Though some researchers have argued that the Big Barrens grasslands of Kentucky were the product of anthropogenic land clearing practices by Native Americans, heretofore, this hypothesis had not been tested archaeologically. More work was needed to refine chronologies of fire activity in the region, determine the extent to which humans played a role in the process, and integrate these findings with the paleoenvironmental and archaeological record. With these goals in mind, I conducted archaeological and geoarchaeological investigations at Crumps Sink in the Sinkhole Plain of Kentucky. The archaeological record and site formation history of Crumps Sink were compared with environmental and archaeological data from the Interior Low Plateaus and Southern Appalachian Mountains for an understanding of how the site fits into the larger story of human-environmental interactions in the Eastern Woodlands. Based on the data recovered, I argue that through land burning Archaic hunter-gatherers were active managers of ecosystems to a greater degree than previously acknowledged. Excavations at Crumps Sink revealed stratified archaeological deposits spanning the late Middle Archaic to Terminal Late Archaic periods. Radiocarbon dates and an analysis of projectile point typologies provided information on the chronological and cultural history of the site. Magnetic susceptibility, loss-on-ignition, plant available phosphorous, and soil micromorphological analyses were conducted to examine landform dynamics in response to environmental change and to trace the anthropogenic signature created by human activities at the site. Masses of lithic debitage, animal bone, and burned sediment nodules per ten-cm-level provide an indication of human occupation intensity and shifting activities over time. Radiocarbon dates were used to reconstruct rates of sediment accumulation in the sink. These varying datasets were considered together for a holistic understanding of localized environmental and anthropogenic impacts on the landform. Between 7200 and 5600 cal. BP, during the Middle Holocene Thermal Maximum and corresponding with the late Middle Archaic period, sediment accumulation was sustained with one identifiable episode of very weak soil development. Background magnetic and chemical signatures in the soils were greater than they were at pre-occupation levels, demonstrating that human activities left a lasting imprint in soils as early as the late Middle Archaic period. Between 5600 and 3900 cal. BP, periods of diminished sedimentation led to more pronounced episodes of soil formation. However, these soil horizons are interposed by pulses of enhanced sediment accumulation. These soil data may signal shifting environmental regimes during the Middle to Late Holocene transition. Between 5600 and 3900 cal. BP scattered plant ash, elevated masses of burned sediment nodules, and pestle fragments in Late Archaic deposits suggest that hunter-gatherers were intensively processing nut mast, potentially in association with early forest clearance and silviculture. Botanical assemblages from a coincident archaeological sequence at the Carlston Annis site in the nearby middle Green River region has demonstrated woodland disturbance and potential silviculture in central Kentucky during this time. During the Late Archaic and Terminal Late Archaic periods (3900-3000 cal. BP), substantial plant ash deposition occurred in a stratum that accumulated relatively quickly. Very low burned sediment nodule masses in this deposit indicate that combustion features were not common in the immediate vicinity and that elevated frequencies of plant ash were the result of burning on a broader expanse of the surrounding landform. Chronologically, the zone with enhanced plant ash deposition is coeval with previously demonstrated occurrences of increased forest fires, grassland expansion, and a shift to early horticultural economies throughout the region. Soil development occurred after 3000 cal. BP, and this episode of landform stability may have lasted for over two millennia until being capped by sediment accumulation from historic agriculture. The late Middle Archaic through Terminal Late Archaic data from Crumps Sink demonstrate that hunter-gatherer activities left lasting signatures in soils in Kentucky. The data from the Late Archaic to Terminal Late Archaic periods (ca. 5600-3000 cal. BP) may indicate intentional land burning by hunter-gatherers to create anthropogenic environments, first for silviculture and then for early plant domestication. This forces a rethinking of labor and subsistence systems within hunter-gatherer societies. Thus, if hunter-gatherers were utilizing long-term forest management methods, they were employing a delayed-return economic system relying on labor investment and negotiated understandings about land tenure. Further characterization of the origin of fire management activities will help us to elucidate the nature of incipient indigenous plant domestication in the Eastern Woodlands.

