrial societies[4–7]. There was a difference of nearly 1-h between summer and winter sleep. …

Veganism As An Aspiration, Lori Gruen, Robert C. Jones

Dietary Choice and Foods of Animal Origin Collection

iven the violence, objectification, domination, commodification, and oppression inherent in industrialized food production, some conscientious consumers have adopted vegan practices. This chapter discusses two conceptions of veganism, lifestyle/identity veganism, VI, and veganism as a goal/aspiration, VA. It argues that due to conceptual and practical flaws with VI, conscientious consumers should adopt VA. It considers and rejects the so-called compassionate carnivore movement. It then explores arguments denying the casual efficacy of adopting any form of veganism. It concludes that VA can make a difference, and those in consumer cultures are obligated to adopt and practice it.

“I Am More Productive In The Library Because It’S Quiet”: Commuter Students In The College Library, Mariana Regalado, Maura A. Smale

Publications and Research

This article discusses commuter students’ experiences with the academic library, drawn from a qualitative study at the City University of New York. Undergraduates at six community and baccalaureate colleges were interviewed to explore how they fit schoolwork into their days, and the challenges and opportunities they encountered. Students identified physical and environmental features that informed their ability to successfully engage in academic work in the library. They valued the library as a distraction-free place for academic work, in contrast to the constraints they experienced in other places—including in their homes and on the commute.

Calcaneal Quantitative Ultrasound Indicates Reduced Bone Status Among Physically Active Adult Forager-Horticulturalists, Jonathan Stieglitz, Felicia C. Madimenos, Hillard Kaplan, Michael Gurven

ESI Publications

Six months of exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) is considered optimal for infant health, though globally most infants begin complementary feeding (CF) earlier—including among populations that practice prolonged breastfeeding. Two frameworks for understanding patterns of early CF emerge in the literature. In the first, maternal and infant needs trade-off, as “maternal-centric” factors—related to time and energy demands, reproductive investment, cultural influences, and structural barriers— favor supplanting breastfeeding with earlier and increased CF. A second framework considers that “infant-centric” factors—related to infant energetic needs—favor CF before six months to supplement breastfeeding.

We apply these two frameworks in examining early CF among the Tsimane—a …

Valuable Behavioural Phenotypes In Australian Farm Dogs, P. D. Mcgreevy, C. M. Wade, E. R. Arnott, J. B. Early

Livestock and Working Dogs Collection

This report presents findings regarding the ways to optimise the performance of livestock working dogs in Australia. The methods available to optimise dog performance include both environmental and genetic factors. The objectives of this study were to identify objective measures of desirable behavioural phenotypes in Australian livestock working dogs and explore genetic parameters of these 'quality of working life' traits within the Kelpie breed. The document reports on genotyping that reveals gene-behaviour associations and describes heritability estimates that underpin a database for potential estimated breeding value (EBV) calculations.

Ant 4403 Environmental Anthropology, Rebecca K. Zarger

Service-Learning Syllabi

No abstract provided.

After-Action Report Of Humane Society International's Emergency Response To The April 2015 Earthquake In Nepal, Nepal Earthquake Disaster Operations Team

HSI AFTER ACTION REPORTS

This report describes the timeline and extent of HSI response efforts, evaluates and assesses community (animal and human) health and medical response actions, and identifies issues and challenges faced by HSI responders during the days following the earthquake until their withdrawal, with the goal of providing HSI with practical recommendations to address those challenges.

