Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'A prehistoric state'

This project was a reanalysis of the prehistoric ceramic collections from two important archaeolegical sites in east central Indiana: Mounds State Park (12-M-2) and the New Castle Site (12-Hn-1). Brief summaries of the two sites and their excavation histories are provided as well as summaries of the various pottery types involved. Specific attention is given to the New Castle Incised type.Previous interpretations regarding the ceramics from the two sties are given, and research from this project has provided new interpretations and information. Specifically, a statistical analysis was conducted, and the results show that the pottery from the two sites was made by peoples of the same culture. However, subtle changes were taking place in the manufacture of the pottery, primarily in the plain sherds.Future research goals are provided and include further excavations at both sites, thermoluminescence dating of sherds and additional study of the plain sherds.<br>Department of Anthropology

The Izmir Region is located in the heart of the Western Anatolian coastline and forms a natural bridge between the Anatolian mainland and the Western Aegean. The region is connected to Central Anatolia through deep valleys and is linked to the Aegean Sea via many harbor sites along the coast. The architectural features and the other remains (such as pottery, metal objects etc.) found in and around those architectural context can provide the information about the genesis of the urbanization. With reference to the fortifications and bastions may show us that societies in question are concerned with some political problems. This study aims to understand how the scale of architecture changed from the Late Chalcolithic to the Early Bronze Age in the comperative basis of Aegean context particularly in Bakla Tepe and Liman Tepe. On the basis of architectural differences, two distinct community types may be postulated for Early Bronze Age sites in the Aegean. The fortified coastal site of Liman Tepe is an example of a centrally administrated early urban community with a strong economy. Bakla Tepe represents an affluent inland village or small town community interacting with large centers.

Few lithic analyses have been conducted or published on collections from Mount Rainier National Park (MORA). This study's lithic debitage analysis, and investigation of hunter-gatherer technological organization through time, contributes to the knowledge base and understanding of how hunter-gatherers used subalpine environments in MORA. The debitage sample is from archaeological excavations between 2005 and 2007 at a Buck Lake Site (45PI438) activity area in the subalpine environmental zone. Two cultural components were examined: the pre-Mount St. Helens Yn tephra component (before 3500 RCYBP) is thought to represent a forager-like mobility strategy and the post-Mount St. Helens Yn tephra component (after 3500 RCYBP) is thought to represent a collector-like strategy. Expectations theoretically grounded in hunter-gatherer mobility, tool design, raw material procurement, site function, and tool function were developed and tested. Results suggest that hunter-gatherers at Buck Lake relied on and maintained small, lightweight, transported bifaces made of nonlocal raw material regardless of expected changes in mobility strategy through time. For both foragers and collectors at Buck Lake, similar lithic raw material availability, terrain, and seasonality constraints and a common resource acquisition goal and overlapping site function resulted in similar hunter-gatherer technological organization strategies. Slight differences between the cultural components include: the use of more local igneous raw material in the forager-like component, the use of a more expedient technology in the collector-like cultural component, and smaller size debitage in the forager-like component. The use of expedient bipolar technology in both cultural components is possible, but only partially supported. Evidence of bipolar technology would suggest that hunter-gatherers were conserving nonlocal CCS by using the bipolar technique on exhausted transported tools or cached cores to produce expedient flakes used for small-game hunting and processing. Further research for the Buck Lake site should include: the sourcing of raw material; conducting experimental lithic reduction on toolstone found at Buck Lake to produce comparative debitage specimens; and increasing the lithic analysis sample size to include debitage recovered from 2008-2009 excavations and other artifact types.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 2009.<br>Title from first page of PDF file (viewed January 12, 2010). Available via ProQuest Digital Dissertations. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 680-736).

Mortuary analysis has been used in the past to understand social status and social organization. The need for a scientific way to undertake mortuary analysis in achaeology is necessary because too often social status is assumed. This thesis attempts to demonstrate that there is a scientific approach that can be taken in mortuary analysis through the investigation of energy expenditure, a dimension that can measure the attributes of status. The mortuary analysis in this study is carried out using a scientific approach involving the amount of energy expended on burials by looking at burial type, grave goods, and special placement of the burials. Through the use of archival data, this thesis investigates differences seen in the burial population of Lyons Bluff (22OK520) in Oktibbeha County, Mississippi through mortuary analysis that looks at burial type, grave goods, and special placement of the burials. Local farmsteads are used as a comparative basis. Through the creation of a paradigm with dimensions of burial treatments and modes of grave goods, it is possible to place all burials at a particular site or group of sites in categories that show the amount of energy expended on burials. From this, comparisons can be made with age and sex, stature, cranial deformation, and spatial location that can aid in the interpretation of mortuary data at a site. The results of this research suggest that at Lyons Bluff and the farmsteads used in this study there is an increase in the energy expended on burials through time. This type of research is applicable to both past and future mortuary analysis when there is well-documented information on burial type and burial inclusions.

