This thesis explores the life history of six isolated skulls interred in Mound 3 of the Elizabeth site, a Middle Woodland site in the lower Illinois valley. This study employs analyses of osteological features, stable and radiogenic isotopes, and biodistance for a cross-section of the Mound 3 population (n=15), including the isolated crania. Isotopic results reveal significant variation in lead isotope ratios in enamel, and interpretively meaningful variation in strontium values. However, bone carbonate oxygen values are not significantly different. Carbon isotope values from bone carbonate revealed only sex-based dietary differences. Biodistance data indicate relatively genetic homogeneity at the site, although significant variation was present in two of the isolated crania. Ultimately, data indicate that two of the six isolated skulls likely originated from elsewhere in the valley, but that the population likely resided in the Elizabeth site vicinity in the decade preceding death, and were not outsiders.

This thesis should serve as a comprehensive site report for both Porter’s Bar (8Fr1) and Green Point (8Fr11) mounds in northwest Florida. These prehistoric burial mounds and their associated village shell midden are determined to have been constructed during two different time periods, Middle Woodland and Early Woodland, respectively. This is the first time that all materials and data have been described and compiled for both sites, despite the fact that they were both originally recorded over a century ago and described differently later by multiple researchers. The mounds served as an important ceremonial center along Apalachicola Bay some 1500 years ago, beginning perhaps during the Early Woodland (1200 B.C. – A.D. 250) and continuing through the Middle Woodland (A.D. 250 – A.D. 650). Evidence indicates an earlier Late Archaic component, and a much later historic nineteenth-century component. People living here probably experienced slightly different coastlines as sea levels fluctuated. The village midden associated with the two mounds extends for nearly 300 meters along the bay shore and has been damaged by sea-level change, while other parts have been borrowed for road material. The mounds have been damaged by looting and residential construction. All known materials and data from the two sites are presented and compared, including burial styles and associated funerary goods. Ceramic types and tempers indicate that Green Point mound was one of the few built during the Early Woodland known in the region. The same population may have constructed Porter’s Bar during Middle Woodland times, perhaps a century or two later, and included artifacts that are rarely found in the research area. Potential areas of further investigation are noted, but time is limited as the midden will probably be inundated within the next fifty years.

Os dados obtidos da topografia, da geomorfologia, do sensoriamento remoto para a região do Camacho, litoral sul de Santa Catarina, foram reunidos e integrados no SIG GRASS. Durante a ocupação desta região pela população pré-histórica, de aproximadamente 5000 anos Antes do Presente (anos AP) até 1000 anos AP, o nível médio marinho local caiu aproximadamente 2m. Como a região é muito plana, esta regressão implicou em uma grande alteração da extensão da laguna, e, portanto, da área para coleta de moluscos e para pesca. O tipo e o tamanho dos peixes capturados, cujos restos podem ser encontrados nos sítios arquológicos deixados por este povo, permitem concluir que provavelmente os antigos moradores possuiam tecnologia de pesca, como barcos e redes. Ao redor da laguna estão espalhados mais de 50 sambaquis, alguns com centenas de milhares de metros cúbicos de volume. Pesquisa em alguns destes sítios mostram que tinham a função de cemitérios. Alguns destes sambaquis são contemporâneos. Com o tempo, antigos sambaquis eram abandonados e novos começavam a ser construídos. O objetivo deste trabalho é contribuir no entendimento desta ocupação através da relação espacial que os sambaquis mantinham entre si e com a paisagem ao seu redor. Com os dados da topografia foi possível construir o Modelo de Elevação Digital da região. As informações geomorfológicas, geológicas e topográficas, reunidas e integradas no SIG, permitem simular a movimentação do nível médio do mar (NMM) no período desde aproximadamente 5000 anos AP até o momento atual. Modelos desenvolvidos no GRASS mostram a lagoa como espaço principal de circulação deste povo. / Data from the Camacho region, southern coast of the Santa Catarina state, southern Brazil, were collected and combined in the GIS GRASS. This region is a coastal plain, with many lagoons, and was occupied by a prehistoric population at least from c. 5,000 years before present (BP) to 1,000 years BP. In this period, the local mean sea level had fallen c. 2 m. As the region is very flat, this regression implied a reduction in the lagoon area, and consequently a reduction in the catchment area for these people. At the edges of the nowadays lagoons there are more than 50 shell mounds, some with volume greater than 100,000 m${}^3$, where the dead were buried. Some of that shell mounds are contemporary and were in use for thousand of years, but as the time passed, the ancient sites were abandoned and new sites began to be constructed. The objective of this work is to contribute to a better understanding of the spacial relationship between the shell mound and the landscape of the region. For this purpose the information about geology, geomorphology, topography, and datations were gathered and integrated in GRASS. A Digital Elevation Model was constructed and the movement of the mean sea level was simulated. The results are consistent with the occupation of the region. Other models, developed in GRASS, show that the lagoon was the main route of circulation of the prehistoric people.

