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Eggshell of the African Ostrich, Struthio camelus, frequently occurs in African archaeological sites, some of which are beyond the limit of radiocarbon dating. In order to date those sites beyond the range of ¹⁴C dating using amino acid geochemistry, an understanding of the reaction kinetics governing amino acid chemistry must be achieved. The integrity of the eggshell matrix provides an excellent medium to investigate the kinetics of protein hydrolysis, amino acid decomposition, and isoleucine epimerization. Mathematical equations are derived from high temperature simulations of time and well-dated sites at ambient temperatures to determine rate constants for the reactions to a D/L ratio of 1.0. The reactions studied are Free and Total isoleucine epimerization, "classical" and "extended" hydrolysis, and the change in concentrations of free, bound, and total amino acids. Arrhenius plots aided in deriving the equations for each method which are then applied to predict kinetic parameters. Temperatures can be predicted within a 2°C range and time within 15% of its actual value if the appropriate method is used.

College-aged individuals experience verbal and physical dating aggression at high rates, which is troubling given the associated deleterious consequences. Verbal and physical aggression are highly correlated, with verbal aggression often serving as a precursor to physical aggression. The current studies examined factors that may influence the likelihood and escalation of dating aggression in response to a dating conflict scenario, including alcohol intoxication, self-regulation, and trait aggressivity. Study 1 assessed the construct validity of a newly developed audio-taped scenario of mutual aggression as well as a hot sauce task. Men and women with (n=31) and without (n=30) a history of past-year dating aggression provided responses to the conflict scenario using the Articulated Thoughts in Simulated Situations (ATSS) procedure. Under the guise of an assessment of sensitivity, participants allocated hot sauce for a fictitious participant to consume. Results supported the construct validity of the conflict scenario but not the hot sauce task, which was therefore not included in Study 2. Study 2 examined the influence of alcohol's pharmacological and expectancy effects as well as one’s ability to self-regulate thoughts, feelings, and behavior on aggression intentions in response to the mutual aggression conflict scenario. Participants were randomized to either receive alcohol (n=48; blood alcohol content M = .082%), placebo (n=48), or no alcohol (n=48). Using ATSS procedures identical to Study 1, intoxicated individuals articulated more verbal aggression intentions overall and exhibited a greater increase across the conflict scenario than those who did not receive alcohol, but did not differ from those who received placebo. There were no effects of alcohol on physical aggression intentions. Individuals who received placebo and who were poorer at suppressing emotions articulated more verbal aggression intentions than intoxicated individuals. Additionally, individuals higher in trait aggressivity articulated more physical aggression intentions and intoxicated individuals with lower relationship satisfaction articulated more verbal aggression intentions. Results suggest that both the pharmacological and expectancy effects of alcohol were important to the occurrence of aggression. Whereas higher trait aggressivity and lower relationship satisfaction may be risk  factors  for  aggression,  regulating  one’s  emotions  may  reduce  the frequency of aggression. / text

published_or_final_version / Radioisotope / Master / Master of Philosophy

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This study explores aspects of the development and organization of a mid-thirteenth through fourteenth-century, ancestral Hopi settlement cluster at Homol'ovi, located in the central Little Colorado River valley in north-central Arizona. The Homol'ovi cluster has been the subject of an intensive, 20-plus year program of excavation and survey by the Arizona State Museum's Homol'ovi Research Program. Homol'ovi I, an 1100-room pueblo occupied from approximately A.D. 1290 to 1400, was excavated between 1994 and 1999 and yielded deeply stratified, intact cultural deposits. The present study develops an internal, ceramic-based chronology of deposits at Homol'ovi I; establishes temporal relationships between occupational components at Homol'ovi I and other Pueblo IV period sites in the Homol'ovi cluster; and explores spatial and temporal variation in ritual activities within the Homol'ovi cluster through the lens of zooarchaeology.The Homol'ovi I chronology developed in this study is based on frequency seriation of imported Jeddito Yellow Ware pottery; stylistic, formal, and technological analysis of Jeddito Yellow Ware; ceramic cross-dating; and high-precision AMS radiocarbon dating. These dating techniques make it possible to seriate cultural deposits at Homol'ovi I, and to tie deposits from other local sites into the Homol'ovi I sequence. Additionally, some of the techniques potentially can be applied to date sites in other regions where Jeddito Yellow Ware pottery is found. This chronological research establishes a framework for tracking behavioral and organizational changes within the village of Homol'ovi I, and for situating events and processes in the life history of this community within a broader, regional context.One potential application of this chronological framework is explored through a zooarchaeological study that addresses temporal and site-to-site variation in the use and deposition of ritually sensitive categories of fauna at Homol'ovi I and other nearby villages, including Homol'ovi II, III, and IV. The fauna of interest include birds, carnivores, artiodactyls, and certain reptiles and amphibians. This study identifies a number of temporal trends that may be related to a major, late-fourteenth century reorganization of the Homol'ovi cluster and its external relations. In doing so, it lays a foundation for further research into the ritual organization of the Homol'ovi cluster.

