Anthropology 500: Proseminar
Fall 2012 Final Presentations
8:30-9
Set-up and refreshments
9-9:30
Lacey Kalber: Private Lives and Public Spaces: Re-creating Identity in Nineteenth Century San Francisco
During the Gold Rush, thousands of immigrants came to San Francisco and formed multiethnic neighborhoods. In these communities, new identities were shaped along ethnic and class lines because of shared experience and discrimination. This study proposes to explore the ways in which identity was re-created in public versus private domains, in the south of market neighborhood of 19th century San Francisco. Focusing on household material culture and community participation, multiple scales of society will be examined. This research will demonstrate how and why identity was constructed in meaningful ways and how the expression of identity differed between public and private life.
9:30-10
Lily Henry Roberts: Living Among Giants: Redwood Logging and Mendocino County’s Population Boom
Limited research is available regarding the population boom in 19th century Mendocino County, the staying power of early settlements, and the relationship of these processes to the logging industry that became a prevalent entity in the region. Previous research on the affiliation of the boom and bust economy and population growth have been centered on the eastern coats of the US and Canada. Examining the affinity between the emergence of redwood logging and the population growth in Mendocino County it can help determine what impact the new industry had on population size. This study proposes an examination of historical records, photographs, and oral records as well as previous archaeological material to determine the influence the redwood logging industry had on settlement growth in Mendocino County.
10-10:30
Jennifer Lucido” Evolving Presidial Landscapes on the Frontier of Northern New Spain: Alta California and Pimería Alta of Sonora-Sinaloa
This research design proposes to examine the evolving Spanish colonial institution of the presidio (military post or garrison) within northwestern North America, spanning the late 18th to mid-19th centuries. The study will compare and analyze presidios from different geographic and cultural regions. The research objectives are to determine distinctive and analogous qualities in presidial sociocultural and ethnic identities, ecological and economic conditions, and overall long-term culture change of presidial Amerindians. Case studies include the Royal Presidio of Monterey, Alta California (California), and the Royal Presidio of San Agustin del Tucson, Pimería Alta, a region within the province of Sonora-Sinaloa (Arizona).
10:30-11
Angela Turner: From the Two-Spirit to the Joyas: The Presence of Nonbinary Gendered Individuals in Spanish Colonialism
Since 1984, there has been a shift within archaeology to incorporate gender identity into research practices. However, in California, gender-related research remains largely overlooked within the field of Cultural Resources Management (CRM). The purpose of this project is to compare and contrast the presence of nonbinary gendered individuals before and after Spanish colonialism. This project will draw upon case studies from the San Francisco Bay area missions within the context of mortuary analysis. Furthermore, through the application of ethnohistorical data sets, bioarchaeological methods, and grave goods analysis, this study will recommend changes concerning the CRM treatment of burials.
BREAK: 11-11:30
11:30-12
Shannon Hodges: Mate acquisition by male titi monkeys, Callicebus
The proposed research will compare the impact of social behaviors and varying socioecological contexts on mate acquisition by male titi monkeys. Focal animal sampling will be used to collect data on social behaviors and on social contexts in which sexually mature females are encountered. Phenological data will be collected to assess the relationship between food resource abundance and mate acquisition. Data will be analyzed using non-parametric statistical analysis. It is predicted that successful mate acquisition will be correlated with affiliative interactions with females, as demonstrated in studies of baboon and macaque mating strategies, and also timed with peak resource abundance.
12-12:30
Mark Castro: Thermal Alteration Impacts in Basalt Martis Complex Flaked Stone Technology
In recent decades, researchers have raised concerns about the potential dangers fires pose to cultural resources. This study will expose the potential damages thermal alteration can cause basalt flaked stone artifacts typically associated with the Martis Complex. A mixture of archival-based sampling of burned sites and controlled experimentation will be employed to ascertain the level of resilience to changing fuel loads, and artifact thermoelasticity. In addition, this study will illuminate the possible misidentification of Martis Complex artifacts due to thermal alteration. The results of this study will create a foundation from which researchers can apply to future thermal alteration studies.
12:30-1
Yesenia Chavez: A Micro-level Analysis of NAGPRA Repatriation Progress
Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), is a national law that requires the repatriation, or return, of material culture to tribal groups. My research design evaluates the state of repatriation for the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria and Robinson Rancheria Band of Pomo. The resulting report may serve as a template with which to address NAGPRA repatriations in other communities. Most existing research takes a large-scale, national approach. In the proposed micro-level analysis, NAGPRA repatriation is evaluated through a combination of archival data and ethnographic methods.
1-1:30
David Price: The Sites that Do Not Fit
By focusing on cultural resources that fall in the lowest probability zones defined by predictive models, archaeologists can begin to identify recurring cognitive or socially relevant variables that help to explain their presence. These variables can be applied to the models to better predict the presence of sites, strengthening their use in a management context, and can also be used to better inform theoretical frameworks, making modeling a useful tool in research contexts. In pursuing models that employ elements of both management and research orientation, we can begin to erode the perceived wall that separates the endeavors.
1:30-2: Concluding Discussion and Refreshments