No description available.

This thesis represents the first example of a pre-agricultural, pre-colonial land disturbance event in the archaeological record of North America. It demonstrates the critical importance of multivariate analysis and µ-XRF core scanning in determining precise chronologies for episodes of heightened clastic input from soil erosion, enhanced by human occupation, shellfish harvesting, and burial mound construction. / Serpent Mounds is a prehistoric (Middle Woodland Period, ca. 2000--1000 BP) burial mound complex located on the north shore of Rice Lake, in southern Ontario, Canada. The complex includes a 60m long and 10m wide sinuous earthwork ridge interpreted as a serpent effigy and eight smaller oval mound structures. Archaeological excavations determined seasonal site occupation for harvesting wild rice and shellfish and conducting mortuary rites. The timing of mound construction and site occupation is poorly constrained by limited radiocarbon dates, restricted to burials. The site is of high cultural importance as the only known effigy mound structure in Canada and is a sacred First Nations burial ground; thus all investigation must employ non-invasive techniques. High-resolution XRF Core Scanning and micropaleontologic analysis (testate amoebae) of 12 lake sediment cores was employed to investigate the timing of mound construction, and assess geochemical records of prehistoric land disturbance. Land disturbance is indicated by increased sediment flux, by rising abundance of minerogenic elements (K, Ti, Zr, Si, Fe) within a distinctive silt-rich gyttja unit. The event is also recorded in the thecamoebian assemblage, which is dominated by indicators of a eutrophic, turbid lake environment. Principal Component Analysis and Cluster Analysis of µ-XRF data identify distinctive chemofacies across several cores. AMS 14C dates for the prehistoric land disturbance episode correspond with the Point Peninsula occupation, indicating a protracted occupation period of \textasciitilde 750 years (2050 - 1300 cal BP) with two major peaks in soil erosion at 1900 and 1450 cal BP. The sedimentation rate (>1.5mm/yr) during the Middle Woodland phase of enhanced erosion was comparable to that during the 1838 CE dam construction at Hastings. The reconstructed Middle Woodland paleoshoreline and water levels indicate a shallow lake and wetland environment, with viable habitats for wild rice stands and shellfish resources. The results demonstrate that XRF Core Scanning and micropaleontological methods are important for the investigation of culturally-sensitive archaeological sites, including sacred burial grounds where conventional archaeological excavation cannot be undertaken. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc) / Serpent Mounds is a prehistoric (Middle Woodland Period, ca. 2000 - 1000 BP) burial mound complex located in Rice Lake, Ontario. Archaeological excavation (1897 - 1970) determined the site was occupied by people of the Point Peninsula culture (ca. 2200 - 1350 BP) on a seasonal basis, for burial rites and shellfish gathering. Many questions remain with regard to the date of mounds construction, how long the site was occupied, and how occupation and construction activities impacted the local environment. The site has been designated as a National Historical Site and excavation is no longer permitted in the interest of site preservation and cultural value to First Nations. This study investigated the history of environmental changes associated with prehistoric indigenous and European land use changes using minimally-invasive methods, including sonar bathymetric mapping, XRF Core Scanning and microfossil analysis of lake sediment cores. Sonar data were employed to map the lake bottom relief (bathymetry) and to reconstruct past changes in lake levels and shoreline positions. µ-XRF methods measures changes in elemental abundance in lake core samples to identify human occupation phases and land disturbance. Microfossils (testate amoebae) track the ecosystem response to environmental changes associated with human occupation. The geochemical and microfossil data identified an interval of increased sediment delivery to Rice Lake, coinciding with the arrival of Point Peninsula peoples. The land disturbance is recognized in cores by an increase in zirconium (Zr), titanium (Ti) and other soil-derived elements. During this phase, lake levels rose gradually, wetlands expanded and wild rice was abundant resource available to indigenous peoples. Following European colonization in the 1820’s, and the construction of the Hastings Dam (1838 CE), lake levels increased rapidly by over \SI{2}{\metre}, causing a shift to a more nutrient-rich (eutrophic) lake environment and a decline in wild rice stands. Soil erosion associated with European land clearance is recorded by in a dramatic increase in the abundance of soil-derived elements.

