This study examines small projectile point technology of the Postclassic Lowland Maya (A.D. 1400 - 1697) using a technological systems framework, to evaluate production strategies and the movement of finished goods within Mesoamerican exchange networks. Small arrow points (1 - 3 cm long) were typically made from obsidian and microcrystalline silicates (chert, chalcedony), and were key components of bow-and-arrow weaponry among multiple Mayan-speaking groups and ethnopolities known as the Itza, Xiw, Kowoj, Chak'an Itza, Kehach, Dzuluinikob, Chetumal, Lakam tun (Lacandon), and Chuj. Literature suggests that the Late Postclassic period was a time of heightened "international" exchange, defined by frequent inter-polity interactions, information sharing, and intensified long-distance exchange of raw materials across political boundaries. Thus, this study adds to anthropological theory by focusing on the interplay between political geography and material culture to understand the relationship between non-elite goods and intensified social interaction. In total, this study analyzes 2,128 small projectile points originating from 17 different Lowland centers, focusing explicitly on the research domains of raw material procurement, production, use, repair, and discard. Multiple lithic analyses are used to collect data including macroscopic methods, taxonomic classification, and spatial-contextual analysis. Additionally, instrumental methods including portable x-ray fluorescence (pXRF) and cross-over immuno-electrophoresis (CIEP) are used to identify raw material procurement patterns and interpret use activities related to the bow-and-arrow. The results of this study demonstrate that raw material preference and procurement strategies for small points varied significantly across the Maya Lowlands, and were often contingent on ethnopolitical affiliations and factionalism. In particular, strong differences emerge among neighboring polities within the Petén Lakes region of Guatemala, where the Itza, Kowoj, and Chak'an Itza maintained territories in close proximity to one another. A taxonomic and technological classification of small points reveals considerable variability in technological styles in addition to morphometric variability of haft types. Spatial-contextual analyses of depositional patterns demonstrate a range of activities associated with bow-and-arrow weaponry that often included symbolic associations with ritual and civic-ceremonial architecture. CIEP results reveal a multiplicity of use activities of the bow-and-arrow, with several positive immunological matches for indigenous and introduced fauna. Overall, the holistic approach of this dissertation helps bridge the divide between seemingly mundane artifacts and past economic behaviors that are critically important to Postclassic Maya studies.

By the re-evaluation of one specific artefact class - the Scottish examples of tanged points, the intrinsic qualities of this artefacts form, context and is use is employed to establish an enhanced sense of regional variability within early Scottish archaeology. A methodology for tanged point identification is determined and enacted to demonstrate that the existing examples of Scottish tanged points do not represent a single, coherent, tanged point tradition in this region. Variability is evident and can be translated, in terms of human behaviour, to suggest at least three separate antecedents to early activity in Scotland. Of specific focus is a hitherto unrecognized line of activity (or influence) during the Mesolithic - one originating from areas to the north/north-east of Scotland from the modern political construct of Scandinavia. In this spatial context, tanged point use extends into the Mesolithic, unlike counterparts in the northern territories of the European continent where tanged points are primarily discussed as late Palaeolithic, and to which Scottish tanged points have been traditionally compared. This 'northern' scenario thus provides an alternative reading of some examples of this material class in Scotland. The juxtaposition between marine and terrestrial lifestyles is key to this analysis. Acknowledging this in relation to a select sample of Scottish tanged points – those within the island context of Stronsay, a northern isle in the archipelago of Orkney, this specific set of tanged points is argued to comprise a new component within the tool kit of Mesolithic activity within this regionally specific context. The implications of this permits a more pluralised perspective of the nature and extents of early activity in Scotland, and a documents the significance of regional variability to understanding the range of potential influences, and identities, that may have enculturated the landscapes of Scotland during its earliest phases of prehistory.

