Anthropology Theses and Dissertations

Permanent URI for this collection

http://hdl.handle.net/1903/2742

Browse

Now showing 1 - 20 of 67

The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act and Faunal Repatriation
(2024) Touchin, Jewel Miriam; Palus, Matthew M; Anthropology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) was enacted in 1990 for the repatriation and disposition of certain Native American human remains, funerary objects, sacred objects, and objects of cultural patrimony. Although it has been 34 years since the law was enacted, tribal nations have experienced hurdles associated with repatriating faunal remains from institutions. This thesis uses data from the Federal Register, published sources documenting oral histories, and the National NAGPRA website to address two research questions. In addition, a survey questionnaire provided additional information from bioarchaeologists and faunal analysts, and tribal cultural resources professionals regarding their general thoughts on NAGPRA. These sources of information were analyzed to address two questions:• How have dog remains been repatriated through NAGPRA? • Are there any trends in the data that show progression and integration of tribal voices or tribal input regarding faunal repatriation during the NAGPRA process? This is an important issue for tribal communities who have different ways of defining faunal remains based on their concepts of personhood and based on their oral traditions. This thesis focuses on dog remains and attempts to demonstrate how dog remains have been repatriated in the past and to identify any trends that show tribal input during the repatriation process.
ARCHAEOBOTANICAL LEGACIES: CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE THROUGH AN INVESTIGATION OF MACROBOTANICALS, MICRORESIDUES, AND ETHNOBOTANICAL DATA AT 12OR0001, HOOSIER NATIONAL FOREST, INDIANA
(2024) Woodruff, Emma; Palus, Matthew; Anthropology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
Unequal archaeobotanical preservation has wide-reaching impacts on archaeologists’ views on what is culturally significant. By looking at the intersections and differences between ethnobotanical, macrobotanical, and microresidue data I examine the information streams that are available to archaeologists tasked with determining regulatory “ cultural significance” with regards to plants. This thesis documents the only microresidue research conducted as of this writing for 12Or0001, a site located on Hoosier National Forest in southern Indiana. Preliminary research is vital to beginning any consultation or collaboration process so that informed consent regarding laboratory methods and materials identification can be obtained. The viability of future microresidue studies, and their place in Cultural and Heritage Resource Management, are examined within the framework of existing United States legislation. Future research in ancient starches should include consultation and may aid the recovery of knowledge about traditionally utilized plants that has been lost to Indigenous Peoples over time.
GIVE THE PEOPLE A PLACE TO DRINK: AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION OF EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY TAVERN ASSEMBLAGES IN THE CHESAPEAKE BAY, SITE 44FX3194
(2024) Blanchard, Brittany Nicole; Palus, Matthew; Anthropology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
The Old Colchester Park and Preserve (OCPP) in southern Fairfax County, Virginia, harbors a rich historical landscape shaped by the development of port towns along tributaries leading into Chesapeake Bay. This thesis delves into archaeological evidence at Site 44FX3194, remains of a stone foundation associated with a building that may have functioned as a tavern during the later eighteenth century into the early nineteenth century. The thesis compares the site assemblage with the pattern associated with other eighteenth-century tavern sites emerging in the region. Focusing on the early development of Fairfax County, specifically around Colchester (established in 1753), this thesis examines historic records detailing tavern experiences as a part of town life. This study employs cultural material analysis to understand if patterns are comparable to social and behavioral patterns identified in known tavern assemblages. Conducted within the Fairfax County Park Authority framework, this investigation contributes to park master planning, shedding light on early port town emergence in the Chesapeake Bay region.
