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- Title
- "You Have Guns and So Have We...": An Ethnohistoric Analysis of Creek and Seminole Combat Behaviors.
- Creator
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Lawres, Nathan, Howard, Rosalyn, Barber, Sarah, Walker, John, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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Resistance to oppression is a globally recognized cultural phenomenon that displays a remarkable amount of variation in its manifestations over both time and space. This cultural phenomenon is particularly evident among the Native American cultural groups of the Southeastern United States. Throughout the sixteenth through nineteenth centuries the European and American states employed tactics and implemented laws aimed at expanding the geographic boundaries of their respective states into the...
Show moreResistance to oppression is a globally recognized cultural phenomenon that displays a remarkable amount of variation in its manifestations over both time and space. This cultural phenomenon is particularly evident among the Native American cultural groups of the Southeastern United States. Throughout the sixteenth through nineteenth centuries the European and American states employed tactics and implemented laws aimed at expanding the geographic boundaries of their respective states into the Tribal Zone of the Southeast. None of these groups, however, sat passively during this process; they employed resistive tactics and strategies aimed at maintaining their freedoms, their lives, and their traditional sociocultural structures. However, the resistive tactics and strategies, primarily manifested in the medium of warfare, have gone relatively unnoticed by scholars of the disciplines of history and anthropology, typically regarded simply as guerrilla in nature. This research presents a new analytical model that is useful in qualitatively and quantitatively analyzing the behaviors employed in combat scenarios. Using the combat behaviors of Muskhogean speaking cultural groups as a case study, such as the Creeks and Seminoles and their Protohistoric predecessors, this model has shown that indigenous warfare in this region was complex, dynamic, and adaptive. This research has further implications in that it has documented the evolution of Seminole combat behaviors into the complex and dynamic behaviors that were displayed during the infamous Second Seminole War. Furthermore, the model used in this research provides a fluid and adaptive base for the analysis of the combat behaviors of other cultural groups world-wide.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2012
- Identifier
- CFE0004280, ucf:49532
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004280
- Title
- Confrontational Christianity: Contextual Theology and Its Radicalization of the South African Anti-Apartheid Church Struggle.
- Creator
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Rodriguez, Miguel, Walker, Ezekiel, Sacher, John, Zhang, Hong, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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This paper is intended to analyze the contributions of Contextual Theology and Contextual theologians to dismantling the South African apartheid system. It is intended to demonstrate that the South African churches failed to effectively politicize and radicalize to confront the government until the advent of Contextual Theology in South Africa. Contextual Theology provided the Christian clergy the theological justification to unite with anti-apartheid organizations. Its very concept of...
Show moreThis paper is intended to analyze the contributions of Contextual Theology and Contextual theologians to dismantling the South African apartheid system. It is intended to demonstrate that the South African churches failed to effectively politicize and radicalize to confront the government until the advent of Contextual Theology in South Africa. Contextual Theology provided the Christian clergy the theological justification to unite with anti-apartheid organizations. Its very concept of working with the poor and oppressed helped the churches gain favor with the black masses that were mostly Christian. Its borrowing from Marxist philosophy appealed to anti-apartheid organizations. Additionally, Contextual theologians, who were primarily black, began filling prominent leadership roles in their churches and within the ecumenical organizations. They were mainly responsible for radicalizing the churches and the ecumenical organizations. They also filled an important anti-apartheid political leadership vacuum when most political leaders were banned, jailed, or killed.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2012
- Identifier
- CFE0004322, ucf:49484
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004322
- Title
- The Politics of Slavery and Secession in Antebellum Florida, 1845-1861.
- Creator
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McConville, Michael, Sacher, John, Crepeau, Richard, Walker, Ezekiel, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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The political history of antebellum Florida has long been overlooked in southern historiography. Florida was a state for just sixteen years before secession set it apart from the rest of the Union, but Florida's road to secession was as unique as any of its southern counterparts. From the territorial days in the early nineteenth century, Florida's political culture centered on the development and protection of slavery throughout the state. The bank wars in the pre-statehood and early...
Show moreThe political history of antebellum Florida has long been overlooked in southern historiography. Florida was a state for just sixteen years before secession set it apart from the rest of the Union, but Florida's road to secession was as unique as any of its southern counterparts. From the territorial days in the early nineteenth century, Florida's political culture centered on the development and protection of slavery throughout the state. The bank wars in the pre-statehood and early statehood periods reflected differing views on how best to support the spread of the plantation economy, and the sectional strife of the 1850s instigated Floridians to find the best way to protect it. By the end of the antebellum period amidst increasing sectional strife and a sense that secession and disunion were acceptable courses of action, Florida's population pulled together under the banner of protecting slavery (-) and by extension, their way of life (-) by whatever means necessary. Northern infringement into slavery affected not just the planters, but every free man who called Florida his home.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2012
- Identifier
- CFE0004410, ucf:49382
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004410
- Title
- Settlement History and Interaction in the Manialtepec Basin of Oaxaca's Central Coast.
