Anthropology

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/handle/10012/9870

This is the collection for the University of Waterloo's Department of Anthropology.

Research outputs are organized by type (eg. Master Thesis, Article, Conference Paper).

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Now showing 1 - 8 of 8

An Archaeobotanical Analysis of the Iler Earthworks Macro Remains
(University of Waterloo, 2023-01-23) Matthews, Carey; Watts, Christopher
This thesis examines the archaeobotanical remains from the Iler Earthworks, a Springwells-Wolf phase site within the Western Basin Tradition (WBT) of Southwestern Ontario. Excavations between 2015 and 2018 resulted in soil samples from pit feature contexts that were floated as part of this study to collect archaeobotanical remains. Archaeobotanical data are underrepresented in Western Basin Tradition scholarship but can contribute to a better understanding of foodways and the interrelationships between humans and their environments. Subsistence strategies for WBT populations have been associated with seasonal mobility, with a low reliance on cultigens. This analysis suggests that the Iler community was engaging in cultigen use, and this is the first report where four out of five identified cultigens in Ontario are present at a WBT site. Yet, the analysis also suggests that the people of Iler remained committed to exploiting wild species. This suggests that while the Iler community was invested in horticultural practices as part of their foodways, so too were practices that emphasized gathering within the region. This may be connected to local ecological engineering practices which sought to maintain a highly diverse and rich resource environment.
Connaissance and Savoir-Faire: A Chaîne Opératoire Perspective on the Lithic Industries at the Iler Earthworks (AaHr-22), Essex County, Ontario
(University of Waterloo, 2019-05-27) Lawson, Andrew; Watts, Christopher
In a chaîne opératoire or ‘operational sequence’ conceptual framework, reduction technologies are recognized as an entangled, stepwise enactment of human knowledge (connaissance) and skill (savoir-faire). Through this model, as discussed in Chapter One, lithic assemblages may be situated within sets of Indigenous traditional knowledge marked by lifelong engagements between practitioners and their materials. In Chapter Two, this study adopts a coupling of the chaîne opératoire theory with an attribute-based analysis of extant primary and secondary sourced lithic materials recovered from the Late Woodland Iler Earthworks (AaHr-22) in Essex County, Ontario, in an effort to illuminate embedded stone economizing behaviours such as raw material acquisition and core reduction, as well as object manufacture, use, and discard.
Crossing the Cuesta: A GIS Analysis of Intra-Site Settlement Patterns at the Mt. Albion West Paleoindian Site (AhGw-131)
(University of Waterloo, 2018-01-19) Pilon, Amelia Kathleen; Watts, Christopher
Excavated by Archaeological Services Inc. (ASI) between 1998 and 2004, the Mt. Albion West (AhGw-131) Early Paleoindian site is one of only a handful of Late Pleistocene sites in Ontario. Situated adjacent to the Red Hill valley on the Niagara Escarpment in Hamilton, Ontario, this site produced four discrete artifact concentration areas. While the tools recovered from this site were thoroughly analyzed, comparatively little attention has been given to its settlement patterns. Settlement pattern analysis is especially important in Ontario Paleoindian research given the material constraints presented by hunter-gatherer mobility and environmental factors not conducive to preservation. In this thesis, the four activity areas from Mt. Albion West are analyzed using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) with an eye toward interpreting the site’s function(s) and significance within the broader Early Paleoindian settlement system.
Glazing Over Differences: Picuris Pueblo and Rio Grande Glaze Ware
(University of Waterloo, 2022-01-19) Brast, Caitlin; Watts, Christopher
Located in the northeastern corner of the Pueblo world, Picuris Pueblo exists on the fringe not only geographically but also archaeologically. In many ways, Picuris culture is unique, combining aspects of both Pueblo and Plains life and is one of only two Northern Tiwa-speaking communities. Once one of the largest settlements in the area, Picuris contains numerous opportunities for what is now New Mexico's smallest pueblo to celebrate and promote their archaeological heritage. However, much of the northern Rio Grande remains under studied and new research can highlight the unique cultures of this region. While many of the ground-breaking studies in the early days of Southwestern archaeology took place in this region, it has not received as much attention in more recent times. Currently, Alfred Kidder's century-old work on Pecos Pueblo is the primary source of information for the area, and the ceramic typology it includes is applied across the region. This research attempts to apply the Pecos typology to a small collection of 40 Rio Grande Glaze Ware rims collected from Picuris and notes differences and incongruities that distinguish the two. This research finds that the ceramic typologies as they stand are not fully transferable across the diverse groups of the northern Rio Grande region, even when there are not vast distances separating them. In discovering where the current system falls short, this paper opens the door for further research into tailoring the typology to suit sites across the area. Once a baseline is established for differences at Picuris, higher level analysis of these differences can be carried out.
