Thesis (M.A)--State University of New York at Binghamton, Department of Anthropology, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Arizona, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references.

Revised chronologies from Moroccan cave sites have raised questions concerning the timing of changes in human cultural behaviour in relation to past climate shifts. However, many of the inferences about past moisture regimes are based on external records. Therefore, this thesis aimed to develop a palaeoclimate record using oxygen and carbon isotope values (d18O and d13C) in Gerbillinae (gerbil) teeth from two Late Pleistocene cave sites, El Harhoura 2 and Taforalt, in Morocco. Since small mammals are not commonly used to construct proxy climate records, a modern isotope study was undertaken in northwestern Africa to understand the influences on the stable isotope composition of small mammal tissues in semi-arid and arid settings. The results from the modern study show that d18O composition of gerbil teeth is strongly correlated with mean annual precipitation (MAP), and therefore in arid settings reflects moisture availability. Predictably, the d13C values of the gerbil teeth reflected C3 and C4 dietary inputs, but arid and mesic sites could not be distinguished because of the high variability displayed in d13C. The d18O isotope-based MAP reconstructions suggest that the Mediterranean coastal region of North Africa did not experience hyper-arid conditions during the Late Pleistocene. The d13C values of the gerbil teeth show that C3 vegetation dominated in the Late Pleistocene, but there was a small amount C4 vegetation present at Taforalt. This indicates that small mammals are extremely sensitive to discreet shifts in past vegetation cover. Both the modern and archaeological studies demonstrated that the isotope values of molars and incisors differed. The results indicate that tooth choice is an important consideration for applications as proxy Quaternary records, but also highlights a new potential means to distinguish seasonal contexts. Comparisons of proxy climate records and cultural sequences at Taforalt and El Harhoura 2 show that Middle Stone Age occupations of both sites occurred during relatively humid and arid climate phases. The transition to the Later Stone Age appears to have taken place during a period of increased aridity, hinting that this cultural transition may be related to changing environmental conditions.

Animals were given a preponderant position in Egyptian art, symbolism, and cultual practices. This thesis centres on the relationship between humans and animals during the predynastic period in Upper Egypt (Naqada I-IIIB, 4th millennium BCE), focusing on hippopotamus and crocodile as representatives of the Nile environment and antelope species as representatives of the desert environment. Depictions of these animals are analysed and compared with contemporary faunal remains derived from activities such as cult, funerary, or every day consumption. The material analysed covers several centuries: temporal evolutions and changes have been identified. The animals studied in this thesis were first used by the Naqada I-IIB elites as means to visually and practically express their power, which they envisioned in two contrasting and complementary ways. The responsibilities of the leaders were symbolised by the annihilation of negative wild forces primarily embodied by antelope species. In contrast, they symbolically appropriated positive wild forces, chief among them being the hippopotamus, from which they symbolically derived their power. Faunal remains from after mid-Naqada II are few, depictions of hippopotamus disappeared and those of crocodile became rare. Antelope species became preponderant, especially on D-ware vessels, which were accessible to non-elite people. However, toward the end of the predynastic period, antelope species came to be depicted almost exclusively on high elite material; they lost their individuality and became generic representatives of chaotic forces that the leaders and early rulers had to annihilate in order to maintain control and order.