This study tested two hypotheses related to Woodland settlement trends and ritual development in East Central Indiana through the example of Mounds State Park in Anderson, Indiana. The first hypothesis was that earthwork enclosure complexes, such as at Anderson, were utilized as central places within a defined territory for the redistribution of resources. The second hypothesis was that a link existed between increasing social stratification in a mixed foraging and horticultural economy and a shift in the function of earthwork complexes resultant from a change in subsistence. It was determined that no conclusions could be made about the validity of these hypotheses due to incomplete data. Suggestions for obtaining relevant data and a theoretical model of earthwork function based on available data are presented.<br>Department of Anthropology

The timing of Mississippian-period occupations in the North Central Hills physiographic region of Mississippi has been debated. Some researchers believe they occurred in conjunction with Late Woodland period occupations during the Early Mississippian period, while others assert they were later, in either the Late Mississippian or early Protohistoric periods. A program of systematic shovel testing, excavation and frequency seriation was used to delineate Mississippian-period occupations and test the cultural lineage between them and Late Woodland period occupations at nine sites on the Ackerman Unit of the Tombigbee National Forest.

This book emerges from the conference Lenguas y sociedades en el antiguo Perú: hacia un enfoque interdisciplinario, a gathering of linguists, archaeologists and anthropologists at the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú in August 2009. This chapter sets out first the raison d’être of our enterprise: why it seemed so important to foster a meeting of minds between these disciplines, to converge their disparate but complementary perspectives into a more coherent Andean prehistory.Next, it is asked how linguistics can inform us about prehistory at all, exploring some general methodological principles and how they might be applied specifically in the case of the Andes. The ‘traditional model’ for associating the linguistic and archaeological records in the Andes is then reviewed — but pointing also to various inherent infelicities, which duly call for a far-reaching, interdisciplinary reconsideration of the Andean past.Therefore we attempt to sum up the new state of the cross-disciplinary art in Andean prehistory, as collectively represented by the papers that emerged both from the Lima conference and from the symposium that preceded it, held at the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research at the University of Cambridge in September 2008. Progress and new perspectives are explored first on key individual questions. Who, for instance, were the Incas, and whence and when did they come to Cuzco? How and when did Quechua, too, reach Cuzco, as well as its furthest-flung outposts in north-west Argentina, Ecuador and northern Peru?Finally, the scope is broadened to overall scenarios for how the main Andean language families might correlate in time and space with the archaeological horizons that in principle might best account for their dispersals. Four basic hypotheses have emerged, whose respective strengths and weaknesses are assessed in turn: a traditional ‘Wari as Aymara’ model, revised and defended; alternative proposals of ‘Wari as both Aymara and Quechua’, a suggestion of ‘both Chavin and Wari as Quechua’; and the most radical new departure, ‘Wari as Quechua, Chavin as Aymara’.<br>El presente volumen resulta del simposio "Lenguas y sociedades en el antiguo Perú: hacia un enfoque interdisciplinario", una reunión de lingüistas, arqueólogos y antropólogos realizada en la Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú en agosto de 2009. La presente contribución expone primero la razón de ser de nuestra iniciativa: el por qué nos parecía tan importante promover un encuentro entre estas disciplinas, con el objeto de hacer converger sus perspectivas dispares —pero, por lo tanto, complementarias— para avanzar hacia una prehistoria andina más coherente.Seguidamente, preguntamos cómo es que la lingüística está en condiciones de proveernos datos sobre la prehistoria. Primero examinamos algunos principios metodológicos generales a tal fin, antes de examinar como estos se dejan aplicar mejor en el caso específico de los Andes. A continuación, pasamos revista al modelo tradicional de las supuestas asociaciones entre los registros lingüísticos y arqueológicos en la región, señalando al paso varios desaciertos inherentes, los mismos que claman por una reconsideración profunda e interdisciplinaria del pasado andino.Por lo tanto, este artículo prosigue con el propósito de resumir el nuevo estado interdisciplinario de la cuestión de la prehistoria andina, tal como lo representan los artículos que resultaron tanto del encuentro de Lima como del simposio que le precedió, llevado a cabo en el McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research de la University of Cambridge en septiembre de 2008. Se analizan, en primer lugar, los avances y nuevas perspectivas sobre algunos temas específicos, entre ellos: ¿quiénes fueron los incas, de donde procedían y cuando llegaron al Cuzco?, ¿cómo y cuándo alcanzó el quechua el Cuzco, así como sus más alejados puestos de avanzada en el noroeste de Argentina, Ecuador y el norte del Perú?Por último, ampliamos nuestro alcance a escenarios generales que buscan correlacionar, en el tiempo y el espacio, las principales familias lingüísticas de los Andes con los horizontes arqueológicos que, en principio, mejor podrían explicar sus dispersiones. Han surgido cuatro hipótesis básicas, cuyos respectivos puntos fuertes y débiles pasamos a evaluar: el modelo tradicional, ahora revisado y defendido, de "Wari como aimara"; y propuestas alternativas de Wari como aimara y quechua a la vez", "Chavín y Wari como quechua", y —más radical aún respecto al modelo tradicional— "Wari como quechua, Chavín como aimara".

