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Anthropology Theses and Dissertations

Theses/dissertations from 2023 2023.

Entanglements of Teenage Food Security Within High School Pantries in Pinellas County, Florida , Karen T. Díaz Serrano

The Applicability of the Postmortem Submersion Interval Estimation Formula for Human Remains Found in Subtropical Aquatic Environments , Kara L. DiComo

Early Agricultural Lives: Bioarchaeological Inferences from Neolithic and Early Copper Age Tombs in the Central Po Valley, Italy , Christopher J. Eck Jr.

The Process of Government in Clearwater, Florida , Picot deBoisfeuillet Floyd

“I Was Doing the Best with What I Had”: Exploring Student Veterans’ Experiences with Community Reintegration, Food Insecurity, and Health Challenges , Jacquelyn N. Heuer

Transformative Psychedelic Experiences at Music Events: Using Subjective Experience to Explore Chemosocial Assemblages of Culture , Gabrielle R. Lehigh

“We Need to Have a Place to Vent and Get Our Frustrations Out”: Addressing the Needs of Mothering Students in Higher Education using a Positive Deviance Framework , Melissa León

“They’re Still Trying to Wrap Their Head Around Forever”: An Anatomy of Hope for Spinal Cord Injury Patients , William A. Lucas

Foodways of the Florida Frontier: Zooarchaeological Analysis of Gamble Plantation Historic State Park (8MA100) , Mary S. Maisel

The Impacts of Disability Policy and its Implementation on Deaf University Students: An Applied Anthropological Approach , Tailyn Marie Osorio

“I’m Still Suffering”: Mental Health Care Among Central African Refugee Populations in the Tampa Bay Area , C. Danee Ruszczyk

Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Immigration-Related Stressors, Pregnancy, Birth, and Post-Partum Experiences of Women Living Along the US-Mexico Border , Isabela Solis

Clinically Applied Anthropology: A Syndemic Intervention. , Jason W. Wilson

Theses/Dissertations from 2022 2022

An Assessment of Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming Individuals Gender Affirming Health Care Practices in the Greater Tampa Bay , Sara J. Berumen

Mound-Summit Practices at Cockroach Key (8HI2) Through the Lens of Practice Theory , Chandler O. Burchfield

Crafting a Scene: The Nexus of Production and Consumption of Tampa Bay Craft Beer , Russell L. Edwards

Applied Anthropology of Addiction in Clinical Spaces: co-Developing and Assessing a Novel Opioid Treatment Pathway , Heather Diane Henderson

Japan’s COVID 19 Infection Rate: A Focus on Tokyo Neighborhoods , Lauren Koerner

Farmers’ Organizations and Development Actors in a Pandemic: Responses to Covid-19 and the Food-Energy-Water Nexus , Atte Penttilä

An Ideology of Racism: Community Representation, Segregation, and the Historical Cemeteries of Panama City, Florida , Ethan David Mauldin Putman

“Even If You Have Food in Your House, It Will Not Taste Sweet”: Central African Refugees’ Experiences of Cultural Food Insecurity and Other Overlapping Insecurities in Tampa, Florida , Shaye Soifoine

Afro-Latinx and Afro-Latin Americans in the United States: Examining Ethnic and Racial Experiences in Higher Education , Glenda Maria Vaillant Cruz

Black Cemeteries Matter: The Erasure of Historic Black Cemeteries in Polk County, Florida , Juliana C. Waters

An Anthropology with Human Waste Management: Non-Humans, The State, and Matters of Care on the Placencia Peninsula, Belize , William Alex Webb

An Edgefield Ceramic Assemblage from the Lost Town of St. Joseph, Northwest Florida , Crystal R. Wright

Theses/Dissertations from 2021 2021

Aspiring to “Make it Work”: Defining Resilience and Agency Amongst Hispanic Youth Living in Low-Income Neighborhoods , Sara Arias-Steele

“I Wish Somebody Called Me, Told Me Not to Worry”: Evaluating a Non-Profit’s Use of Social Support to Address Refugee Women’s Resettlement Challenges , Brandylyn L. Arredondo

Of Body and Mind: Bioarchaeological Analysis of Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century Anatomization and Institutionalization in Siena, Italy , Jacqueline M. Berger

Cannabis Capitalism in Colorado: An Ethnography of Il/legal Production and Consumption , Lia Berman

Analyses Of Woodland Check-Stamped Ceramics In Northwest Florida , John D. Blackburn

“Here Come the Crackers!”: An Ethnohistorical Case Study of Local Heritage Discourses and Cultural Reproduction at a Florida Living History Museum , Blair Bordelon

Privies as Portals: A Ceramic and Glass Bottle Analysis of a Late 19th Century Household Privy in Ellenton, FL , Shana Boyer

Making Change in the Nickel City: Food Banking and Food Insecurity in Buffalo, NY During the COVID-19 Pandemic , Sarah E. Bradley

Ware and Tear in Ancient Tampa Bay: Ceramic Elemental Analyses from Pinellas County Sites , McKenna Loren Douglass

Rethinking Settlement Patterns at the Weeden Island Site (8PI1) on Florida’s Central Gulf Coast , Heather E. Draskovich

Listening to Women: Using a Mixed-Methods Approach to Understanding Women’s Desires and Experience During Childbirth , Nicole Loraine Falk Smith

Archaeology and Seasonality of Stock Island (8Mo2), a Glades-Tradition Village on Key West , Ryan M. Harke

How Culture and Storytelling Can Influence Urban Development: An Ethnographic Look at the Community-Driven Revitalization of Newtown in Sarasota, Florida , Michala Head

Educational Experiences of Congolese Refugees in West-Central Florida High Schools , Michaela J. Inks

Constructing 'Child Safety': Policy, Practice, and Marginalized Families in Florida's Child Welfare System , Melissa Hope Johnson

"We're the Lucky Ones": A Social Network Analysis of Recovery After the Iowa Derecho , Kayla C. Jones

How Race is Made in Everyday Life: Food, Eating, and Dietary Acculturation among Black and White Migrants in Florida, U.S. , Laura Kihlstrom

Tourism, Education, and Identity Making: Agency and Representation of Indigenous Communities in Public Sites within Florida. , Timothy R. Lomberk II

Pregnancy and Fertility Amongst Women with the MTHFR C677T Polymorphism: An Anthropological Review , Caroline A. MacLean

A Biocultural Analysis of the Impacts of Interactions Between West Africans and Europeans During the Trans-Atlantic Trade at Elmina, Ghana , Heidi Ellen Miller

The Distribution in Native Populations from Mexico and Central America of the C677T Variant in the MTHFR Gene , Lucio A. Reyes

Politics vs. The Environment: The Spatial Distributions of Mississippian Mound Centers in Tampa Bay , Adam J. Sax

Seasonality, Labor Organization, and Monumental Constructions: An Otolith Study from Florida’s Crystal River Site (8CI1) and Roberts Island Shell Mound Complex (8CI40 and 41) , Elizabeth Anne Southard

Eating and Body Image Disorders in the Time of COVID19: An Anthropological Inquiry into the Pandemic’s Effects on the Bodies , Theresa A. Stoddard

The Early Medieval Transition: Diet Reconstruction, Mobility, and Culture Contact in the Ravenna Countryside, Northern Italy , Anastasia Temkina

The Science of Guessing: Critiquing Ancestral Estimation Through Computer Generated Statistical Analysis Within Forensic Anthropology in a Real-World Setting , Christopher J. Turner

Listening to Queens: Ghana's Women Traditional Leaders as a Model for Gender Parity , Kristen M. Vogel

Site Suitability Modeling in the Sand Pine Scrub of the Ocala National Forest , Jelane M. Wallace

Our Story, Our Homeland, Our Legacy: Settlement Patterns of The Geechee at Sapelo Island Georgia, From 1860 To 1950 , Colette D. Witcher

Identifying Skeletal Puberty Stages in a Modern Sample from the United States , Jordan T. Wright

Pollen-Vegetation Relationships in Upper Tampa Bay , Jaime E. Zolik

Theses/Dissertations from 2020 2020

Maternal Social Status, Offspring 2D:4D Ratio and Postnatal Growth, in Macaca mulatta (Rhesus Macaques) , Juan Pablo Arroyo

Social Exclusion of Older Mossi Women Accused of Witchcraft in Burkina Faso, West Africa , Clarisse Barbier

Fields Brook Superfund Site: Race, Class, and Environmental Justice in a Blasted Landscape , Richard C. Bargielski

The Effects of Feudalism on Medieval English Mobility: A Biological Distance Study Using Nonmetric Cranial Traits. , Jonathan H. Barkmeier

Before the Storm: Water and Energy Utilities, Human Vulnerability and Disaster Risk , Cori D. Bender

Recipes for the Living and the Dead: Technological Investigation of Ceramics from prehistoric Sicily. The case studies of Sant’Angelo Muxaro and Polizzello , Gianpiero Caso

Save Water Drink Wine: Challenges of Implementing the Ethnography of the Temecula Valley Wine Industry into Food-Energy-Water Nexus Decision-Making , Zaida E. Darley

İYo luché! : Uncovering and Interrupting Silencing in an Indigenous and Afro-descendant Community , Eileen Cecelia Deluca

Unwritten Records: Crime and Punishment in Early Virginia , Jessica L. Gantzert

‘It’s Been a Huge Stress’: An In-Depth, Exploratory Study of Vaccine Hesitant Parents in Southern California , Mika Kadono

Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy for Elemental Analysis in Bioarchaeology and Forensic Anthropology , Kelsi N. Kuehn

Middle Woodland Mounds of the Lower Chattahoochee, Lower Flint, and Apalachicola River Basin , Michael H. Lockman

Overturning the Turnbull Settlement: Artifact Analysis of the Old Stone Wharf in New Smyrna Beach, Florida , Tracy R. Lovingood

“They will think we are the Cancer Family”: Studying Patterns of Cancer Disclosure and Communication among Indian Immigrants in the United States , Kanan Mehta

Museum Kura Hulanda: Representations of Transatlantic Slavery and African and Dutch Heritage in Post-Colonial Curaçao , April Min

Nurses and Needlesticks: Perceptions of Stigma and HIV Risk , Bethany Sharon Moore

Circadian Rhythms and the Embodiment of Social Zeitgebers: Linking the Bio and Social , Tiffany R. Moore

Civic Engagement amid Civil Unrest: Haitian Social Scientists Working at Home , Nadège Nau

“Placing our breasts on a hot kerosene lantern”: A Critical Study of Microfinancialization in the Lives of Women Entrepreneurs in the Informal Economic Sector in Ibadan, Nigeria , Olubukola Olayiwola

Domestic Life during the Late Intermediate Period at El Campanario Site, Huarmey Valley, Peru , Jose Luis Peña

Archaeology and the Philosopher's Stance: An Advance in Ethics and Information Accessibility , Dina Rivera

A South Florida Ethnography of Mobile Home Park Residents Organizing Against Neoliberal Crony Capitalist Displacement , Juan Guillermo Ruiz

From Colonial Legacy to Difficult Heritage: Responding to and Remembering An Gorta Mór , Ireland’s Great Hunger , Katherine Elizabeth Shakour

The Role of Financial Insecurity and Expectations on Perspectives of Mental Health Services among Refugees , Jacqueline M. Siven

A Multidisciplinary Approach to Trauma Analysis in Cases of Child Fatality , Jaime D. Sykes

Governmentality, Biopower, and Sexual Citizenship: A Feminist Examination of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare Experiences of 18-24 Year-Olds in the U.S. Southeast , Melina K. Taylor

Characterizing Childhood and Diet in Migration Period Hungary , Kirsten A. Verostick

An Ethnography of WaSH Infrastructures and Governance in Sulphur Springs, Florida , Mathews Jackon Wakhungu

A Plan for Progress, Preservation, and Presentation at the Safety Harbor Museum and Cultural Center , Amanda L. Ward

Theses/Dissertations from 2019 2019

Pathways to Parenthood: Attitudes and Preferences of Eight Self-Identified Queer Women Living in Tampa Bay, FL , Emily Noelle Baker

"It's Not Addiction Until You Graduate": Natural Recovery in the College Context , Breanne I. Casper

Tales of Trafficking: Performing Women's Narratives in a Sex Trafficking Rehabilitation Program in Florida , Jaine E. Danlag

Perceptions of Infrastructure, Flood Management, and Environmental Redevelopment in the University Area, Hillsborough County, Florida , Kris-An K. Hinds

Eating in America: Easing the Transition for Resettled Refugees through an Applied Anthropological Intervention , Emily A. Holbrook

Genetic Testing and the Power of the Provider: Women’s Experiences with Cancer Genetic Testing , Dana Erin Ketcher

An Archaeological Investigation of Enslavement at Gamble Plantation , S. Matthew Litteral

“Right in the Trenches with Them”: Caregiving, Advocacy, and the Political Economy of Community Health Workers , Ryan I. Logan

Exploring Variations in Diet and Migration from Late Antiquity to the Early Medieval Period in the Veneto, Italy: A Biochemical Analysis , Ashley B. Maxwell

Least of My Worries: Food Security, Diet Quality, and Antiretroviral Adherence among People Living with HIV , Charlotte Ann Noble

The Tampa Gym Study: An Ethnographic Exploration of Gyms, Female Gym-Goers and The Quest for Fitness in Tampa, FL , Danielle Reneé Rosen

Environmental Legacies of Pre-Contact and Historic Land Use in Antigua, West Indies , Anthony Richard Tricarico

“What I Hadn’t Realized is How Difficult it is, You Know?”: Examining the Protective Factors and Barriers to Breastfeeding in the UK , Cheyenne R. Wagi

Theses/Dissertations from 2018 2018

“I Want Ketchup on my Rice”: The Role of Child Agency on Arab Migrant Families Food and Foodways , Faisal Kh. Alkhuzaim

Exploring Explicit Fanfiction as a Vehicle for Sex Education among Adolescents and Young Adults , Donna Jeanne Barth

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Home > SBS > ANTHRO > Anthropology Department Dissertations Collection

Anthropology Department Dissertations Collection

Current students, please follow this link to submit your dissertation.

Dissertations from 2024 2024

Behavior and Ecology of the Kinda baboon , Anna H. Weyher, Anthropology

THE POSSIBILITIES OF PROTOCOLS: PATHWAYS TO RELATIONAL KNOWLEDGE SHARING IN A SETTLER COLONIAL CONTEXT , Julie Woods, Anthropology

Dissertations from 2023 2023

The Abolition of Care: An Engaged Ethnography of the Progressive Jail Assemblage , Justin Helepololei, Anthropology

PUBLIC HEALTH, INDUSTRIALIZATION AND TUBERCULOSIS OUTCOMES AMONGST WOMEN IN 19th-20th CENTURY CLEVELAND , Sarah Mathena, Anthropology

Sociocultural and familial factors associated with symptom experience at midlife among women in Nagaland, India , Peteneinuo Rulu, Anthropology

Dissertations from 2022 2022

Reclaiming the future through Small-Scale Agriculture: Autonomy and Sustainability in the Caribbean , Dana M. Conzo, Anthropology

Violence and Indigenous Women in Mexico: Towards an Unsettled Feminist Ethnography of (in)Security , Ana Del Conde, Anthropology

BALL OR DIE: UNDERSTANDING BLACK MALE STUDENT-ATHLETE COUNTERSTORIES AT AN HWCU , Derek J. Doughty, Anthropology

Beyond Revolutionaries, Victims, and Heroic Mothers. Reproductive Politics in War and Peace in Colombia , Vanesa Giraldo Gartner, Anthropology

Rules of Recognition: Indigenous Encounters with Society and the State , Erica Kowsz, Anthropology

“ETHNICITY IN THE CLOUDS:” HERITAGE GOVERNANCE IN POST-DISASTER QIANG COMMUNITIES IN SICHUAN PROVINCE, CHINA , Ying Li, Anthropology

Digital Indigeneity: Digital Media's Uses for Identity Formation, Education, and Activism by Indigenous People in the Northeastern United States , Virginia A. McLaurin, Anthropology

NAHUATL DISCOURSES AND POLITICAL SPEECHES AS WAYS TO NEGOTIATE THE RACIAL MONOLINGUAL IDEOLOGY OF THE MEXICAN STATE IN HIDALGO, MEXICO , Vanessa Miranda Juárez, Anthropology

Blood for Bread: Kurdish Kolbers, State Violence, and Another Call for Militant Anthropology. (A Dissertation Portfolio) , Ahmad Mohammadpour, Anthropology

The survivors of the train: disability, testimonio, and activism in migrants with disabilities , claudia j. morales, Anthropology

Making the Old City: Life Projects and State Heritage in Rhodes and Acre , Evan Taylor, Anthropology

Dissertations from 2021 2021

Diversity and Evolution of Human Eccrine Sweat Gland Density , Andrew W. Best, Anthropology

Liberation and Gravy: An Engaged Ethnography of Queer and Trans Power in Georgia , Elias Capello, Anthropology

THE PROMISE OF EMPOWERMENT: REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE, DECOLONIAL FEMINISMS, AND THE CASES OF FORCED STERILZIATION IN PERU , Julie Chaparro, Anthropology

A CROSS-CULTURAL COMPARISON OF ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE SYMPTOMS AND CAREGIVING IN THE UNITED STATES AND MEXICO , Eric Erastus Griffith, Anthropology

Above the Oxbow: The Construction of Place on Mount Holyoke , Danielle R. Raad, Anthropology

The Boundaries of Safety: The Sanctuary Movement in the Inland Empire , Cecilia I. Vasquez, Anthropology

Dissertations from 2020 2020

Monitored Reproduction: Surveillance, Labor, and Care in Pro-Natalist Turkey , Seda Saluk, Anthropology

PARALLEL POLITICS: AN ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDY OF THE 2013 MEXICAN EDUCATION REFORM , Ashley Sherry, Anthropology

Dissertations from 2019 2019

Production and Power at Idalion, Cyprus in the First Millennium BCE , Rebecca Bartusewich, Anthropology

Modeling the Local Political Economy of Adulis: 1000 BCE-700 ACE , Daniel Habtemichael, Anthropology

What Will You Do Here? Dignified Work and the Politics of Mobility in Serbia , Dana N. Johnson, Anthropology

RECOLLECTIONS: MEMORY, MATERIALITY, AND MERITOCRACY AT THE DR. JAMES STILL HISTORIC OFFICE AND HOMESTEAD , Marc Lorenc, Anthropology

The Political Work of Memory in Collaborative Caribbean Archaeology , Elena Sesma, Anthropology

The Politics of Return: Migration, Race, and Belonging in the Russian Far East , Lauren Woodard, Anthropology

Dissertations from 2018 2018

Embodied Heritage: Obesity, Cultural Identity, and Food Distribution Programs in the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma , Kasey Aliene Jernigan, Anthropology

LABOR MIGRATION AND INTANGIBLE CULTURAL HERITAGE IN POSTSOCIALIST RURAL ROMANIA , Alin Rus, Anthropology

Dissertations from 2017 2017

Can Long Bone Structural Variability Detect Among-Population Relationships? , Gina Agostini, Anthropology

On the Landscape for a Very, Very Long Time: African American Resistance and Resilience in 19th and Early 20th Century Massachusetts , Anthony Martin, Anthropology

Who Ate the Subfossil Lemurs? A Taphonomic and Community Study of Raptor, Crocodylian and Carnivoran Predation of the Extinct Quaternary Lemurs of Madagascar. , Lindsay Meador, Anthropology

POTTERS ON THE PENOBSCOT: AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL CASE STUDY EXPLORING HUMAN AGENCY, IDENTITY, AND TECHNOLOGICAL CHOICE , Bonnie D. Newsom, Anthropology

The effects of industrialization and urbanization on growth and development: A comparison of boys and girls from three Industrial European skeletal collections , Sarah Reedy, Anthropology

Dissertations from 2016 2016

A Conflict of Interest? Negotiating Agendas, Ethics, and Consequences Regarding the Heritage Value of Human Remains , Heidi J. Bauer-Clapp, Anthropology

Change of Sight, Sites of Creativity: The Visual Arts in Albania after Socialism , Sofia Kalo, Anthropology

Clay Pot Cookery: Dairy, Diet and Class during the South Levantine Iron Age II Period , Mary K. Larkum, Anthropology

Ideological Conflict Embedded in Anthropology and the Road to Restructuring the Discipline , Donna L. Moody, Anthropology

Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep: An Ethnographic Analysis of the Development, Implementation, and Sustainability of a Safe Infant Sleep Education Campaign in Springfield, MA , Julie Skogsbergh, Anthropology

Dissertations from 2015 2015

Uncovering and Recovering Cleared Galloway: The Lowland Clearances and Improvement in Scotland , Christine B. Anderson, Anthropology

Illegal Hunting on the Masoala Peninsula of Madagascar: Its Extent, Causes, and Impact on Lemurs and Humans , Cortni Borgerson, Anthropology

Ts'msyen Revolution: The Poetics and Politics of Reclaiming , Robin R. R. Gray, Anthropology

The Political Ecology of Early Childhood Lead Exposure at the New York African Burial Ground , Joseph Jones, Anthropology

An Ethnography of African Diasporic Affiliation and Disaffiliation in Carriacou: How Anglo-Caribbean Preadolescent Girls Express Attachments to Africa , Valerie Joseph, Anthropology

From Green Economies to Community Economies: Economic Possibility in Massachusetts , Boone W. Shear, Anthropology

On Belonging, Difference and Whiteness: Italy's Problem with Immigration , Flavia Stanley, Anthropology

Dissertations from 2014 2014

Palm Trees y Nopales: The Commodification and Hybridization of the South Texas Borderlands , Andriana M. Foiles Sifuentes, Anthropology

Searching for a Praxis of Possibility: Civic Engagement and the Corporatized University , Deborah Keisch, Anthropology

Curious Monuments of the Simplest Kind: Shell Midden Archaeology in Massachusetts , Katharine Vickers Kirakosian, Anthropology

CONVERSATIONS WITH THE COMMUNITY: AN ETHNOGRAPHY OF TWO CASE STUDIES HIGHLIGHTING COMMUNITY-RESEARCH PARTNERSHIPS IN SPRINGFIELD, MA , Vanessa Martinez, Anthropology

Loss of Cell Surface aGal during Catarrhine Evolution: Possible Implications for the Evolution of Resistance to Viral Infections and for Oligocene Lineage Divergence , Idalia Aracely Rodriguez, Anthropology

Dissertations from 2013 2013

Framed: Native American Represtations in Contempoary Visual Mediums , Marta Carlson, Anthropology

Mind The Gap: Materiality of Gendered Landscapes in Deerfield, Massachusetts, ca. 1870 - ca. 1920 , Elizabeth Ann Harlow, Anthropology

Continuity in the Face of Change: Mashantucket Pequot Plant Use From 1675-1800 A.D. , Kimberly Carol Kasper, Anthropology

An Archaeology Of Improvement In Rural New England: Capitalism, Landscape Change, and Rural Life In The Early 19th Century , Quentin Lewis, Anthropology

Contested Subjects: Biopolitics & the Moral Stakes of Social Cohesion in Post-Welfare Italy , Milena Marchesi, Anthropology

Knuckle-Walking Signal in the Manual Phalanges and Metacarpals of the Great Apes (Pan and Gorilla) , Stacey Ann Matarazzo, Anthropology

Inhabiting Spaces, Making Places: Creating a Spatial and Material Biography of David Ruggles , Linda M Ziegenbein, Anthropology

Dissertations from 2012 2012

Biocultural Perspectives on Gender, Transitions, Stress, and Immune Function , Leo Zachary DuBois, Anthropology

Orientations of the heart: Exploring hope & diversity in undergraduate citizenship education , Mary Hannah Henderson

Virtual Black Spaces: An Anthropological Exploration of African American Online Communities' Racial and Political Agency Amidst Virtual Universalism , Kamela S Heyward, Anthropology

Remaking the Political in Fortress Europe: Political Practice and Cultural Citizenship in Italian Social Centers , Angelina Ione Zontine, Anthropology

Dissertations from 2011 2011

A Question of Comfort: Race, Whiteness, and the Creation of Diverse, Inclusive, and Engaged Learning Environments , H. Elizabeth Braun, Anthropology