California Mission Bell Markers: A Study of Heritage and Culture
(2024) Dover, Amanda Lee; Palus, Matthew; Anthropology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
Abstract Mission bell markers line the El Camino Real Highway, which is referred to as the 101 Freeway in contemporary times. Mission bell markers can also be found in public spaces throughout California. These mission bell markers were installed beginning in the early 20th century. To many, these mission bell markers hold a variety of symbolic representations. For some people, these mission bell markers are a symbol of their culture and heritage, while many others view these bells as an oppressive instrument of colonialism. Most of the California missions put forth a narrative of benevolence and a skewed view of history. This narrative glorifies and celebrates Spanish occupation and colonization while distorting California Indian culture and identity. The significance of this work brings awareness to the myth of the mission. The myth of the mission is one of a complex romanticized history that capitalizes on tourism and perpetuates the dominance and erasure of California Indigenous peoples. This thesis was also written to bring awareness to the California 4th grade mission curriculum that is put forth by the state of California in most public schools. This curriculum teaches a fabricated narrative of Spanish and California Indian relations. This curriculum, like the California mission’s narrative, perpetuates the myth of California Indian extinction. The 4th grade mission curriculum needs to be thoughtfully and respectfully revised. To explore the symbolism that mission bell markers hold to different individuals two surveys, an anonymous survey and a three-question survey were conducted. The results of these two surveys shed light on how certain groups of people and different individuals feel about mission bell markers that are found throughout the California landscape. Heritage is complicated and complex. There are different conceptions of mission bell markers that exist within different descendant communities and the public. These symbols hold different meanings to different people. How can highly charged perspectives of the California mission bell markers held among Indigenous and Californio descendant groups be reconciled in public heritage?
Revisiting Chert Preferences and Lithic Supply Zones of Early Archaic Northwestern Ohio: A Least Cost Path Analysis
(2024) Bell, Meagan; Palus, Matthew; Anthropology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
Newly documented lithic data resulting from reconnaissance-level cultural resource management surveys recently conducted in Erie and Huron Counties, Ohio raised questions regarding northwestern Ohio’s existing model of Early Archaic chert preferences and lithic supply zones. An initial examination of the artifact assemblages revealed a scarcity of non-local Upper Mercer chert which opposed the current premise on Early Archaic chert utilization and population movements in Ohio. This study attempts to understand the implications of the scarcity of Upper Mercer chert in these northwestern Ohio Early Archaic artifact assemblages by synthesizing regional data and conducting Least Cost Path analyses with Geographic Information System software.
MINDING YOUR FEET: AN EXAMINATION OF CEMETERY RECORDATION AND ANALYSIS THROUGH GEOSPATIAL DOCUMENTATION IN FAIRFAX COUNTY, VIRGINIA
(2024) Boyle, Colleen; Palus, Matthew; Anthropology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
Cemeteries are a wealth of information and are a vital cultural resource for the communities in which they reside. These spaces reflect the cultural and community practices, the evolution of public space, economic conditions, and religious traditions of those interred. This thesis seeks to answer the research question: can cemetery landscapes be understood using a phenomenological approach to interpreting cultural patterns and trends in a digital landscape? Understanding cemetery landscapes is vital to the understanding and preservation of the cultural landscapes of these communities, so clear and accurate documentation of these sites is possible and necessary when using modern geospatial technology. This thesis examines the results of the Fairfax County Park Authority’s Archaeology and Collections Branch cemetery survey using geospatial mapping methodologies to record cemetery boundaries and inventory grave and grave marker locations. Through the examination of each of the three cemeteries highlighted throughout this thesis, it was determined that a hybrid approach to cemetery analysis utilizing the theoretical framework of phenomenology in conjunction with the broader perspective offered through digital data and mapping allows for a greater understanding of a space and its use over time.
