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Archaeological Anthropology

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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

The Influence Of Ecological Variables On Archaeological Site Density In The Owyhee Region, Southwest Idaho, Jennifer Cuthbertson Aug 2021

The Influence Of Ecological Variables On Archaeological Site Density In The Owyhee Region, Southwest Idaho, Jennifer Cuthbertson

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Vegetational resources are reported to have had multiple uses in indigenous groups who were present in the Great Basin area throughout the Archaic periods. Resource acquisition and position of resources is documented to have had impacts on settlement patterns, but the impact of the range of vegetational resources, specifically, is lacking thorough study in the northern Great Basin area. Due to fluctuating climates, modern development, and other factors both anthropogenic and otherwise, Archaic vegetation ranges may not be wholly visible in the same locations today; however, the environments surrounding sites may be determined by observing a variety of ecological variables, …


Re-Analysing Astronomical Alignments Of Potential E Group Structures To Demonstrate The Utility Of Archeoastronomy Research About The Ancient Maya, Elizabeth Karen Shikrallah Aug 2021

Re-Analysing Astronomical Alignments Of Potential E Group Structures To Demonstrate The Utility Of Archeoastronomy Research About The Ancient Maya, Elizabeth Karen Shikrallah

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

There has been much study of Maya astronomy and the relationship and/or manifestation of astronomy within architecture and other aspects of Maya material culture. Despite this, there is little agreement about the commonalities and variation in potential astronomical representation across sites and regions as it is difficult to compare sites to determine whether spatial patterning exists between similar building classifications. Also, it can be difficult to understand and pursue archeoastronomy research due to the jargon and methodology employed. This thesis provides an updated dataset that shows the utility of pursuing archeoastronomy research about the ancient Maya. Combining archaeological and archeoastronomical …


Quantifying Surplus And Sustainability In The Archaeological Record At The Carthaginian-Roman Urban Mound Of Zita, Tripolitania, Brett Kaufman, Hans Barnard, Ali Drine, Rayed Khedher, Alan Farahani, Sami Ben Tahar, Elyssa Jerray, Brian N. Damiata, Megan Daniels, Jessica Cerezo-Román, Thomas Fenn, Victoria Moses Jul 2021

Quantifying Surplus And Sustainability In The Archaeological Record At The Carthaginian-Roman Urban Mound Of Zita, Tripolitania, Brett Kaufman, Hans Barnard, Ali Drine, Rayed Khedher, Alan Farahani, Sami Ben Tahar, Elyssa Jerray, Brian N. Damiata, Megan Daniels, Jessica Cerezo-Román, Thomas Fenn, Victoria Moses

Anthropology Faculty Research

Cultural ecological theory is applied to a spatially and temporally bounded archaeological data set to document long-term paleoeco-logical processes and associated sociopolitical behaviors. Volumetric excavations, treating the material culture of an archaeological matrix similar to an ecological core, can yield quantifiable frequencies of surplus goods that provide a multiproxy empirical lens into incremental changes in land use practices, natural resource consumption, and, in this case, likely overexploitation. Archaeological methods are employed to quantify cultural ecological processes of natural resource exploitation, industrial intensification, sustainability and scarcity, and settlement collapse during the colonial transition between Carthaginian and Roman North Africa. The data …


Early Humans And Changing Landscapes In The Knysna Region Of The Southern Cape, Naomi Cleghorn, Sara Wurz Jul 2021

Early Humans And Changing Landscapes In The Knysna Region Of The Southern Cape, Naomi Cleghorn, Sara Wurz

Sociology & Anthropology Faculty Publications

Although little has been published on the deep-time archaeological record of Knysna area, recent research, early surveys, and local resident knowledge of sites and finds leave little doubt that people have made Knysna home for a very long time. From the hand-axe using human ancestors of more than 300 000 years ago (or more) Knysna has attracted people to the shores of its estuary, river, and coastline. A rich diversity of edible plants, animals, fresh water, and marine resources made it an ideal place for humans reliant on wild resources. Stone tools, the most enduring ‘visiting cards’ of the ancients, …