Politics by Other Means: Rhizomes of Power in Argentina's Social Movements , Graciela G. Monteagudo, Anthropology

The Human Factor In Mouse Lemur (Microcebus Griseorufus) Conservation: Local Resource Utilization And Habitat Disturbance At Beza Mahafaly, SW Madagascar , Emilienne Rasoazanabary, Anthropology

Dissertations from 2010 2010

Reproductive Biology of Mouse and Dwarf Lemurs of Eastern Madagascar, With an Emphasis on Brown Mouse Lemurs (Microcebus rufus) at Ranomafana National Park, A Southeastern Rainforest , Marina Beatriz Blanco, Anthropology

Increasing the scale of inquiry: A GIS approach to archaeology, environment and landscape during the early Holocene in Central Massachusetts , Kathryn Curran

That Which Is Not What It Seems: Queer Youth, Rurality, Class and the Architecture of Assistance , Kaila Gabrielle Kuban, Anthropology

New England Terrestrial Settlement in a Submerged Context: Moving Pre-Contact Archaeology into the Twenty First Century , Kerry J. Lynch, Anthropology

Making Peace On The Island Of Love: An Ethnographic Exploration Of Peacebuilding In Cyprus. , Lisa Modenos, Anthropology

Breastfeeding and the Individual: The Impact of Everyday Stressful Experience and Hormonal Change on Breastfeeding Duration Among Women in São Paulo, Brazil , Alanna Emilia Frances Rudzik, Anthropology

Dissertations from 2009 2009

High Stakes: A Poly-Communal Archaeology Of The Pocumtuck Fort, Deerfield, Massachusetts , Siobhan M Hart, Anthropology

Cold Spring, Hot Foundry: An Archaeological Exploration of the West Point Foundry’s Paternal Influence Upon the Village of Cold Spring and its Residents , Elizabeth M. Norris, Anthropology

From “Spanish choices” to Latina /o voices: Interrogating technologies of language, race, and identity in a self -serving American moment , Ramon Solorzano

The Adoption of Shamanic Healing into the Biomedical Health Care System in the United States , Lori L. Thayer, Anthropology

“To Promote, Encourage Or Condone:” Science, Activism And The Political Role Of Moralism In The Formation Of Needle Exchange Policy In Springfield, Massachusetts, 1998–2005 , Jon E Zibbell, Anthropology

Dissertations from 2008 2008

Unwrapping the anatomical gift: Donors, cadavers, students , Carol N Coan

“Driven” women: Gendered moral economies of women's migrant labor in postsocialist Europe's peripheries , Leyla J Keough

From infancy to death? An examination of the African burial ground in relation to Christian eighteenth century beliefs , Ruth Annette Mathis

Dissertations from 2007 2007

Towards the within: Visual culture, performance, and aesthetics of acupuncture , Kevin Taylor Anderson

Historical erasure and cultural recovery: Indigenous people in the Connecticut River Valley , Margaret M Bruchac

Musculoskeletal attachment site markers and skeletal pathology of the forearm and carpal bones from Tell Abraq, United Arab Emirates, c. 2300 BC , Janet M Cope

Localization of central vasopressin V1A receptors in rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) , Diane M Toloczko

The Croatian public sphere and the journalistic milieu , Richard Wallace

Dissertations from 2006 2006

Chronic pain and working women in Berkshire County: Towards a critical physical therapy , James R Brennan

An integrative analysis of how zinc in teeth reflects maternal environments and predicts infant function in a rural Mexican community , Alexis E Dolphin

Breastfeeding and bone density change , Karen L Pearce

The house of the jaguar: The engaged anthropology of Gertrude Duby Blom at Museo Na Bolom , Mary L Robison

Good Fridays, Celtic Tigers and the Drumcree Church Parade: Media, politics and the state in Northern Ireland , Thomas H Taaffe

Archaeology and normalcy: Disciplining a discipline , Joannah L Whitney

Dissertations from 2005 2005

Negotiating power: A new discourse of the maquiladora industry in Ciudad Juarez , James H Hamm

From scientific risk to paysan savoir -faire: Divergent rationalities of science and society in the French debate over GM crops , Chaia L Heller

The formulation of Turkish immigrant subjectivities in the German region of Swabia , Tilman Lanz

American Indian identity: The Menominee experience , Carol N Nepton

Dissertations from 2004 2004

Confronting the tribal zone: Toward a critical ethnohistory of colonial state formation in San Juan through the system of encomiendas, 1509–1520 , Gabriel De La Luz-Rodriguez

Of visions and sorrows: Manuel Quintín Lame's Indian thought and the violences of Colombia , Monica Espinosa Arango

Contested place, nature, and sustainability: A critical anthropo -geography of biodiversity conservation in the “Zona Maya” of Quintana Roo, Mexico , Jose Eduardo Martinez-Reyes

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Home > Humanities and Sciences > Anthropology > Anthropology ETDs

Anthropology Theses, Dissertations, and Professional Papers

This collection includes theses, dissertations, and professional papers from the University of Montana Department of Anthropology. Theses, dissertations, and professional papers from all University of Montana departments and programs may be searched here.

Theses/Dissertations from 2023 2023

THE ANALYSIS OF ANCIENT DNA: FROM MITOCHONDRIA TO PATHOGENS , Tre Joseph Marcus Blohm

AN EXAMINATION OF THE FOOD SYSTEM, FOODSCAPE, DIETARY PATTERNS, AND ACCOLATED HEALTH OUTCOMES OF SALISH PEOPLE WITHIN THE CONFEDERATED SALISH AND KOOTENAI NATION , Joshua William Brown

Activity Pattern Analysis from a Commingled and Fragmentary Necropolis: Entheseal Changes at Kourion Amathus Gate Cemetery (KAGC) , Hannah Burgess Carson

All Under One Roof: An Ethnographic Commons in the Missoula Public Library , Caitlin Ervin

NEGOTIATING THE SACRED: UNDERSTANDING IMPACTS TO IKS AND ITEK FROM USE OF REMOTE SENSING AND GIS TECHNOLOGIES WITHIN TRIBAL LANDSCAPES , Renelda R. Freeman

Ancient Migrations in West Mexico: MtDNA Analyses , Patricio Gutiérrez Ruano

UNDERSTANDING IDENTITY, POWER, AND USE OF SPACE OVER TIME WITHIN HOUSEPIT 54, BRIDGE RIVER SITE (K’ETXELKNÁ’Z), BRITISH COLUMBIA , Ashley Elizabeth Hampton

META-ANALYSIS OF SCENT DETECTION CANINES AND POTENTIAL FACTORS INFLUENCING THEIR SUCCESS RATES , Molly Marie Jaskinia

FLICKER FEATHER FILMS: VISUAL ANTHROPOLOGY, INDIGENOUS FILM, AND DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKING , Martin I. Lopez

Venturing into the Virtual: An Analysis of Virtual Museums and Creation of UMACF Southwestern Basketry Virtual Exhibit , Monica D. Lusnia

Re-Curation and Recognition: Addressing The Curation Crisis Through the Garnet Ghost Town , Jocelyn A. Palombo

The Cultivation of Therapeutic Landscapes: A Medical Anthropological Approach to Understanding the Health and Wellbeing Qualities of the Garden of 1,000 Buddhas , Andrew Thomas Ranck

CHINESE MATERIAL CULTURE SIGNATURES IN NATIVE NORTH AMERICA: A PRELIMINARY STUDY OF NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN ONLINE COLLECTIONS AND PLAINS , Erin Drin Rosenkrance and Erin D. Rosenkrance

SEEKING A COMMON THEME: A STUDY OF CERAMIC EFFIGY ARTIFACTS IN THE PRE-HISPANIC AMERICAN SOUTHWEST AND NORTHERN MEXICO USING COMPUTER IMAGE PATTERN RECOGNITION AND PHYLOGENETIC ANALYSIS , Lee Roger Tallier Jr.

UMFC 140 A COMPREHENSIVE CASE REPORT , Daniel D. Warila

Theses/Dissertations from 2022 2022

USING BONE BIOLOGY TO ENHANCE FORENSIC AND PALEOANTHROPOLOGICAL DNA ANALYSIS , Keith M. Biddle

Linear Programming Analysis and Diet Breadth Modeling at Bridge River, British Columbia , Sean Patrick Boyd

MORPHOMETRIC ANCESTRAL ANALYSIS OF INFRAORBITAL FORAMEN AND MAXILLO-FACIAL LANDMARKS OF ADULT NORTH AMERICAN SKULLS USING X-RAY AND COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY SCANS , Anna-Marie Lynn David

The Mountain Home: Spatial and Optimal Foraging Assessments of Hunter- Gatherer Mountain Landscape Use In The Beartooth Mountains, Montana , Scott William Dersam

Revisiting the Ladle House Site: A Starch Granule Analysis of Ground Stone Artifacts from 5MT3873, Cortez, Colorado , Kathryn Marie Kemp

TRACING MIGRATION AND SOCIAL STRATIFICATION IN SUBADULTS AT THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE OF CONVENTO: A PRELIMINARY STRONTIUM ISOTOPIC ANALYSIS , Holli Kaye McDonald

Identifying Skeletal Trauma Markers Associated with Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) , Haley K. Omeasoo

THE SYNDEMIC LANDSCAPE: A NEW PARADIGM FOR MONTANA SUICIDE PREVENTION GROUNDED IN AGRICULTURAL RENEWAL , Emory Chandler Padgett

PRELIMINARY STUDY IN MORE EFFECTIVE UTILIZATION OF 87Sr/86Sr ANALYSIS IN THE FIELD OF FORENSIC ANTHROPOLOGY , Samantha Powers

The effects humidity & temperature has on DNA contamination during storage , Samantha L. Ramey

THE EFFECTS HUMIDITY & TEMPERATURE HAS ON DNA CONTAMINATION DURING STORAGE , Samantha Leigh Allison Ramey

NEW INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH AT 48PA551: LAND TENURE AND SUBSISTENCE STRATEGIES AMONG MIDDLE HOLOCENE ROCKY MOUNTAIN HUNTER-GATHERERS , Ethan Patrick Ryan

MOCCASIN ECONOMICS: ENTANGLED MUSEUM STORIES OF NIITSITAPI WOMEN, LABOR, AND FOOTWEAR , Michaela Ann Shifley

FOR THE LOVE OF LANGUAGE: MICRORITUEL IN THE SOCIALIZATION OF LANGUAGE TEACHERS , Rebekah Morgan Skoog

A COMPREHENSIVE FORENSIC CASE REPORT WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA FORENSIC ANTHROPOLOGY LAB UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA FORENSIC CASE #167 , Tyler J. Trettin

Y-Chromosome DNA Extraction from Post-Cranial Skeletal Elements , Mykala D. Ward

ARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS AND HISTORIC ARTIFACT ANALYSIS FOR THREE PROJECTS IN YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK , Monte Keoua White

HE, SHE, THEY, OTHER: AN EXAMINATION OF GENDER ASSOCIATIONS WITH THE CHATELAINE IN THE ANGLO-SAXON CULTURE , DANE A. WILLIAMS

Theses/Dissertations from 2021 2021

THE ECOLOGY OF PUHA: IDENTITY, ORIENTATION, AND SHIFTING PERCEPTIONS REFLECTED THROUGH MATERIAL CULTURE AND SOCIORELIGIOUS PRACTICE , Aaron Robert Atencio

Mapping Ethnophysiographies: An Investigation of Toponyms and Land Cover of Missoula County, Montana , Emily L. Cahoon

A Moral Influenza: An Historical Archaeological Investigation of the Prohibition Era in the United States 1920-1933 , Kelli Michele Casias

A COMPREHENSIVE FORENSIC CASE REPORT FOR THE BONNER COUNTY CORONER CASE #20-100 , Megan Copeland

Uncovering Cooperation in Housepit 54, Bridge River, British Columbia, Canada , Megan Denis

Exploring Indigenous Involvement in the Fur Trade at the Bridge River Pithouse Village, British Columbia , Rebekah Jean Engelland

THE EFFECTS OF HEAVY METAL CONTAMINATION IN SOIL ON DNA DEGRADATION AFTER DECOMPOSITION , Samantha Hofland

Devastation and Displacement: The Destruction of Native Communities as a Result of Specifically the Garrison Dam on the Missouri River in North Dakota and the Dalles Dams on the Columbia River in Oregon , Farryl Elisa Hunt

Buffalo in the Mountains: Mapping Evidence of Historical Bison Prescence and Bison Hunting in Glacier National Park , Kyle Langley

Summer Vacation in the Wild: An Historical and Archaeological Study of Timber Land Fraud in the Tobacco Plains, Montana , Tyler Jay Rounds

READING THE BONES: A TAPHONOMIC INVESTIGATION OF ARCHAEOFAUNAL REMAINS RECOVERED FROM SITE 48PA551, NORTHWEST WYOMING , Morgan H. Thurman

The Influence of Ancestry, Sex, and Age on the Morphology of the Frontal Sinus in Black and White Individuals , Hope Annelise Vance

The Lost Histories of the Shetayet of Sokar: Contextualizing the Osiris Shaft at Rosetau (Giza) in Archaeological History , Nicholas Edward Whiting

Theses/Dissertations from 2020 2020

THREE-DIMENSIONAL GEOMETRIC MORPHOMETRIC SEX DETERMINATION AND MODELED FRAGMENTARY ANALYSIS OF THE HUMAN PUBIC BONE , Katherine Scot Baca

SPIRIT EYE CAVE: REESTABLISHING PROVENIENCE OF TRAFFICKED PREHISTORIC HUMAN REMAINS USING A COMPOSITE COLLECTION-BASED ANCIENT DNA APPROACH , Tre Blohm

Conceptions and Receptions: A Case Study Analysis of Community Engagement at Four Local Museums , Mary L. Casey

A Comparative Analysis of Homicide Rates Utilizing the University of Tennessee Forensic Data Bank , Anna F. Hampton

SYNCHRONY: AN ASPECT OF THE ABILITIES OF STEPPE HORSE ARCHERS IN EURASIAN WARFARE (525 BCE – 1350 CE) , Chris Hanson

Alas, Poor Yorick: A DNA Analysis of Ancestry Using Crania , Claire Hanson

SECRETS OF SOIL: A GEOCHEMICAL INVESTIGATION AND SPATIAL ANALYSIS OF THE EARLY LIVING FLOORS OF HOUSEPIT 54, BRIDGE RIVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA , Nathaniel Louis Perhay

DIET-BREADTH ANALYSIS IN THE AMERICAN SOUTHWEST: METABARCODING METHOD WITH COPROLITES , Paige Nicole Plattner

A Snapshot of Care: Creating Models of Care for Individuals Included in the Terry Collection , Felicia Robyn Sparozic

THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT AT PLAZA H, CAHAL PECH: A STUDY IN RESILIENCY , Rachel A. Steffen

A Chip off the Old Rock: An Investigation of Hunter-Gatherer Lithic Behavior at Site 48PA551 Using the FIeld Processing Model , Emma Lydia Vance

HANDING DOWN THE HERITAGE: PRESERVING IRISH DIASPORIC IDENTITIES IN THE FESTIVAL CITY OF MONTANA , Margaret Mary Walsh

A NEW CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM FOR ANALYZING BURNED HUMAN REMAINS , Amanda Noel Williams

Theses/Dissertations from 2019 2019

3D PRINTING OF THE PROXIMAL RIGHT FEMUR: IT’S IMPLICATIONS IN THE FIELD OF FORENSIC ANTHROPOLOGY AND BIOARCHAEOLOGY , Myriah Adonia Jo Allen

THE QUEST OF VISION: VISUAL CULTURE, SACRED SPACE, RITUAL, AND THE DOCUMENTATION OF LIVED EXPERIENCE THROUGH ROCK IMAGERY , Aaron Robert Atencio

Sexual Dimorphism in Skeletal Trauma Associated with Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) , Keith Biddle

RECONNECTING INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE TO THE SUNLIGHT BASIN: INTEGRATING TRADITIONAL ECOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE AND ARCHAEOLOGY , Liz Dolinar

GRANT-PROPOSAL WRITING AS A CRAFT AND POTENTIAL WAYS TO IMPROVE GRANT-PROPOSAL WRITING KNOWLEDGE AND APPLICATION READINESS FOR STUDENTS SEEKING FUNDING ASSISTANCE ATTENDING POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION , Eileen L. Flannigan-Lewis

A Comprehensive Forensic Case Report for the University of Montana Forensic Collection Case #141 , Nohely Gonzalez

“IF THE WATER IS TAKING IT AWAY, LET THE WATER TAKE IT AWAY…”: A STUDY OF THE HISTORY OF CONSULTATION AT LAKE KOOCANUSA , Kayla Ciara Johnson

Cultural Property Protection and Preservation During Counterinsurgency Operations: A Handbook for Archaeologists Choosing to Serve with the American Military in the Global War on Terrorism , Thomas Joseph Livoti

HERITAGE ALCHEMY: A MODEL FOR SUSTAINING THE BUILT HERITAGE OF MONTANA IN THE CHANGING LANDSCAPES OF THE 21ST CENTURY VIA PERSPECTIVES FROM THE NETHERLANDS ON POLICY, EDUCATION, AND STEWARDSHIP , Jeffrey MacDonald

NATIVE AMERICAN CONSERVATION CORPS PROGRAMS: CULTURAL HERITAGE AS AN APPROACH TO COMMUNITY WELL-BEING , Michaelle Anne Machuca

HUMAN VS. NON-HUMAN BONE: A NON-DESTRUCTIVE HISTOLOGICAL METHOD , Haley N. O'Brien

Mapping Ideologies: Place Names in Glacier National Park , Kaitlin E. Pipitone

DNA ANALYSIS ON CERAMIC COOKING VESSELS , Britney J. Radford

DNA integrity in forensic samples , Samantha L. Ramey

LEARNING FROM THE LANDSCAPE: INDUSTRIAL PROCESSES AND PLACER MINING LANDSCAPES IN THE ELK CREEK MINING DISTRICT, WESTERN MONTANA , Brent Stephen Rowley

Learning From Stone: Using Lithic Artifacts to Explore the Transmission of Culture at Bridge River, British Columbia , Anne V. Smyrl

IS HUMLA, NEPAL REALLY OPEN DEFECATION FREE? LATRINE USAGE AND UPKEEP POST ODF , Evan William Stewart

A Comprehensive Case Report for the University of Montana Forensic Anthropology Laboratory Case #18-188 , Elizabeth Rose Valentine

An Investigation of Historic Euro-American Inscriptions at Madison Buffalo Jump , Jay Thomas Vest

THE ANZICK ARTIFACTS: A HIGH-TECHNOLOGY FORAGER TOOL ASSEMBLAGE , Samuel Stockton White V

CONSTRUCTING DISTANCE, RESPONSIBILITY, AND MEMORY MANAGEMENT THEORIES: AN ANTHROPOLOGICAL APPROACH TO DEATH NOTIFICATION INTERACTIONS , Teresa Ann 'Lilly' White

Theses/Dissertations from 2018 2018

EXAMINING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TRADITIONAL ECOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE AND CULTURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT , Erin Chiniewicz

8HG1312 Amanda's Terrace Lithic Analysis , SEAN FLYNN

The Sylvan Blindspot: The Archaeological Value of Surface Vegetation and a Critique of its Documentation , John S. Harris

VARIATION OF TOOL MARK CHARACTERISTICS IN FROZEN BONE AS IT RELATES TO DISMEMBERMENT , Elena Hughes

A CERAMIC ANALYSIS OF TWO TERMINAL CLASSIC MAYA SITES: EXAMINING ECONOMIC TIES THROUGH POTTERY , Kara B. Johannesen

PIG TRAUMA MODELS: A CIVILIAN PERSPECTIVE ON AR-15 POST-CRANIAL SKELETAL TRAUMA , Lauren M. Kenney

TRIBAL CONSULTATION: A CRITICAL REMINDER OF CULTURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT LAWS AND OBLIGATIONS , Natasha F. LaRose

SOCIAL, CULTURAL, AND ENVIRONMENTAL INFLUENCES ON THE PROCESS OF TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION , Cheyenne Louise Laue

The Battle of the Little Bighorn Gunshot Trauma Analysis: Suicide Prevalence Among the Soldiers of the 7th Cavalry , Genevieve M. Mielke

What's For Dinner?: A Faunal Analysis of the Bison, Elk, and Bighorn Sheep Bones from the Windy Bison Site (48YE697), Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming , Collin R. Price

CHIPPING THROUGH TIME: THE EVOLUTION OF LITHIC SPATIAL ORGANIZATION AT THE BRIDGE RIVER PITHOUSE VILLAGE, BRITISH COLUMBIA , Ethan P. Ryan

DIFFERENTIAL DECOMPOSITION RATES OF NON-HUMAN REMAINS WITH THE FACILITATION OF SODIUM HYDROXIDE IN DISSIMILAR DEPOSITION ENVIRONMENTS , Hayley Savage

OF RUPTURES AND RAPTURES: LOCATING IDEOLOGY WITH LIDAR IMAGERY , William Dale Schroeder

CALIFORNIA CREEK QUARRY: REGIONAL PERSEPCTIVES AND UAS MAPPING , David A. Schwab

THE EFFECTS OF COMMON METHODS OF SOFT TISSUE REMOVAL ON SKELETAL REMAINS: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS , Emily Silverman

Theses/Dissertations from 2017 2017

Fertility and Reproduction's Niche: Human Sexual Diversity , Samuel w. Austin

PERCEPTIONS OF ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE: NIKUTORU, TABITEUEA MAIAKI, KIRIBATI , Jaime Lynn Bach

Moving Toward a Holistic Menstrual Hygiene Management: An Anthropological Analysis of Menstruation and Practices in Western and Non-Western Societies , Sophia A. Bay

BEFORE ABANDONMENT: SOCIAL CHANGE IN PRE-COLONIAL HOUSEPIT 54, BRIDGE RIVER SITE (EeRl4), BRITISH COLUMBIA , Kathryn L. Bobolinski

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Recent Doctoral Dissertations and MA Theses

BK, Amar B (2022) Dalit Women’s Struggle for Dignity Through a Charismatic Healing Movement: Caste, Gender, and Religion in Nepal . Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh. 

Beckhorn, Patrick (2022)  The Lives of Cycle Rickshaw Men: Labor Migration and Masculinity in North India . Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Cai, Yan (2022) The Role of Productive Differentiation in the Development of Early Social Complexity in Palau, Micronesia, 200BC-1800AD . Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Farquhar, Jennifer (2022) Human-Environment Interactions: The Role of Foragers in the Development of Mobile Pastoralism in Mongolia's Desert-Steppe . Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Mullins, Patrick James (2022) Legacies in the Landscape: Borderland Processes in the Upper Moche Valley Chaupiyunga of Peru . Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Netsch Lopez, Trisha S (2022) Intercultural Health in Ecuador: A Critical Evaluation of the Case For Affirmative Biopolitics . Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Ran, Weiyu (2022) Sustaining Ritual: Provisioning a Hongshan Pilgrimage Center at Niuheliang . Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Toth, Sharon (2022)  ACL rupture rates and disparities: Using dog CCL rupture as a translational medical model for humans . Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Wong, Wei Mei (2022) Poetics and politics of purpose: Understanding dating app users in Shanghai . Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Kennedy, Sarah (2021)  Marginalized Labor in Colonial Silver Refining: Reconstructing Power and Identity in Colonial Peru (1600-1800 AD) .   Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Rovito, Benjamin (2021)  Analysis of the A1/A2 Alleyway Peri-Abandonment Deposit at Cahal Pech, Belize . Master's Thesis, University of Pittsburgh.

Ruiz-Sánchez, Héctor-Camilo (2021) Facing the Plagues Alone. Men Reshaping the HIV and Heroin Epidemics in Colombia . Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Walker, Jessica (2021) Social Identity and Life Course Stress in Nabatean Jordan .  Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Baiocchi, María Lis (2020)  A Law of One’s Own: Newfound Labor Rights, Household Workers' Agency, and Activist Praxis in Buenos Aires, Argentina . Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Cervantes Quequezana, Gabriela (2020) Urban Layout and Sociopolitical Organization in Sicán , Perú. Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Gremba, Allison (2020): Biocultural Analysis of Otitis Media and its Relationship to Traditional Skeletal Stress Markers in the Assessment of Structural Violence . Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Grosso, Alicia (2020): Tissue Variability Effects on Saw Mark Evidence in Bone . Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Hoyos Gomez, Diana Rocío (2020) Campesinos and the State: Building and Experiencing the State in Rural Communities in the 'Post-conflict' Transition in Montes de María, Colombia . Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh. 