Fuelwood is a basic need for rural households in Malawi. However, deforestation has reduced the quantity of forest products such as fuelwood available to households. This has negatively affected rural Malawian quality of life, especially for women who are forced to walk long distances to collect fuelwood, prepare foods with short cooking times, or reduce the number of meals. The Malawi government has encouraged the establishment of household owned woodlots, as a part of reforestation programs, to address the supply side of the forest product scarcity. However, fuelwood supply and use is also a gender-based issue; men plant trees and make decisions over harvesting, while women gather and use fuelwood. Within the household, woodlot products also have multiple and competing uses between men and women. It is critical to examine how gender dynamics affect women's fuelwood procurement and use from the woodlot. This study investigated how gender of the household head and women's access to woodlots affects fuelwood shortage, controlling for number of trees, household size, and use of other fuels. Fifty-one female and sixty-three male-headed households with household owned woodlots were interviewed, using questionnaire and focus group interviews. Results show that one-third of both household types reported experiencing fuelwood shortages in the past year. Logistic regression indicates that gender of household head is an important factor, along with number of trees in the woodlot, in determining fuelwood sufficiency. Female-headed households were less likely to experience fuelwood shortage than male-headed households when the interaction with number of trees was included. Whether a woman in male-headed households must seek permission to harvest fuelwood, number of trees, and cooking with maize stalk were factors that predicted fuelwood shortage. Suggestions for several interventions to address fuelwood supply and access were included. Planting more trees in woodlots and use of fuelwood efficient stoves are two important strategies. It is important to address gender-specific priorities as they relate to woodlot use. This can be done through gender sensitizations that target program planners and male household heads. For successful programs, men and women should participate in both program planning and implementation. / Graduation date: 2003

The research presented in this thesis examines a lithic assemblage from the multi-component habitation site Gorelyi Les in the Belaia river valley, Cis-Baikal region, Siberia. The distinctive traits of this collection are the relatively small size of the lithic assemblage and the large proportion of debitage. The chosen methodological framework for this research concentrates on obtaining maximum information from the available materials through application of typological, technological, use-wear, and spatial analyses. The results suggest that there were differences in the organization of the technological process of lithic tool manufacture during the Early Neolithic and Late Neolithic. During the Early Neolithic, lithic tool manufacture and use were rather intensive and diversified, while during the Late Neolithic, tool manufacture and use were limited to a narrower range of technological operations and functions.

The utility of dental calculus as a proxy for diet and mouth use is explored for the Middle Holocene Cis-Baikal region of Central Siberia based on two methods: a macroscopic analysis of severity and a microscopic analysis of particles within deposits. The study area was inhabited by two culturally and biologically distinct cultures, the Early Neolithic (EN) Kitoi culture (8,000 to 7,000/6,800 cal B.P.) and the Late Neolithic-Early Bronze Age (LN-EBA) Isakovo-Serovo-Glaskovo (ISG) cultural complex (6,000/5,800 to 4,000 cal B.P.), separated by a period of cultural transition marked by a cessation in formal cemetery use. Data were collected from four cemetery sites, two dating to the EN and two dating to the LN-EBA. Nonparametric testing of calculus severity revealed that, for adult males and juveniles, lakeshore populations displayed greater affinity to each other than to their contemporaneous cultural counterpart populations living along riverine systems in the Angara River Valley. Trends within the EN cemetery Shamanka II contrasted to the other cemetery populations, with noticeably larger deposits in anterior quadrants and significant sexual distinctions. The proportion of protein to carbohydrates consumed is known to influence calculus formation, but both cultural groups lived on a diet based predominately on meat sources so dietary ratios alone do not adequately explain the differences distinguished. A complex multifactorial model involving microregional differences in resources/environment, foraging patterns, individual variation, and dental wear patterns provides at least a partial explanation for the results observed. A wide range of particles were recovered during the microscopic analysis of calculus, albeit in low concentrations. The low starch grain counts were consistent with a diet based predominately on meats but still provide some of the first direct evidence for plant consumption in the Cis-Baikal, including possible plant processing by cooking or grinding based on damage evident on the grains. Other particles recovered may provide evidence of mouth use activities or palaeoenvironmental influences. Together, the two components of this analysis offer strong evidence that dental calculus is a useful tool for reconstructing hunter-gatherer lifeways but also highlight the limitations of conducting this type of research on previously excavated and potentially contaminated material.

No description available.

