Anthropology

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https://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 - 20 of 86

Careful capitalism: Children, residential kinship, and live-in domestic work in Costa Rica
(University of Waterloo, 2024-05-31) Font, Camila
Limited publications address structures of residential kinship and live-in domestic work in Central America. Informed by participant observation fieldwork with three families, and open-ended interviews with employers (6) and domestic workers (5), this thesis discusses how kin relationships are created and sidelined through the industry of live-in domestic work in Costa Rica. Employers understand the industry of domestic work as a tradition to be upheld for proper societal standing. These relations of labour and kinship are sites of patronal benevolence that encourage the workers to limit their involvement with their families through poverty wages and patriarchal employment practices, and thus reproduce nationalist and gendered social orders that erase interdependence between employer’s tradition and worker’s paid labour. Furthermore, as a project of philanthropic social reproduction, selective kinship embeddedness of the worker and their child in the employer’s kin structures does not guarantee financial citizenship for the live-in domestic worker. Social mobility for the children of domestic workers is framed as depending on the worker’s present labour and on continued patronal investment. Furthermore, this thesis recognizes how workers, their children, and employers learn to understand structures of difference and navigate their shifting roles across social groups according to Marian ideologies of age and gender. This thesis offers a critical approach towards public issues anthropology as a social practice, and contributes to linguistic anthropological theorization on kinship, gender ideologies, and labour.
Vaccine Hesitancy: Changing Priorities Towards a Lens of Compassion and Opportunity
(University of Waterloo, 2024-05-24) Clasen, Isabel
Vaccine hesitancy and refusal is an increasingly important topic, especially as concerns appear to be on the rise after the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent vaccine rollout. While concerns about vaccines are often brushed off as ignorance or conspiracy, this is not necessarily the case. Rather, vaccine hesitancy and refusal highlight a lack of trust in the larger institutions these vaccines come to represent, such as medical, scientific, and political institutions. This is often rooted in both personal and historical reasons which need to be addressed, as they highlight larger societal issues. My research focuses on recent vaccine concerns in the Global North, with my own research being conducted in Southern Ontario, however, this is an issue that spans across space and time. Similarly to previous research on the topic, I found that underlying distrust due to negative experiences appeared to correlate with increased vaccine hesitancy and refusal. Hesitancy is also noted as an important potential area of intervention, as those who are hesitant appear to be more likely to change their minds with the help of compassionate interactions based in trust. Thus, hesitancy offers a much-needed opportunity for public health to engage with the public in a meaningful way, thereby both building trust in vaccines and the institutions they come to represent, as well as aiding in the maintenance of herd immunity in order to protect those who are vulnerable.
Doing DNA differently: A bioarchaeological secondary exploration of Brucella in ancient metagenomes in the NCBI SRA
(University of Waterloo, 2024-05-23) Bhattacharya, Aparajita
The use of biomolecular methods in bioarchaeological studies of health and disease offer novel insights into the dynamics of disease presence and prevalence in the past, such as pathogen evolution, human–pathogen–environmental interactions, and contexts of disease transmission. However, a growing awareness among public stakeholders and anthropologists of the ethical imperative to preserve human remains wherever possible has given rise to non- and minimally-destructive methods for biomolecular research. Metagenomic approaches represent one such avenue for research when applied to secondary analyses of previously sequenced aDNA. To this end, this study screened for the presence of Brucella aDNA in archaeological human metagenomes published in the NCBI Sequence Read Archive (SRA) using three methods—one alignment-based and two alignment-free. The results suggest the possible but still unconfirmed presence of Brucella or related sequences in a set of sequencing runs from two Late/Final Jomon individuals from the Sanganji Shell Mound site, Japan (ca. 2994 ± 19 BP and ca. 3061 ± 19 BP). Given the inconclusive results, alternate explanations are also explored and future analyses in this regard are proposed. In situating the utility of bioinformatics approaches and tools within a research framework inspired by biocultural theory, this study presents a heuristic approach to integrating non-destructive secondary analyses of mined metagenomic data with anthropological insights.
