No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

<p>This thesis explores social identity and group membership at the Van Besien site by identifying the social patterning in the production and consumption of ceramics. Since potting is a social event involving transmission of knowledge, production exists within social constraints specific to each potter and influences the technological choices he/she makes. Such technological choices culminate in what is regarded as technological style, created by the repetition of activities or choices that create discernible patterns to allow for identification of styles that demarcate social boundaries.</p> <p>By identifying stylistic traditions of production and use of ceramics at Van Besien, I found evidence for both fluidity and rigidity of social boundaries. There are constant technological choices that traditionally would be viewed as evidence of rigid social membership. In contrast, the presence of variability at the Van Besien site indicates that social groups were not rigid. To identify if social membership was spatially represented, variability was explored throughout the site. I found that there were unexpected social divisions visible spatially in the pottery.</p> <p>The results demonstrate that with new theoretical frameworks, new interpretations regarding village social spheres can be discerned. My thesis represents a successful re-evaluation of an extant collection with missing and deficient documentation. This case study shows that extant collections can be revisited, reevaluated, and shed new light on academic debates in Ontario archaeology.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

Native Americans in the Eastern Woodlands participated in extensive trade networks with their surrounding neighbors, beginning over 4,500 years ago. Lithics, perishable goods, exotics, and knowledge have crisscrossed the landscape throughout prehistory. By determining a general region from which copper artifacts originated and linking it with the location of their use and eventual discard, this research reveals "trade" patterns and thus advances our understanding of culture change in the Eastern Woodlands. This project focuses on evaluating the nature and extent of this interaction using copper artifacts from Early to Middle Woodland period sites within the Middle Atlantic region. These sites include Abbott Farm and Rosenkrans Ferry in New Jersey and Nassawango in Maryland. This study uses laser ablation multi-collector inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry to examine trace-element concentrations of copper in artifacts and thus tests existing regional models of prehistoric exchange. By examining the elemental composition of copper this study was able to determine whether the artifacts from these sites were made on raw material from single or multiple geological sources, and where those sources might be located. The elemental study showed that geologic sources of copper represented by the artifacts found on a site could have come from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, North Carolina and Canada. These geological sources are all located within the eastern United States. This helped to clarify how native peoples in the Middle Atlantic Region acquired copper and whether current reconstructions of ancient patterns of trade could account for the regional distribution of copper artifacts. A series of expectations based on interpretations of the chemical data were constructed to evaluate existing exchange models. Certain aspects of the exchange models did hold up in light of this study. A broad-based (down the line) exchange network was identified for the Early Woodland site examined in this study. Similarly, broad-based exchange networks were seen at Middle Woodland sites; with the addition of a more complex focused exchange network with copper coming from within the region. This means that prehistoric groups in this region, while they appear to exhibit signs of increased socio-cultural complexity, provide stronger evidence of a reciprocally shared ideology based on probable kin relations. Similarly, these results agree with previous copper sourcing studies carried out in the mid-continent. Identifying the provenance of artifacts used in exchange networks is important for understanding interactions among prehistoric groups and the impact of these networks on social organization. Furthermore, by combining geological, archaeological, and anthropological data this research elucidates processes of material resource acquisition and determines if they change through time. Research into the identification of raw material sources, the archaeological context of exotic artifacts, the movement of those artifacts between groups, and the significance or value attached to those artifacts through the act of exchange all contribute to an understanding of prehistoric behavioral and social processes. / Anthropology

A lengthy history (1550–950 Cal BP) of ceramic manufacture took place at the Gaspereau Lake Reservoir (GLR) Site Complex in Kings County, Nova Scotia, during which potters shifted their practice from fineware, emphasizing self-expression and signalling affiliation, to “production” pottery, focusing on quick turnaround times and larger scale of production. Researchers in the Maine–Maritimes Region have repeatedly noted the change from hard-bodied, thin-walled, elaborately and carefully decorated pots during the Middle Woodland to coarser-tempered, expediently decorated pottery with many coil breaks evident during the Late Woodland. This has sometimes been interpreted as a decreasing skill level through time, but I argue that these changes instead suggest a manufacturing context in which demand for pottery increased. This created incentives for “cutting corners” and employing strategies that increased the survival rate of pots during firing. Increased production is partly evident in increasing standardization of temper minerals and clay later in time, suggesting that potters increasingly accessed a single reliable source of raw materials rather than many different sources. I further argue that manufacturing occurred at or near the End of Dyke Site. I present a method of analyzing ceramics that is designed to take full account of the unusually large and nuanced GFC assemblage. This method goes beyond chronological and typological classifications that have sometimes been employed in the Northeast: it seeks to establish a historical understanding of the assemblage through tracing learning lineages. This classification, which I have called a “tradition-based classification,” introduces knowledge transfer as the dominant mechanism behind style at the level of assemblage. The ceramics have been grouped using attribute analysis, after which inferences about the variability have been assessed, and finally, several trends—chronologically situated using AMS dates—are proposed to build a history of ceramic manufacture at Gaspereau Lake. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / Ceramics are one means of analyzing the practices of ancient cultures. Ceramics allow archaeologists to trace developments through time. This dissertation looks at how other sources of information are available to archaeologists by carefully tracing the evolution of certain characteristics through time. Some characteristics explored in this dissertation include the changing methods of manufacturing ceramics and the changing materials used by ancient potters. I conclude that ceramic production increased later in time, and that this change probably indicates a change in the larger society as pottery became increasingly in demand.