En el planteamiento previo de este trabajo nos propusimos cinco objetivos que hemos desarrollado a lo largo del estudio y que se detallan a continuación. 1) Documentación del mural La documentación gráfica del mural ha consistido en la realización de un calco digital del mural en base al programa Photoshop y con la ayuda de la aplicación DStrech. A partir de la documentación gráfica hemos identificado 194 motivos en distintas categorías de figuras animales, humanas y elementos esquemáticos y abstractos distribuidos en cinco sectores de la cueva. Todos estos motivos están reproducidos a escala en el calco general y situados en la planimetría de la cavidad. Además, hemos elaborado una aplicación de base de datos específica para nuestras investigaciones referentes al arte rupestre de las sierras centrales de Baja California. La intención es tener unas descripciones estandarizadas que permitan comparar los datos formales de las figuras de una cavidad entre sí y respecto a otros murales. En este estudio incluimos la descripción de la base de datos y su funcionamiento, así como la información perteneciente a la cavidad de El Ratón en forma de ficha individual de cada figura. 2) Proceso de realización del mural La documentación del mural ha servido para establecer el orden de superposición de las figuras que están en contacto y muestran una estratigrafía cromática. El establecimiento de estas superposiciones no está exento de problemas, derivados principalmente de la apreciación del anclaje de los pigmentos, las transparencias de los colores, los repintes y las reelaboraciones de las figuras. A partir de esta información hemos establecido el proceso de ejecución del mural. Para ello hemos tenido también en consideración elementos compositivos y rasgos formales de las figuras pintadas. El resultado son siete fases consecutivas dentro del proceso muralista. Hemos detallado los puntos en la documentación en los que nos hemos basado para establecer el proceso para que pueda juzgarse su idoneidad, y proponemos estudios más detallados que incluyan la elaboración de láminas delgadas en algunos puntos del mural para cerciorarnos de las superposiciones. Por otra parte, hemos confrontado la propuesta de fases que hemos establecido en El Ratón con las fases que R. Viñas propuso para La Pintada y hemos podido apreciar que algunas formas que caracterizan fases consecutivas de La Pintada siguen el mismo patrón en El Ratón. Esto es especialmente apreciable en la evolución del perfil de los cuerpos y la posición de las patas de los cuadúpedos. 3) Contexto cronocultural Durante mucho tiempo los Grandes Murales se han considerado como un fenómeno relativamente homogéneo vinculado con la cultura Comondú, en un periodo de tiempo incluido en las últimas fases de la prehistoria bajacaliforniana. A partir de las observaciones en distintos murales, nuestro equipo de trabajo advirtió que las fases pictográficas que se observan en algunos frisos podían contravenir esta idea inicial y descubrir que el proceso pictográfico de las sierras centrales de Baja California es dilatado en el tiempo. La documentación realizada por R. Viñas en La Pintada y ahora la que presentamos para el caso de El Ratón confirman esta hipótesis: hay una diversidad de momentos pictóricos en los murales que evidencian cambios culturales en un proceso diacrónico dilatado. R. Viñas propone una distinción entre los Grandes Murales con distintas fases internas —en La Pintada propone cuatro fases para los Grandes Murales—; otra etapa pictórica con la inclusión de nuevas formas gráficas que mantendrían elementos de los Grandes Murales, a la que llama «Tradición Gran Mural», y una etapa final en la que predominan los elementos esquemáticos y abstractos y que se desvincula formalmente de los Grandes Murales. Este esquema coincide con nuestras observaciones en El Ratón, donde las fases 1-3 corresponden plenamente a los Grandes Murales, las fases 4 y 5 se incluirían en esa «Tradición Grandes Murales» y las 6 y 7 se apartan formalmente de esta tradición. No obstante, esta propuesta no deja de ser un esquema inicial y el fenómeno rupestre en Baja California es muy complejo como para pensar que a esta tendencia general no le podremos añadir nuevos matices cuando se documenten un mayor número de cavidades pintadas. Las fases finales del arte rupestre de Baja California corresponden a los habitantes de la península que conocieron a los colonizadores europeos. Otra cuestión es establecer el inicio del proceso y las fases intermedias. Las fechas directas sobre los murales establecen una antigüedad que se remonta al Arcaico temprano. La fecha que consideramos fiable obtenida del puma n.º 41 de la cueva de El Ratón (4.845 ±60 BP) es coherente con este entorno de dataciones. Sin embargo, no podemos dar la cuestión por zanjada. En el futuro se deberán establecer proyectos de datación que persigan objetivos específicos. Proponemos la búsqueda de fechas radiocarbónicas que relacionen figuras de las fases de la cronología relativa que se deriva de la documentación, en espera de una coherencia que dé sentido al estudio del proceso y que, posteriormente, sea comparable con el estudio de otros murales. En el caso de El Ratón, la documentación presentada facilita el proceso de selección de figuras potencialmente interesantes para confirmar o corregir la propuesta de las fases pictóricas. 4) Análisis de la composición gráfica del mural El análisis de la composición gráfica del mural nos ha permitido identificar relaciones entre distintas figuras o elementos internos de las pinturas que hemos interpretado como códigos del lenguaje muralista. Los pintores han utilizados los motivos iconográficos, formas, colores, contactos entre figuras, relaciones de simetría, ubicación en el espacio, líneas visuales, sucesiones, actitud y posición de las figuras para crear estos códigos. Estos se manifiestan en ocasiones por su valor recurrente, otras por contraste u oposición y se hacen evidentes en la composición de manera que resultan significativos. Las relaciones codificadas permiten identificar la temática representada dentro del mismo mural, y observar diferencias de estos tratamientos entre sus distintas fases. Conforme avance el estudio de los murales podremos establecer la distribución en extensión geográfica y profundidad histórica de estos códigos y así se convertirán en un elemento para discernir el proceso histórico de los murales rupestres de Baja California. Podremos ver también cómo estos recursos se asemejan o diferencian entre las sierras de San Francisco, Guadalupe y San Borja en una visión amplia del fenómeno de los Grandes Murales. 5) Funcionalidad de la cueva de El Ratón Las cuevas pintadas de la sierra de San Francisco han sido consideradas, a menudo, como agreggaton sites. Tal como fueron definidos para el Paleolítico, estos son yacimientos donde se reúne un grupo numeroso de personas para llevar a cabo una serie de rituales y actos sociales y se caracterizan por una ocupación de mucha gente por poco tiempo. Se espera que esto se refleje de alguna manera en el sedimento arqueológico y en consecuencia quede rastro de la estacionalidad que caracteriza a estas reuniones. Por otro lado, el sitio ha de reunir unas condiciones que permitan concentrar un número importante de asistentes, abundancia de elementos rituales muebles y un panel decorado que presente elementos singulares y decoraciones genéricas. En nuestra opinión, no todas las cuevas pintadas del área de los Grandes Murales cumplían la misma función. Esta apreciación deriva de las obvias diferencias entre distintos tipos de cuevas pintadas que conocemos en las sierras de San Francisco. No es lo mismo una cueva como La Pintada con más de mil figuras, una temática muy variada, muchas fases de realización del mural y una extensión considerable, que pequeñas oquedades que pueden encontrarse en varios barrancos con un número reducido de pinturas, u otras cavidades de mediano tamaño, un mural relativamente con pocas pinturas y una temática unitaria. Pero por el momento, no tenemos unas características definidas que categoricen los distintos tipos de cueva pintada ni siquiera estos sitios de congregación. En el caso de la cueva de El Ratón hemos confrontado sus datos con los provenientes de La Pintada, La Serpiente y El Porcelano y hemos visto que participan de ciertas similitudes y diferencias significativas. En primer lugar, las cuevas de La Pintada y El Ratón son amplias y con una terraza que permite la reunión de un grupo considerable de personas. La cueva de La Serpiente es una grieta en el cantil que apenas puede albergar un número muy reducido de personas y El Porcelano es una cueva mediana sin mucho espacio para grandes reuniones. Si a estas propiedades morfológicas añadimos las características de los respectivos murales vemos que El Ratón y La Pintada comparten rasgos comunes en contraste con los casos de La Serpiente y El Porcelano. Las cuevas de El Ratón y La Pintada presentan una considerable variabilidad de rasgos estilísticos y de recursos técnicos, una paleta de colores amplia y un repertorio iconográfico extenso, a tal punto que los porcentajes son muy similares. Por el contrario, El Porcelano y La Serpiente muestran una gran homogeneidad interna de rasgos estilísticos y de recursos técnicos, una paleta de colores casi monótona y poca variabilidad iconográfica. Es decir, tienen unos rasgos formales muy homogéneos en sus respectivos murales aunque sean dispares entre sí. Por otra parte, en El Ratón y La Pintada existe un proceso de realización prolongado en el tiempo, con distintas fases pictóricas y numerosas superposiciones. Las características de cuatro cuevas pintadas no son suficientes para caracterizar sitios arqueológicos complejos como son los murales pintados de Baja California. Sin embargo, esta comparación orienta en la búsqueda de estas características. De manera provisional y presumiblemente incompleta proponemos que las características que pueden definir los lugares de congregación en la sierra de San Francisco: — Lugares amplios que permitan la reunión de un número importante de gente. — Murales que presenten una considerable variabilidad de rasgos técnicos, estilísticos, cromáticos e iconográficos. — El proceso muralista será dilatado en el tiempo y mostrará diferentes fases. — Probablemente presentarán un tema principal que se complementará en las sucesivas etapas pictóricas y, en algunos casos, se añadirán nuevos temas. Distintos a estos grandes santuarios, podemos encontrar sitios con pinturas que respondan a una temática muy particular, realizados en un momento histórico concreto sin que el uso más o menos continuado del sitio haya requerido ampliar o modificar el mural. Pensamos que corresponden a lugares donde se han celebrado rituales más privados o que han sido pintados por algún motivo muy concreto. Por lo que se refiere al sedimento arqueológico, hemos de advertir que en las cuevas pintadas de estas sierras la potencia estratigráfica es pobre y que el número de excavaciones de que disponemos es escaso. Por eso no nos atrevemos a predecir cómo sería este sedimento en relación con las cuevas pintadas en lugares de congregación. En todo caso, diremos que en El Ratón no hemos identificado disposiciones de material significativas más allá de una concentración del material en hilera paralela a la pared, y que sí hemos documentado unas estructuras de combustión peculiares en cuanto a su función, que pensamos que están relacionadas con los rituales que se llevaron a cabo en este santuario rupestre. Hemos de añadir que la temática representada la cueva de El Ratón muestra una serie de relaciones con temas mitológicos documentados etnográficamente en el entorno cultural, lo que permite una propuesta interpretativa del mural en relación con aspectos astronómicos ligados a los solsticios y, por lo tanto, a la mitología de la renovación estacional y mantenimiento de la periodicidad. Esta propuesta precisa de un estudio más detallado que incluya observaciones in situ en los periodos señalados —especialmente durante el solsticio de verano— y cálculos arqueoastronómicos que abarquen los periodos históricos que nos interese documentar. Para finalizar, presentamos este trabajo del mural de El Ratón como un elemento a tener en cuenta en el estudio global de los Grandes Murales y con la esperanza de crear discusión al respecto. Consideramos que para avanzar necesitamos documentaciones exhaustivas de los murales y el análisis individualizado de los mismos para poder, luego, contrastarlos. Para ello es necesario desarrollar metodologías de documentación que permitan comparaciones parangonables. En este empeño seguiremos trabajando.