The purpose of this thesis is to present the morphological and chemical analyses of the lithic assemblage recovered from Aganoa Village (AS-22-43), Tutuila Island, American Samoa. Implications were found that include the fact that Aganoa Village did not act as a lithic workshop, new types of tools that can be included in the Samoan tool kit, a possible change in subsistence strategies through time at the site, and the fact that five distinct, separate quarries were utilized at different stages through the full temporal span of residential activities at the village. The assemblage was analyzed macroscopically using typologies for tools that are set and accepted by archaeologists of the area (Green and Davidson [1969] for adzes, Clark and Herdrich [1993] for flake tools). It was found that a possible new flake tool type is represented at Aganoa Village that combines the attributes of Class Ia and Class V. Analysis of the debitage refutes earlier conclusions that the site represents a lithic workshop. The presence of rejuvenation flakes with polish, a large amount of tertiary debitage as opposed to primary debitage, and the recycling/conservation of finished adzes indicates that this site was indeed not a lithic workshop area. In the earliest cultural period (c 2500-2000 years ago) there is a distinct lack of flake tool scrapers while the other two cultural periods presented 40 examples of such tools. These scrapers are used primarily for processing agricultural products. The fact that these tools are missing from the earliest settlement period suggests that these early inhabitants might have relied more on gathering marine resources from the nearby reef system rather then agricultural subsistence strategies. Finally, INAA results show that the lithic artifacts collected come from five different sources. Two of these sources were identified as the Lau'agae Quarry on the eastern side of Tutuila Island and the Tataga-Matau Quarry Complex located on the western portion of the island. Three other basalt types were distinguished but not sourced or located.

Thesis (B.A.) Magna Cum Laude --Butler University, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 96-97).

This thesis contains the results of a project designed to investigate the development of copper alloy metallurgy in Thailand from the earliest times down to the beginning of the historical period. Excavated material was obtained from a number of archaeological sites in Thailand, in particular Non Nok Ta, Ban Don Ta Phet and Ban Na Di. Most of this material is well provenanced and can be dated with reasonable accuracy. Chemical analysis of 276 artifacts was carried out using Atomic Absorption or Induction Coupled Plasma spectroscopy, with phase analysis being carried out using the electron microprobe. In addition, a large proportion of the objects (127) was sectioned and examined using the techniques of optical metallography. From the information that was obtained, it has been possible to build up a picture of the technology of different classes of artifacts, the particular alloy used for each, and regional and chronological variations. In addition, a considerable amount has been learned of the class of alloy known as β-tin bronzes, which appear to have been used first in Thailand and to a limited extent in other Asian countries up to the medieval period. Information of fundamental interest regarding these alloys was obtained.

No description available.

No description available.

Detailed pollen analyses, together with analyses of deteriorated pollen and spores and lithological investigations, were carried out at four sites along an east-west transect of the mountains of north Wales. A total of twelve radiocarbon dates were obtained from critical horizons at the four sites investigated. Two of the pollen profiles (Clogwyngarreg in the west and Llyn Goddionduon in the east) provide a detailed record of vegetational and environmental change in the lowlands of north Wales during the Lateglacial (Late-Devensian lateglacial) and early Flandrian periods, while two other profiles (Cwm Cywion and Llyn Llydaw) provide a detailed record of early and mid Flandrian (postglacial) vegetational and environmental history in the uplands of north Wales. Radiocarbon dates from the base of the Lateglacial profiles suggest that the Late-Devensian ice-sheet had disappeared from the lowlands of north Wales by £ 13,500 B.P., and that by that time open habitat herbaceous taxa, including abundant Rumex sp. were colonizing the recently deglaciated ground. The initial pioneer grassland communities were gradually invaded by juniper and birch, but the development of birch scrub appears to have been sporadic, and to have been generally more favoured in the eastern district. An interstadial episode (the 'Lateglacial Interstadial') is recognized in the sequence of plant succession that culminated in the establishment of juniper and birch scrub. A decline in Juniperus pollen frequencies and en increase in herb pollen valu9s (mainly grasses) at the western site of Clogwyngarreg, and fluctuations in the curves for Junioerus and Betula at the eastern site of Llyn Goddionduon suggest that environmental conditions in the latter part of the interstadiil may have been less favourable than those of the earlier/mid interstadial period. By £ 11,000 B.P. widespread solifluction and increasingly severe environmental conditions led to the break-up of existing plant communities and the proliferation of open-habitat and disturbed ground taxa. During this Stadial period (the 'Loch Lomond Stadial') glaciers reoccupied the highland cwms of Snowdonia. Climatic amelioration at the beginning of the Postglacial (Flandrian) was charactarized by a rapid expansion in Juniperus at the low altitude sites, while a pioneer grassland phase, in which Rumex species were prominent, predates the arrival of Juniperus at the recently deglaciated high altitude sites. Early Flandrian vegetational developments between the uplands and the lowlands may have been time-transgressive, but the available radiocarbon dates are inconclusive on this point. Local variations in Flandrian woodland development are described and are thought to reflect both environmental differences and compstitirin factors. At one site (Llyn Llydaw) Flandrian woodland history is traced up to the onset of deforestation in late Neolithic/early Bronze age times.