La présente recherche souligne l'importance de la pêche chez les chasseurs cueilleurs marins de la région centrale du détroit de Magellan et des mers adjacentes. L'approche méthodologique prend en compte l'analyse ichthyoarchéologique de 13 sites archéologiques couvrant une chronologie de 6000 à 1000 ans BP. La méthode de la sclérochronologie est appliquée aux vertèbres de l'espèce la plus importante (Salilota aust alis) afin d'évaluer la saisonnalité des activités de pêche. Les techniques de pêche sont abordées à partir des éléments de technologie découverts dans les gisements étudiés (poids lithiques, pointes en os, murets de pêcherie) et de l'information ethnographique. Les résultats permettent de discuter et de réévaluer le rôle de la pêche par rapport à la chasse aux mammifères marins, généralement estimée (avec les mollusques) comme l'axe principal de subsistance de ces sociétés nomades. Des changements radicaux sont observés dans le modèle d'exploitation des poissons à travers le temps. On observe à l'époque ancienne et moyenne (de 6000 à 2000 ans BP) une grande spécialisation dans des espèces démersales exploitées à différents moments de l'année, et l'emploi de technologies spécialisées standardisées. Au cours des derniers 2000 ans et jusqu'à la période ethnographique, la pêche est concentrée sur les bords de côte ; son rôle dans la subsistance est variable et on observe des stratégies opportunistes permises par l'usage de techniques de pêche variées. Le modèle d'exploitation observé tout au long de la séquence chronologique est différent de celui qui avait été suggéré par D. Zangrando pour les nomades marins du canal Beagle, où est observée une intensification progressive de la pêche à travers le temps. Finalement on remarque le haut niveau de spécialisation de la pêche chez les premiers indiens canoeros qui ont peuplé la région de Magellan, il y a 6000 ans, ce qui permet de discuter du degré d'adaptation de ces populations aux milieux marins. Cette observation renforce l'hypothèse, de plus en plus documentée, d'un peuplement maritime venu du nord, le long de la côte pacifique. / This research highlights the importance of fishing in marine hunter-gatherers of the central region of the Magellan Strait and adjacent seas. The methodological approach takes into account the ichthyoarchaeological analysis of 13 archaeological sites covering a chronology from 6000 to 1000 years BP. The Sclerochronology method is applied to the vertebrae of the most important species (Salilota australis) to estimate the seasonality of fishing activities. Fishing techniques are discussed from technology elements discovered in the studied deposits (weight lithic, bone points, fishing weirs) and ethnographic information. The results allow to discuss and reassess the role of fisheries in respect to the hunting of marine mammals, generally estimated to be (along with shellfish) the main source of subsistence nomadic societies. Radical changes are observed on fishing strategies over time. We observe in the Early and Middle Periods (6000 to 2000 years BP) a specialization in demersals species exploited at different moments of the year, and the use of standardized and specialized technologies. ln the last 2000 years until the ethnographic period, fishing is concentrated on the seashore; the role in subsistence is variable and opportunistic strategies enabled by the use of various fishing technics can be observed. The fishing strategies observed throughout the chronological sequence is different from the one suggested by F. Zangrando for the marine nomads of the Beagle Channel, where a progressive intensification of fishing through time is detected. Finally this research emphasizes the high level of the fishing specialization of the first canoeros Indians who populated the region of Magallanes, 6000 years ago, which allows us to discuss the degree of adaptation of these populations to marine environments. This observation strengthens the hypothesis, increasingly documented, of the existence of a maritime population from the Northern regions, along the Pacific Coast.

abstract: The South African Middle Stone Age (MSA), spanning the Middle to Late Pleistocene (Marine Isotope Stages (MIS) 8-3) witnessed major climatic and environmental change and dramatic change in forager technological organization including lithic raw material selection. Homo sapiens emerged during the MSA and had to make decisions about how to organize technology to cope with environmental stressors, including lithic raw material selection, which can effect tool production and application, and mobility. This project studied the role and importance of lithic raw materials in the technological organization of foragers by focusing on why lithic raw material selection sometimes changed when the behavioral and environmental context changed. The study used the Pinnacle Point (PP) MSA record (MIS6-3) in the Mossel Bay region, South Africa as the test case. In this region, quartzite and silcrete with dramatically different properties were the two most frequently exploited raw materials, and their relative abundances change significantly through time. Several explanations intertwined with major research questions over the origins of modern humans have been proposed for this change. Two alternative lithic raw material procurement models were considered. The first, a computational model termed the Opportunistic Acquisition Model, posits that archaeological lithic raw material frequencies are due to opportunistic encounters during random walk. The second, an analytical model termed the Active-Choice Model drawn from the principles of Optimal Foraging Theory, posits that given a choice, individuals will choose the most cost effective means of producing durable cutting tools in their environment and will strategically select those raw materials. An evaluation of the competing models found that lithic raw material selection was a strategic behavior in the PP record. In MIS6 and MIS5, the selection of quartzite was driven by travel and search cost, while during the MIS4, the joint selection of quartzite and silcrete was facilitated by a mobility strategy that focused on longer or more frequent stays at PP coupled with place provisioning. Further, the result suggests that specific raw materials and technology were relied on to obtain food resources and perform processing tasks suggesting knowledge about raw material properties and suitability for tasks. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Anthropology 2017

