Anthropology Theses

This thesis follows and examines the lives of people in Atlanta, Georgia who own and advocate for the controversial group of dog breeds and mixed breeds known as “pit bulls.” The greater meaning of pit bulls within the United States is also considered from a historical and anthropological lens. This thesis uses pit bulls as a medium to explore issues of race, gender, and stigma in the United States and to consider how pit bull owners and activists use their understanding of the public around them to change ideas surrounding their dogs.

The MARTA collection, held by Georgia State University, is a large collection of archaeological materials excavated in the late 1970s that documents the heritage of Atlanta. The current Phoenix Project is building on those original efforts and represents an ideal opportunity to explore praxis through civic engagement by making the collection easily accessible and interactive to the public through online community archaeology outreach. Key to this civic engagement is the digitization of artifacts and associated metadata as well as the use of the Heurist online data management system. In particular, I outline a three phase plan of implementing an online website that employs gamification methodologies integrated with existing social media formats to promote a diverse community of self-sustainable interaction with digital material that will benefit both Georgia State University and the community it serves. The main goal of the thesis is to provide a proof-of-concept web interface. I discuss why this is a critical first step to the broader civic engagement goals of the project, and I outline the next two phases of implementation.

This study utilizes an integrated remote sensing approach to augment settlement pattern research in the Yalahau Region of northern Quintana Roo, Mexico. The region has a long history of human occupation and an environment ranging from coasts, freshwater wetlands, forests, to fields and towns all above a porous karst geology. By utilizing various sensors (LiDAR, GeoEye and Landsat) and collection methods (satellite, aerial) as well as post-processing (band combinations, component analyses and indices) and cross-referencing the data, it is possible to generate a signature, which strongly correlates with evidence of prehistoric occupation. Field verification of a selection of identified signatures was conducted to assess the presence of human cultural material. The results of this investigation are presented together with other regional settlement pattern data in order to assess the status of a number of methodological and archaeological questions and supplement other regional data already available.

Body alterations such as artificial cranial modification are permanent irreversible changes to the body that become a powerful, constant visual “salient” indicator (Torres-Rouff 2002) or life-long affiliation or demarcation of social identity (Kurin 2014). Most studies have focused on the social implications as well as typology and classification methods. Very few studies have investigated the extrinsic pathological consequences of external compression caused by the boards, pads, and bands used to create pressure at various points on the skull in order to achieve the desired modified shape. This study investigates the relationship between porotic lesions on the external cranial vault and the degree of modification intensity of the predominant cranial modification forms in the Chanka and Quechua societies from the Late Intermediate Period (AD 1000 to AD 1400) in Andahuaylas, Peru.

What is the impact of mobile phones on those who use them? Does the use of mobile phones affect sociocultural systems when they are introduced? With the prevalence of the mobile phone in society today it is imperative that mobile phone use is studied. Through the use of ethnography, I have studied students at Georgia State University in order to understand the mobile phones influence on this particular culture. I have found that my participants have been changed through use of this device as it has become a part of themselves, adding functionality to users while splitting their focus between the digital world mediated by the phone and physical reality. I found that participant’s sentiments of their phones were conflicting. They praised their device while remaining wary about its effects on them and others.

As part of my M.A. thesis, I conducted an archaeological survey on Cypress Pond Plantation, located in Albany, Georgia over the course of six months. I employed landscape theory as a theoretical framework to interpret how the landscape was physically used over time. Shovel testing, metal detecting and unit excavations were employed to perform the survey. While the focus was on the historic occupation during the Antebellum period, evidence of prehistoric activities were discovered as well. Artifacts consistent with a prehistoric lithic production site and remnants of farming equipment dating to post 1900’s are consistent with activity historically documented during that time.

