Republic of Nicaragua (Country) (Geographic Keyword)
1-25 (1,860 Records)
Sustainable accessible data storage is as important to archaeologists as tractors are to farmers. In 2001 the Iowa Office of the State Archaeologist, (OSA), was archiving 20GB of data on a 100GB server. Sixteen years later the office is serving 32TB on several server systems and plans are in place to archive 60TB over the next 4 years. In addition to space needs the office must also make this data in its many forms accessible to outside entities. In the not so distant past archaeologists...
19th Century Factories, Warehouses and Workshops in La Puntilla, San Juan Puerto Rico (2018)
La Puntilla-Marina is a small peninsula located south of the walled city of San Juan, Puerto Rico, and west of the docks. Through the 19th century a series of projects to develop the area, consisting on the construction of colonial government buildings such as the custom’s house, armory and a military battery, as well as warehouses and dwellings, were completed. Unfortunately, part of this ward was demolished in in the mid-20th century to give way to the construction of residential units, a...
The 2016 Season at El Rayo, Nicaragua: Civic-Ceremonial Structures, Tombs, and Feasting from the Bagaces to Sapoa Transition (2017)
Expanding on prior field seasons, the 2016 field school at El Rayo, with the support of the Institute for Field Research, continued the exploration of the unique Bagaces to Sapoa transition period site, located on the Asese Peninsula, Lake Nicaragua. This season focused of the excavation of four loci, continuing to explore previous questions regarding cultural activities in Pacific Nicaragua. Loci 2 and 4, which had been studied in previous field seasons were expanded, while new Loci 6 and 7...
The 2019–2020 NSF REU Exploring Globalization through Archaeology Investigations on St. Eustatius, Dutch Caribbean (2021)
This is an abstract from the "NSF REU Site: Exploring Globalization through Archaeology 2019–2020 Session, St. Eustatius, Dutch Caribbean" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The second year of the National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Exploring Globalization through Archaeology project included archaeological investigations of the sugar works site (SE095), bioarchaeological investigations of an...
3D Archaeology at MAE/USP (Brazil): Practices and Perspectives (2017)
The use of digital photogrammetry and 3D scanning as tools for archaeological heritage record, analysis and dissemination has increased markedly in recent years. Using these technologies a post-doctoral project is currently in progress at the Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology (MAE) of São Paulo University, Brazil with the scope to document, record and analyse the animal stone figurines collection at the Museum. The objects are threefold: 1) to use photogrammetry and 3D scanner technologies to...
3D Documentation of Grave Markers for the National Cemetery Administration (2024)
This is an abstract from the "Application of Geophysical Techniques to Military Archaeology" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The United States Army Corp of Engineers, Engineer Research Development Center, Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (ERDC-CERL) is home to one of the largest cultural resources research teams in the DoD. In recent years our team has assisted the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, National Cemetery Administration...
3D Imaging in Remote Areas, Rainforests, and Other Hostile Environments: Investigating Identity and Interaction in Eastern Honduras (2018)
Ancient eastern Honduran populations utilized foreign symbols in limited elite contexts, such as site planning and architecture, but most elements of material culture reflect clear connections to Lower Central America. Iconography seen in petroglyphs appears significantly different from that seen in other media, and may yield additional information and insights into identity formation and interactions within the region. For many reasons, these petroglyphs have not been extensively studied. While...
4,000 years of animal translocations: Mocha Island and its zooarchaeological record (2017)
Islands are territories that allow us to assess phenomena and processes in a way that is impossible to do in the mainland. One of these concerns the human interaction with animals that are usually considered as wild. The case of Mocha Island (Chile; South Pacific, 38,36°S) is remarkable because of its small size (50 km2), proximity to the mainland (30 km), three different and independent human occupation events, and an endemic terrestrial fauna constituted only by small reptiles, amphibians,...
611th Air Support Group Resources
Project metadata for resources within the 611th Air Support Group cultural heritage resources collection.
The Abandoned Intersection: Race and Class and the Diversification of Archaeology’s Ranks (2024)
This is an abstract from the "Hood Archaeologies: Impacts of the School-to-Prison Pipeline on Archaeological Practice and Pedagogy" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Archaeologists are quick to connect race and class in conversations about the dead. However, in our discussions of the living—especially on BIPOC archaeologists and their work—class takes a backseat to race, an outcome I call “wealth blindness.” I argue that, as professional...
About Face: A Head-On Examination of Pre-Columbian Social Identity (2017)
A desire for art to reflect social identity is made apparent through prolific representations of human faces in Pre-Columbian ceramics. The ceramic art of Greater Nicoya and the surrounding regions demonstrates an intrinsic drive to communicate distinct group characteristics and illustrates the importance of individuals’ bodies as instruments of both personal expression and social relationships. Physical expressions of collective identity foster a sense of belonging and satisfy the human desire...
Academic Jobs in Archaeology (2018)
Over the past three decades, competition for archaeology faculty jobs at North American colleges and universities has risen significantly. Although the numbers of doctorates in anthropology has increased by approximately 70%, the numbers of new faculty positions has remained relatively constant. The present study examines academic job market trends using data derived from the 2014—2015 American Anthropological Association AnthroGuide. We identify which universities are the most successful at...