Deep Learning Reveals Extent Of Archaic Native American Shell-Ring Building Practices, Dylan Davis, Gino Capsari, Carl P. Lipo, Matthew Sanger Jul 2021

Deep Learning Reveals Extent Of Archaic Native American Shell-Ring Building Practices, Dylan Davis, Gino Capsari, Carl P. Lipo, Matthew Sanger

Anthropology Faculty Scholarship

In the mid-Holocene (5000 - 3000 cal B.P.), Native American groups constructed shell rings, a type of circular midden, in coastal areas of the American Southeast. These deposits provide important insights into Native American socioeconomic organization but are also quite rare: only about 50 such rings have been documented to date. Recent work using automated LiDAR analysis demonstrates that many more shell rings likely exist than are currently recorded in state archaeological databases. Here, we use deep learning, a form of machine intelligence, to detect shell ring deposits and identify their geographic range in LiDAR data from South Carolina. We …


3d Data Acquisition, Visualization, And Archiving Of Selected Lithics From The Caldwell Collection Of North African Stone Points, Michael J. Bennett Jun 2021

3d Data Acquisition, Visualization, And Archiving Of Selected Lithics From The Caldwell Collection Of North African Stone Points, Michael J. Bennett

UConn Library Presentations

Presentation made on June 30, 2021 to UConn Library staff as part of a library strategic framework implementation working group final report. The overall aim of the project was to lead an interdisciplinary, cross-campus working group made up of faculty from the Anthropology Department, and staff from the Connecticut State Museum of Natural History, Office of the State Archaeologist, and the UConn Library. More specifically, the project's goal was to run 10 - 20 stone artifacts from the State Museum's Caldwell Collection through a newly developed, highly refined 3D digitization workflow that would produce 3D assets for eventual online classroom …


Waking The Dead, Speaking To The Living: The Display Of Human Remains In Museums, Emily R. Stanton Jun 2021

Waking The Dead, Speaking To The Living: The Display Of Human Remains In Museums, Emily R. Stanton

Field Notes: A Journal of Collegiate Anthropology

Artifacts are immensely powerful aids in telling stories from the past, yet it is the dead persons of past eras who accrued a host of ethical and legal issues. This article discusses several perspectives on and problems with the practice of displaying human remains in museums and includes a number of case studies from select museums in the USA and Europe. As a precaution to the reader, this article also features a few images of human bodies on display in museums.


Casas Grandes Ceramics At The Milwaukee Public Museum, Samantha A. Bomkamp Jun 2021

Casas Grandes Ceramics At The Milwaukee Public Museum, Samantha A. Bomkamp

Field Notes: A Journal of Collegiate Anthropology

Museums across the world hold unprovenienced artifacts with valuable data left unresearched because of their lack of context. The Milwaukee Public Museum (MPM) holds one such collection of Casas Grandes vessels. The intent of this paper is to present an example of how a museum collection can be contextualized in order to be compared to others of its kind and contribute to the knowledge of a prehistoric culture. Using a coding scheme, this research will present data for: 1) type and time period for each of the Casas Grandes vessels and 2) iconography analysis on the polychromes. With Northwest Mexico …


Digging Through Space: Archaeology In The Star Wars Franchise, Karissa R. Annis Jun 2021

Digging Through Space: Archaeology In The Star Wars Franchise, Karissa R. Annis

Field Notes: A Journal of Collegiate Anthropology

Archaeology is a slippery topic when it comes to its public presentation in various media, especially in fictional representations in books, film, TV, and video games. Archaeologists have historically been at odds with some of these productions, and various articles have analyzed these representations before. This article analyzes archaeological representations within the genre of speculative fiction, which includes the subgenera of fantasy, science fiction, and horror. One particular case study, Star Wars, will be examined in depth to see how this representation could be perceived and what that means for archaeologists. There have been various references to archaeology within Star …