Body alterations such as artificial cranial modification are permanent irreversible changes to the body that become a powerful, constant visual “salient” indicator (Torres-Rouff 2002) or life-long affiliation or demarcation of social identity (Kurin 2014). Most studies have focused on the social implications as well as typology and classification methods. Very few studies have investigated the extrinsic pathological consequences of external compression caused by the boards, pads, and bands used to create pressure at various points on the skull in order to achieve the desired modified shape. This study investigates the relationship between porotic lesions on the external cranial vault and the degree of modification intensity of the predominant cranial modification forms in the Chanka and Quechua societies from the Late Intermediate Period (AD 1000 to AD 1400) in Andahuaylas, Peru.

Isla Palenque is a small island located on the western coast of Panama’s Chiriquí province. The island was part of a regional investigation in 1961 and 1971 by Dr. Olga Linares who was analyzing distinctive patterns related to social developments in Panama’s diverse ecology (Linares 1980). Given the regional focus of her research, she did not collect detailed, community-level data on Isla Palenque. This investigation aims for that more detailed understanding through a settlement study to elucidate aspects of the social complexity of this site. This nuance is extremely important in trying to understand this part of Central America that is characterized by much variability in the material culture. Labeled by Linares as the possible seat of a “Paramount Chiefdom”, Isla Palenque invites us to ask what that means, how we can assess that notion, and more importantly what it says about the people who inhabited the island.

This thesis explores the life history of six isolated skulls interred in Mound 3 of the Elizabeth site, a Middle Woodland site in the lower Illinois valley. This study employs analyses of osteological features, stable and radiogenic isotopes, and biodistance for a cross-section of the Mound 3 population (n=15), including the isolated crania. Isotopic results reveal significant variation in lead isotope ratios in enamel, and interpretively meaningful variation in strontium values. However, bone carbonate oxygen values are not significantly different. Carbon isotope values from bone carbonate revealed only sex-based dietary differences. Biodistance data indicate relatively genetic homogeneity at the site, although significant variation was present in two of the isolated crania. Ultimately, data indicate that two of the six isolated skulls likely originated from elsewhere in the valley, but that the population likely resided in the Elizabeth site vicinity in the decade preceding death, and were not outsiders.

All across the world, people struggle daily to create and enhance their sense of identity. Such struggles are waged in many ways, including through the process of rediscovering and reinterpreting history. Mt. Sinai Baptist Church, an African American congregation in a suburb of Atlanta, is engaged in a search for its church cemetery, lost when the land was sold to the military during the nation’s mobilization for World War II. The church’s efforts are analyzed in the context of identity creation -- a search for links to a mythic and self-sufficient past. Archaeological methods reveal compelling evidence that the cemetery lies in a location previously unknown to the community. Through a collaborative process, the church community and the investigator identify the possible cemetery location and develop plans to institute reforms that are sustainable and agreeable to all parties.

Along the northern coast of Quintana Roo, Mexico, prehistoric ceramic usage included a variety of unslipped forms. During field excavations at the Maya coastal site of Vista Alegre, Drs. Jeffrey Glover and Dominique Rissolo recovered a high volume of sherds comprising a number of vessel type-varieties and forms. Vessel fragments collected from the Vista Alegre assemblage are comprised largely of ambiguous unslipped plain and unslipped striated sherds. This study explores distinct diagnostic attributes associated with these unlipped plain and unslipped striated sherds such as paste composition, texture, color, rim forms, and handle styles. This research facilitates future ceramic research along the northern coast of Quintana Roo promoting otherwise undefined sherds into a more systematic classification based on recorded modal characteristics.

Research on international relationships is plentiful but research on the roles of social contacts in international relationships has not been forthcoming. Additionally, recent research on companionate marriages suggests that couples who have relationships that mimic companionate marriages have weak ties to their community. This research uses participant narratives to understand the social network of internationally married couples and divorced individuals in an effort to understand the roles that social contacts may play in international marriages. The research findings challenge pre-existing arguments about the companionate model of marriage and suggest that simplistic marriage models are inadequate frameworks used to understand complex marriages.

From the excavation of Atlanta's first municipal dumps, a collection of the city’s oldest and most popular medicines has been analyzed. The process of identifying and exploring the stories behind the medicinal vessels of the Metro Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) archaeological collection has led to several paths of inquiry. One such avenue is a look at local manufacturers, their impact, and their products.

