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The formation of elites is an essential and common phenomenon of human society, both in the past and present. Elites are individuals with superior power, substantial resources, and the ability to influence other members. Depending on the sources and practices of power, the elite stratum may be divided into several groups. Scholars have studied the process of elite formation, identifying triggers that may lead to the emergence or development of elites. All of these triggers involve interactions between elites and others, often from different cultural backgrounds. Therefore, elite formation is also a process of constant intercultural interaction. Under this premise, the dissertation poses two interrelated questions: How did elites utilize different cultures to foster their power? And, how were elites affected when they used cultures as their tools to gain power? During the Bronze Age (ca. 1300–350 BCE), the lower Yangtze region is believed to be the homeland of two states, Wu and Yue. Positioned as the “periphery” of the Zhou political and cultural spheres, the histories of the two states are recounted in the historical texts from the Zhou perspective. However, the region’s diverse and vibrant local culture, coupled with the presence of affluent tombs, suggests that the region has history that was not recorded in the transmitted texts and thus warrants comprehensive study. Furthermore, elites in the region borrowed cultural elements from various cultural zones, including the Zhou, to sustain their power, rendering the region a good case study to explore the aforementioned questions. Numerous archaeological excavations of mounded tombs, kiln sites, and mining and smelting sites supply the primary material for the project. Statistical analyses unveil the general cultural landscape of the region and elucidate the process of elite formation. Stylistic and contextual analyses further suggest how elites connected with commoners in the local society, their elite colleagues inside the region, and their allies of diverse cultural backgrounds through proto-porcelain and bronzes. The study suggests that initially, there were several elite groups scattered throughout the region. After competition and integration, the number of elite groups in the region was reduced to two, and each had access to different resources and strategies for communicating with others. The elites residing in the Taihu-Hangzhou Bay area adhered to local funerary practices and further engaged with the local society as fashion leaders in the development of new utensils through their partial control over the ceramic production. The elites who occupied the northwestern part of the region, the Ningzhen area, used their better access to bronzes from the north and created a mythical and possibly supernatural image to gain support from the locals. In terms of the two elite groups’ cross-cultural contact with the outside world, both seemed to have connections with northern elites, especially in Phase IV (ca. 550–350 BCE). Since the local elites had frequent intercultural contact, they inevitably acquired foreign practices and cultural elements that might distance them away from local traditions. However, they would not be completely alienated from the local society because they maintained interactions with people from their homeland. While such a hybrid is not uncommon in cultural contact scenarios, what the project emphasizes is the intricate process of balancing, and possibly dilemma, experienced by elites: while their primary goal is to utilize all the available resources to grow their power, they must also skillfully balance local followers and their foreign allies.

Archaeological material from early African-American cemeteries can yield a vast amount of information. Grave goods are evidence that certain West African burial traditions persisted over the years. Moreover, bioarchaeological data provides knowledge regarding health conditions, lifeways, and labor environments. Overall, these populations were under severe physical stress and average ages of death were young. Findings indicate that African folk beliefs persisted for a long period of time and were widespread in both the North and South of the United States and correspond to historical and ethnohistorical accounts. This is evidenced by the similar types of grave goods found in various cemeteries. Cemeteries from both the Northeast and Southeast are examined as proof that health and cultural trends were widespread throughout the continental United States. / Department of Anthropology

This study was undertaken in an attempt to investigate the analogy between the Crisis Intervention Model and the Funeral Rites of the amaXhosa. The latter group includes both traditional as well as Western Christian elements. The study was confined to the geographical area of Ciskei and more specifically the villages in and around Peddie and Ndevana near Zwelitsha, as regards traditional people, and the Black townships of Zwelitsha and Whittlesea,as regards more Westernized people. It is, however, the contention of the study that experiences discussed here are common to Blacks in South Africa irrespective of ethnicity. The justification for this generalisation is based on anthropological commonalities as well as historical vicissitudes among Blacks in Southern Africa. For instance, ritual slaughter performed after death in propitiation with the ancestors is known among all Blacks in South Africa. Also the Politico-historical events as well as socio-economic developments in the country affect Blacks in a more or less similar manner. For example, the changing family structure among Blacks, because of changes from one type of economy to another, is a social process affecting all Blacks in Southern Africa - in particular the working class (Colin Murray, 1980). The Funeral rites under study are postulated as possessing elements of therapeutic and practical value which result in the alleviation of grief and the encouragement of full acceptable means of mourning. The study is chiefly descriptive and anthropological material has been used. Recordings were made from participant observation whenever there was a funeral in the area studied. Information about funerals is easily obtainable as these are announced over Radio Ciskei and Radio Xhosa every evening. Mourners and interveners were interviewed. The former to elicit the needs they had felt, the latter to elicit the needs they had perceived the former to have. The Crisis Intervention Model is fairly simple to understand and uses practical theory. Therefore, it is not surprising that there should be elements of similarity between this model and the funeral rites of the amaXhosa as both deal with people in need of support. These funeral rites are rooted in a culture which has as one of its crucial aspects intimate, face-to-face interaction of its members in constant exchange as regards both emotional support and services. These "credit networks" ensure that a person is never bereft of emotional support. Moreover, temporary services are always accorded to a person in crisis. An effort has been made to relate the Crisis Intervention Model to the South African context of Blacks (both traditional as well as Christian). By necessity this has meant looking at all cultural dimensions of Black society - historical, political, economic and cultural, in order to provide a clearer picture of the people under study. That is, human psychological experiences of grief and mourning are seen as processes related to and developing within the concrete everyday realities. Some of the experiences described have been personally witnessed by the researcher in her personal involvement with cultural practices. Funerals are, of necessity, sad occasions and this study, using participant observation methods sometimes brought on sad memories of the researcher's own losses of loved ones. In the discussion a comparison was made between the traditional methods of grief work, the Crisis Intervention theory and the mourner studied and it was found that these rites do indeed, contain therapeutic and practical elements of dealing with grief and mourning, comparable to the Crisis Intervention Model. Finally in the conclusior a proposal for further areas of study in this field was suggested.

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This study critiques the extravagant behaviour associated with burial practises of modern Xhosa people, with special focus on the Eastern Cape of South Africa. It uses human altruism, cultural conformism, and cooperative behaviour as the theories to explain why people do things they consider to be the norm or do things in a prescribed way, in order to be accepted by a cultural group or class. The artworks which form part of this study are informed through interviews with key informants who are members of the community, as well as the writer’s observations during modern burial events. These artworks portray the obsessive behaviour associated with extravagant funerals, illustrated through repetition, layering, and the multiplicity of cultural objects, such as coffins, candles, pots and other items. / Art History, Visual Arts and Musicology / M. A. (Visual Arts)

Presented in this thesis is the human osteological analysis of the cremation burials from ten Early Archaic features excavated at the McCullough's Run Site (12-B-1036) located in the eastern portion of Columbus, Bartholemew County, Indiana. The analysis of burials excavated from the McCullough's Run Site, one of the few Early Archaic Cemeteries found in the United States to date, add data that serve to clarify and expand our understanding of the Early Archaic in Indiana. / Department of Anthropology