No / Recurrent fires have a considerable potential to influence the structure and composition of savanna vegetation. In Mole National Park in Ghana, the policy is to burn the vegetation annually early in the dry season. This study aimed to assess the effects of these perennial fires on the trees and shrubs of the Park. To achieve this, scars on tree bole bases as well as mortality and top-kill to trees ¿ 2 m tall resulting from perennial fires were assessed in twenty 50 m x 50 m plots in the savanna vegetation near Grupe camp at the south-western section of the Park. Fire scars on tree bole bases were widespread, but were significantly more frequent on large trees (> 5 m tall) than small ones (< 2 m tall). Also, certain tree species, notably Burkea africana and Detarium microcarpum were more prone to scarring. The greater proportion of the scars had reached an advanced stage and the affected individuals were either moribund or were likely to be killed by subsequent fires or toppled by the wind. Contrary to the popular opinion that fire generally affects tree recruitment and not adult survival, fire-induced mortality and top-kill to large trees (> 5 m tall) was widespread among all the tree species, particularly Acacia dudgeoni, Burkea africana, Detarium microcarpum and Vitellaria paradoxa. These fire impacts will likely lead to changes in the relative abundance of the constituent tree species as well as a decline in the density of woody elements in the plant community as a whole unless burning frequency is reduced. The areas for which these predicted vegetation changes are valid can be generalized to include the vegetation in the northern half of the Park where similar conditions of high fuel load and intense fires are likely to prevail.

This study investigated bird distributions in relation to local habitat and landscape pattern and the implications which habitat fragmentation may have for woodland birds. There were two sections to the research: an experimental study investigating bird gap crossing behaviour across distances of five to 120m; and an observational study modelling woodland bird distributions in relation to local habitat and landscape scale variables in two study areas (East Loch Lomond and the Central Scotland Forest). In the experimental study it was hypothesised that bird willingness to cross gaps will decrease with increasing gap distance even at home-range scales and that the rate of decline will vary interspecifically in relation to bird morphology. Song thrush mobbing calls played at woodland edges in the West of Scotland were used to attract birds across gaps and results were compared with the response along woodland edges. Data were obtained for four species: chaffinch, coal tit, robin and goldcrest. The decline in response with distance across gaps and along woodland edge was modelled for each species using generalized linear modelling. Maximum gap crossing distances ranged from 46m (goldcrest) to 150m (extrapolated value for the chaffinch). Goldcrests responded more readily through woodlands. There was no difference between woodland edge and gap response for the coal tit. Robins and chaffinches however responded more readily across gaps than through woodland. When different response indices were plotted against bird mass and wing area, results suggested that larger birds with bigger wings responded more readily across gaps than through woodland. It is suggested that this relates to differences in bird manoeuvrability within woodlands and ability to evade a predator in gaps. Fragmentation indices were calculated for an area of the Central Scotland Forest to show how willingness to cross different gap distances influences perception of how fragmented the woodlands are in a region. Results are discussed in the context of the creation of Forest Habitat Networks. The data for the observational section of the work was from bird point counts for 200 sample points at East Loch Lomond in 1998 and 2000 and 267 sample points in the Central Scotland Forest in 1999. In addition a time series of point count data was available for 30 sample points at East Loch Lomond. Additional data was gathered for ten sample points (1998) and two sample points (2000) at East Loch Lomond to investigate effects of observer, time and weather on count data. Generalized linear and generalized additive modelling was carried out on these additional data. Results indicated that biases due to the variation in time and weather conditions between counts existed in the pure count data but that these were eliminated by reducing data to presence and absence form for analysis. Species accumulation curves indicated that two counts per sample point were insufficient to determine species richness. However a sufficiently large proportion of the species was being detected consistently in two counts of ten minutes duration for it to be valid to model them in relation to habitat and landscape variables. Point count data for East Loch Lomond in 1998 (ELL98) and the Central Scotland Forest in 1999 (CSF99) for the wren, treecreeper, garden warbler, robin, blue tit, blackbird, willow warbler, coal tit, goldcrest, great tit, and song thrush were analysed using generalized additive modelling. In addition models were built for the blackcap (CSF99) and the siskin, redstart and wood warbler (ELL98). Where all relationships were identified as linear, models were rebuilt as GLMs. Models were evaluated using the Area Under the Curve (AUC) of Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) plots. AUC values ranged from 0.84-0.99 for ELL98 and from 0.76-0.93 for CSF99 indicating high predictive accuracy. Habitat variables accounted for the largest proportion of explained variation in all models and could be interpreted in terms of bird nesting and feeding behaviour. However additional variation was explained by landscape scale and fragmentation related (especially edge) variables. ELL98 models were used to predict bird distributions for Loch Lomond in 2000 (ELL00) and for the CSF99. Likewise the CSF99 models were used to predict distributions for ELL98 and ELL00. Predicted distributions had useful application in many cases within the ELL site between years. Fewer cases of useful application arose for predicting distributions between sites. Results are discussed in the context of the generality of bird environment relationships and reasons for low predictive accuracy when models are applied between sites and years. Models which had useful application for ELL00 were used to predict bird distributions for 2025 and 2050 at East Loch Lomond. Habitat and landscape changes were projected based on the proposed management for the site. Since woodland regeneration rates are difficult to predict, two scenarios were modelled, one assuming a modest amount of regeneration and one assuming no regeneration. Predictions derived from the ELL98 models showed broad-leaved species increasing in distribution while coniferous species declined. This was in keeping with the expected changes in the relative extent of broad-leaved and coniferous habitat. However, predictions from the CSF99 models were often less readily explicable. The value of the modelling approach is discussed and suggestions are made for further study to improve confidence in the predictions.