Jamaica (Country) (Geographic Keyword)
151-175 (1,658 Records)
Centuries ago in western Micronesia, Yapese islanders began traveling to the Palauan archipelago to carve their famous stone money from limestone, which they then transported back to use in a variety of social transactions. While commonly referred to as ‘money’, these disks were not currency in the strict sense, though their value is not dissimilar to other traditional and modern objects where worth is arbitrary based on both real and perceived attributes (e.g., size, shape, quality, pedigree,...
A Barrack, a Stone, and Families in Exile: A Case Study of Historic Obsidian Sourcing (2019)
This is an abstract from the "2019 Fryxell Award Symposium: Papers in Honor of M. Steven Shackley" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The sourcing of lithic raw material often challenges preconceived notions of the relationships between people, places, and objects for time periods prior to written records. But what of historic obsidian? What can sourcing reveal about the more recent past? This paper presents the case study of a most amazing historical...
Basement Curation: Adopting an Orphaned Collection from Montserrat (2024)
This is an abstract from the "Storeroom Taphonomies: Site Formation in the Archaeological Archive" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The Galways Plantation collection, consisting of 28 boxes of artifacts excavated on Montserrat during the 1980s, was temporarily on loan in the United States when the Soufrière Hills Volcano erupted in July 1995. This catastrophic event led to the creation of an exclusion zone covering two-thirds of the island that...
Bast Fiber Technology in the West Coast of South America: A Study of the Early Coastal Hunter-Gatherer's Fiber Production (2021)
This is an abstract from the "Histories of Human-Nature Interactions: Use, Management, and Consumption of Plants in Extreme Environments" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. This study presents the results of an archaeobotanical analysis of the hunter-gatherer’s plant-fiber technologies of South America’s west coast. Due to the extreme aridity of the Atacama Desert, the preservation of organic technologies is exceptional. I analyze a unique assemblage...
The Battle of the Little Bighorn Gunshot Trauma Analysis: Suicide Prevalence Among the Soldiers of the 7th Cavalry (2018)
The Battle of the Little Bighorn cost the U.S. army 268 men, which accounted for just over one percent of its entirety. Many of the men were killed during battle by Native American firearms and bow and arrows (Scott et. al, 2002, pg. 12). It is possible that some men perished by their own hand or by friendly fire. Through osteological data provided by the State Historic Preservation Office of Montana as well as historical documentation, this presentation will provide an analysis of gunshot wound...
Bayamanaco and the Cayman: The Mythic origin of Manioc Cultivation, Amazonia-Antilles (2017)
Recent trace analysis of Greater Antillean culinary implements finds a paucity of evidence for manioc until late times. This is anomalous since it was believed that manioc accompanied the first truly horticultural and ceramic-producing groups, the Saladoids, from the Orinocan lowlands of South America through the Lesser Antilles to Puerto Rico at 800-500 B.C. Such late occurrence also contradicts the fact that manioc is a lowland cultigen, spanning northern tropical South America. Actual tubers...
A Bayesian Approach to the Interpretation of Andean Faunal Assemblages (2017)
Zooarchaeology offers a rich source of data for exploring a number of important questions, from domestication and subsistence to ritual practices and political economy. However, issues of equifinality frequently arise, making it difficult to interpret faunal assemblages as different agents and processes may create similar archaeological signatures. Researchers are often forced to make subjective choices when suggesting preferred explanations for their data. Such approaches are subject to human...
Bayesian Chronological Modeling Parameters for Establishing Initial East Polynesian Colonization (2023)
This is an abstract from the "Supporting Practical Inquiry: The Past, Present, and Future Contributions of Thomas Dye" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Tom Dye was an early adopter and advocate for the application of Bayesian chronological modeling in Pacific archaeology. Since the 1990s, this chronology-building method has advanced our understanding of key cultural and demographic events through improved and diverse software options, better...