Laetoli Hominid 18 cranium was recovered in 1976 from the Pleistocene Ngaloba Beds at Laetoli, Northern Tanzania. The cranium is well preserved and consists of an almost complete cranial vault, much of the base, both temporal bones and part of the sphenoid bone. The face together with part of the upper dentition is only partially preserved. Associated with the Laetoli Hominid 18 cranium, were a number of artifacts and a few faunal remains. The dating of the Laetoli Hominid 18 cranium is about 120,000 years Before Present (B. P. ). In this study, a full anatomical and metrical description of the external and internal morphological features of the Laetoli Hominid 18 cranium is given, and the cranium is compared anatomically and metrically with both fossil and modern human crania in order to define its taxonomic relationships. Multivariate statistical analysis was employed to investigate the metrical features of the cranium. The comparative sample included fossil crania ranging from Homo erectus to Homo sapiens specimens. The sample included specimens from sub-Saharan Africa, North Africa, the Middle East, the Far East/Australia and the European materials. The modern human sample was drawn from the African Ngoni, Ashanti and Kaffir groups. The morphological examination combined with the statistical analyses indicates that the Laetoli Hominid 18 cranium is an early East African example of sub-SaharanHomo sapiens of the Upper Pleistocene age. The cranium shows a combination of modern and archaic features. The overall expansion of the cranial vault, the bossing of the parietals, the roundness and fullness of the occipital region, the low position of the inion, the U-shaped dental arcade, the great depth of the palate, the pear-shaped nasal opening, the development of the tympanic region, the symmetrical arrangements of the vascular and cerebral markings as well as the cranial capacity of 1200 cm3 places the Laetoli Hominid 18 cranium nearer to the modern sapients. In contrast, however, to the above modern features, the low receding, flattened and slightly keeled frontal bone, the large brow ridges, the low markings of the temporal ridges, the marked bone thickness, the small mastoids, the large occipitomastoid crest, the developed and centrally limited occipital torus are archaic features. The significance of the mosaic of the features is discussed in terms of the evolutionary history of man in Africa.

<p> I conducted geophysical and archaeological investigations on O'ahu Island, Hawai'i alongside the University of Hawai'i Kualoa Field School. Previous research identified Polynesian colonization of the Hawaiian Islands occurring simultaneously with the accretion of Kualoa peninsula. Because of this we conducted investigations north of the peninsula in an attempt to research initial colonization. Previous archaeological excavations used a sampling strategy that resulted in discontinuous evidence with a lack of knowledge about site architecture and settlement expansion prior to and during peninsula accretion. We employed Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) to perform a continuous subsurface survey over a large area with minimal cost to the environment and labor. GPR identified an anomaly on the northern Kualoa coast that we subsequently excavated and identified as a possible structural complex. It appears and is likely that there was some kind of extension from Kualoa peninsula to the northern Kualoa coastal plain. It seems logical that the northern Kualoa coast was occupied before the southern peninsula stabilized and as the peninsula grew south occupation followed.</p>

No description available.

Maya scholars have proposed models of Maya political organization that range from small, independent, autonomous polities, to large centralized states. This essay examines a series of cross-cultural models (Feudal models, Peer-Polity Interaction, Galactic Politics, Theatre States, Segmentary States, a 'Dynamic' model, and recent speculations by Yoffee (1993)) and asks how they have been applied to the Maya area, in what ways they are similar or different, how they have been applied in other areas, and how they have been treated by Maya scholars. These models share many elements, and this has resulted in some confusion in the literature; this essay attempts to resolve this confusion and to discuss the implications of the relationships among the models. It is suggested that notions of 'power' and 'control' are poorly defined, and for the Maya little understood, and that archaeological definitions of political organization must differ from anthropological models.