A History Cast in Stone: Geochemical Chert Sourcing Using Portable X-Ray Fluorescence (PXRF) in Southern Ontario
(University of Waterloo, 2022-01-14) Cullison, Jennifer; Watts, Christopher
To test the validity of portable X-Ray Fluorescence (PXRF) for chert sourcing, 32 chert artifacts from the Waterloo Region Museum in southern Ontario were compared to 56 chert source samples. The use of PXRF in archaeology, due to its lower energy outputs in comparison to lab based XRF devices, has raised questions about the method’s validity. Since chert has such a wide range of internal elemental variation, methods of chemical analysis are difficult. The PXRF used for this study was an Olympus Vanta C Series with a silver anode X-ray tube with the Geochem (3-Beam) mode. The artifacts where geochemically classified using discriminant analysis as well as macroscopically identified. The two modes of sourcing had a match at a rate of 76%. The findings suggest that the PXRF may be helpful in determining chert sources, but it should be used in addition to visual identification. There are many potential pitfalls such as an insufficient number of source samples or statistical error that need to be considered when archaeologists attempt studies of this nature.
Late Woodland Pottery Production in Essex County, Ontario: Evidence from the Puce Site
(University of Waterloo, 2020-01-20) Williamson, Chiara; Watts, Christopher
This thesis examines a collection of Early Late Woodland (Western Basin Tradition) pottery from the Puce Site (AbHq-3) in St. Clair Shores, Essex County, Ontario. The site was discovered through a Cultural Resource Management Stage 2 property assessment, and subsequent archaeological work was undertaken to excavate the site. Using an attribute analysis, 51 earthenware vessels recovered during these excavations are examined using 11 different variables: Nature of Specimen, Castellation form, Upper Rim Profile, Rim Form, Lip Thickness, Collar Height, Surface Modification, Decorative Completeness, Tool, Technique, and Motif. This analysis indicates that the pottery producers at Puce were employing design methods associated with the late Riviere au Vase and early Younge phases of the Western Basin Tradition. Results show that cord wrapped instruments were the preferred tool of executing decorative motifs, while stamping techniques and discontinuous linear oblique lines were the most common design elements found within the collection. These traits are common during the Early Late Woodland in the lower Great Lakes region. Finally, these data are compared to the nearby Silverman site, and other sites in the region, in an effort to elucidate the presence of local design patterns in pottery production.
Practice Molds Place: Communities of Pottery Production and Situated Identities at Location 3 (AgHk-54)
(University of Waterloo, 2017-01-06) Suko, Amanda; Watts, Christopher
The archaeological study of Late Woodland communities in southern Ontario has identified two spatially and culturally distinct manifestations known as the Western Basin and Ontario Iroquoian Traditions. Recently, the emergence of sites along an interstice between these two manifestations has invited study of the potential for socio-material syncretization within such a ‘borderland’ context. Given such circumstances in the contemporary present, multiple descendant groups in the province may wish to exercise stewardship over such sites and the materials contained therein. As discussed in Chapter One, I interviewed select members of the Bkejwanong and Six Nations communities in order to generate Indigenous insights and comment on the appropriate ethical standards and a framework for the Indigenous stewardship of archaeological resources. Furthermore, in Chapter Two, this study adopts the coupling of materiality theory and the communities of practice approach, along with an attribute-based analysis of pottery form and decoration in discussing communities of practice and notions of identity at Location 3, a thirteenth century ‘borderland’ site near Arkona, Ontario. I suggest this site was inhabited by newly configured, mobile potting communities who perceived vessel production as a field of co-participation and learning. This, in turn, resulted in the emergence of situated social identities and notions of place, along with the materialization of a short-lived, localized design repertoire composed of combined elements from neighbouring potters.
Springwells Pottery Production at the Iler Earthworks
(University of Waterloo, 2023-01-18) Dasilva Furtado, Andrew; Watts, Christopher
This thesis examines the pottery assemblage from the Iler Earthworks (AaHr-22), a Late Woodland (Western Basin Tradition) Springwells Phase occupation in Essex County, Ontario. An assemblage of 3724 pottery sherds was found at this site between 2015 and 2018 as part of the University of Waterloo’s archaeology field school. Eighteen vessels were identified in this assemblage and described using an attribute analysis and traditional typological methods. The analysis paints a picture of pottery form and decoration employed at Iler with an eye toward better understanding aspects of Springwells phase stylistic practices in the region. It is suggested that there is diversity in decorative practices when examining attributes of tool, technique, and motif, and that this diversity is in keeping with other Springwells and early Wolf phase sites in southwestern Ontario and adjacent areas

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Browsing Anthropology by Author "Watts, Christopher"