Reading Between the Lines: Evaluating GPR Transect Spacing Intervals Employed to Identify Historic Archaeological Features at the William Harris Homestead Site, 9WN168, Walton County, Georgia
(2024) Balinger, Duncan Neill; Palus, Matthew M.; Anthropology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
This thesis examines the variable distance between transect/line spacing when using ground-penetrating radar (GPR) as a method for the identification of historic subsurface features associated with enslaved African American features at the William Harris Homestead site, 9WN168, in Walton County, Georgia. The fieldwork for this thesis sought to identify and interpret nineteenth-century subsurface features associated with the enslaved African American individuals who lived on the homestead utilizing 0.25 meter (m) transect spacing with a single channel 400 MHz antenna. This thesis sought to evaluate whether the collection of transects at 0.25 m intervals compared to wider spacing such at 0.5 m or 1 m intervals not only allows for greater resolution in the data but also whether tighter intervals locate subsurface features not identified at wider intervals. How does GPR interval spacing affect the quality and accuracy of the reflection data collected at an archaeological site using a single channel 400 MHz antenna under similar soil conditions, and does smaller interval transect line spacing support better interpretation of GPR results? The importance of line spacing intervals used for identifying subsurface features at archaeological sites has been emphasized in the literature (Conyers 2012:28; Goodman and Piro 2013:74), however, there have been very few evaluations of the difference of clarity or accuracy that closer interval line spacing provides when compared to wider intervals (Pomfret 2006). The reflection data examined by this thesis were gathered at the William Harris Homestead, a nineteenth-century farmstead in Walton County, Georgia. The GPR investigations sought to identify the burials of the enslaved African American people who worked at the homestead and any features associated with their living quarters. The methods for gathering the GPR reflection data involved testing gridded areas at 0.25 m interval transect spacing. The data were then processed at 0.25 m, 0.5 m, and 1 m intervals to compare resolution and the features identified by the three data sets. The results indicate that while the resolution of the imagery created from the 0.25 m interval spacing is superior to the imagery created at 0.5 m or 1 m intervals, there were no additional potential features identified. Overall, this appears to be correlated to the size of the subsurface features identified, since almost all were found at the widest interval. However, the potential size of some smaller burials and their orientation; along with the size of potential structural features targeted at the site could be determining factors for the utility of 0.25 m interval transect spacing. When evaluating the usefulness of a closer interval GPR transect strategy for single channel 400MHz frequency antennas in cultural resource management, it should be utilized for projects where there are fewer time and budget constraints along with prime environmental conditions.
THE EMBODIED EMOTIONAL EXPERIENCES OF BLACK MEN PARTICIPATING IN A HOSPITAL-BASED VIOLENCE INTERVENTION PROGRAM
(2024) Wical, William Grant; Richardson, Joseph; Anthropology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
Gun violence is a public health and racial justice issue which requires significant societal change to effectively decrease its impact on the lives of Black men and their communities. While hospital-based violence intervention programs have been identified as a promising mode of prevention, they have largely overlooked the ways Black men who survive gunshot wounds feel, determine what constitutes effective violence prevention, and subjectively experience trauma. This dissertation explores how those who received psychosocial support from an intervention program interpret their emotional experiences related to trauma, healing, and loss to make claims about society, themselves, and justice. Their affective experiences contrast significantly with dominant discourses of violence, race, and emotionality. Attention to these emotional experiences can provide a foundation for a fundamentally different ethics of caring. This redefinition of what it means to provide care challenges the current usage of trauma as the primary analytic to evaluate Black men’s experiences related to violence and underscores the need to shift prevention efforts away from individualistic models toward those geared at creating structural change.
The Archaeology of Enslaved Children in Antebellum America
(2024) Lee, Samantha Jane; Leone, Mark P; Anthropology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
This dissertation is the first archaeological study that centers on the lives and experiences of enslaved children in the nineteenth century United States. I utilize a combination of archival research, oral histories and nineteenth-century slave narratives, as well as an archaeological artifact analysis component to provide innovative and necessary ways to understand how children experienced enslavement and how they may be represented archaeologically. This dissertation addresses the ways in which faunal and plant remains may be representative of the hunting, fishing, and foraging activities of enslaved children. A comprehensive summary of the work and labor that enslaved children were responsible for at early ages highlights the abundance of possibilities for artifact interpretations. Additionally, a critical analysis of archival documents and slave narratives demonstrates that not only were enslaved children considered a staple of the domestic slave trade, they were raised in virtually the same way and according to the same methods across the American Lower South, suggesting a childrearing protocol widely shared both publicly and privately between enslavers.
