This research examines the rise of voluntary associations of ¡°donkey friends,¡± accompanied by the emergence of new types of cultural identities, interpersonal relationships, and social networks in contemporary urban China. At the end of the 1990s, the native term ¡°donkey friend¡± (l¨¹you ¿ÓÑ) became a popular self-identifier for Chinese backpackers who formed voluntary communities to facilitate group travels and many collective activities. My research is based on three months of preliminary field research in 2003 and 2004, and a year of fieldwork in 2005 in Beijing, Yunnan Province and Inner Mongolia. I carried out participant observation in three voluntary donkey friend communities, and conducted anthropological interviews with donkey friends, journalists, tourist guides, professors, and publishers. My field research was multisited, including face-to-face interaction in different locations and Internet research. The Internet phase is important because backpacker travel has co-evolved with the Internet forums in China. Both online interaction and offline travel experience served to cultivate a sense of fellowship among travelers. Donkey friend communities have not only provided social and emotional support for their members, but also allowed individuals to engage in various voluntary projects based on free association, self regulation, and practices of many democratic values. By contextualizing this phenomenon with the retreat of the state from many public realms of Chinese society, I argue that donkey friend community demonstrates the rise of the new public sphere of middle class in post-socialist urban China. Participants in this sphere no longer pose a direct threat to the state, but aim to promote cultural change, challenge cultural values, and raise public consciousness. They seek to practice democratic values and resolve specific social problems. This research not only offers an ethnographically-based study of new cultural forms that accompany the development of backpacker tourism in China, but also contributes to the anthropology of China by providing a detailed analysis of the formation of new urban communities and public spheres in which neoliberal values of production and consumption can be challenged by the emergence of new forms of cultural identities, horizontal ties, and collective actions.

This dissertation is based on fifteen months of field research in Shanghai and Beijing conducted in 2002 and 2004. The central question with which this dissertation is concerned is how clothing and the clothing industry is constituted by and constitutive of the phenomenal changes that have taken place in contemporary China, especially in the post-1978 reform period. Specifically, this dissertation addresses two major questions: 1) Are the changes in Chinese clothing and the clothing industry merely a part of Chinas economic development or modernization? And 2) does Chinas integration with the global economy translate into a Westernization of China? The development of Chinas textile and apparel industries is a process of liberalization in which the socialist state cultivates and encourages market competition in Chinas economy. The development of Chinas textile and clothing industries is thus a part of the states agenda to modernize Chinas economy. The economic modernization in China, however, is not intended to be an imitation of the West, but a means to an end. Similarly, the Chinese notion of modernity, which is reflected in the official narratives of the evolution of clothing styles, is not modeled after the West; instead, it is a story the Chinese tell themselves about themselves in relation to their own past. Therefore, modernization and modernity as reflected by the changes in Chinese clothing and clothing industry are vested with Chinese meanings. Intertwined with the issues of modernization and modernity, this dissertation also examines the ways in which Western styles of clothing, design techniques, business models, fashion shows and fashion weeks become localized in China. Thus, this dissertation challenges the Westernization thesis in the study of globalization. In addition, the dissertation also explores the integration of Chinas clothing industry with the global clothing industry through the examination of the exportation of Chinese made garments to the United States that is predicated on the global political economy. All in all, this dissertation argues that clothing is not just a business, but one that involves cultural logics, and that it is not just economics, but also is endowed with meanings.

This study investigates the issue of elite management of intensive agricultural production on terraces during the Late-Terminal Classic period (A.D. 650-950) in the Upper Grijalva Basin of Chiapas, Mexico, on the southwest periphery of the Maya lowlands. The Late-Terminal Classic represents the height of social complexity in this zone with increased population marked by construction of many residential and civic structures. A full coverage, systematic survey was conducted in two neighboring, contemporaneous polities each with differing needs for agricultural intensification due to differences in the distribution and extent of soils good for farming. In the San Lucas River Valley, characterized by the extensive distribution of relatively flat-lying soils good for agriculture, a 8.33 km2 survey recorded settlement on the margins of the Clavo Verde polity where the flat valley bottom transitions to sloping hillsides representing the likeliest location of agricultural terraces. In the Morelos Piedmont, where sloping topography and the limited distribution of soils good for farming would have presented distinct challenges to farmers, a 18.61 km2 survey recorded the extents of the core of the Morelos polity. The Late-Terminal Classic population of the Clavo Verde polity was found to be under the carrying capacity of the best agricultural lands, and the absence of agricultural terraces indicates that this intensive farming technique was not adopted. For the Morelos polity, the Late-Terminal Classic population was found to be over the carrying capacity of the best agricultural lands, and the presence agricultural terraces indicate that this subsistence technique was adopted. The small scale and simplistic forms of the agricultural terraces indicates that top-down, elite management would not have been necessary to coordinate the labor for terrace construction, maintenance and cultivation. Locally available commoner labor would have been sufficient for these activities. Furthermore, the irregular, discontinuous patterning of terraces throughout the zone suggests that their construction was not the result of elite, top-down planning. However, the strong association between elite dwellings and agricultural terraces suggests that elites may have monitored intensive agricultural production on terraces.