- Creator
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Menchaca, Victoria, Barber, Sarah, Walker, John, Chase, Arlen, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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As the focus of over 70 years' of archaeological research, Oaxaca, Mexico, is one of Mesoamerica's best understood regions. Yet, despite the volume of work in Oaxaca, information about one of its key resource areas, the central Pacific coast, remains limited. Specifically, the ambiguous role of Oaxaca's Central Coast in interregional relationships during pre-Hispanic times to the sites of Monte Alb(&)#225;n and Tututepec has been a chronic problem and major source of debate for decades. The...
Show moreAs the focus of over 70 years' of archaeological research, Oaxaca, Mexico, is one of Mesoamerica's best understood regions. Yet, despite the volume of work in Oaxaca, information about one of its key resource areas, the central Pacific coast, remains limited. Specifically, the ambiguous role of Oaxaca's Central Coast in interregional relationships during pre-Hispanic times to the sites of Monte Alb(&)#225;n and Tututepec has been a chronic problem and major source of debate for decades. The purpose of this thesis is to begin clarifying the role of Oaxaca's Central Coast in interregional networks and its pre-Hispanic history. Analysis utilized surface observations, surface collections, and information from limited excavations performed by the Proyecto Arqueol(&)#243;gico Laguna de Manialtepec (PALM) in the Manialtepec Basin, located on the Central Coast of Oaxaca. The data was then mapped using ArcGIS software to render settlement and artifact patterns. Based on the results of this project I suggest a history of settlement for this area. I also argue that the Basin contained three centers, maintained interregional interactions, and was invaded by the Mixtecs of highland Oaxaca during the Late Postclassic Period (A.D. 1200-1500).
Show less - Date Issued
- 2015
- Identifier
- CFE0005843, ucf:50920
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005843
- Title
- Garden Soils: Reviewing the Viability of Soil Phosphate Analyses in the Archaeological Identification of Ancient Maya Kitchen Gardens.
- Creator
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Foster, Cheryl, Chase, Arlen, Chase, Diane, Walker, John, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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The study of ancient Maya intensive, intra-site agricultural systems, such as kitchen gardens, has gained new interest in recent years as a valuable way of interpreting numerous aspects of the ancient Maya's daily life (e.g. subsistence and settlement patterns, population growth, diet and nutrition, gender roles). However, while contemporary Maya kitchen gardens can often be easily identified and studied by cultural anthropologists and archaeologists, ancient kitchen gardens are usually much...
Show moreThe study of ancient Maya intensive, intra-site agricultural systems, such as kitchen gardens, has gained new interest in recent years as a valuable way of interpreting numerous aspects of the ancient Maya's daily life (e.g. subsistence and settlement patterns, population growth, diet and nutrition, gender roles). However, while contemporary Maya kitchen gardens can often be easily identified and studied by cultural anthropologists and archaeologists, ancient kitchen gardens are usually much harder to identify by traditional archaeological techniques because of their lack of architectural structures and other identifying features. To compensate for this limitation, various forms of chemical testing (primarily phosphate analysis) are being used to positively identify kitchen gardens and other specific anthropogenically modified spaces that are invisible to standard archaeological techniques. The archaeological community trusts these methods to be a reliable way of testing soils in archaeological sites for specific agricultural features, even though there has been little research conducted to conclusively prove this assertion. In response to this lack of research, this thesis investigates the viability of phosphate analysis and other chemical tests through a comprehensive literary review of previous and current research and an analysis of the data presented within it. While soil phosphate analysis has been used in past and current research to identify general agricultural features with great success, the chemical signatures produced from this method only give vague information about the soil and what was done to it, making soil Phosphate analysis unreliable to definitively discern specific agricultural areas, such as kitchen gardens, from general agricultural areas.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2015
- Identifier
- CFE0005949, ucf:50811
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005949
- Title
- On the Back of the Crocodile: Extent, Energetics, and Productivity in Wetland Agricultural Systems, Northern Belize.
- Creator
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Montgomery, Shane, Chase, Arlen, Chase, Diane, Walker, John, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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Ancient populations across the globe successfully employed wetland agricultural techniques in a variety of environmentally and climatically diverse landscapes throughout prehistory. Within the Maya Lowlands, these agricultural features figure prominently in the region comprised of northern Belize and southern Quintana Roo, an area supporting low-outflow rivers, large lagoons, and numerous bajo (swamp) features. Along the banks of the Hondo and New Rivers, the Maya effectively utilized wetland...
