This thesis investigates historic settlement pattern changes during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries through shifting scales of selection derived from evolutionary theory. Artifacts from 65 archaeological sites were used to establish mean dates, site function, and duration of occupation. Geographic Information Systems analysis of these data and related historical records was used to investigate success and failure of farmsteads. Settlements in the study area developed over time from a rural, subsistence-based pattern of isolated farmsteads, to one including local communities with specialist professions, to a more specialized, market-driven urban settlement pattern. The results show that market-oriented agricultural strategies, like cotton farming and beef production, along with the development of peripheral urban economic centers led to the development and abandonment of rural farmsteads in Kemper and Lauderdale counties. These shifts occurred rapidly, indicating that they were the result of selection acting on entire settlement/subsistence systems and at various scales over time.

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In summer of 2012 archaeological excavations were conducted at the Iberville Housing Projects in New Orleans, Louisiana. The excavations were conducted in order to gather archaeological data pertaining to the site’s history as part of New Orleans’ notorious vice district, Storyville. During excavation a cache of 765 turquoise glass seed beads was uncovered along the east wall of Test Unit #1. The cache, found at a depth of around 83 cm below the ground surface, suggests, in conjunction with other artifacts found at this level, that the beads were deposited at the site between 1810 and 1830. This cache of seed beads is unique at the site both in its context and in the quantity of beads that were found. The presence of the bead cache suggests that there may have been an active trading economy at the site, as beads similar to those found at the Iberville site are important elements in informal economies of the eighteenth century. This paper discusses the possibility that an alternative or informal reciprocal, non-cash based economy was in operation on the periphery of New Orleans in the early nineteenth century.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston University / Historic houses function as the stages for, and central figures in, processes of place-making and heritage construction. I offer the case site of the Fairbanks House (completed in 1641) in Dedham, Massachusetts as the subject of my investigation into these issues. Touted as the "oldest timber frame house in North America," the Fairbanks House is widely regarded as a significant example of early colonial architecture in the United States; it has operated as a house museum since it was purchased by the Fairbanks Family in America, Inc. stewardship group in 1904. This study expands beyond antiquity to include all eight generations of Fairbanks families who lived on the property. I argue that longevity, and a durational perspective that links the past with the present, is equally vital to peoples' understanding and appreciation. I trace the biography of the Fairbanks House from its creation in the early 17th century to its current use as a heritage site. This perspective emphasizes the continued saliency of accumulated individual decisions and actions, reified by both material culture and immaterial processes such as tradition and memory. I use archaeological, architectural, documentary, and oral sources to reconstruct the landscape of the Fairbanks farm and I demonstrate how residents made day-to-day choices, such as land purchases or neighborly socializing, to improve their socio-economic standing and establish a future for their children. In doing so for eight generations, they established a legacy that was celebrated beginning in the 19th century, when Fairbanks women living in the house promoted their family's history through storytelling and published media. These processes of heritage construction remain continuous and personal, as shown by the results of an ethnographic study that I designed, which reveals that Fairbanks House museum visitors define historicity not through specific facts about the Fairbanks family but through their own narratives based on their engagement with the site's material culture. In addition to providing an important example of how generations of modestly-successful New England farmers adapted their surroundings to fit their values and goals, this study positions local house museums as dynamic spaces for creative, personal engagements with the past.