O estilo tecnológico é resultado de escolhas culturalmente determinadas, que se refletem na seleção das matérias primas, nas técnicas e seqüências de produção e nos resultados materiais destas escolhas. A comparação entre estilos tecnológicos de distintas indústrias líticas de uma mesma região permite, portanto, antever a possibilidade de distinção entre identidades sociais ou culturais no registro arqueológico. Buscando testar a validade desta premissa teórica para o estudo da variabilidade artefatual das indústrias líticas do sul do Brasil, analisamos de forma comparativa os conjuntos líticos da região do Alto rio dos Sinos, Rio Grande do Sul, relacionados a grupos de caçadores coletores, associados à Tradição Umbu, e a dois distintos grupos de horticultores, das Tradições Guarani e Taquara. / Technological style can be defined as the result of cultural choices reflected in different strategies of raw materials selections and debidage techniques related to the production of lithic artifacts. Therefore, it can be used to identify cultural or social identity in the archaeological record through the analysis of lithic assemblages. This concept was used to interpret the artefactual variability of lithic assemblages related to three different prehistoric settlement systems that occupied the Sinos River Valley (Rio Grande do Sul State, southern Brazil), between 8.800 and 440 BP: the hunter-gatherers of Umbu Tradition and the horticulturalists of Taquara and Guarani Traditions.

Esta dissertação apresenta o resultado de um levantamento de sítios líticos caçadores-coletores no alto rio das Almas nos contrafortes ocidentais da Serra de Paranapiacaba. Dados sobre as indústrias líticas relacionadas são fornecidos sucintamente e comparadas às pesquisas desenvolvidas no Médio Ribeira por De Blasis (1988). Em acréscimo, esta Dissertação trata de estabelecer parâmetros para a compreensão da formação de sítios arqueológicos detectados em profundidade em porções de alta vertente, datados do Holoceno Médio. A continuidade de grupos caçadores-coletores na área de pesquisa é delimitada entre 5920 e 1000 anos AP e, em face a este período, tratamos de reconstruir os cenários sob transformação ambiental regional em a que estiveram submetidos esses grupos humanos e seus assentamentos. Nossa contribuição é desvincular os estudos sobre grupos caçadores-coletores do cunho hiper-determinista da tecno-tipologia lítica para uma discussão mais ampla que dialogue de forma transdisciplinar com a geomorfologia, a palinologia e a espeleologia. / This thesis provides the results of an archaeological survey focused in hunter-gatherer settlements from Upper Almas valley, on the western side of Paranapiacaba Mountains. Dates from lithics analysis associated to these sites are compared with results from Middle Ribeira valley, developed by De Blasis (1988). In addition, this Thesis treats to establish frames of reference to understand the formation processes of archaeological sites settled during the Middle Holocene in high depth on high portions of the mountains. The hunter-gatherer continuity between 5920 and 1000 yr BP in the studied area is approached by a paleoambiental treatment: our additional goal is to reconstruct the scenarios of environmental transformations in which these human groups developed their History. Furthermore, this thesis provides an instance to reduce the technological approach over these groups, opening an ecosystem approach which includes dates from palinology, geomorphology and espeleology.

Hydropeaking is important to meet peak demand of electricity on the Swedish powergrid. The rapid changes in discharge may affect the ecology of streams and rivers negatively downstream of hydropeaking powerplants. In this study, the composition of five functional feeding groups (FFG) was investigated in the families Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera and Trichoptera (EPT) in samples collections by Hester-Dendy-sampler in 27 locations in streams and rivers with and without hydropeaking. The groups shredders, grazers, gatherers, filter feeders and predators were identified for each toxon. I expected that the flow regime downstream of a hydropeaking powerplant would affect the composition of FFG compared to non-hydropeaking streams and rivers, except for the group predators. No significant differenses in FFG between the streams and rivers with and without hydropeaking was found. These results indicate that effects from hydropeaking on FFG is not general and that spatially-explicit investigations may be needed to shed light on the effects of hydropeaking. / För att reglera effektbehovet på det svenska elnätet är korttidsregleringen från vattenkraftverk en viktig faktor. Dessa snabba förändringar i flödesregimen medför dock en påverkan på ekologin i vattendraget. I den här studien undersöktes sammansättningen av fem olika funktionella födosöksgrupper (FFG) hos Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera och Trichoptera (EPT) från insamling av evertebrater med Hester-Dendy-provtagare i 27 lokaler i vattendrag med och utan korttidsreglering. Identifiering av grupperna shredders, grazers, gatherers, filter feeders och predators gjordes för varje taxon. Jag förväntade mig att flödesregimen som förekommer nedströms korttidsreglerade vattenkraftverk skulle påverka sammansättningen av FFG i jämförelse med ett icke korttidsreglerat vattendrag, förutom för gruppen predators. Data visade att det inte fanns någon signifikant skillnad hos FFG mellan vattendragen med vs. utan korttidsreglering. Detta visar att påverkan på FFG av korttidsreglering inte är generell och att platsspecifika undersökningar kan behövas för att belysa regleringens effekter.