A pesquisa aqui apresentada trata do estudo da cultura material lítica do sambaqui Mar Casado. Este sambaqui situava-se na cidade de Guarujá, estado de São Paulo. O sambaqui Mar Casado foi pesquisado entre os anos de 1961 e 1962 e juntamente com outros sítios litorâneos paulistas, pesquisados no mesmo período, faz parte da história da Arqueologia brasileira. Este trabalho desenvolveu-se de modo a melhor compreender as pesquisas empreendidas em um contexto arqueológico diferente do vivido atualmente, além de revalorizar antigos acervos conservados no museu. A cultura material lítica encontrada nos sambaquis brasileiros é bastante diversificada e apresenta suas especificidades. Os artefatos brutos e polidos, particularmente, receberam pouca atenção no decorrer da pesquisa arqueológica. Este estudo pretendeu analisar os artefatos líticos por meio da abordagem tecnológica, buscando observar as marcas de uso deixadas nos artefatos. A análise demonstrou que a população de Mar Casado encontrou um modo eficaz de administrar o uso de seus objetos líticos: usando várias superfícies do mesmo artefato para diversos fins. Isto significa dizer que esses artefatos tinham como característica a multifuncionalidade. Os sambaquieiros de Mar Casado provavelmente fizeram uso desses artefatos para processar vegetais, grãos, sementes e outros alimentos, além de usá-los para triturar pigmentos ou ainda como abrasivos em materiais como osso, madeira, concha. / The research presented here deals with the study of lithic material culture of the shell mound Mar Casado. This shell mound was located in the city of Guarujá, São Paulo. The shell mound was searched between the years 1961 to 1962 and along with other coastal sites in São Paulo surveyed in the same period, part of the history of Brazilian Archaeology. This work was developed in order to better understand the archaeological research undertaken in a context different from that experienced today, and upgrade old preserved in museum collections. The lithic material culture found in shell mounds in Brazil is very diverse and has its specificities. The rough and polished artifacts, particularly, have received little attention in the course of archaeological research. This study sought to examine the lithic artifacts through technological approach, seeking to observe the use-wear of artifacts. The analysis showed that the population of Mar Casado found an effective way to manage the use of their lithic objects, using various surfaces of the same artifact for various purposes. This means that these artifacts had the characteristic of multifunctionality. The population of Mar Casado probably did use these artifacts to process vegetables, grains, seeds and other foods, and use them for grinding pigments or abrasive materials such as bone, wood, shell.

Mound building was a common practice in the Midwestern United States among the Adena and Middle Mississippian tribes from approximately 500 B.C. to 1500 A.D. Though they varied greatly in size, shape, and complexity between cultures, the mounds served a common purpose as means to bury the deceased. Mounds representing both cultures have been found dispersed throughout Indiana, in areas such as Randolph County, Henry County, Madison County, Knox County, and Vanderburgh County.Of particular interest in this investigation is an Adena burial plot, known as Windsor Mound, which is 2000 yrs old and located in neighboring Randolph County. An amateur excavation of the mound from 1986 to 1988 unearthed the fragmented remains of 44 individuals and several artifacts, all of which were loaned to the Ball State University Anthropology Department. Documentation of the excavation was poor and the exact location of artifacts and remains within the mound were not recorded, leaving anthropologists with many unanswered questions that could only be answered through genetic analysis. Pressing questions were the degree to which the 44 individuals were related and which of the five Native American lineages (haplotypes) they belonged to.For this analysis, dentin was recovered from the teeth of three Native American individuals exhumed from Windsor Mound. Two of the individuals (87.17.5 and 87.17.10) were found in the lower mound portion (70 B.C.), while the third individual (87.17.22) was found in the upper mound cap (1180 A.D.). Ancient DNA (aDNA) was extracted from each dentin sample, yielding an average of 0.072 ug/mg of dentin. A highly polymorphic portion of the mitochondria) DNA control region (nt 16,049 - nt 16,221) termed hypervariable region 1 (HVI) was amplified via PCR to generate 172 bp amplicons which were cloned into a plasmid vector. Following a transformation, 10 clones from each individual were sequenced and aligned to identify consistent mutations, as opposed to random post-mortem damage that may have occurred.Sequencing of the HVI region for Individual 87.17.5 revealed a T —~ C base substitution at nt 16,189, a C — T substitution at nt 16,192, and a deletion at nt 16,203. Identical mutations were seen in Individual 87.17.22 from the upper mound cap. The alignment for Individual 87.17.10 revealed a unique T --~ C mutation at nt 16,126 as well as the deletion at nt 16,203. A literature search revealed that the substitution at nt 16,189 is specific to Native American 1-laplogroups B and X. Haplogroup B first appeared in central Asia 60,000 yrs ago while Haplogroup X appeared in western Asia 30,000 yrs ago. The substitution at nt 16,192 is indicative of East Asian origin and specific to Japanese populations. To our knowledge the deletion at nt 16,203 has not been reported before in a Native American, thus its presence was thought to indicate kinship between the individuals. However, an alignment of the ancient consensus sequences to that of the three investigators revealed that the deletion was present in two of the modern samples and was not novel. Nothing is known about the substitution at nt 16,126. Further sequencing downstream of nt 16,221 is needed to identify additional mutations characteristic of Haplogroup B or X and a novel kinship marker. / Department of Biology