Student Number : 8534741 - PhD thesis - School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies - Faculty of Science / During the 19th century the present Makapan Valley World Heritage site was a place of repeated refuge from the conflicts arising from shifting authority, acquisition and loss of power, and competition over the control of resources in the northern regions of Republic of South Africa. During 1854 growing resistance amongst the northern AmaNdebele against the frontier of colonial expansion erupted in the murder of a number of trekboers who were encroaching on their territory. Historic Cave, one of the caves in the Valley, became written into the Afrikaner Nationalist narratives of the 20th century as the place where the Boers avenged the treacherous murder of their fellow trekkers, by suppressing the savage forces of chief Mugombane and his Kekana chiefdom. The events surrounding the siege and the scale of the massacre became blurred in the playing out of these political agendas, while the Kekana oral histories remained silent on the matter. The excavation of Historic Cave, prompted by the contradictions in the historical narrative and the silence in the oral record, provided a means to detect the boundary between what happened and what was said to have happened. This thesis presents the results of a survey of the Valley, the excavation of Historic Cave and the analysis of the remains of the siege of 1854. The archaeological survey and excavation indicates that a number of scurmishes took place in the valley, but that Historic Cave was occupied only on one occasion for any length of time, during the siege of 1854. The lime enriched deposits and dry conditions within the cave have allowed for the exceptional preservation of plant, animal and human remains. This enduring evidence chronicled the activities and steps taken by the Kekana to survive. The spatial layout of the cave together with cultural remains echo the structure and hierarchy of the society trapped within it, which like many African societies of this time comprised a heterogeneous ‘royal’ core and other ‘foreign’ subordinate groups. Evidence for divination reflects the final attempts to divine the cause of misfortune and protect the group against maleficent forces. However, it is argued that the social and religious forces that operated to keep the chiefdom together may have begun to loosen under the pressure of the siege, especially as the polluting forces of death became stronger and the group began to succumb. The remains of young and old people, and the desiccated bodies of a child and a young woman speak of untold suffering and provide a glimpse of the horror within the cave. From this it is reasoned that following the devastation of the siege the core of the chiefdom was challenged; the chief was ‘dealt with’ and the political power base shifted. The real reason for the ‘silence’ then lies at the point of rupture, at the stage when the surviving statesmen contrived a suitable account of ensuing events to give the new chief legitimacy and the lineage continuity.

Esta tese de doutorado tem como objetivo mapear e cadastrar as estruturas portuárias do vale do Ribeira (SP) especialmente aquelas situadas no município de Cananéia que forneçam informações sobre o período de 1850-1950, época em que teria se estabelecido um modo capitalista de produção na região alicerçado na lavoura comercial do arroz. Essa abordagem se justifica pela necessidade de se avaliar as contradições existentes entre o discurso e a sociedade concreta. Hoje a região é conhecida por suas belezas naturais, patrimônio histórico mas, paradoxalmente, é a mais pobre do estado de São Paulo. No entanto, as estruturas portuárias, desde o século XIX até hoje apresentam grande dinâmica construtiva. Como explicar esse conflito? Observando os contextos através de uma Arqueologia Marítima embasada no materialismo histórico. Esses contextos foram delimitados através do mapeamento, cadastramento e prospecção extensiva de estruturas, bens e locais relativos à evolução de embarcações, dos portos e da dinâmica comercial expressa no ambiente urbano. O resultado desse trabalho foi o entendimento de que duas modificações causaram grandes transformações na dinâmica produtiva de todo o vale do Ribeira. A primeira delas foi a transição da lavoura comercial para pesca e para o turismo. A segunda foi a inversão do sentido do fluxo das mercadorias gerado pela substituição do transporte marítimo, em primeiro lugar, pelo conjunto navegação fluvial/ ferrovia, depois pelo transporte rodoviário. Esse processo colocou os lucros nas mãos de novos agentes econômicos, mas manteve a produção do discurso como primazia dos antigos donos do poder. / The aim of this Ph.D. thesis is to map and register the ports of the Ribeiras valley (SP) especially those situated in Cananéia that provide information about the period 1850-1950, when a capitalist production mode based on the trade of rice was developed in the region. The justification for this kind of approach is the necessity to evaluate the contradictions between the speech and the real society. Nowadays the region is known by its natural resources and historical buildings but at the same time it is the poorest region of São Paulo state. However, since the 19th century until today the ports have had a great structural dynamics. How to explain this conflict? By observing the context through a Maritime Archaeology based on the historical materialism. These contexts have been delimitated with mapping, registering and extensive surveying of the structures, patrimony and places related to evolution of water craft, ports and the commercial dynamics in urban environment. The result of the research was the understanding that two changes have caused huge transformation in the productive dynamics of the entire Ribeiras valley. The first one was the transition from commercial agriculture to commercial fishing and tourism. The second one was the inversion of the direction of the trade caused by the substitution of maritime transportation, first by river transportation/ railroad, secondly by the road transportation. This process put the profits in the hands of new economical agents, but kept the production of the speech with the old power owners.