There exists a great need for armor systems with greater mass efficiencies and ballistic limits. This thesis explores the development of a new field of armor capable of satisfying the increased demand for modern armor: Mechanically Reactive Armor or MRA. More specifically, the thesis focuses on Compliant MRA or CMRA. From the physics governing projectile-armor interactions, principles governing successful design of MRA are identified and presented. These principles or design approaches focus primarily on rejecting, minimizing, or absorbing the incoming projectile's kinetic energy. After identifying these principles, the specific mechanical functions required by the principles are isolated. These functions represent the physical behavior and capabilities of real mechanisms that satisfy the specific design principles. Using these mechanical functions and other benchmark concepts as a guide, established concept generation methodology is used to identify families of CMRA concepts that could supply the identified mechanical functions. These concept families are then narrowed by comparison of their respective ability to supply the required mechanical functions. The remaining concepts are selected for further study and simulation. In order to provide more detailed insight into the behavior of specific designs of these concepts, a quantitative model is developed. This simplified model is capable of predicting the behavior of the CMRA system when impacted by a ballistic projectile. After development, the model is then implemented to search the design space of the narrowed concepts. The search of the design space reveals important trends to be used in the design of CMRA elements. Finally, the feasibility of the specific designs is evaluated to judge their practicality in terms of practical materials and dimensions. It is shown that the concepts hold significant promise but require further design and development to provide the most desirable performance.

The work in this thesis is on two topics. The first topic focuses on collaboration between a UAV and a UGV to track a moving ground target. The second topic focuses on deriving a guidance law for a small-scale controllable projectile to be guided into a target. For the first topic, we implement a path planning algorithm in a hardware system for a UAV and UGV to track a ground target. The algorithm is designed for urban environments where it is common for objects to obstruct sensors located on the UAV and the UGV. During the hardware system's implementation, multiple problems prevented the hardware system from functioning properly. We will describe solutions to these problems. For the second topic, we develop a guidance law for a small-scale controllable projectile using Lyapunov analysis techniques. We implement a PID controller on the body-axes pitch rate and yaw rate of the projectile such that the behavior of the pitch rate and yaw rate can be approximated as a second order system. We derive inputs for the pitch rate and yaw rate using backstepping and adaptive control techniques. The guidance law we develop guarantees the rocket will point at its intended destination. Additionally, we present expressions for the kinematics and dynamics of the rocket's motion and define the forces and moments that act on the rocket's body.

No description available.

This thesis examines the practice of hunting within the Neolithic community of Çatalhöyük by focusing on its stone projectile points. Wild faunal remains indicate that hunting remained in practice, even though domesticated animals and plants comprised the staple diet of the Neolithic people of Çatalhöyük. Hunting and the “wild” are venerated in the site's iconography (wall paintings, wild bull skull mural installations, zoomorphic figurines), while obsidian projectile points—the dominant hunting weapons— were carefully executed artifacts that seem to have served more than one purpose. In studying the projectile points I consider the role of hunting at Çatalhöyük and its significance in shaping personal and communal identities. By employing an attribute analysis I examined the projectiles’ deposition in varied contexts (caches, burials, building infills, middens etc). Differences in use-wear traces as well as in technological and morphological traits suggest that the Çatalhöyük point assemblage consists of two groups that were used and treated in very distinct ways. The first group comprises projectile weapons that were used in hunting, exhibiting clear signs of actual use; whereas the second group consists of bifaces that were in all likelihood reserved for ceremonial purposes given their pristine condition and special deposition. This thesis argues that hunting was not merely an alternate subsistence strategy but an arena where symbolic expression and social identities could be performed and negotiated. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / This thesis researches the role of hunting in one of the earliest agricultural societies with livestock, Çatalhöyük in Turkey (7th-6th millennium cal BCE). For this purpose I studied the stone tips of projectile weapons, i.e. arrows and spears. The results of this work show that apart from the actual hunting weapons, the people of Çatalhöyük also had weapons reserved for ceremonial purposes. Indeed other evidence also shows that hunting and the “wild” was revered at the site: wall paintings, wall decorations with wild animal skulls, large feasting events, and animal figurines. In this thesis I argue that hunting was not only a strategy for the farmers of Çatalhöyük to acquire extra food resources but it also played a significant role in their symbolic and religious life, which is why this tradition persisted even after the domestication of animals.

No description available.

