Thesis (Ph. D.)--Michigan State University. Dept. of Geography, 2008. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on July 22, 2009) Includes bibliographical references (p. 228-249). Also issued in print.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, Riverside, 2009. / Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 215-235). Issued in print and online. Available via ProQuest Digital Dissertations.

The major factors which influenced the settlement system of the late prehistoric Nuxalk of the Bella Coola valley are examined in this study. Detailed data on settlement, subsistence, environment and the socio-political and socio-economic worlds of the Nuxalk are presented. Ethnographic, ethnohistoric, archaeological and environmental data have been compiled for this purpose. The theoretical approach applied in this thesis differs from other comparable studies on the Northwest Coast. Many studies are concerned only with the relationship between energy gains and settlement. In this study the potential determinants of settlement patterns are compiled from both the natural and cultural environment of the Nuxalk. Each determinant is examined within a cultural framework that would have been relevant to the Bella Coola valley Nuxalk. The nature of the analyses and methodology employed here also sets this study apart from other settlement studies. Salmon-settlement studies investigate the importance of a single species at several sites, while site catchment studies concentrate on the relative importance of several resources at a single site. Here, several different sites are compared according to eight different determinants (the presence of salmon, other aquatic resources, plant resource, animal resources, mineral resources, trade, shelter from the elements and protection from raiding); each determinant is measured in a different manner according to the nature of the data set. A rank order of each village location is produced according to its accessibility to each determinant analysed. From this, an overall ranking of settlements which combines all the determinants is generated. The Nuxalk results are then compared to the settlement systems of other Northwest Coast groups, as a means of identifying more general statements concerning the pre-contact settlement systems of Northwest Coast Native peoples. Results indicate that the presence of a range of food resources, especially plants and fish, was among the most important criteria for a preferred settlement location in the Bella Cool a valley. The presence of a variety of other resources and cultural attributes was the minimum requirement of a suitable Nuxalk village location. Among other coastal groups, preferred village sites were those which offered the greatest number of resources from a single location. In the instances where primary villages were situated in areas that did not offer a range of resources, other (cultural) factors seem to have influenced the decision to settle in a specific location. Additionally, it is hoped that this study contributes to the field of ecological anthropology by offering new methods for quantifying economically important plants. Previously uncollected information from Nuxalk elders adds to the body of knowledge concerning land use among the Nuxalk people specifically and the peoples of the Northwest Coast in general. / Arts, Faculty of / Anthropology, Department of / Graduate

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Theoretical and methodological issues of disposal behavior are examined at the village site of Murcielago. Ethnoarchaeological, archaeological, and modern material culture studies of discard practices are discussed. The generalizations and conclusions contained therein are incorporated into a synthesis of the emerging body of disposal theory. The method used for the analysis of Murcielago, which is drawn from traditional geographic models of land use, is described. The model allows description of the conventions governing the regulation of space and the delineation of disposal patterns. Analysis of artifact distributions illuminated the organization of household activities and the definition of activity differences.

Thesis (M.Dev.) --University of Limpopo, 2010 / Urbanization and rural-urban migration are processes that are surrounded by a great deal of controversy and pose as significant challenges in contemporary South Africa. In dealing, controlling, and managing urbanization and rural urban migration, the South African government has developed a number of policies to respond to this to these challenges such as Urban Development Framework of 1997 which aims to promote effective urban reconstruction and development, to guide development policies, strategies and actions of all stakeholders in the urban development processes and other policies that are geared towards urban development management. In this study, an effort is made to evaluate rural-urban migration and its link to informal settlement patterns at Disteneng area (Limpopo Province). The study used both qualitative and quantitative approaches to collect data. Questionnaires, formal interviews and observations were used to assemble primary data. Policies, journals, books were used to gather secondary data. The study found that there are quite number of issues that lead to rural-urban migration such as rural poverty and unemployment. It also established that policies that have been developed to control rural-urban migration and urbanization are not comprehensive enough to respond to rural-urban migration. They need to be revitalized and reviewed. The study also found out that the main reason for the backlog in services and development relate to a lack of commitment, capacity and experience of officials mandated to bring development to the study area. Recommendations of the study include community empowerment, skills development, monitoring of performance and capacity building for officials. There is a direct link between rural-urban migration and the sprawling of urban informal settlements calling for multi-pronged interventions from multiple government agencies to address the phenomenon. The Disteneng area is a melting pot which requires urgent attention.

