Thesis (M.A.)--Oregon State University, 2008. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 119-128). Also available on the World Wide Web.

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This study examines activity induced articular facets and osteoarthritis in the ankle and foot complex of an Archaic hunter-gatherer population from the Gauthier (8BR-193) mortuary complex. To determine the frequency at which these characteristics occur, I scored the tibiae, tali, proximal phalanges, and metatarsals of adults and juveniles using methods developed by Buikstra and Ubelaker (1994) for scoring osteoarthritis and a synthesis of methods developed by Barnett (1954), and Boulle (2001a; 2001b), Buikstra and Ubelaker (1994). Molleson (1989), Ubelaker (1979), for scoring articular facets. Despite significant skeletal fragmentation observed, articular facets were remarkbly complete, allowing for analysis of joint degeneration. While there does not appear to be a correlation between characteristics, the high prevalence of activity induced articular facets and osteoarthritis is indicative of extreme hyperdorsiflexion. Habitual kneeling and squatting postures are characteristic of hunter-gatherer subsistence activities as suggested by researchers such as Ubelaker (1975), Molleson (1969), and Trinkaus (1975). / by Kassandra Nelson. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2011. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 200?. Mode of access: World Wide Web.

The research reported here arose from perceived lacunae regarding archaeological understanding of mesolithic settlement in eastern Scotland. Historically this area, for a number of reasons, has seen 1ittle archaeological research in comparison to the maritime west of the country, a bias that requires redressing. The characteristics, problems and potentials of available data are assembled for the first time and critically assessed. Discussion of methodologies appropriate to this material is developed, and small-scale fieldwork undertaken within this framework presented. Any introduction of a new range of data is, in part, a construction of that data, and the particular interpretative and thematic stresses of the thesis arise from the argument that narratives of gatherer-hunter communities in the past have objectified those groups, consequently hindering comprehension of them. To this end an approach to a social archaeology of the mesolithic is developed, stressing the importance of examining skills and routines that, through thei; extension in particular contexts, may have structured an agent's experience of landscapes in the past. In order to flesh out these arguments and introduce the material evidence in more detail, a series of overlapping case studies is developed exploring in turn, the relationships between mesolithic folk and woodlands, the significance of salmon fishing, the inhabitation of the coast, and stone tool procurement, production and discard. These varied narratives incorporate the results of a range of small-scale desktop projects and fieldwork designed to test the potential of this approach to a social archaeology of the period. Whilst these studies are at present fragmentary, it is contended that they demonstrate that accounts of gatherer-hunter communities in the east of Scotland can aspire to a meaningful level of engagement with human lives in the past. The project scholarship was funded by Historic Scotland.

My dissertation focuses on the ways the Orochen-Evenki reindeer herders and hunters living in the taiga and villages of the northern part of the Zabaikal’ia responded and adapted to a post-Soviet environment.  This environment featured the collapse of a centralized system of resource redistribution and the privatization of collective property.  One important response by people was to appropriate taiga territories for subsistence, as well as increase their reliance on taiga resources.  Hence, vernacular notions of mastery (R. <i>khoziian</i>) and luck (O. <i>kutu</i>, R. <i>udacha</i>) have become important Orochen concerns shaping their interactions with other persons as well as taiga places or achieving hunting and herding success.  Drawing on ethnographic and comparative sources, this thesis investigates the underdeveloped concept of mastery in Siberian ethnography.  Orochen mastery describes relational forms of power intrinsic to interactions among humans, animals and spirits associated with different places, material objects and experiences of luck.  Luck is achieved because of the good will of master-spirits and because the hunter is strong enough to win his contests with animals.  Hunters and herders engage in complex relations of cooperation with other persons aiming to gain luck and maintain well-being, while at the same time relying on aggression to achieve hunting success.  They creatively re-enact old forms of rituals for gaining success in subsistence, securing their territories as well as reassessing their identities.  This study also is critical of statements founding countless ethnographies that animals give themselves to hunters as long as they are treated with respect.  Rather it is here suggested that these interactions are based on complex relations as well as experiences infused with anxiety, ambiguity and doubt.

