Doctorat en philosophie et lettres / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

This study presents a skeletal analysis of the burials from the Elrod (12CL 1) site. This site, excavated by E.Y. Guernsey in the 1930s, has exhibited extreme commingling and loss of context. The early date, before the implementation of archaeological standards, and lack of publication are the primary sources of commingling. An outline for dealing with commingling, as well as a demographic profile and overview of health, were created during this research. The Elrod site has been characterized as a Middle to Late Archaic shell midden, though literature and analyses presented here support a stratified excavation of the Elrod burials. The stature, dentition and pathology suggest that this series contains individuals from several temporal periods and is not confined to the Middle-Late Archaic. / Department of Anthropology

Red ochre, an iron-oxide mineral has been found in prehistoric sites worldwide, in many types of sites. It has been noted as being present, but has not been afforded the status of artifact with the same level of analysis as other artifacts such as ceramics or lithics. McCullough’s Run, a multi-component prehistoric cemetery in Indiana contained red ochre with cremation burials. By treating red ochre as more than incidental to the site, but as an artifact, new information about mortuary behavior was learned. The red ochre was from locally or regionally available materials, and was placed with the deceased during cremation. Therefore, red ochre must be treated as an artifact for comparing, contrasting information intraand inter-site. / Red ochre as an artifact -- What exactly is red ochre? -- Setting the stage -- The site : McCullough's Run, Bartholomew County, Indiana, 12B1036 -- Red ochre : the artifact. / Department of Anthropology

Excavations conducted at Indian Sands (35-CU-67C), located along Oregon's southern coast, during 2002 and 2003 identified two discreet, artifact-bearing stratigraphic units. The uppermost unit is a deflated surface containing burnt shell and lithic artifacts associated with early Holocene ¹⁴C dates, while the underlying unit contained only lithic tools and debitage, some of which were associated with a ¹⁴C date of 10,430 ± 150 RCYBP. The late Pleistocene lithic assemblage at 35-CU-67C provides the earliest evidence for human presence on the Oregon coast to date. Analysis performed on the late Pleistocene assemblage addresses the validity of existing hypotheses regarding the nature of early Oregon coastal hunter-gatherer technological and subsistence strategies. These hypotheses are focused on whether early populations on the Oregon coast practiced a generalist-forager or collector subsistence strategy. Using theoretical approaches that deal with the organization of hunter-gatherer technology, analyses were conducted on the lithic tool and debitage assemblages at 35-CU- 67C in order to infer past hunter-gatherer behavior. Through the implementation of multiple tool and debitage analysis methodologies, issues of hunter-gatherer mobility, raw material procurement, stages of lithic reduction, tool production, and site function are presented. The data generated by the late Pleistocene lithic assemblage at 35-CU-67C are compared with the overlying surficial assemblage, additional early sites along the North American Pacific coast, and to contemporaneous sites located further inland within the Pacific Northwest region. Results of the lithic analyses at 35-CU-67C show distinct similarities in debitage trends between the assemblages of each stratigraphic unit. However, when tool assemblages from these units are compared, discrepancies in the types and amount of tools are found. Reasons for intra-site variability and similarity are explained through raw material studies and site function at 35-CU-67C. Additionally, similarities between the early tool assemblage at 35-CU-67C and those found in early tool assemblages on the extended Pacific coast and interior Pacific Northwest regions are discussed. This thesis demonstrates that early southern Oregon coastal populations had a tendency towards high mobility and used a generalized toolkit organization. Early lithic technology used at 35-CU-67C emphasized multidirectional core technology and biface manufacture in the form of preforms and leaf-shaped projectile-points. This type of technological organization is to be expected from hunter-gatherers practicing a generalist-forager subsistence strategy. Based on the 10,430 ± 150 RCYBP date and technological organization at 35-CU-67C, early Oregon coastal occupation is seen as encompassing a generalist-forager subsistence strategy most likely adapted to both coastal and terrestrial environments. / Graduation date: 2005