Show moreAncient populations across the globe successfully employed wetland agricultural techniques in a variety of environmentally and climatically diverse landscapes throughout prehistory. Within the Maya Lowlands, these agricultural features figure prominently in the region comprised of northern Belize and southern Quintana Roo, an area supporting low-outflow rivers, large lagoons, and numerous bajo (swamp) features. Along the banks of the Hondo and New Rivers, the Maya effectively utilized wetland agricultural practices from the Middle Preclassic to the Terminal Classic Periods (1000 B.C.(-)A.D. 950). A number of past archaeological projects have thoroughly examined the construction and impact of these swampland modifications. After four decades of study, a more precise picture has formed in relation to the roles that these ditched field systems played in the regional development of the area. However, a detailed record of the full spatial extent, combined construction costs, and potential agricultural productivity has not been attempted on a larger scale. This thesis highlights these avenues of interest through data obtained from high- and medium-resolution satellite imagery and manipulated through geographic information systems (GIS) technology. The research explores environmental factors and topographic elements dictating the distribution of such entities, the energetic involvement required to construct and maintain the systems, and the efficiency of wetland techniques as compared to traditional milpa agriculture. Spatial analyses reveal a total of 254 distinct wetland field systems within the 6560 square kilometer area of interest, clustered along navigable waterways, seasonal lagoons, and upland landscapes separating the Hondo and New Rivers. Energetic estimates illustrate substantial investment in wetland field construction, spanning several generations based on a locally available workforce. However, productivity calculations associated with the ditched field systems commonly exceed those attributed to milpa techniques, suggesting agricultural surplus far beyond the immediate need. These combined data indicate the potential export of maize and other agricultural commodities to regional centers in northern Belize and further abroad during the Late Preclassic and Late to Terminal Classic Periods through riverine trade networks. Additionally, these data help illustrate participation trends and patterns of connectivity relating to tiered sites within the area of interest. This research contributes to the overall understanding of wetland agriculture within Mesoamerica as well as provides insight into the political management of intensive agricultural production during Maya prehistory.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2016
- Identifier
- CFE0006360, ucf:51514
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0006360
- Title
- Against the Flow: A nineteenth century watermill in Central Florida.
- Creator
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Chance Campbell, Elizabeth, Barber, Sarah, Lester, Connie, Walker, John, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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Small community watermills in Central Florida have gone virtually undocumented archaeologically and little is known about them except for written historical accounts. In an effort to determine how a settler in 1866 Florida would have used prior technological knowledge to design, build, and use a watermill I used a GIS predictive model to locate a previously undocumented watermill built in what is now Seminole County Florida. After the mill was located, excavations were conducted to determine...
Show moreSmall community watermills in Central Florida have gone virtually undocumented archaeologically and little is known about them except for written historical accounts. In an effort to determine how a settler in 1866 Florida would have used prior technological knowledge to design, build, and use a watermill I used a GIS predictive model to locate a previously undocumented watermill built in what is now Seminole County Florida. After the mill was located, excavations were conducted to determine the size of the mill structures, the industrial capacity of the mill, and determine the construction methods employed to build the mill.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2017
- Identifier
- CFE0006575, ucf:51330
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0006575
- Title
- GIS Analysis of Obsidian Artifacts distribution at Holtun from the Preclassic through the Classic Periods.
- Creator
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Guzman Piedrasanta, Melvin, Kovacevich, Brigitte, Callaghan, Michael, Walker, John, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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The nature of social organization at an archaeological site can be interpreted from many types of material remains. Exotic goods are particularly useful for making inferences about social organization because of their scarcity, utilitarian demand, and symbolic characteristics. Obsidian artifacts are some of the most abundant exotic goods among the Lowland Maya. The acquisition of these artifacts was the result of a wide net of commerce from the highlands of Guatemala and central Mexico into...
