abstract / Housing Management / Master / Master of Housing Management

published_or_final_version / Housing Management / Master / Master of Housing Management

published_or_final_version / Environmental Management / Master / Master of Science in Environmental Management

The study of changes in the use of domestic space has received little attention in the past despite the implications of such research for everything from archaeology to architecture. This dissertation investigates the relationship between changes in domestic space use and sociocultural factors bearing on space use. A conceptual framework outlining the systemic relationships between domestic space use and various environmental, biological, and sociocultural factors is presented in Chapter 1. In Chapter 2 a set of data expectations is generated to test certain relationships established by the framework. Because of the existence of prior data on space use, the village of Diaz Ordaz, Oaxaca, Mexico was chosen as a study site. In Chapter 3 the village is described and placed in national and regional perspective, while in Chapter 4 demographic, economic, housing, and rural service changes in the village are outlined and viewed in light of similar national and regional changes. Chapter 5 treats changes in domestic space use particularly. A summary of trends of change in village domestic space and pertinent sociocultural variables is presented, followed by a review of the demographic, economic, and political conditions affecting the village today and a discussion of how these conditions relate to the trends of change. Tofts from the sample studied are classified on two scales: (1) the degree of development of space use and (2) the number of changes in space use. Explanatory models for both change in solar quality and the number of changes between two points in time are constructed and tested. It is determined that in the Diaz Ordaz case toft quality dropped with the gradual demise of the household and rose with an increase of income. On the other hand, the number of changes on a toft between two points in time appears to depend on relative wealth. Thus, given the economic, political, and demographic conditions of Mexico today, it appears that in rural villages diachronic change in domestic space use reflects changes in social/demographic and economic factors.

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Bedrock features represent various economic, social, and symbolic aspects of past societies, but have historically received little study, particularly in North America. Fortunately, new techniques for analyzing spatial configurations, use-wear, and organic residues are beginning to unlock more of the interpretive potential of these features. Though preliminary in nature, the present study contributes to this trend by documenting an application of lipid analysis to bedrock features in a dry rockshelter. Results of this initial application indicate that bedrock features in dry rockshelters may provide especially favorable conditions for the preservation and interpretation of ancient organic residues. Abundant lipids, comparable to concentrations present in some pottery sherds, were extracted from a bedrock grinding surface at Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument and analyzed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Though the lipids were highly oxidized, degradation products indicative of former unsaturated fatty acids were retained. Comparisons to experimentally aged residues, and absence of a known biomarker for maize, indicate that the bulk of the lipids preserved in the milling surface probably derive from processing an oily nut or seed resource, and not from processing maize. Substantially lower amounts of lipids were recovered from a small, blackened cupule. It is hypothesized that some portion of the lipids in the blackened cupule was deposited from condensed smoke of cooking and heating fires in the caves. Potential for the preservation of organic residues in similar sheltered bedrock contexts is discussed, and a practical method for sampling bedrock features in the field is described.

