Date Thesis Awarded
5-2009
Access Type
Honors Thesis -- Access Restricted On-Campus Only
Degree Name
Bachelors of Arts (BA)
Department
Anthropology
Advisor
Martin D. Gallivan
Committee Members
Danielle Moretti-Langholtz
David Brown
Abstract
The only domesticated animals on the continent, dogs held a special place among the fauna of North America. Their symbolic and ritual significance is especially evident within Late Woodland sites along the Chickahominy River where several modal patterns of dog burial are present at four sites. Ethnographic and ethnohistorical accounts from related tribes and archaeological evidence from sites across Virginia provide a means of investigating and understanding the multiplicity of meanings that dogs could embody for Native societies in the Eastern Woodlands, particularly as protectors, companions, and messengers. A synthesis of this evidence provides a basis for a richer, contextual understanding of dog burials identified by the Chickahominy River Survey.
Recommended Citation
Fitzgerald, Jennifer, "Native Dog Burials and Associated Ritual in Coastal Virginia and Beyond" (2009). Undergraduate Honors Theses. William & Mary. Paper 248.
https://scholarworks.wm.edu/honorstheses/248
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
Comments
Thesis is part of Honors ETD pilot project, 2008-2013. Migrated from Dspace in 2016.