A pesquisa apresentada versa sobre três temáticas inter-relacionadas - fronteira, estâncias e museus - na região da Fronteira Oeste do Rio Grande do Sul, através da pesquisa arqueológica realizada na Estância Velha do Jarau (Quaraí/RS) e das visitas às instituições museológicas dos municípios que formam a Campanha Gaúcha. Relacionou-se a formação histórica da Fronteira Oeste, marcada pelo estabelecimento de estâncias, com o perfil histórico-cultural da região atualmente, buscando identificar mudanças e permanências que se processaram nesse espaço e servem como indicadores de memória e identidade. Foram analisadas as louças da Estância Velha do Jarau demonstrando como este espaço é múltiplo e representativo do ambiente doméstico de uma estância de criação de gado do século XIX, muitas vezes rememorada somente por seus elementos político-econômicos, bélicos e produtivos, não relacionando este espaço à uma unidade doméstica e familiar. A partir desses dois primeiros eixos (fronteira e estância) diagnosticou-se de que forma a memória estancieira está presente nos museus da região e como estes podem contribuir para valorização e ampliação do patrimônio e da identidade local/regional. Ao final foram propostas estratégias para musealização do acervo arqueológico da Estância Velha do Jarau, partindo de premissas básicas da ação museológica que se norteiam pelo preservacionismo e educação. / The research herein presented deals with three interrelated themes - frontier, cattle farms and museums - in the western frontier region of Rio Grande do Sul, through archaeological research conducted at Estancia Velha Jarau (Quaraí/RS) and visits to the museums of the cities that make up the Campanha Gaúcha (Gaucho Plains). It relates to the historical formation of the western frontier, marked by the establishment of farms with a historical and cultural profile of the region today, in order to identify changes and continuities which occurred in this space and are used as indicators of memory and identity. Chinaware from the Estância Velha do Jarau was analyzed, demonstrating how this space is multiple and represents the household environment of a cattle farm in the nineteenth century, often recognized only for its political and economic elements, and war production, and not connecting this space to a household and family context. From these first two axes (frontier and cattle farm) an examination was made of the way in which memory of the cattle farm is present in the museums of the region and how they can contribute to the recovery and expansion of heritage and identity at the local/regional level. Finally, strategies have been proposed for the museum housing of the archaeological collection from Estância Velha do Jarau, starting from the basic premises of museology that are centered around preservation and education.

Este trabalho tem por objetivo apresentar as possibilidades que a arqueometalurgia coloca à disposição da arqueologia, inseridas em uma série de métodos que, diante do estudo de uma variada amostra de materiais, permitem a aproximação do conhecimento das diversas facetas implicadas na compreensão da atividade metalúrgica e o desenvolvimento de interpretações sobre o papel e o significado do metal na sociedade e na economia das comunidades do passado. De acordo com esta abordagem interdisciplinar, o presente trabalho apoia-se no estudo de objetos metálicos encontrados no Arraial de São Francisco Xavier da Chapada, sítio arqueológico localizado no Mato Grosso, inserido no contexto da mineração colonial do século XVIII e, formado, quase que em sua totalidade, por escravos. Aprofundando uma visão direcionada ao estudo arqueometalúrgico do acervo resgatado, através de procedimentos de análise metalográfica, técnica bastante útil para a caracterização de estruturas metálicas, este trabalho busca identificar aspectos ligados à matéria-prima usada no processo de confecção, detalhes das técnicas de produção dos artefatos metálicos estudados e características estruturais dos mesmos, na tentativa de estabelecer inferências sobre o cotidiano local, a relação da metalurgia com a escravidão, o sistema de abastecimento de mercadorias e seus diálogos com o Império Português. / This study aims to present the possibilities that archaeometallurgy can provide to archeology, entered into a series of methods that, on the study of a diverse sample of materials, allow the approximation of knowledge of the various facets involved in understanding metallurgical activity and developing interpretations of the role and significance of metals in the society and economy of the communities of the past. According to this interdisciplinary approach, this work relies on the study of metal objects found in the Arraial de São Francisco Xavier da Chapada, archaeological site located in Mato Grosso, placed in the context of eighteenth-century colonial mining and formed almost in its entirety, by slaves. Deepening a vision directed to the study of the archaeometallurgical collection rescued, through metallographic analysis procedures, useful technique for the characterization of metal structures, this study seeks to identify aspects of raw material used in the process of confection, details of the production techniques of the metallic artifacts studied and its structural characteristics, in an attempt to make inferences about the everyday place, metallurgy relationship with slavery, the system of supply of goods and its dialogues with the Portuguese Empire.