Show moreThe nature of social organization at an archaeological site can be interpreted from many types of material remains. Exotic goods are particularly useful for making inferences about social organization because of their scarcity, utilitarian demand, and symbolic characteristics. Obsidian artifacts are some of the most abundant exotic goods among the Lowland Maya. The acquisition of these artifacts was the result of a wide net of commerce from the highlands of Guatemala and central Mexico into the Maya lowlands. The patterns of consumption and distribution of obsidian artifacts vary according the time and location. This variation is seen as the result of complex dynamics of trade and social interactions among the ancient Maya. Therefore, I argue that there is variability perceptible in the patterns of consumption and local distribution of obsidian between the elite residential groups at the site of Holtun. This study presents a descriptive and comparative analysis of the patterns of obsidian consumption observed in the samples from the excavations performed by the Holtun Archaeological Project from 2011 through 2016. The analysis contributes to the understanding of local processes in association with regional socioeconomic and political dynamics in the Maya Lowlands.Previous research has suggested that obsidian distribution in some times and places was centralized and controlled by powerful Maya polities. In addition, research performed on obsidian artifacts reveals a change in the consumption of different obsidian sources at other sites in the Yaxh(&)#225; basin, the geographic location of Holtun. The data collected by Holtun Archaeological Project provide information that correlates with the broader trends of obsidian preferences in the area. Our findings suggest that during the Preclassic period (c. 600 BC to AD 250) the frequency of obsidian artifacts from San Martin Jilotepeque was higher than other sources and the artifacts from El Chayal were restricted to households especially associated with the first ritual and monumental construction at the site. Then, during the Classic Period (AD 250 to 950), the frequency of artifacts from San Martin Jilotepeque experienced a decrease in quantity and the artifacts from El Chayal were more accessible across the site. The process of excavation and mapping, and the subsequent laboratory analyses have allowed for the documentation of this variability in accessibility and consumption preferences within different elite residential groups. To facilitate these interpretations, a map of Holtun was created using Geographic Information Systems. It allows the inclusion of layers of information obtained during this research, constituting a point of reference for the understanding of socioeconomic and political changes experienced within the site during the intriguing transition from the Preclassic to the Classic period.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2017
- Identifier
- CFE0006945, ucf:51669
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0006945
- Title
- The First Florida Cavalry (US): Union Enlistment in the Civil War's Southern Periphery.
- Creator
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Campbell, Tyler, Gannon, Barbara, Sacher, John, Walker, Ezekiel, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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In 1863, along the southern periphery of the American Civil War, a Union Brigadier General began recruiting Southern white men into a Union cavalry regiment known as the First Florida Cavalry (US). This study investigates the regiment and those who enlisted in it to show the fluidity of Southern loyalty during the Civil War and the conditions of the Deep South Homefront that existed on the periphery of Union occupation and continue to exist on the periphery of Civil War historiography. While...
Show moreIn 1863, along the southern periphery of the American Civil War, a Union Brigadier General began recruiting Southern white men into a Union cavalry regiment known as the First Florida Cavalry (US). This study investigates the regiment and those who enlisted in it to show the fluidity of Southern loyalty during the Civil War and the conditions of the Deep South Homefront that existed on the periphery of Union occupation and continue to exist on the periphery of Civil War historiography. While scholars have recently addressed many aspects of Southern dissent in the Civil War, significantly less attention has been given to those who fought in the Union ranks. Utilizing previously unused archival materials paired with geospatial mapping, this study reveals the lives of Southerners who enlisted and their homeland. It examines both those who formed the regiment and those who enlisted in it. This analysis illuminates common soldier experience in the Sectional Conflict's Southern borderland. This study concludes that the volatile nature of loyalty and the needs of the homefront in the Deep South encouraged both Union generals to form the First Florida Cavalry and Southerners to enlist in it. While this assessment analyzes only several hundred men, it provides insights into the larger populations of Southern Union soldiers throughout the Deep South and their competing loyalties to nation and community.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2018
- Identifier
- CFE0006984, ucf:51674
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0006984
- Title
- The Crossed Bands Motif: What does it mean?.
- Creator
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Luther, Brittany, Barber, Sarah, Chase, Arlen, Walker, John, Callaghan, Michael, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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The crossed bands motif is an iconographic symbol that appears among many Mesoamerican cultures' art including Olmec, Izapan and Maya spanning from the Early Pre-Classic to the Classic periods in Mesoamerica. Pierce explains in his theory on signs that icons, symbols and indices all contain meaning. This meaning was given to the signs by the one who commissioned the medium on which the sign is placed; therefore it is important to understand the meaning of these signs to learn more about the...
Show moreThe crossed bands motif is an iconographic symbol that appears among many Mesoamerican cultures' art including Olmec, Izapan and Maya spanning from the Early Pre-Classic to the Classic periods in Mesoamerica. Pierce explains in his theory on signs that icons, symbols and indices all contain meaning. This meaning was given to the signs by the one who commissioned the medium on which the sign is placed; therefore it is important to understand the meaning of these signs to learn more about the person or people who built them. The crossed bands motif has previously been studied based on individual pieces but never looked at as a symbol throughout geographical space and temporal existence. In this paper, I catalogue pieces of art in Olmec, Izapan and Maya sites that show the crossed bands motif. I delineated them based on what they represented, where the icon was present on the piece of art and when it was made. I found that in the Early Preclassic sites, the icon represented the existence of a deity and the sacred essence that the deity depicted on the stone monuments held. It transitioned in the Middle to Late Preclassic sites to signify the a connection between the deity and the human as a sort of transference of divinity. In the Classic Period, among Maya iconography, the meaning shifted again to represent the legitimacy of a ruler. The results of this research allow us to better understand the importance and relevance that these cultures placed on their deities not only in ritual life but in the legitimacy of their rulers and their right to rule. It allows us to understand that it was necessary for the rulership at these sites to publically state and show the ritual acts or the proof that their rule was sacred and had been legitimized by a deity.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2016
- Identifier
- CFE0006137, ucf:51179
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0006137
- Title
- Regional Affiliation in the Lower Rio Verde: An Examination of R(&)#237;o Viejo Middens as Evidence for Scaled-up Practice at Surrounding Sites.