<br>The archaeological site of El Ratón Cave: A painted cave in the Sierra de San Francisco (Baja California Sur, Mexico). The painted mural. Albert Rubio i Mora In a previous proposal of this work, we set out five aims which have been developed throughout the present research. These are described below. 1) Recording of the mural painting The visual recording of the mural painting consisted of making a digital carbon copy of the mural using the Photoshop software and with aid of the DStrech plugin. Using this visual record, we have identified 194 motifs of various classes, animal figures, humans, schematic and abstract designs, scattered over five sections in the cave. All of these motifs have been reproduced to scale on the general copy and located in the planimetry of the cave. Additionally, we have compiled a special database for researching the rock art of the Baja California central mountain ranges, or sierras. The aim is to create a resource of standardised descriptions that will allow researchers to compare the formal qualities of the motifs at both the intra- and inter-site levels. In this study, we have included the description of the database and its use, as well as documentation of the data from El Ratón Cave in individual records for each figure. 2) The creation process of the mural The work of recording the painted mural has been useful to establish the order of superimposition of the overlapping figures, which has revealed a chromatic stratigraphy. Determining the order of superimposing images is not without its problems, particularly due to the difficulty of perceiving the pigment background, the colour overlay, and the repainting and modification of the motifs. Using this information, we have been able to establish the sequence of the creation process of the mural. To reconstruct this process, we have also taken into account the composition and formal properties of the figures. The result reveals seven consecutive phases of the painting process. We have detailed the aspects of the record upon which the reconstruction of the work process is based so that it can be assessed. We suggest more specific studies that include making thin prints of some mural sections to corroborate the superimpositions. Finally, we have contrasted our proposal of sequential painting phases at El Ratón with the phases suggested by R. Viñas for La Pintada. We concluded that certain forms which characterize the consecutive phases at La Pintada follow the same pattern at El Ratón. This is better appreciated in the evolution of the profile of the bodies and the position of the quadruped’s feet. 3) Chrono-cultural context For a long time, the Great Murals were considered a relatively homogeneous phenomenon linked to the Comondú culture, which belongs to the latter period of the Baja Californian prehistory. According to the observations made in several rock art sites, our research team noticed that the sequential pictorial phases of some of the panels seemed to contradict that initial assumption and showed that, to the contrary, the painting tradition of the central mountain ranges of Baja California had a long time depth. The recording of La Pintada by R. Viñas and our own research at El Ratón corroborate the hypothesis that there are different painting events in the mural tradition which reflect cultural changes in a long diachronic process. R. Viñas has distinguished various internal phases within the Great Murals. Based on the analysis at La Pintada, he has suggested four Great Mural phases, one pictorial period that includes novel motifs that keep to the elements of the Great Murals, which he has called Great Mural Tradition, and a final phase dominated by schematic and abstract motifs, which is formally removed from the Great Murals. This scheme coincides with our observations at El Ratón, where phases 1 to 3 clearly correspond with the Great Murals, phases 4 and 5 belong to the Great Murals Tradition, and 6 to 7 move away from that tradition. Nevertheless, this proposal is only an initial scheme and the rock art of Baja California is too complex to think that this trend will remain unchanged as more painted sites are recorded. The final phases of the rock art of Baja California belong to the peoples that inhabited the peninsula when the European pioneers arrived. A more pressing issue is to establish the age of the initial and intermediate phases. The direct dates obtained from the paintings suggest an age going back to the early Archaic. The most reliable date, obtained from figure no. 41, the puma, at El Ratón Cave (4,845 +60 BP) is coherent with the range of those dates. However, the issue is not completely resolved. Future dating projects should have well-defined aims. We suggest that radiocarbon dates should concentrate on relating specific figures to the phases of the relative chronology derived from our observations, in order to make sense of the creation process and create a data set that may be compared across mural sites. In the case of El Ratón, our recording can help towards the selection of motifs that could be used for sampling, to test the sequence of pictorial phases. 4) Analysis of the mural’s visual composition The analysis of the visual composition of the mural has thrown light on the associations among figures or internal elements of the paintings, which we interpret as the codes of the mural’s language. To create such codes, the artists seem to have used the iconographic motifs, forms, colours, image overlaps, symmetry relations, location in space, visual lines, sequences, attitude and situation of the motifs. These codes may be identified by their recurrence, contrast, or opposition and become evidently meaningful in the total composition. The codified associations allow us to identify the themes represented in the mural and to distinguish differences between those associations across the various phases. As the research of the murals moves forward we will be able to establish the geographical distribution and historical depth of such codes so that they will become a component that will aid in clarifying the history of the Great Murals of Baja California. We may also be able to observe whether the codes are similar or different across the sierras of San Francisco, Guadalupe and San Borja, in order to obtain a general picture of the Great Mural phenomenon. 5) The function of Cueva del Ratón The painted caves of sierra de San Francisco have often been considered as ‘aggregation sites’. These type of sites, initially defined for the European Palaeolithic, are locations where a numerous group of people convene to carry out a series of rituals and social activities. Thus, they are characterized by a short but intensive occupation. This would somehow be reflected in the archaeological record, leaving some traces of the seasonality that generally typifies such gatherings. Furthermore, the aggregation site should comply with certain conditions to allow the concentration of a large number of attendants, and it should contain portable ritual objects and decorated panels that show singular elements and general motifs. In our opinion, not all painted caves in the region of the Great Murals had the same function. This observation is based on the obvious differences between the various types of painted caves that are known in Sierra de San Francisco. For example, a cave like La Pintada – with over a thousand figures, varied themes, a mural with several creation phases and a large extension – is not the same as the small crevices scattered across the various cliffs with only a few paintings, or the medium-sized rock shelters that contain panels with relatively few figures and one theme. For now, we do not have a fixed set of criteria to categorise the different types of painted caves, or the aggregation sites. In the case of El Ratón Cave, we have contrasted our data against the data from the sites of La Pintada, La Serpeinte and El Porcelano, and we have been able to observe certain meaningful similarities and differences. First, the caves of La Pintada and El Ratón are big and both have a gallery that would allow the gathering of a large group of people. La Serpiente cave is a cliff crevice that can allow access to only a small number of people, and El Porcelano is a medium-sized cave with not much space for a gathering. If these morphological characteristics are seen side by side with the properties of each site’s paintings, we observe that El Ratón and La Pintada share several common traits , whereas this is not the case with La Serpiente and El Porcelano. The caves of El Ratón and La Pintada both show a considerable range of stylistic properties and techniques, an extensive colour palette and iconographic repertoire, to the point that their percentages are quite similar. In contrast, El Porcelano and La Serpiente show a great internal homogeneity of stylistic properties and techniques, an almost monotone colour palette, and little iconographic variety. That is to say, the formal properties of each site’s paintings are very homogeneous, although very different between them. Furthermore, El Ratón and La Pintada reflect a long creation process with different painting phases an numerous superimpositions. The characteristics of just four painted caves are not enough to embody the complex archaeological phenomenon that is the Great Mural rock art of Baja California. However, our observations can guide our search for such criteria. Provisionally and presumably incompletely, we suggest certain characteristics that may define the aggregation sites in the sierra de San Francisco: - Large sites that allow the gathering of a great number of people. - Murals that show considerable variability of techniques, styles, colours, and motifs. - The creation process will have a long time depth and will show several work phases. - Are likely to depict a main theme that will be expanded upon in successive painting stages, and in some cases, new themes will be added. In contrast to the large sanctuaries, there are sites with paintings that portray a singular theme, painted in one single historical moment. Even if these sites were sometimes used continuously over time their murals were not extended or modified. We think that these sites may have been used to celebrate more private rituals or were painted with a very particular aim. Regarding the archaeological sediment, we must point out that the painted caves of the Baja Californian sierras have a poor stratigraphy and the number of excavations has been scarce. For this reason, we can not make any suggestions as to how the sediment of the painted caves would differ from that of aggregation sites. In any case, we will mention that at El Ratón we have not been able to identify any relevant accumulation of archaeological material apart from a concentration of objects aligned to the cave wall. We also recorded some peculiar combustion structures whose function, we believe, may be related to the rituals that were carried out at this rock sanctuary. In addition, the theme depicted at El Ratón Cave has a series of similarities with mythological subjects documented in the ethnography of the cultural region. This allows us to suggest an interpretive reading of the mural in regards of astronomical topics related to the solstices, and consequently to the myth of the seasonal rebirth and cyclic continuity. This suggestion requires a more detailed study that should include in situ observation of the mentioned dates – especially, the summer solstice- and archaeoastronomic calculations that include the historical period we want to research. --- Finally, we present this study of El Ratón mural as a contribution to the global study of the Great Murals, and with it we hope to open a scholarly discussion. We believe that to move forward in this field we need extensive records of the murals and an individual analysis that can be tested afterwards. To this aim we need to develop recording methods that allow us to make reasonable comparisons. We will keep working towards that end.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, Riverside, 2010.<br>Includes abstract. Available via ProQuest Digital Dissertations. Title from first page of PDF file (viewed May 19, 2010). Includes bibliographical references. Also issued in print.