An Oral History and Archeological Study of Nineteenth-Century Dugouts and Sod Homes in Frontier County, Nebraska
(2023) Cottrell, Connor; Palus, Mathew; Anthropology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
Frontier County, Nebraska, founded in 1872, was one of Nebraska’s furthest westward territories at the time. It was founded in response to an influx of European settlers during westward expansion largely inspired by the Homestead Act of 1862. Some of the most prominent archeological sites attributed to this time period in Nebraska are those of dugouts and sod homes. Many of western Nebraska’s counties, such as Custer and Lincoln County, have a distinct array of oral history collections and archeological surveys of dugouts and sod homes published and readily available to the public. Frontier County shares the same rich history of Euro-American westward expansion and homesteading, but lacks a similar wealth of oral histories and archeological surveys. How do oral histories, as intangible heritage, articulate with tangible cultural landscapes and historic sites? How can oral history support the identification of unrecorded archeological sites representing historic sod and dugout structures? How can oral history help interpret sod structure sites? This research identifies a Frontier County family with homesteading roots, presents three oral history accounts of the family’s life in a dugout and sod home, uses archeological methods to identify a potentially unrecorded dugout structure, and presents an example of how oral history has articulated across Frontier County, Nebraska in the last 150 years.
A SYNTHESIS OF PROJECTILE POINT CHARACTERISTICS AND DISTRIBUTION ACROSS THE LANDSCAPE IN THE LOWER TOMBIGBEE RIVER BASIN, ALABAMA
(2023) Gergely, Kenneth Eugene; Palus, Matthew; Anthropology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
This thesis examined projectile point characteristics from selected archaeological sites in the Lower Tombigbee River Basin in Choctaw and Washington counties, Alabama. The distribution of temporally diagnostic projectile points was examined to address landscape use during the Paleoindian through Late Woodland periods. The projectile point analysis focused on size and shape characteristics, lithic raw material type, thermal alteration, and evidence of damage, resharpening, and reuse. This data was compared to the morphometric attributes of projectile point types established in relevant peer-reviewed sources (. The spatial analysis considered the environmental setting of each site, including the specific creek drainage watershed and other hydrological data, topography, lithic resource availability, and other characteristics associated with site selection. The resulting data was applied to current models on Native American settlement and land use and to theories on technological organization and lithic tool manufacture, to assess the relationship between projectile point variability, site distribution, and settlement patterns in the Lower Tombigbee River Basin. This research adds to the archaeological record and fills gaps in understanding the early Native American presence in southwestern Alabama and the Lower Tombigbee River Basin.
Creating Effective and Sustainable Public Archaeology: An Analytical Roadmap
(2023) Henderson, Breanna; Palus, Matthew; Anthropology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
Archaeology is the study, and by extension, the story of cultures, and everyone deserves access to their stories and those of their ancestors. The better one understands archaeology, culture, and history, the better one understands themselves and those around them. Thus, this thesis seeks to identify what approaches are needed to create sustainable, effective, and engaging public archaeology programs. Due to the extreme importance of further efforts of inclusion, collaboration, and diversity within archaeology, which will be explained and explored within the following chapters, this analysis will quantify the myriad of ways in which public archaeology can be achieved and showcase that it is possible to provide impactful programs for a variety of communities and audiences, no matter how lavish or frugal one’s budget may be.Over the course of this thesis, six public archaeology programs will be examined through twelve metrics. The programs featured are The Estate Little Princess Archaeology Project, Archaeology in the Community, Nome Archaeology Camp, The Sugarland Ethno-History Project, the Texas Archeological Stewardship Network, and Project Archaeology. All six programs involve some level of collaboration with other archaeological and/or educational entities. The metrics were designed after careful consideration of the current public archaeology models proposed by Colwell (2016) and Atalay (2012). Colwell’s Collaborative Continuum and Atalay’s Community-Based Participatory Research models are more inclusive and diverse in their scope than Grima’s Multi-Perspective Model. All three models will be discussed in this thesis. Lastly, the metrics used are not meant to be rigid or to be used for “grading” each program on any sort of scale, but rather to highlight the methods required to create and sustain effective public archaeology. Each public archaeology program should be individualized to fit its specific audience, leaving participants with a greater respect or connection to the past, depending on where they fit within a given narrative. It is hoped that this thesis will inspire more to get involved in public archaeology and help to showcase that it can be achieved at any level.