A Bayesian model sensitivity study of non-static diet-collagen isotope fractionations factors used to assess breastfeeding and weaning practices among fisher-gatherers populations, western Cuba (2017)
Reconstructing paleo-diets from bone-collagen isotope values (carbon and nitrogen) requires proper knowledge of diet-collagen isotopic fractionations (∆d13Cdiet-col, ∆d15Ndiet-col). While these isotopic fractionations vary considerably among previous human paleo-diet reconstructions, some more recent studies have successfully employed "non-static" dietary offsets. New research suggests that non-static diet-collagen isotope fractionations is best when attempting to reconstruct paleo-diets of...
Bears Ears Archaeological Probability Models (2018)
Currently encompassing over 1,300,000 acres, Bears Ears is notable for abundant cultural resources and is in a renewed spotlight following the 2017 recommendation by the Interior Secretary to reduce its acreage. Archaeological probability models were recently developed for lands within the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management, Monticello Field Office, which encompasses the Bears Ears National Monument. Regardless of the outcomes of that process, these models were developed to help land...
Beginning of Camelid breeding during the Formative period at the Pacopampa site, Peru. (2017)
Our research on faunal remains from the Pacopampa and the Kuntur wasi sites has shown that Camelid breeding began during the Late Formative period (800 – 500 BC) in the northern highlands of Peru. However, motives for the introduction and usage of these animals remain obscure. We conducted multi-disciplinary analyses of the camelid remains from the Pacopampa site to investigate breeding and utilization patterns of these animals. The Sr and O isotope values from tooth enamel showed that 17 of 18...
The Berkeley Schools of Geography and Andean Studies (2018)
This paper explores the legacy of the "Berkeley School of Andean Studies" and its relations to the eponymous "Berkeley School of Geography." We examine the relationships between the key founding figures of both schools including John H. Rowe and Carl O. Sauer, but also their students, disciples, and other scholars influenced by their seminal research. Through a review of the interactions between members of the two schools, as well as academic genealogies and writings, our paper has three main...
The Best Gifts come in Small Packages? Coring Volcanic Landscapes in New Britain (2019)
This is an abstract from the "Research and CRM Are Not Mutually Exclusive: J. Stephen Athens—Forty Years and Counting" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. A volcanic environment built up by characterised and well dated airfall tephras is paradise for landscape archaeology because in any excavation the cultural material is placed accurately in time. Shouldn’t this setting also be ideal for environmental data? With expertise provided by Steve Athens, we...
Best Practice Recommendations for the Treatment of “Discovered” Human Remains Lacking Provenance (2024)
This is an abstract from the "Human Remains in the Marketplace and Beyond: Myths and Realities of Monitoring, Grappling With, and Anthropologizing the Illicit Trade in a Post-Harvard World" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. In recent years there have been a number of high-profile cases where human remains were “discovered” resulting in media attention due to the unethical conditions in which the remains were encountered. Unfortunately, the discovery...
Between the puna and the valley: an approximation to local communities-Inca state interactions through road network analysis in Jauja, central Peru (2017)
Research on the Inca occupation in the conquered territories usually addressed the topic from a perspective that has been built on data obtained from state and local sites. The case of Jauja in the central highlands of Peru has not been the exception and much of our current knowledge about the Inca occupation of the region is based on information coming from indigenous settlements and state facilities. This paper proposes an alternative and complementary insight, trying to reach an approach to...
Beyond Leaky Pipelines and Glass Ceilings: Equity Issues on the Academic Track (2021)
This is an abstract from the "Presidential Session: What Is at Stake? The Impacts of Inequity and Harassment on the Practice of Archaeology" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Achieving equity in academia is framed as a process of shattering glass ceilings, letting everyone climb as high as their abilities allow. The leaky pipeline metaphor relies on a future with enough diversity-in-waiting that some of it will flow to higher ranks. These metaphors...
Beyond Monumentality: Looking Past the Pyramids of Cochasquí, Ecuador (2017)
The northern highland Ecuadorian site of Cochasquí is one of the country’s most respected archaeological resources. Investigations by archaeologists Jacinto Jijón y Caamaño (1910s), Max Uhle (1932), and Udo Oberem (1964-65) had principally focused on this Late Period site’s highly visible quadrangular earthen pyramids, which can reach heights of approximately 20 meters. The archaeological and public fascination with the visibly monumental has long diverted attention away from between and beyond...
