Year: 2024, 2024
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Name(s): Creator (cre): Gobran, Adam Matthew, Thesis advisor (ths): Haines, Helen R., Degree committee member (dgc): Iannone, Gyles, Degree committee member (dgc): Fitzsimons, Rodney, Degree committee member (dgc): Graham, Elizabeth, Degree granting institution (dgg): Trent University Abstract: <p>This thesis presents the excavation and analysis of Structure D-6 at the Maya city of Ka'kabish in what is now North-Central Belize. Structure D-6, together with Structure D-7, comprise the site's only known ballcourt. Performance theory is used in tandem with the existing literature about the Mesoamerican ballcourt's crucial function within the legitimization strategies… more Year: 2024, 2024
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Name(s): Creator (cre): Molica-Lazzaro, Olivia Rosina Velma, Thesis advisor (ths): Newton, Jennifer, Thesis advisor (ths): Haines, Helen R., Degree committee member (dgc): Iannone, Gyles, Degree committee member (dgc): Williams, Jocelyn, Degree granting institution (dgg): Trent University Abstract: <p>Mortuary archaeology presents a unique opportunity to compare cultural and biological factors within burial assemblages. This study expands upon the previous bioarchaeological research in the eastern portion of the Southern Maya Lowlands through a comparative mortuary analysis that highlights burial trends between the site of Ka'kabish, Belize, and surrounding settlements. Ka'… more 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): Scott, Marissa, Thesis advisor (ths): Morin, Eugene, Degree committee member (dgc): Spzak, Paul, Degree committee member (dgc): Connolly, James, Degree committee member (dgc): Blasco, Ruth, Degree granting institution (dgg): Trent University Abstract: <p>This thesis employs zooarchaeological, taphonomic, and spatial analysis to reconstruct subsistence behaviors of Middle Paleolithic Neanderthals using layer V of Abric del Pastor as a case study. Located in Alcoy, Alicante, Spain, Abric del Pastor is a cave shelter with occupation layers dated from MIS 5 through 3. The faunal assemblage is examined on two time scales: i) a longer time… more Year: 2023, 2023
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Name(s): Creator (cre): González Gómez de Agüero, Adrián, Thesis advisor (ths): Szpak, Paul P, Degree committee member (dgc): Szpak, Paul P, Degree committee member (dgc): Conolly, James J, Degree committee member (dgc): Williams, Jocelyn J, Degree committee member (dgc): Santana-Sagredo, Francisca F, Degree granting institution (dgg): Trent University Abstract: <p>Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis of 571 archaeobotanical samples was performed to assess agricultural practices at Cerro de Oro in the Cañete Valley, Peru, during the transition between the Early Intermediate Period and the Middle Horizon. This thesis presents a comprehensive range of δ13C and δ15N values for the major C3 and C4 plant resources at the site. No differences were… more Year: 2023, 2023
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>Burials at the Early Bronze Age IA (c. 3700-3400) cemetery of Fifa, Jordan included a variety of grave goods including beads. These were made of glazed steatite or carnelian. This thesis utilizes use-wear analysis, SEM-EDS, XRD, and a database of 5th and 4th millennium BCE beads in order to build life-histories for Fifa's beads. Beyond focusing on how the beads were manufactured,… more Year: 2023, 2023
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Name(s): Creator (cre): Howell, Devon Jean, Thesis advisor (ths): Newton, Jennifer, Thesis advisor (ths): Haines, Helen R, Degree committee member (dgc): Ullinger, Jaime, Degree committee member (dgc): Williams, Jocelyn, Degree granting institution (dgg): Trent University Abstract: <p>Commingled teeth present a unique opportunity for a novel application of standard methodological approaches commonly utilized in dental anthropological studies. Unfortunately, little research has been conducted on loose or commingled dental assemblages to determine if they are suitable samples for reconstructing bioarchaeological narratives of ancient human populations. The lack of… more Year: 2023, 2023
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Name(s): Creator (cre): Kollaard, Jelissa, Thesis advisor (ths): Dubreuil, Laure, Degree committee member (dgc): Fitzsimons, Rodney, Degree committee member (dgc): Conolly, James, Degree committee member (dgc): Zaidner, Yossi, Degree granting institution (dgg): Trent University Abstract: <p>In the southern Levant, ground stone tools (GST) provide insight into early plant food exploitation, butchery, and cognition. Outside of these examples, GST evidence is scarce, particularly for the Middle Paleolithic. An extensive assemblage of GST recovered from Nesher Ramla, an open-air hunting camp in Israel, presents the unique opportunity to study the role of GST within Middle… more Year: 2023, 2023
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Name(s): Creator (cre): Tucker, Cory, Thesis advisor (ths): Iannone, Gyles GI, Degree committee member (dgc): Macrae, Scott SM, Degree committee member (dgc): Morin, Eugène EM, Degree committee member (dgc): Conrad, Cyler CC, Degree granting institution (dgg): Trent University Abstract: <p>The aim of this thesis is to explore the human/animal relationship at the walled and moated shwe myo taw, or "royal golden city," at the ancient Burmese capital of Bagan, Myanmar, which flourished from the 11th – 14th centuries CE, in the ecological area known as Myanmar's Central Dry Zone. This thesis achieves its objectives by applying an ethnoarchaeological based… more Year: 2023, 2023
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>This research presents stable carbon and nitrogen isotope data of camelid fiber (n=238) from the coast of Arica, the Lluta Valley, and Azapa Valley – all located in the hyper-arid core of the Atacama Desert in northern Chile. Samples included are attributed to the Formative (1000 BCE– 200 CE), Middle (200 CE – 1000CE), and Late Intermediate (1000 CE – 1450 CE) periods. The principal aim… 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): Watson, Samantha L, Thesis advisor (ths): Conolly, James, Degree committee member (dgc): Janz, Lisa, Degree committee member (dgc): Peers, Laura, Degree committee member (dgc): Ferris, Neal, Degree granting institution (dgg): Trent University Abstract: <p>This thesis examines the history of Indigenous inclusion in the discipline of archaeology and how archaeologists can provide reconciliation when working with Indigenous peoples in their territory. This thesis focuses on the territory of the Williams Treaties with a particular focus on the location of Nogojiwanong (Peterborough). My data consists of in-depth interviews from ten informants… more Year: 2022, 2022
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Name(s): Creator (cre): Stevenson, Nicholas Donald, Thesis advisor (ths): Dubreuil, Laure, Degree committee member (dgc): Conolly, James, Degree committee member (dgc): Fitzsimons, Rodney, Degree committee member (dgc): Rodríguez, Amelia, Degree granting institution (dgg): Trent University Abstract: <p>The onset of the Natufian sees the unfolding of a lasting dietary shift: the transition from foraging to farming. To understand this transition, we have to identify the exploited plants and explain why they were chosen. To that end, I used use-wear and residue analysis to isolate wear patterns distinctive of specific plants. I conducted a series of six grinding experiments on wheat,… 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