WORLD WAR II MINIDOKA INCARCERATION CAMP GARDENS: EVIDENCE OF LOYALTY TO THE UNITED STATES OR REBELLING AGAINST THEIR INCARCERATION
(2023) Nelson, Isla Stevenson; Palus, Matthew; Anthropology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
Following the fatal attack on Pearl Harbor in February 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066. Executive Order 9066 authorized the War Department to “prescribe military areas in such places and of such extent as he or the appropriate Military Commander may determine, from which any or all persons [of Japanese ancestry] may be excluded” (Roosevelt 1942). Over 110,000 Japanese immigrants, Issei, and second-generation Japanese Americans, Nisei, were removed from their homes and incarcerated at isolated relocation centers located in Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming (Burton 2005; Burton et al. 1999; Burton and Farrell 2001). One of these locations was the Minidoka Relocation Center, located in south central Idaho in Jerome County and is the focus of my thesis. The two types of gardens that I researched were Japanese-style ornamental gardens and the Western-style victory gardens planted and maintained by the incarcerees. Using archaeological evidence, historic photographs, oral histories, the diary from Arthur Kleinkopf (the education superintendent at Minidoka) and comparing typical Japanese-Style and Western-Style garden designs, I will discuss what the data reveals about the garden design at the Minidoka Incarceration Camp. Despite their unjust incarceration and the policy of forced Americanization within the Minidoka Incarceration Camp, were the incarcerees compliant or were they politically resisting this incarceration through their gardens?
A Landscape Illuminated: An Archaeological Investigation into the Built Landscape of Split Rock Lighthouse
(2023) Tooker, Scott; Palus, Matthew; Anthropology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
Placed into operation in 1910, Split Rock Lighthouse originally sat atop a rocky landscape devoid of any lawn. Over the years, the men who worked at the lighthouse undertook the massive endeavor of building a level and functional landscape that is seen today. These landscape building efforts are documented in historic logbooks and diaries and the changes are clearly visible through historic photography. This thesis is an investigation into how the landscape was built, when it was built, and where the building took place. Utilizing historic documentation, archaeological fieldwork, and GIS technology, I demonstrate when the building occurred, the seasonal nature of landscape building at the lighthouse, where most fill materials were added, and begin exploring where the soils may have come from. This investigation treats the landscape as an archaeological artifact to paint a richer picture of the lives of the historic lighthouse keepers of Split Rock Lighthouse.
Future-making in the City of Gastronomy: Food Heritage and the Narrative Commons
(2023) Platts, Ellen Jane; Lafrenz Samuels, Kathryn; Anthropology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
In December 2015, Tucson, Arizona was designated a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy. It joined the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Creative Cities Network, a program that helps cities use cultural heritage for economic development. This dissertation undertakes an ethnography of Tucson as a City of Gastronomy, examining how this designation has inflamed tensions around the kinds of stories that are told about Tucson, to whom, and to what end. Drawing on extended fieldwork in Tucson, ethnographic methods of interviewing and participant-observation, and archival research, this dissertation explores the dissonance that emerges when stories of the past, present, and future are tapped for use by new actors to new ends. Welding together theoretical approaches based in commons scholarship and Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of capital, this study presents the concept of the food heritage narrative commons, a socio-political space within which overarching narratives built upon food heritage objects, practices, and stories are contested, reconciled, subordinated, or come into co-existence. I argue that caring for the narrative commons is important for encouraging polyvocality, challenging received thought, imagining different ways of being, and maintaining space for productive dialogue. This dissertation examines an enclosure of the narrative commons in the wake of and facilitated by the UNESCO designation. I argue that the UNESCO designation introduced a specific form of symbolic capital as elaborated by Bourdieu that I call gastronomic capital, the value of being associated with the designation. This gastronomic capital empowered ‘Tucson’s Food Story,’ one particular narrative associated with the designation, to drown out others, enclosing the narrative commons, and facilitating economic gain for those able to wield gastronomic capital. Pushback against this process from communities (re)producing alternative narratives, however, points towards models for better governance of the narrative commons, structured by what I call an ethic of careful difference. In examining the interactions between ideas of heritage, narratives, and commons, this dissertation demonstrates the role that fostering a diversity of narratives, each building upon the past, plays in engaging multiple, diverse experiences and ways of being in the world in productive tension towards building different, transformative futures.