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Johannesburg, 2016. / ABSTRACT Sibudu rock shelter was occupied by hunter gatherer groups of modern humans during the Middle Stone Age between 77 and 38 000 (38 ka) years ago. Sibudu is in the summer rainfall region and is situated about 15 km inland of the eastern coast of South Africa. The site includes technological industries such as Still Bay and Howiesons Poort that are distinguished by specific stone tool types. Woody taxa identified from archaeological charcoal in this site, indicate changes in vegetation and wood use. Archaeological charcoal specimens, specifically from hearths on three putative occupation floors, were analysed for behavioural information about wood selection and use. Two of the stratigraphic layers, BYA2 (i) and SPCA, are approximately 58 ka old and the MOD layer is approximately 49 ka old. All three layers contain tools from the post-Howiesons Poort industry. Identifications of woody taxa were made by means of a comparative charcoal reference collection and the InsideWood database. Charcoal was studied under stereo and reflective light microscopes. Woody taxa identified confirmed that the coldest, driest phase of occupation was at approximately 58 ka. Bushveld woods, including five Acacia types, have been identified in charcoal from MOD layer, ~49 ka. The vegetation mosaic was different from today’s coastal forest and savanna near Sibudu. The availability of natural wood around Sibudu, visible in the type of wood burnt in hearths, has changed since 58 ka and 49 ka for either climatic or anthropogenic reasons or for a combination of these. In all three layers, the wood bundles include tinder, fuel, and a selection of woody plants that today are known to have medicinal bark, leaves and wood. People may have selected wood for burning properties (for example, temperature, light and coal production) and for medicine. Woods suitable for making firesticks for starting fires by means of friction are present. Wood from Spirostachys africana (tambotie) occurs in one hearth in each of the three layers. Since Spirostachys africana is normally avoided in cooking fires as it is poisonous, this suggests that the wood was selected deliberately and burnt for insecticidal smoke or other medicinal purposes. Tarchonanthus parvicapitulatus (syn. T. camphoratus) charcoal occurred in layer SPCA. This adds to the previous evidence of the use of aromatic plants at Sibudu, where sedge bedding was topped with aromatic, insecticidal Cryptocarya woodii (river-quince) leaves (Wadley et al. 2011. Science 334 (6061): 1388-1391). Wood use is different between hearths and surrounding sediments and between occupations dating 58 ka and 49 ka. Keywords: phytomedicine, Sibudu, Spirostachys africana, Acacia, charcoal analysis, wood anatomy / LG2017

A dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Archaeology of the University of Witwatersrand in 2017. / Over the past decade a new method of statistical shape analysis, geometric morphometrics, has been applied to the study of artefact shapes. Later Stone Age (LSA) tanged stone arrowheads, hypothesized to act as stylistic markers among prehistoric southern African hunter-gatherer groups, have been analysed with geometric morphometrics and reveal spatially coherent variations in their shape. After being tested against several variables that may have had an effect on arrowhead shape, these stylistic spatial variations could very well indicate large scale linguistic or other kinds of boundaries between different elements of prehistoric San populations. Understanding them can shed light on the social and economic organization of southern African hunter-gatherers during the later Holocene. / LG2017