This thesis focuses on the lithic assemblage of a fortified Late Prehistoric site (AD 1260-1440) in Strawtown, Indiana, that was inhabited by the Oneota, a culture that migrated from their core area in Wisconsin, Iowa, and Illinois to other Midwestern locales such as Missouri, Nebraska, Indiana, Minnesota and Michigan (Theler and Boszhardt 2006: 435) . The types of lithic materials that they were using give insights into mobility, trade, and exchange for this unique group in central Indiana. Research centered on three questions:  What lithic raw materials are present in the two Taylor Village collections?  How might the Oneota at Taylor Village have acquired these lithic raw materials?  What might exotic lithic materials tell archaeologists about trade and exchange in the Late Prehistoric period of Indiana? The primary methods used in this research include literature review and macro- and microscopic methods for identifying chert types to determine where the Oneota were traveling to obtain their raw materials. Research from this thesis contributes to information about the Strawtown locality where multiple cultures were living in close quarters; in addition it contributes to Oneota literature where almost nothing is written about the Oneota in Indiana; this data may provide information about how and why they migrated into central Indiana in the Late Prehistoric period and potentially where they migrated from. / The Oneota -- Taylor Village -- Methods -- Raw material acquisition -- Data -- Discussion -- Summary and recommendations. / Department of Anthropology

This study is an in-depth analysis of the Lithic Artifacts excavated at the Pollock Works (a hilltop enclosure located outside Cedarville, Ohio). It is my intent to conduct a detailed analysis of the lithic artifacts from the Pollock Works in order to test the following hypothesis: Chipped stone artifacts at the Pollock Works are primarily from local and semi-local sources because these artifacts represent construction activities at the site rather than ceremonial practices. If the chert artifacts and flakes were primarily ceremonial, they would be comprised of primarily exotic cherts.I macroscopically analyzed the lithics excavated from Trench R and Trench T at the Pollock Works, 33 Gr 5, by Dr. Robert V. Riordan and Field School participants from Wright State University in Dayton, OH. Analysis concentrated on the identification of the types and sources of chert in the sample, using the Wright State classification scheme.This study is significant to the understanding of whether the Hopewell who built the Pollock Works used certain chert types in the construction of the earthwork versus the ritual aspect of the site. It was also important to analyze these lithics in order to help make inferences about the use of the Pollock Works. This study will eventually be useful to the final site report on the Pollock Works. It will also be a valuable reference tool for archaeologists studying the Pollock Works. / Department of Anthropology

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 407-427). / Also available by subscription via World Wide Web / xiii, 427 leaves, bound ill., maps 29 cm