CHRONIC SUFFERING: CHRONIC ILLNESS, DISABILITY, AND VIOLENCE AMONG MEXICAN MIGRANT WOMEN
(2022) Guevara, Emilia Mercedes; Getrich, Christina M; Anthropology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
This dissertation seeks to better understand how Mexican migrant women who work in the Maryland crab industry make sense of chronic illnesses such as diabetes, asthma, and musculoskeletal pain while at the same time living spatially and temporally complicated lives as circular temporary migrant laborers. I explore how immigration and labor policies and practices, constrained and conditional access to resources and care, and exposure to multiple forms of violence structure their chronic illness experiences and entanglements of biological and social processes that intersect. Together, these embodied biological and social processes coalesce into what I describe as problemas crónica-gendered “chronic problems” – and other disruptions that migrant women endure across time and transnational space. I describe how problemas crónicas manifest themselves throughout the lives and migratory careers of Mexican migrant women and how they grapple with obstacles as they seek care, renegotiate their identities, and re/build their lives.
INVESTIGATION OF SUBSURFACE FEATURES AT 15TM35: THE BIBB ESCAPES/GATEWOOD PLANTATION
(2023) VonStrohe, Doug; Palus, Matthew; Anthropology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
The Bibb Escapes/Gatewood Plantation (15TM35) is located on private property in Bedford, Trimble County, in the Outer Bluegrass Region of Kentucky. Recently, the site has been added to the National Park Service’s National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom program due to the historical association with an escaped enslaved man, Henry Bibb. Henry, his wife Malinda, and their daughter were owned by William Gatewood. After multiple failed attempts of fleeing slavery, the Bibb family was sold down the Ohio River and were separated. Henry eventually escaped to Canada and became a prominent figure in the African-American community and abolitionist circuit. Bibb wrote his autobiography detailing his successful and failed attempts of escaping slavery and made mentions of his time on the Gatewood Plantation. Other archival data shows there were approximately one dozen enslaved persons on the Gatewood Plantation throughout the antebellum time period, but not much else is known about them.The Oldham County History Center has sponsored public archaeological excavations at the site since 2005, including public excavations and a summer field school for high school students. Early excavations uncovered a stone chimney and presumably a summer kitchen with a possible pit cellar. Recent public excavations documented an area of interest that includes a separate activity area indicating a structure with three subsurface features. For this thesis I hypothesize the area of interest to be the location of the quarters for the enslaved people on the Gatewood Plantation. Other queries include: what is the form and function of this building and how do the features function within the whole Gatewood Plantation? Do the cultural materials represent the antebellum time period? Can the cultural materials demonstrate the change in occupancy or indicate specific behaviors of the occupants of the structure? Excavation of the features and analysis of the cultural materials was conducted to answer the research questions. The results of the fieldwork and analysis supported by historical documentation of the Gatewood Plantation and compared to other similar, local, and regional sites strongly indicate a positive response to the hypothesis. This investigation provides important information regarding past components of slave quarters within farmsteads of the Upland South. The archaeological work at 15TM35 also adds insight to the historic context of the region and to the history of Henry Bibb and the enslaved community he was part of.