Health and Disease in Byzantine Greece: A Dental Analysis of the Temple of Ismenion Apollo, Thebes
(University of Waterloo, 2024-04-05) Wood, Robyn
Through a dental analysis, this study aimed to develop an understanding of the demography and health of the population at the archaeological site of Ismenion Hill, Thebes, Greece, dating to the early years of the Byzantine period (416-537 AD). Population demography was examined by determining the number of individuals present and their ages-at-death. It was suggested that 210 people were buried at Ismenion Hill and 60% of the population were nonadults. Further, diet was evaluated through the prevalence of dental calculus and caries, which suggested the population relied more heavily on plant food than meat, and that they possibly practiced a mix subsistence custom of both hunter-gatherer and agriculturalism. Overall health was explored through the presence of linear enamel hypoplasia, which indicated a possible stress period during weaning. Additionally, this study aimed to investigate any signs of leprosy on the dental remains, as previous assessments have indicated multiple individuals suffered from the disease (Liston 2017). It was proposed that four individuals had dental traits characteristic of leprosy. Ultimately, this research demonstrated the wealth of information generated from a dental analysis and deepened our understanding of the lifeways of the population at Ismenion Hill.
A paleopathological analysis of juveniles from Thebes: Childhood health in Byzantine Greece
(University of Waterloo, 2024-01-15) Strickland, Evengeline Sephia
Limited publications address juvenile health in Byzantine Thebes, Greece. As vulnerable and abundant members of most populations, children are essential to understanding the health experiences of past populations. This thesis examines juvenile skeletal material recovered from a Byzantine period cemetery (5th-9th centuries CE) located on Ismenion Hill in Thebes, Greece. This site is located adjacent to the early Christian church of St. Luke the Evangelist. In antiquity, St. Luke was traditionally considered to be a physician. Previous analyses of the adult skeletal sample revealed a high prevalence of leprosy, cancer, and infection, leading researchers to hypothesize a relationship between the cemetery and the church of the physician saint. This thesis investigates this hypothesis with respect to the juveniles recovered at this site. Eleven graves were studied and a minimum of 59 juvenile individuals were identified. Perinates (n=15), infants (n=9), and young juveniles (n=25) make up the majority of the sample, followed by older juveniles (n=8) and adolescents (n=2). Overall, 16 (27%) juveniles present with dental and/or skeletal pathologies. Through the process of differential diagnosis, infection, metabolic conditions, and hematopoietic disorders were found to dominate the sample. To understand why children were brought to and buried at Ismenion Hill, cultural, social, and environmental factors shaping childhood health in late antiquity are addressed.
Maritime Trade of Classical Greece: Commodities Shipped in Transport Amphorae
(University of Waterloo, 2024-01-04) Brandreth, Shannon
Trade practices have long been a concern of anthropological studies but has fallen out of focus in archaeological research. Much can be learned about trade from material remains, especially those from shipwrecks. For this study, material remains from four Classical Greek merchant shipwrecks will be examined to identify commodities contained within transport amphorae. This research will provide insight into commodities that are well-known for this historical context, such as wine and olive products, in addition to other commodities not often discussed or even known about. Furthermore, this will highlight the need for archaeological research to engage with anthropological practices of studying trade
Flora Tristan: Rethinking the Intersection of 19th Century French Women’s Travel Writing and History of Anthropology
(University of Waterloo, 2023-09-21) Rueb, Karen Jean McAndless
Flora Tristan was a 19th century French socialist and feminist writer and activist. During her lifetime, Tristan published two works of travel writing, Pérégrinations d'une paria (Tristan 1838a; 1838b) and Promenades dans Londres (Tristan 1840), which were read and received in a variety of ways by a variety of reading publics. Existing scholarship on these texts, primarily in the field of literary studies, has tended to focus on Tristan’s gender, and on the ways in which this intersects with her writing and activism; by contrast, Tristan – like other women travel writers of her time – has been largely marginalized in broader discussions of travel writing and its history. Furthermore, Tristan and her texts appear to have been entirely absent from histories of anthropology. This thesis examines the relationship between travel writing, ethnography, anthropology, and their respective histories, seeking to reconsider Tristan’s travel writing in relation to these. I argue that Tristan’s travel writing resonates in important ways with ethnography, anthropology, and their interconnected histories, and that taking seriously her works as part of broader discussions on these topics has the potential to contribute additional possibilities, perspectives, and insights that might otherwise be erased, overlooked, or elided.