This dissertation focuses on migrants mostly left out of scholarship on American refugee policy and resettlement programs and disrupts the scholarly dichotomy that analyzes the restrictionist handling of immigrants and the welcome accorded refugees. It does so by providing a history of political exiles, war widows and orphans, sailors, and students, who came to the United States and asked, with the help of advocates, to be accorded refuge. It is a history that shows how concepts of persecution and protection underlying our contemporary asylum system, which was created in 1980, have a long genealogy; they developed in campaigns on behalf of these “pre” asylum seekers and were strengthened by appeals to American ideals (of freedom and opportunity) and rights (such as due process and equal protection). Coalitions of asylum advocates were diverse, comprising organizations focused on newcomers—like the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society and the American Committee for the Protection of the Foreign Born—while also drawing support from organizations focused on international cultural exchange, labor, and civil liberties and human rights. Because asylum-seekers were noncitizens, legal advocacy on their behalf was exhortatory and aspirational; that asylum-seekers were sometimes political radicals or in illegal status led to conflicts and hesitations among advocates who were professionals (lawyers, social workers, educators) and co-ethnics with their own priorities and commitments. Before World War II, many asylum seekers gained refuge, though their persecution claims were not officially recognized. After World War II, persecution claims were recognized selectively. Throughout the period covered in this dissertation, the claims of these exceptional pre-asylum seekers and their handling helped define the concept of refugee and its distinction from other migrants. By focusing on contestation by advocates and the discretion of officials, my dissertation explores a fundamental tension at the heart of American asylum: the myth of refuge and commonplace exclusion.<br>American Studies