The Journey Of A Hopewell Site Artifact: Bear Canine With Inlaid Pearl At The Milwaukee Public Museum, Katrina Schmitz Jun 2021

The Journey Of A Hopewell Site Artifact: Bear Canine With Inlaid Pearl At The Milwaukee Public Museum, Katrina Schmitz

Field Notes: A Journal of Collegiate Anthropology

The archaeological excavations conducted by Warren K. Moorehead at the Hopewell site of Ross County, Ohio resulted in the removal of hundreds of thousands of ancient Native American objects. Crafted during the Middle Woodland Period, these objects began a new life in the late 19th century as archaeological artifacts divided into smaller museum collections that were shipped throughout the world. Guided by Arjun Appadurai and Igor Kopytoff’s biographical approaches to museum objects, this article will follow the experiences of one of the Hopewell site artifacts, a bear tooth with an inlaid pearl. Discussed in this article is the creation, original …


Front Matter, Table Of Contents, Contributors Jun 2021

Front Matter, Table Of Contents, Contributors

Field Notes: A Journal of Collegiate Anthropology

No abstract provided.


Head Strong: Gendered Analysis Of Human Representations In Western And Central Continental European Iron Age Iconography, Christopher R. Allen Jun 2021

Head Strong: Gendered Analysis Of Human Representations In Western And Central Continental European Iron Age Iconography, Christopher R. Allen

Field Notes: A Journal of Collegiate Anthropology

This preliminary study examines potential links between gender and sex representations in Iron Age Continental European iconography. Drawing from multiple examples such as the Glauberg statue, the statue of Bourey, and the Gundestrup Cauldron, this article reviews the different anthropomorphic images in Western European Iron Age contexts to create a method for understanding the role of gender and the human head in anthropomorphic representations. This article will form a foundation for future studies.


Mapping Complex Land Use Histories And Urban Renewal Using Ground Penetrating Radar: A Case Study From Fort Stanwix, Tyler Stumpf, Daniel P. Bigman, Dominic J. Day Jun 2021

Mapping Complex Land Use Histories And Urban Renewal Using Ground Penetrating Radar: A Case Study From Fort Stanwix, Tyler Stumpf, Daniel P. Bigman, Dominic J. Day

Anthropology Graduate Research

Fort Stanwix National Monument, located in Rome, NY, is a historic park with a complex use history dating back to the early Colonial period and through the urban expansion and recent economic revitalization of the City of Rome. The goal of this study was to conduct a GPR investigation over an area approximately 1 acre in size to identify buried historic features (particularly buildings) so park management can preserve these resources and develop appropriate educational programming and management plans. The GPR recorded reflection events consistent with our expectations of historic structures. Differences in size, shape, orientation, and depth suggest that …


Approximate Bayesian Computation Of Radiocarbon And Paleoenvironmental Record Shows Population Resilience On Rapa Nui (Easter Island), Robert J. Dinapoli, Enrico Crema, Timothy Reith, Carl P. Lipo, Terry L. Hunt Jun 2021

Approximate Bayesian Computation Of Radiocarbon And Paleoenvironmental Record Shows Population Resilience On Rapa Nui (Easter Island), Robert J. Dinapoli, Enrico Crema, Timothy Reith, Carl P. Lipo, Terry L. Hunt

Anthropology Faculty Scholarship

Examining how past human populations responded to environmental and climatic changes is a central focus of the historical sciences. The use of summed probability distributions (SPD) of radiocarbon dates as a proxy for estimating relative population sizes provides a widely applicable method in this research area. Paleodemographic reconstructions and modeling with SPDs, however, are stymied by a lack of accepted methods for model fitting, tools for assessing the demographic impact of environmental or climatic variables, and a means for formal multi-model comparison. These deficiencies severely limit our ability to reliably resolve crucial questions of past human-environment interactions. We propose a …


Ancient Pottery Making At Cerro San Isidro, Nepeña Valley, Peru, Kaitlyn M. Lowrance Jun 2021

Ancient Pottery Making At Cerro San Isidro, Nepeña Valley, Peru, Kaitlyn M. Lowrance

