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Interpreting San Cecilio: Ritual And Discourse In A Granadan Celebration., Martha M. Popescu 2023 University of Louisville

Interpreting San Cecilio: Ritual And Discourse In A Granadan Celebration., Martha M. Popescu

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Theses

The romería de San Cecilio is an annual, local short pilgrimage and celebration of the patron saint of Granada, a city in Andalusia, Spain. The romería takes place at the Abbey of Sacromonte, a monastery built on top of the site where San Cecilio’s remains were found as part of the famous discoveries of the Lead Books of Granada in the late sixteenth century. These books were ultimately declared to be Islamic forgeries, yet the romería persists today as a granadino, or Granadan, tradition. Consisting of both a Mass at the Abbey as well as a popular celebration, the …


Rock Or Relic? Lithic Technology And Social Life In The Mimbres Mogollon Region Of Southwestern New Mexico, Jeffrey Dylan Clark Person 2023 University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Rock Or Relic? Lithic Technology And Social Life In The Mimbres Mogollon Region Of Southwestern New Mexico, Jeffrey Dylan Clark Person

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This research project investigates stone tool technology at pithouse and pueblo sites in the Mimbres Mogollon region of southwestern New Mexico. Starting around AD 550, people in this area were shifting from mobile foragers who moved in seasonal rounds to sedentary village farmers. This process of subsistence change sparked further changes in material culture and social organization across the Mimbres region. The dissertation focuses on lithic debitage, the stone flakes and rock shatter that resulted from reducing stone cores into usable cutting and scraping tools. Debitage from three Mimbres sites, the Harris site, La Gila Encantada, and Elk Ridge were …


Gendered Bodies, Engendered Lives: Bioarchaeological Exploration Of The Intersectionality Of Gender, Health, And Trauma At Turkey Creek Pueblo, Arizona (Ad 1225-1286), Claira Elizabeth Ralston 2023 University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Gendered Bodies, Engendered Lives: Bioarchaeological Exploration Of The Intersectionality Of Gender, Health, And Trauma At Turkey Creek Pueblo, Arizona (Ad 1225-1286), Claira Elizabeth Ralston

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This dissertation examines the relationships between sex, gender, and health at Turkey Creek Pueblo (AD 1225-1286), the earliest aggregated Pueblo community in the Point of Pines region of east central Arizona, to better understand their roles in producing differential health outcomes. To gain a view of these interactions, I use osteological, mortuary, and ethnohistoric data to explore how gender, as a social institution, informed divisions of labor and experiences with traumatic injury at Turkey Creek Pueblo, because this site was occupied during a socially dynamic and important period in the pre-contact American Southwest. Using these data, I explore how sex, …


The Scaling Method: Body Mass Reconstruction Of East African Hominins, Julianna Rose 2023 University of Arkansas, Fayetteville

The Scaling Method: Body Mass Reconstruction Of East African Hominins, Julianna Rose

Anthropology Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis details a series of novel methods developed to estimate body masses of hominin fossils using 3-D point cloud registration software. All analyses were conducted through 3-D modeling software that supported the remote study of five fossil femora from East Africa. The fossil computer models were repeatedly aligned with anatomically modern human femora to determine their scaling relationship with the objective of using the scaling factor of the human references to estimate the body mass of the fossils, on the basis of the femoral head breadth. Body mass estimates obtained through this technique were compared to estimates using more …


“Man, I Will Miss This Place”: An Ethnographic Account Of Place-Making On Dickson Street Through Men’S Bathroom Graffiti, Ethan S. Brown 2023 University of Arkansas, Fayetteville

“Man, I Will Miss This Place”: An Ethnographic Account Of Place-Making On Dickson Street Through Men’S Bathroom Graffiti, Ethan S. Brown

Anthropology Undergraduate Honors Theses

Walking into a public bathroom, often we are faced with interesting, unique, and easily ignorable cases of residual humanity: bathroom graffiti. These writings, academically known as latrinalia, offer scholars a unique portrait of the people who form an immediate culture and community. By providing opportunities to produce individual and collective identities, local folklore, and contesting narratives of space, latrinalia allows authors to carve out personal or cultural place out of the impersonal materiality of space. Utilizing traditional methods of ethnographic fieldwork, latrinalia in the men’s bathrooms of three bars along the famed Dickson Street in Fayetteville, Arkansas is approached …