Kello, Erin (2020): Facial clefting and the Vietnam War: A Study of DNA Methylation Patterns and Intergenerational Stress.  Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh. 

Kojanic, Ognjen (2020)  Ownership vs. Property Rights in a Worker-Owned Company in Post-Socialist Croatia.  Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh. (Unpublished)

Krishnamurti, Lauren Sealy (2020) Care with Aloha: Preventing Suicide in Oahu, Hawaii.  Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Walker, Jessica (2020) Social Identity and Life Course Stress in Nabataean Jordan .

Zhang Chi (Charles) (2020) A Critical Assessment of Sampling Biases in Geometric Morphometric Analysis: The Case of Homo erectus. Doctoral Dissertation , University of Pittsburgh. 

Zhao, Chao (2020): A Study of Land-use across the Transition to Agriculture in the Northern Yinshan Mountain Region at the Edge of Southern Mongolia Steppe Zone of Ulanqab, China .  

Chen, Peiyu (2019) Big Transitions in a Small Fishing Village: Late Preceramic Life in Huaca Negra, Virú Valley, Peru . Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Franchetti, Fernando (2019):  Hunter-gatherer adaptation in the deserts of northern Patagonia.  Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.  Kocic, Miroslav (2019): Emergence of Social Complexity and Community building in the Late Neolithic (5400-4600 cal. BCE) of the Central Balkans.

Muñoz Rojas, Lizette (2019) Cuisine and the Conquest: Contrasting Two Sixteenth Century Native Populations of the Viceroyalty of Peru. Doctoral Dissertation . University of Pittsburgh.

Ng, Chuen Yan (2019): Subsistence Economics among Bronze Age Steppe Communities: An Archaeobotanical Approach to the study of  Multi-resource Pastoralism in the Southeastern Ural Mountains Region, Russia . Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Pantovic, Ljiljana (2019):  Private within the Public: Negotiating Birth in Serbia . Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Pompeani, Katherine M. (2019): The Bioarchaeology of Life, Death, and Social Status in the Early Bronze Age Community at Ostojićevo, Serbia.  Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Portillo, Alejandra Sejas (2019):  Local Level Leadership and Centralization in the Late Prehispanic Yaretani Basin, Bolivia . Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Yoo, Wonji (2019):  The Making of God's Subject: Christian Conversion and Urban Youth in China. Doctoral Dissertation , University of Pittsburgh.

Cao, Junyang (2018) The Extirpation of the Chinese Alligator in North China. Masters Paper , University of Pittsburgh.

Carlson, Rebecca, (2018) More Japanese than Japanese: Subjectivation in the Age of Brand Nationalism and the Internet. Doctoral Dissertation. University of Pittsburgh.

Chamberlin, Rachel (2018)  Defining the Bio-citizen in Pluralistic Healthcare Settings: The Role of Patient Choice. Doctoral Dissertation .  University of Pittsburgh.

Chechushkov, Igor (2018)   Bronze Age Human Communities in the Southern Urals Steppe: Sintashta-Petrovka Social and Subsistence Organization . Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh. 

Wang, Wenjing (2018)  Lingjiatan Social Organization in the Yuxi Valley China: A Comparative Perspective . Doctoral Dissertation. University of Pittsburgh.

Bridges, Nora (2017)  The Therapeutic Ecologies of Napo Runa Wellbeing. Doctoral Dissertation. University of Pittsburgh.

Chan, Zi Lin Carol (2017)  Gendered Moral Economies of Transnational Migration: Mobilizing Shame and Faith in Migrant-Origin Villages of Central Java, Indonesia . Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Guler-Biyikli, Senem (2017)  Sacred Secular Relics: World Trade Center Steel in Off-Site 9/11 Memorials in the United States . Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Khalikova, Venera (2017)  Institutionalized Alternative Medicine in North India: Plurality, Legitimacy, and Nationalist Discourses .  Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Puzo, Ieva (2017)  The Local LIves of Global Science: Foreign Scientists in Japan's Research Institutions .  Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Robinson, Amanda S. (2017)  Animal Socialities: Healing and Affect in Japanese Animal Cafés .  Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Sharapov, Denis V. (2017) Bronze Age Settlement Patterns and the Developments of Complex Societies in the Southern Ural Steppes (3500-1400 BC) . Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Sturm, Camilla (2017)  Structure and Evolution of Economic Networks in Neolithic Walled Towns of the Jianghan Plain: A Geochemical Perspective.  Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Vargas Ruiz, Juan Carlos (2017)  Complex Societies, Leadership Strategies and Agricultural Intensification in the Llanos of Casanare, Colombia . Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Venegas, Maria (2017)  Alienated Affliction: The Politics of Grisi Siknis Experience in Nicaragua . Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Wakefield-Murphy, Robyn (2017)  The Bioarchaeology of Gendered Social Processes Among Pre- and Post-Contact Native Americans: An Analysis of Mortuary Patterns, Health, and Activity in the Ohio Valley .  Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Zickefoose, Amanda (2017)  Sustainable Practices and Sustainability Ideology on Small Farms in North-Central West Virginia. Doctoral Dissertation. University of Pittsburgh.

Fajardo, Sebastian (2016)  Prehispanic and Colonial Settlement Patterns of the Sogamoso Valley.  Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Kesterke, Matthew J. (2016)  The Effects of In-utero Thyroxine Exposure On Mandibular Shape in Mice.  Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Leeper, Bobbie J. (2016)  Evaluation of Current Methods of Soft Tissue Removal From Bone.  Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Li, Tao  (2016)  Economic Differentiation in Hongshan Core Zone Communities (Northeastern China): A Geochemical Perspective.  Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Li, Dongdong  (2016)  The Emergence of Walled Towns and Social Complexity in the Taojiahu-Xiaocheng Region of Jianghan Plain China.  Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Wentworth Fournier, Chelsea  (2015)  Feasting and Food Security: Negotiating Infant and Child Feeding in Urban and Peri-Urban Vanuatu. Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Lin, Hao-Li  (2015)  Vanua as Environment: Conservation, Farming, and Development in Waitabu, Fiji.  Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Johnson, James  (2015)  Community Matters? Investigating Social Complexity Through Centralization And Differentiation In Bronze Age Pastoral Societies Of The Southern Urals, Russian Federation, 2100 – 900 BC.   Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Ikehara Tsukayama, Hugo C.  (2015)  Leadership, Crisis And Political Change: The End Of The Formative Period In The Nepeña Valley, Peru.   Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Herckis, Lauren R.  (2015)  Cultural Variation in the Maya City of Palenque.  Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Harmansah, Rabia  (2015)  Performing Social Forgetting in a Post-Conflict Landscape: The Case of Cyprus.   Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Garrido Escobar, Francisco Javier  (2015)  Mining and the Inca Road in Prehistoric Atacama Desert, Chile.   Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

de St. Maurice, Gregory  (2015)  The Kyoto Brand: Protecting Agricultural and Culinary Heritage.  Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Clark, Julia  (2015)  Modeling Late Prehistoric and Early Historic Pastoral Adaptations in Northern Mongolia's Darkhad Depression.   Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Argüello García, Pedro María  (2015)    Subsistence Economy And Chiefdom Emergence in the Muisca Area. A Study of the Valle De Tena.  Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Williams, James T.  (2014)  Staple Economies and Social Integration in Northeast China: Regional Organization in Zhangwu, Liaoning, China. Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Sung, Shih-Hsiang   (2014)  The Flowing Materiality of Crystal: A Global Commodity Chain of Fengshui Objects From Brazil, China to Taiwan.  Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Romano, Francisco  (2014)  Changing Bases of Power: The Transition From Regional Classic to Recent in the Alto Magdalena (Colombia).   Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.             

Roman, Michael  (2014)  Migration, Transnationality, and Climate Change in the Republic of Kiribati.   Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.  

Pesantes Villa, Maria Amalia  (2014)  Out of sight out of mind: intercultural health technicians in the Peruvian Amazon.  Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Ornellas, Melody Li  (2014)  When a Wife is a Visitor: Mainland Chinese Marriage Migration, Citizenship, and Activism in Hong Kong.  Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Giraldo Tenorio, Hernando Javier  (2014)   Sources of Power and the Development of Sociopolitical Complexity in Malagana, Southwestern Colombia.  Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Berrey, Charles A.  (2014)  Organization and Growth among Early Complex Societies in Central Pacific Panama.  Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Ventresca Miller, Alicia (2013)  Social Organization And Interaction In Bronze Age Eurasia: A Bioarchaeological And Statistical Approach To The Study Of Communities.  Doctoral Dissertation, University Of Pittsburgh.

Tulbure, Narcis (2013)  Chary Opportunists: Money, Values, And Change In Postsocialist Romania.  Doctoral Dissertation, University Of Pittsburgh.

Sözer, Hande (2013)  Managing (In)Visibility By A Double Minority: Dissimulation And Identity Maintenance Among Alevi Bulgarian Turks.  Doctoral Dissertation, University Of Pittsburgh.

Sol Castillo, Ricardo Felipe (2013)  Religious Organization And Political Structure In Prehispanic Southern Costa Rica. Doctoral Dissertation, University Of Pittsburgh.

Roman-Lacayo, Manuel/A (2013)  Social And Environmental Risk And The Development Of Social Complexity In Precolumbian Masaya, Nicaragua.  Doctoral Dissertation, University Of Pittsburgh.

Rak, Kimberly (2013)  Seeing Green: Gendered Relationship Expectations And Sexual Risk Among Economically Underserved Adolescents In Braddock, Pennsylvania.  Doctoral Dissertation, University Of Pittsburgh.

Ming, Kevin (2013)  Slow Separations: Everyday Sex Work In Southern China.  Doctoral Dissertation, University Of Pittsburgh.

McCarthy, Rory G. (2013)  The Sikh Diaspora In Australia: Migration, Multiculturalism And The Imagining Of Home.  Doctoral Dissertation, University Of Pittsburgh.

Lopez Bravo, Roberto (2013)  State Interventionism In The Late Classic Maya Palenque Polity: Household And Community Archaeology At El Lacandon.  Doctoral Dissertation, University Of Pittsburgh.

Lee, Yi-Tze (2013)  Divided Dreams On Limited Land: Cultural Experiences Of Agricultural Bio-Energy Project And Organic Farming Transition In Taiwan.  Doctoral Dissertation, University Of Pittsburgh.

Hoggarth, Julie A.  (2013)  Social Reorganization and Household Adaptation in the Aftermath of Collapse at Baking Pot, Belize.  Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Guerra-Reyes, Lucia (2013)  Safe motherhood and maternal mortality reduction strategies: a cross cultural perspective.  Master Essay, University of Pittsburgh.

Guerra-Reyes, Lucia (2013)  Changing Birth in The Andes: Safe Motherhood, Culture and Policy in Peru.  Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Gamez Diaz, Laura (2013)  Cosmology And Society: Household Ritual Among The Terminal Classic Maya People Of Yaxha (Ca. A.D. 850-950), Guatemala.  Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Marcone, Giancarlo (2012)  Political Strategies And Domestic Economy Of The Lote B Rural Elite In The Prehispanic Lurín Valley, Peru.  Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Macia, Laura (2012)  Dealing With Grievances: The Latino Experience In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Hooe, Todd (2012)  “Little Kingdoms”: Adat And Inequality In The Kei Islands, Eastern Indonesia.  Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Hamm, Megan (2012)  Activism, Sex Work, And Womanhood In North India.  Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Frenopoulo, Christian (2012)  The Referential Functions Of Agency: Health Workers In Medical Missions To Madiha (Kulina) Indians In The Brazilian Amazon.  Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

DePaoli, Lisa Coffield (2012)  "No Podemos Comer Billetes": Climate Change And Development In Southern Ecuador.  Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Campbell, Roberto  (2012)  Socioeconomic differentiation, leadership, and residential patterning at an Araucanian chiefly center (Isla Mocha, AD 1000-1700).  Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Household Organization and Social Inequality at Bandurria, A Late Preceramic Village in Huaura, Peru.  Alejandro Jose Chu Barrera.  2011.

Kokeshi: Continued and Created Traditions/Motivations for a Japanese Folk Art Doll.  Jennifer E. McDowell.  2011.

Ideology and the Development of Social Hierarchy at the Site of Panquilma, Peruvian Central Coast.  Luis Enrique Lopez-Hurtado Orjeda.  2011.

Our Roots, Our Strength: The Jamu Industry, Women's Health and Islam in Contemporary Indonesia.  Sarah Elizabeth Krier.  2011.

An investigation of sex determination from the subadult pelvis: A morphometric analysis.  Kathleen Ann Satterlee Blake.  2011.

Carrying Out Modernity: Migration, Work, and Masculinity in China .  Xia Zhang.  2011.

Marriage Across the Taiwan Strait: Male Migrants, Marital Desire and Social Location.   Joseph Leo Cichosz.  2011.

Conditions of Social Change at El Dornajo, Southwestern Ecuador .   Sarah Ruth Taylor .  2011 .

Transfers and the Private Lives of Public Servants in Japan: Teachers in Nagasaki’s Outer Islands .   Blaine Phillip Connor .  2010 .

Oapan Nawa Folktales: Links to the Pre-Hispanic Past in a Contemporary Indian Community of Mexico .  Joanne Michel de Guerrero .  2010 .

Communal Tradition and the Nature of Social Inequality Among the Prehispanic Households of El Hatillo (HE-4), Panama .  William A. Locascio .  2010 .

Prehispanic Social Organization in the Jamastrán Valley, Southeastern Honduras .  Eva L. Martinez .  2010 .

Democracy “At Risk”? Governmental and Non-governmental Organizations, “At Risk” Youth, and Programming in Juiz de Fora, Brazil .   Penelope Kay Morrison .  2010 .

Emergent Complexity on the Mongolian Steppe: Mobility, Territoriality, and the Development of Early Nomadic Polities .  Jean-Luc Houle .  2010 .

Between the Kitchen and the State: Domestic Practice and Chimú Expansion in the Jequetepeque Valley, Peru.   Robyn E. Cutright. 2009.

Craft Specialization and the Emergence of the Chiefly Central Place Community of HE-4 (El Hatillo), Central Panama .  Adam Clayton Joseph Menzies .  2009 .

The Interaction of Androgenic Hormone and Craniofacial Variation: Relationship Between Epigenetics and the Environment on the Genome with an Eye Toward Non-Syndromic Craniosynostosis .   James John Cray, Jr. .  2009 .

The Development of Complex Society in the Volcán Barú Region of Western Panama .  Scott Palumbo .  2009 .

Huaracane Social Organization: Change Over Time at the Prehispanic Community of Yahuay Alta, Perú .  Kirk E. Costion .  2009 .

The Social and Political Evolution of Chiapa de Corzo, Chiapas, Mexico: An Analysis of Changing Strategies of Rulership in a Middle Formative Through Early Classic Mesoamerican Political Center .  Timothy D. Sullivan .  2009 .

Social Change in Pre-Columbian San Ramon de Alajuela, Costa Rica, and Its Relation with Adjacent Regions .  Mauricio Murillo Herrera .  2009 .

The Domestic Mode of Production and the Development of Sociopolitical Complexity: Evidence from the Spondylus Industry of Coastal Ecuador .   Alexander Javier Martin .  2009 .

Bread, Sweat, and Tears? The Ascendance of Capitalist Accumulation Strategies in the Russian Republic of Karelia, 2001-2002 .  Mark Wesley Abbott .  2008 .

The Organization of Agricultural Production on the Southwest Periphery of the Maya Lowlands: A Settlement Patterns Study in the Upper Grijalva Basin, Chiapas, Mexico .  Dean H. Wheeler .  2008 .

Donkey Friends: Travel, Voluntary Associations and the New Public Sphere in Contemporary Urban China .  Ning Zhang .  2008 .

Fashioning Change: The Cultural Economy of Clothing in Contemporary China .   Jianhua (Andrew) Zhao .  2008 .

Time and Process in an Early Village Settlement System on the Bolivian Southern Altiplano .  Jason (Jake) R. Fox .  2007 .

Social and Economic Development of a Specialized Community in Chengue, Parque Tairona, Colombia .  Alejandro Dever .  2007 .

Tracing the Red Thread: An Ethnography of Chinese-U.S. Transnational Adoption .  Frayda Cohen .  2007 .

Identity and Development in Rural Bolivia: Negotiating Gender, Ethnicity, and Class in Development Contexts .  Christine Hippert .  2007 .

Three-Dimensional Morphometric Analysis of the Craniofacial Complex in the Unaffected Relatives of Individuals with Nonsyndromic Orofacial Clefts .  Seth M. Weinberg .  2007 .

Cultural Politics and Health: The Development of Intercultural Health Policies in the Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua .   Edgardo Ruiz .  2006 .

Ritual and Status: Mortuary Display at the Household Level at the Middle Horizon Wari Site of Conchopata, Peru .  Charlene D. Milliken .  2006 .

“Crafting” Hongshan Communities? Household Archeology In The Chiefing Region Of Eastern Inner Mongolia, PRC .   Christian Eric Peterson .  2006 .

Subsistence, Environment Fluctuation and Social Change: A Case Study in South Central Inner Mongolia .  Gregory G. Indrisano .  2006 .

Power and Competition in the Upper Egyptian Predynastic: A View from the Predynastic Settlement at el-Mahâsna, Egypt .  David Allen Anderson .  2006 .

Dusk Without Sunset: Actively Aging in Traditional Chinese Medicine .   Xiaohui Yang .  2006 .

The Organization of Agricultural Production in the Emergence of Chiefdoms in the Quijos Region, Eastern Andes of Ecuador.   Andrea Cuellar .  2006 .

The Utility of Cladistic Analysis of Nonmetric Skeletal Traits for Biodistance Analysis .  James Christopher Reed .  2006 .

Ethnography of Voting: Nostalgia, Subjectivity, and Popular Politics in Post-Socialist Lithuania .   Neringa Klumbyte .  2006 .

Risky Business: Cultural Conceptions of HIV/AIDS in Indonesia .   Piper Crisovan .  2006 .

The Mahaney Site (UB 666) -- Habitation or Special Purpose Site? .  Catherine M. Serventi .  2006 .

Food for the Dead, Cuisine of the Living: Mortuary Food Offerings from Pacatnamú and Farfán, Jequetepeque Valley, Perú .  Robyn E. Cutright .  2005 .

Czech Balneotherapy: From Public Health to Health Tourism.   Amy Speier.  2005.

Taxonomy of the Genus Perodicticus .  David Paul Stump .  2005 .

Rice Agricultural Intensification and Sociopolitical Development in the Bronze Age, central western Korean Peninsula.   Bumcheol Kim.  2005.

A Cold Of The Heart: Japan Strives To Normalize Depression .  George Kendall Vickery.  2005.

Cayuga Iroquois Households and Gender Relations During the Contact Period: An Investigation of the Rogers Farm Site, 1660s--1680s (New York) .  Kimberly Louise Williams-Shuker.  2005.

The Camutins Chiefdom: Rise and Development of Social Complexity on Marajo Island, Brazilian Amazon . Denise Pahl Schaan.  2004.

Cuban Color Classification and Identity Negotiation: Old terms in a New World. Shawn Alfonso Wells. 2004.

Natural Variation in Human Mating Strategy and the Evolutionary Significance of Mate Choice Criteria.  Helen Katherine Perilloux.  2004.

The Emergence and Development of Chiefly Societies in the Rio Parita Valley, Panama . Mikael Haller.  2004.

The Form, Function, and Organization of Anthropogenic Deposits at Dust Cave, Alabama. Lara Kristine Homsey. 2004.

Does Natal Territory Quality Predict Human Dispersal Choices? A Test of Emlen's Model of Family Formation . Elizabeth R. Blum. 2004.

Pragmatic Singles: Being an Unmarried Woman in Contemporary Japan. Tamiko Ortega Noll. 2004

Regional Settlement Patterns and Political Complexity in the Cinti Valley, Bolivia . Claudia Rivera Casanovas. 2004.

Turning Numbers Against Themselves: Religion, Statistics, and Political Distance in Romania . Mihnea Vasilescu. 2004.

(Re) Producing the Nation: The Politics of Reproduction in Serbia in Serbia in the 1980's and 1990's . Rada Drezgic. 2004.

Female Choice, Male Dominance, and the Evolution of Low Voice Pitch in Men . David Andrew Putz. 2004.

A Cultural History of the Micheal and Mary Jane Brubaker Family of Somerset County, Pennsylvania, with a Focus on Women's Marriage. John Michael Krajnak. 2004.

Cranial Content Changes in Craniosynostotic Rabbits . Wendy Kay Fellows-Mayle.  2004.

Created Unequal: Multiregionalism and the Origins of Anthropological Racism. Adam Wells Davis. 2004.

Gendered Visions of the Bosnian Future: Women’s Activism and Representation in Post-War Bosnia-Herzegovina . Elissa Lynelle Helms. 2003.

Spirtual Warfare and Social Transformation in Fiji: The Life History of Loto Fiafia of Kioa . Thomas James Mullane. 2003.

Samurai Beneath Blue Tarps: Doing Homelessness, Rejecting Marginality and Preserving Nation in Ueno Park (Japan) . Abby Rachael Margolis. 2003.

The Evolutionary Biology of the Apolipoprotein E Allele System with Special Reference to Alzheimer's Disease . Jessica Ann Garver. 2003

Setting Nets on Troubled Waters: Environment, Economics, and Autonomy Among Nori Cultivating Households in a Japanese Fishing Cooperative. Alyne Elizabeth Delaney. 2003.

Skeletal Maturation and Estimating Age-At-Death During the First Decade of Life . Frank D. Houghton Jr. 2003.

"Civil Society or a Nation-State?" Macedonian and Albanian Intellectuals Building the Macedonian State and Nation(s) . Nevena Dicheva Dimova. 2003.

Sex Determination of the Fragmented Pelvis Using Euclidean Distance Matrix Analysis . Joan A. Bytheway. 2003.

Proximate Mechanisms of Kin Recogniton in Non-human Primates. Aislinn Kelly. 2003.

The Evolution of Hairlessness in Humans a a Means of Increased Vitamin D Biosynthesis . D. A. Putz. 2003.

The Evolution of the Bogota Chiefdom: A Household View . Michael H. Kruschek. 2003.

Multi-Scalar Analysis of Domestic Activities at Parker Farm: A Late Prehistoric Cayuga Iroquois Village . Tracy Sue Michaud Stutzman. 2002.

Late Intermediate Period Political Economy and Household Organization at Jachakala, Bolivia. Christine Beaule. 2002.

Indigenous Federations, NGOs, and the State: Development and the Politics of Culture in Ecuador's Amazon. Patrick C. Wilson. 2002

Wild Resources in the Andes: Algarrobo, Chanar and Palqui: Implications for Archaeology . Claudia Rivera-Casanovas. 2002.

Nonmetric Population Variation In The Skulls of Human Perinates . Seth M. Weinberg. 2002.

Intensive Agriculture and Political Economy of the Yaguachi Chiefdom of Guayas Basin, Coastal Ecuador . Florencio German Delgado-Espinoza. 2002.

Sedentism, Site Occupation and Settlement Organization at La Joya, A Formative Village in the Sierra De Los Tuxtlas, Veracruz, Mexico . Valerie J. McCormack. 2002.

The Road to Health: The Experience of Tuberculosis in Southern Chile Joan Elizabeth Paluzzi. 2002.

Household and Community Organization of a Formative Period, Bolivian Settlement . Courtney Elizabeth Rose. 2001.

Emerging Cultural Markets and Private Enterprise in Urban China: Managing Change in Values, Families and Futures . David Hudgens. 2001.

Equal Education - Unequal Lives: Life Course Goals of Japanese Female Undergraduates . Judith Lynn Misko. 2001.

Women’s Economic Activities in an Industrializing Malay Village . Margaret Wolfberg Kedia. 2001.

