Anthropology Commons^™

Chronologies Of Pain And Power: Violence, Inequality, And Social Control Among Ancestral Pueblo Populations (Ad 850-1300), Ryan Patrick Harrod

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Analysis of human remains in the Greater Southwest offers important insights into mechanisms underlying cultural processes, human adaptability as well as behavioral flexibility and resilience in the face of change. Data collected from human remains from several sites throughout the Four Corners region of the Greater Southwest provides information on the ways that violence and social inequality were used to maintain a regional complex between AD 850 to AD 1300. Human remains were used to provide empirical data on biological (age, sex, stature, and robusticity) and cultural (mortuary context, burial practice, and site layout) identity. Skeletal remains provided information on …

An Examination Of Chipped Stone From Two Middle Holocene Archaeological Sites In The East Central Great Plains, Christine A. Nycz

Department of Anthropology: Theses and Student Research

This study examines aspects of movement and mobility of hunter-gatherer groups in the east central Great Plains during the Middle Holocene, between 8500 cal and 5000 cal B.P. Few published reports detail archaeological assemblages or address features of prehistoric mobility in this subregion of the Great Plains. Current research on the Great Plains emphasizes bison procurement and low regional bison mobility. This thesis presents interpretations of hunter-gatherer mobility based on examination of chipped stone assemblages from two Middle Holocene archaeological deposits (the Hill and Simonsen sites) in western Iowa. The resulting analysis demonstrates restricted hunter-gatherer mobility within this subregion, with …

Re-Examining Late Chalcolithic Cultural Collapse In South-East Europe, Harvey Benjamin Smith

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Research into the Balkan Chalcolithic often overlooks the dramatic changes in society that occurred beginning in the late Fifth Millennium BCE. Most settlements were abandoned along with changes in mortuary customs, ceramic and decorative traditions, domestic rituals, crafts, housing styles, mining, and metallurgy. These changes happened at a time when these Chalcolithic societies seemed to be at their peak. Theories as to what caused these changes include migrations/invasions, anthropogenic environmental degradation, gradual internal changes through innovation and outside contacts, and climate change. This thesis attempts to synthesize, and critique material relating to this topic, and ultimately provide my own opinions …

"An Ample Provision For Our Posterity": Transportation, Ceramic Diversity, And Trade In Historic Arkansas, 1800-1930, Katherine Rose Cleek

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation I present a method to study transportation using ceramic diversity and access to transportation infrastructure. Ceramic tableware richness, or the number of types present, is analyzed over time as a proxy for access to local transportation infrastructure at seven sites in Arkansas, dating from approximately 1800 to 1930. Previous efforts to look at trade in historical archaeology including Adams (1976), Riordan and Adams (1985), and Adams, Bowers, and Mills (2001) have not thoroughly assessed transportation as a means of trade. This dissertation looks at the many ways of assessing diversity in archaeology, biology, business, and economics, as …

Cypriot Religion Of The Early Bronze Age: Insular And Transmitted Ideologies, Ca. 2500-2000 B.C.E., Donovan Adams

Anthropology

The Early Bronze Age of Cyprus is not a very well understood chronological period of the island for a variety of reasons. These include: the inaccessibility of the northern part of the island after the Turkish invasion, the lack of a written language, and the fragility of Cypriot artifacts. Many aspects of protohistoric Cypriot life have become more understood, such as: the economic structure, social organization, and interactions between Cyprus and Anatolia. Despite this improvement in some areas, religion is still largely not understood. With the arrival of new animals and symbols, there is clearly a shift in reverence. However, …

Molecular Actions Of The Vitamin D Receptor In Mammary And Skin Carcinogenesis, Samantha L. Chu

Anthropology

Vitamin D has been linked to breast cancer risk in animal and human studies, suggesting that the active metabolite 1,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D (1,25D) might protect breast cells from transformation. In human mammary epithelial (HME-hTERT) cells, which express vitamin D receptor (VDR), 1,25D exerts anti proliferative and pro-differentiating effects, but the molecular mechanisms that mediate these actions are unknown. In previous studies we used genomic profiling to classify 1,25D regulated networks in HME-hTERT cells that may contribute to the anti-cancer effects of vitamin D. Through this approach we detected a 60-fold increase in the cytokine CD14 in HME-hTERT cells treated with vitamin …