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2002.<br>Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 391-421). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.

Food production, or the cultivation and processing of edible materials, is closely linked to both the physical environment and human social systems. This is especially true on the islands of Remote Oceania, where cultivation of plants introduced with colonization has always been a key component of survival. This project centers on the production systems of an island in the west central Pacific: Pohnpei, Micronesia. It addresses the fundamental question of how food production is related to changes in social and physical environments and also addresses the optimum ways to archaeologically study plant remains in tropical oceanic environments with poor preservation. In order to examine these questions, this project looks at human-environment interrelationships using historical ecology. A multi-pronged approach was used in this research. Archaeological survey was used to identify prehistoric and historic features on the landscape and to map the distribution of food production activities. Excavation of selected archaeological features, including breadfruit fermentation pits, yam enclosures, and cooking features, was conducted to examine formation patterns. Paleoethnobotanical analysis included collection and analysis of flotation samples for carbonized plant macroremain analysis and sediment samples for phytolith analysis. Finally, because a reference collection is key to all paleoethnobotanical research, plant specimens from multiple Pacific locations were collected and processed for phytolith reference. Botanical data show that phytolith analysis is very useful in the Pacific region, as many economically important taxa produce phytoliths. However, because of differential silica uptake, it should be used in conjunction with other methods. Archaeological phytolith analysis of the garden landscape shows disturbance caused by pigs, which were introduced historically, a change from the prehistoric phytolith record, which shows no major shifts. Combined analysis of plant macroremains and phytoliths from secure archaeological contexts shows the use of banana leaves in breadfruit cooking in the historic period, highlighting the importance of multi-method paleoethnobotanical study. These data point towards an anthropogenic environment and stable agricultural system that was present in late prehistoric Pohnpei. Major changes occurred in the historic period, although production of plant foods that were important for centuries continues to flourish today.

