Thesis (M.A.)--Ball State University, 2009. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on Dec. 14, 2009). Includes bibliographical references (p. 134-141).

The entire thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file; a non-technical public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from PDF of title page (University of Missouri--Columbia, viewed on March 19, 2010). Thesis advisor: Dr. Daniel Wescott. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, Department of Anthropology, August 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 263-286). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, Divinity School, August 2003. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

No description available.

No description available.

The study of paleopathology is intrinsic to the study of past human societies. Through analyzing gross bone abnormalities in the individuals of a population group, one can discover occurrences of specific diseases. Diseases are often associated with diet, demography, environment, and culture of a population group. Understanding the types of diseases present can therefore lead to much information about a population group. The intent of this research is to analyze the skeletal remains from three mortuary sites to ascertain the occurrences of particular diseases. The New Castle site (12Hn1) the White site (121-In10), and Windsor Mound (12R1) represent a sample of the Early-Middle Woodland population from east central Indiana. / Department of Anthropology

The Punic period (6th - 2nd century BC) in the island of Ibiza (Spain) has been regarded by historians and archaeologists as a time of flourishing economic wealth and prosperity, as evidenced by its coin production, demographic growth, agricultural exploitation, intensive product manufacturing and its overall importance to Punic trading routes. From a bioanthropological perspective, this apparent prosperity raises a number of interesting questions. Did such prosperity manifest itself in the biological well-being of the population? What were the morbidity rates like for the inhabitants of Ibiza? Were there differences between urban and rural populations? How might this period compare with a less prosperous era? These questions led to the following hypothesis being established - General prosperity in the Punic period in Ibiza should be reflected in the general wellbeing of the population, as evidenced by human skeletal remains. To test this hypothesis, morbidity rates in the general population in the Punic period were assessed including an analysis of rural and urban populations. In addition the Punic period was compared to the Late Antiquity - Early Byzantine (4th - 7th century AD) period. To assess these issues, anthropological data on stature, oral health, infections, trauma, mortality, osteoarthritis and diet was analysed, amongst other indicators. Allied to this, the research attempted to place the analysis in a broader biocultural context. Whether the above questions could be definitively answered depended on the sample size of material available. A larger sample would certainly have allowed these issues to be explored in even more depth than was possible in this study. Nevertheless, the samples studied have produced a range of interesting results that will aid future research. This research provides a wider understanding of the Punic period in Ibiza and of the Punic world in the Western Mediterranean; highlights the importance of combining anthropological work with other archaeological data; contributes to the osteological and palaeopathological record for Ibiza; and finally, provides a framework for further research.

The repatriation of Aboriginal human remains is still a debated issue in some forums. However, among many Canadian museums and other institutions, repatriation of ancestral remains is no longer a debate. It has become part of an obligation institutions have to ‘decolonize’ their collections. While the question concerning whether repatriation is ‘the right thing to do’ has been recognized in most North American museums, trying to decide the best method to return the remains is still undecided. In examining how perceptions of human remains have changed in the Anglo-European, Haida and Ojibway cultures, an explanation of the importance of repatriation emerges. This thesis analyses how changes in perception have impacted the acceptance of repatriation among museums and other institutions and produced a discourse concerned with returning all Aboriginal remains back to Native communities. By analysing the experiences and opinions of 14 stakeholders in repatriation (collected during in-person and telephone conversations as well as open-ended questionnaires) I was able to garner a general opinion on the status of repatriation in Canada. It was found that the current method Canadian institutions employ to repatriate Aboriginal human remains adequately addresses the issue. Flaws are found in all methods of repatriation; however, presently, negotiations based on mediation and not litigation produce more valuable consultation relationships, more cooperation between institutions and Native groups, and a more beneficial repatriation experience.

The aim of this thesis is to examine the scale of human migration in three prehistoric settlements in the Upper Mun River Valley (UMRV) Northeast Thailand, from c. 1700BC - AD500. Archaeological data implies migration may have had a central role in the development of agriculture and later metal technology in the region, which is suggested to show increased social complexity over this important stage in the development of states in mainland Southeast Asia. The scale of these migrations, however, are not known and based on archaeological evidence it is unclear whether there were large numbers of individuals migrating into the region in order to bring about the changes seen in the archaeological record. Two potentially complementary-methods are used to identify the extent of migration in the UMRV in this thesis. The first method, the study of dental morphological traits, is used as an indication of genotype of 78 prehistoric individuals. The second method is isotope analysis of the dental enamel of 74 individuals, used as indicators of childhood residence and diet. Strontium (Sr), Carbon (C) and Oxygen (O) isotopes are analysed. The first method reflects an individual�s genetic heritage through inherited traits, while the second method is an indication of an individual�s migration during their lifetime. Together, these methods may provide a powerful means to assess the scale of migration over an extended period of time in this region. As it has been posited that the introduction of agriculture is related to migration of people into the region, the current study hypothesises that while immigrants would be identified from outside the UMRV during all phases of occupation at the sites, this would be particularly so during the earlier phases. It is also hypothesised through analysis of the morphological traits that genetic relationships at each site could be suggested. Finally, it is also hypothesised that individuals with evidence for infectious diseases, which are otherwise rare in the region, would be immigrants. The frequencies of the dental morphological traits at each site are calculated, and a local pattern for each site developed. The results from the morphological traits suggest low levels of migration into the UMRV, and overall group homogeneity. Despite this homogeneity, it is suggested that several individuals may have been from a different genetic pool to others at the sites, reflected in a different combination of dental traits. There is also some evidence for genetic relationships between individuals, and over time, possibly indicating familial relationships at the sites. Stability in the Sr isotopes over time suggest a local signature for the UMRV. Sr isotopes did not support a hypothesis of large-scale immigration into the UMRV, as there were few isotopic outliers identified. Those individuals with clear outlier Sr results, and therefore probable immigrants, were predominately female. All phases of occupation of the UMRV attracted some long-range inward movement of people, although the data suggests long-range migration diminished over time. [delta]��C values show no significant change over time, possibly supporting the Sr data of limited migration into the region. While the interpretation of this isotope is primarily from a perspective of migration it is recognised that this may be limited to understanding variation in diet in the individuals. [delta]�⁸O values show significant change over time (p = 0.00, ANOVA), perhaps consistent with previous research which suggested increased aridity in the UMRV. An alternative explanation of the [delta]�⁸O data is that migration increased with time, with people who were differentiated by their O isotopes but not their Sr, however the increased aridity hypothesis is favoured here. The hypothesis that individuals with evidence for infectious disease would be long-range immigrants into the region is rejected. None of the individuals who had physical evidence for infectious disease had chemical data to support their being immigrants. The putative migrants to the UMRV are presented as case studies, assessing the complementarity of the methods used. It is argued that given the changes in the environment over time in the UMRV the area may have become less attractive to immigrants and as a result the communities may have become more insular. The data yielded from the two methods have demonstrated the value of using inherited dental traits together with isotopic data of individual migration for investigating human mobility in the past. Using these methods, this study shows that there were low levels of migration into the UMRV and that long-range migration was more frequent in the earliest phases of occupation in the region.