The study focuses mainly on two gas hydrate-related targets, located on the Northern Cascadia Margin, offshore Vancouver Island: (1) a recently identified 70-80-m high carbonate mound, Cucumber Ridge, located ~3.5-km west of Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Site 889 and Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Site U1327, and (2) a large cold vent, Bullseye vent, which is up to ~500 m in diameter and was drilled by IODP at Site U1328. The objective of this thesis is to analyze seismic data that provide indicators of locally focused fluid flow and characteristics of the gas hydrate occurrence associated with these two features. A grid of closely-spaced single channel seismic (SCS) data was collected at Cucumber Ridge in July/August 2001, and deep-towed multichannel seismic (MCS) lines were collected using Deep-towed Acoustics and Geophysics System (DTAGS) at the Bullseye vent area and at Cucumber Ridge in October 2002. The high-resolution SCS data, with a frequency bandpass of 40-150 Hz, recorded coherent reflectivity down to about 400 m beneath the seafloor, and provide excellent images of the subseafloor structure of Cucumber Ridge and of the gas hydrate bottom-simulating reflector (BSR) beneath it. Cucumber Ridge is interpreted to have developed as a structural topographic high in the hanging wall of a large reverse fault formed at the base of the current seaward slope. The fault zone provides pathways for fluids including gas to migrate to the seafloor where diagenetic carbonate forms and cements the near-surface sediments. Over the seismic grid, heat flow was derived from the depth of the BSR. A simple 2-D analytical correction for theoretical heat flow variations due to topography is applied to the data. Across the mound, most of the variability in heat flow is explained by topographic effects, including a local 6 mW/m2 negative anomaly over the central mound and a large 20 mW/m2 positive anomaly over the mound steep side slope. However, just south of the mound, there is a 6-7 mW/m2 positive anomaly in a 2-km-long band that has predominantly flat seafloor. Most of this anomaly is probably unrelated to topographic effects, but rather likely due to warm upward fluid flow along faults or fracture zones. Towed ~300 m above seafloor, the high frequency (220-1k Hz) DTAGS signal can provide high vertical resolution images with increased lateral resolution. The major problems of DTAGS are significant nonlinear variations of the source depths and receivers locations. New routines were developed for optimal DTAGS data processing, mainly including (1) cable geometry estimation by node depths, direct arrivals and seasurface reflections using a Genetic Algorithm inversion method, (2) acoustic image stitching based on accurate relative-source positioning by crosscorrelation of redundant data between two adjacent shots, and (3) velocity inversion of wide-angle traveltimes using a nonlinear global grid search method. The final processed DTAGS images resolve multiple seismic blanking zones and fine details of subseafloor features in the slope sediments. At Bullseye vent, where a 35-m-thick near-surface massive hydrate layer was drilled at U1328, the DTAGS data resolved the upper part of layer as a dipping diffraction zone, likely corresponding to a fracture zone. The inverted velocity structure in upper 100 m sediments successfully revealed a 17-m-thick layer of high velocity (~1650 m/s) just below seafloor, probably related to carbonate presence. A local high velocity zone, with a positive velocity anomaly of ~40-80 m/s in the upper 50 m beneath seafloor, was observed over the ~100-m wide region between U1328 and the deepest part of a seafloor depression; the high velocity zone is consistent with the dipping diffraction zone in the DTAGS image and with the massive hydrate drilled at U1328.

Coastal defense structures are built in order to protect valuable coastal regions from the destructive effects of the waves. Due to the cost of coastal defense structures and the economical potential of the coastal regions, failure of such structures could cause loss of high amounts of investment. Therefore in the design and construction of coastal structures, it is of vital importance to achieve an optimum design which is not neither underdesigned nor overdesigned. In this study, Submerged Berm type coastal defense structures with several different cross-sections were tested for stability under storm conditions. Damage analyses of the different models were carried out to compare the structure characteristics under storm conditions and to obtain the most economical and stable cross-section. For the model studies, 5 different models were constructed by using Van der Meer&rsquo / s approach and berm design guidelines. Models were constructed with a model scale of 1:31.08 in the wave flume in the Coastal and Harbor Engineering Laboratory, Civil Engineering Department, METU. The newly designed and optimized berm type structure was proved to be successful and economical.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Tennessee, Knoxville, 2009. / Title from title page screen (viewed on Oct. 22, 2009). Thesis advisor: Gerald F. Schroedl. Vita. Includes bibliographical references.