A geophysical survey was conducted at David Crockett Birthplace State Park (40GN205, 40GN12) using ground-penetrating radar (GPR) and magnetometry. The data indicated multiple levels of occupation that were investigated by Phase II and Phase III archaeological excavations. New cultural components were discovered, including the remnants of a Protohistoric Native American structure containing European glass trade beads and Middle Woodland artifacts that suggest trade with Hopewell groups from Ohio. A circular Archaic hearth was uncovered at one meter below surface and similar deep anomalies were seen in the GPR data at this level. A semi-automated object-based image analysis (OBIA) was implemented to extract Archaic circular hearths from GPR depth slices using user-defined spatial parameters (depth, area, perimeter, length to width ratio, and circularity index) followed by manual interpretation. This approach successfully identified sixteen probable hearths distributed across the site in a semi-clustered pattern.

<p>The purpose of this project was to record the private archaeological collection of the Keene family, which was previously unknown to the professional community. While at the two sites, Keene Redfield site (8Ja1847) and Keene Dog Pond site (8Ja1848), in Jackson County, northwest Florida, USF archaeologists also conducted field investigations to look for prehistoric cultural materials in undisturbed contexts. </p><p> This research was conducted at the request of the Keene family. The field crew systematically documented, cataloged and photographed each artifact in the Keene collection while at the sites. Surface survey and testing were also carried out in order to determine site boundaries, occupation and function. </p><p> ]Over 1,000 artifacts from every time period from the transitional Paleo-Indian/Early Archaic through the Mississippian were documented from the collection. Field investigations resulted in the location and investigation of undisturbed cultural strata below the plow zone, enabling the researchers to obtain radiocarbon dates from these deposits. Evidence of hunting and gathering activities and of tool processing including repair, sharpening and possible re-use was found at both sites. </p><p> This work allowed for the publication of two previously unknown, rich archaeological sites and for a better understanding of the prehistoric activities and functions of this region of the southeast. While participating in this public archaeology project, several other similar opportunities presented themselves, providing USF archaeologists with the ability to maintain a presence in the area to continue public archaeology efforts to engage the community and encourage appropriate participation and good stewardship of these types of private sites. </p>

Mobility is not just a synonym for movement. It is the combination of movement and the situation, meaning, and context in which that movement takes place. One way that geographers can examine mobility and its context, including mobility in contexts of the past, is through the use of geographic information systems (GIS). A historical GIS incorporates data from historical sources to combine spatial, attribute, and temporal information to visualize spatial patterns as well as see how those patterns change over time. But what if the time period under study is prior to a written language or other documentation? Is a GIS applicable for an examination of a prehistoric landscape? One method employed to visualize spatial patterns of movement is a least cost analysis which can be used to study migration, trade, transportation, or rituals. A case study of the exchange network of the Middle Mississippian center of Cahokia was conducted to test applicability of using GIS on a prehistoric landscape. Input locations included archaeological sites where objects or structures associated with Cahokia (such as platform mounds and certain types of pottery and chert hoes) have been found as well as possible source locations for exotic objects found at Cahokia (such as copper and a certain type of clay). An examination of the least cost paths at varying scales revealed some problems at larger scales including vector/raster mismatches and gaps between datasets. Even though this type of analysis would not typically be used at larger scales, the problems and the root causes of those problems could possibly impact any analysis at any scale. An understanding of the limitations involved with using a GIS to examine a prehistoric landscape (data availability/accuracy, processing requirements, etc.) as well as the scope of any individual project will dictate whether GIS is applicable for that project.<br>Introduction -- Literature review -- Case study : Middle Mississippian exchange : background -- Case study : Middle Mississippian exchange : model -- Case study : Middle Mississippian exchange : results -- Discussion -- Conclusion.<br>Department of Geography