LSU Master's Theses

Located in the Nepeña Valley of north-central Peru, Cerro San Isidro was first documented in the 1930s when the valley was initially surveyed. While numerous sites along the valley, particularly those located in the lower valley, have been extensively researched since this initial survey, members of the Proyecto de Investigación Arqueológica Cerro San Isidro (PIACSI) conducted the first formal excavations in 2019. My thesis project analyzes the ceramic artifacts – in particular pottery fragments – from that field season in order to evaluate continuity and change in morphological and technical styles from the Early Horizon through the Late Intermediate Periods …


Dataset For Faunal Analyses Of Biry House Food Remains, Castroville, Tx, Kathryn Maupin Jun 2021

Dataset For Faunal Analyses Of Biry House Food Remains, Castroville, Tx, Kathryn Maupin

Anthropology Datasets

In 2013, Van Dyke excavated a historic residence located at 309th Paris Street in Castroville, Texas. Beginning in 1844, the house was occupied by the families that had immigrated from the Alsace region of France. Preliminary analyses of the faunal recovered from a lime slaking pit suggested that over the course of the home’s residence, family members incorporate wild taxa into their diet in addition to their traditional Alsatian foodstuffs. Expanded analyses of the faunal remains from additional features provide additional evidence that the diet of the residents slowly transitioned away from a strict Alsatian diet and eventually included …


A Collection Of Early Holocene Flaked-Stone Crescents From The Northern Great Basin, Matthew T. Boulanger, G. Logan Miller, Philip Fisher Jun 2021

A Collection Of Early Holocene Flaked-Stone Crescents From The Northern Great Basin, Matthew T. Boulanger, G. Logan Miller, Philip Fisher

Anthropology Research

Several flaked-stone crescents from the northern Great Basin were recently identified within the James M. Collins artifact collection held in the Archaeological Research Collections, Department of Anthropology, Southern Methodist University. These artifacts are morphologically and technologically consistent with other pre- Columbian crescents reported from the region. The two obsidian crescents in the collection exhibit compositions that are consistent with obsidian from the Whitehorse/Double H source, located immediately south of where the artifacts were reportedly obtained. Analysis of the crescents for use wear suggests that they were used in a manner consistent with transversely hafted projectiles. Data reported here add to …


Urbanization Of The Salt Plains: Early Industry And Material Culture Of The Kauffman Neighborhood, June Weber Jun 2021

Urbanization Of The Salt Plains: Early Industry And Material Culture Of The Kauffman Neighborhood, June Weber

Anthropology Department: Theses

The material history of Lincoln, Nebraska has previously been addressed through several theses and papers, however, the Kauffman collection up to this point has not been thoroughly analyzed and summarized as a whole. Through this thesis, the results of data from the features excavated will be compared with the analysis of artifact collections revealing the social dynamics of both the individual household and the neighborhood itself. Census data and Sanborn maps will be integrated in order to better visualize changes in household composition and size throughout time. Primarily by analyzing glass bottles and ceramic assemblages found within individual privies, cisterns, …


Monumentality, Fortification, And Movement: Preclassic Maya Developments As Seen At Muralla De León, Petén, Guatemala, Justin D. Bracken Jun 2021

Monumentality, Fortification, And Movement: Preclassic Maya Developments As Seen At Muralla De León, Petén, Guatemala, Justin D. Bracken

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Analysis of settlement patterning in relation to natural and constructed defensive elements expands understanding of the impact of warfare well beyond the relatively brief period of active battle. Advance preparation in advance of conflict, including reshaping the landscape for defensibility and conscription of labor toward that end, alters patterns of movement, social interaction, and physical settlement, effects that can extend for generations beyond the cessation of hostilities. This project investigates the role played by warfare in shaping the physical and social landscape of the Maya of the central Petén during the Late Preclassic period (400 B.C. – A.D. 150), as …


