RSS 1.0Anthropology electronic theses and dissertations (MU)
The items in this collection are the theses and dissertations written by students of the Department of Anthropology. Some items may be viewed only by members of the University of Missouri System and/or University of Missouri-Columbia. Click on one of the browse buttons above for a complete listing of the works.
Items in MOspace are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.
Recent Submissions
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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 ... -
Social inequalities and mortality during the 1918 influenza pandemic on the island of Newfoundland
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2022)Pandemics are anthropogenic events, and an anthropological perspective can be advantageous for a comprehensive understanding of the impact of the 1918 influenza pandemic. Research on the 1918 influenza pandemic has shown ... -
The influence of climate and population structure on East Asian skeletal morphological variation
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2022)Objectives: Recent studies have shown that global variation in body proportions is more complex than previously thought as some traits formerly associated with climate adaptation are better explained by geographic proximity ... -
Assessing the impact of the 1918/1919 influenza pandemic in Missouri counties heavily involved in lead-zinc mining
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2022)Occupational concentrations within regions have the capability to influence infectious disease transmission as they shape the way humans interact within a community. The 1918 influenza pandemic is widely discussed as the ... -
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 ... -
The influence of ancestors: kinship and cooperation in Iban ancestor worship
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2021)This work explores, extends, and tests a novel evolutionary theory put forth and refined by Lyle Steadman, Craig Palmer, and Kathryn Coe. The approach is the descendant-leaving strategy theory, which outlines how ancestors ... -
Body size and shape in insular environments and applications of the island rule in biological anthropology
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2021)The discovery of small-bodied hominin fossils in 2004 on the island of Flores, Indonesia, unearthed a large debate within biological anthropology. This debate has exemplified that there are questions and research areas ... -
Genetic variation and health in rural Caribbean village
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2020)Bwa Mawego is a small-scale horticultural community (~500 people) on the island of Dominica that has been the site of a longitudinal health research project for more than 30 years. Cardiovascular diseases and metabolic ... -
Obsidian procurement in the Gallinas Mountains of west central New Mexico
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2020)The Gallinas Mountains of west central New Mexico are a relatively understudied area within the greater American Southwest. The area effectively lies within a transitionary zone between three classically defined culture ... -
Birth order and gender : differential parental investment in Medieval England and France in the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth centuries
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2020)This dissertation addresses the question: will parents invest differently in their children based on gender and birth order? Using parental investment theory and four major sets of outcome variables--child survival, parental ... -
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 ... -
Modeling social connectivity and the spread of the 1918-1919 flu through Inupiat and Yup'ik communities of western Alaska
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2019)[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] The spread of infectious disease among human populations is heavily influenced by social relationships and interactions between humans. This project ... -
Computational linguistics using social media to understand immigrant sentiment in the United States
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2019)[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] International migration is increasing throughout the world, including migration to the United States. This increase corresponds with a global rise in ... -
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 ... -
Paleodemographic modeling in the lower Mississippi River Valley
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2019)The three studies presented below address the relationships that exist between prehistoric population dynamics, settlement organization, climate, and subsistence in the central and lower Mississippi River valley and adjacent ... -
Detecting subtle variation in two cryptic primate families (tarsiidae & lorisidae) through morphology and genetics
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2018)Cryptic species look morphologically similar but in fact are several different species lumped together. This is problematic as it hinders conservation efforts and makes it challenging to infer the evolutionary history of ... -
Chemical compositional analysis of polychrome pottery in the northern Casas Grandes area (a.d. 1200-1450)
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2018)The northern area of the Casas Grandes Medio Period (A.D. 1200-1450) was not well known archaeologically. 76 Draw is on the border of the Casas Grandes and Salado (A.D. 1275-1450) regions and the nature of interaction and ... -
Childhood epidemics and the demographic landscape of the Aland Archipelago
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2018)Historically, the introduction of childhood diseases such as measles or smallpox resulted in the infection of nearly every susceptible individual in a community. While smallpox has long been considered the deadlier of the ... -
Applied paleozoology and biogeography : four case studies from Missouri
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2018)Numerous zooarchaeological studies have attempted to connect modern conservation issues to evidence of human - animal interactions in the past. By utilizing a geodatabase based on archaeological and paleontological site ... -
Fluctuating asymmetry as a measure of developmental instability in Arikara bioarchaeological assemblages
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2018)Fluctuating asymmetry (FA) has been advanced as a tool for investigating the developmental instability of human populations and has more recently found its way into bioarchaeological investigations. The research presented ...