- Creator
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Lucido, Carlo, Barber, Sarah, Chase, Arlen, Walker, John, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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This research project analyzes 5 middens from the Lower Rio Verde valley sites of R(&)#237;o Viejo and Yug(&)#252;e, Oaxaca, Mexico, during the Terminal Formative period (150 BC to AD 250). The middens are analyzed to further our understanding of socio-political events in public spaces at both sites during this time. The study suggests a greater distinction in use of public spaces between the two sites than within R(&)#237;o Viejo. Frameworks established by Dietler and Hayden for the analysis...
Show moreThis research project analyzes 5 middens from the Lower Rio Verde valley sites of R(&)#237;o Viejo and Yug(&)#252;e, Oaxaca, Mexico, during the Terminal Formative period (150 BC to AD 250). The middens are analyzed to further our understanding of socio-political events in public spaces at both sites during this time. The study suggests a greater distinction in use of public spaces between the two sites than within R(&)#237;o Viejo. Frameworks established by Dietler and Hayden for the analysis of feasts do not seem to apply well to the middens analyzed here. Although I argue that evidence from Rio Viejo's middens does not dispute the viability of previous arguments regarding Terminal Formative R(&)#237;o Viejo ritual authorities', potentially elites, efforts to create regional-scale political affiliations, the level to which middens at R(&)#237;o Viejo are evidence of (")scaled-up(") versions of local practices at outlying sites is inconclusive. Though there is potential for larger feasts at R(&)#237;o Viejo, taken alone the Yug(&)#252;e midden appears larger. The R(&)#237;o Viejo middens demonstrate greater likelihood for the diminished conspicuousness of status differentiation during the associated events.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2015
- Identifier
- CFE0005653, ucf:50178
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005653
- Title
- Spatial Patterns of Raised Fields and Linguistic Diversity in Mojos, Beni, Bolivia.
- Creator
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Garcia-Cosme, Elimarie, Walker, John, Barber, Sarah, Sinelli, Peter, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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Throughout Amazonia, earthworks are found in areas of diverse linguistic and ethnic backgrounds. The distribution of these earthworks within various linguistic and ethnic areas suggests a multiethnic or multilinguistic network, in which interaction between these diverse groups occurred, creating diverse communities. Movement and communication within Amazonia along river networks allowed for this interaction. Interaction between groups in Amazonia may have also influenced the different methods...
Show moreThroughout Amazonia, earthworks are found in areas of diverse linguistic and ethnic backgrounds. The distribution of these earthworks within various linguistic and ethnic areas suggests a multiethnic or multilinguistic network, in which interaction between these diverse groups occurred, creating diverse communities. Movement and communication within Amazonia along river networks allowed for this interaction. Interaction between groups in Amazonia may have also influenced the different methods of landscape modification. This thesis presents a GIS-based spatial analysis of raised fields, a type of agricultural earthwork found throughout the Llanos de Mojos (Mojos), located in the Beni Department of Bolivia. The distribution of fields, forest islands, and rivers was analyzed to distinguish the relationship between these features in the study area. The spatial analysis distinguished patterns between raised fields found along two sets of rivers, the Iruya(&)#241;ez and Omi Rivers, and the Yacuma and Rapulo Rivers. Spatial patterns found within these distributions were also compared to the distribution of linguistic groups in the area. Among these patterns, it is seen that one kind of agricultural earthwork is found in areas associated with different linguistic groups. The spatial patterns found among the raised fields and forest islands in relation to the linguistic groups in the area demonstrate the fluidity between groups in the region. Insight to movement and communication in Mojos can be understood through the interaction between linguistic groups and the distribution of archaeological features in the region.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2015
- Identifier
- CFE0005615, ucf:50226
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005615
- Title
- Traversing the Terrain: A Least Cost Analysis on Intersite Causeways in the Maya Region.
- Creator
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Rivas, Alexander, Chase, Arlen, Chase, Diane, Walker, John, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
The study of ancient Maya causeways is crucial for understanding Maya social and spatial organization. Archaeologists have been interested in Maya causeways for decades, specifically documenting their locations. More recently, the use of Geographic Information Systems, or GIS, has been used for understanding the spatial organization of archaeological sites. GIS analyses on ancient Maya causeways however have been very limited. This thesis aims to evaluate ancient Maya causeways through GIS...
