Thesis (M.A.)--Texas State University-San Marcos, 2007. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 160-180).

Thesis (M.A.)--Georgia State University, 2005. / Title from title screen. John Kantner, committee chair; Kathryn A. Kozaitis, Emanuela Guano, committee members. Electronic text (112 p. : col. ill.) : digital, PDF file. Description based on contents viewed June 11, 2007. Includes bibliographical references (p. 106-112).

My study sought to acquire quantitative data from the surface of lithic tools and use that data to discriminate tools used on different contact materials. An experimental archaeological wear production method was conceived, whereby I and several volunteers produced wear on chert, heat-treated chert, and obsidian flakes by using those flakes on several contact materials. The flakes were then analyzed using a laser scanning confocal microscope, which recorded three-dimensional surface data from each tool. The data was analyzed using cluster analysis to find the ideal combination of parameters which correctly discriminated the flakes based on use-wear data. After finding acceptable parameters which grouped flakes appropriately through cluster analysis, those groups were subjected to a discriminant analysis. Each analysis returned a p-value under .05, meaning that the clustering based on the parameters Sq and Sfd produced by the cluster analysis was not random, but indicative of these variables' ability to discriminate lithic use-wear. The major advantage of the approach developed in this study is that it can quantitatively discriminate use-wear produced by different contact materials on flakes with no a priori information at all. / by Elliott Farber. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2013. / Includes bibliography. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / System requirements: Adobe Reader.

No description available.

This thesis provides a comprehensive view of the archaeological resources located around Brookville Lake, as well as an overall management plan regarding the care and significance of each recorded site and the reservoir as a whole.Brookville Lake, constructed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, opened in 1975. The main functions of Brookville Lake are flood control, water supply, recreation, and resource management. The total area encompassed within the reservoir is 11,185 acres, with the lake comprising 5,260 acres.To construct an archaeological resource management plan for the Brookville Lake Reservoir, extensive background research on all archaeological work within the Lake area was completed. This included both the early antiquarian work and more recent contract archaeological surveys done in the Whitewater River drainage. The examination of recorded historic and prehistoric archaeological sites was also discussed because of the potential historical significance of the property.Taking into account all previous work done in the reservoir and the incompleteness of the data regarding the presence of archaeological resources within the property, a research design was formulated for the completion of an archaeological survey.Finally, the development of management possibilities for the archaeological resources took into account legislation and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' master plan of development for the reservoir, the most recent plan dating to 1986. / Department of Anthropology

The Mean Ceramic Dating (MCD) formula is a widely accepted method for dating historic archaeological ceramic assemblages. This mathematical assessment uses historically known ceramic manufacture ranges to determine a date assumed to correspond with a site's occupation; however, formula applications on nineteenth century sites have been inconsistent in establishing acceptable absolute dates. An examination of applications of the formula on nineteenth century ceramics reveals that it's strength is not in its ability to establish absolute dates for a site, but rather to create relative intrasite chronologies. This study uses ceramic assemblages excavated from several of the feature and outbuilding remnants at the Lanier site (12Je490) to assess and evaluate the MCD formula. Historical documentation allows hypothetical chronologies to be established for the site. The MCD formula is applied to several Lanier site contexts in order to demonstrate the formula's ability to establish relative intrasite chronologies for a nineteenth century site. / Department of Anthropology

An archaeological records check and field reconnaissance have been completed for a proposed utility improvement project in Switzerland County, Indiana. Twenty-nine archaeological sites were documented. These sites date from the Early Archaic to the twentieth-century.Two sites, 12Sw381 and 12Sw386, were recommended for archaeological intensive assessments, or avoidance. Two sites, 12Sw366 and 12Sw368, were considered potentially eligible to the State and National Registers of Historic Places. These sites were not recommended for further assessment, because the proposed project would not adversely effect their significant archaeological resources. Three areas were also recommended for a subsurface reconnaissance.Beyond these areas and resources, it was recommended that the remainder of the proposed project be allowed to proceed. However, it was recommended that if any unanticipated archaeological resources were encountered, the project should be halted and the Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology of the Indiana Department of Natural Resources contacted before work resumes. / Department of Anthropology

Thesis (M.A.)--University of West Florida, 2007. / Title from title page of source document. Document formatted into pages; contains 320 pages. Includes bibliographical references.