Thesis (M.Dev.) -- University of Limpopo, 2007 / Apartheid land policy and its constitution as a whole conceptualized and structured South African in a way that encouraged inequalities in terms of land ownership, job opportunities and access to education and recreational facilities. The privileged few (whites and a few black elites and whosoever summarized with the former apartheid regime) got richer and richer while the less privileged people, (in this case, the majority of the black people of South Africa) got poor. They were even denied reasonable access to land and quality education. This investigative study examines the state in which they lived and how they are still living in Squatter Camp as an attempt to make qualitatively justifiable recommendations. Informal settlement is as old as the origin of urban settlement, which existed through industrialization process worldwide. A need for peace, jobs, security, housing and land ownership resulted in the establishment of informal settlement near big towns and mines. The most disadvantaged people, those characterized by poverty due to unemployment, lack of land ownership due to one reason or another move to informally settle nearer to areas in which there are possibilities for employment opportunities and better standard of living. Specifically, this study examines the deficiencies associated with the existing informal settlement through its assessment and evaluation. In this regard all aspects of assessment techniques of the way in which inhabitants of Disteneng informal settlement live i.e. interviewing processes (both structured and informal), observation through site visit, checking of documented information with regard to informal settlement etc have been used. The gaps that exist between urban life and the living conditions of people from squatter camp have been investigated and reflected. Vii The focus of the argument in this study is that the less job opportunities and access to land that people have, the more they live in squalid conditions and move to towns in search of work. This means that the problems they face have to be addressed positively and effectively by the relevant departments of South African Government. Alternative well-serviced living conditions have to be developed and provided to these people (people living in Disteneng squatter camp). Timeously, the department of housing should take statistics of the number of people who are without houses and employment as well as those who are illiterate, so as to develop better responsive policies for addressing these problems before they are out of control. As a mean of addressing these problems the life in Disteneng squatter camp has been investigated. The results from the data analysis, including the views of the inhabitants of Disteneng squatter camp have been reflected and recommendations were spelt out in the last chapter of this study.

Since the 1970s, the Tucson Basin has been the focus of an increasing number of research and cultural resource management archaeological projects. A vast body of data has been accumulated relevant to the prehistoric environment and culture history of the basin. One research area that has received special attention in the last two decades is Hohokam settlement patterns. This study was designed to examine that issue, in addition to producing an overview of the cultural and environmental setting of the basin. The study area consists of a 5-kilometer-wide corridor along the Santa Cruz River between the towns of Marana and Continental. In order to provide the necessary background for the settlement pattern research, data first were compiled on the environmental setting of the basin, including geological, climatic, biotic, and hydrological aspects. The environmental overview that is provided in Chapter 2 is the first such study, of this scale, to be produced for the Tucson Basin. In conjunction with the environmental overview, a cultural overview was developed that encompasses the Paleo-Indian through Protohistoric periods. Current thoughts relevant to the Tucson Basin temporal sequence were synthesized to produce a chronology and culture history, which is presented in Chapter 3. The culture history is accompanied by a research history of Tucson Basin archaeology in Chapter 4, which classifies prior research into four major periods and discusses current research trends. The main body of the study, presented in Chapters 5 and 6, contains Hohokam site distribution and settlement pattern data, which are discussed in relationship to the environment and other relevant factors. The study area as a whole is examined in Chapter 5, whereas a subset of the data, consisting of southern Tucson Basin Hohokam sites, is discussed in Chapter 6. The study concludes with a comparative review of cultural-environmental studies that have been conducted on the Colorado Plateau. A settlement pattern model, known as the AnaAnzi adaptation model, that uses a dynamic disequilibrium approach to understanding settlement pattern change, is examined and its applicability to an analysis of Hohokam settlement patterns is discussed.

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No description available.