In Great Plains archaeology, differences in projectile point morphologies are used to define typological groups, which are subsequently inferred to reflect unique cultural groups. The goal of this project was to investigate the variability between projectile points dating to the Late Middle Prehistoric period (2,500 – 1,300 BP) since some researchers associate these cultural remains with one group (Besant phase) while others separate them into Outlook, Besant, and Sonota phases/complexes. Metric and non-metric attributes of projectile points from six single component sites, Fincastle, One-Eleven, Happy Valley, Muhlbach, Fitzgerald, and Ruby, were statistically examined. The results showed that basal attributes remain relatively constant, while blade aspects vary greatly. Since the base of a point is considered more typologically indicative than the blade, which is connected to functional aspects, it was concluded that, based on the projectile points, these represent one typological group. / xii, 277 leaves ; 29 cm

Au cours de la deuxième moitié du SIM3 (entre 41 et 29 ka cal AP), et pour la première fois dans l’histoire de l’humanité,les artisans préhistoriques dispersés sur l’ensemble du continent européen intègrent les matières osseuses – ivoire,os et bois de cervidé – à leurs stratégies technologiques pour la manufacture de pointes de projectile aurignaciennes. Cestechnologies comprennent deux catégories, les pointes à base fendue et celles à base massive. Malgré leur standardisationapparente, la variabilité des formes et des dimensions des armatures mérite d’être explorée afin de comprendre en quoi cesdonnées peuvent préciser nos connaissances sur l’organisation technologique de ces sociétés et sur l’histoire de la dispersiondes populations d’Homo sapiens en Europe. Dans le cadre de cette thèse, la morphométrie géométrique est adaptéeà l’étude de la culture matérielle dédiée aux activités cynégétiques; l’échantillon directement concerné par cette analyseregroupe 547 armatures mises au jour dans 49 sites répartis entre la façade atlantique et les Carpates. Cette approchepermet l’identification de huit conceptions volumétriques reproduites par les artisans aurignaciens pour la manufacturedes pointes à base fendue, et de deux pour les pointes à base massive, une d’entre elles se déclinant en six variantes. Larépartition spatiotemporelle de ces conceptions indique que les pointes de projectile aurignaciennes en matière osseusene constituent pas un proxy de la dispersion des Homo sapiens nouvellement arrivés en Europe, mais signalent plutôt lafédération de populations déjà présentes sur le continent et liées les unes aux autres par le développement de stratégies socioéconomiquesparticulières. Ainsi, l’apparition de ces technologies dans le registre archéologique est interprétée commeune solution aux contraintes imposées par une mobilité accrue des groupes; l’adoption subséquente de l’innovation surl’ensemble de l’Europe est mise en relation avec l’éruption des champs Phlégréens. Enfin, la mutation typologique observéepar le remplacement des pointes à base fendue par celles à base massive suggère des transformations profondes dans lamise en œuvre des stratégies technologiques. Les pointes à base fendue témoignent de l’adoption d’une stratégie planifiéesur le long terme tandis que les pointes à base massive se conforment aux critères attendus dans le cadre d’une stratégieexpéditive et ce, indépendamment de la conservation de patrons de mobilité similaires. / During the second half of MIS3 (ca. 41-29 kyr BP), for the first time in the history of humankind, prehistoric artisansscattered across Europe integrated a variety of osseous materials – ivory, bone, and antler – into their technologicalstrategies in order to manufacture Aurignacian projectile points. These armatures can be categorized into “split-based”and “massive-based” types. Despite their relative standardization, the observed variability of the forms and dimensions ofthese implements requires further investigation. The aim of the present study is to gain a better understanding of the technologicalorganization favoured by these prehistoric artisans, and to improve our knowledge about the dispersal of Homosapiens populations in Europe. Geometric morphometric analysis is adapted to the study of 547 Aurignacian osseousprojectile points recovered from 49 European sites located between the Atlantic and the Carpathian Mountains. This approachallowed the identification of eight volumetric templates used by Aurignacian artisans during the manufacture ofsplit-based points. Two volumetric templates were identified for massive-based points, one of which includes a numberof variants. Spatial and chronological distribution of these templates indicates that, contrary to the dominant hypothesis,Aurignacian projectile points do not represent a proxy for the dispersal of Homo sapiens into Europe. It is argued that amore parsimonious interpretation is to consider them as a signal of the development of innovative socioeconomic strategiesby groups already present on the continent and linked to one another. This innovation corresponds to an adaptivetechnological solution for prehistoric groups engaged in increased mobility. The subsequent adoption of this innovationat a continental scale can be linked to the Campanian Eruption. Finally, the change in types, i.e., the replacement of splitbasedpoints by massive-based points, suggests that an important transformation occurred in the technological strategiesimplemented by earlier and later Aurignacians even though they favoured a similar mobility pattern. Split-based pointsare likely the products of a technological strategy associated with curation of these objects, while massive-based points areconsistent with the implementation of an expedient strategy.

No description available.