Implications Of Tanzanian Culture On Nutrition And Their Effects In People Living With Hiv/Aids, Jennifer Pollard

Anthropology

Many Africans living with HIV/AIDS also suffer from malnutrition. Together, HIV and malnutrition greatly compromise the immune system of an individual, with each condition increasing the effects of the other. This field study examines Maasai in the Arusha region of Tanzania where approximately 5.6% of the population is infected with HIV/AIDS and 45% of children exhibit stunted growth, indicating chronic malnutrition within the population. Cultural factors including gender inequality, knowledge levels, and traditions associated with Maasai (the predominant tribe in the Arusha region) were analyzed in their contributions to malnutrition and HIV. The study was conducted over three months in …

Agricultural Production And Stability Of Settlement Systems In Upper Mesopotamia During The Early Bronze Age (Third Millennium Bce), Tuna Kalayci

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates the relationship between rainfall variation and rain-fed agricultural production in Upper Mesopotamia with a specific focus on Early Bronze Age urban settlements. In return, the variation in production is used to explore stability of urban settlement systems. The organization of the flow of agricultural goods is the key to sustaining the total settlement system.

The vulnerability of a settlement system increases due to the increased demand for more output from agricultural lands. This demand is the key for the success of urbanization project. However, without estimating how many foodstuffs were available at the end of a production …

Life Change Narratives: When The Road Diverges, Bernadene J. Ryan

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Transformation events can be a change in a person's work, a change in philosophy, a sudden insight, or a break in a relationship. According to David Hufford and Marilyn Motz, narrating these experiences are ways in which people perform, construct, and communicate belief systems. The narrators within the context of this thesis experience their transformation through a career transformation. The narrators rediscover their initial passion and transform that desire into actions that results in a shift of career. Sometimes seen as inexplicable, nevertheless the narrators provide analysis and reflection on the influences that led to their change. Some of the …

Risk And Climate At High Elevation: A Z-Score Model Case Study For Prehistoric Human Occupation Of Wyoming's Wind River Range, Ashley K. Losey

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Holocene climate likely influenced prehistoric hunter-gatherer subsistence and mobility as changing climate patterns affected food resources. Of interest here is whether climate-driven resource variability influenced peoples in the central Rocky Mountains. This study employed the z-score model to predict how foragers coped with resource variability. The exercise enabled exploration of the relationship between climate, resources, and foraging strategies at High Rise Village (48FR5891), an alpine residential site in Wyoming's Wind River Range occupied between 2800-250 cal B.P. The test was applied to occupations dating to the Medieval Warm Period (1150-550 cal B.P.) and the Little Ice Age (550-100 cal B.P.). …

Late Prehistoric Technology, Quartzite Procurement, And Land Use In The Upper Gunnison Basin, Colorado: View From Site 5gn1.2, Jonathan Mitchell Peart

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This thesis presents the results from archaeological test excavations at site 5GN1.2. The focus of this research is to evaluate Stiger’s Late Prehistoric settlement-subsistence hypothesis. According to Stiger, post-3000 B.P. occupations of the Upper Gunnison Basin were limited to big-game hunting forays originating from base camps located outside of the basin. Test excavations at 5GN1.2 documented archaeological deposits reflecting aboriginal occupation during the Late Prehistoric between about 3000 and 1300 years ago. Archaeological features include four hearths associated with abundant small-mammal remains, burnt plant seeds, stone tools and stone tool manufacturing debris.

Archaeological evidence rules out site 5GN1.2 as a …

The Southeast In Context: An Assessment Of The Trauma Associated With Agriculture, Martin Welker

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Hunter-gatherer tradition prevailed as the dominant subsistence pattern for most of human history. Between 9,000 and 13,000 years ago peoples in the Levant, New World, and Asia began the domestication and cultivation of wild flora and fauna, creating a subsistence pattern that subsequently spread to neighboring regions (Abbo et al. 2010; Bellwood 2009; Purugganan & Fuller 2009; Richerson et al. 2001). The influence of this agricultural transition on human populations is manifested in various forms in the human skeleton, many of which have received intensive study: dental caries, degenerative joint disease, decreased stature, and increased birth rates (Bridges 1991; Larson …

Intensification, Storage, And The Use Of Alpine Habitats In The Central Great Basin: Prehistoric Subsistence Strategies In The Toquima And Toiyabe Ranges, Tod W. Hildebrandt