Interisland Interaction and the Development of Chiefdoms in the Eastern Caribbean . John Gordon Crock. 2001.

Public and Private Space at Mohenjo-Daro: the Implications for Social Organization . Sara Clark. 2001.

Anasazi Settlement Patterns: the Importance of Seasonal Mobility . Charlene Milliken. 2001.

Post-Saladoid Age Pottery in the Northern Lesser Antilles: Lessons Learned from Thin Section Photography . Martin Todd Fuess. 2001.

Peasants and the State: The Political economy of a Village in Maoist and Post-Mao China .Young Kyun Yang. 2000.

The Chichén Itzá - Ek Balam Transect Project: An Intersite Perspective on the Political Organization of the Ancient Maya . James Gregory Smith. 2000.

Japanese Adult Learning: Karaoke Naraigoto . Hideo Watanabe. 2000.

Inventing Indigenous Knowledge: Archaeology, Rural Development, and the Raised Field Rehabilitation Project in Bolivia . Lynn Swartley. 2000.

Valuable Women: Gendered Strategies for Success in Korean College Culture . Elise Michelle Mellinger. 2000.

A Study of Late Classic Maya Population Growth at La Milpa, Belize. John Janson Rose. 2000.

Development of the Central Nervous System and the Evolution of the Neocortex . Elizabeth Louise Dick. 2000.

Dynamical Systems Modeling in Archaeology: A GIS Approach to Site Selection Processes in the Greater Yellowstone Region . Thomas G. Whitley. 2000.

Rural Agrarian Diversity in the Late Classic (600-950 A.D.) Naco Valley, Northwest Honduras . John Douglass. 1999.

The Functional Morphology of the Lower Cervical Spine in Non-Human Primates . Susan R. Mercer. 1999.

T he Organization of Agricultural Production at a Maya Center. Settlement Patterns in the Palenque Region, Chiapas, Mexico . Rodrigo Ruben Gregorio Liendo Stuardo. 1999.

The Political Ecology of Indigenous Self-Development in Bolivia’s Multiethnic Indigenous Territory . J. Montgomery Roper. 1999.

Origins Research in Archaeology at the Turn of the Millennium and Giambattista Vico’s New Science (1744) . Stephanie Koerner. 1999.

Social Differentiation at the Kerniskey Site?: A Contribution to the Study of Emerging Social Complexity . Elizabeth Ramos Roca. 1999.

Lithic Economy and Household Interdependence Among the Late Classic Maya of BelizeLithic Economy and Household Interdependence Among the Late Classic Maya of Belize . Jon VandenBosch. 1999.

The Late Formative to Classic Period Obsidian Economy at Palo Errado, Veracruz, Mexico . Charles Leonard Fredrick Knight. 1999.

Postclassic Craft Production in Morelos, Mexico: The Cotton Thread Industry in the Provinces . Ruth Fauman-Fichman. 1999.

The Organization of Staple Crop Production in Middle Formative, Late Formative, and Classic Period Farming Households at K'axob, Belize . Helen Hope Henderson. 1998.

The 'Becoming' Mother: Transitions to Motherhood in Urban China . Suzanne Kelley Gottschang. 1998

Prehispanic Intensive Agriculture, Settlement Pattern and Political Economy in the Western Venezuelan Llanos . Rafael Angel Gassón Pacheco. 1998.

Prehispanic Change in the Mesitas Community: Documenting the Development of a Chiefdom's Central Place in San Agustín, Colombia . Víctor González Fernández. 1998.

"We Just Live Here": Health Decision Making and the Myth of Community in El Alto, Bolivia . Jerome Winston Pettus Crowder. 1998

Bases of Social Hierarchy in a Muisca Central Village of the Northeastern Highland of Columbia . Ana Maria Boada Rivas. 1998.

The Effect of Time Manipulation on the Exchange of Information in the Patient-Provider Encounter. Van Yasek. 1998.

Social Support Networks of Impaired Older Adults . Marcie Caryn Nightingale. 1998.

Early Village-Based Society and Long-Term Cultural Evolution in the South-Central Andean Altiplano. Timothy McAndrews. 1998.

Sacred Confluence: Worship, History and the Politics of Change in a Himalayan Village. Lipika Mazumdar. 1998

Home > Electronic Theses and Dissertations > Anthropology ETDs

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For information about submitting your thesis or dissertation, or its availability here, please see the Overview of Thesis & Dissertation Policies and Procedures or contact the Office of Graduate Studies .

Theses/Dissertations from 2023 2023

Social Tolerance, Cooperation, and Constraint Shape Differentiated Social Relationships in Female Chimpanzees , Stephanie Fox

Human Diversity in Molecular Sexual Dimorphism and Gender Disparities in Health , Adam Z. Reynolds

Between Casas Grandes and Salado: Community Formation and Interaction in the Borderlands of the American Southwest/Mexican Northwest Region, AD 1200-1450 , Thatcher A. Seltzer-Rogers

THE LITHIUM ECONOMY: BOLIVIA'S "NEW" RESOURCE AND ITS ROLE IN REVOLUTIONARY POLITICS , Zsofia J. Szoke

Theses/Dissertations from 2022 2022

Relational Peace in Colombia: An Ethnography of Multi-Scalar Affective Relations Among Peace Practitioners , Maria del Pilar File-Muriel

Buying Goodwill: Local and Regional Consumer Relationships in Nineteenth Century New Mexico , Erin N. Hegberg

AN EMPIRICAL AND THEORETICAL ANALYSIS OF LEADERSHIP IN TWO EGALITARIAN HORTICULTURAL SOCIETIES , Edmond Seabright

"When the Tide Is Out, the Table Is Set": Shellfish Harvesting Throughout the Holocene at Labouchere Bay, Southeast Alaska , Mark R. Williams

Theses/Dissertations from 2021 2021

Effects of Environmental Change on Ancestral Pueblo Fishing in the Middle Rio Grande , Jonathan W. Dombrosky Dr.

Functional Changes in Fortified Places: Strategy and Defensive Architecture in the Medieval and Early Modern Eras , Scott Kirk

ENERGETIC TRADEOFFS, INFECTION, AND IMMUNITY IN WILD CHIMPANZEES OF UGANDA AND TANZANIA , Sarah Renee Phillips

Games People Played: The Social Role of Gambling in the Prehispanic U.S. Southwest , Marilyn B. Riggs

Theses/Dissertations from 2020 2020

The Sociality of Charitable Giving in an Evolutionary Perspective , Wesley Allen-Arave

Ecologically driven changes in subsistence strategies: an examination of bone cross-sectional geometrical properties in hunter-gatherers from Australia and early agriculturists from Belize , Ethan C. Hill

The ontogeny of sex-typed social strategies among east African chimpanzees (Pan troglodyes schweinfurthii) , Kristin H. Sabbi

Sex Differences in Age-Related Disease , Matthew R. Schwartz

"Where the Land Ends": Knowing and Governing the Limits of Argentina's Soy Boom , Geneva Smith

NESHNABÉ FUTURISMS: INDIGENOUS SCIENCE AND ECO-POLITICS IN THE GREAT LAKES , Blaire K. Topash-Caldwell

Theses/Dissertations from 2019 2019

Applying Anthropology, Assembling Indigenous Community: Anthropology and the Pascua Yaqui Tribe in Southern Arizona , Nicholas Barron

A Noncoherent Governance: Tinkering with Stones in the Old City of Acre , Caitlin Davis

“WE PRACTICE LAKOTA WAY, BUT WE ARE NOT AN INDIAN CHURCH”: THE DIVERSE WAYS LAKOTA CHRISTIANS ARTICULATE, PERFORM AND TRANSLATE ETHNICITY IN CONGREGATIONAL LIFE , Kristin A. Fitzgerald

Seventeenth-Century Spanish Colonial Identity in New Mexico: A Study of Identity Practices through Material Culture , Caroline M. Gabe

The History of Admixture in African Americans , JESSICA M. GROSS

Ethnic identity and genetic ancestry in New Mexicans of Spanish-speaking descent , Meghan Healy

POTTERY AND PRACTICE IN THE LATE TO TERMINAL CLASSIC MAYA LOWANDS: CASE STUDIES FROM UXBENKÁ AND BAKING POT, BELIZE , Jillian Michelle Jordan

A biocultural examination of health risk among New Mexicans of Spanish-speaking descent , Carmen Mosley

Trends in Health, Stress, and Migration in the pre-contact Southwest United States , Alexis O'Donnell

Facial fluctuating asymmetry: developmental origins and implications for long-term health , Katelyn Marie Rusk PhD

AMARO E PICCANTE: THE PRODUCTION AND USE OF TERROIR IN THE SCANDAL OF ITALIAN EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OILS , Daniel Gene Shattuck II

Using Archaeological Remote Sensing to Evaluate Land Use and Constructed Space in Chaco Canyon , Jennie O. Sturm

COMPARATIVE PROCESSES OF SOCIOPOLITICAL DEVELOPMENT IN THE FOOTHILLS OF THE SOUTHERN MAYA MOUNTAINS , Amy E. Thompson

EXPLAINING VARIATION AND CHANGE AMONG LATE PLEISTOCENE AND EARLY HOLOCENE MICROBLADE-BASED SOCIETIES IN NORTHEASTERN ASIA , Meng Zhang

Theses/Dissertations from 2018 2018

Mainland Southeast Asia in the Longue Durée: A Zooarchaeological Test of the "Broad Spectrum Revolution" in Northern Thailand , Cyler Norman Conrad

Relanzamiento of Nicaragua’s Christian Base Communities: Forging New Models of Church and Society for the Twenty-First Century , LARA M. GUNDERSON

Reconstructing Landscape Use Patterns Using Strontium Isotope Ratios , Marian I. Hamilton

Sociocultural Diversity in the Prehispanic Southwest: Learning, Weaving, and Identity in the Chaco Regional System, A.D. 850-1140 , Edward A. Jolie

THE STRUCTURAL VIOLENCE OF MAYA SACRIFICE: A CASE STUDY OF RITUALIZED HUMAN SACRIFICE AT MIDNIGHT TERROR CAVE, BELIZE , C. L. Kieffer Nail

Theses/Dissertations from 2017 2017

Paradise Found? Local Cosmopolitanism, Lifestyle Migrant Emplacement, and Imaginaries of Sustainable Development in La Manzanilla del Mar, Mexico , Jennifer Cardinal

The Past in the Present: Federal Implementation of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act , Erin J. Hudson

Bodies of Water: Politics, Ethics, and Relationships along New Mexico's Acequias , Elise Trott

Theses/Dissertations from 2016 2016

A GIS-Based Investigation Into Social Violence and Settlement Patterns in the Gallina Area of the American Southwest , Adam M. Byrd

Questions of Sovereignty: Pyramid Lake and the Northern Paiute Struggle for Water and Rights , Andrew W. Carey

Ambivalent Subjects in Neoliberal Times: Non-Governmental Organizations and Binational Same Sex Couples in the United States , Jara M. Carrington

Economies Set in Stone? Magdalenian Lithic Technological Organization and Adaptation in Vasco-Cantabrian Spain , Lisa Marie Fontes

Basketmaker II Warfare and Fending Sticks in the North American Southwest , Phil R. Geib

TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY WOODLAND ARCHAEOLOGY IN THE LOWER ILLINOIS RIVER VALLEY: A REGIONAL MODEL , Jason Louis King

Estimating Ancestry and Genetic Diversity in Admixed Populations. , Anthony Koehl

Artifacts of Representation: The Makings of Indigeneity in Argentine Museums , A.K. Sartor

Sleep as an evolved behavior: ecological opportunity costs and sleep optimization , Gandhi Yetish

Theses/Dissertations from 2015 2015

Mens Life History, Testosterone, and Health , Louis Alvarado

Explanations For Morphological Variability In Projectile Points: A Case Study From The Late Paleoindian Cody Complex , Cheryl Fogle-Hatch

SOCIAL AND RITUAL DYNAMICS AT EL CHOLO: AN UPPER GENERAL VALLEY FUNERARY VILLAGE OF THE DIQUÍS SUBREGION, SOUTHERN COSTA RICA , Roberto Herrera

Identity and Material Practice in the Chacoan World: Ornamentation and Utility Ware Pottery , Hannah Mattson

New Deal Navajo Linguistics and Language Documentation , Char Peery

Cultural interaction and biological distance among Postclassic Mexican populations , Corey Steven Ragsdale

Speaking in Circles: Interpretation and Visitor Experience at Chaco Culture National Historic Park , Maren Else Svare

From Rural Street Theater to Big City Extravaganza: The Meaning of the Manaus Boi-bumbá in an Urbanizing Brazil. , Margaret Kathleen Watson

Theses/Dissertations from 2014 2014

Variable Education Exposure and Cognitive Task Performance Among the Tsimane, Forager-Horticulturalists. , Helen Elizabeth Davis

Afro-Colombians and the Encroachment of Paramilitaries on the African Palm Oil Sector , Stacie Hecht

Maturing Temporal Bones as Non-Neural Sites for Transforming the Speech Signal during Language Development , Lisa Hogan

The Paradoxes of Poverty: Urban Space and Ideologies of Intervention in the "Compassionate" City of San Francisco , Andrea Lopez

"Ellos Son Mi Familia." Testing the Embodied Capital Theory in Dominican Populations in the Dominican Republic and in New York City , Elvira Pichardo

Women and Cultural Production: Fiestas, Families, and Foodways in San Rafael, New Mexico , Stephanie M. Sanchez

Theses/Dissertations from 2013 2013

Application of GIS and Spatial Data Modeling to Archaeology: A Case Study in the American Southwest , Veronica Arias

Sowing Seeds for the Future to Honor Tigua History and Tradition: Diabetes Prevention and Management at Ysleta del Sur Pueblo , Sean Bruna

Looking Forward Rather Than Backward: Cultural Revitalization at the Poeh Cultural Center and Museum , Kaila Cogdill

"I'm afraid [of] my future.": Secrecy, Biopower, and Korean High School Girls , Noelle Easterday

Nanta Hosh Chahta Immi? (What Are Choctaw Lifeways?): Cultural Preservation in the Casino Era , Sean Everette Gantt

Storied Lives in a Living Tradition: Women Rabbis and Jewish Community in 21st Century New Mexico , Miria Kano

Albuquerque the Frontier? Exploring Migration and Social Identity in the Albuquerque Area During the Late Developmental to Coalition Period Transition , Dorothy L. Larson

Changing Hearts and Minds: The Politics of Sentimentality and The Cultural Production of the Gay Family in New Mexicos Same-Sex Marriage Debate , Nicolae Lavinia

LOCAL FOOD AND POWER DYANMICS IN SOUTHEAST GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN , Christy Mello

Lost Worlds: Locating submerged archaeological sites in southeast Alaska , Kelly Monteleone

Spanish Missionization and Maya Social Structure: Skeletal Evidence for Labor Distribution at Tipu, Belize , Lara Noldner

THE SOCIOECONOMIC ORGANIZATION OF COMMUNAL HUNTING: AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXAMINATION OF SHOSHONE COLLECTIVE ACTION , Matthew O'Brien

Women's Toolkits: Engendering Paleoindian Technological Organization , Susan Ruth

Tsehootsooidi baa hane: Emergent oral histories from a Navajo community based oral history project in Ft. Defiance, AZ , Gwendolyn Saul

Soy Gaucho: Nationalism and Modernity in Argentina , Geneva Smith

The Bioarchaeology of Changes in Social Stratification, Warfare, and Habitual Activities among Iron Age Samnites of Central Italy , Vitale Sparacello

Theses/Dissertations from 2012 2012

Zapatista Materiality Disseminated: A Co-Construction Reconsidered , Ilse Biel

Florentine Palaces, Costly Signaling, and Lineage Survival , Michael Church

PREDICTIVE GEOSPATIAL MODELING FOR ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH AND CONSERVATION: CASE STUDIES FROM THE GALISTEO BASIN, VERMONT AND CHACO CANYON , Wetherbee Bryan Dorshow

NEW PALEOCLIMATE RECONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUES IN ARCHAEOLOGY: Applications in Greece, New Mexico, and Portugal , Brandon Lee Drake

Feeding Ecology and Life History Strategies of White-faced Capuchin Monkeys , Elizabeth Eadie

Finding Hope: Guatemalan War Orphans' Responses to the Long-Term Consequences of Genocide , Shirley Heying

Women Living Islam in Post-War and Post-Socialist Bosnia and Herzegovina , Emira Ibrahimpasic

Coffee and the Countryside: Small Farmers and Sustainable Development in Las Segovias de Nicaragua , Patrick Staib

Planting Seeds is a Metaphor: Being Agrarian, Agricultural Activism, and Emergent Identity in New Mexico , Elise Trott

Investigating Epistemological Implications of Geospatial representation in the Making of Histories of the Pueblos, Using an Exploratory Mixed Methods Approach , Judith van der Elst

Health Parameters Across the Lifespan Among the Ache of Paraguay , John Wagner

Early-life influences on body composition, metabolic economy, and age at menarche , Megan Workman

Tribes, States, and Landscapes: The Ecological Impacts of Changing Land Use During the Islamic Period in Southern Portugal , F. Scott Worman

THE EFFECTS OF GENETIC ANCESTRY AND SOCIOCULTURAL FACTORS ON PULMONARY TUBERCULOSIS SUSCEPTIBILITY IN NORTHEASTERN MEXICO , Bonnie Young

Theses/Dissertations from 2011 2011

Making Modernity: Ideological Pluralism and Political Process in Zinacantán , Kristen Adler

Ceramic Resource Selection and Social Violence in the Gallina Area of the American Southwest , Connie Constan

Predicting Body Mass from the Skeleton with an Application to the Georgia Coast , Shamsi Daneshvari

The Discourse and Practice of Native American Cuisine: Native American Chefs and Native American Cooks in Contemporary Southwest Kitchens , Lois Ellen Frank

Against the Odds: Indian Gaming, Political Economy, and Identity on the Pala Indian Reservation , Shasta Gaughen

The structure of energy production and redistribution among Tsimane' forager-horticulturalists , Paul L. Hooper

Testing Hypotheses of the Demographic Transition in San Borja, Bolivia , Kristin Snopkowski

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Theses and Dissertations

Booklets – m.a. recipients & ph.d. graduates.

• 2019-20, 2020-21, Summer 2021

2022-23 Theses, Reports, and Dissertations

Master’s Theses & Reports

Madison Aubey, MA

The Archaeology of Sovereignty: Africatown, Black Mobile, and Resistive Consumption

Chair: Justin P. Dunnavant

Amber Kela Chong, MA

Experiments in Sovereignty: Cultivating ʻĀina Momona at Waipā

Chair: Jessica Cattelino  

Dani Heffernan, MA

Constructing the “Cisgender Listening Subject”: Trans-Feminine Speakers’ Commentaries on Voice and Being Heard

Chair: Norma Mendoza-Denton  

Sally Li, MA

Racial and temporal differences in fertility-education tradeoffs highlight the effect of economic opportunities on optimum family size in the US

Chair: Brooke Scelza  

Robin Stevland Meyer-Lorey, MA

Manifest Destiny in Southeast Asia: Archaeology of American Colonial Industry in the Philippines, 1898-1987

Chair: Stephen Acabado  

Victoria Newhall, MA.

Evaluating the Role of Foodways During Large-Scale Socio-Political Transformations at Formative Tres Zapotes

Co-Chairs: Richard Lesure and Gregson Schachner  

Wanda Quintanilla Duran, MA

Chair: Jason De León  

The Force of Intimacy in a Honduran Community

Nicole Smith, M.A.

From Exile to Eviction: Garífuna Indigeneity, Land Rights, and Heritage in Roatán, Honduras

Co-Chairs: Jason De León and Justin Dunnavant

Doctoral Dissertations

Steven Ammerman, PhD

Human-Animal Interaction at the Ancient Urban Site of Sisupalgarh, India

Chair: Monica L. Smith

Spencer Chao-Long Chen, PhD

Dubbing Ideologies: The Politics of Language and Acoustic Aesthetics in Taiwan’s Mandarin-Voiceover Production

Chair: Paul V. Kroskrity

Kristine Joy Chua, PhD

Environmental, Biological, and Cultural Influences on Health and Behavior

Chair: Abigail Bigham

Rodney R. Gratreaks Jr., PhD

Talking to the Wind: Towards an Understanding of Numic Verbal Art and Language Planning in the Village of Shaxwapats

Emily Virginia Jones, PhD

A Violent Operation: Trauma Surgery, Policing, and the Politics of Care in a Los Angeles County Public Hospital

Chair: Laurie Kain Hart

Sucharita Kanjilal, PhD

Home Chefs: Indian Households Produce for the Global Creator Economy

Chair: Akhil Gupta

Andrew E. MacIver, Ph.D.