Transnational Dialogues and Community Making in the Syrian Digital Space
(University of Waterloo, 2023-09-18) Saoud, Christina
This thesis examines the ways diasporic and transnational Arabs, and particularly Syrians, utilize and engage in the virtual space to voice their experiences and engage in transnational dialogues, while overall taking part in the (re)construction of their homelands. This brings forth the discussion of borders and how they are practiced in relation to identity, sociocultural performances, and kinship relations. Borders are not limited to their physical territories but are continually performed and embodied, one the one hand through the memories, kinships, and networks of diasporas and refugees, and on the other through their hardships of being limited to their nationalities. My data will show that diasporic Syrians and non-Syrian Arabs engage in dialogues pertaining to their racial, national, and historical identities, in addition to showing the creative expressions of Syrian artists in relation to their memories and displacement. Altogether, this thesis presents the ways diasporic Syrians and non-Syrian Arabs use the digital space to express their identities and experiences and in effect shape their homelands.
Self, Materiality, and National Identity: The Dilemma of Authenticity Among Millennial Industrial Designers in China
(University of Waterloo, 2023-05-29) Wang, Yingjia
By analyzing the discourse relating to the dilemma of authenticity among millennial industrial designers in China, the major objective of this thesis is to gain insights into the values, beliefs, practices, and ethics of the design community under investigation. This study has shown that, first, the locus of authenticity and self could be contested between individuals depending on the cultural backgrounds. Second, the boundary between copy and authenticity in design is ambiguous; further, a contested authenticity between materiality and objects could be examined with combining the constructivist and materialist approach. Third, designers hold an essentialist view on the Chinese tradition and in the pursuit of an authentic national design identity, even though the authenticity is constructive in nature. This research contributes to the emerging field of design anthropology from a non-western perspective.
Biodiversity Citizen Science Data Production Through iNaturalist: An Anthropological Exploration
(University of Waterloo, 2023-05-04) Xu, Alice
iNaturalist is a common mobile application used in biodiversity citizen science projects and education. The application lets laypeople of all levels of expertise submit species ‘observations’ that can include correlating photo and audio data. All iNaturalist observations are publicly available and can be utilized by professionals in environmental organizations, researchers, academics, and park rangers. By drawing on participant observation at citizen science events hosted by the environmental charity EcoSpark, interviews with academics as well as professionals working for federal and provincial government institutions, it appears that the movement of data from the laypeople to the researchers and professionals can involve acts of giving and taking as well as an abundance of activities that spurn hope and trust for biodiversity citizen science involvement. As explicit anthropological engagement with biodiversity citizen science remains an area for ripe exploration, this thesis thus aims to embark on an anthropological exploration of a sample of iNaturalist users in Ontario, their perspectives, and the data production activities that engage them in biodiversity citizen science efforts.
An Archaeobotanical Analysis of the Iler Earthworks Macro Remains
(University of Waterloo, 2023-01-23) Matthews, Carey
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.
An Analysis of a Perplexing Group of Graves from Ancient Corinth, Greece
(University of Waterloo, 2023-01-19) Lenz, Grace
In 2019 a post-12th century C.E. cemetery was identified at Ancient Corinth, Greece, in the area northeast of the ancient theatre. The 2019 and 2022 excavation season uncovered a perplexing group of graves with limited cultural context and an unknown date of usage. Ten adults, and one juvenile were excavated from this cemetery. The age-at-death of the adults range from 18-45 years. The juvenile was between the ages of 12-15 years. Ten shallow pit graves, and one cist grave with evidence of reuse indicate this cemetery was used on multiple occasions. In addition, in 2022, two infants were unexpectedly discovered high up in the remains of a Roman building, ~50 metres to the south of the NET Cemetery where the excavation of a Roman road was taking place. This thesis is a pilot study, providing the first analysis of the 13 individuals buried here. The goal of this research is to interpret the funerary practices performed by the living through the discussion of grave styles and treatment of the body, and to analyze the paleopathological data. Results of this study indicate the burial practices reflect Christian traditions, with their heads facing east to anticipate the second coming of Christ. Reuse of the cist grave indicates the living were aware of the location of the cemetery, and may have been members of the same community or social group. Pathological analysis of the adults indicate lifestyles associated with strenuous activities. Linear enamel hypoplasia (LEH) speaks to some individuals having experienced non-specific periods of stress in their childhood. Evidence for tuberculosis and brucellosis was present in two different adult males, and evidence for scurvy was identified in the two juveniles. This research presents the first skeletal cases of tuberculosis and scurvy from Ancient Corinth.