Fatty Females And Muscular Males: Investigating Human Sexual Dimorphism Across The Upper And Lower Skeleton, Brooklin Edwards 2023 University of Arkansas, Fayetteville

Fatty Females And Muscular Males: Investigating Human Sexual Dimorphism Across The Upper And Lower Skeleton, Brooklin Edwards

Anthropology Undergraduate Honors Theses

The sexual dimorphism profile of human body composition produces a unique pattern. Compared to other primates, humans have a mild size dimorphism; however, human males have a particularly muscular upper body and human females have a permanent fatty composition. These findings have resulted in varying interpretations related to sexual selection, mating systems, and male competition. Using humerus and femur measurements collected from 9 primate species, we investigated how the pronounced sexually dimorphic tissue composition of humans influences skeletal elements compared to the other primates. We hypothesized that over the course of human evolution, human females developed a body composition that …


Geographic Object-Based Image Analysis For Archaeological Site Detection: A Case Study For The Chicama Valley, Peru, Cesca Craig 2023 University of Arkansas, Fayetteville

Geographic Object-Based Image Analysis For Archaeological Site Detection: A Case Study For The Chicama Valley, Peru, Cesca Craig

Anthropology Undergraduate Honors Theses

This study represents a first attempt at applying geographic object-based image analysis (GEOBIA) for the detection of extant archaeological sites in the Chicama River Valley located in northern coastal Peru. This region is characterized by the presence of mound-like archaeological sites dispersed throughout large-scale agricultural fields. High-resolution multispectral imagery from Planet Labs was used in this study because of its high spatial and temporal resolution and availability at no cost through Planet’s Education and Research Program. The main goal for this study was to explore GEOBIA as an approach to archaeological site detection and assess the feasibility of developing exportable …


Commodification Of Korean Culture In The West: Orientalism In The Era Of Modern Social Media, Samantha Giudice 2023 University of Arkansas, Fayetteville

Commodification Of Korean Culture In The West: Orientalism In The Era Of Modern Social Media, Samantha Giudice

International and Global Studies Undergraduate Honors Theses

South Korea, hereafter referred to as Korea, lies within the Korean Peninsula. It currently boasts a population of 53 million people residing within 38,724 square miles and a GDP of 1.811 trillion US dollars, making it the 13th largest economy in the world. Since the Korean War to today Korea has turned into a major economic and cultural epicenter remaining at the center of technological advancements and pop culture production. While the exportation of this pop culture has allowed the economy grow at unprecedented rates, it has also led to less favorable interactions with Korean culture by people all …


The Role Of Style In Community Identity And Group Affiliation: An Archaeological Study Of Virgin And Kayenta Branch Ceramics, Daniel Melvin Perez 2023 University of Nevada, Las Vegas

The Role Of Style In Community Identity And Group Affiliation: An Archaeological Study Of Virgin And Kayenta Branch Ceramics, Daniel Melvin Perez

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This research focuses on the Virgin Branch heartland of the North American Southwest, an archaeological area spanning southern Nevada, southwestern Utah, and northwestern Arizona. The interplay of Virgin Branch community identity, group affiliation, and social interaction over time, between ca. 300 B.C. and A.D. 1225, is considered intra-regionally and in the context of interactions with neighboring Kayenta Branch populations of northeastern Arizona. The principal question for this research is: How is Virgin Branch group identity communicated and reflected through expressions of technological and painted designs styles on pottery amidst intra- and inter-regional events and interactions over time? Support for this …


Experiences Of Violence And Captivity: Labor Divisions At La Plata (Ad 600-1250), Kathleen D. Stansbury 2023 Trinity University

Experiences Of Violence And Captivity: Labor Divisions At La Plata (Ad 600-1250), Kathleen D. Stansbury

