Anthropology publications (MU)
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Items in this collection represent publications of the Department of Anthropology faculty, staff, and students, either alone or as co-authors, and which may or may not have been published in an alternate format. Items may contain more than one file type.
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Item Personal Epistemology(2003) Benfer, Robert AlfredThe author explores his beliefs and perspectives, from both a professional and personal level.Item “Maybe” Should Be a Choice in “Yes-No” Questionnaires(2003) Benfer, Robert Alfred; Furbee-Losee, Louanna; Storer, JohnBy permitting respondents to answer “don't know” or “possibly” to queries otherwise intended to be “yes” or “no” questions, a new dimension of the interview becomes available for analysis. By coding “yes” and “no” as “yes, I have an opinion that I will express to you,” and “don't know” or “possibly” as “no, I do not have an opinion that I will express to you,” understanding the patterning of such responses becomes an interesting research question. We present an example of this approach from 538 interviews, question-frames about the domain “illness,” obtained in the homes of participants in an intervention program designed to reduce coronary heart disease, in central, rural Mississippi. The questionnaire was presented by four interviewers. Each participant was interviewed four times at six-month intervals, providing adequate time between interviews for reflection on the task. We use the individual differences model of multidimensional scaling to obtain weights for each consultant on each dimension of the group aggregate space. Subsequent analysis of these weights was (1) by general linear model analysis of variance and (2) examination of the pattern of adjusted means of dimension weights by risk factors and design factors. Results were surprising. The two-dimensional aggregate space developed from opinions vs. lack of expressed opinion on individual questions was interpretable as one cluster of symptoms that implied heart disease and two other structures that were vector-like in appearance. Extremely high F-values showed a reflexive effect; the interviewer was associated with several factors including risk status of the participants, suggesting negotiation of whether or not a participant would agree to express an opinion. There may have been a reflective effect with changing patterns developing over the course of the repeated interviews. Neither dimension was associated with the health-care seeking behavior of consulting a doctor.Item Colonial Churches as Astronomical Instruments in San Cristóbal de las Casas: Informe Preliminár—Archivos de la Catedrál(2008) Benfer, Robert AlfredThere are many documented examples of meridian lines in Italian churches in the 14th and 15th centuries. Hilbron (1999) discusses how these lines and others were used to measure the date of the equinox, the sun's altitude on the day of the summer solstice, the earth's annual motion, its obliquity, and other topics of interest to astronomers. No published instances of these astronomical uses of churches have been found for in Latin America. We report here a new finding, that meridian lines were also constructed in the Americas, in 17th and 18th century churches in Chiapas, Mexico. They traced the principle aisle of the church. Incredibly, although the lines continue to provide a spectacular light show, their meaning has been lost. Even more astonishing is the finding that these 17th and 18th century churches were designed to produce these impressive light shows. Old World churches were retrofitted for Meridian lines by breaking holes in the roof or cutting them into stained glass installations. Four of the churches studied in San Cristóbal de las Casas, were designed from the ground up to cast equinoctial and solsticial beams of light.Item Proyecto de investigaciones arqueológicas en Buena Vista, Valle del Chillón(2005) Benfer, Robert Alfred; Restaure, Hugo Ludeña; Vallejos, MiriamLas excavaciones en el sitio Precerámico de Paloma, Valle de Chilca (Engel 1980; Benfer 1982, 1990, 1999) y otros (Weir, Benfer, and Jones 1987; Pechenkina et al. 2006) han aportado importantes datos del período Precerámico Medio. Se han evidenciado importantes cambios en la salud y la dieta, mediante los estudios de los esqueletos, dientes, sarro, coprolitos, restos de plantas, y animales. Para conocer el Precerámico en la costa central, es necesario estudiar sus primeras y últimas manifestaciones. Iniciamos los estudios de un sitio temprano, Quipa, ubicado en el valle de Chilca, caracterizado por ser un sitio con un componente mayor del Precerámico Terminal; otro sitio estudiado es Buena Vista, ubicado en el Valle de Chillón.El objetivo principal de este estudio es investigar el sistema económico que produjo las primeras evidencias de arquitectura monumental en el flanco oeste de los Andes. Los residentes, quizás estimulados por el efecto de los cambios del Optimun Climaticum, hace 5,000 años o más, empezaron a adoptar la cerámica y comenzaron a vivir en centros, competitivos entre ellos, densamente ocupados. Esperamos definir nuevas formaciones sociales que complementen específicamente las relaciones establecidas en los Andes entre las aldeas de agricultores y los pastores estacionales, y en la costa, las relaciones entre pescadores y agricultores. El material esquelético es crucial para distinguir entre las diferentes actividades económicas de pastoreo, agricultura, y pesca. Los datos botánicos y zoo-arqueológicos complementarán los datos recopilados de los restos humanos, desde que ellos definen la producción, mientras que los materiales esqueléticos pueden medir el consumo de alimentos con mayor precisión.