The Shang-Zhou Transition: Immanence, Power, and the Micropolitics of Encounter

Chair: Li Min

Joshua L. Mayer, PhD

Conjuring Territory: Afro-Indigenous Authority and Settler Capitalism in Nicaragua

Chair: Shannon Speed

Bianca Romagnoli, PhD

Patrolling North of 60: Military Infrastructure in Canada’s Arctic Communities

Co-Chairs: Salih Can Açiksöz and Laurie Kain Hart

Theodore Samore, PhD

Traditionalism, Pathogen Avoidance, and Competing Tradeoffs During a Global Threat

Chair: Daniel M.T. Fessler

William James Schlesinger, PhD

The Production and Governance of Risky Sexual Subjectivity in the Era of Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) to HIV

Chair: Salih Can Açiksöz

Saliem Wakeem Shehadeh, PhD

Researching the General Union of Palestine Students from the Diaspora

Co-Chairs: Jemima Pierre and Susan Slyomovics

Madeleine Amee Yakal, PhD

Spanish Colonialism in Bikol, Philippines: Localizing Devotion to Our Lady of Peñafrancia

Chair: Stephen Acabado

2021-22 Theses, Reports, and Dissertations

Master’s Theses & Reports

Emilia Rose Ørsted Holmbeck, MA

Contextualizing PTSD as Diagnosis and Intervention: Situating Trauma and the Subjective Experience of Suffering in Locally Meaningful Worlds

Co-Chairs: Douglas W. Hollan & Linda Garro  

Jewell Ruth-Ella Humphrey, MA

Harboring History: A Maritime Archaeological Analysis of an 18th Century Shipwreck in Coral Bay, St. Jan

Co-Chairs: Stephen Acabado & Justin Dunnavant  

Lillian Kohn, MA

Public Mourning, Online Spaces: Virtual Memorialization and Binational Grief in Israel-Palestine

Chair: Susan Slyomovics  

NaaKoshie Awurama Mills, MA

Par for the Corps: Black Diplomats and Race in U.S. Foreign Policy

Chair: Laurie Hart  

Abdullah Puckett, MA

Decarceration and Social Justice Activism in South Central LA

Chair: Philippe Bourgois

  Matthew James Schneider, MA

Against Accountability: Policing and Public Knowledge in Los Angeles

Chair: Hannah Appel  

Doğa Tekin, MA

Claiming Big Sur: How Places Enter Semiosis

Co-Chairs: Erin Debenport & Paul V. Kroskrity  

Kimberly Tanya Zhu, MA

Genomic Features Underlying Andean High-Altitude Adaptive Hemoglobin Levels

Chair: Abigail Bigham  

Brittany Nicole Florkiewicz, PhD

Properties of Facial Signaling in Captive Chimpanzees ( Pan troglodytes )

Chair: Brooke Scelza   Yanina Gori, PhD

Re/mediating Revolution: Cultivating Solidarity in a Cuban Queer Community

Co-Chairs: Hannah Appel & C. Jason Throop  

Jananie Kalyanaraman, PhD

Window seats: Making connection through transport and mobility in Bengaluru city, India

  Eva Rose Melstrom, PhD

The Gate of Weeping: Ethiopian Women Returning from Domestic Work in the Arab States of the Persian Gulf

Co-Chairs: Douglas W. Hollan & C. Jason Throop  

Zachary Mondesire, PhD

Region-craft: An Ethnography of South Sudan’s Transnational Intelligentsia

Lauren Textor, PhD

Deserving Abandonment: Governing Pain and Addiction across U.S. Opioid Landscapes

Co-Chairs: Philippe Bourgois & Laurie Hart

2020-21 Theses and Dissertations

Master’s Theses

Sara Isabel Castro Font, MA

Hipsters, Drunks, Tourists, and Locals: Calle Loíza as a Site of Ideological Contestation

Co-Chairs: Erin Debenport & Paul V. Kroskrity

Lilit Ghazaryan, MA

Speak Beautifully – Language Policies and Practices in Public Kindergartens in Armenia

Chair: Erica Cartmill

Nicco Amedeo La Mattina, MA

“Giving the Meaning” as a Social Practice on Pantelleria: The Metasemantics of Atttunement

Chair: Alessandro Duranti

Alessandra May Laurer Rosen, MA

Semiotic Labors of Personalization: Modernization and Access in an American Yoga School

Danielle Leigh Steinberg, MA

A robust tool kit: first report of tool use in crested capuchin monkeys ( Sapajus robustus )

Chair: Jessica Lynch

Jessie Serene Stoolman, MA

Writing Letters and Reading against the Grain of Anthropology’s Past

Chair: Aomar Boum

Donghyoun We, MA

Food and Restaurants: A Review of the Literature and Exploratory Observations of Restaurant Pivots in LA in the Time of COVID-19

Madeleine Louise Zoeller, MA

Eye See You: Investigating Predictors of the Evil Eye

Chair: Joseph Manson

Farzad Amoozegar-Fassaie, PhD

The Pursuit of Happiness and the Other: Being a Syrian Refugee Child in America

Co-Chairs: Alessandro Duranti & C. Jason Throop

Theresa Hill Arriola, PhD

Securing Nature: Militarism, Indigeneity and the Environment in the Northern Mariana Islands

Chair: Jessica Cattelino

Yael Assor, PhD

Objectivity as a Bureaucratic Virtue: The Lived Experience of Objectivity in an Israeli Medical Bureaucracy

Chair: C. Jason Throop

Amanda Jean Bailey, PhD

Alluvial Hope: The Transformative Practices of Placemaking at a Montana Tribal College

Co-Chairs: Paul V. Kroskrity & Cheryl Mattingly

Hannah Addaline Carlan, PhD

Producing Prosperity: Language and the Labor of Development in India’s Western Himalayas

Alejandro Suleman Erut, PhD

Lying: an anthropological approach

Chair: H. Clark Barrett

Nafis Aziz Hasan, PhD

Techno-politics of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) – Investigating Practices and Social Relations in Indian Public Bureaucracies

Tanya Ruth Matthan, PhD

The Monsoon and the Market: Economies of Risk in Rural India

Agatha Evangeline Palma, PhD

The Migrant, The Mediterranean, and the Tourist: Figures of Belonging in Post-Austerity Palermo

Co-Chairs: Aomar Boum & Laurie Kain Hart

Sonya Rao, PhD

Privatizing Language Work: Interpreters and Access in Los Angeles Immigration Court

Alexander Malcolm Thomson, PhD

Mesologues: An Ethnobibliographic Study of Cultural and Lingual Politics in Contemporary Brittany

Co-Chairs: Laurie Kain Hart & Paul V. Kroskrity

2019-20 Theses, Reports, and Dissertations

Ulises Espinoza, MA

Intuitions on Ownership Among the Achuar of Southeastern Ecuador

Eden Franz, MA

Cultural and Interspecific Symbiosis at Salemi, Sicily: Exploring Colonial and Human-Animal Interactions Through Faunal Analysis

Joelle Julien, MA

Haitian Migration to Tijuana, Mexico: Black Migrants and the Political Economy of Race and Migration

Chair: Jemima Pierre

Eric Andrew Sinski, MA

Imagined Communities: Patriotic Sentiment Among Chinese Students Abroad in the Era of Xi Jinping

Chair: Yunxiang Yan

Sasha Lutz Winkler, MA

The Development of Sex Differences in Play in Wild White-Faced Capuchins

Katelyn Jo Bishop, PhD

Ritual Practice, Ceremonial Organization, and the Value and Use of Birds in Prehispanic Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, 800-1150 CE

Co-Chairs: Richard Lesure & Gregson Schachner

Molly Josette Bloom, PhD

Thick Sociality: Community, Disability, and Language in Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation

Chair: Norma Mendoza-Denton

Courtney Evelyn Cecale, PhD

Scientific Governance and the Cultural Politics of Climate Change Adaptation in the Peruvian Andes

Amy Marie Garey, PhD

The People’s Laughter: War, Comedy, and the Soviet Legacy

Chair: Nancy E. Levine

Kotrina Kajokaite, PhD

Social relationships in wild white-faced capuchin monkeys ( Cebus capucinus ): Insights from new modeling approaches

Chair: Susan Perry

Matthew Richard McCoy, PhD

Unsettling Futures: Morality, Time, and Death in a Divided Belfast Community

Dalila Isoke Ozier, PhD

City of Magic: Aesthetic Value in the Los Angeles Magic Scene

Chair: Sherry B. Ortner

Mindy Gayle Steinberg, PhD

Legal Status and the Everyday Lives of Mexican-Origin Youth in Los Angeles: Family, Gratitude, and the High School Transition

Chair: Thomas S. Weisner

Christopher Shawn Stephan, PhD

“Focus on the Users”: Empathy, Anticipation, and Perspective-Taking in Healthcare Architecture

Anoush Tamar Suni, PhD

Palimpsests of Violence: Ruination and the Politics of Memory in Anatolia

Chair: Susan Slyomovics

Gwyneth Ursula Jean Talley, PhD

Gunpowder Women: Gender, Kinship & Horses in Moroccan Equestrian Performance

Co-Chairs: Nancy E. Levine & Susan Slyomovics

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Anthropology Theses & Dissertations

Theses/dissertations from 2021 2021.

The Materiality of Metaphor in Mayan Hieroglyphic Texts: Metaphor in Changing Political Climates , Dinkel A. Rebecca

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About the Dissertation

Research Ethics Approval


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Oral Examination

The dissertation is an exercise in advanced independent study, complementary to the work students do in achieving in-depth knowledge of the distinctive methods and perspectives of social anthropology through seminars, supervision work and exam preparation. The dissertation is therefore intended to provide students with an experience of applying the methods and perspectives that are important in the work of anthropologists to an independently conceived study project. The dissertation may include a component of on-site participant-observation, so long as this is carefully planned so as to take into consideration all relevant issues of risk and ethical practice in our field, or it can be largely or wholly library-based. It may be a free-standing project, or it can be a vehicle for the working out of plans for a future research project such as a PhD.

The primary aim of a dissertation should be the theoretical analysis of ethnographic material. This might include an element of observations amassed by the student himself/herself in a suitable context for such independent study, or it can be an attempt at a novel synthesis of ethnographic material, and/or an attempt to rethink or reinterpret existing material, such as the published ethnographic observations of anthropologists. Students will be expected to produce a coherent anthropological argument based on a secure knowledge of a set of substantive materials, and to place their project's findings and argument within the existing literature on the subject.

Students may expect to receive guidance from their supervisors on the planning and writing of their dissertations, and should discuss well in advance any possible plans to conduct on-site work as a basis for their project as an analytical exercise. The Department also provides skills teaching relevant to the planning and writing of the dissertation.

The dissertation needs careful planning with your supervisor. As a rough guide, we suggest the following timetable:

• After the first four weeks of the Michaelmas term, you should begin to choose a subject area and topic in consultation with your supervisor.
• During the Christmas vacation, you should try to do the bulk of the necessary reading, and begin a rough outline of the questions you hope to address and how.
• You should discuss the subject and title of your dissertation with your supervisor at the beginning of the Lent term. You must submit via Moodle Department Form MP14 - Dissertation Title and Submission Date by the third week of the Lent term (specific date is on your Course Diary) for approval by the Degree Committee. At the same time, you must formally register for the two written examination papers you intend to sit. The title of your dissertation will be passed to the Degree Committee for approval.
• The Department offers all MPhil students a week-long course on fieldwork methods during Michaelmas Term. 

The Haddon Library holds copies of dissertations produced by past graduate students and also has an online list of these dissertations .

MPhil students in the Department needing help with the costs associated with their dissertation, including fieldwork costs during vacations, should apply to the Dissertation Expenses Grant .

Research Ethics and Integrity Approval

The MPhil Committee deals with ethical issues that arise for MPhil students. With the Departmental Committee, it has final responsibility for ethics clearance at the Department level.  For MPhil in Social Anthropology matters please contact Professor Yael Navaro ( [email protected] ).

The University of Cambridge Research Integrity website provides extensive ethics and integrity guidelines to support staff and students. The Association of Social Anthropologists also provides extensive ASA ethics guidelines . Please consult these carefully while planning your research and discussing it with your supervisor. Also see ESRC framework for research ethics and AAA ethical guidelines .  

As the statement from the ASA Chair usefully points out, the guidelines are not intended to provide ready-made answers or to absolve researchers from ethical responsibilities, but should be a starting point for a concrete reflection on the specific ethical issues which may have to be borne in mind in the case of your specific research:  

“Codes of practice and guidelines are of necessity succinct documents, couched in abstract and general terms. They serve as a baseline for starting to think about ethical issues, but cannot of their nature encompass the complexities of concrete situations and the dilemmas of choice and positioning that anthropologists routinely face as they navigate through a variety of intersecting fields of power and responsibility and start to consider how their own work both reflects and affects power relations. If ethics is seen simply as a question of avoiding a lawsuit and our codes are simply a list of restrictions on conduct designed to protect us from interference, our ethical purpose will simply be a matter of self-serving professional interest.” (Statement from the Chair, ASA) 

Researchers should also be aware of data protection issues that arise as a result of conducting research. In particular, you should keep in mind that when using cloud-based storage, or programmes such as Evernote, data will be crossing international borders even if your research does not. This means you should be aware of any issues raised concerning not only the security of your own research data, but also the legal issues surrounding data protection of all personal data. Further information on data protection can be found at the following places: The University of Cambridge Staff and Student Information Research data Q&A from Jisc Legal SOAS information on personal data in research which covers some issues of particular interest to anthropologists in more depth.

If, having read these guidelines, you have any questions or would like any advice relating to research ethics, please consult the Department’s research ethics officer.  

Dissertation deadlines

There are two dates when MPhil dissertation may be submitted: the Division of Easter Term  (specific date is in your Course Diary) and the last Friday in August . Several considerations concerning dissertation deadlines may affect how and when you plan to write and submit your dissertation.

Lectures and seminars end at the division of the Easter term, leaving about two weeks for revision before the examinations, which begin around the end of May. If you submit your dissertation by the division of the Easter term, it can be read and marked at the same time as your exams. In that case, you will know your result soon after the middle of June. You may need to know your results early in the summer because you are applying for grants or for further courses which have early deadlines and which require a firm MPhil result before the application can be judged. If this is likely to be the case, you should plan to complete your dissertation by the early date.

Even if you choose to submit your dissertation at the later date, you will still need to plan it well in advance during the Lent and Easter terms while your supervisor is still around. To ensure that the content and approach of your dissertation will be acceptable, you must also submit a (one page) synopsis of your intended dissertation, which summarises its theme, argument and structure.  This should be uploaded to your Moodle Course by the division of the Easter term (specific date is in your Course Diary). The Department cannot guarantee any supervision after the end of the Easter term.

Dissertations that are submitted after the first deadline will not normally be examined until just before the beginning of the following Michaelmas term, in late September, which means that you will not know your results until early October.

Further details are given on the Dissertation Submission page of the website.

An oral examination or viva on your dissertation and any other aspect of assessment will not be held automatically, but the Department reserves the right to call you for one. This might be because there are particular questions that we wish to follow up, because there is a danger of your failing, or because we wish to decide about a borderline between a pass and a high pass mark.

The aim of the oral examination is to allow you to expand on, defend or explain some aspect of your assessed work. However, this raises a possible problem of timing. Those who submit a dissertation before the division of the Easter term would, if necessary, be called for an oral during the period of written examinations.

Dissertations submitted after the division of the Easter term will not be examined until the following September. If a candidate were asked to come to an oral at that point, it would be held as early as feasible in middle to late September or early in the new Michaelmas term. Some candidates may find it difficult to remain in or return to Cambridge for this purpose; an online interview may be arranged if necessary.  

Department of Social Anthropology Free School Lane Cambridge CB2 3RF Tel: 01223 334 599

Contact: [email protected]

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The general call number for Anthropological books is GN and can be found on the B-Level of the MSE Library. 

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PHD Program Guide

Graduate training in anthropology in governed by requirements set both by the Department and the University. However, the most critical mediating role in the implementation of these requirements and in the achievement of the goals of graduate training is the relationship of each student to their faculty advisors.

Students with questions about program requirements and milestones should contact Americia Huckabee ( [email protected] ), Anthropology Student Affairs Administrator. Students may also contact Brett Baker ( [email protected] ), Associate Dean of Students in the Social Sciences, and Amanda Young ( [email protected] ), Director, Graduate Student Affairs in UChicagoGRAD. 

The graduate program can be divided into five overall phases. The first phase is the initial year of study and involves introductory work. During the first year, all graduate students will be introduced to the Development of Social and Cultural Theory and to the scholarly interests of the faculty of the Department. They will also take courses in particular specialized areas of ethnography, archaeology, and theory, with a view to defining or refining their own research interests and preparation for their dissertation projects. Depending on their particular interests and in consultation with their first-year advisor, they may also take relevant courses in other departments, or special language training.

The second phase of training is a continuation of the first, but is directed toward acquiring a deeper knowledge of the special area and theoretical topics on which a student’s research will be focused, as well as a broader anthropological understanding in preparation for the PhD Qualifying/Oral Examination and in completing a Master’s paper.

At the end of the second phase students are expected to complete their Master’s Degree. The department requires a Master’s paper/degree as a prerequisite for admission to candidacy for the PhD. For students entering without a previous MA, the degree will be awarded upon completion of the Phase I (First-year) course requirements (9 courses) plus the acceptance of a written research paper. Work on this paper may begin during the summer following the student’s first year, but it will normally be completed under the supervision of a faculty member with whom the student registers for an MA.

Preparation for the Qualifying Examination. Along with preparation of the MA paper, students begin preparing, in consultation with their advisory committee, a reading list covering the special theoretical and ethnographic areas that will be the foci of the Qualifying Examination. Ideally, the Examination takes place some time in the 3rd year.

The third phase in a student’s graduate career may be considered a pre-research training period during which he/she will be putting the finishing touches on a dissertation proposal and grant applications, and will be developing the necessary advanced research skills. Continued study in a variety of areas in this and other departments may further extend the student’s knowledge and effectiveness as an anthropologist.

Proposal Preparation Seminar. Anthropology 52200: Proposal Preparation is required of all students preparing for field research. Completion of the MA is a prerequisite for this course. Ideally, students should also have finished the Qualifying Exam, or at the very least, have their reading lists assembled and an exam date scheduled so that they have a firm grasp of the relevant bodies of literature necessary to develop the research question for their project. This course is typically taken in the third (or possibly the fourth) year.

The fourth phase is dissertation research. For most anthropology dissertations, long term fieldwork is expected. But dissertation research may also involve research in a library, archive, or museum.

Requirements for Dissertation Research. Although preparatory work on the dissertation (preliminary field trips, language study, exploration of archival sources, etc.) may have been undertaken earlier, Phase 4 research will not formally begin until the student has been admitted to candidacy for the PhD degree.

Phase five is dissertation write-up. The production and interpretation of a body of research material is a continuous process, never so clearly marked as the traditional notions of “field research” and “write up” suggest. Even so, the actual writing of the dissertation is a distinct phase of the training process, in which analysis and presentation of the research material becomes the focus of each student’s attention.

Residence in Chicago. Students are strongly urged to spend the write-up period in Chicago, unless otherwise agreed by your advisory committee. With each annual cohort dispersing in the research phase, returning students represent an important sub-community within the Department. Students reporting on their research can reinvigorate intellectual discourse in Haskell Hall. Reciprocally, their interaction with each other, as well as with the faculty and other students, can greatly facilitate and enrich the writing process.

First year advisors are appointed at the beginning of the year in consultation with the interviewing committee. The second-year advisor is selected by the student and serves as the student’s mentor until such time as the student selects a formal committee chair. Each advanced student is advised by a committee that consists minimally of three members, at least two of whom, including the chair, must be active, current faculty of the Department. It is the student’s responsibility to seek out members for the committee and to secure their written consent. Committee Forms (obtainable in Haskell 119) and any correspondence regarding constitution of the advisory committee should be deposited with the Administrator for Student Affairs. If appropriate, additional committee members may serve as readers of proposals and theses. 

The advisory committee chair (or first- or second-year advisor, or an agreed upon substitute) will advise you on your course registration, sign Plan of Study Forms, and keep a continuous record. Any changes in advisory committees (whether initiated by the student or by a faculty member) must be recorded by submission of additional Committee Forms available in Haskell 119. Changes of committee after admission to candidacy are generally undesirable, and will be permitted only under exceptional circumstances.

Although the role of the advisory committee (or first- or second-year advisor) is central, a role may also be played by the Director of Graduate Studies, by other faculty, or by the Department Chair, who in addition to having final approval on various matters, is also directly available for consultation. Aside from the formal petitions and reviews variously specified in the Guidelines, issues may occasionally arise which students or advisors may wish to refer to the Committee on Graduate Affairs or the Chair. In any case where some special interpretation of Departmental or University guidelines may be required, it is a good idea to raise the matter in writing.

Although we assume that most issues relating to your graduate education can and should be addressed through regular departmental channels, beginning normally with your advisor, we recognize the possibility that there may be certain kinds of problems, either of a personal or interpersonal nature, which can best be handled through some other means. If such problems or difficulties arise, you should feel free to speak with the Department Chair, members of your advisory committee, members of the Student-Faculty Liaison Committee, the Graduate Student Mentor, or anyone else in the departmental community in whom you have confidence.

Outside the Department there are also both formal and informal channels through which to raise issues of this sort. The Division of the Social Sciences has established policy to assist students who are seeking resolution of difficult interpersonal conflicts through informal and formal grievance procedures. These procedures consider complaints about academic impropriety that arise as a result of the actions of a member of the faculty or administration, or a Department or Program committee, regarding academic matters; students interested in learning more about the Grievance Process can meet with the Dean of Students in the Social Sciences or with the Associate Director for Graduate Student Affairs in UChicagoGRAD, Students can also consult with the Student Ombudsperson , and the University Equal Opportunity Programs , including Title IX and Sexual Misconduct ; Discrimination and Discriminatory Harassment ; and Accessibility programs.

Prior to admission to doctoral candidacy (i.e. before you begin field research), all doctoral students must meet the Departmental requirement of demonstrating competence in a language in which there is a substantial and relevant scholarly literature. Although you are encouraged to satisfy this requirement at an early point in your work by passing an examination in one of the customarily specified languages (e.g., French, German, Spanish, Russian), your advisory committee may require additional language training, depending on your research interests. To satisfy the Departmental Language requirement, you must receive a “High Pass” P*/P+ on a university administered language exam . (A grade of “Pass”/“P” will not suffice.)

With similar concerns in mind, the advisory committees may in certain cases decide that a student’s career requires a demonstrated competence in some formal research method.

Your academic record, including course grades, are an important basis for recommendations written to prospective funding agencies and employers. While arrangements to take Ps (“passing”) and Rs (“registered”) are sometimes appropriate, a record filled with these grades is not a useful indicator of the quality of work. We therefore encourage (and in the first year require) students to take courses for quality grades (A or B).

More specifically, the program requires a total of 18 courses to be taken for quality grades prior to admission to candidacy: 9 in the first year (8 for grades of A or B and Intro to Chicago Anthropology which is taken for a P), and another 9 prior to the Proposal Hearing. Of the 18 courses, Intro to Chicago Anthropology and Proposal Prep are taken Pass/Fail. As a rule of thumb there should be no more than 2 more of the 18 courses taken for “P.” The Reading Course used for the MA paper should receive a grade of A or B subsequent to completion of the paper.

The distribution of Quality Grades (for A or B) should be as follows:

• 8 courses in the first year
• MA Reading/Research course
• At least 5 more courses taken prior to admission to candidacy

This totals 14 courses taken for quality grades; 10 of those must be in Anthropology (ANTH)

For grades of “P”:

• Intro to Chicago Anthropology
• Proposal Prep
• No more than two others of the 18

It is advisable that, with the exception of the MA Reading/Research course, most of the other 12+ courses taken for grades of A or B be regular, substantive courses, not Reading/Research courses. Basic courses in French, Spanish or German taken for purposes of preparing for the language examination may not be used to meet the 18-course requirement. Once the 18-course requirement is met, students still in Research Residence must continue to register for at least one course per quarter for a grade of P, A/B, or (least preferably) R.

• Development of Social/Cultural Theory 1 & 2 (two-quarter double-course) (required of all students)
• Proposal Preparation (required of all students)
• Modes of Inquiry-1 and 2 ("1" required of Sociocultural/Linguistic anthropology students; "2" strongly recommended)
• Archaeological Theory & Method (double-course) (required of Archaeology students; part I required, parts 2 strongly recommended)
• Archaeological Data Sets or another approved statistics course (required of Archaeology students)

Prompt completion of course work is indispensable if the instructor and Department are to be able to adequately evaluate student performance. Students should be aware that fellowship decisions, both within and outside the University, take a student’s ability to complete courses into account. The Office of the Dean of Students reserves the right to withhold stipend checks from students with excessive numbers of incomplete.

Specific regulations regarding incompletes:

• Incomplete grades are NOT permitted in required courses (Development of Social/Cultural Theory; Anthropological Methods; Archaeological Theory and Method; Statistics/Archaeological Data Sets; Proposal Preparation; and Archaeological Research Design)
• In all other anthropology courses, you have one-year maximum to complete incomplete course requirements. Students with overdue incompletes will not be allowed to register until the course requirements are completed. First year students should make every effort to clear all incompletes prior to registering for the second year.

Early in the spring quarter of each year, every student in the Department is asked to submit two academic progress reports. One is required by the Dean of Students; the other is intradepartmental and provides information for our Annual Review. In preparing these reports, you are encouraged to check that your departmental records are up to date.

Every year, late in the spring quarter, the faculty reviews the progress of each student in the Department. We take into account the results of all examinations, reports on hearings, coursework, writing projects (including Master’s papers), and detailed faculty comment on all of these. It is in your interest to see that copies of papers and reprints of any publications are deposited in the departmental files. At the spring review, the faculty make recommendations concerning continuance in the program and University financial aid. A statement of the faculty evaluation is sent over the summer to each student in the program, with a copy placed in the departmental file. You are encouraged to discuss these with your advisor, or with the Department Chair, if there are issues that appear to need further clarification. Although the Department is required to make preliminary recommendations about continuation of fellowships early in the spring quarter, these recommendations are always contingent upon the outcome of the subsequent Annual Review.

When students are not making satisfactory progress, they will be placed under Academic Probation within the department. Academic Probation is activated when:

• 2 or more incompletes have accumulated.
• The dissertation committee is not formed by the end of Fall Quarter of Year 3.
• The MA thesis is not approved by the end of Spring Quarter of Year 3.
• The qualifying exam has not been passed by the end of Fall Quarter of Year 4.
• A draft of the dissertation proposal has not been approved by the end of Fall Quarter of Year 5.
• When students fail to show adequate progress post-candidacy.
• Or by the failure to defend the dissertation within the 8-year deadline (extendable to 9 years by petition).

Probation status means that registration for new courses must be approved by the main advisor or committee chair, as well as the DGS. Students who are placed on academic probation will receive a letter from the department that details the reason for the probation, a clear plan for lifting the probation, and clear deadlines for realizing this plan. The faculty advisor will also be alerted. In addition, the student must meet with the DGS once a month (in person, via skype/zoom, or by phone) until the status is cleared.

Once a student has been placed on academic probation, there is a one‐quarter grace period for resolving the condition.

Each student may be placed on academic probation only twice during their enrollment in the program. Incidents of probation are cumulative (i.e. missing two consecutive deadlines results in two separate incidents of academic probation). A third incidence of academic probation will result in a student’s removal from the program.

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Anthropology

What this handout is about.

