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

David Brown

Danielle Moretti-Langholtz

Abstract

The archaeology of Tidewater Virginia's Middle Woodland period presents an era of technological and social changes within hunter-gatherer societies, possibly including large-scale population movements across the Middle Atlantic. A greater understanding of this history can be obtained through the examination of pottery decoration as reflected in cordage twist patterns from a sample of Middle Woodland ceramics recovered from Chickahominy River sites and the nearby drainages of the James River. Since cordage twist is a learned motor skill linked by previous researchers to specific traditions, the distribution of different twist patterns allows researchers to make inferences regarding continuity and/or change in the region's Native populations. The data provide evidence for significant temporal and regional differences in twist directions, building a case for the existence of previously unrecognized migration waves and social relationships.

Creative Commons License

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.

On-Campus Access Only

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