Anthropology Commons^™

Work-Related Pathology At Tell El-Amarna: The Physical Cost Of Building A New Capital City In The New Kingdom, Egypt, Heidi Suzanne Davis

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines patterns of work-related indicators of physical stress in a skeletal sample from the non-elite adult population of the South Tombs Cemetery (STC) of Amarna, Egypt. Assessing work-related pathology using an integrative model of physical stress, this study considers the interactions of demographic parameters of age, sex, and injury recurrence, along with archaeological and documentary data to provide a biocultural contextual approach to physical stress in this population. The STC sample is compared to other samples from Egyptian and Nubian sites as well as historical samples believed to be under high physical demands and stressful conditions. The STC …

Buzzy Aotearoa!, Azael Martinez, Kyla Jackson, Jessica Landry, Tommy Lopez, James Pham, Sirjana Khadka, Dai-Chi Tran

Sociology and Anthropology Student Research - Archive

No abstract provided.

Bundled For The Beyond: Material Analysis Of A Canine Mummy Bundle For Contextualizing And Conserving Legacy Objects, Sascha Anna-Rose Baldauf

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Legacy collections¹ and objects with little context are often untapped opportunities for both museums and museum studies students. The purpose of this study is to display how students can utilize object research to engage in experiential learning and develop their skillset in scientific methodologies and disseminating findings, while also offering museums the opportunity to develop relationships with research facilities and benefit from student research findings. This study demonstrates the utility of student research by investigating an Egyptian canid mummy bundle, dating to the Late Period² or early Ptolemaic Period³, received by the Museum of Anthropology at …

White Horse Village: A Northern Utah Ufo Narrative, Melissa Petersen

All Graduate Reports and Creative Projects, Fall 2023 to Present

In the early 1960's a group of UFO believers, called Christ Brotherhood Inc., established themselves in Smithfield Canyon, UT and called their commune White Horse Village. A main house was built where the leader of the group lived and two or three smaller cabins were erected for the believers. Without running water they used an outhouse among them and built a small church where they would meet for lectures. Their beliefs centered around the popular movement of New Age spirituality of the time, which included scientific explanations for Christian beliefs including a belief in benevolent aliens as modern angels. Their …

Reclaiming Bodily Autonomy Through Gullah Geechee Natural Healing, Tamaray Yvonne White

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In today’s sociopolitical climate, restrictive reproductive laws continue to disproportionately target Black women, reinforcing historic patterns of racialized and gendered oppression. This thesis argues that Black women will recommence their usage of traditional herbal healing as both a survival strategy and an act of reclaiming bodily autonomy in defiance of hostile legal, financial, and medical systems. The Gullah Geechee community serves as a blueprint for this transition, offering cultural continuity, intergenerational knowledge, and a model for community-based healthcare and resistance. By tracing the historical necessity of herbal medicine among Gullah Geechee women, this study situates ancestral natural healing within contemporary …

From Houston To Hamilton: A Cultural Comparison Of Texas And New Zealand, Kaela Towry, Cain Camarillo, Julian Moore, Melvin Melly, John-Luke Chidgey

Sociology and Anthropology Student Research - Archive

As a group we were tasked with creating a digitally formatted zine that draws comparisons between our own culture living in Texas and the culture of our peers at the University of Waikato in Hamilton, New Zealand. Our group chose to illustrate the similarities of the livestock industries that are prevalent in our respective home locations. For Texas, we explored the cattle industry and the cowboy lifestyle. For New Zealand, we explored the sheep farming industry and the native Maori culture of the nation. We also highlighted the ways in which media has altered or projected these cultural images (i.e. …

A Big Data Approach To Mitigating The Maup In Measuring Excess Commuting, Cehong Luo, Yujie Hu, Fahui Wang

Faculty Publications

Excess commuting, defined as the inefficiency resulting from spatial mismatches between residential and employment locations, poses significant challenges for urban planning and transportation systems. This study uses big data from individual vehicle trips collected in Tampa, Florida, to quantify excess commuting more accurately than traditional zonal approaches. Through the application of Linear Programming (LP) and Integer Linear Programming (ILP) models, this research measures minimum and actual commuting patterns across different spatial scales—census tract, block group, and individual trip levels. The findings reveal a clear scale effect associated with the Modifiable Areal Unit Problem (MAUP), as smaller spatial units consistently yield …

A Story Of Life Through Death: An Osteobiography Of Two Individuals From The Late Saxon Period, Isabella Ragazzi

Honors Theses

The Anglo-Saxons were the most influential inhabitants of the British Isles in the years AD 450-1066, reigning during a time marked by much warfare, pestilence, and famine. Their impact on British history is still seen through archival materials as well as the archeological and bioarchaeological records. A recent development in the field of bioarchaeology is the osteobiography, which places skeletal analysis in context of the overall culture to create the most complete interpretation of the individual and their life history. Involving both traditional bioarchaeological evaluation and isotopic analysis, this method was applied to two Anglo-Saxon skulls donated to the University …