Bibliography: pages 171-197. / Avian remains in coastal archaeological samples from Eland's Bay Cave, Die Kelders Cave 1 and Nelson Bay Cave in the Cape Province, South Africa, cover the periods between 80 000 and 40 000 B.P. and 18 000 and 300 B.P. Results of modern comparative surveys indicate that beached birds provide a predictable food supply. Kolmogorov-Smirnov two-sample nonparametric tests confirmed the close resemblance between the relative proportions of seabirds in archaeological and beached assemblages and earlier assumptions that the composition of seabird samples in archaeological sites could not otherwise have been achieved. It is shown that this simple but effective practice has a history going well into the Middle Stone Age. Kolmogorov-Smirnov tests for differences between the relative proportions of skeletal elements of Cape cormorants preserved in archaeological and modern jackal accumulations provided a useful means of drawing attention to possible activity of jackals and/or domesticated dogs. Recognition that diagenesis in some earlier samples may mimic the characteristics of modern jackal samples has established the need to extend the comparison of skeletal elements to additional species and to study the relative durability of avian skeletal elements. Similar comparison with the proportions of modern mammalian and avian predator prey species and size (mass) categories provided no indication that black or martial eagles might have contributed to the samples. Similarly, present knowledge of Cape eagle owls argues against their being likely inhabitants of caves suitable for occupation by people. It is concluded that people were the primary accumulators of the assemblages studied and that the role of small food items in prehistoric subsistence can be addressed with greater confidence. Correspondence analysis was used to determine the existence of seasonality in the modern beached seabird samples. The profiles of the archaeological samples are plotted in relation to months in which they were most likely to have been collected. Seasonal evidence from species not subjected to the correspondence analysis supported these results. The results obtained closely supported the hypothesis for seasonal exploitation of the coast. It was also possible to indicate that visits were probably of short duration and that their timing varied. Exploitation of seabirds did not coincide with the period of maximum availability of beached birds. Comparison of the avian evidence with that from seals, Cape dune mole rats and steenbok/grysbok suggested that small food items comprised part of a seasonal strategy that made maximum use of a range of seasonal resources. Evidence for significant local environmental change in addition to, and in support of, existing information has been obtained. Fluctuations in marine, freshwater and terrestrial birds at Eland's Bay Cave have been related to evidence for changes in terminal Pleistocene and Holocene sea levels and the position of the coast, and in the morphology of Verlorenvlei. At Die Kelders Cave 1 between 80 000 and 40 000 B.P., previously drier conditions were ameliorating and mixed scrub and grass and freshwater existed on the coastal foreland in the vicinity of the cave. Fluctuations in frequencies of seabirds indicate that the sea level rose slightly and then receded during the period of deposition. At Nelson Bay Cave samples indicate the approach of the coast after the Last Glacial Maximum, the disappearance of grassland and its replacement by scrub and bush as significant elements of the vegetation. Freshwater birds did not respond as expected, however, indicating that their interpretation at Nelson Bay Cave is complex and not consistent with evidence for wetter or drier conditions. A possible link has been shown to exist between fluctuations of albatrosses, petrels and shearwaters at Nelson Bay Cave and the intensity of wind patterns which are related to oceanic and atmospheric circulation. Further investigation should establish whether seabirds would provide an index of climatic conditions without support from other sources.

The Leon River, a small-medium river in central Texas, is highly impacted by multiple impoundments, enrichment from agricultural runoff, and decreased dissolved oxygen levels. This degraded river contains sixteen unionid species, two of which are both endemic to the region and candidates for the federal endangered species listing (Quadrula houstonensis and Truncilla macrodon). While there is a short historical record for this river basin and a recent modern survey completed in 2011, zooarchaeological data adds evidence for conservation efforts by increasing the time depth of data available and providing another conservation baseline. Zooarchaeological data for the Leon River is available from the two Late Holocene archaeological sites: 41HM61 and the Belton Lake Assemblages. Data generated from these assemblages describe the prehistoric freshwater mussel community of the Leon River in terms of taxonomic composition and structure. By comparing this zooarchaeological data to the data generated by the longitudinal modern survey of the Leon River, long term changes within the freshwater mussel community can be detected. A conceptual model is constructed to evaluate how robusticity, identifiability, and life history ecology affect unionid taxonomic abundances in zooarchaeological data. This conceptual model functions as an interpretive tool for zooarchaeologists to evaluate forms of equifinality in zooarchaeological assemblages. This thesis determines differences between the late Holocene and modern freshwater community of the Leon River, explores how different alternative mechanisms influence zooarchaeological data, and exemplifies of how zooarchaeological data can be used for conservation biology.

The archaeofaunal remains left by the Ancestral Puebloan people of Goodman Point Unit provides a valuable, yet underutilized resource into pit structure function. This thesis explores temporal changes in pit structure use and evaluates if a final feast occurred during a kiva decommissioning. The results from zooarchaeological analyses of a pithouse and two great kivas suggest that changes in pit structures at Goodman Point mimic the regional trend toward specialization until late Pueblo III. Cross-cultural studies on feasts, southwest ethnographies and previous zooarchaeological work established methods for identifying a feast. The analysis of differences in faunal remains from a great kiva and multiple room block middens imply that the remains in the kiva were from a final feast prior to a decommissioning ceremony and were not fill. Spatially and temporally the great kiva appears to be a unique, specialized structure in the cultural development of the Goodman Point community.

Thèse (M.A.)--Université Laval, 2000. / Comprend des réf. bibliogr.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--State University of New York at Binghamton, Anthropology Department, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2007. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 339-383). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.