Upcoming M.A. Thesis Defences
Some of our current M.A./M.Sc. candidates:
Aarilee Lorenzen
"Assessing Mesolithic Subsistence at Crvena Stijena"
My research focuses on assessing patterns of animal resource intensification during the Mesolithic period in the Southwestern Balkans. At the onset of the Holocene (ca.12,000 BP), Mesolithic populations managed lower encounter rates with preferred prey types by broadening their diet to include lower-ranked prey types and adopting new subsistence strategies. My analysis will center on assessing patterns of animal resource intensification in the archaeological faunal assemblage from the Mesolithic layers of Crvena Stijena. These data will allow me to compare dietary trends in the Mesolithic faunal assemblages at Crvena Stijena with those from other sites in the Balkans and beyond in order to better understand how humans adapted their subsistence strategies to dramatic climatic changes at the onset of the Holocene.
Grant Ginson
"Evaluating the Efficacy of Sidescan Sonar for Cultural Feature Detection in Freshwater Lakes"
My project seeks to explore ways in which we may explore underwater material in the Great Lakes. This includes the often thought of shipwrecks, but it also includes small watercraft like canoes. The Lake's water levels have also fluctuated over time and because of this sites and features that were once terrestrial now lie beneath the water. This wide range of sites means that there is much that can be learned from studying the Great Lake's marine heritage. However, accessing this information is difficult and my project looks to the remote sensing technique of sidescan sonar as a potential way of identifying some of these sites. The goal of my project will be to test sidescan with different settings on different types of material to see what it can or cannot detect. Through this, the full potential of sidescan sonar for the Great Lakes can be known and documented.
Nii Amui Amui
"Predictive Modeling and Archaeological Reconnaissance Survey of Main Duck Island, Lake Ontario"
My project integrates geomorphological, environmental, and archaeological evidence to develop a temporally sensitive predictive model of the settlement of Main Duck Island, Lake Ontario, Canada. It identifies and documents the location of Archaeological sites on the shores and assesses the rate at which the water level of Lake Ontario affects these archaeological sites and data. This research takes an interdisciplinary approach, integrating various fields of study to develop predictive models of the island's past. The ultimate goal is to map areas on the landscape where cultural activities may have taken place using reconnaissance survey methods and analyzing these locations through GIS.
Rachel Dickenson
"Isotope-based dietary reconstruction of Thule and Birnirk Sites in Northwest Alaska"
My research is a stable isotope analysis of skeletal remains from five archaeological sites (Cape Espenberg, Pigniq, Nunavak, Kugusugaruk, and Kugok) in Northwest Alaska. Using a multi-isotopic approach of carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur (CNS), my project will investigate the diet of humans at those five sites during the Thule and Birnirk cultural periods (approximately 1000-1600 AD). This will improve our understanding of how human diets different between the two cultural periods, as well as differences in diet between the sites located along the northwest coast of Alaska. Additionally, my research will contribute to our larger understanding of Inuit culture in Northwest Alaska. Specifically, by providing insight into differences in dietary patterns and resource usage, reactions to seasonal changes, and the changes/similarities between subsequent cultural periods (Birnirk and Thule).
Ryan Pawlowski
"CNS Stable Isotope Analysis of Human Skin in the Context of the Post-mortem Interval"
In my research, I am applying stable isotope analysis techniques to examine the decomposition of human skin and tissue. Through analysis of carbon, nitrogen and sulfur stable isotopes, I aim to identify isotopic enrichment over the course of decomposition processes. Using these values I hope to identify a steady rate of enrichment that can be correlated with estimated times since death.
Stephanie Aultman
"Memories of the Forest: Traditional Ecological Knowledge in North-Central Belize"
Belize’s forest ecosystems have experienced rapid fragmentation and destruction in the past decades. The expansion of intensified agriculture has resulted in the rapid degradation of local environments and the loss of more traditional agricultural systems and knowledge (TEK). This project will preserve the TEK from the sites of Indian Church Village and San Carlos in Belize and examine how TEK from the local population can contribute to the creation and utilization of more sustainable agricultural practices. I will conduct a five-week ethnographic study through interviews with local subsistence farmers and elders who hold TEK of the local environment. Knowledge of what plants contribute to maintaining a healthy ecosystem and provide economic value can be used in reversing environmental degradation through local reforestation initiatives.
Sonia Sanders
"Carbon, Nitrogen, and Sulfur Stable Isotope Analysis of the Maya from Ka'Kabish, Belize"
I am using stable isotope analysis of sulfur to determine the diet (i.e. freshwater vs. marine vs. terrestrial) and migration (i.e. were individuals local or non-local) of a population based on an archaeological collection of human bone from the site of Ka'Kabish in Belize.
Twyla Sorenson
"Using Carbon, Sulfur, and Strontium to Determine Place of Origin for a Maya Group with Bone Pathologies"
There is a group of individuals in a chultun at the site of Ka’Kabish in Belize that has a collection of bone pathologies and burial practices unlike the other chultun’s at the site. This thesis will use osteobiography and isotopes to determine where this group of individuals was from. This will entail a comparison of carbon, sulfur, and strontium to the ancient Maya world and previous studies.
Ana Aristizabal Henao
"The Inundated Landscapes of Gannon's Narrows, Ontario”
Becca Scott
“The Fine Details: Clay Sourcing and Chemical Analysis of Indigenous Ceramics in the Trent-Severn Waterway”
Harper Jin
"Water Management and its Relationship to the Ancient City"
Katie McCarty
"Intra-site Analysis of Dwellings in Neolithic Tamsagbulag, Mongolia”
Lara Curasev
"What Can We Be Sherd About? The Pots and People of Ka'kabish”