Focused on embossed glass bottles from 1860-1920 this thesis investigates the roles of medicinal bottles as symbolic for Atlanta’s Gilded Age. I gathered detailed information on nearly 100 products represented by 222 vessels. These artifacts are derived from three sites unearthed during the MARTA excavations conducted by Georgia State University archaeologists during the late-1970s. Each site represents an urban dump in a different way: core, periphery, and neighborhood. Beyond analyzing the vessels, special attention is given to the economic connections between Atlanta’s growth and medicine producers.

This study compares genetics and linguistics of the Lemba, a population living primarily in South Africa, as a means to identify any possible correlation between these two sources, to better understand how identity is impacted by ancestry testing, and to examine the Lemba’s claim to Jewish ancestry with this evidence. The methods compare allele frequency data from several populations that were expected, based on Spurdle and Jenkins (1996), Casanova et al (1985), Ritte et al. (1993), Santachiara Benerecetti et al (1993), and Soodyall (2013), to be geographically proximate to and thereby more closely related the Lemban people. Results were clustered by language community to detect possible correlations. The different frequencies considered yielded dissimilar relationships between genetic and linguistic clusters, thus supporting the independence of mechanisms of linguistic and genetic change. These results contribute to the discussion of how identity can be validated or undermined by demonstrating three sources, geographic, linguistic, and genetic, by which to derive an identity and how these can produce contradictory answers.

The Atlanta Lolita and Japanese Street Fashion Community is a multifaceted fashion community that developed in the early 2000s. The majority of the members wear Lolita fashion which is a fusion of Victorian era dress, Rococo costume, and various Japanese street fashions. Lolita fashion developed on the streets of Tokyo Japan in the 1990s and has since spread across the world. The Atlanta Lolita and Japanese Street Fashion Community heavily relies on the building and maintenance of impressions by its members. In this thesis, I analyze face-to-face and virtual community organization, fashion, and photography to illustrate how members of the community build their impressions, how they are maintained, or how they are threatened.

This study offers an ethnographic account of the Brazilian protest movement that erupted in June of 2013. I conducted fieldwork in Rio during this time, including unstructured interviews, participant observation, unobtrusive observation, and collection of narratives to gain an understanding of what people living in Rio believe about these protests and social movements in general. The initial motivation for the protests was an increase in public transportation fare, but the movement quickly evolved into a fight for citizenship rights. With the upcoming mega-events in Rio (World Cup and Olympic Games), the city has spent billions of dollars on construction that many people think is unnecessary and ultimately useless. Brazil is a country rife with socioeconomic inequality, and many citizens lack access to having their basic needs met. Protesters in Rio argue that this money could be better spent on providing health care, education, and other fundamental necessities to the city’s population.

This study examines the unique cultural practices related to disease prevention and health maintenance within a Holmes County, Ohio Amish community. This research focuses on the many options for healthcare within this community and the decisions behind their use. By engaging with these Amish community members to discuss their methods of managing health, the non-Amish medical professionals who treat Amish patients can learn cultural understandings of health within the community. As we learn that there are useful techniques to health beyond the dominant biomedical model, it is valuable to incorporate more traditional methods into our existing healthcare in to boost compliance and comfort for those seeking medical help.

This study offers an ethnographic account of the Brazilian protest movement that erupted in June of 2013. I conducted fieldwork in Rio during this time, including unstructured interviews, participant observation, unobtrusive observation, and collection of narratives to gain an understanding of what people living in Rio believe about these protests and social movements in general. The initial motivation for the protests was an increase in public transportation fare, but the movement quickly evolved into a fight for citizenship rights. With the upcoming mega-events in Rio (World Cup and Olympic Games), the city has spent billions of dollars on construction that many people think is unnecessary and ultimately useless. Brazil is a country rife with socioeconomic inequality, and many citizens lack access to having their basic needs met. Protesters in Rio argue that this money could be better spent on providing health care, education, and other fundamental necessities to the city’s population.