RECENT TIMBERING ACTIVITY AS A VARIABLE IN PREDICTIVE MODELING
(2023) Plent, Samuel Gerard; Palus, Matthew M; Anthropology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
This thesis explores how the presence of recent timbering activities affects the predictive power of predictive models in regard to precontact archaeological sites. Predictive models have been used to assess the likelihood of identifying cultural resources in a given area for decades. A county-wide predictive model has not been created for any county in the state of Georgia. This research applies what is known about predictive modeling to Henry County, Georgia and assesses its accuracy. It then seeks to test predictive power of another environmental variable in order to further refine the process of predicting the location of precontact archaeological sites. The thesis focuses its efforts in Henry County, Georgia, which has multiple instances of pine silviculture areas that have been surveyed for cultural resources after being harvested. Timber has been an important natural resource in Georgia since the nineteenth century. The management of forests for the timber industry began in 1875 with the establishment of the American Forestry Association. The timbering and replanting of these areas can occur as often as every 15 to 30 years. This process can disturb soils and buried resources. Elevation, soil, and hydrology data was collected from multiple public sources including the United State Geological Survey (USGS) and the United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service (USDA, NRCS). Archaeological site and previous survey data was taken from the Georgia Natural Archaeological and Historic Resources Geographic Information Systems (GNAHRGIS). The environmental data was combined to create a set of predictive models for predicting the likelihood of an area to contain a precontact archaeological site using Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Each predictive model was tested for accuracy using previously collected archaeological data. The predictive model found to be most accurate was analyzed within multiple areas containing recent timbering activities that have been previously surveyed for cultural resources. It appears that the presence of recent timbering activities does not negatively affect the predictive power of a predictive model regarding precontact archaeological sites. This is demonstrated by showing that a predicative model for the entirety of Henry County, Georgia does not lose accuracy when applied to multiple areas that have been timbered prior to survey for cultural material. Predictive models can be powerful tools in the Cultural Resource Manager’s toolkit. However, many may be reticent to apply these tools to areas that have seen large-scale industrial ground disturbing activities. This thesis has demonstrated that predictive models can still be useful tools in areas recently affected by large-scale timbering activities. While systematic survey is still necessary, this can be helpful in matters of scoping, budgeting, and planning
The Effect of Landscape Evolution on the Visibility of the Archaeological Record: A Case Study from Deeply Buried Site CA-SLO-16, Morro Bay, California
(2023) Bales, Emily Marie; Palus, Matthew; Anthropology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
Morro Bay, California is a biotically-diverse region with a rich cultural history. In the archaeological community, there is an ongoing debate over the probable cause for an occupational hiatus in the region during the Middle Period (2600-1000 BP). This case study addresses this disparity and presents the results of a single component, deeply buried, Middle Period archaeological site. This thesis highlights how landform age, landscape evolution, and geoarchaeological methodology can affect the probability of identifying deeply buried archaeological sites. Interdisciplinary data (e.g., seismology, geology, geography, paleoseismology) have proven useful in making a significant contribution in the understanding of a previously unknown period of occupation in Morro Bay.
THE VIRGINIA PEASANTRY: A STUDY OF FARMS IN STAFFORD AND CAROLINE COUNTIES, THE EIGHTEENTH THROUGH THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
(2023) Roberts, Catherine; Leone, Mark; Anthropology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
This dissertation reports the results of a study on family farms that existed in Stafford and Caroline counties, Virginia, between the eighteenth and twentieth centuries. A framework based on the characteristics of the Latin American peasantry, as outlined by Eric Wolf (Wolf 1955, 1966), was applied to the data for this study. This research aims to expound on the current literature on farmstead archaeology and the understanding of a community with little formal history. While many local historians recognized the need to compile and publish their counties’ histories, few outside researchers were interested in writing about either county.

Browse

Recent Submissions