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Alpine villages are extremely rare in the Great Basin. To date, villages located at elevations above 10,000 ft. are only known to occur in the White Mountains and the Toquima Range. Demographic forcing has been used to explain the existence of these villages, but this proposition does not identify the selective pressures that led to the establishment of high-elevation villages in some ranges but not others. Comparison of artifact distributions and environmental structure in the Toquima Range, where a village exists, and the Toiyabe Range, where one does not, is consistent with the hypothesis that alpine villages were subsidized by …

Botanical Resource Use In The Bronze And Iron Age Of The Central Eurasian Mountain/Steppe Interface: Decision Making In Multiresource Pastoral Economies, Robert Nicholas Spengler

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

This dissertation examines botanical resources as components of Central Asian economies in the Bronze: ca. 2500 - 800 B.C.) and Iron Ages: ca. 800 B.C. - A.D. 500) using a paleoethnobotanical data set from four archaeological sites, Begash, Mukri, Tasbas, and Tuzusai. These sites are located in the Semirech'ye region of eastern Kazakhstan, and they occupy distinctive microenvironmental zones along the mountain and steppe boundaries; furthermore, they show a great deal of material cultural similarity and are placed into the same culture groups by researchers. The introduction of macrobotanical studies to Central Asian archaeology allows for a critique of former …

The Spatial And Temporal Ecology Of Seed Dispersal By Gorillas In Lopé National Park, Gabon: Linking Patterns Of Disperser Behavior And Recruitment In An Afrotropical Forest, Marc Steven Fourrier

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

Western lowland gorillas: Gorilla g. gorilla) consume large quantities of fruit and disperse a great number of seeds. The majority these seeds are dispersed intact and viable in the dung. Dung is often deposited around the rim of a night nest or at a nest-site. Gorillas often construct nests in areas that have a sparse canopy, flattening the ground vegetation. These locations can be beneficial to the growth and survival of the seed species they disperse. Thus, not only are gorillas effective in terms of depositing seeds great distances from parent plants, away from the highest seed rain densities, they …

Moving Targets: Meanings Of Mobility In Metropolitan Nairobi, Meghan Elizabeth Ference

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

This dissertation is an ethnographic and historical study of the urban transportation system in Nairobi, Kenya and the large youth workforce who operate it. Currently, the informal mini-bus taxi system made up of vehicles called matatus, carries nearly 80% of the urban population in Nairobi on a daily basis. It is, by far, the most popular form of transportation in the country and employs the largest number of young people, as well. This type of transportation is not unique to African countries as mini-bus: 14-32 passengers) and midi-bus: 32-48 passengers) taxis are common in Turkey, Jamaica, Philippines, Russia and Chile …

Artists In Residence - Boyd County (Fa 611), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 611. Project conducted in Boyd County, Kentucky to identify and utilize local folk artists in a county elementary school. Project coordinator Julia Morgan interviewed local folk artists and performers. Afterwards she made presentations in schools about the information she collected and invited some of the artists to perform and/or demonstrate.

Filling A House With Meaning: The Construction Of A Chicago Housing Cooperative, Laura Hones

Honors Projects

A housing cooperative is a non-profit form of housing tenure that has been a feature of American university campuses since the 1930s. Living in a co-op allows members the benefits of low rent, a close-knit social group, and democratic control of their living space. Unlike communes, however, members do not typically share income or unite around a particular ideology. This paper is the result of ethnographic research of one such house, Haymarket House of Qumbya Housing Cooperative in Hyde Park, Chicago. In 1988 the founders of Haymarket established its methods of structuring everyday life on principles of socialism, egalitarianism, and …

Anthropology In The Real World: Year Vii, William Torres B.A., Nicole Benigno B.A.

Petersheim Academic Exposition

No abstract provided.

Native American Projectile Points: What Stories Can They Tell Us?, Katelyn S. Scott

Honors Projects

Native American Projectile Points are ubiquitous throughout the United States and have been an important icon of indigenous peoples of North America and their past. This paper explores what projectile points can tell us about the people who made and used them, the history of collecting projectile points, and the challenges associated with projectile point research and collection management. The focus of this research is a collection of Native American projectile points in the Tate Archives and Special Collections in The Ames Library at Illinois Wesleyan University. In addition, the paper also describes the process used to catalog the collection, …