Rapid Decline And Mortality Of A Pleistocene-Aged Forest Now Submerged In The Northern Gulf Of Mexico, Usa, Grant L. Harley, Kristine L. Delong, Marcus Lofverstrom, Carl Andy Reese, Ellen V. Bergan, Samuel J. Bentley, Kehui Xu, Kelli Moran, Karen E. King, Alicia Caporaso

Faculty Publications

The Gulf and Atlantic Coastal Plains of the southern United States are characterized by a wide continental shelf that was subaerially exposed for ca. 80,000 years during glacial-interval marine regressions and transgressions. Given their present submergence, little is known about the vegetation dynamics, particularly at annual time scales, of these formerly terrestrial sites due to erosional processes associated with marine transgressions. Here, we present an annually resolved and well-replicated 489-year tree-ring chronology from macrobotanical specimens—anatomically identified as Taxodium distichum (L.) Rich.—collected in situ from a recently exposed submerged forest in 18 m water depth in the northern Gulf of Mexico. …

Understanding Hepatitis C Risk And Harm Reduction Needs Among People Who Smoke Drugs: A Client-Centered Qualitative Inquiry, Maxwell Gustin

Anthropology

The spread of Hepatitis C virus (HCV) via non-injectable equipment is plausible, making people who smoke drugs (PWSD) at-risk for possible infection and transmission. While much research has been conducted into injection drug use (IDU), likely due to the rising opioid epidemic, limited studies focus on the risks PWSD face. Currently, state-funded syringe service programs (SSPs) provide harm reduction education and materials to combat these risks. Safer smoking initiatives have been created and are widely used by PWSD, and have access to SSPs. To gain better insight into the HCV and non-HCV-related risks and burdens PWSD face, a qualitative study …

Living With Dementia In Kenya: Pathways To Care, Diagnosis And Management, Edna Bosire

Institute for Human Development, East Africa

Background: Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is experiencing a sharp rise in the size of theolder population; consequently, the incidence and prevalence of Alzheimer’s DiseaseRelated Dementias (AD/ADRD) is also expected to rise. There is limited research onAD/ADRD lived experiences have been conducted in SSA including Kenya. Our projectaimed to explore patient’s and caregivers lived experiences with Alzheimer’s disease inKenya.

Methods: This ethnographic study was conducted at the Aga Khan University hospital(AKUH), involving in-depth interviews with 21 health care providers, 26 patientswith mild cognitive impairment and 36 caregivers. We also conducted 10 homevisits and observations. Data were transcribed verbatim and thematically analysed.In what …

Understanding And Willingness To Participate In Dementia Clinical Trials In Kenya: An Ethnographic Study, Edna Bosire, Lucy Kamau, Chinedu Momoh, Jasmit Shah, Karen Blackmon, Caroline Kiio, Irene Meier, Vaibhav Narayan, Olivera Nesic Taylor,, Zul Merali

Brain and Mind Institute

Background: Advancements in dementia research are in part contingent on participation in clinical research. Clinical trials can help researchers determine if new drugs, devices, or diagnostic procedures for dementia are safe and effective. However, little is known about clinical trials for dementia in resource constrained settings such as Kenya. The aim of our research was to explore people’s understanding of dementia clinical trials, their attitudes and perceptions towards dementia clinical trials and what can be done to enhance enrollments on such clinical trials.

Method: This was an ethnographic study involving 8 focused group discussions (FGDs; age and gender stratified; n=81) …

Valorisasi Wayang Kulit: Tambal Sulam Pengalaman Pengrajin Wayang Kulit Dan Liyan Di Desa Wisata Wayang Sidowarno, Yayuk Windarti

Antropologi Indonesia

The emergence of Sidowarno Wayang Tourism Village indicates a significant transformation in the traditional art of wayang kulit (shadow puppetry). Wayang artisans in Sidowarno offer wayang kulit as an educational process packaged within a tourism village. However, as they adapt to the needs of others, the values embedded in wayang kulit undergo changes. This article addresses several questions, including: how do the roles of wayang kulit artisans in Butuh Village, Sidowarno contribute to the development of the wayang tourism village? How does the presence of other actors shape and transform the values of wayang kulit? Furthermore, how does …

Applicability Of Cementochronology To Estimate Season-Of-Death In Humans: Insights From Modern Documented Collections, Olga Ibarra-Sanchez

