Anthropology Fall 2011 Proseminar Symposium Friday, December 16 Schulz 1121
This project will develop a management plan for Mission San Francisco Solano, taking into account all prior research as well as new data. Collection of new data will involve performing a ground penetrating radar survey to locate buried resources. Should new resources be located, a strategy will be developed with provisions for maintaining buried resources. This management plan will provide California State Parks with a comprehensive plan for administrating the resource as well as a direction for future research.
The intent of this proposal is to develop strategies to avoid effects to cultural resources through the development of practical application of protective measures for California State Parks Trails. I intend to develop an understanding of the potential impacts to cultural resources by collecting data about trails in State Parks that have successfully reduced impacts to cultural resources. Five case studies are proposed. This research will be used to develop practices to minimize the effects from trails to cultural resources. These practices can be incorporated into the construction and maintenance of trails conducted by State Parks.
Archaeological structures and other forms of in situ features are often discovered, documented, and then deemed low priority for further action due to budget constraints, lack of qualified staff or other technical reasons. In the last ten years agencies nationwide have popularized site stewardship programs to help ease the burden of the “keepers” of our archaeological resources. In Southwest Colorado, a small yet unique Chacoan outlier site named Chimney Rock Archaeological Area is a thriving example of the successful contributions of site stewardship programs. The continual development of inclusive methods and formats for more intensive site monitoring and condition assessment in our stewardship programs is becoming a top priority. This proposal analyzes the research methods necessary for developing a comprehensive avocational site monitoring program using Chimney Rock Archaeological Area and Chimney Rock Interpretive Association as models.
Prehistoric trade studies in California have continued to strengthen our understanding of our State’s earliest inhabitants. The examination of prehistoric trade enables researchers to uncover the mechanical and social mechanisms for trade as well as helping to understand overall land use. This paper is a preliminary assessment and evaluation of prehistoric land-use and trade routes within Point Reyes National Seashore (PRNS). Using a combination of research I will uncover and describe trade and exchange (more specifically obsidian trade) as well as prehistoric land use in Point Reyes National Seashore. Extensive use of lithic analysis and pedestrian surveys will expand the wealth of knowledge on the Coast Miwok of PRNS. This projects outcome will be an advancement of our understanding of obsidian trade and prehistoric land use within Point Reyes National Seashore.
Much research has been conducted on the Borax Lake obsidian source located in Clear Lake, California. Previous research has shown that the Borax Lake obsidian source has been utilized for approximately 10,000 years and that the obsidian has been traded throughout various regions within California. Most of the previous research, however, has focused on dating and very little research has focused on the stages of lithic reduction. The analysis of lithic debitage, or the flaking debris that is a bi-product of the reduction process in stone tool manufacturing, can help archaeological researchers better understand what was being produced at the quarry for use and trade. This study proposes an analysis of obsidian debitage, specifically looking at the stages of lithic reduction, to show the extent of what was being produced at the Borax Lake main quarry site (CA-LAK-35).
Archaeologists and ethnographers collected a substantial amount of evidence to demonstrate that warfare and warfare strategies such as trophy-taking and dismemberment were practiced in the south and east San Francisco Bay areas for over 5,000 years. In 2007, a burial was excavated from CA-Mrn-05/H, a prehistoric site in Marin County that contained two individuals exhibiting key indicators of interpersonal violence. Other archaeological reports of interpersonal violence in the North Bay lack synthesis to provide a regional perspective of prehistoric violence in northern San Francisco Bay. This study proposes to synthesize the skeletal data derived from the excavation of cemetery populations from the northern San Francisco Bay to provide a regional perspective on warfare and to determine if the burial at CA-Mrn-05/H is a rare occurrence, or indicative of a regional pattern of interpersonal violence in northern San Francisco Bay.
Cultural resources management (CRM) "involves the identification, evaluation, and preservation of cultural resources, as mandated by cultural resources legislation and guided by scientific standards within the planning process (Sonoma State University 2010).” Locating and analyzing these candidates requires a substantial amount of work, but the final task is how to properly conserve them for future generations. When tasked, cultural resource managers are challenged with outlining the specifics and identifying the variables to produce pragmatic strategies for preservation. For California's cultural resources, earthquakes often represent a dire endgame. This study will focus on the effects of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake on the California State Historical Landmarks within Sonoma County.
Heritage management scholars abroad have identified several problems with interpretation at historical prisons. The most common problem is that interpretation excludes alternative perspectives, particularly those of inmates. This approach reinforces the process of othering prevalent in the criminal justice system and is detrimental to public education. The goal of my project is twofold: first, to critically analyze interpretation at historical prisons in California to determine if similar problems exist at sites in the US, and two, if interpretation is exclusionary, to explore strategies aimed at addressing these problems through the design and implementation of more inclusive interpretive plans.
This case study traces lost land rights of a Native American individual and that individual’s direct lineal ancestors, utilizing a time-line from 1839 to present, by researching violations to California land use, property, and other legal rights. The study examines: historical documents, archived documents, recorded historical events, family history, congressional acts, case law, statutes, treaties, aerial photography, maps, and other sources, to provide data connecting to research questions. This case argues that the United States Department of the Interior (DOI) recognizes the sovereignty of Indian Nations, but fails to recognize the dual citizenship of the Native American United States citizen which includes protection to due process, equal protection, and property.
This project will focus on collaboration between Bay Area archaeologists and Native Americans. It first looks at how cultural or scholarly trends and United States legislation have historically affected relations between the two groups, and why it is important to include Native voices at the earliest levels of project planning. Given that, how do we get and implement Native-generated research questions? I will explore this question in a series of ethnographic interviews with Bay Area archaeologists and Native Americans. These interviews will be used to create suggestions on how we can incorporate Native-generated research questions into archaeological research designs.
The goal of this research is to understand different configurations of CRM collaborative practice. By looking at the intellectual and theoretical implications of post-colonial archaeology and reflexivity, the international cultural heritage movement and its focus on rights and well-being, and case studies of CRM collaborative projects, it is shown that the government regulations dictating what collaboration is and how it is done are insufficient. Research questions, a review of past case studies and legislation, and ethnographic interviews with professional archaeologists, CRM managers, and Native American communities within Northern California are proposed in order to examine how collaborative CRM projects can be utilized within a broader context of social justice and well-being, enacting change from the bottom up.
This project is an exploration of the various ways in which the Native Americans may have maintained their identity through art and material goods while at the missions. I propose that the Native Americans in the California Missions have maintained their identity in ways that may have been previously overlooked or misinterpreted because of a former bias. A focused effort on the art by the Native Americans while in the missions will be examined for native elements or motifs. Additionally, in an effort to control the earlier bias, previous research on multiple elements of Native American culture and life will be reviewed.
Due to the current recession many of California parks are closing. As a means to keep Sonoma County Regional Parks open and attract the public, I propose to incorporate cultural heritage into our current park programs, specifically Hispanic heritage. Heritage research is broadening its focus to include intangible aspects of heritage. In addition it can be “the platform for political recognition, a medium for intercultural dialogue, a means of ethical reflection, and the potential basis for local economic development” (http://www.umass.edu/chs/). Hispanics are 24.4% of Sonoma County’s population (http://edb.sonomacounty.org) and incorporating Hispanic heritage into Sonoma County Parks programs will be a means to have a cultural dialogue within our parks and our multiethnic communities.