Year: 2024, 2024
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>Low-density urbanism is ubiquitous in the industrialized world, with suburbs and sprawling urban zones like the American Northeastern Seaboard being classified as such. Due to
outsized environmental impacts and perceived unsustainability, this settlement pattern is often
maligned. As one of the few prominent examples of agrarian-based low-density urbanism, the
ancient Maya can provide… more Year: 2023, 2023
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Name(s): Creator (cre): Jurasek, Emily, Thesis advisor (ths): Haines, Helen, Thesis advisor (ths): Newton, Jennifer, Degree committee member (dgc): Williams, Jocelyn, Degree committee member (dgc): Wrobel, Gabriel, Degree granting institution (dgg): Trent University Abstract: <p>The ancient Maya utilized aspects of their landscape within their religious rituals and ceremonies, including caves. The study of ritual cave use is known as Maya cave archaeology and archaeologists in this subfield suggest that all holes in the earth, be it natural or man-made were viewed as ritually significant spaces to the ancient Maya (Brady and Layco 2018). This thesis analyzes the… more Year: 2022, 2022
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Name(s): Creator (cre): Tait, Victoria, Thesis advisor (ths): Williams, Jocelyn, Degree committee member (dgc): Szpak, Paul, Degree committee member (dgc): Haines, Helen, Degree committee member (dgc): Laffoon, Jason, Degree granting institution (dgg): Trent University Abstract: <p>This research represents the first stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis of human bone collagen (n = 29) from the Escape Site (AD 300 - 1000), Saint Vincent. As a two-pronged investigation, this research had the following goals: (1) determining the ideal pretreatment for poorly preserved bones and (2) reconstructing the Escape Site sample population diet. By incorporating powdered… more Year: 2021, 2021
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>This thesis addresses the excavation and analysis of the Hingston Group, a small courtyard group just south of the ceremonial core of the Ancient Maya city of Ka'kabish in North-Central Belize. I use settlement and household archaeological theory to understand the functions, occupation history, and status of this residential group. I also rely on entanglement theory, along with the… more Year: 2021, 2021
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Name(s): Creator (cre): Garrett, Joshua Thomas, Thesis advisor (ths): Conolly, James, Degree committee member (dgc): Morin, Eugene, Degree committee member (dgc): Gates St-Pierre, Christian, Degree committee member (dgc): Haines, Helen, Degree granting institution (dgg): Trent University Abstract: <p>This thesis examines morphometric variability and decorative variability and complexityat the intervessel and intravessel levels in samples of complete and near-complete Middle
and Late Woodland vessels. The purpose of this study is to determine how a better
understanding of variability in Middle and LateWoodland period pottery can help interpret
fragmentary assemblages and supplement… more Year: 2020, 2020
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>Postclassic (AD 900-1500) Maya diet at Ka'kabish, Belize was examined using stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis of human bone collagen, and stable carbon isotope analysis of bone structural carbonate. Isotope data were compared to skeletal and dental indicators of diet and disease, and dietary differences among burials excavated from chultuns (B-2, C-1, C-2, and C-3) at Ka… more Year: 2020, 2020
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>The objective of this thesis is to develop and implement a heritage plan for the Nassau Mills Complex, a locally-significant Euro-Canadian historical site that operated on what is now Trent University's campus in Peterborough, Ontario. Within the framework of public archaeology and Cultural Heritage Management (CHM), emphasis is placed on the importance of protecting the site and… more Year: 2020, 2020
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>Bagan, Myanmar's capital during the country's Classical period (c. 800-1400 CE), and its surrounding landscape was once home to at least four thousand monuments. These monuments were the result of the Buddhist pursuit of merit-making, the idea that individuals could increase their socio-spiritual status by performing pious acts for the Sangha (Buddhist Order). Amongst the most… more Year: 2020, 2020
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Name(s): Creator (cre): Forward, Kathleen, Thesis advisor (ths): Iannone, Gyles, Degree committee member (dgc): Awe, Jaime, Degree committee member (dgc): Macrae, Scott, Degree committee member (dgc): Haines, Helen, Degree granting institution (dgg): Trent University Abstract: <p>The city-state of Minanha, located in west central Belize, reached its zenith and most culturally complex stage by the Late Classic period, 675-810 AD. Only a century later, its royal court "collapsed". The Contreras Valley is a small farming community located in a settlement zone south of Minanha. Decades of research at Minanha and the analysis of artifact frequencies from… more Year: 2019, 2019
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>This thesis presents a palaeotopographic reconstruction of the Burleigh Bay region of Stony Lake (Kawartha Lakes Region, Ontario) from 12,600 cal BP to present. The paleotopographic reconstructions are used to model paleoshoreline locations and archaeological site potential for the Late Paleoindian and early Archaic periods. Isostatic rebound following the end of the last glacial period… more Year: 2019, 2019
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>This thesis examines the symbolic meaning and significance that the elite attached to water in ancient Bagan. Through the use of ethnoarchaeological, epigraphic, archaeological, and iconographic data, this study examines the role of water as part of rituals performed by the royal court and the ways in which the royalty of Bagan, in particular King Kyansittha, negotiated, appropriated and… more Year: 2018, 2018
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>Archaeological faunal data, historic records and documents and recent biological data are used to construct a historical ecology for Pigeon Lake, Ontario, focusing on fish exploitation. The faunal collections of twelve archaeological sites in the Kawartha Lakes are reviewed to examine pre-contact Indigenous fishing trends and comment on the historic presence, abundance and range of a… more Year: 2016, 2016
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>From ca. 800-1400 CE, low-density agrarian states dominated Southeast Asia,</p><p>their authority emanating from their epicentres at places such as Angkor in Cambodia,</p><p>Bagan in Myanmar, and Sukhothai in Thailand. These epicentres were the setting for</p><p>numerous structures, activities, and stakeholders that became integral for the perpetuation… more Year: 2014, 2014
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Name(s): Creator (cre): Barry, Jack, Thesis advisor (ths): Iannone, Gyles, Degree committee member (dgc): Haines, Helen, Degree committee member (dgc): Elton, Hugh, Degree committee member (dgc): Estrada-Belli, Francisco, Degree granting institution (dgg): Trent University Abstract: <p>It has long been hypothesized the location of the ancient Maya center of Minanha was a strategic one based on its ability to control the flow of communication and key resources between major geopolitical zones. Situated in the Vaca Plateau, at the nexus of the Belize River Valley, the Petén District of Guatemala, and the Maya Mountains, Minanha became a Late Classic polity capital that… more