In 2007, the United Nations adopted a landmark resolution for indigenous issues, the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. After twenty years of preparation, there were, however, still problems. Four countries with significant indigenous populations declined to sign: the United States of America, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. All four refused to do so over the contentious issue of land claims and some uncertainty about the definition of 'indigenous'. Examining these national systems for land claims and national museums through an anthropological perspective will help identify central issues in indigenous relations. All four nations recognize a form of indigenous land rights, but their infrastructure for recognizing and redressing these rights is often problematic. The Declaration is an important step toward finding solutions to disputes with indigenous peoples, especially now when in a globalized world multiple threats confront these groups. These four nations have a significant influence on how indigenous issues are being dealt with internationally, and without their support this declaration will be unable to make a real difference. Understanding the differences in evidentiary standards among the four nations will help suggest ways in which anthropological research can better work to support indigenous rights and actualize the aspirations of the Declaration.

This research seeks to illuminate four problems that have long plagued the anthropological study of human skeletal growth. These problems, and their respective research questions, are as follows: 1) Sexual dimorphism: Is there a difference in skeletal growth between males and females? 2) Population variation: Do geographically distinct populations experience different patterns of growth? 3) Mortality bias: Is there a morphological difference between those who die and those who survive? 4) Disease and malnutrition: What are the effects of disease and malnutrition on human skeletal growth? Subadult individuals from the Hamann-Todd Collection (n=33) in Cleveland, the Luis Lopes Collection (n=44) in Lisbon, Portugal, and the Raymond Dart Collection (n=31) in Johannesburg, South Africa, were analyzed to test these questions. Diaphyseal lengths were measured for all individuals; femora were used for all statistical analyses. The three samples were combined following the analysis of population variation. ANOVA of femoral length by sex (controlled for age) was used to analyze the degree of sexual dimorphism within the combined sample, and the difference was found to be insignificant (p=0.367). Population variation was investigated using ANOVA; femoral length by sample (controlled for age) was analyzed and found to be insignificant (p=0.203). T-tests of mean femoral length for the combined sample vs. the reported means of Maresh (1955) were conducted for each age category in order to examine the difference between living standards (provided by Maresh, 1955) and their contemporaneous skeletal counterparts. Nine of the 13 age categories exhibited significant results (p less than 0.05). No significant difference was found between diaphyseal lengths of the pathological sample and the normal sample (p=0.25), or between the different pathological categories (p=0.388). ANOVA between individual pathological categories and the normal sample showed that only malnutrition had a significant (p=0.016) inhibitory effect on growth. The results of this study indicate that sexual dimorphism in long bone growth is not apparent prior to adolescence, the degree of variation between geographically disparate populations is not significant (p greater than 0.05), mortality bias is a significant factor affecting juvenile skeletal remains, and while malnutrition significantly retards skeletal growth, the diseases tested here do not.

This study examines the carbon and oxygen isotopic composition of bioapatite in equid tooth enamel as a potential record of environmental change in a north-central Mongolian sampling area between 51.4°N, 99.0°E and 44.6°N, 106.9°E (northwest to southeast). Mammal tooth enamel is useful as a palaeoclimate proxy because it is a durable material that directly reflects the isotopic composition of the body, and therefore organism diet and water intake. In addition, tooth enamel accumulates sequentially from crown to root over the period of months to years and often records seasonal variation. Thus, the inter- and intra-tooth variations in the stable carbon (ä13C) and oxygen (ä18O) isotopic composition of horse tooth enamel may provide a high-resolution record about climatic factors such as temperature and moisture availability as well as the composition and availability of forage during the tooth growth period. Sequential incremental samples from modern horses were analyzed to provide a record of the carbon and oxygen isotopic values preserved during tooth enamel formation and mineralization. To constrain the final composition of the bioapatite, modern enamel stable isotopic compositions were compared with the compositions of meteoric waters and plants from comparable localities. Modern teeth displayed a marked regional seasonal oscillation in ä18O and record a latitudinal shift observed in the ä18O of meteoric waters. In addition, bulk and sequentially sampled profiles from the modern teeth were used as a comparative set with samples from archaeological teeth (Bronze Age, ca. 1000 B.C.) and suggest that climatic patterns were roughly equivalent during both periods, with a similar plant communities, and similar summer precipitation/temperature patterns. However, seasonality may have been more intense in Bronze Age ca. 1000 B.C., with similar summer highs but more severe winters. The difference could be due to This work contributes to ongoing research into the climatic history of Central Asia and to the application of equid tooth enamel as an environmental proxy in this region.