This handout briefly situates anthropology as a discipline of study within the social sciences. It provides an introduction to the kinds of writing that you might encounter in your anthropology courses, describes some of the expectations that your instructors may have, and suggests some ways to approach your assignments. It also includes links to information on citation practices in anthropology and resources for writing anthropological research papers.

What is anthropology, and what do anthropologists study?

Anthropology is the study of human groups and cultures, both past and present. Anthropology shares this focus on the study of human groups with other social science disciplines like political science, sociology, and economics. What makes anthropology unique is its commitment to examining claims about human ‘nature’ using a four-field approach. The four major subfields within anthropology are linguistic anthropology, socio-cultural anthropology (sometimes called ethnology), archaeology, and physical anthropology. Each of these subfields takes a different approach to the study of humans; together, they provide a holistic view. So, for example, physical anthropologists are interested in humans as an evolving biological species. Linguistic anthropologists are concerned with the physical and historical development of human language, as well as contemporary issues related to culture and language. Archaeologists examine human cultures of the past through systematic examinations of artifactual evidence. And cultural anthropologists study contemporary human groups or cultures.

What kinds of writing assignments might I encounter in my anthropology courses?

The types of writing that you do in your anthropology course will depend on your instructor’s learning and writing goals for the class, as well as which subfield of anthropology you are studying. Each writing exercise is intended to help you to develop particular skills. Most introductory and intermediate level anthropology writing assignments ask for a critical assessment of a group of readings, course lectures, or concepts. Here are three common types of anthropology writing assignments:

Critical essays

This is the type of assignment most often given in anthropology courses (and many other college courses). Your anthropology courses will often require you to evaluate how successfully or persuasively a particular anthropological theory addresses, explains, or illuminates a particular ethnographic or archaeological example. When your instructor tells you to “argue,” “evaluate,” or “assess,” they are probably asking for some sort of critical essay. (For more help with deciphering your assignments, see our handout on understanding assignments .)

Writing a “critical” essay does not mean focusing only on the most negative aspects of a particular reading or theory. Instead, a critical essay should evaluate or assess both the weaknesses and the merits of a given set of readings, theories, methods, or arguments.

Sample assignment:

Assess the cultural evolutionary ideas of late 19th century anthropologist Lewis Henry Morgan in terms of recent anthropological writings on globalization (select one recent author to compare with Morgan). What kinds of anthropological concerns or questions did Morgan have? What kinds of anthropological concerns underlie the current anthropological work on globalization that you have selected? And what assumptions, theoretical frameworks, and methodologies inform these questions or projects?

Ethnographic projects

Another common type of research and writing activity in anthropology is the ethnographic assignment. Your anthropology instructor might expect you to engage in a semester-long ethnographic project or something shorter and less involved (for example, a two-week mini-ethnography).

So what is an ethnography? “Ethnography” means, literally, a portrait (graph) of a group of people (ethnos). An ethnography is a social, political, and/or historical portrait of a particular group of people or a particular situation or practice, at a particular period in time, and within a particular context or space. Ethnographies have traditionally been based on an anthropologist’s long-term, firsthand research (called fieldwork) in the place and among the people or activities they are studying. If your instructor asks you to do an ethnographic project, that project will likely require some fieldwork.

Because they are so important to anthropological writing and because they may be an unfamiliar form for many writers, ethnographies will be described in more detail later in this handout.

Spend two hours riding the Chapel Hill Transit bus. Take detailed notes on your observations, documenting the setting of your fieldwork, the time of day or night during which you observed and anything that you feel will help paint a picture of your experience. For example, how many people were on the bus? Which route was it? What time? How did the bus smell? What kinds of things did you see while you were riding? What did people do while riding? Where were people going? Did people talk? What did they say? What were people doing? Did anything happen that seemed unusual, ordinary, or interesting to you? Why? Write down any thoughts, self-reflections, and reactions you have during your two hours of fieldwork. At the end of your observation period, type up your fieldnotes, including your personal thoughts (labeling them as such to separate them from your more descriptive notes). Then write a reflective response about your experience that answers this question: how is riding a bus about more than transportation?

Analyses using fossil and material evidence

In some assignments, you might be asked to evaluate the claims different researchers have made about the emergence and effects of particular human phenomena, such as the advantages of bipedalism, the origins of agriculture, or the appearance of human language. To complete these assignments, you must understand and evaluate the claims being made by the authors of the sources you are reading, as well as the fossil or material evidence used to support those claims. Fossil evidence might include things like carbon dated bone remains; material evidence might include things like stone tools or pottery shards. You will usually learn about these kinds of evidence by reviewing scholarly studies, course readings, and photographs, rather than by studying fossils and artifacts directly.

The emergence of bipedalism (the ability to walk on two feet) is considered one of the most important adaptive shifts in the evolution of the human species, but its origins in space and time are debated. Using course materials and outside readings, examine three authors’ hypotheses for the origins of bipedalism. Compare the supporting points (such as fossil evidence and experimental data) that each author uses to support their claims. Based on your examination of the claims and the supporting data being used, construct an argument for why you think bipedal locomotion emerged where and when it did.

How should I approach anthropology papers?

Writing an essay in anthropology is very similar to writing an argumentative essay in other disciplines. In most cases, the only difference is in the kind of evidence you use to support your argument. In an English essay, you might use textual evidence from novels or literary theory to support your claims; in an anthropology essay, you will most often be using textual evidence from ethnographies, artifactual evidence, or other support from anthropological theories to make your arguments.

Here are some tips for approaching your anthropology writing assignments:

• Make sure that you understand what the prompt or question is asking you to do. It is a good idea to consult with your instructor or teaching assistant if the prompt is unclear to you. See our handout on arguments and handout on college writing for help understanding what many college instructors look for in a typical paper.
• Review the materials that you will be writing with and about. One way to start is to set aside the readings or lecture notes that are not relevant to the argument you will make in your paper. This will help you focus on the most important arguments, issues, and behavioral and/or material data that you will be critically assessing. Once you have reviewed your evidence and course materials, you might decide to have a brainstorming session. Our handouts on reading in preparation for writing and brainstorming might be useful for you at this point.
• Develop a working thesis and begin to organize your evidence (class lectures, texts, research materials) to support it. Our handouts on constructing thesis statements and paragraph development will help you generate a thesis and develop your ideas and arguments into clearly defined paragraphs.

What is an ethnography? What is ethnographic evidence?

Many introductory anthropology courses involve reading and evaluating a particular kind of text called an ethnography. To understand and assess ethnographies, you will need to know what counts as ethnographic data or evidence.

You’ll recall from earlier in this handout that an ethnography is a portrait—a description of a particular human situation, practice, or group as it exists (or existed) in a particular time, at a particular place, etc. So what kinds of things might be used as evidence or data in an ethnography (or in your discussion of an ethnography someone else has written)? Here are a few of the most common:

• Things said by informants (people who are being studied or interviewed). When you are trying to illustrate someone’s point of view, it is very helpful to appeal to their own words. In addition to using verbatim excerpts taken from interviews, you can also paraphrase an informant’s response to a particular question.
• Observations and descriptions of events, human activities, behaviors, or situations.
• Relevant historical background information.
• Statistical data.

Remember that “evidence” is not something that exists on its own. A fact or observation becomes evidence when it is clearly connected to an argument in order to support that argument. It is your job to help your reader understand the connection you are making: you must clearly explain why statements x, y, and z are evidence for a particular claim and why they are important to your overall claim or position.

Citation practices in anthropology

In anthropology, as in other fields of study, it is very important that you cite the sources that you use to form and articulate your ideas. (Please refer to our handout on plagiarism for information on how to avoid plagiarizing). Anthropologists follow the Chicago Manual of Style when they document their sources. The basic rules for anthropological citation practices can be found in the AAA (American Anthropological Association) Style Guide. Note that anthropologists generally use in-text citations, rather than footnotes. This means that when you are using someone else’s ideas (whether it’s a word-for-word quote or something you have restated in your own words), you should include the author’s last name and the date the source text was published in parentheses at the end of the sentence, like this: (Author 1983).

If your anthropology or archaeology instructor asks you to follow the style requirements of a particular academic journal, the journal’s website should contain the information you will need to format your citations. Examples of such journals include The American Journal of Physical Anthropology and American Antiquity . If the style requirements for a particular journal are not explicitly stated, many instructors will be satisfied if you consistently use the citation style of your choice.

Works consulted

We consulted these works while writing this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find additional publications. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial . We revise these tips periodically and welcome feedback.

Scupin, Raymond, and Christopher DeCorse. 2016. Anthropology: A Global Perspective , 8th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall.

Solis, Jacqueline. 2020. “A to Z Databases: Anthropology.” Subject Research Guides, University of North Carolina. Last updated November 2, 2020. https://guides.lib.unc.edu/az.php?s=1107 .

University of Chicago Press. 2017. The Chicago Manual of Style , 17th ed. Chicago & London: University of Chicago Press.

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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• Dissertation Prospectus - Social Anthropology

All candidates must, in consultation with their advisors, select a dissertation topic and describe their proposed doctoral research in a prospectus. The prospectus should:

• Give a concise statement of the problem to be addressed in the dissertation or of the hypotheses it proposes to test. 
• Provide a literature review that draws on their reading lists and field essays.
• Provide a clear research design.
• Address the project with appropriate research methods.

The prospectus will normally be written in the G3 year after the general examination and in tandem with the Research Design/Proposal Writing course.

The candidate will discuss and defend the prospectus before his or her dissertation committee. The prospectus defense should take place prior to the beginning of dissertation fieldwork. Completion of the Human Subjects compliance forms and approval of them by Harvard’s Institutional Review Board must be completed before dissertation field work can begin (see the IRB website ).

No more than 25-30 double-spaced pages, exclusive of the bibliography and any figures.

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• Thesis Option

The thesis is a major requirement for those in the MA in anthropology thesis track.  The thesis should demonstrate the student's ability to apply knowledge and skills gained from the anthropology department's curriculum.  A desirable goal for an excellent thesis would be a work of sufficient rigor and quality that it could be considered for publication. Original data collection ("fieldwork") is recommended but not required for the thesis.  Analysis of secondary data-whether quantitative, qualitative, visual or other formats--is perfectly acceptable as long as the research is informed by a clearly articulated research question and under-girded by a research proposal.

The traditional thesis is a single document that often incorporates a literature review, definition of a problem, discussion of methods to address the problem, the subsequent research activity and results.  However, the student may design a thesis with different emphases, in consultation with their advisor.  For example the goal may instead be a more compact paper submitted to a peer-reviewed journal.  Other thesis plans may combine some research activity such as a video production, museum exhibit or an internship, with an accompanying paper.  Students pursuing the thesis option must develop a topic and research proposal that specifies their plans in the semester after their completion of 18 credit hours.

The thesis must be defended before a committee of three faculty, at least two of whom need to be on the Department of Anthropology faculty (which includes senior instructors and research faculty).  The structure of the thesis is largely determined by the  University of Colorado Denver Graduate School Rules ; i.e., a thesis must conform to the rules.

• For the thesis, students must prepare a full research proposal which must be approved by their thesis chair before beginning their research. This proposal must be completed by the semester after the student has completed 18 credit hours. Sections of the proposal should include, at a minimum:
• Introduction and statement of the problem: Should include a one sentence statement of the problem on the first page, and a discussion of its significance (i.e., why is it important that this topic be researched).
• Literature review covering theoretical and topical material.
• Research design and methods including a data analysis plan.

Note:   Wenner-Gren and National Science Foundation both provide good models and templates for the research proposal. Those in the medical anthropology track might want to consider following the NIH model, depending the nature of their research questions and career goals.

• All students proposing to work with humans or data on modern humans must apply for and receive approval from the  Human Subjects Research Committee  before they begin their research. Note: most of the material for the application will be drawn from the research proposal.
• The draft thesis must be reviewed and approved as "defensible" by the student’s thesis committee faculty chair before a thesis defense date can be set. Defensible means the chair has reviewed the draft and suggested changes have been made.
• The draft sent to the student’s committee must be substantively complete: All references must be in the text and properly formatted in a references cited section; there should be no "track changes" comments in the text; the text should be formatted according to Graduate School requirements.
• Given the complexity of faculty and student schedules, consultation on a defense date should be done as far in advance as possible.
• There must be a minimum of three weeks between the agreed-upon date for the defense and distribution of the draft thesis defined as defensible by the student’s chair. If you would like feedback from your committee members before the defense, you should plan to distribute the thesis at least 4 weeks before the defense date.

Note:  If you intend to graduate the same semester you defend your thesis, you must schedule, successfully defend, and complete all recommended changes in accordance with UC Denver Thesis and Dissertation Guidelines  . This effectively translates to having the thesis completed and “defensible” before the middle of the semester.

Your Thesis Committee

The committee generally consists of your major advisor and two other faculty members with whom you have worked during the course of your program. You may choose committee members from outside the department, particularly if they are experts in an area that you explore in the thesis. However, at least two of your committee members must be from the anthropology department. And, all committee members must belong to the Graduate Faculty.  See the rules of the Graduate School .

Thesis Preparation

Click here to obtain a copy of Directions for Preparing Masters and Doctoral Theses .

The Process of Submitting a Thesis

In the semester in which a student intends to submit the thesis for examination, he/she must first submit an  Application for Admission to Candidacy . This initiates a process of determining if the student has met all of the other requirements for the degree, and is eligible to submit a thesis. The application for candidacy form should be completed in consultation with your major advisor, and the graduate director. A  Diploma Card  is submitted at the same time, to initiate the process of preparing final records for graduation.

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• Forensic Sci Res
• v.3(4); 2018

Recent advances in forensic anthropology: decomposition research

Daniel j. wescott.

Department of Anthropology, Texas State University, Forensic Anthropology Center at Texas State, San Marcos, TX, USA

Decomposition research is still in its infancy, but significant advances have occurred within forensic anthropology and other disciplines in the past several decades. Decomposition research in forensic anthropology has primarily focused on estimating the postmortem interval (PMI), detecting clandestine remains, and interpreting the context of the scene. Additionally, while much of the work has focused on forensic-related questions, an interdisciplinary focus on the ecology of decomposition has also advanced our knowledge. The purpose of this article is to highlight some of the fundamental shifts that have occurred to advance decomposition research, such as the role of primary extrinsic factors, the application of decomposition research to the detection of clandestine remains and the estimation of the PMI in forensic anthropology casework. Future research in decomposition should focus on the collection of standardized data, the incorporation of ecological and evolutionary theory, more rigorous statistical analyses, examination of extended PMIs, greater emphasis on aquatic decomposition and interdisciplinary or transdisciplinary research, and the use of human cadavers to get forensically reliable data.

Introduction

Laboratory-based identification of human skeletal remains has been the primary focus of forensic anthropology for much of the discipline’s history. This emphasis on identification is clearly reflected in journal publications beginning with the inception of forensic anthropology to the present that focus almost exclusively on the development and validation of methods for estimating biological characteristics (e.g. age-at-death, sex, ancestry, and stature) from the human skeleton. However, over the past several decades there has been an expansion of the role of forensic anthropologists in medicolegal death inquiries – with forensic anthropologists increasingly being invited to participate in scene recoveries to locate clandestine remains, provide contextual information at the scene, and to estimate the postmortem interval (PMI). As a result, there has also been a corresponding broadening of scientific questions under scrutiny by forensic anthropologists, including those related to human decomposition. As Dirkmaat et al. [ 1 ] noted, forensic taphonomy, including decomposition, provides “forensic anthropology with a new conceptual framework, which is broader, deeper, and more solidly entrenched in the natural sciences…” and “represents a true paradigm shift.”

Not surprisingly, the desire for knowledge about the decomposition process and its applications to medicolegal death investigations has not only increased in forensic anthropology but in many other forensic science fields (e.g. entomology, pathology/biology, toxicology, and chemistry), and has resulted in an increase in decomposition research over the past several decades. For example, while there were only a few studies presented each year at the American Academy of Forensic Sciences annual meetings on decomposition a few decades ago, a review of the 2002–2018 Proceedings of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences reveals a growing interest in decomposition related studies ( Figure 1 ). Between 2002 and 2005, for example, there were approximately 8–9 presentations per year focusing on decomposition, but from 2014 to 2018 the average skyrocketed to 34 presentations per year. Much of the decomposition-related work in forensic anthropology has focused on gross morphological changes of the body, regional variation, intrinsic and extrinsic influences, grave soil ecology, vegetation, the effect of scavengers to aid in PMI estimation, detection of clandestine remains, and scene or trauma interpretation. In the other forensic sciences, decomposition-related work has put emphasis on chemical changes (e.g. volatile organic compounds, soil chemistry) and insect and microbiological biodiversity and succession associated with the decomposition of carrion, especially as it relates to estimating the PMI and other forensic and non-forensic uses. This broadening of scientific questions in the forensic sciences led to an increase in the number of human decomposition facilities and a growth in interdisciplinary research focused on decomposition ecology. As a result, many recent advancements in the forensic sciences over the past several decades have been associated with decomposition research.

Trends in decomposition-related studies presented at the American Academy of Forensic Sciences from 2002 to 2018. Graph shows total number of papers presented and the number presented in the Anthropology, Pathology/Biology, and Other sections.

The purpose of this article is to review some of the scientific advances that have occurred in decomposition research and how they can be applied in forensic anthropology. While it is not possible to cover all the literature or topics on decomposition research, my goal is to provide the reader with a basic understanding of our current knowledge of human decomposition, some of the relevant historical developments, and how this knowledge is applied to forensic anthropological cases for the detection (i.e. search) of clandestine remains, documentation of the scene, and the estimation of the PMI. Because of the wealth of articles on the early postmortem interval (<48 h) when primarily biochemical processes are occurring, this article will mostly address changes associated with gross decomposition (i.e. post-autolysis).

The article is divided into several sections. In the first section, I discuss some of the fundamental shifts in the way we approach decomposition research (i.e. basic concepts, experimental practices, technology, and the use of theory) that have led to greater understanding of human decomposition and its application in the forensic sciences. Over the past several decades, there has been a greater emphasis on examining decomposition within an evolutionary and ecological context (carrion ecology), on interdisciplinary research, and to quantifying the process of decomposition and the factors that influence its rate. Advancements in decomposition research have also been greatly enhanced by the recent explosion in the number of human decomposition facilities and the development of new molecular sequencing technologies. This section will conclude with examination of research associated with increasing our knowledge of the major extrinsic factors that affect the pattern of decomposition and its rate of progression. Much of this research has focused on terrestrial decomposition. Less work has been done on aquatic decomposition, but significant advances into our understanding of decomposition in water have been made using case studies of human remains and actualistic studies based on animal analogs. In the second section of the article, I discuss how these advances have been applied to detection of clandestine remains and the estimation of the PMI, with a focus on methods relevant to forensic anthropologists. I conclude the article with a discussion of future needs and potential research areas.

Fundamental shifts in decomposition research

Decomposition facilities.

The establishment of decomposition research facilities has brought about a new era in decomposition studies. The first facility, the Anthropological Research Facility (ARF), was established at the University of Tennessee in 1980 by Dr William Bass. Shirley et al. [ 2 ] and Vidoli et al. [ 3 ] provide good overview of the ARF for readers interested in its history. Beginning in the 2000s, several other facilities opened. Today there are seven facilities in the United States, one in Europe, and one in Australia ( Table 1 ) and more are in the planning stages. These decomposition facilities provide interdisciplinary opportunities to conduct semi-controlled actualistic research to test specific hypotheses using large samples of human remains with known PMI and for comparisons of patterns and rates of decomposition between climatic and ecological zones. Prior to the increase in human decomposition facilities, most studies were retrospective case studies or actualistic studies conducted using surrogates, especially pigs. Many previous studies were also cross-sectional. Research at decomposition facilities allows for longitudinal studies which are more accommodating for theory building [ 4 ]. Longitudinal actualistic studies also allow researchers to gain a better understanding of the specific factors that control the patterns and rate of decomposition. Longitudinal studies also allow researchers to retrospectively examine factors such as disease, trauma, antibiotics, body size and others that may influence patterns and rates of decomposition in medicolegal investigations. Probably most significant, decomposition facilities have allowed for an increase in theses and dissertations on the topic of decomposition in numerous scientific fields, which have greatly expanded our knowledge of the decomposition process and factors that affect the pattern and rate of decay and the dispersion of nutrients from the carcass into the ecosystem. Also of great importance is that these decomposition facilities provide a resource for medicolegal death investigators, law enforcement, and students to train in burial excavation techniques, documenting scattered surface remains, and observing the decomposition process. These training opportunities encourage and assure better and more standardized evidence collection during outdoor scene recoveries.

Human decomposition facilities.

Donated human remains

The need to conduct decomposition studies on human remains rather than animal surrogates to get forensically reliable data was realized by Dr William Bass, and more recent studies have confirmed that decomposition patterns and rates, microbial community distributions, and insect distributions differ between human and non-human animals [ 5–9 ]. To get forensically reliable data, there is a need to use human remains because scavenger diversity is closely tied to carcass size and possibly the microbiome present when the animal or person was alive [ 7–10 ]. Luckily in the past few decades, the number of human donations available for scientific research has grown considerably [ 11 ]. While most whole body donations in the United States are used for medical research and training, the number of individuals donating to human decomposition facilities has greatly increased. For example, at ARF whole body donations specifically for decomposition research have increased from a few individuals per year in the 1980s to over 100 bodies per year in the 2000s [ 3 ]. Currently the ARF has over 4 000 pre-registered donors, and interestingly more bodies are now declined than accepted [ 3 ]. Likewise, at Texas State University, body donations have increased from 3 per year in 2008 to over 70 per year in 2017 and will likely rise in the coming years as the number of pre-registered donations rises [ 12 ]. Currently, acquiring the funding necessary to conduct decomposition research is a larger obstacle than obtaining human bodies.

Bodies are donated to decomposition facilities through pre-registration by the donors themselves or next-of-kin donation by the family. These types of donations result in considerably greater biographical information about the life history and medical condition of the donors than receiving unclaimed bodies [ 3 , 12 ]. When standardized decomposition data are collected on the donated remains these biographical data allow for retrospective studies based on large sample sizes that can be used to test hypotheses and situations associated with specific cases and to develop and validate forensic anthropological methods. In addition, during intake (procedures conducted when the body arrives at the decomposition facility) additional information such as blood cards, anthropometrics, hair and fingernail samples, and other baseline data are collected that can be used in future research.

Interdisciplinary research

Another important shift that has benefited decomposition research in the forensic sciences is a greater emphasis on inter- and trans-disciplinary research. In many criminal investigations, locating clandestine remains and the estimation of the PMI are important objectives. As a result, practitioners of numerous disciplines (e.g. anthropology, botany, entomology, genetics, geoscience, medicine, microbiology) have focused their research on understanding the complexity of decomposition to develop more accurate and precise methods for estimating the PMI and detecting concealed remains. Additionally, research on decomposition is also important to public health, disaster management, cemetery planning, livestock carcass disposal, soil ecology, and more [ 13 ], and the information gained from studies in other fields is often directly relatable to the goals of forensic scientists. As Mondor et al. [ 14 ] point out, studying carrion decomposition not only allows us to understand how ecosystems function but can also be applied to solve medicolegal cases and to manage natural environments. Since decomposition is a complex issue there is a growing need for inter- or trans-disciplinary studies focusing on the evolution and ecology of decomposing human remains [ 15 ]. To fully understand the decomposition process and then apply this knowledge to forensic questions requires the use of theory and methodology from numerous disciplines [ 15 ].

Carrion ecology

One of the major shifts that has benefited forensically focused research is to examine human decomposition using the theoretical foundation of carrion ecology. Since decomposition occurs in an ecosystem, to fully understand the decomposition process researchers interested in forensic applications will gain significant insight by examining the process within an ecological and evolutionary perspective and using the foundation of succession, coexistence, optimal foraging, and other theories to explain the spatial and temporal occurrence of necrophagous species [ 16–18 ]. Carrion ecology studies allow researchers to examine the “spatial and temporal effects of carrion on soil nutrients, microbes, plants, arthropods, and vertebrates” [ 18 ]. While decomposition ecology has long been a focus in biology, only in the past few decades have we examined human decomposition within an ecological and evolutionary context [ 16 , 17 , 19 ]. A grounding of human decomposition in basic empirical research using ecological theories not only strengthens our understanding of human decomposition but also improves accuracy and precision of the methods applied to forensic investigations [ 16 ]. Furthermore, the use of ecological and other theory in decomposition research directly addresses some of the criticisms and recommendations made by the National Research Council [ 20 ] to strengthen the forensic sciences.