Few verifiable first-hand accounts of the lives of past sex workers exist. What, then, were their daily lives like? Can archaeology assist us in understanding the daily lived experiences of sex workers, brothel managers, and visitors to the brothel? Despite excellent research in this subject, archaeologists have yet to adequately address the daily lived experiences within sites of prostitution. Using artifacts collected from the privy feature of the 27/29 Endicott Street house lot in Boston’s North End neighborhood, this dissertation examines the relationships among embodiment (or the exterior and interior experiences of the body), sensual experience, and identity through analysis of “assemblages of practice,” or artifacts used together to accomplish specific projects in everyday life (e.g., personal grooming, presentation of self, dining, place-making). Employing theories of embodiment and an archaeology of the senses, my study of the Endicott Street collection contributes a new methodological and theoretical framework for studying the archaeology of prostitution across time, space, and culture. Through the analysis of household artifacts such as teawares and lighting, geographic location in the city, and historical crime reports, I determined that the brothel environment was constructed both to avoid police notice and to provide an atmosphere of genteel anonymity to its customers. Likewise, the embodied experiences of women working here were as much a part of the brothel’s economy as were services offered in addition to sex. Artifact and documentary evidence suggests that the closing of the brothel and the filling of the brothel privy appear to signify the end of financial prosperity at the property. Ultimately, this dissertation finds that the practice of nineteenth-century sex work involved a careful construction of fantasy for brothel customers, and that this fantasy had the potential to provide financial stability and security for the madam of the establishment, if not for the women working as prostitutes.

Dès ses débuts, l'aventure sucrière en Guyane est l’objet d’une oscillation permanente entre fascination et désespoir, la luxuriance trompeuse de la forêt ayant longtemps donné l’illusion d'un bel avenir sucrier. Cette aventure s'inscrit naturellement dans l’histoire des industries sucrières des Amériques. Cette dernière, en tant que thématique de recherche, n'a pourtant que récemment attiré l'attention des historiens en France, et ceci bien qu'elle soit partie intégrante de l’histoire de la colonisation de l’Amérique. Une des causes de ce retard peut probablement s’expliquer par un sentiment « douloureux » et « honteux » lié à cette période du passé. La subjectivité des archives, qui restent muettes sur une grande partie de l’histoire — quotidien des colons et des esclaves, stratégies d’installation, évolution des paysages, peut avoir également masqué l'intérêt que présente l'industrie sucrière dans la compréhension du phénomène colonial. Au travers de l'analyse des difficultés rencontrées par les colons pour implanter de manière rentable une industrie sucrière puis rhumière en Guyane, le présent travail vise à montrer l’importance et le rôle fondamental que doit tenir et jouer l’archéologie coloniale en Guyane dans l'élaboration d'une vision plus complète et précise de ce territoire. Dans un premier temps, la très forte contrainte que le milieu amazonien exerce sur l’installation des hommes est analysée ; une deuxième partie met en évidence la contrainte à la connaissance du territoire et de son passé imposée par les conditions de la recherche archéologique en Guyane. Enfin, la présentation des résultats des travaux archéologiques de l'auteur permet d'insister sur l'ingéniosité des hommes à s’adapter en continu au milieu. / The history of the sugar industry in French Guiana has fluctuated since its beginnings between fascination and despair, because of the misleading luxuriant forest which seemed to imply a prosperous future to it. This adventure is naturally related to the history of the sugar industries of the Americas, but has only recently been considered as a research subject by the French historians, even if it is totally involved in the colonial history of America. A cause of such a delay may be due to a “painful” and “shameful” feeling regarding these years of the past. Archives are subjective and silent about a great part of the history (daily life of the settlers and their slaves, settlement strategies, evolution in the landscapes,…). This fact may have hidden all the interest that brings the sugar industry to understand the colonial phenomenon. The present work lies on an analysis of the difficulties met by the settlers who wanted to establish a profitable sugar- then rum-industry in French Guiana, and aims to show the importance and prominent role that colonial archaeology in French Guiana must play in the elaboration of a more exhaustive and consistent vision of this territory. A first part deals with the high constraint of the Amazonian environment upon a human settlement; a second part will bring to the fore how imperative it is to know the territory and its past due to the conditions of an archaeological research in French Guiana. Eventually, the presentation of the author’s archaeological works allows to insist on the human ingenuity to continuously adapt to the environment.