Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, Dept. of English Language and Literature, December 2003. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available at the Internet.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--West Virginia University, 2003. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains iv, 73 p. + HTML presentation (ports., facsims.). Includes an HTML document: A lecture on John Brown by "Porte Crayon" alias David Hunter Strother, an annotated edition with primary materials by Hilary Attfield. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references.

My dissertation project utilizes a theoretical perspective derived from historical ecology to explore the trajectory in prehistoric subsistence that began with the initial colonization of the region and eventually led to the domestication of indigenous plants, such as goosefoot and maygrass, roughly 5,000 calendar years ago. Because a major handicap for exploring prehistoric subsistence in eastern North America is the rarity of sites with preserved flora and fauna, I apply formal models derived from behavioral ecology to stone tool assemblages and archaeological site distributions to evaluate models that have been proposed for the emergence of domesticated plants. Based on my results, I argue that the origins of plant domestication came about within the context of a boom/bust cycle that has its roots in the Late Pleistocene and culminated in the Mid-Holocene. More specifically, warming climate caused a significant peak in the availability of shellfish, oak, hickory, and deer, which generated a "tipping point" during the Middle Archaic period where hunter-gatherer groups narrowed their focus on these resources. After this "boom" ended, some groups shifted to other plant resources that they could intensively exploit in the same manner as oak and hickory, which included the suite of plants that were subsequently domesticated. This is likely due the combined effects of increasing population and declining returns from hunting, which is evident in my analysis of biface technological organization and site distributions from the lower Tennessee and Duck River Valleys. Consequently, these conclusions are an alternative to Smith's (2011) assertion that plant domestication in eastern North America came about as a result of gradual niche construction with no evidence for resource imbalance or population packing.

No description available.

The thesis raises questions concerning prehistoric conditions in a high mountain region in central Scandinavia; it focuses on the human use of stone and on hunting principally of reindeer. An analysis of how the stone material was utilized and an approach to how large mammals were hunted result in a synthesis describing one interpretation of how the vast landscape of a region in the central Scandinavian high mountains was used. With this major aim as a base questions were posed concerning the human use of stone resources and possible changes in this use. Preconditions for the occurrence of large mammals as game animals and for hunting are also highlighted. A general perspective is the long time period over which possible changes in the use of stone and hunting of big game, encompassing the Late Mesolithic, Neolithic, Bronze Age and to a certain extent the Early Iron Age. Considering the manufacture of flaked stone tools, debitage in the form of flakes from a dwelling, constitute the base where procurement and technology are essential. The occupation of the dwelling covers a period from the Late Mesolithic to the Bronze Age. Possible changes in lithic use are discussed based on an analysis of debitage which includes testing variables reflecting various steps in the process of flaked stone tool manufacture. Also, the results are discussed from a methodological aspect; the classificatory aspect of analyzing large flake assemblages is implied. The result of the flake analysis indicates differences in the use of stone from the Late Mesolithic to the Bronze Age/Early Iron Age. These differences are interpreted in a three-part chronological division and as theoretically proceeding in a manufacturing process of five steps including acquisition, reduction through three steps and use of completed tools. A pattern, dividing the Bronze Age use of stone from that of the Neolithic and Late Mesolithic is discerned and discussed in terms of changes in procurement strategies and technology. Also, social organization is touched upon. When approaching the issue of hunting the character of data differ; archaeological and palaeo-environmental data together comprise the base for a discussion of possible changes. This is based on a theoretical model applied in a hypothetical research design. Archaeological categories of remains relevant in hunting contexts together with ethnographic and traditional hunting techniques are discussed. They constitute the base and illustrate possible variables in the testing of the hypothetical model. Changes in the Holocene climate are clear, just as changes in the archaeological record are observable. Together these circumstances indicate changes in the hunting process. The structural changes in economy and society that occur in central and north Scandinavia during stone-using periods are discernible in the region studied here. / digitalisering@umu

The Green River region of western Kentucky has been a focus of Archaic period research since 1915. Currently, the region is playing an important role in discussions of Archaic hunter-gatherer cultural complexity. Unfortunately, many of the larger Green River sites contain several archaeological components ranging from the Early to Late Archaic periods. Understanding culture change requires that these multiple components somehow be sorted and addressed individually. Detailed re-analyses of Works Progress Administration (WPA) era artifact collections from two archaeological sites in the Green River region – the Baker (15Mu12) and Chiggerville (15Oh1) shell middens – indicate that these sites are relatively isolated Middle and Late Archaic components, respectively. The relatively unmixed character of Baker and Chiggerville makes these sites excellent candidates for evaluating aspects of complexity during the Archaic. After developing a theoretical basis for evaluating the relative complexity of the social organization of the Baker and Chiggerville site inhabitants on the basis of the material record they left behind, I employ detailed analyses of the bone, antler, and stone tools from these two sites to examine six microscalar aspects of complexity – technological organization, subsistence, specialization, leadership, communication networks, and exchange. These microscalar aspects of complexity all can be linked materially to the archaeological record of the Green River region and can be evaluated as proxies for changes in social organization among the hunter-gatherers who inhabited this region during the Middle and Late Archaic periods. Although the Baker assemblage indicated greater complexity in communication networks and certain proxies for leadership and technological organization, most indicators suggest that the Chiggerville site inhabitants were the more complexly organized group and were in the process of developing a tribal-like social formation. This research, therefore, tentatively supports the hypothesis of increasing complexity through time during the Archaic. However, marked differences in the technological strategies utilized by the Baker and Chiggerville site inhabitants indicates these groups may not have been historically related, thereby violating one of the primary assumptions of the project. If this alternative hypothesis is confirmed through additional research, then no conclusions concerning change through time can be derived from this study.