Interregional relationships at close and long range have occupied more of archaeologists' attention in Central America than, for example, in Mesoamerica or the Andes. As a result we now have a considerable amount of detailed information demonstrating the existence of interregional contacts, both within the isthmus and with regions outside of it. The actual impact that interregional relationships had on the processes of social change in Central America, however, has remained an open question. While some argue strongly that these processes of social change were strongly affected by interregional relationships, others argue that the sociopolitical impact of these contacts was weak, and that much more local factors carried more weight in the processes of social change. I grouped different models of social change into three families according to where the primary source of social change is located. The first family of models emphasizes the internal conditions within a local region as the major stimulus for cultural change. The second family of models emphasizes dynamic relationships between neighboring regions. The third family of models emphasizes interaction across macroregions. Thus, the research presented here aimed to help evaluate how important interregional relationships were in the dynamic of social change in Central America. Archaeological work done in several regions in Costa Rica has provided us with basic information about their sociopolitical development. Regional settlement study in San Ramón de Alajuela documented another trajectory to add to the comparison. Taken together, the results show that while in some cases interregional relationships were related to sociopolitical events happening in the participating regions, in other cases this did not happen. While some interregional relationships were very specific in other cases they seem to have been more all-inclusive. While some regions were integrated in networks of interregional exchange, these transactions had little impact on sociopolitical events. Furthermore, all of the above also varied substantially through time. Thus, as is common in social sciences, the question of whether interregional relationships were important in pre-Columbian social change does not have a binary yes or no answer, but instead it depends on where you look and when.

Archaeological evidence from the prehistoric Spondylus industry of coast of Ecuador is analyzed to clarify how the production of export items was structured and the role that it played in the development of social complexity. The reconstruction of the trajectories of social change of the prehistoric population of the Machalilla National Park suggests that the region retained very low population numbers and very little evidence of social stratification until the end of the Regional Development Period (ca. A.D. 700). At around this time, a large population boom, increased evidence of supra-local forms settlement organization, more status distinction between settlements, and more architectural investment in elite structures suggest a marked rise in social and political complexity. These developments occurred at the same time that central Andean states began demanding locally produced Spondylus objects. Evidence for the manufacture of such items within the study area is widespread. Many models of social development propose that elite cooption of specialized craft production can serve as a useful avenue through which elites can acquire differential status and institutionalize their leadership. However, contrary to the expectations of these models, the data analyzed here suggest that craft production of sumptuary goods was an activity essentially carried out by household units for the benefit of the domestic economy. The appearance of large consumer markets of Spondylus items in the central Andes seems to have promoted local social stratification by providing the centripetal forces that pressured population nucleation and the derived managerial formations needed to permit smooth social articulation of large numbers of people residing in close proximity to one another.

This dissertation reports on the nature of social differentiation in the prehispanic Huaracane population of the Moquegua Valley, Perú. Prior to this research, the topic of Huaracane social organization had received little attention, although evidence from mortuary contexts suggested the development of social inequalities and wealth accumulation later in the Huaracane sequence. In order to develop a better understanding of Huaracane social organization, systematic surface collections and large-scale horizontal excavations were undertaken at the potential chiefly center of Yahuay Alta. The results of this investigation revealed the site to be multicomponent: inhabited during two distinct phases. The first occupation took place during the 2nd century AD and possibly extended into the 3rd century AD, towards the later end of the previously known Huaracane sequence. The second occupation continued into the 8th century AD, during the Middle Horizon Period, proving that the Huaracane population continued in the Moquegua region long after the establishment of the well-known imperial Wari and Tiwanaku colonies. The study of inter-household variability in status and wealth during these two phases of occupation indicated: 1) no domestic parallels with the wealth accumulation and exotic materials found in burial treatments; 2) only limited household wealth/status differences during the early occupation of this settlement, represented by differential consumption of chert and fineware serving vessels; and 3) that serving/feasting activities increased in scale and shifted from domestic to public contexts during the later occupation of this settlement. The research revealed a subsistence pattern based on resources other than maize, and that although this Huaracane community was in close proximity to many Wari and Tiwanaku colonial settlements, it maintained traditional material patterns, adapting no stylistically Wari or Tiwanaku material culture.

This thesis investigates change and continuity in domestic life and culinary practice at Pedregal, a small rural settlement in the Jequetepeque Valley, as it was incorporated into the Chimú state in the 14th century A.D. Specifically, research was designed to document the impact of Chimú conquest on local domestic economy, and to generate a "view from below" of Chimú administrative strategies. At the same time, it aimed to identify potential changes in the focus or range of household activities in the context of Chimú expansion, in order to investigate how late prehispanic domestic economies responded to change at the regional level. Excavations in household units and midden deposits at Pedregal and analysis of botanical, faunal, and ceramic remains were employed to reconstruct food processing, preparation, and consumption in households before and after Chimú conquest. Results suggest that strong elements of both change and continuity characterized Pedregal domestic economies during the LIP. Household processing of maize and cotton increased substantially during the LIP, possibly in response to Chimú state strategies related to the production and extraction of these staples. However, despite a shift in patterns of resource procurement from wild resources to domesticated species, the general outline of cuisine and culinary practice at Pedregal remained the same. Most changes observed at Pedregal occurred in the intensity and focus of procurement and production strategies, rather than in the range of domestic activities. This study suggests that though the Chimú imposed provincial administrative infrastructure on the Jequetepeque Valley and increased production of bulk staples such as maize and cotton, local rural life was not substantially altered by Chimú conquest. In this case, incorporation into wider regional political and economic systems did not result in the loss of household economic autonomy in rural communities. Rather, households responded to regional political and economic change by altering the focus, but not the range of household economic activities.