Focusing on the relationship between demography and sedentary behavior, this thesis explores changes to mobility strategies on the Northern Northwest Coast of North America between 11,000 and 5,000 cal BP. Drawing on a regional database of radiocarbon dates, it uses summed probability distributions (SPDs) of calibrated dates as a proxy for population change, in combination with syntheses of previously published technological, paleo environmental and settlement pattern data to test three hypotheses derived from the literature about the development of logistic mobility among maritime hunter-gatherers on the Northern Coast. In all, each of the hypotheses proposes that early peoples on the coast were foragers that utilized high levels of residential mobility, who later adopted collector (logistic) strategies. Two of the hypotheses emphasize the role of population growth and/or packing and resource distribution in this transformation, while the third emphasizes population replacement. Other issues addressed within this thesis are whether or not the forager-collector continuum, as it is used for terrestrial hunter-gatherers, can be applied to those in aquatic settings. Also explored, is the question of whether the available data is sufficient for making and/or testing claims about early mobility patterns in the region. The results of the demographic models suggest that while population levels were volatile, volatility declined through time and that there is no significant trend in either growth or decline of overall population levels throughout the region. This thesis also confirmed that significant changes to mobility, as evidenced by the emergence of semi-sedentary to sedentary living, begin to appear by ~7,000 cal BP. However, there appears to be little, if any correlation between the advent of more sedentary and logistic behavior and any of the variables tested here. Thus this author suggests, in agreement with Ames (1985; 2004) and Binford (2001) that the distribution of resources and labor organization needs within aquatic environments are sufficient without any other drivers for the development and intensification of logistic mobility. The principle analytic contribution of this research comes from the demographic modeling that relied on the construction of summed probability distributions. Though these methods have become commonplace in other settings (namely Europe), this thesis presents the first application of these methods within the time period and region covered. Moreover, this research is one of the only of its kind to address demographic histories within coastal landscapes that utilizes both marine and terrestrial 14C samples. In order to explore possible biases within the database, comparisons of marine and terrestrial SPDs were made between sub-sections of the region (i.e. Haida Gwaii, Southeast Alaska and the Dundas Islands). Though patterning between each of these areas was consistent, these comparative methods revealed an unexpected finding; a massive population crash throughout the region that began between ~9,000-8,800 cal BP and lasted till around 8,400 cal BP. Importantly, this crash was witnessed within all of the individual sub-areas and within SPDs made from both the marine and terrestrial 14C samples, though the reasons behind this collapse and verification of its existence require future research. However, finding this collapse at all further highlighted the need for use of correctly calibrated 14C dates, as the gap in 14C dates effectively disappears when using uncalibrated dates, which has been a longstanding tradition within Northwest archaeology.

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As human beings we are continually interacting with the landscape, and have been doing so throughout the entire course of our evolution. This thesis specifically investigates the way in which hunter-gatherers negotiate and interact with their landscapes, focusing on three patterns of behaviour: wayfinding, mapmaking and territoriality. An examination of the relevant international literature reveals that globally, hunter-gatherer groups both past and present share a number of similarities with regard to their wayfinding and mapmaking techniques, territorial behaviour. A case study of Maori interaction with the landscape of prehistoric and protohistoric Te Wai Pounamu [the South Island] provides further support for the central argument that hunter-gatherers collectively negotiate and interact with the landscape in distinctive ways. This is contrasted with the interaction of European explorers and travellers with the 19th century landscape of Te Wai Pounamu in Chapter 5. It is determined that hunter-gatherers use detailed cognitive or 'mental' maps to navigate their way through a range of landscape from dense forests to barren plains. These maps often consist of sequences of place names that represent trails. These cognitive maps are most commonly developed through direct interaction with the landscape, but can also be formed vicariously through ephemeral maps drawn with the purpose of communicating geographical knowledge. Prior to European contact, little importance seems to have been given to artefactual or 'permanent' maps within hunter-gatherer societies as the process of mapmaking was generally regarded as more significant than the actual product. Although the literature on hunter-gatherer territoriality is complex and in some cases conflicting, it is contended that among a number of hunter-gatherer groups, including prehistoric and protohistoric Maori in Te Wai Pounamu, interaction and negotiation with the landscape was/is not restricted to exclusive territories marked by rigidly defined boundaries. Among these groups, a specific method of territoriality known as 'social boundry defence' was/is employed. This involves controlling access to the social group inhabiting an area rather than access to the area itself, as with groups utilising the territorial method of 'perimeter defence'.