Revisiting Prehistoric Archeological Sites: Envisioning First Built Environments To Repossess Geographically Specific Approaches In Architecture, Alisa Mohammad Kheir Abdulghany, Marwan Halabi, Maged Youssef, Bahaa El Dine Abou El Khoudoud May 2021

Revisiting Prehistoric Archeological Sites: Envisioning First Built Environments To Repossess Geographically Specific Approaches In Architecture, Alisa Mohammad Kheir Abdulghany, Marwan Halabi, Maged Youssef, Bahaa El Dine Abou El Khoudoud

BAU Journal - Creative Sustainable Development

Since Prehistoric times, architecture had been a human response to an occurring natural setting. Starting from places of dwelling to buildings that no longer only serve physical requirements for survival. Architectural languages were approached initially as an expression of culture, evolution, and growth of a community within a natural setting. This response resulted in the creation of built environments, humanity’s decision to become sedentary. This decision took place in the Late Stone age, a key phase in our timeline. First built environments were born in a time known as the Neolithic revolution, which shown itself as humans transitioned from hunter-gatherer …


Colin Mcewan: The Complete Americanist From Scotland, Jose R. Oliver May 2021

Colin Mcewan: The Complete Americanist From Scotland, Jose R. Oliver

Andean Past Special Publications

This monograph is a biography of Colin McEwan (1951–2020). It reflects on his substantial contributions to the archaeology and anthropology of Latin America. It shows how he came to be the consummate scholar he was and how his life experiences and education shaped his persona and ultimately forged The Complete Americanist from Scotland that he became. His hunger for knowledge and understanding of the Americas, past and present, led McEwan to explore and conduct research in diverse Latin American localities, from the frigid landscape of Tierra del Fuego, to the humid tropical rainforests of Colombia, from the islands on the …


Creating A Virtual Ethnographic Field School In An Off-Line Community Of Practice, Patrick Plattet, Robin Shoaps May 2021

Creating A Virtual Ethnographic Field School In An Off-Line Community Of Practice, Patrick Plattet, Robin Shoaps

Journal of Archaeology and Education

This paper describes the creation of an asynchronous on-line ethnographic field school experience for lower division undergraduate students. Our Virtual Field School course offers a field school experience that accommodates the unique make-up of the University of Alaska Fairbanks (where fifty-five percent of undergraduates are “nontraditional” students). Typical ethnographic field schools demand that students can spend four to six weeks in an international fieldsite. Alaska’s geographic remoteness makes travel abroad prohibitively expensive for many students. Pedagogical and technological concerns are outlined, including the utilization of the SELIN distance delivery platform, coupled with Blackboard Learn. SELIN was created by anthropologists at …


Remote Research As Authentic Learning Online, David Pacifico May 2021

Remote Research As Authentic Learning Online, David Pacifico

Journal of Archaeology and Education

This article reports on a pilot effort to use ArcGIS Online to create a decentralized archaeological mapping lab for digitizing and analyzing archaeological materials visible in satellite imagery. This effort meets student and project needs through an authentic learning opportunity. This effort promises to help us document and study archaeological sites that are likely to be erased before adequate study can be completed on the ground. The Casma Hinterland Archaeological Project (CHAP) reported on here has been successful in both advancing archaeological research in the Sechín Branch of the Casma River Valley, Peru, and in supporting students in skill building, …


Anth101.Com: A Free And Open Course That Works With Or Without A Classroom, Michael Wesch May 2021

Anth101.Com: A Free And Open Course That Works With Or Without A Classroom, Michael Wesch

Journal of Archaeology and Education

Anthropology is not just a discipline or a body of knowledge. It also contains a different “ethos” for seeing and being in the world. It is often this “ethos” that is what anthropology teachers are actually trying to “teach.” Anth101.com is a free and open textbook, and a hub for anthropology teaching resources, which are dedicated to this kind of transformative learning. The course and text are broken up into 10 lessons that connect to 10 challenge assignments that allow students to practice and embody the core ethos of anthropology.