Accessibility in Bioarchaeology: Methods of 3D Imaging of Entheses
(University of Waterloo, 2023-01-19) Homerski, Nathan
This thesis examines accessibility within the field of bioarchaeology in two methods of generating 3D models of human remains, laser scanning and photogrammetry. These were analyzed for the following attributes: cost, time to perform method, ease of use, accuracy, and the utility of these methods in visual grading of entheses. The accuracy category measured such aspects as colouration and texture of the 3D image in comparison to the remains it was modelled after. The entheses on the 3D models were also visually graded to measure how accurately the 3D models could be evaluated using an ordinal method, such as Villotte’s (2006) method of entheseal analysis, in comparison to the same analysis performed with the physical remains. It was found that photogrammetric models were highly accurate at representing the qualitative attributes of the remains (colour, texture, etc.) while being both cost effective and easy to create. The laser scanned models were likewise easy to create, though they were far more expensive, and not qualitatively accurate. However, neither method was sufficiently accurate at entheseal grading. Overall, the aspects of photogrammetry made for a far more accessible method for researchers due to its low costs, ease to implement, and the little time needed for data collection, but it must be done with equipment that can produce higher resolution 3D models.
Springwells Pottery Production at the Iler Earthworks
(University of Waterloo, 2023-01-18) Dasilva Furtado, Andrew
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
Responsible Representation and Collaboration in Supporting Indigenous Maternal Health in Canada
(University of Waterloo, 2022-04-05) Tomkins, Sarah
Honouring the sacredness of pregnancy, childbirth, and the early postpartum period has long been held as integral to the strength and celebration of Indigenous families and communities in Canada. Although the impacts of oppressive settler colonial systems have strained the connection to and practice of traditional approaches to these reproductive life stages, there are immense efforts under way by Indigenous midwives and women and birthing parents to restore and reclaim what had been lost. With an awareness of historical and current conditions of Indigenous maternal health, I explored how to best situate myself as a white settler anthropology researcher and maternal health practitioner, and how to support Indigenous maternal health in an anti-racist, anti-oppressive, and culturally safe manner. Over the course of my research, I had the honour of interviewing a number of highly respected Indigenous scholars, midwives, and community leaders across Canada to seek their guidance and insights about how I can responsibly represent and partner with Indigenous midwives and women and birthing parents, as well as the role and extent of the impact of having shared identity in the provision of culturally safe care. With honest self-knowledge of being a settler Canadian, critical understanding of how settler colonial systems and structures continue to harm and disenfranchise Indigenous women and birthing parents, and a commitment to equal, respectful relationships, there is the potential for robust, healthy partnerships with Indigenous practitioners to champion Indigenous maternal health in Canada.
Migration Narratives from Third Wave Bulgarian Immigrants in London, Canada: Internalization of Balkanism and its Effects on Citizenship
(University of Waterloo, 2022-01-24) Petrova, Ivelina
Bai Ganio, a brash fictional character famous among Bulgarians who grew up during communism, has become something of an example of what not to do for Bulgarian immigrants to Canada aged thirty-five and up. Subconsciously, they tend to model citizenship and moral behaviour opposite to his as they work to integrate into Canadian society. Interviews with eight Bulgarian immigrants in London, Ontario who arrived between 1999 and 2005 were conducted with a focus on their migration narrative. A cross-chronotopic lens was applied to better understand how internalization of ‘the Balkan other’ (Bai Ganio) and their invisibility as white ethnic immigrants are presented in several scales. Bai Ganio, created by Aleko Konstantinov around the time of independence from Ottoman Rule, represents Bulgaria’s longing to become a part of Europe. The figure gained popularity again in the 1990s after communism ended in 1989 when Bulgarians were free to move to wherever they wished. The participants in this research think of themselves as being among the intellectuals whose leaving caused a brain drain from Bulgaria. This thesis argues for the importance of drawing on Bulgarian history when having conversations about their migration because it reveals the internalization of their image as a non-modern “others” and how they orient to it. Analyzing their narratives through the framework of chronotopes, which tie in aspects of time, space, and figures of personhood, further reveals how the same dynamics of understanding their identity in different spaces and time is constantly being presented in multiple scales as the United States, Bulgaria and Canada are in constant relation in their narratives.
