Search
Now showing items 1-20 of 43
Finding prehistoric roots of the two-spirit tradition in the North American Southwest
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2022)
We demonstrate the antiquity of the Native American two-spirit tradition using mortuary data from the North American Southwest. A two-spirit person embodies a liminal combination of masculine and feminine spirits and participates in both male...
Traditional postpartum care : alloparenting from an evolutionary perspective
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2019)
[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] This dissertation focuses on traditional postpartum care and its variation across different human populations using an evolutionary framework. Whereas traditional healthcare may...
The influence of ancestors: kinship and cooperation in Iban ancestor worship
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2021)
their descendants through the traditions they begin and transmit to future generations. In order for this theory to be valid, traditions must be sustained over long periods of time so that ancestors' influence descendants in generations long after the ancestors...
A biological distance study of Steed-Kisker origins
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2009)
[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] Nonmetric trait frequencies of crania affiliated with the Steed-Kisker phase of northwestern Missouri were compared with crania from the Northern and Central Plains...
Evolution and religion : theory, definitions, and the natural selection of religious behavior
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2009)
of religion posited in chapter 3. Finally, chapter 5 lays out an explanation of the evolution of religion as a traditional behavior that was directly favored by natural selection for its effects on the descendant-leaving success of ancestral humans....
Phosphorus drives the biogeographical distribution of sweet and bitter manioc
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2023)
[EMBARGOED UNTIL 5/1/2024] Manioc (Manihot esculenta Crantz) or cassava comes in two varieties: bitter which is dangerous and sweet which is safe. Three basic questions about this tropical crop remain unanswered decades ...
The high cost of living : death and social identity of Missouri's historic Columbia cemetery
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2019)
[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] The gravestones of Missouri's historic Columbia Cemetery demonstrate the changing social identity of the population of Columbia, Missouri. These stone artifacts display...
The social economics of organic production in Columbia's Farmer's Market
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2009)
[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] The research involves preliminary field investigation of the impacts of social demands on economic decisions made by producers, such agricultural management among farmers...
Patterns of local mobility in an Iban community of West Kalimantan, Indonesia
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2008)
the frequency and purpose of travel episodes? (5) How do social relationships affect travel for exchange? Dr. Reed Wadley of the University of Missouri-Columbia, detailed the movement of one Iban longhouse community by conducting a local mobility study among...
Mitochondrial ancient DNA analysis of Lawson cave black bears (Ursus americanus)
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2009)
The distribution of black bear (Ursus americanus) in southern and central Missouri has been controversial. This controversy centers on two questions: 1) Where does the historical species fit into the continental phylogeography; 2...
Kin and community : tradition maintenance and the economic self-sufficiency of refugees in a Midwestern town
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2014)
be a major advantage in terms of getting refugees resettled and economically self- sufficient quickly. In order to assess the available support systems, namely kin and ethnic communities, I interviewed refugees about their traditions and recorded...
Diet, subsistence and health: a bioarchaeological analysis of Chongos, Perú
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2009)
It is possible to assess important archaeological questions about prehistoric individuals and groups, learning a great deal about their lives through bioarchaeological analysis of human skeletal remains. This dissertation ...
Righting tibial retroversion : a functional and ontogenetic analysis
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2023)
Tibial retroversion, or the posterior angulation of the tibial plateau relative to the diaphysis, has been tentatively linked to several behaviors in anthropological literature. While a large body of work, dating as far ...
The eyes of the world are upon us : the role of visual images in the fight over Alberta's oil sands
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2011)
In the controversy over the mining of the Alberta oil sands, tourism has become a tool used by both those who want to stop further development of the oil sands and perhaps also by those who want it to continue. The goal ...
Applied paleozoology and biogeography : four case studies from Missouri
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2018)
and the Missouri State Historic Office, a method is developed that allows paleozoological data to be used to assist modern conservation biology through biogeographic range reconstruction and historic landcover associations. This project reconstructs the precontact...
Fluctuating asymmetry as a measure of developmental instability in Arikara bioarchaeological assemblages
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2018)
those investigations and determine whether specific measures of FA can provide meaningful insight into the developmental instability of past Arikara populations represented in archaeological variants of the Coalescent tradition. Specifically, cranial...
Assessing "lithic sound" to predict a rock's ease of flaking
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2006)
Objective information concerning "lithic sound's" properties of pitch, duration, and intensity, can inform archaeologists about a stone's candidacy for human use, and whether or not lithic material at a site has been heat ...
A Diocletianic Roman castellum of the Limes Arabicus in its local context: a final report of the 2001 Da'janiya survey
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2007)
The Roman fort at Da'janiya is the largest and best-preserved fortification on the Roman limes between the two legionary forts at Lejjun and Udruh. The fort at Da'janiya is something of an anomaly, since at just over 100 ...
Micaceous mindsets: chemical characterization of Pueblo IV utility wares at multiple sites along the Rio Grande
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2022)
Micaceous utility wares are commonly found at Ancestral Pueblo villages along the Rio Grande and adjacent areas, yet they have received comparatively little attention relative to the well-studied glaze wares with which ...
Anatomical refitting using metric comparison on white tailed deer (odocoileus virginianus) and mule deer (odocoileus hemionus)
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2010)
[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] Anatomical refitting of zooarchaeological animal skeletons has been used by archaeologists to monitor the spatial distribution of skeletal elements of individual animal...