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The La Plata Population represents a series of Ancestral Puebloan sites along the La Plata River outside Farmington, New Mexico dating from 600-1200 CE. Past research has argued that several captive females in this population experienced impairment due to illness or trauma. Entheseal changes can reflect experiences of hard labor, and so provide insight into adaptations to mobility impairments as well as the physical impacts of captive labor on the body (Henderson et al 2013). Measurement of entheseal changes utilizing the Coimbra method has demonstrated that sexual and class divisions of labor existed in the La Plata community, with captive …


The Role Of Small Puebloan Architectural Sites On The Southern Shivwits Plateau, William M. Willis 2023 University of Nevada, Las Vegas

The Role Of Small Puebloan Architectural Sites On The Southern Shivwits Plateau, William M. Willis

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This work concerns itself with the Virgin Branch Pueblo of the southern Shivwits Plateau. Within their settlement systems lies considerable variation in terms of architectural sites. The smallest of these sites are often referred to as fieldhouses, a term that has distinct meaning within the archaeological discourse of the American Southwest. Fieldhouses are seasonally occupied structures used by Puebloan people during the agricultural growing season. They arise out of the necessity of land tenure systems that evolve in response to growing competition for arable land in the face of population pressure and finite resources. This research finds that the small …


The Influence Of K9 Partners On Law Enforcement Officers, Sydney Schultz 2023 Boise State University

The Influence Of K9 Partners On Law Enforcement Officers, Sydney Schultz

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

This study aims to examine if and how the personal and professional lives of K9-handling officers and their police department are impacted by having access to and working alongside K9s. It also considers the possible variation in degrees of attachment to one’s dog between K9-handling officers and members of the general public. Through an online survey, questions from the Perceived Stress Scale and the Lexington Attachment to Pets Scale were asked to better understand how working alongside dogs can change levels of stress. It was found that K9-handling officers experience significantly lower levels of stress compared to non-K9-handling officers. Further, …


Nepantla – Examining The Sacred Middle Ground Of Syncretism, Jose Luis Garcia III 2023 The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

Nepantla – Examining The Sacred Middle Ground Of Syncretism, Jose Luis Garcia Iii

Theses and Dissertations

As a result of historical traumas caused by the Spanish invasion of Mexico, the autonomy of its Indigenous peoples has been replaced by a Eurocentric identifier based on a colonial language and theologies. Because of the vastness surrounding the Nahua pantheon, Spanish and Church officials relied on guided syncretism as means of correcting their methodologies in converting Mexico’s Indigenous population. This thesis examines syncretism as a process of religious mixing and its residual cultural changes that affected Mexico’s Indigenous populations. This ethnographic research argues that syncretism as an overarching, universalized term is insufficient to describe this process in the Chalma …


Spirits And Spirituality: Temperance And Racial Uplift In Nineteenth-Century Nantucket, Ma, John T. Crawmer 2023 University of Massachusetts Boston

Spirits And Spirituality: Temperance And Racial Uplift In Nineteenth-Century Nantucket, Ma, John T. Crawmer

Graduate Masters Theses

Studies of alcohol consumption have shown alcohol’s role in defining social boundaries based on class and ethnicity, but few have interrogated alcohol in the context of race. During the early-19th century, free black communities were encouraged to refrain from alcohol as part of a larger project of racial uplift. Black societies and churches perceived intemperance as not only immoral but a threat to community survival. Excavations of the Nantucket African Meeting House noted a considerable lack of alcohol bottles, but it was unclear whether temperance was equally observed at the neighboring Boston-Higginbotham House. This research uses a minimum number of …


Negotiating Acculturation: A Qualitative Study Of Muslim American Women, Noor N. Tahirkheli 2023 University of Massachusetts Boston

Negotiating Acculturation: A Qualitative Study Of Muslim American Women, Noor N. Tahirkheli

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

The estimated population of Muslims in the United States ranges from 3 to 7 million (Bukhari, 2003; Pew Research Center, 2017; Strumm, 2003), with an estimated 69-75% of Muslim Americans being 1st or 2nd generation immigrants (defined as those born abroad and those with immigrant parents, respectively), hailing from over 80 countries (Bukhari, 2003; Pew Research Center, 2017). Thus, most Muslims are navigating the complex processes of acculturation, which is the adaptation of behavioral, cognitive, and affective aspects of one’s cultural functioning, which result from consistent contact with different cultural contexts and groups (Driscoll & Wierzbicki, 2012). Research has noted …