Show moreThe study of ancient Maya causeways is crucial for understanding Maya social and spatial organization. Archaeologists have been interested in Maya causeways for decades, specifically documenting their locations. More recently, the use of Geographic Information Systems, or GIS, has been used for understanding the spatial organization of archaeological sites. GIS analyses on ancient Maya causeways however have been very limited. This thesis aims to evaluate ancient Maya causeways through GIS analysis. Specifically, five intersite causeway systems are looked at: the Mirador Basin, Yaxuna-Coba-Ixil, Uxmal-Nohpat-Kabah, Ake-Izamal-Kantunil, and Uci-Kancab-Ukana- Cansahcab. These causeway systems were evaluated using least-cost paths based on the terrain. In this thesis, I argue that the intersite causeways do not follow a least-cost path based on terrain and that the purpose of these roads varies between sites and regions.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2014
- Identifier
- CFE0005404, ucf:50426
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005404
- Title
- Too Few Voices; Too Many Distractions; Too Little Understanding: The American Media During the Rwandan Genocide of 1994.
- Creator
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Parrish, Skip-Thomas, Walker, Ezekiel, Larson, Peter, Sacher, John, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
Upwards of one million people died during the Genocide, Civil War, and Refugee Crisis in Rwanda and surrounding nations, during one of the fastest Genocides to occur in modern history. Even though the United Nations and its member states had a legal mandate to intervene in cases of Genocide due to the 1948 UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide, the world chose not to. While there were a myriad of reasons for this the media played a part in this situation.Using the...
Show moreUpwards of one million people died during the Genocide, Civil War, and Refugee Crisis in Rwanda and surrounding nations, during one of the fastest Genocides to occur in modern history. Even though the United Nations and its member states had a legal mandate to intervene in cases of Genocide due to the 1948 UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide, the world chose not to. While there were a myriad of reasons for this the media played a part in this situation.Using the coverage of US print magazine articles, this thesis argues that the media missed the point and the signs of what was happening on the ground due to a fundamental lack of understanding of Rwanda, the African Great Lakes region, and Africa itself. Borrowing concepts of the creation of the (")other,(") lack of understanding of Africa, imperial language, and first world views of the third world from Edward Said and Curtis A. Keim this master's thesis shows that there were intellectual disconnects happening within the American press that made intervention nearly impossible. Once the Genocide was nearly complete and a more prosaic refugee crisis started America jumped at the chance to aid the refugees, a large number of them perpetrators of the Genocide, and the media showed reinvigorated interest in Rwanda. What misconceptions about Rwanda caused the media to miss the point? Did the print media help perpetuate those misconceptions, knowingly or unknowingly? With a death toll from the Genocide alone of roughly 8,000 people per day and the vast majority of them dying within the first several weeks of the Genocide, many lives may have been saved if Rwanda was made a priority by the media. Instead, while the media reported stories about chthonic hatred, the world was more concerned about a much slower Genocide in Eastern Europe. While attention was focused on other global and national stories, a racist regime intent on exterminating the Tutsi was allowed to stay in power in Rwanda.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2013
- Identifier
- CFE0005043, ucf:49960
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005043
- Title
- Ancient Maya Stone Polishers and Issues with the Terminology for the Artifacts Polished with These Tools.
- Creator
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Landry, Rachael, Chase, Arlen, Walker, John, Barber, Sarah, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
The ancient Maya adorned themselves with ornamental objects. This study investigates a type of polishing tool used by the ancient Maya to manufacture certain types of ornaments. Five stone polishing tools used by the ancient Maya are presented and analyzed. Relevant artifact forms are examined to establish which types of artifacts were being polished with these tools. An extensive discussion of the archaeological record and artistic representations of miniature earflares and buttons, which...
Show moreThe ancient Maya adorned themselves with ornamental objects. This study investigates a type of polishing tool used by the ancient Maya to manufacture certain types of ornaments. Five stone polishing tools used by the ancient Maya are presented and analyzed. Relevant artifact forms are examined to establish which types of artifacts were being polished with these tools. An extensive discussion of the archaeological record and artistic representations of miniature earflares and buttons, which were polished with many of these stone polishing tools, is also included because the terminology used to refer to these objects has varied throughout the academic literature and is in need of clarification.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2013
- Identifier
- CFE0005020, ucf:50012
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005020
- Title
- THE RED SCARE AND THE BI'S QUEST FOR POWER: THE SOVIET ARK AS POLITICAL THEATER.