Sablefish (Anoplopoma fimbria) is a scarcely represented species in Northwest Coast archaeology, but its remains are abundant at Tse-whit-zen, a large, Lower Elwha Klallam village in modern Port Angeles, WA that was occupied over the past 2,800 years. Because sablefish flesh has high nutritional value and it can be easily captured from nearshore waters in its juvenile form, sablefish should have been pursued where it was available. Therefore, the scarcity of sablefish in many Northwest Coast archaeological sites could indicate this species was not abundant in past fisheries. However, current zooarchaeological reports do not contain sufficient information on taphonomic histories, sampling, or zooarchaeological methods to determine whether patterns of sablefish scarcity could actually explained by differential destruction of sablefish remains, sample size effects, screen size effects, or misidentification. In this thesis, I examine how each of these factors may have affected the abundance of sablefish remains in Northwest coast archaeological sites. I evaluate four hypotheses that attribute sablefish representation to zooarchaeological identification methods, screen size, sample size, and post-depositional destruction of fishbone. While I do not explicitly test whether social and ecological factors affect sablefish abundance, sociocultural and environmental variation can be considered likely explanations for the observed patterns of sablefish representation if the other hypotheses are rejected. I test my hypotheses using three scales of archaeological records. First, I reanalyzed six previously analyzed Salish Sea assemblages to assess whether criteria for sablefish identification exist, are valid, and have been applied consistently. Second, I synthesized fishbone data from 35 previously analyzed Northwest Coast assemblages to evaluate the effects of screen size, sample size, and post-depositional destruction on sablefish representation. Finally, I integrate previously unreported fishbone data from the analysis of Tse-whit-zen into the synthesis of previous studies. The Tse-whit-zen materials I report on here represent six discrete time periods in the 1,800-year history of one large area of the site, which encompasses part of a plankhouse, providing a unique opportunity to examine the effects of screening, sample size, and post-depositional destruction at an extremely fine scale. I also use data from the reanalysis of a portion of the Tse-whit-zen fishbone to verify the consistency of sablefish identification for this site. I reject all four hypotheses and conclude that the uneven distribution of sablefish is likely a true reflection of ecological factors, human decision-making, or both factors. Whether sablefish scarcity is related to distributions of sablefish in past environments, or whether humans chose not to pursue sablefish is not known from the current study. Connecting sablefish capture to specific seasons with body-size regression methods may reveal associations between sablefish acquisition and other seasonal fisheries and activities, and help evaluate whether they conflicted with sablefish procurement in some contexts. Although zooarchaeological identification and reporting methods do not appear to account for sablefish scarcity, zooarchaeologists need to include more information about their methods so that the validity of inter-assemblage comparisons can be assessed. Zooarchaeologists maximize the value of their contributions to anthropology, biological sciences, and human ecodynamics when they explicitly report the methods they use to identify animal remains. By reporting the methodological and analytic procedures they used in detail, zooarchaeologists enhance the reader's confidence in their conclusions and provide future researchers with the information that is required to replicate their results. Which elements were recorded, and the criteria that were used to make taxonomic attributions, fundamentally affect the primary faunal data that researchers use. This study is part of a growing interest among zooarchaeologists in data quality assurance and quality control, which constitute a critical part of every large-scale comparative analysis.

An archaeological survey documenting sites along Upper Eel River within the Indiana counties of Allen, Whitley, Kosciusko and Wabash was conducted during 199192 to collect data which was analyzed to provide a clearer understanding of the region's cultural chronology and describe the area's cultural resources. A total of 765 previously unrecorded sites were documented, 493 of which were field-checked during field reconnaissance of 10% of the project universe, with 1010.82 acres surveyed. A research project completed entirely by volunteers succeeded in locating a number of potential archaeological sites from the Historic Period.Data from the present study securely defined the cultural chronology of the Upper Eel River Valley and yielded valuable information concerning settlement patterns, ecological exploitation, and avenues of migration. Cultural sequencing revealed the presence of Early Paleo-Indians along the river valley at approximately 12,000 B.P. and chronicled the continued expansion of prehistoric populations within the area into historic times. / Department of Anthropology