Precise chronologies of climate events in the tropics are rare yet essential for understanding how tropical climate relates to global climate at millennial to longer time scales. An increasingly important area for understanding these interactions is the southern Bolivian Altiplano (15-22oS) which represents the waning and southeastern end of the South American Monsoon, a system that is, today, modulated by regional upper-air circulation anomalies under the influence of tropical Pacific sea-surface temperature gradients associated with El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Mechanisms of summer rainfall variations on millennial and longer time scales are less well understood, despite well-established evidence for profound changes in hydrologic budgets on the southern Bolivian Altiplano. Large shifts in effective moisture on the southern Bolivian Altiplano produced deep lakes in the Poopo, Coipasa, and Uyuni basins, basins that are currently occupied by salt pans or very shallow lakes. We mapped shoreline stratigraphy and sampled carbonates for over 170 uranium-thorium (U-Th) and radiocarbon (14C) dates to refine paleolake history of the Southern Bolivian Altiplano. As part of this dissertation work, I helped assemble a U-Th dating facility at the University of Arizona and obtained over 90 uranium-thorium (U-Th) dates from paleolake carbonates. Carbonate textures were evaluated for potential diagenetic effects, but the principal consideration in dating such carbonates is the isotopic composition and quantity of initial Th incorporated into the carbonate. We establish criteria for statigraphically meaningful dates and strategies for successful U-Th dating of paleolake carbonates. The stable isotope, 87-strontium/86-strontium (87Sr/86Sr), and 234U/238U ratios of modern surface waters and of paleolake carbonates can be used as tracers of the region's various lake cycles and provides a test hydrologic models of these lake cycles.Volcanic tuffs provide important stratigraphic markers for paleolimnologic, geomorphic, and archeological studies. Despite the widespread occurrence of late Quaternary tuffs on the Bolivian Altiplano, few of these deposits have been previously recognized either from natural exposures or in paleolake sediment cores. We document the presence of 38 distal tuffs in Quaternary lacustrine and alluvial deposits, and determine the composition of glass and phenocrysts by electron microprobe analyses.

Gordon (1964) in his theory of assimilation predicts that when a society is fully integrated, minority’s distinct characteristics would wane and inter-group marriage will be common. Thereafter, inter-group marriage has been widely used as an indicator of race/ethnic relations. This study investigates the attitudes of Taiwanese immigrants, who reside in Burnaby, British Columbia, toward dating, mate selection and marriage, as a case study, for the understanding of the process of integration of minority groups residing in large ethnic communities in Canada. The study begins with a discussion about the current debates based on the assimilationist and integrationist approach with an application of Gramsci’s theory of “good sense” and “common sense”. The empirical question of this study is whether intra-group marriage of ethnic minority is a contingent outcome of such ethnic group in areas of high ethnic density (i.e., ethnic communities), or it is a spontaneous outcome of their established ethnic solidarity based on the emergence of panethnicity due to social exclusion. An overview of the historical development of ethnic Chinese communities in Canada then follows for the purpose of illustrating the structural context these immigrants reside in. A detail demographic profile of the Taiwanese immigrants in Burnaby is also included. An examination of the phenomenon, Asian panethnicity, as a by-product of the assimilationist approach, among first and 1.5 generation Asian immigrants in Census Metropolitan Area of Vancouver is provided. Internal force from within group to pull the members of the Taiwanese community together, as well as the ethnic boundary they draw, are discussed the in following chapter. Intergenerational and gender difference of the Taiwanese immigrants of this study are also investigated. In summary, the results of the study indicate that intra-group marriage is more than a contingent outcome of a high level of immigrant population density in an ethnic community. Rather, marrying someone of the same race/ethnicity is more of a spontaneous outcome of ethnic solidarity in places where the emergence of Asian panethnicity has been observed. Patterns of Gramsci’s “common sense” are found among immigrants who have passively rationalized their subordinate status; however, some patterns of “good sense” are also shown among immigrants with the capacity to become historically autonomous.

Through an examination of how culture and cultural difference affect sexual norms and practices this thesis explores the sexual subjectivities of ten Nigerian and Sierra Leonean young women living in Winnipeg. The theoretical framework deployed in this thesis is the social constructionist approach to sexuality. This approach involves an understanding that social processes affect the meanings and performances of sexuality and will be deployed to underscore the varying ways Nigerian and Sierra Leonean young women develop sexual beliefs and practices enmeshed in dating and economic exchange, connections to “home”, pleasure, and the body. The methodological approach is ethnographic and uses focus groups, interviews, and participant observation. I argue that the Nigerian and Sierra Leonean young women’s sexual subjectivities are influenced by their social locations as straddling two different social worlds and sets of cultural and sexual norms. Media, race and religion influence these young women’s sexual subjectivities.