Sisters And Stewards: Women And Community-Building At The African Meeting House On Nantucket, Ma, Sean A. Fairweather 2023 University of Massachusetts Boston

Sisters And Stewards: Women And Community-Building At The African Meeting House On Nantucket, Ma, Sean A. Fairweather

Graduate Masters Theses

Despite the underrepresentation of the achievements of Black women in the historical record, scholars have recognized the centrality of their participation in social institutions such as the church. This thesis uses a documentary archaeology approach to highlight the tactics employed by Black and other women of color on Nantucket Island to foster community through the Black Baptist church housed in the African Meeting House during the nineteenth century. In the free but racially marginalized neighborhood of New Guinea, the African Meeting House was one of two churches that facilitated dignity and uplift for its members. The maintenance of the church …


Experimental Methodologies In Assessing Ceramic Shrinkage In Residual Fingerprints For Archaeological Application, Luke Aaron Burnor 2023 California State University - San Bernardino

Experimental Methodologies In Assessing Ceramic Shrinkage In Residual Fingerprints For Archaeological Application, Luke Aaron Burnor

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This research evaluates the extent of ceramic shrinkage using a natural clay source that was locally available and known to be used by native populations in the American Southwest. The experiment took into account variables of temper mixture and firing temperature to assess the extent and potential need for shrinkage calibration in archaeological biometric research (specifically fingerprints). An experimental design was employed to test shrinkage rates while accounting for natural temper materials found frequently in the archaeological record including sand, grog, and quartz. The experiment evaluated whether shrinkage rates may have skewed data collected in previous studies regarding sex and …


San Pasqual Valley; Reexamination Of An Archaeological Collection Using Non-Invasive And Invasive Techniques, Ariana Yanez 2023 California State University, San Bernardino

San Pasqual Valley; Reexamination Of An Archaeological Collection Using Non-Invasive And Invasive Techniques, Ariana Yanez

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This thesis will focus on re-evaluating the CA-SDI-09674 collection at San Pasqual Battlefield State Historic Park. The purpose of the research is to provide more evidence that supports the preservation of the archaeological and indigenous record within archaeological sites. Research with noninvasive techniques will include macro botanical analysis, re-examination of archaeological collections, and if permitted, invasive techniques such as radiocarbon c-14 dating. The purpose of analyzing charcoal samples is to comprehend a chronology of occupation within SPB-SHP. The macro botanical analysis would provide insight into the natural resources that were available within the area during the precontact habitation of the …


The Role Of Sharks In The Human Ecological Systems Of Isla Cedros, Baja California, Alyssa Canoff 2023 California State University, San Bernardino

The Role Of Sharks In The Human Ecological Systems Of Isla Cedros, Baja California, Alyssa Canoff

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Remains of sharks are found worldwide in various archaeological contexts, but generally, the relationships between humans and sharks have been rare research topics. This thesis will present and discuss the shark remains found during the archaeological investigations at Isla Cedros, an island off the Pacific coast of the Baja California peninsula. I will discuss the distinct species of sharks in the assemblage, the types of remains, the contexts they were found in, and incorporate what is known about each species to interpret the diverse types of relationships humans have with sharks at Cedros. By incorporating human-behavioral ecology and symbolic behavior …


Dental Microwear Of Miocene Primates From The Turkana Basin Of Northern Kenya, Leah K. Myerholtz 2023 University of Arkansas, Fayetteville

Dental Microwear Of Miocene Primates From The Turkana Basin Of Northern Kenya, Leah K. Myerholtz

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Comprehending the dietary patterns of Turkana Basin primates from the late Paleogene and early Neogene can contextualize the role of food choice in the evolution of higher primates in Africa. Dental Microwear Texture Analysis (DMTA) quantifies wear on the enamel of a tooth and can be used as a proxy to infer aspects of a taxon’s diet in the past. DMTA can provide insight into what specific animals in the past ate, rather than what they were capable of eating, and by extension, reflect food availability related to habitat preferences or environmental fluctuation. Here, primates from six Oligocene through Pliocene …


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