Beyond Repatriation at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History (2018)
Congress intended federal repatriation legislation to go beyond removing collections from museums. They hoped that it would lead to new relationships between Native Americans and museums that would recognize the interests of all parties. The Anthropology Department of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History has worked, through its Repatriation Office and other programs, to collaborate with tribes and Alaskan Natives on projects that go beyond repatriation to include initiatives with...
Beyond Subsistence: Food consumption in the military garrison of San Juan de Puerto Rico from the 18th to 19th centuries (2017)
This case study explores how food consumption in the military garrison of San Juan de Puerto Rico played a role in the negotiation of status and identities during the Spanish colonial period. Since defense of the territories was the primary task, the military tended to have priority to the access of exotic foodstuffs, such as wheat products. Nevertheless, Puerto Rico was quickly relegated to the margins of the Spanish Empire and legal ships ceased to arrive in a constant mode. Thus, we want to...
Beyond the Borders: Using 3D Public Archaeology to Democratize the Past at US National Parks (2023)
This is an abstract from the "Public Lands, Public Sites: Research, Engagement, and Collaboration" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. National Parks in the United States contain within their borders a natural and cultural heritage not only significant to all the nation’s inhabitants but also hold importance on a global scale. Although interaction with this heritage within a national park is intended to be direct and physical, this is not always...
Beyond the Holes of Archaeology: Paying Attention to Indigenous Academics, Artists, and Activists (2018)
Archaeology continues to need the infusion of indigenous perspectives, not only to take responsibility for the discipline’s past in colonial contexts, but also to advance its ability to understand human histories – especially indigenous ones – in respectful, innovative, and inclusive ways. This need is particularly strong for those archaeologists who study Native American cultural and community life just before, right into, and well after the onset of European colonialism and for those who are...
Beyond the Points: Sociocultural Complexity Revealed by Non-Hunting Artifacts from Melting Ice Patches in the High Alpine, Greater Yellowstone Area, USA (2018)
The recovery of chipped stone projectile points, bows, dart and arrow foreshafts and shafts, and the remains of prey species—notably bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis)—in direct association with melting Greater Yellowstone Area (GYA) ice patches illustrates that hunting was a primary activity for Native Americans at these features. The recovery of other, non-hunting related, types of organic artifacts at ice patches suggests a broader utilization of the alpine environment. Although fewer in number,...
Big Data and Possibilities for New Urban Comparisons at and Around Cahokia Mounds, USA (2024)
This is an abstract from the "*SE Big Data and Bigger Questions: Papers in Honor of David G. Anderson" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Situated in present-day Collinsville, Illinois, Cahokia Mounds is considered globally as the premier example of precontact American Indian urbanism in North America. However, understandings of Cahokia’s early population density, spatial arrangement, and scale are primarily drawn from relatively small areas within...
Big Plans for Small Pots: Development of an Organic Residue Analysis Protocol for Ancient Wari Miniature Wares (2017)
Excavations from the Monqachayaq sector of the site of Huari uncovered an impressive burial that contained over 300 miniature vessels. The vessels were offered by a people known as the Wari (c. A.D. 600 – 1100), an ancient culture thought to be responsible for one of the Andes first great empires. Even more remarkable, the vessels retained the desiccated remains of their contents. The anthropological insight that can be gained has direct implications for a better understanding of Wari practices...
Bioarchaeological Research at Castillo de Huarmey, Peru (2017)
The Wari imperial mausoleum, discovered in 2012-13 at the site of Castillo de Huarmey, Peru brought to light remains of 64 individuals buried within the main chamber underneath and additional seven in the contexts directly associated with the mausoleum. The upper layers of the building also yielded a collection of human and animal remains. The collection of human remains brings a unique set of data for bioarchaeologists. The research performed so far include standard analyses like taphonomy,...