A Critical Review Of Horse-Related Risk: A Research Agenda For Safer Mounts, Riders And Equestrian Cultures, Kirrilly Thompson, Paul Mcgreevy, Phil Mcmanus

Sport and Working Animal Welfare Collection

While the importance of improving horse-related safety seems self-evident, no comprehensive study into understanding or reducing horse-related risk has been undertaken. In this paper, we discuss four dimensions of horse-related risk: the risk itself, the horse, the rider and the culture in which equestrian activities takes place. We identify how the ways in which risk is constructed in each dimension affects the applicability of four basic risk management options of avoidance, transference, mitigation and acceptance. We find the acceptance and avoidance of horse-related risk is generally high, most likely due to a common construction of horses as irrevocably unpredictable, fearful …

Does Market Integration Buffer Risk, Erode Traditional Sharing Practices And Increase Inequality? A Test Among Bolivian Forager-Farmers, Michael Gurven, Adrian V. Jaeggi, Christopher Von Rueden, Paul L. Hooper, Hillard Kaplan

ESI Publications

Sharing and exchange are common practices for minimizing food insecurity in rural populations. The advent of markets and monetization in egalitarian indigenous populations presents an alternative means of managing risk, with the potential impact of eroding traditional networks. We test whether market involvement buffers several types of risk and reduces traditional sharing behavior among Tsimane Amerindians of the Bolivian Amazon. Results vary based on type of market integration and scale of analysis (household vs. village), consistent with the notion that local culture and ecology shape risk management strategies. Greater wealth and income were unassociated with the reliance on others for …

Human Preferences For Conformation Attributes And Head-And-Neck Positions In Horses, Georgina L. Caspar, Navneet Dhand, Paul Mcgreevy

Competitive Animal Racing Collection

Human preferences for certain morphological attributes among domestic animals may be entirely individual or, more generally, may reflect evolutionary pressures that favor certain conformation. Artificial selection for attributes, such as short heads and crested necks of horses, may have functional and welfare implications because there is evidence from other species that skull shape co-varies with behaviour. Crested necks can be accentuated by flexion of the neck, a quality that is often manipulated in photographs vendors use when selling horses. Equine head-and-neck positions acquired through rein tension can compromise welfare. Our investigation was designed to identify conformations and postures that people …

Depression As Sickness Behavior? A Test Of The Host Defense Hypothesis In A High Pathogen Population, Jonathan Stieglitz, Benjamin C. Trumble, Melissa Emery Thompson, Aaron D. Blackwell, Hillard Kaplan, Michael Gurven

ESI Publications

Sadness is an emotion universally recognized across cultures, suggesting it plays an important functional role in regulating human behavior. Numerous adaptive explanations of persistent sadness interfering with daily functioning (hereafter “depression”) have been proposed, but most do not explain frequent bidirectional associations between depression and greater immune activation. Here we test several predictions of the host defense hypothesis, which posits that depression is part of a broader coordinated evolved response to infection or tissue injury (i.e. “sickness behavior”) that promotes energy conservation and reallocation to facilitate immune activation. In a high pathogen population of lean and relatively egalitarian Bolivian foragerhorticulturalists, …

Swamp Surburbia And Rebellion Against A Culture Of Crime: The Birth Of Black Skateboarding In The Big Easy, Aubrey Edwards

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This research addresses a significant gap in previous work on the formation of urban and suburban black skateboarding subcultures. By using data generated through oral histories, photographs, mapping, and literature review, this study explores why black youth initially began skateboarding in New Orleans in the mid-2000s. In contrast to the scholarly literature and local popular perception, this visual anthropological study aims to provide an alternative origin story of black skateboarding in Post-Katrina New Orleans, and to examine the continuing popularity of the sport within the young black community.

The Final Frontier: Navigating From Material To Virtual, Alexandra Neuman

Undergraduate Theses—Unrestricted

Humankind’s continual creation of and progression into virtual space is a hugely significant event on our evolutionary timeline, one that signifies a sort of imminent and already in-process departure. While the more popular notion of our species’ eventual exodus is linked to outer space and planetary exploration, our existing conceptualization of cyberspace connotes an identical unknowable vastness and sense of discovery, with its depiction relying on nearly identical imagery. The projection of a virtually based human future is thereby left with an already carved out spot in the collective imagination. The lone floating astronaut locked into a suit unable to …