This dissertation describes the results of archaeological survey and excavationsundertaken on the Mesa el Chaparral in the county of Mina in Nuevo Leon, Mexicoduring 2001. Sixty-six previously undocumented archaeological sites were discovered onthe arid surface. Excavations found no intact subsurface deposits, but a wealth of surfacedata was collected. Subsequent analyses demonstrated a forager lifeway for the majorityof the Holocene human occupation of the region in a remarkably stable pattern.To understand sites found on the deflated modern surface necessitatedcontemplation of the basic theories and models used in hunter-gatherer research. Thisallowed for the construction of new diagrams designed to hypothesize fundamentalrelationships between general aspects of the lifeway including environmental factors, sitesize and visibility issues, and human mobility patterns. From some basic continuums,more detailed diagrams were created that allow understanding and prediction of humanbehavior based upon data found from artifacts and features. After testing their salience,the models were dynamically combined with the site data and ethnographic analogies toarrive at an understanding of the human lifeways represented by the recoveredarchaeological data. This provided a fascinating look into the day-to-day lives of thegeneralized mobile foragers of prehistoric northeastern Mexico.Included in the recovered data are hearth features, lithic debitage and artifacts,and basic site descriptions. Archaeological locations ranged from small with a singlefeature to over a square kilometer with over 100 features, all located on the surface wherethey are subject to wind deflation and water erosion. Most of the sites containeddiagnostic artifacts from the entire Holocene, further compounding the analyticcomplexity of the project. Understanding the context of the data and making use of themodels and ethnographic analogies, it was estimated that every site represented anoccupation by a small band of mobile forgers making generalized use of the resourcesavailable in the region. Making residential moves often allowed people to survive in theharsh environment. Few lifeway changes were noted prior to Spanish influence in theregion from the time the environment became arid at the end of the Pleistocene.

In the boreal forests of northeastern Alberta and northwestern Saskatchewan, one of the most abundant and reliable sources of lithic material was the Quarry of the Ancestors. This Quarry is located 50 km northwest of Ft. McMurray, AB and is the primary source of Beaver River Sandstone; a lithic raw material that dominates the archaeological stone tool and debitage assemblages in this region. Other lithic materials, such as quartzite, chert, and quartz, were accessible in gravel and glacial tills and in lakeshore and river beds scattered across northern Alberta and Saskatchewan. The analysis of stone tools from 31 archaeological sites spanning 260 km from the Quarry into the Descharme River system, in northwestern Saskatchewan, suggests that as pre-contact people moved across the landscape and away from the Quarry, they maintained and recycled their tools and used whatever other lithic resources were available. In contexts where there were issues with the availability, quality and abundance of lithic raw materials, the mobility of pre-contact hunter-gatherers may have been strongly influenced by the distribution of these lithic sources. However, the availability of food resources may have also been a strong influence over mobility patterns in circumstances where these lithic raw material issues were less marked. Northern Dene groups of this region are known to have travelled hundreds of kilometers seasonally following barren-ground caribou whose wintering grounds extended well into northwestern Saskatchewan. Through the distribution of lithic raw material and the analysis of lithic tool technology, I explore the role these two important resources had in shaping the overall organization of pre-contact hunter-gatherer mobility strategies employed in these two regions.

This study investigates the role of regional networks for economic development (RENEDs) in regions suffering from industrial dislocation. It proposes that RENEDs significantly affect regional development. It also investigates the aspects of RENEDs that promote interorganisational collaboration on projects, and examines how RENEDs foster and manage them. The research uses a case study approach, and presents two regions suffering from the decline of their main economic source. These regions are the Hunter region of New South Wales (Australia) and the Le??n province of Castilla Y Le??n (Spain). A pilot study and a survey were conducted in both regions. Three types of analysis were applied: network, statistical and qualitative. The research method makes it possible to replicate research and develop a theory of regional networks for economic development. The results show that success of RENEDs is determined by capital investment generated by the projects, their influence in changing the economic bases of the regions, and the improvement to regional network capital. This study found that frequency of communication is a structural element that significantly affects the production of projects. However, other variables affect projects, such as external pressures from globalisation, government policies and ideologies, and internal constraints from the public, private and civic sectors. This thesis concludes that RENEDs have an important role in regional planning through the formulation of specific projects that target economic disparity. RENEDs represent a system of relationship that enrich the network capital of the regions as an important asset for their future.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Texas at Dallas, 2008. / Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 278-291)