Glazing Over Differences: Picuris Pueblo and Rio Grande Glaze Ware
(University of Waterloo, 2022-01-19) Brast, Caitlin
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.
Pagan Community Online: Social Media Affordances and Limitations in Religio-Political Sociality
(University of Waterloo, 2022-01-18) Pittman, Kagan
Ultra-conservative and social justice politics in North America have imbued political meaning into ideas of race and religion. Norse Pagans (i.e., Heathens) are factionalizing and contesting the significances of race and gender in their religious mythology, systems of magic, and communal belonging via the Internet. This thesis focuses on the role of digital platforms in shaping the religio-political sociality of Heathens and in forming “a community in practice” that stretches across several social media platforms and individuals’ offline lives. I draw on survey data, semi-structured interviews, and participant observation in a digital ethnography of The Asatru Community (TAC), an anti-racist Heathen religious group. I approach social media and the Internet as overlapping with the offline, resulting in a multi-sited social arena in which discourses of religious and political significance occur and are inherently intertwined. I also rethink existing definitions of community online. My study takes place primarily across Facebook and Discord, where most community activity occurs. I show how sentiments of community and individual identity are religiously and politically mediated via users’ bodies and speech across multiple Social Networking Sites and forms of interaction within each site. Thus, social media facilitates the creation of aesthetic styles and obscures geographic boundaries, a process that supports a unified sense of community and identity, while also challenging the division between online and offline.
A Trace Element Analysis of Lead in Human Tooth Enamel from Wadi Faynan 100, Jordan
(University of Waterloo, 2022-01-17) Tan, Kaithleen
The environmental pollution that persists in the Wadi Faynan region of Jordan can be attributed to copper mining and smelting activities that flourished during the Early Bronze Age I (EBAI) (ca. 3600-3000 BCE). Previous surveys and limited excavations at the site of Wadi Faynan 100 (WF100) sought to understand the context this site and its role in copper metal production, but research has yet to be done on the individuals living there during the EBAI. This study examines lead (Pb) concentrations in human dental enamel to explore changes in exposure throughout individuals’ development using Laser Ablation Inductively-coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS). There are 17 samples from 15 individuals recovered from 5 different graves. Although 3 samples were excluded from analysis due to diagenetic alterations in the Ca/P, others provided insights on the variable nature of Pb exposure at WF100. The samples were categorized into 4 patterns of exposure: none (n=6), decreasing (n=2), and increasing (n=2) Pb exposure with age, and variable exposure (n=4). The results reveal that the pollution exposure for children is more variable than expected. It is likely that majority of these individuals may not have had direct involvement in the copper mining and smelting activities that may have occurred in Wadi Faynan 100.
Transition Analysis as a Solution for Fragmentary Remains: Estimating Age-at-Death for a Skeletal Collection from Gurat, France
(University of Waterloo, 2022-01-14) McInnis, Laurel
Transition Analysis is an age-at-death estimation method developed in 2002. While originally developed using the same skeletal features as other methods, Transition Analysis was recently expanded to include121 features from across the skeleton. This makes Transition Analysis a potential solution for cases where common age-at-death estimation sites are missing or damaged. In this study, eight of the individuals from the Gurat skeletal collection are aged using Transition Analysis. The individuals were also aged using traditional age-at-death estimation methods for comparative purposes. Finally, the individuals were aged using only the lower limbs to simulate a challenging recovery scenario. The goal of this study was to promote Transition Analysis as an option for age-at-death estimation in cases of fragmentary remains and varied preservation within a collection. The results of the study show that Transition Analysis can estimate age in cases where traditional methods are not applicable. Transition Analysis is also able to estimate age-at-death using just the lower limbs. However, the results were extremely imprecise. This study found Transition Analysis to be a promising but imperfect solution to estimating age-at-death for fragmentary skeletal remains.

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