- Creator
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Smith, Austin, Crepeau, Richard, Sacher, John, Walker, Ezekiel, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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The Red Scare of 1919-1920 has been presented as a wave of anti-Radical hysteria that swept post WWI America; a hysteria to which the state reluctantly capitulated to by arresting Radicals and deporting those alien Radicals they deemed most threatening. This presentation, however, is ludicrous when the motivations of the state and its conservative allies are examined. The truth of the matter was that almost all of the people targeted by the Red Scare represented no significant threat to the...
Show moreThe Red Scare of 1919-1920 has been presented as a wave of anti-Radical hysteria that swept post WWI America; a hysteria to which the state reluctantly capitulated to by arresting Radicals and deporting those alien Radicals they deemed most threatening. This presentation, however, is ludicrous when the motivations of the state and its conservative allies are examined. The truth of the matter was that almost all of the people targeted by the Red Scare represented no significant threat to the institutions of the United States and were merely targeted for holding Leftwing ideas, or being connected to a group that did. This work examines how the Red Scare deportations were used as a performance to gain power and funding for the Bureau of Investigation and how the Bureau sought to use this performance to set itself up as the premier anti-Radical agency in the United States.While the topic of the Red Scare of 1919-1920 has been thoroughly covered, most works on the subject attempt to cover the whole affair or even address it as part of a larger study of political repression in the United States. In these accounts these authors do not see the Red Scare as a performance, which culminated in the Soviet Ark deportations, put on by the BI in order to fulfill its goal of expanding its own importance. This work addresses the events leading up to climactic sailing of the Soviet Ark, as political theater put on by the BI and its allies in order to impress policy makers and other conservative interest groups.Since the Soviet Ark deportations were the climax of the Red Scare performance, this work addresses the event as a theatrical production and follows a three act dramatic structure. It begins by exploring the cast of characters, both individuals and organizations, in the BI's performance. This is followed by an analysis of the rising action of the BI, and other reactionary groups in the evolution of their grand performance. Finally the deportations serve as the climax of the Red Scare in this performance that the BI and its allies would use to justify an expansion of their influence.Through the use of government records, biographies, and first hand accounts, this work explores the Soviet Ark deportations as the high point of the first Red Scare, the point in which the BI and its allies took their quest for expanded power the furthest before having to change course. The grand performance that the Bureau of Investigation put on is looked at, not as a response to placate others (-) something the BI was merely swept up in (-) but as a performance that they designed to meet the specific needs of their campaign to grow their agency, a performance for which they were willing to draft those that represented no real threat despite the consequences to those individuals.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2013
- Identifier
- CFE0005059, ucf:49977
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005059
- Title
- Chert Tool Production and Exchange at Two Late Postclassic Coastal Maya Households.
- Creator
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Marino, Marc, Chase, Arlen, Chase, Diane, Walker, John, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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Chert tool production and exchange has long been studied for the Maya Preclassic to Terminal Classic Periods of Northern Belize (1000 B.C.-A.D. 950). It is increasingly clear that lithic systems of production and exchange were an integral part of the economic environment for this region, yet lithic research pertaining to the Maya Postclassic Period (A.D. 950-1530) is not well represented in the general literature. A recent examination of 110 chert, chalcedony, and obsidian small side-notched...
Show moreChert tool production and exchange has long been studied for the Maya Preclassic to Terminal Classic Periods of Northern Belize (1000 B.C.-A.D. 950). It is increasingly clear that lithic systems of production and exchange were an integral part of the economic environment for this region, yet lithic research pertaining to the Maya Postclassic Period (A.D. 950-1530) is not well represented in the general literature. A recent examination of 110 chert, chalcedony, and obsidian small side-notched projectile points and point preforms, as well as 2,163 pieces of associated production debitage from two Late Postclassic households at Santa Rita Corozal, Belize, has yielded the identification of two lithic craft production areas. Examination of the complete lithic collection from these residences, as well as an additional 176 projectile points located throughout the site, reveals the need for new models of lithic production and exchange for this region during the Postclassic Period.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2014
- Identifier
- CFE0005525, ucf:50328
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005525
- Title
- Urban Agriculture within the Valley of Oaxaca: Investigations and Implications of Agricultural Terracing at Monte Alban, Oaxaca.
- Creator
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Tricarico, Anthony, Barber, Sarah, Chase, Arlen, Walker, John, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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The implementation of geographic information systems for the analysis of Late Classic (500-800 C.E.) terraces at Monte Alb(&)#225;n, reveals a spatial pattern not visible through prior pedestrian site surveys. The Valley of Oaxaca Settlement Pattern Project concluded that nearly all of the 1,464 Late Classic terraces at Monte Alb(&)#225;n were used for residential purposes. Spatial analysis tools reveal a greater human-ecological complexity. The goal of this study was to use ArcGIS to map the...