Approximately 5,500 years ago a discreet period of wetter and cooler environmental conditions prevailed across the southern Columbia Plateau. This period was marked by the first prominent episodes of erosion to occur along the lower Snake River following the height of the Altithermal and eruption of Mt. Mazama during the mid post-glacial. In addition to the reactivation of small stream courses choked with debris and sediment, large stream channels began downcutting and scouring older terrace faces incorporated with large accumulations of Mazama ash. The resulting degradation of aquatic habitats forced concurrent changes within human economies adapted to the local riverine-environments. These adjustments reported for the Tucannon phase time period along the lower Snake River are notable and demonstrate the degree to which Cascade phase culture was unsuccessful in coping with environmental instability at the end of the Altithermal time period. This successionary event has demonstratively become the most significant post-glacial, qualitative change to occur in the lifeways of lower Snake River people prior to Euro-American influence.<br>Graduation date: 1995

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Arts University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts. Johannesburg, 1996<br>South African and American public rock art sites are in a predicament. In both countries, there is a lack of an adequate, theoretically informed but practically implementable, conceptual approach to presenting these sites. This lack leads to the reproduction of stereotypes of rock art and the indigenous people who made it. This thesis suggests a way of rectifying the present situation. It is argued that any suggested reconstruction of public rock art sites must recognise that they are implicated in identity-formation. Following this premise, a strategy, entitled metaphoric pilgrimage, is suggested, developed and applied to four rock art sites - two in South Africa and two in America.

This dissertation focuses on the nature of architectural space in the Caddo area of eastern Texas, in the southwestern portion of the Caddo archaeological area. The early European accounts and the archaeological record indicate there was a wide range in size, shape, form, and use of architectural space in the Caddo area. Buildings have a variety of structural attributes and may be found isolated or associated with plazas or earthen mounds. This dissertation is a detailed examination of this architectural diversity. The sites included in this study range from large multi-mound centers that have seen large-scale and long-term research, such as the George C. Davis site, to smaller hamlets and farmsteads. This study includes 265 structures from 31 sites located throughout the Pineywoods, Post Oak Savanna and Blackland Prairie of eastern Texas. This dissertation provides an examination of the structuring of architectural space by Caddo groups living in eastern Texas. Through a detailed examination of documentary, archaeological, and geophysical data, this research examines the nature of the Caddo built environment; how Caddo cultural space was created, maintained, and altered, and how this relates to broader Caddo society. The purpose of this dissertation is to provide descriptions and comparisons of Caddo architecture from eastern Texas to address three interrelated themes: cultural significance of architectural space to the Caddo, physical form of structures and construction attributes, and variation and change.<br>text

Summaries in English and Afrikaans<br>Text in English<br>A modem "disease", stress is a universal and eternal problem in the pedagogic situation, where the child becomes an aduh, under adult supervision. Stress - a feeling of pressure or strain - is a problem for contemporary South African children, who automatically respond to stressors (causes of stress), in the same way as children of the past, since human beings have not changed psychobiologically over the millennia. Our bodies and minds should return to a calm state, after our initial stress reaction, but we often remain under stress, which results in emotional/ physical symptoms of distress. Yet history has shown that children can be helped to handle stress, making it a stimulus for growth. Although past societies were not directly conscious of the concept of stress, they taught coping mechanisms to their children. Some of these are generally valid, and provide us with solutions to the problem of stress in the pedagogic situation.<br>Die modeme "siekte", stres, is eintlik 'n universele en altyddurende probleem in die pedagogiese situasie - die· situasie waar die kind besig is om onder volwasse begeleiding 'n volwassene te word. Stres - 'n gevoel van druk en oorspanning - is 'n probleem vir hedendaagse Suid-Afrikaanse kinders wat maar, net soos die kinders in die verlede, outomaties reageer op "stressors" (faktore wat stres veroorsaak). Die afgelope millenniums het immers bewys dat die mens nie psigobiologies verander het nie. Ons liggaam en gees behoort mstig te word na 'n aanvanklike stres reaksie. Die probleem is dat ons meestal onder stres bly leef met emosionele/ psigiese simptome van angs as die resultaat daarvan. Tog het die geskiedenis bewys dat kinders gehe]p kan word om stres te hanteer en dit eerder as 'n stimulus vir ontwikkeling te benut. Ten spyte van die feit dat samelewings in die verlede nie so bewus was van die konsep van stres nie, het hulle tog sekere tegnieke aan hulle kinders oorgedra om hulle te he]p om hulle stres te hanteer. Sommige van hierdie tegnieke is algemeen geldig en voorsien ons dus van oplossings vir die probleem van stres in die pedagogiese situasie.<br>Educational Studies<br>M. Ed. (Educational Studies)