Carrion (carcasses of once living animals including humans) provides a large variety of facultative scavengers with a nutrient-rich but short-term resource that has been conceptualized as an ephemeral resource patch [ 21 ] or a cadaver decomposition island [ 19 ]. Decomposition of carrion is a continuous process primarily carried out through chemical degradation and reduction of the carcass by several different organisms that consume the carrion and transform the organic materials. Since carrion is an ephemeral resource, numerous species have evolved strategies such as altered life history traits and behaviours to exploit the resource before it is consumed by other organisms [ 18 , 22 ]. Since much of the mass of the carcass is removed by necrophagous species, gaining knowledge about how necrophagous species are attracted to carrion, their pattern of succession, and how the environment affects their growth, development, and biodiversity is key to understanding decomposition. In general, while the goals of forensic-focused decomposition studies are usually centred on using the decomposition process to discover clandestine remains, estimate the PMI, interpret trauma, or other applied applications, knowledge of carrion ecology will greatly advance our ability to accurately and precisely meet these goals.

Technological advancements

Numerous recent scientific advancements from microbiology and metagenomics to computational and remote sensing technologies have significantly contributed to investigations of carrion ecology and its application in forensic sciences. As Benbow et al. [ 18 ] have noted, these advancements have led to “a better resolution of relationships among organisms assembling as a community around or on an ephemeral resource patch.” With the advancement of metagenomics, microbial species can be identified to the genus level and their function during decomposition can be better understood. It has been hypothesized that microbial community functional profiles change as different carbon sources become available. Other technologies such as geophysical resistivity (differences in electrical current in soils) and hyperspectral imaging have also increased our ability to detect clandestine graves.

Quantifying gross decomposition

In the past several decades, forensic anthropology has also undergone a few major shifts in the way decomposition is viewed. Much of the early research focused on describing discrete categories of decomposition based on stages of decomposition and rates of decay in calendar days [ 23–28 ]. For example, Reed [ 23 ] developed a four-stage process of decomposition (fresh, bloat, decay, and dry) that was used by Rodriguez and Bass [ 25 ] in the first major study of human remains at ARF. Later, Payne [ 24 ] outlined a six-stage process based on pigs, further subdividing Reed’s [ 24 ] “decay” stage into “active” and “advanced” and adding a “remains” category as the final stage. Later, Galloway and colleagues [ 27 , 28 ] examined the pattern of decomposition using a retrospective study of forensic cases from the Sonoran Desert and developed a five-stage classification that is still commonly used in forensic anthropology. They categorized decomposition as fresh, early decomposition, advanced decomposition, skeletonization, and extreme decomposition (i.e. destruction of the skeletal remains). Later research has demonstrated that there are unclear demarcations between stages of decomposition [ 29 , 30 ] and considerable variation in progression due to regional, seasonal, and micro-environmental conditions [ 31 , 32 ].

Since 2005, there have been several attempts to quantify the gross morphological changes in the body and to examine decomposition as a continuous process [ 29 , 33–35 ]. One method is Megyesi et al.s’ [ 33 ] total body score (TBS) system based on the stages of decomposition defined by Galloway et al. [ 28 ]. These authors realized that there were progressive characteristics during each stage of decomposition and that differential rates of decomposition occur among the head/neck, torso, and extremities. Likewise, Fitzgerald and Oxenham [ 34 ] developed the degree of decomposition index (DDI) that provides a value between 0 and 5 based on the stage of decomposition for each body element present. More recently, Gleiber et al. [ 35 ] have been working to develop the accumulated decomposition score (ADS) that uses component scoring of traits based on gross observations of bodies in Texas. The ADS allows investigators to sum the traits observed rather than quantify the stage of decomposition.

The concept of using accumulated degree-days (ADD) or the sum of the average temperatures since deposition rather than calendar days was first introduced into forensic anthropology by Vass et al. [ 29 ]. However, this shift did not really take hold until the publication by Megyesi et al. [ 33 ]. The concept of ADD had already been used in many other sciences such as entomology, microbiology, and agriculture and provides a proxy measure for the energy available for decomposition processes that include chemical reactions and bacterial and insect growth and development. The advantage of ADD is that it incorporates chronological time and temperature and can hypothetically be used across different climatic regions and seasons.

Prior to 1992, most anthropologists described the rate of gross decomposition of the body in calendar days since death or placement. These early studies pointed out that there was considerable variation in the rate of decomposition depending on regional climatic differences due primarily to ambient temperature, insect colonization, deposition (surface, buried, aquatic), and burial depth [ 25 , 26 , 36 ]. For example, Rodriguez and Bass [ 25 ] observed that four bodies deposited on the ground surface were in a fresh stage from 4 to 36 d and in the bloat stage from 3 to 19 d depending on the season of placement. Likewise, Rodriguez and Bass [ 26 ] observed that bodies buried at a depth of approximately 30.48 m decomposed more rapidly than bodies buried at 60.96 or 121.92 m below the ground surface due to decreased insect access and cooler temperatures. In their study of six individuals at ARF, the body buried at a depth of 121.92 m retained considerably greater soft tissue after 1 year than a body buried at 30.48 m for 3 months.

While numerous validation studies have demonstrated problems with the methods developed by Vass et al. [ 29 , 30 ] and Megyesi et al. [ 33 ], these works were significant because they caused a shift in the way anthropologists think about decomposition. Now, it is viewed as a process influenced by temperature and other environmental factors rather than stages that could be described in calendar days. A shift to using ADD rather than calendar days has allowed for a more realistic understanding of decomposition and has greatly improved the accuracy and precision of methods for estimating the rate of decomposition. These methods also included mathematical formulae to estimate the PMI and to provide error estimations (discussed in more detail below).

Improved understanding of extrinsic factors

At death, the human body begins to decompose and successively undergoes gross physical changes such as skin slippage, marbling, bloat, purge, and skeletonization, but the rate at which decomposition occurs is dependent on a number of intrinsic and extrinsic factors ( Figure 2 ). Below I will discuss some of the more important extrinsic factors affecting decomposition.

Intrinsic and extrinsic factors affecting the rate of decomposition. CDI: cadaver decomposition island.

Abiotic extrinsic factors

While many abiotic extrinsic factors can influence the rate of decomposition (e.g. soil type, clothing or coverings, concrete encasement, solar radiation, etc.), this is primarily because they influence the ambient temperature, acidity, availability of water, and the partial pressure of oxygen [ 28 , 30 , 33 , 37–40 ]. These four extrinsic factors constraint the chemistry of decomposition (e.g., enzymatic breakdown of molecules) and the lifecycle of microbes and arthropods that influence the rate of decomposition. These environmental variables also greatly influence the preservation of tissues through desiccation and adiopocere formation. In some ways, the effects of these different environmental factors are difficult to separate and can influence each other. For example, water can affect the pH by acting as a buffer, stabilize temperature because of its high specific heat, and reduce the availability of oxygen [ 38 ].

Temperature: The ambient temperature in which human remains decompose is one of the most important abiotic extrinsic factors influencing the rate of decomposition. Temperature has a major influence on chemical reactions, the proliferation and metabolism of microbes, and the growth and development of necrophagous arthropods. In general, cadaver mass decreases more rapidly as the temperature increases. However, while the rate of chemical reactions generally increases two or more times with each 10 °C rise in temperature, the development of microbes, and the colonization and development of arthropods occur most rapidly within optimal temperature ranges [ 13 , 38 , 41–43 ]. For example, temperatures above or below the optimal conditions can reduce arthropod colonization and development.

The temperature is often not constant during various periods of decomposition and can be affected by multiple factors including the location (outside or inside, terrestrial or aquatic, climatic region, sunny or shady area, air movement, altitude), type of deposition (surface, buried, water), season of death, and microbial and arthropod biomass to name a few. For example, Rodriguez and Bass [ 26 ] observed a 3 °C–10 °C increase around the body compared with the surrounding soil even at 121.92 m below the ground surface. This increase in temperature around the human remains was greater than previous studies using animal carcasses [ 23 , 24 ], and implies that the decomposition process generates heat that can cause the ambient temperature adjacent to the body to be higher than the surrounding air or soil temperatures.

Water: Water is also necessary for decomposition and can come from a variety of sources including humidity, precipitation, and waterbodies. As stated by Gill-King [ 38 ] “water plays both a diluting role, affecting chemical concentrations inside and outside cells, and acts, in general, as a solvent for polar molecules of biological and non-biological origin.” Water can increase or decrease the rate of decomposition depending on quantity, pH, and other factors [ 38 , 44–46 ]. During decomposition, water from the soft tissues will either collect around the body or be removed due to humidity and soil moisture content [ 30 ]. Vass [ 30 ] argues that when moisture levels drop below 85% the rate of decomposition increases but when levels are greater than 85% decomposition rates decrease.

The primary influence of water on decomposition is most likely due to its effects on microbial activity. Optimal water content can increase microbial growth and proliferation, but above or below optimal moisture can retard microbial activity. Carter et al. [ 47 ] found that soil moisture was one of the primary environmental factors affecting the rate of decomposition in buried remains and had an influence on the relationship between temperature and decomposition. They found that decomposition was slower in dry soils because of a reduction in microbes and enzymatic reactions, but water saturated soils also decrease the aerobic metabolism of microbes and, therefore, decrease decomposition rates even when temperature was held constant. Carter et al. [ 47 ] argue that gas diffusivity in saturated soils affects aerobic metabolism while dry soils influence the availability of nutrients.

Under certain environmental conditions, decomposition nearly ceases due to the presence or absence of water. For example, moisture plays a role in desiccation/mummification of the remains and the formation of adiopocere, which is a byproduct of lipid degradation. Dry, well-drained soils, and arid environments [hot or cold] are favourable to desiccation while moist and microbial-rich environments are conducive to adiopocere formation [ 38 , 48 , 49 ]. However, longitudinal research in central and eastern Texas as well as Tennessee demonstrate that bodies left on the ground surface often form a desiccated shell of skin around the otherwise skeletal remains even though all these environments are considered subtropical humid [ 50 ]. To investigate the causes of this phenomenon, Lennartz [ 51 ] conducted a pilot study examining desiccation and mummification of skin in central Texas. She specifically examined the effects of temperature, humidity, precipitation, and solar radiation on moisture changes in the skin. Her results showed that the skin loses moisture rapidly during the first 1 000 ADD but becomes mummified at approximately 10% moisture content when changes become asymptotic. She also discovered that temperature was the most important factor in the prediction of moisture loss. In her study, there was approximately a 9% loss in moisture with each 10 °C increase in temperature. Surprisingly, Lennartz [ 51 ] found no significant correlation between desiccation rates and humidity, precipitation, or solar radiation.

Decomposition of submerged bodies is generally slower than in terrestrial environments due to cooler temperature and the reduction of insects [ 46 ]. However, the rate of decomposition is highly dependent on numerous factors: if the body is in fresh or salt water, if the water is stagnated or flowing, the types of flora and fauna present, and the water temperature and pH. Furthermore, the general stages in the process of decomposition differ slightly for bodies completely submerged compared with bodies in a terrestrial environment. For example, decomposition stages in aquatic environments are frequently categorized as fresh submerged, early floating, early floating decay, advanced floating decay, and sunken [ 46 , 52–54 ].

pH and oxygen: The acidity/alkalinity of soils and the partial pressure of oxygen can affect the rate of decomposition. The pH has its greatest influence on chemical reactions during decomposition. However, the pH is also temporarily influenced by the decomposition process and water content [ 30 , 38 ]. Surface decomposition is often alkaline due to aerobic conditions while burials are commonly acidic due to the liberation of organic acids by bacteria [ 30 , 38 ]. Lower pH (acidity) can enhance the growth of fungi and plant activity. Research has demonstrated that decomposition is generally more rapid in the presence of oxygen. Therefore, bodies that are buried, submerged, or at high altitudes tend to decompose slower than the decomposition of bodies on the surface because oxidative processes are retarded [ 38 ]. However, the depletion of oxygen initiates decomposition and supports the activity of bacterial decomposers within and around the body.

Biotic extrinsic factors

Microbes: Bacteria are the first colonizers of decomposing carrion because these microorganisms are present at death. During putrefaction, bacteria and other microorganisms proliferate and play a vital role in the recycling of carrion through enzymatic degradation of tissues [ 10 , 22 , 55 , 56 ]. The role of microbes in decomposition has been reviewed extensively elsewhere [ 13 , 55–64 ], but the research has demonstrated that understanding microbial population taxonomic and functional succession can provide significant insight into the decomposition process. Numerous studies have shown that the microbial decomposer community diversity and function (metabolism) progressively change during decomposition in a predictable fashion [ 10 , 55 , 56 , 59 ]. In general, aerobic microorganisms use the oxygen available in tissues, but as oxygen becomes depleted the environment favours anaerobic microorganisms. As the body dries the microorganism community decreases in abundance, but soil bacteria that produce collagenase and keratinase remain active [ 55 ]. Cobaugh et al. [ 55 ], for example, demonstrated that in buried remains the microbial community changed during active decay with an increase in the relative abundance of aerobic bacteria such as Proteobacteria and Firmicutes but a reduction in Acidobacteria. After active decay, the microbial community is dominated by anaerobic taxa.

Bacteria are also responsible for many aspects of decomposition. Bacteria produce gas byproducts such as methane, cadaverine, putrescine, hydrogen sulphide, and ammonia within the body that cause bloating and affect the pH of the body and local scavengers and plants. Furthermore, bacteria appear to manipulate the behaviour of insects to attract species that benefit their survival while repelling those that are detrimental to them [ 22 ]. The volatile organic compounds (VOCs) produced as bacteria degrade carrion are responsible for attracting blow flies to colonize. Additionally, the presence of bacteria species may be necessary for proper development of many fly species [ 65 , 66 ]. Therefore, knowledge of bacteria succession and function during decomposition through metagenomics research is important to understand the downstream effects on decomposition rates and patterns.

Arthropods : Much of the research on decomposition outside of anthropology has focused on necrophagous insects, especially flies and beetles, which are a major contributor to biomass reduction. Factors affecting colonization and the lifecycle of these species have been the primary emphasis of research and are discussed in detail in numerous publications [ 16 , 66–81 ]. Tomberlin et al. [ 16 ] describe the ecologically relevant temporal and physical aspects of insect activity. They argue that entomological activity can be divided into pre-colonization and post-colonization intervals.

The pre-colonization interval includes the exposure, detection, and acceptance phases beginning when carrion is available and then detected by arthropods and lasts until it is accepted or rejected as a resource. The exposure phase is difficult to estimate and can be affected by any factor that limits it. Once carrion is detected, environmental conditions such as wind speed, precipitation, temperature, humidity, as well as mating status and ovarian development affect the response of arthropods to carrion [ 16 ]. During the acceptance phase, “arthropods use close-range cues including colour, shape, size, movement, sound, and taste to evaluate the resource” to determine the suitability of the carrion [ 16 ].

The post-colonization period involves the consumption and dispersal phases and lasts from the initial colonization until departure from the carrion after complete decomposition or the removal of the carrion source. The post-colonization period is a good predictor of the minimum PMI or the period of insect activity [ 16 ]. The consumption phase involves successive waves of insects or their offspring feeding on the carrion. Development of the offspring is primarily used to estimate the length of the consumption phase. Finally, once developed, the insects will depart from the remains to complete their lifecycle. However, abiotic factors and disturbance of the carrion can cause premature departure.

In addition to understanding the temporal succession of arthropods and knowing some of the major species (e.g. blow, flesh, green bottle, and soldier flies and carrion and dermestid beetles), there are a few other important aspects of entomology that forensic anthropologists should keep in mind. First, colonization may not coincide with the PMI since colonization can occur long after death or sometimes before death. Second, many of the insects present on human remains are feeding on other insects and not scavenging on the cadaver. Third, numerous biotic and abiotic factors can influence insect activity and development. Finally, research has demonstrated that the composition, not just the abundance of insect scavengers, is key to the rate of decomposition [ 16 , 78 ].

Large scavengers: Besides microbes and insects, the effects of mammalian and avian scavengers on decomposition have been studied [ 82–98 ]. Most studies have focused on larger mammals and birds, but some have also examined the effects of reptiles and small mammals. While larger scavengers are a primary extrinsic factor in the decomposition process, most scavenging by larger mammals and birds are opportunistic. In the United States, vultures are the only obligated carrion feeders.

Most of these studies on the effects of animals have examined the role of scavengers in the removal of soft tissues, disarticulation, and scattering, which affect the search and recovery of human remains as well as the estimation of the PMI. Vultures, for example, will typically begin to feed on carrion during early putrefaction and can consume much of the soft tissue within hours [ 87 , 90 , 91 , 93 , 98 ]. However, vultures typically do not remove or scatter remains more than a few meters from the original placement location [ 90 , 93 , 94 , 98 ].

An important aspect of the influence of scavengers that has been largely ignored is the examination of the behaviours of the animals themselves. Haglund [ 99 ] and Pharr [ 94 ] have observed that the presence or absence of animal scavenging is associated with human population density and behavioural ecology of the scavengers. Haglund [ 99 ] argues that human population density can play a major role in whether large scavengers will exploit carrion because the remains are likely found earlier in urban than rural areas and there are fewer species and smaller group sizes of animals in populated areas. In her studies of the feeding behaviour of vultures in Texas, Pharr [ 94 ] observed that turkey and black vulture scavenging locations are on average within 450 m and 361 m, respectively, from a permanent water source. These results suggest that permanent waterbodies near the carrion may be necessary for larger scavengers.

Applications of decomposition research

Detection of clandestine remains.

While human remains are often found by accident or through the use of informants, especially those not buried, organized search efforts are often necessary to locate clandestine graves and surface remains. In these cases, the end results of decomposition are often used to help locate the remains. In reality, the search for concealed human remains often involves the search for disruptions in the natural environment caused by the decomposing corpse. Decomposing remains will have an effect on the vegetation and soil characteristics and will produce odours that can be used to help in their detection.

Vegetation and fungi

Plant composition provides information about underlying ecological conditions, and several studies have suggested that vegetation composition can be used to detect clandestine graves [ 26 , 100–102 ]. Visible differences can often be detected between the dominant weed flora on graves and surrounding cadaver decomposition islands (CDIs) compared with the undisturbed surrounding soils. Likewise, Carter and Tibbett [ 103 ] found that the presence of post-putrefaction fungi on graves in wooded areas may also be used in grave detection.

The process of burial itself disturbs the soil and overlying vegetation at the site. For surface remains the release of cadaveric fluids that form the CDI, which are high in ammonia, will initially kill surrounding vegetation. Over time, pioneer plants will begin to colonize the grave soils and the edges of the CDI as nutrients, especially nitrogen and phosphate, are converted by soil bacteria into a usable form [ 19 ]. However, eventually the plant composition will once again become similar to that in the surrounding areas [ 100 ]. Interestingly, while decomposition is known to change the characteristics of grave soil (temperature, moisture, and nutrients), the aeration of the disturbed soils may have a greater impact on plant colonization than does nutrient enrichment [ 100 , 104 , 105 ].

Remote sensing (imagery)

Several studies have used remote sensing to help locate remains by examining environmental disturbances caused by the decomposing carcass. Remote sensing can provide a rapid and cost-effective method for determining high probability areas during the initial search [ 106 , 107 ]. Methods for locating remains using remote sensing are in part determined by the state of decomposition, geographical location, and deposition type. Kalacska et al. [ 108 , 109 ] examined the use of remote sensing using airborne hyperspectral imaging and discovered that mass graves in a tropical moist environment have a distinct spectral signature based on the spectral response to decomposition products. Similarly, Isaacks [ 110 ] determined that remote sensing using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) equipped with near-infrared (NIR) sensors could be used to effectively and expediently locate surface depositions for up to 2 years based on differences in the reflectance of the surrounding area and the CDI. Cadaveric fluids purged out of the decomposing body seep into the soil causing it to become organically rich, which produces a different spectral signature in NIR than the surrounding soil and vegetation. Isaacks [ 110 ] and Kalacska et al. [ 108 , 109 ] also discovered that the spectral signature changes as plants recolonize the soils but the signature remains distinct from the undisturbed areas and disturbed soils without carcasses. Current work by Wescott et al. [ 106 , 107 ] is examining the best platform and spectral bands (e.g. NIR, long-wave infrared) to detect anomalies and the potential development of a graphical user interface to aid search teams in locating buried and clandestine surface remains.

Human remains detection dogs and VOCs

During soft tissue decomposition, a variety of compounds including volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are produced and are responsible for the odour of decomposition [ 111 , 112 ]. Research into the VOCs produced during decomposition can provide information to help detect concealed remains as well as estimate the PMI. Human remains detection (HRD) dogs, for example, detect VOCs. In a series of publications, Vass et al. [ 111 , 113 , 114 ] examined the chemicals associated with the odour of decomposition and the development of the “Decomposition Odour Analysis (DOA) Database.” These and other studies [ 115–118 ] demonstrated that the chemicals associated with decomposition change over time. Vass [ 111 ] concludes: “Currently it is not yet possible to accurately predict which compounds will be present at any given decompositional event since the mechanisms of compound formation and the taphonomic influences are not yet fully understood.” However, Carabollo [ 119 ] found that examining the type and abundance of compounds in the total odour profile can be used to distinguish each stage of decomposition. The early decomposition/bloat stage and the active decay stage showed the least amount of variation in the compounds present and their per cent of the total composition.

Ideally, determining human-specific compounds present during decomposition will aid in the development of training aids for HRD dogs and the development of detection instrumentation. However, significant research is still needed because it is difficult to determine how the odour profile will change under different situations and postmortem intervals. Caraballo [ 112 ], for example, documented that the decomposition environment influences the odour released by enhancing or hindering the amount of odour liberated, and that skeletonized remains do not have a unique VOC profile. Dekeirsschieter et al. [ 116 ] found that the VOCs of bodies decomposing in urban settings differed significantly from those in open air outdoor sites, and pollutants in the air caused background noise that is difficult to separate.

Postmortem interval

Forbes [ 49 ] has pointed out that PMI estimation is one of the more elusive aspects of any medicolegal death investigation. This is in part because there is considerable unpredictability in the rate at which decomposition progresses in human remains, especially with increasing PMI. Unfortunately, it is also in part because of the current state of research in decomposition. As observed by Passalacqua and Megyesi [ 119 ], over 60% of the studies in the Journal of Forensic Sciences [1972–2014] and the American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS) Proceedings [2002–2014] examining the PMI were either descriptive or described unique settings and over 75% used animal surrogates. In addition, the methods used to estimate the PMI frequently vary depending on the progression or stage of decomposition.

Regardless of the method used to estimate the PMI there are important criteria necessary for the method to gain wide-spread acceptance among practitioners. Henssge and Madea [ 120 ] argued that any method for estimating the PMI will “only gain practical relevance if the following criteria are fulfilled: quantitative measurement, mathematical description, taking into account influencing factors quantitatively, declaration of precision and proof of precision on independent materials.” Below I will discuss some of the methods used to estimate the PMI based on gross morphological changes commonly used by forensic anthropologists. Information on microbial biodiversity and succession to estimate the PMI as well insect colonization, development and succession to estimate the time-since-colonization has been extensively reviewed elsewhere [ 121–125 ].