Theses and Dissertations

Dental cementum is characterized by lifelong deposition of alternating opaque annuli in fall/winter and translucent bands in spring/summer. This study aims to test the applicability of cementochronology to estimate season-of-death, by observing the properties of the last layer, with direct implications for forensic anthropology and bioarchaeology. The sample includes canine teeth from 146 adults (84 males, 62 females), age-at-death ranging from 20-97 years (mean=61.7 years, SD=18.6 years), from two contemporary skeletal collections. Of these individuals, 78 (53.4%) died in spring/summer and 68 (46.6%) died in fall/winter. Overall accuracy was low at 64.4% (94/146). Accuracy was higher for spring/summer deaths 100.0% …

Undergraduate Awareness Of Sexual Harassment Law In Tanzania's Higher Learning Institutions: Case Studies Of Two Universities, Salma Ramadhan Fundi Phd Candidate

Tanzania Journal of Sociology

This study examines undergraduate students' awareness of legal provisions and guidelines concerning sexual harassment in Tanzanian higher education, focusing on the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) and the Open University of Tanzania (OUT) as case studies. Sexual harassment significantly impacts students’ well-being, safety, and academic success. Despite the existence of legal frameworks, students' knowledge of these provisions is often limited. The study employed a qualitative approach with a phenomenological research design to explore students’ experiences and perceptions of harassment policies. This design allowed participants to share the meanings they attach to their experiences and how such policies are understood …

Mountain Communities During A Time Of War: A Case Study Of The Hutsul Region In The Carpathian Mountains Of Ukraine, Pavlo Rybaruk

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis investigates the ethno-ecological technologies employed by the Hutsul people within the highland agrarian economy of the Carpathian Mountains. Over centuries, the Hutsuls have developed ethno-ecological technologies that maintain ecological integrity while supporting community livelihoods.

The study addresses three primary research questions: What are the most important ethno-ecological technologies of the Hutsul highland economy? How might these traditional ethno-ecological practices be applied to economic, agricultural, and tourism development in the Hutsul region? How might these traditional ethno-ecological practices be combined with contemporary approaches to encourage sustainable development in the region?

The research explores the devastating impact of the Russian …

When Two Worlds Collide: Caring In The Midst Of Bureaucratization Of Healthcare In Malinau, North Kalimantan, Anwar Arifin

Antropologi Indonesia

The issue of healthcare under neoliberalism has been a topic under scrutiny for anthropologists. With the rise of financial capitalism, the state is reconfigured to create a life where the logic of the market triumphs over all other aspects of life. This reconfiguration includes the healthcare sector, where new paradigms of neoliberal governance are incorporated into the fabric of healthcare. In continuing this analysis, I want to address a more specific approach regarding how neoliberal mechanisms work to disrupt caring practices, particularly through the use of bureaucracies. Drawing from various literature and my own ethnographic experiences in Malinau, this article …

Selected For Death: A Bioarchaeological Study Of The Biocultural Profiles Of Human Sacrifices At El Pollo, Moche Valley, Peru, Rachel Witt

Sociology and Anthropology Faculty Research

Human sacrifice is a form of ritual violence used by empires to generate images of coercion and demonstrate the immutable power of those staging the event. Although lethal wounds provide physical evidence of sacrifice, a lifetime of experiences are inscribed on the sacrificed body. This chapter presents the results of a bioarchaeological analysis of human sacrifices from the site of El Pollo (AD 1300-1550) outside the Chimú capital city Chan Chan in the Moche valley, Huanchaco, on the north coast of Perú. The goal of this paper is to reconstruct the life histories of El Pollo sacrificial victims using biocultural …

“Festivity Without Feast”: Autonomy, Prosperity, Mutuality And Inequality In A Mentawai Village, Darmanto Darmanto

Antropologi Indonesia

Among the Mentawai, autonomy, prosperity, and mutuality are core values that foster their egalitarian ethos. In the last few decades, they have reconfigured these values in their quest for equality with outsiders who have consistently looked down upon them. The state encourages and facilitates their pursuit by establishing a centralised village, implementing development projects, and promoting engagement in commodity production. These processes direct productive work results towards household livelihoods, legitimising wealth accumulation and sidelining sharing practices. In seeking equality with outsiders, the realisation of autonomy and productivity increasingly leads to internal inequality, which is the antithesis of their egalitarian quest …

Atheist Values And The Religious Other: Negotiating Morality In Indonesia, Malaysia, And The Philippines, Timo Duile, Prince Kennex R. Aldama

Antropologi Indonesia

As being religious is often seen in religious societies as a precondition for having values, atheists often face prejudice as they are seen as people without values. However, as they conceptualize and construct their values with and against the religious other, they are part of society as an arena in which what counts as values is constantly negotiated. Drawing on David Graeber’s concept of society as an arena for the realization of value production, this article sheds light on the values of atheists in religious plural societies in Southeast Asia, namely Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines. It analyzes how atheism …