Thesis (PhD)--Macquarie University, Division of Environmental & Life Sciences, Graduate School of the Environment, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references: p. 228-232. / Geomorphology, archaeology and geoarchaeology: introduction and background -- Surface stone artefact scatters: why can we see them? -- Geomorphic controls on spatial patterning of the surface stone artefact record -- A temporal framework for interpreting surface artefact scatters in Western NSW -- Synthesis: stone artefact scatters in a dynamic landscape. / Surface scatters of stone artefacts are the most ubiquitous feature of the Australian Aboriginal archaeological record, yet the most underutilized by archaeologists in developing models of Aboriginal prehistory. Among the many reasons for this are the lack of understanding of geomorphic processes that have exposed them, and the lack of a suitable chronological framework for investigating Aboriginal 'use of place'. This thesis addresses both of these issues. -- In arid western NSW, erosion and deposition accelerated as a result of the introduction of sheep grazing in the mid 1800s has resulted in exposure of artefact scatters in some areas, burial in others, and complete removal in those parts of the landscape subject to concentrated flood flows. The result is a patchwork of artefact scatters exhibiting various degrees of preservation, exposure and visibility. My research at Stud Creek, in Sturt National Park in far western NSW, develops artefact and landscape survey protocols to accommodate this dynamic geomorphic setting. A sampling strategy stratified on the basis of landscape morphodynamics is presented that allows archaeologists to target areas of maximum artefact exposure and minimum post-discard disturbance. Differential artefact visibility at the time of the survey is accommodated by incorporating measures of surface cover which quantify the effects of various ephemeral environmental processes, such as deposition of sediments, vegetation growth, and bioturbation, on artefact count. -- While surface stone artefact scatters lack the stratigraphy usually considered necessary for establishing the timing of Aboriginal occupation, a combination of radiocarbon determinations on associated heat-retainer ovens, and stratigraphic analysis and dating of the valley fills which underlie the scatters, allows a two-stage chronology for huntergatherer activity to be developed. In the Stud Creek study area, dating of the valley fill by OSL established a maximum age of 2,040±100 y for surface artefact scatters. The heatretainer ovens ranged in age from 1630±30 y BP to 220±55 y BP. Bayesian statistical analysis of the sample of 28 radiocarbon determinations supported the notion, already established from analysis of the artefacts, that the Stud Creek valley was occupied intermittently for short durations over a relatively long period of time, rather than intensively occupied at any one time. Furthermore, a gap in oven building between about 800 and 1100 years ago was evident. Environmental explanations for this gap are explored, but the paiaeoenvironmental record for this part of the Australian arid zone is too sparse and too coarse to provide explanations of human behaviour on time scales of just a few hundred years. -- Having established a model for Stud Creek of episodic landscape change throughout the late Pleistocene and Holocene, right up to European contact, its veracity was evaluated in a pilot study at another location within the region. The length of the archaeological record preserved in three geomorphically distinct locations at Fowlers Gap, 250 km south of Stud Creek, is a function of geomorphic dynamics, with a record of a few hundred years from sites located on channel margins and low terraces, and the longest record thus far of around 5,000 years from high terrace surfaces more remote from active channel incision. But even here, the record is not continuous, and like Stud Creek, the gaps are interpreted to indicate that Aboriginal people moved into and out of these places intermittently throughout the mid to late Holocene. -- I conclude that episodic nonequilibrium characterizes the geomorphic history of these arid landscapes, with impacts on the preservation of the archaeological record. Dating of both archaeological and landform features shows that the landscape, and the archaeological record it preserves, are both spatially and temporally disjointed. Models of Aboriginal hunter-gatherer behaviour and settlement patterns must take account of these discontinuities in an archaeological record that is controlled by geomorphic activity. -- I propose a new geoarchaeological framework for landscape-based studies of surface artefact scatters that incorporates geomorphic analysis and dating of landscapes, as well as tool typology, into the interpretation of spatial and temporal patterns of Aboriginal huntergatherer 'use of place'. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / vii, 232 p. ill., maps

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.

Cremated bone occurs in many archaeological sites as small grey and white fragments. The high temperatures reached during heating induce structural, chemical and isotopic changes to bone apatite (the inorganic fraction of bone). These changes are investigated here by infrared spectroscopy and mass spectrometry (d13C, d18O and 87Sr/86Sr) in both modern heated bone and archaeological cremated specimens. The results of various heating experiments (in laboratory and natural conditions) highlight the significant carbon and oxygen exchanges with the fuel used as well as with bone organic matter (mainly collagen). While not informing on dietary practice and hydrology as is the case with unburned bone, the d13C and d18O values of calcined samples together with infrared results provide information on the conditions in which the bone was heated (e.g. presence of fuel, size of the pyre, temperatures reached, dry or fresh bone, etc.). In parallel, the effect of heat on the strontium present in bone is minimal, if not undetectable. Furthermore, as observed through artificial contamination experiments, post-burial alterations also appear to be extremely limited, which is to be expected due to the higher crystallinity of calcined bone apatite compared to tooth enamel and unburned bone. These experiments demonstrate that calcined bone provides a reliable substrate for mobility studies using its strontium isotope composition. The application of these results to the study of six Neolithic and one Bronze Age sites from Ireland showed the possibility of discriminating cremated individuals that ate food originating from different regions, as well as highlighting possible variations in cremation practices between different sites. The results of this thesis greatly extend the application of strontium isotopes to places and periods in which cremation was the dominant mortuary practice, or where unburned bone and enamel do not survive. They also provide insights into the reconstruction of ancient cremation practices.