Show moreThe implementation of geographic information systems for the analysis of Late Classic (500-800 C.E.) terraces at Monte Alb(&)#225;n, reveals a spatial pattern not visible through prior pedestrian site surveys. The Valley of Oaxaca Settlement Pattern Project concluded that nearly all of the 1,464 Late Classic terraces at Monte Alb(&)#225;n were used for residential purposes. Spatial analysis tools reveal a greater human-ecological complexity. The goal of this study was to use ArcGIS to map the 1,273 terraces near Monte Alb(&)#225;n's ceremonial center and combine them with individually identifiable data sets. Analysis of each terrace, particularly based upon water availability, ceramic distribution, structural remains, and number of metates, reveals that 55.7% of these 1,273 terraces could have supported agricultural practices. The integration of agricultural space into a dense urban center reveals new spatial relationships between population density and urban agricultural practices, to which measures of resiliency and efficacy within similar modern systems can be applied.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2015
- Identifier
- CFE0005728, ucf:50138
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005728
- Title
- Which Way to the Jook Joint?: Historical Archaeology of a Polk County, Florida Turpentine Camp.
- Creator
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Ziel, Deborah, Walker, John, Howard, Rosalyn, Barber, Sarah, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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The extraction and distillation of pine sap for the naval stores industry reached its apex of production in the early decades of the twentieth century. Post-emancipation, the industry employed African American labor in the long leaf pine forests of the southeastern United States under a system of debt peonage that replaced the master-slave dynamic with a similar circumscriptive construct. Laborers rented company housing and were paid in scrip, a monetary system that limited their purchase of...
Show moreThe extraction and distillation of pine sap for the naval stores industry reached its apex of production in the early decades of the twentieth century. Post-emancipation, the industry employed African American labor in the long leaf pine forests of the southeastern United States under a system of debt peonage that replaced the master-slave dynamic with a similar circumscriptive construct. Laborers rented company housing and were paid in scrip, a monetary system that limited their purchase of the basic goods of subsistence to the company commissary at inflated prices, resulting in an endless cycle of debt. Despite the oppressive circumstances of debt peonage labor, African Americans developed venues known as (")jook joints(") for the expression of agency through leisure. The jook was a structure where laborers congregated on weekends to socialize, dance, drink, gamble, and fight. The Polk County, Florida turpentine camp of Nalaka was in operation from 1919 until 1928. In 1942, the Nalaka site, and thousands of surrounding acreage, were purchased by the United States Government for use as an Air Force training range in anticipation of US involvement in World War Two. Although no structures survive, artifact scatters from the 1920s remain in situ. No known records exist to document the spatial arrangement of the structures at Nalaka. This study reconstructs the layout of the camp based upon artifact provenience, secondary ethnographic sources, and historical documents, to determine whether or not Nalaka supported a jook joint, and if so, where was its location.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2013
- Identifier
- CFE0005080, ucf:50734
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005080
- Title
- Entering Nam: A Comparative Study of the Entrance Experiences of Volunteer and Drafted Service Members into the Military During the Vietnam War.
- Creator
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Wilt, Ashley, Lester, Connie, Gannon, Barbara, Sacher, John, Walker, Ezekiel, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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Many historians have conducted oral history interviews with Vietnam War veterans in an attempt to offer a more personal perspective to the study of the Vietnam War; however, most historians do not consciously differentiate between drafted and volunteer veterans. Identifying whether a veteran was drafted into service or volunteered is critical because the extent to which this service was voluntary or coerced may affect the way a veteran remembers his military service. By conducting oral...
Show moreMany historians have conducted oral history interviews with Vietnam War veterans in an attempt to offer a more personal perspective to the study of the Vietnam War; however, most historians do not consciously differentiate between drafted and volunteer veterans. Identifying whether a veteran was drafted into service or volunteered is critical because the extent to which this service was voluntary or coerced may affect the way a veteran remembers his military service. By conducting oral histories, one can consciously delineate service members who volunteered as opposed to those who were drafted to determine if the veterans' experiences change based on the nature of their entry into the military. Additionally, examining the implementation of a national draft and its effects on service members' experiences will offer a better understanding of American military history. While much of the attention of scholars has been on drafted soldiers in Vietnam, little research has been conducted on the experience of the volunteer soldier.This study relies on oral history interviews conducted with volunteer and drafted service members of the Vietnam War to determine if there were differences between draftees and volunteers based on their entrance into the military. The research and oral history interviews with the two veteran groups establishes that the dissent detailed by draft protesters was not always the case and service members, volunteers and draftees alike, more often than not accepted their military service. The interviewed veterans' responses suggest that resistance to military service during the Vietnam War may not have been as great as one might think given the attention that has been placed on the anti-draft movement.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2012
- Identifier
- CFE0004211, ucf:49025
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004211