Call number: LD2668 .P7 1975 B76

Ochre is found at many Middle Stone Age (MSA) sites and its use is often attributed by archaeologists to enhanced mental abilities and symbolism. However, the links between the visible uses of ochre, cognition and symbolism have not been clearly demonstrated. Here it is argued that by understanding ochre processing technology and some of the stages involved in using ochre, one can determine the skill, knowledge and cognitive abilities required to execute those activities. In order to understand the usetraces found on ochre, and to enable the identification of them, as well as the types of ochre used, experiments were first performed with geological ochre specimens. Ochre pieces collected from the Sibudu surrounds were used experimentally for a variety of grinding, scoring and rubbing activities. All use-traces created on the ochre piece during an activity were macro- and microscopically examined, recorded and compared. Experimental ochre pieces ground against a coarse or fine-grained slab develop parallel striations. Grinding results in significant changes to the surface shape of the ochre, and often results in faceted edges. Scoring can be performed with the intention to create powder, or to create a design. The incisions created from scoring often do not reach all the edges of the used surface and they regularly have frayed terminations. A frayed incision termination shows that the incision was created by multiple scoring strokes. When ochre is scored to manufacture powder the incisions that are generated are parallel groups of grooves with erratically oriented grooves as well. Grooves created through both grinding and scoring have microstriations within them and they show a range of profile shapes. The most common use-wear from rubbing ochre on soft materials is smoothing, edge rounding and polish. Microstriations and metallic lustre occasionally form during rubbing. The collection of utilised experimental ochre formed a comparative collection for the examination of the Sibudu ochre. The main body of this research comprises a study of the Middle Stone Age ochre assemblage from Sibudu, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Sibudu has a large Middle Stone Age ochre assemblage of over 9000 pieces of ochre from layers dating between ~77 ka and ~37.6 ka. All pieces were examined to determine the types of ochre used and to inspect all use-traces present on the pieces. The assemblage comprises 5449 ochre pieces iv >8 mm, including 682 pieces with markings from use. The pre-Still Bay (~77 ka) and Howiesons Poort (~65–62 ka) layers have the highest percentage of utilised pieces. Bright-red ochre was preferentially selected for use throughout most of sequence. There is evidence of the preferential selection of specific types of ochre for use in the Sibudu assemblage. Shale and pieces with medium hardness values are common throughout the sequence. Grain sizes change through time – pieces with clayey grain sizes are favoured during the Still Bay and Howiesons Poort, whereas silty grain sizes are preferred in the younger Middle Stone Age occupations. High frequencies of bright-red amongst the utilised pieces, coupled with high frequencies of yellow or orange pieces with no evidence of use, suggest that colour choices were deliberate and not a product of postdepositional heating. Chemical analysis of a sample of utilised pieces indicates that they all contain iron, silicon, aluminium and calcium; many pieces contain hematite and some contain maghemite. Use-traces were divided into activity categories, based on experimental results. Combined grinding and rubbing is the most frequent activity for which ochre pieces were used. Grinding and rubbing use-wear also occurs independently on many pieces. Scored pieces are rare, but are more frequent in the pre-Still Bay (~77 ka) industry than elsewhere in the sequence. Some of the incisions appear to be deliberate engravings, and parallel lines and fan-like marks are the most often repeated patterns. Use-traces acquired during powder-producing activities predominate, implying a desire to create ochre powder. Powder-producing activities were mainly performed with bright-red pieces, while minimal scoring is mainly present on brown-red pieces. Pieces with mica inclusions are not common, but were frequently used for powder-producing activities. Once the activities performed with ochre were established, thought-and-action sequences, or cognigrams, were constructed. This helped establish the steps involved in each activity and the temporal and physical distance between the commencement of a task to its completion. Inferential sequences were constructed to establish the procedures and knowledge needed to complete an activity, thereby establishing the cognitive prerequisites. Cognitive interpretations are made using the concept of enhanced executive functions of the brain. The construction of the inferential thoughtv and-action sequences showed that the various ways that ochre was used have different cognitive requirements. Powder-production alone is not an indicator of complex cognitive processes, although some planning, foresight and knowledge of materials is required. Some of the powder was used in the creation of hafting adhesives, which is a cognitively demanding process requiring attention-switching ability, response inhibition and abstract thought. Grinding ochre and then rubbing the piece on a soft material for the direct transfer of powder does require some complex mental abilities, such as multi-tasking and switching attention. Scoring a piece of ochre with a sharp tool does not necessitate enhanced executive functions, but some engravings demonstrate foresight, intentionality and an awareness of space and symmetry that may demonstrate abstract thought. This research provides a complete description of the Middle Stone Age ochre assemblage at Sibudu, and establishes the way that ochre was used at the site. This contributes to the debate on the advent of enhanced behaviours in the past by providing insight into the cognitive abilities required by the ochre users. It offers a method of analysing ochre use in the past by drawing on cognitive theory and the visible applications of ochre. Both simple and complex cognitive abilities were required for ochre activities at Sibudu. The requirement for cognitively complex abilities in some of the ochre-related activities at Sibudu suggests that the people living there during the MSA had advanced mental capabilities like modern humans living today. This research shows how ochre use can be employed as a proxy for cognitive capabilities, and can therefore shed light on the evolution of the modern mind.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Architecture,1985.