Adult Education At The Oriental Institute In The Twenty-First Century, Foy Scalf May 2021

Adult Education At The Oriental Institute In The Twenty-First Century, Foy Scalf

Journal of Archaeology and Education

For over fifty years, the Oriental Institute Adult Education program has taught outside of the traditional academic framework as exemplified by the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at the University of Chicago. The classes of this program were converted to hybrid availability in 2015. The primary motivation for these expansions was to increase access to, and expand the audience for, the offerings within the program. In doing so, we have found a very motivated audience of global learners hungry for serious engagement with historical, linguistic, and anthropological issues. Although our experience has been punctuated largely by success, several …


Online Learning For Offline Living, Ryan T. Klataske May 2021

Online Learning For Offline Living, Ryan T. Klataske

Journal of Archaeology and Education

Teaching anthropology online presents a unique opportunity to invite students to explore the world along with us, from wherever they might be. This journey can introduce students to the range of human potential and possibility, while also allowing them to better understand themselves, where they come from, their everyday lives, and the world around them. This article argues that online learning can transform offline living, especially when it engages everyone in their efforts to bring about change in their lives. It presents online teaching as a powerful act of engaged anthropology and an urgently needed experiment to develop online learning …


Mind The Gap, But Don't Fret The Platform, Jane Eva Baxter May 2021

Mind The Gap, But Don't Fret The Platform, Jane Eva Baxter

Journal of Archaeology and Education

This brief essay makes the case for effective online teaching and learning in anthropology. It addresses areas of traditional faculty resistance to online teaching and suggests that inline teaching has unique strengths and possibilities that can be used to encourage excellence in teachers and students in online anthropology courses.


Tensions And Opportunities Of Anthropology And The Academy Online, Rebecca Robertson May 2021

Tensions And Opportunities Of Anthropology And The Academy Online, Rebecca Robertson

Journal of Archaeology and Education

In March of 2020, the COVID-19 crisis precipitated an abrupt and unplanned shift to online instruction that is unlikely to completely reverse once the pandemic retreats. Thus, the academy and, by extension anthropology, stand at a COVID-19 accelerated crossroads between a corporeal tradition, a “virtual” present, and an unknown but transformed future. This article briefly explores existing tensions of anthropology and the academy online with the aim of informing a reflexive, equity-minded, and viable way forward. I draw from personal experience, empirical inquiry, and extant literature to examine the challenges and opportunities of online education, with a view to the …


Meeting Students (And Subjects) Where They Are: Perspectives In Teaching, Learning, And Doing Archaeology And Anthropology Online, David Pacifico, Rebecca Robertson May 2021

Meeting Students (And Subjects) Where They Are: Perspectives In Teaching, Learning, And Doing Archaeology And Anthropology Online, David Pacifico, Rebecca Robertson

Journal of Archaeology and Education

This article introduces a special issue of Archaeology and Education that explores teaching and learning anthropology online. We argue that effective online teaching requires course design that supports participant interactivity, instructor presence, and student-centered opportunities for 'doing, not viewing.' Online modes of teaching, learning, and doing anthropology and archaeology address issues of educational equity and access in addition to providing opportunities for authentic learning that are not available through face-to-face instruction.


The Stamp Of The Swift Creek Culture: An Analysis Of Middle Woodland Pottery At The Traversent Site In Georgia, Juliana Damico May 2021

The Stamp Of The Swift Creek Culture: An Analysis Of Middle Woodland Pottery At The Traversent Site In Georgia, Juliana Damico

Symposium of Student Scholars

The Woodland period (1000 BC – AD 1000) in the Southeastern US is characterized by sedentary horticulturalists living in villages located along major rivers. The Middle Woodland subperiod (300 BC – AD 600) is further defined by the appearance of distinctively decorated pottery. Specifically, Swift Creek pottery (ca. AD 100- 600/850) is known for its elaborate curvilinear designs that were stamped onto pre-fired vessels using carved wooden paddles. The pottery is said to be unique in that no two designs were exactly the same. It has been argued that this pottery was traded exclusively among elites at larger Swift Creek …