Academic Museums as Instruments for Increasing BIPOC Representation in CRM (2023)
This is an abstract from the "The Future of Education and Training in Archaeology" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Under the directorship of Dr. Albert Gonzalez, the C. E. Smith Museum of Anthropology at California State University, East Bay (CSUEB) has dedicated much of its resources and staff time to exploring creative methods by which to connect BIPOC undergraduate students and recent graduates to the CRM network and related jobs in the region....
Accelerating History and Bayesian Models: The Rapid Emergence of Agropastoralism and the Tiwanaku State in the Lake Titicaca Basin, South America (2017)
Long-term cultural change can be non-linear and punctuated by brief episodes of accelerating history. Such episodes, or emergent phenomena, have been described by a diverse set of theoretical approaches such as complexity theory, complex adaptive systems, panarchy, resilience theory, "eventful" sociology and archaeology, and the Annales School of History. These episodes can result in profound, lasting changes for large groups of people, but can happen too fast to be clearly documented without...
Achieving Safe Workplaces in Cultural Resources Management (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. In this paper we will take a three-part approach to examining and achieving safe workspaces in cultural resource management (CRM), considering demography, reports of harassment and assault in the workplace, and solutions. First, we will provide a snapshot of the participation of...
Acknowledging Behavior and Process in Early Caribbean Stone Tools: The Case of the Ortiz Site, Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico (2024)
This is an abstract from the "Coloring Outside the Lines: Re-situating Understandings of the Lifeways of Earliest Peoples of the Circum-Caribbean" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Since the 1930s, scholars have examined variation in early lithic assemblages across the Caribbean archipelago. Long-held explanations for the genesis of these assemblages (and the differences among them) include cultural/stylistic factors, aspects of raw material...
"Across the Agua to Managua" and Beyond: Getting Past Migration in Nicaraguan Prehistory (2018)
Despite being the largest country in Central America, Nicaragua’s archaeological record remains the least explored and most ignored. One consequence of this is that reconstructions of Nicaragua’s prehistory have tended to rely overmuch on rather sparse (and not necessarily reliable) ethnohistoric accounts in which migration from Mesoamerican homelands is heavily emphasized, generally to the detriment of other kinds of cultural phenomena, including indigenous developments that are not explicitly...
The Active Materiality of Obsidian (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. When Steve Shackley informed me that over 90% of obsidian samples from Puerto Escondido, Honduras, that he had analyzed came from an unidentified source, presumably nearby, he started a process of re-education that led me to a place where he may not be comfortable, but that I deeply appreciate. This involves a...
Adapting to the Changing Environment in CRM Graduate Training (2023)
This is an abstract from the "The Future of Education and Training in Archaeology" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Graduate training in cultural resources and heritage management has evolved in the last few decades, from a focus almost exclusively on compliance archaeology, to one where descendant community outcomes and involvement take center stage. It also entails working with new, and often changing, legislation that can seem to conflict with...
Add to Cart? The Ethical Landscape of Buying Human Bone in the United States (2023)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. This project examines the ethical landscape of the acquisition and curation of human skeletal materials for teaching purposes using the NCSU Human Skeletal Remains Collection as a case study. Lack of legislation in the United States regarding the sale of human remains, and an increase in social media, permits certain organizations and individuals to become...
Addressing NAGPRA, Contamination, and Policy in Museums (2024)
This is an abstract from the "In Search of Solutions: Exploring Pathways to Repatriation for NAGPRA Practitioners (Part I)" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Under NAGPRA, a museum must inform recipients of repatriation of any known contaminants such as preservatives, pesticides, or other treatments that may present a potential hazard to the persons handling the item. However, NAGPRA does not require museums to test for contaminants, and historically...
Addressing Objects in Limbo: Using Digital Resources to Increase Access to Native American Material Culture (2019)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Despite the passage of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act in 1990, a large amount of contested Native American material culture remains in archaeological collections across the country. Universities, museums, and government agencies may retain such objects due to issues with cultural identification, competing claims from multiple...
Addressing Today’s Issues with Yesterday’s Tools (2018)
Dakota Access Pipeline. Ruby Pipeline. Ocotillo Wind Energy Facility. Topock Natural Gas Compressor Station. These are just a few examples of projects where the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) failed to protect cultural resources deemed significant by Native American tribes. In these instances, why did NHPA fail? Largely because NHPA does not consider impacts to the complete suite of cultural resources. It only addresses historic properties and historic properties "of traditional...
Adolf Bandelier’s 1892-1894 Expedition to the Central Coast of Peru (2017)
Adolf Francis Alphonse Bandelier (1840-1914) was an ethnologist and archaeologist best known for his work in the American Southwest. What is less well-known is Bandelier’s later years studying the ancient Andes, such as his 1892-1894 expedition on the central coast of Peru. Due to an unstable political environment, he moved his expedition to the Bolivian highlands and instead wrote about highland myths. Shortly thereafter, he passed away while pursuing historical sources in Seville, Spain to...
Advanced AMS 14C Dating of Contaminated Bones Associated with North American Clovis and Pre-Clovis Butchering Sites (2018)
When humans first colonized the Americas is becoming better understood by the addition of aDNA studies; however, the absolute dating of these late Pleistocene sites is crucial and depends upon accurate 14C dating of the fossils (i.e. bones, teeth and ivory). We re-dated vertebrate fossils associated with the North American butchering sites Wally’s Beach (Canada), La Prele, also known as Fetterman (Wyoming), Lindsay (Montana) and Dent (Colorado). Our work demonstrates the crucial importance of...