In the past several decades, a few methods based on gross physical changes in the body have attempted to meet the vital criteria outlined by Henssge and Madea [ 120 ]. Probably the most commonly used method for estimating the PMI based on gross physical changes in the human body was developed by Megyesi et al. [ 33 ]. As discussed earlier, their method attempts to quantify the stages of decomposition through a point-based system or total body score (TBS) and correlate it with ADD. Using this method, investigators score the gross decompositional changes of three anatomical regions (i.e. head/neck, torso, extremities) and sum the scores to obtain a TBS. Scores depicting changes occur from fresh to dry bone and range from 1 to 13 for the head/neck, 1 to 12 for the trunk, and 1 to 10 for the extremities. Therefore, the TBS can range from 3 to 35. The total decomposition score is then inserted into a regression equation by investigators to calculate the ADD necessary for the body to reach the observed stage of decomposition for the remains under investigation. Investigators use ambient temperature data from a nearby national weather station to calculate the most likely date of death based on the “local” ADD. The advantage of the TBS/ADD method is that it meets most of the criteria outlined by Henssge and Madea [ 120 ]. The method uses a quantitative measure, mathematical description, considers the influence of temperature on the quantitative measure, and provides a quantitative measure of error. Furthermore, several studies have demonstrated high interobserver reliability in the quantifying decomposition using the TBS [ 50 , 126 ].

Later, Vass [ 30 ] proposed two formulae for estimating the time since death for surface (aerobic) or buried (anaerobic) remains. Unlike the method proposed by Megyesi et al. [ 33 ] that only considers temperature variation, Vass [ 30 ] argued that temperature, moisture, pH, and partial pressure of oxygen should be accounted for in a PMI estimation equation. The method devised by Vass [ 30 ] for surface remains uses a constant ADD of 1 285 multiplied by the percentage of soft tissue remaining as the numerator and multiplies the average temperature, average humidity, and a constant of 0.010 3 for moisture in the denominator. The results of this equation provide an estimation of the PMI in calendar days. For buried remains, Vass [ 30 ] used the 1 285 ADD constant multiplied by a 4.6 constant for the lack of oxygen and the percentage of adipocere as the numerator. The denominator includes the constant 0.010 3 to represent the moisture effect on decomposition multiplied by the soil temperature and soil moisture. Like the TBS/ADD method, this “universal” method meets most of the criteria proposed by Henssge and Madea [ 120 ] needed for a relevant PMI estimation method, although it does not provide an error rate. Furthermore, inter-observer error in estimating the percentage of decomposition has not been evaluated.

Much of the work since the development of the methods by Megyesi et al. [ 33 ] and Vass [ 30 ] has been associated with validation and improvement of these methods. Unfortunately, the one criterion stated by Henssge and Madea [ 120 ] that both methods have failed is for “proof of precision on independent materials.” Numerous studies have demonstrated these methods do not accurately or precisely estimate the PMI, especially as PMI advances or in extreme environments [ 50 , 127–129 ]. Research has demonstrated a need for regional formulae that take into account climatic variables as well as different formulae depending on the scene context (indoor, outdoor, surface, buried, aquatic, clothed, unclothed), body position (hanging, burial depth), body condition (burned, cause of death, etc.), and individual characteristics of the cadaver (age, sex, body weight, and microbiome). As a result, there have been numerous calls for region-specific equations [ 31 , 130–132 ] and season of death [ 133 ] as well as equations for aquatic deposition [ 45 , 134 , 135 ], hanging [ 136 ], and charred remains [ 137 ]. In aquatic deposition remains, for example, the total aquatic decomposition (TAD) can be used in combination with ADD (based on thermal energy available in the water) to provide a quantitative method for estimating the postmortem submersion interval (PMSI). Like the TBS, the TAD examines changes in the head, body, and limbs [ 45 ].

Several researchers have also examined statistical aspects of calculating the PMI for terrestrial remains including Michaud and Moreau [ 138 ] and Moffatt et al. [ 139 ]. Michaud and Morea [ 138 ] used different minimum ADD thresholds rather than just the average above zero temperature used by Megyesi et al. [ 33 ] and Vass [ 30 ]. This method accounts for more variability in decomposition rates, but most importantly it provides probabilities associated with each stage of decomposition. Noting problems with the statistical methods used by Megyesi et al. [ 33 ], Moffatt et al. [ 139 ] developed a new formula based on inverse regression for estimating the ADD from TBS that provides smaller predictive intervals. Unfortunately, there have been few attempts to validate the revised methods presented by Michaud and Moreau [ 138 ] and Moffatt et al. [ 139 ].

Overall, gross morphological changes to the body have been the primary focus of anthropological work to estimate the PMI. Over the past several decades, significant advances have been made to quantify the decomposition process and to account for some of the variables, primarily temperature that influences the rate of decomposition. While there are still numerous problems with the accuracy and precision of the methods, work by Megyesi et al. [ 33 ], Vass [ 30 ] and others have advanced the way we approach the estimation of the PMI.

Future needs

The research on decomposition is still in its scientific infancy. In the future, there is a greater need for the collection of standardized data, more rigorous statistical analyses, examination of extended PMIs, greater emphasis on aquatic decomposition and carrion ecology, interdisciplinary or transdisciplinary research and the use of human cadavers to get forensically reliable data. Some of the problems associated with decomposition research are that there are limited datasets available for study and comparison, as well as a general lack of standardized nomenclature, multi-regional comparative studies, and true inter- and trans-disciplinary research. Probably, most important to decomposition research is the need for greater use of theory in decomposition research and the development of trans-disciplinary theory. Boyd and Boyd [ 140 ], for example, discuss the use of non-linear systems theory to improve estimates of PMI based on gross physical characteristics. Likewise, the use of more rigorous statistical methods such as mixed-effect models, transition analysis, and others are needed. Wescott [ 15 ] has also called for a greater need of trans-disciplinary research that incorporates methodology and theory from numerous disciplines including ecological and evolutionary theory in all decomposition studies. Furthermore, there is a need to gain a basic understanding of decomposition ecology instead of focusing on a wide variety of factors that could influence the decomposition rate. Likewise, while multiple studies show great promise for examining soil chemistry [ 9 ] and VOCs [ 112 ], these studies need to be examined within the larger ecological and evolutionary context. While the study of microbiology has increased in the past several decades, the examination of the effects of the microbiome of the deceased individual and how it influences decomposition will go a long way towards increasing our knowledge of decomposition. Finally, there is a need to examine the intrinsic factors of the body that affect decomposition.

Decomposition research has provided forensic anthropology with a new conceptional framework that is grounded in the natural sciences. We now have a greater understanding of the complexity of decomposition and the variability caused by numerous biotic and abiotic variables that affect the rate and pattern of progression in human remains. While in some ways research over the past several years has demonstrated the unpredictability of decomposition, the research holds promise for developing better methods for the detection of human remains, interpretation of scenes, and the estimation of the postmortem interval. However, because of the uncertainty in decomposition, many forensic anthropologists are still leery about interpreting decomposition to estimate the PMI, but understanding this unpredictability and when and why we can or cannot make accurate or precise estimations of the PMI is also critical to medicolegal death investigations. I have no doubt that as we continue to explore the mechanisms of decomposition through an ecological and evolutionary perspective that we will also develop more accurate and precise methods that utilize quantitative measures and known error rates. While there have already been significant advancements in our knowledge of decomposition, I believe that even greater advancements are just around the corner.

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank Drs Douglas Ubelaker and Deborah Cunningham.

Compliance of ethical standards

This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Unearthing Voices: A Study of the Korean American Community

As an anthropology student and the daughter of a Korean American immigrant, Samantha Schwartz wants to write an archaeological narrative that is authentic to the Korean American community. The Beverly & Richard Fink Fellowship, which Schwartz received for summer 2023, helped her in this task, allowing her to fund her project and hone her research interests.

What do you call your project and how would you summarize it? How does it connect to your broader research interests?

My project this summer was to gather preliminary data for my dissertation. The question at the heart of my project was what information is potentially available for me to work within an archaeological context? Specifically, I was looking for archaeological/historical information concerning the Korean American communities in California and New York. Ultimately, my dissertation will be an archaeological study of the Korean American community in the United States, which no one has done before. 

However, that is a very broad topic and the focus of my project this summer was to narrow down to a specific topic that would be approachable for my dissertation. This project, and my research overall, is something I'm extremely passionate about as a member of the Korean American community and the daughter of a Korean American immigrant. 

Generally speaking, the Korean American community is often overlooked as an immigrant group in the United States and usually just grouped in with Asian Americans, and while solidarity within the Asian American community is important, it's also important to acknowledge the uniqueness of each group and their culture. I would like my project to bring to light the stories of people who are overlooked, forgotten about, silenced, and ignored.

How has the award made a difference to your career?

It has helped me advance the professional goal of narrowing down a dissertation topic (which is especially important as I will be writing my prelims and dissertation prospectus this year). This award has allowed me to pay for the travel necessary to do my research and explore archives as well as pay the archival fees. Thanks to this award, I have access to far more information than I did in the past that helps me expand the scope of my research. This will help to advance my field because my research will fill a gap in the literature. Without this award, I would also not have had the funding to pay for basic necessities such as rent and food. Not having to worry about those essentials makes it so I can focus on my career. 

Personally, this award has also helped me connect to my culture and my community more. Spending more meaningful time with the Korean American community has been fulfilling and has helped me to understand more about myself and my family as well.

What challenges have you faced? Have there been any notable surprises?

The major challenge I've faced is the lack of information in the archives. Some of the archives I worked with did not have any data pertaining to Korean Americans while the ones that did, had very little information. 

Accessing the archives was also difficult due to paperwork, permits, and different laws depending on the state where the archive was located and/or the institution it was in. None of these obstacles were surprising, but still challenging nonetheless. However, because I had to work with many different people to access the necessary resources, I've been able to grow my network and create new contacts who may be helpful in future research.

How is your project making a difference in the world?

I think my project is making a difference in the world by giving people who are not often thought about a genuine and accurate voice. Not many people in the US are familiar with the Korean American community or know much about them which is unfortunate, especially considering the US is a major reason for this diaspora. 

Recently, Korean culture has become more popular in the US, and worldwide, so I think now more than ever it's important that people are actually knowledgeable about the real people behind what they're consuming. 

Additionally, my project will focus on gender within the Korean American community, and women, within most communities, are often overlooked. Particularly in the Korean American community, women's struggles often go unnoticed and are not addressed, so I hope to help strengthen and reinforce their stories.

What partnerships has this award helped you develop and nurture?

On this project, I worked with the State Historic Preservation Offices of both New York and California as well as many of the University of California schools where archaeological collections are held. I also worked a bit with the Korean American Center in Irvine, CA this summer. 

These connections enriched my project because not only was I able to collect preliminary data, but I was also able to connect with some community members and find out what's actually important and helpful to them.

What's next?

I will be writing my prelims and my dissertation prospectus based on the preliminary research I did this summer. Additionally, I will continue to maintain the relationships I created over the summer and hopefully foster new ones through these now-existing relationships. Questions I plan to pursue now are, how does the Korean American archaeological context differ in New York from California? And, how do the differences in location affect gender roles and how is that evidenced through the archaeological record?

This story was edited by an undergraduate student in CLA.

By Anushka Raychaudhuri 

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Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies

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From the army to anthropology: Postdoc’s path to peace-and-justice research has been a journey

Published: April 22, 2024

Author: socialconcerns.nd.edu

Helal Khan ’s path to becoming an anthropologist who researches peace and justice has taken him all over the world.

In his home country of Bangladesh, Khan was an army officer stationed along the Myanmar border. He served as a United Nations peacekeeper in the Democratic Republic of the Congo during the country’s historic 2006 election — its first free election in 40-plus years. Khan’s academic career has included graduate studies and teaching positions in the United Kingdom, Belgium, and the United States.

“I was always a peacemaker in my mind, but it took this journey for me to come to anthropology and peace-and-justice studies,” said Khan , who earned his Ph.D. in peace studies and anthropology from Notre Dame in 2023 and is now a postdoctoral teaching scholar at the Center for Social Concerns.

The spark for Khan’s journey came from encounters he had with Rohingya refugees while he was serving in Bangladesh’s Border Guard more than 15 years ago. He saw members of the Muslim minority group fleeing persecution in Myanmar and moving in huge numbers across the border into Bangladesh. Back then, two large UNHCR refugee camps for the Rohingya were in the area that Khan was responsible for as a major with the Border Guard.

“The Rohingya would talk to me about their persecution, but more than that they used to talk about the hopes they had for the future,” he said. “That’s very interesting because perhaps the immediate impression is that this is the most persecuted community in the world. That is actually a term that the United Nations used to describe the Rohingya.”

Khan began to turn over anthropological questions in his mind. How do human beings survive injustice and go on to thrive? How do they maintain their culture when they move to a dramatically different place? What impact do immigrants have on their new communities?

Khan left Bangladesh in 2015 to study at the University of Edinburgh, where he received a prestigious Chevening Scholarship from the British Foreign & Commonwealth Office and earned a master’s degree in Islamic and Middle Eastern studies. Then he received a Flanders Master Mind Scholarship to study at the University of Leuven in Belgium, where he earned a master’s degree in social and cultural anthropology with a research focus on Muslim immigrants in Brussels.

He received a Notre Dame Presidential Fellowship to pursue his Ph.D. at Notre Dame, which gave him the opportunity to study in both the Department of Anthropology and the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies.

His move to the American Midwest also brought him close to three growing Rohingya communities in Chicago, Milwaukee, and Fort Wayne. His doctoral dissertation looked at the well-being of those communities with a focus on the notions of trust and hope.

“I’ve done my Ph.D. in the West, but I’ve worked with people who came from elsewhere,” Khan said. “Eventually my Ph.D. came to be a study of cultural interaction — how people of Chicago, Milwaukee, and Fort Wayne engage with the Rohingya as much as how the Rohingya interact with them.”

Khan was a member of the Center for Social Concerns’ inaugural cohort of Graduate Justice Fellows in 2022-23, the final year of his Ph.D. program. He then returned to the Center as a postdoctoral teaching scholar for the 2023-24 academic year.

This semester he’s teaching a course, Everyday Justice , that adopts an anthropological perspective to introduce students to the cultural contexts of justice that speak to people’s everyday experiences. The course encourages students to look at how issues of justice in education, health, work, environment, and other areas affect people on an individual level and how those individual experiences connect to larger policy questions.

“I believe anthropologists are uniquely placed to make connections between this humanistic discipline and get us closer to understanding contemporary societies through the lenses of peace and justice,” Khan said. “You can study humans while at the same time also studying the environment and see how much of that is just and how much isn’t.”

Another project he’s taken on at the Center for Social Concerns is the Community Engagement Case Archive. The archive will be a collection of perceived real-life scenarios about students’ relationships with new people, managing differences, and navigating ethical dilemmas, among other challenges. The project’s goal is to enhance students’ preparation for working in places and communities that are new to them.

“Students will be able to read these narratives, think through the situations, and learn from them before they embed themselves in a new community and face different forms of justice and injustice — individually and institutionally,” Khan said.

After this academic year is complete, Khan will move on from Notre Dame to a faculty position with Georgetown University’s Justice & Peace Studies Program.

“That’s where I am now — soldier turned peacekeeper turned anthropologist turned peace-and-justice enthusiast,” Khan said. “Peace is worth nothing if it is not just.”

Originally published at socialconcerns.nd.edu . 

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Reflecting on rare treasures recovered from a volcanic cave in Northwest Alaska

Kayak paddles and a spear tipped with a sharpened rock lie in a volcanic cave on the Seward Peninsula in 2010. (Photo by Ben Jones)

Ben Jones suspected he had found something special when he squeezed into a volcanic cave and saw pale wooden poles, some with ends shaped like a willow leaf.

When he crawled in farther, he found a cache of items — several paddles and a spear with a stone tip that was still attached. He suspected that the last hands to touch those paddles belonged to people who were no longer alive.

Jones, a permafrost and northern-phenomena researcher, then backed out of the hole, which had been formed by cooling lava a few thousand years earlier.

He sat down on a rock, looked out at Imuruk Lake on Alaska’s Seward Peninsula and took a few breaths.

“How cool,” he thought.

An opening in the Lost Jim Lava Flow forms the entrance to a small cave where hunters cached kayak paddles and weapons on Alaska’s Seward Peninsula. (Photo by Ben Jones)

After a few more heartbeats, he rushed to find his friend and fellow researcher Guido Grosse, there with Jones to study permafrost in Bering Land Bridge National Park and Preserve. He led Grosse back to the find.

The pair then shared their photos at Imuruk Lake with their waiting floatplane pilot Jim Webster of Fairbanks. Webster agreed they had found something remarkable.

It was summer 2010. Jones, now with the University of Alaska Fairbanks Institute of Northern Engineering, was then with the U.S. Geological Survey on a NASA grant to study permafrost in Siberia and Alaska.

Grosse, still a researcher with the Alfred Wegner Institute in Germany, was Jones’ graduate adviser at the time. The pair are co-authors on a recent paper about the find in the Alaska Journal of Anthropology.

Grosse and Jones finished their 2010 field trip when Webster flew them to Fairbanks in his floatplane. Right away, Jones contacted Bob Gal and Jeanne Schaff with the National Park Service to share photos of what he had found, as well as the GPS coordinates.

Gal and Schaff — who did her Ph.D. dissertation on late-prehistoric Inupiaq societies of the Seward Peninsula — tried to find the same cave later that summer. But the Lost Jim Lava Flow in which it is located is wrinkled and folded, spilling for miles over the interior of the Seward Peninsula.

Jones and Grosse were back in the area doing more studies in 2011 (Webster was again their pilot). When they finished, Jones marked the cave by pinning down several white trash bags in the shape of an X, which enabled Gal and Schaff to later find it and retrieve the items.

Schaff, Jones and UAF’s Ben Gaglioti carbon-dated the wood and a thread of caribou sinew used to attach a stone tip to a spear. They found the most likely time that wood had grown and that caribou was alive was the mid-1600s or 1700s.

Archaeologist Jeff Rasic of the National Park Service in Fairbanks helped create a display in Nome featuring the items, which were probably part of a hunter’s cache at the time when English migrants were first settling on the east coast of the U.S.

“The owners of these tools were intimately familiar with the landscape and the seasonal movement of animals,” Rasic wrote. “A common and reoccurring hunting tactic involved a group of hunters cleverly exploiting the juxtaposition of the lava field and Imuruk Lake.

An illustration shows details of a lance with a stone point held in place with a wrap of caribou sinew. The lance was found in a cave on the Seward Peninsula. (Illustration by Eric Carlson, provided by Jeff Rasic / National Park Service)

“While one group of hunters steered caribou towards water, an easy feat since (the caribou) preferred to avoid the treacherous lava field, a second group waited in kayaks ready to seize the panicked animal.”

The Lost Jim Lava Flow oozed over the landscape less than 2,000 years ago. The 60-square-mile deposit of jagged rocks got its name in 1947 after a member of the Geological Survey party named Jim became separated from his team there for most of the day.

Rasic said Jones’ find is remarkable for several reasons.

“It’s really rare to find such good organic preservation, and whole, functional tools,” he said. “Normally, archaeologists find only useless things that were worn out or broken.”

Paddles and spear shafts sit outside a cave on the Seward Peninsula in 2012 after being recovered by Jeanne Schaff, now retired from the National Park Service. (Photo by Jeanne Schaff)

Jones remembers finding the paddles and spears fondly because a discovery moment like that just doesn’t happen for most people.

The discovery is also one of the many warm memories he shared with pilot Jim Webster of Webster’s Flying Service in Fairbanks. In 2020, Jones was a passenger in Webster’s plane when the plane crashed in northern Alaska . Jones survived but Webster passed away.

“(Jim) loved that find out there, among our many adventures over the years,” Jones said.

Ned Rozell | Alaska Science

Ned Rozell is a science writer with the Geophysical Institute at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

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John Sabin, Ph.D., Integrated Coastal Sciences

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Name: Johnnie Sabin

College: Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences

Major:  Integrated Coastal Sciences

Classification/Year: Doctoral candidate (5th year)

Hometown: Atlanta, Georgia

Hobbies/interests: Hiking, scuba diving, boardsports (wake/snow/mountain), photogrammetry, DIY electronics

ECU GOES WITH YOU 

How will you take ECU with you after graduation? I have learned to excel at teaching myself skills beyond those received in a formal classroom setting, so there is more of an ‘applied confidence’ for troubleshooting technical issues.

East Carolina University graduate student John “Johnnie” Sabin has worked five years to design and conduct research for his dissertation project focused on ecosystem restoration in the Florida Everglades.

This summer, he’ll be the first to earn his doctoral degree in ECU’s integrated coastal sciences Ph.D. program.

After earning undergraduate and master’s degrees in anthropology, he wanted to expand beyond the discipline and get more theory. His graduate adviser at Florida State suggested he check out ECU’s new multidisciplinary doctoral program in the Department of Coastal Studies.

Sabin navigated several challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic, since starting in 2019. But he persevered and followed his dream of designing his own dissertation project despite not having an adviser or mentor at ECU who conducts research in the Everglades, a subtropical wetland ecosystem that spans two million acres across central and south Florida.

Sabin’s background as a social scientist and environmental anthropologist informed his creation of a monitoring framework for tracking restoration efforts. He conducted in-person and virtual interviews with dozens of Florida stakeholders — including industry, recreation, science and landowners including Gladesmen and Indigenous community members. “I built the project from the ground up, I reached out to people, I built rapport with people,” said Sabin, who has served as a graduate research assistant at ECU.

He became drone-certified to take high-resolution images to see changes in conservation buffers. His satellite imagery, geospatial analysis and 3D modeling are helping determine if restoration efforts are making an impact in these buffer areas.

“I’m using that to give bones to the ideas being expressed and asking what’s going on, how are wilderness areas changing, what are the sorts of water futures we want to see in south Florida — those were a lot of the questions,” he said. “I was looking at what undermines conservation efforts and how that plays out.”

The conservation buffers sit between urban, residential and environmentally protected areas, and help sustain habitat, connectivity, water storage and flood mitigation.

Sabin grew up in Atlanta and often made trips to Florida. He became intrigued with its geography, fauna and miles of canals. He loved history and the classics, fascinated by National Geographic and History Channel documentaries, and became interested in anthropology after a high school presentation.

To aid in course and field work and make extra money, Sabin developed skills and took gigs on the side throughout his time as a student.

A competitive diver in high school and as an undergraduate at Georgia State, he became scuba certified. He pursued an underwater archaeology specialty in his master’s program, investigating submerged landscapes with an interest in Native American sites and coastal areas that have been inundated by sea level rise, which brings a long-term perspective to his work, he said.

In addition to his drone certification, he became licensed to trailer and transport boats while at ECU. He scraped boats, was a dredge permitting specialist for a marine contractor, and completed other project work from creating maps and synthesizing data sets to generating data visualizations and computational modeling.

Johnnie Sabin takes a break from research while riding his mountainboard at Wildwood Park.

“I have learned to excel at teaching myself skills beyond those received in a formal classroom setting, so there is more of an ‘applied confidence’ for troubleshooting technical issues,” Sabin said.

While at ECU, he has been a member of Pirates on Water, the student branch of the ECU Water Resources Center, and helped revive an annual Tar River cleanup and worked on other community projects.

He also met his girlfriend, ECU master’s student Alexandra Stevenson, in his adviser’s lab at ECU. Sabin is planning to help on her coral reef research project in the Virgin Islands later this summer. “A lot of my work with drones and photogrammetry can be applied underwater to getting the coral structure,” he said.

For the next few months, he will be working as a conservation and cultural research fellow with EMIGRA, providing feedback on resource management and great hammerhead sharks in the Atlantic Southeast.

Sabin said he has had made lifelong friends and had great support at ECU from faculty members, his adviser Cynthia Grace-McCaskey and everyone in his integrated coastal sciences cohort, a small group who became closer in the tragic death of a loved classmate in spring 2021.

With graduation approaching, Sabin wishes he had more time to work on his project. “I’m really just getting started here. There’s a wonderful world that I’ve opened up with at least how to approach this holistic ecosystem restoration that I’ve deemed it broadly,” he said.

He wants the research to help people. “I have this interactive platform that extends from my research, so it’s not just a dissertation that goes on a bookshelf. That kind of gives people a way to monitor. It works like ArcGIS StoryMaps, and it’s a cool interactive thing that people can crowdsource information, they can download their own sort of data about these restoration areas,” he said.

In the interim, he has been polishing and rewriting parts of his dissertation, preparing for publication, and applying for jobs with a goal of working with people under and over the water — hoping to make an impact wherever he goes.

FALL 2024 GRADUATE PROFILES

Commencement Website

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