Papers by James M VanderVeen
The 81st Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, 2016
Page 1. SUBSISTENCE PATTERNS AS MARKERS OF CULTURAL EXCHANGE: EUROPEAN AND TAÍNO INTERACTIONS IN ... more Page 1. SUBSISTENCE PATTERNS AS MARKERS OF CULTURAL EXCHANGE: EUROPEAN AND TAÍNO INTERACTIONS IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC James M. VanderVeen Submitted to the faculty of the University Graduate ...
Proceedings of the 37th International Symposium on Archaeometry, 13th - 16th May 2008, Siena, Italy, 2010
individual to the world capitalist system, charting a cautiously optimistic course with a sober t... more individual to the world capitalist system, charting a cautiously optimistic course with a sober tone. Most important, it avoids the neotraditionalist romanticism, the unrealistic desire for a meditative village retreat, that bedevils so much of the voluntary-simplicity movement. Along with its companion volume, Confronting Consumption (2002), which Princen edited with colleagues Michael Maniates and Ken Conca, it provides a starting place for social scientists to begin thinking about how to use what we have learned to face the challenge of building a more sustainable future. Now, perhaps, anthropologists will use their impressive skills and knowledge to take the next step.
The ceramic value index is a powerful empirical tool used in historical archaeology to assess the... more The ceramic value index is a powerful empirical tool used in historical archaeology to assess the required economic access necessary for a family or individual to accumulate specific household goods. The focus of this method is primarily on the status of the artifact assemblage itself, however, and not the people who acquired the objects. Since this measure of socioeconomic status is quantified only through the pottery used by the site occupants, it may not take into account the various perspectives of the occupants have towards their domestic vessels, nor does it consider the wider social context of the study area. Although the formula has been used extensively in historic archaeology, this has been done without significant critique. Sites from 19th-century Indiana are used here as examples of the potential successes and failures of a formula built on the assumption that consumers utilize archaeological objects for all the same reasons.
Promoting Global Literacy Skills through Technology-Infused Teaching and Learning
The current global human environment is a diverse mixture of cultures and technologies, and unive... more The current global human environment is a diverse mixture of cultures and technologies, and university educators face daunting tasks to help their students develop competencies with both human and machine attributes of the modern world. This chapter presents the historical foundations, the pedagogical theoretical underpinnings, and illustrative examples from the implementation of a curriculum of technology-enabled active learning within the undergraduate anthropology program at a moderately sized, commuter campus in the Midwestern United States. Technology-enabled active learning has demonstrably improved the experience of undergraduate students who enroll in anthropology classes as majors, minors, or general education students by affording them new abilities, including the recognition of global information resources, the contextualization of their education in spatiotemporal terms, the development of an understanding of sociocultural and politico-economic connective webs, and the s...
The SAA Archaeological Record, 2010
Journal of Caribbean …, 2008
is a major Taíno site that we believe served as a regional ceremonial center. The site's features... more is a major Taíno site that we believe served as a regional ceremonial center. The site's features include a flooded sinkhole and four stone-lined plazas similar to contact-period plazas used for ball games and dances. This paper uses data derived from instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) of ceramics from the sinkhole and plazas to evaluate hypotheses about La Aleta's importance and internal organization. The INAA data are not inconsistent with the interpretation that La Aleta served a regional, rather than local, population, but the results to date are probably best described as equivocal. The data do not support the hypothesis that each of the four plazas was used by people from a different locality. Instead, the data are more consistent with alternative hypotheses about the use of the plazas and/or the manufacture of the ceramics found therein.
Hispanic American Historical Review, 2004
Current Anthropology, 2007
Current Anthropology, 2007
Excellence in Teaching: Narratives from Award-Winning Faculty, 2017
Indiana Archaeology, 2017
Sometimes, archaeology illuminates the history of " big men. " This article narrates the history ... more Sometimes, archaeology illuminates the history of " big men. " This article narrates the history through archaeological investigation of one city corner in South Bend, Indiana, and the contribution of the businesses that occupied it in the city's most formative years. Manufacturing successes within South Bend such as the Oliver Plow Works, and Studebaker, are well known and researched. What is less well known are the supporting businesses and people that made up the representative sample of this influential city. This article sheds light on the establishment, growth, and community influence of the businesses it housed, supported by extensive archival research, and recovered artifacts. A humble tinsmith became the proprietor of the area's largest hardware and lumberyards. A German immigrant and his friend established one of the area's largest and longest-running grocery stores that would propel both families into more prosperous circles. Elite families blended interests, forming a neighborhood.
Indiana Archaeology, 2017
Sometimes, archaeology illuminates the history of “big men.” This article narrates the history th... more Sometimes, archaeology illuminates the history of “big men.” This article narrates the history through archaeological investigation of one city corner in South Bend, Indiana, and the contribution of the businesses that occupied it in the city’s most formative years. Manufacturing successes within South Bend such as the Oliver Plow Works, and Studebaker, are well known and researched. What is less well known are the supporting businesses and people that made up the representative sample of this influential city. This article sheds light on the establishment, growth, and community influence of the businesses it housed, supported by extensive archival research, and recovered artifacts. A humble tinsmith became the proprietor of the area’s largest hardware and lumberyards. A German immigrant and his friend established one of the area’s largest and longest-running grocery stores that would propel both families into more prosperous circles. Elite families blended interests, forming a neighborhood.
Promoting Global Literacy Skills through Technology-Infused Teaching and Learning, 2015
The current global human environment is a diverse mixture of cultures and technologies, and unive... more The current global human environment is a diverse mixture of cultures and technologies, and university educators face daunting tasks to help their students develop competencies with both human and machine attributes of the modern world. This chapter presents the historical foundations, the pedagogical theoretical underpinnings, and illustrative examples from the implementation of a curriculum of technology-enabled active learning within the undergraduate anthropology program at a moderately sized, commuter campus in the Midwestern United States. Technology-enabled active learning has demonstrably improved the experience of undergraduate students who enroll in anthropology classes as majors, minors, or general education students by affording them new abilities, including the recognition of global information resources, the contextualization of their education in spatiotemporal terms, the development of an understanding of sociocultural and politico-economic connective webs, and the skilled capacity to productively create and critically analyze information with a peer cohort through networked information technologies.
Indiana Archaeology, 2013
The study of material culture regularly provides insight into the lives of working-class and ethn... more The study of material culture regularly provides insight into the lives of working-class and ethnically diverse people, groups for whom documentary information is often found lacking. The objects found in their places of work or near the households in which they lived can help illuminate their daily concerns and affairs. These are topics not regularly discussed in the historical record and, as such, are explored through historical archaeology instead. Likewise, there are important issues taking place both within the home and in wider society that are not openly addressed in newspapers, novels, or governmental records. For instance, because they are seen as taboo, sexual relations are often kept under cover. Yet, the interpretation of specific classes of artifacts related to marital (and extramarital) practices can provide a possible reconstruction of the social lives of those that used them. The political dynamics of an era also influences the ways in which members of all gender present themselves (and are represented) in the public sphere.
INDIANA ARCHAEOLOGY Volume 8 Number 1 2013, Dec 2013
Proceedings of the 37th International Symposium on Archaeometry, 2011
The technique of absorbed residue analysis is now used in archaeology to extract and identify foo... more The technique of absorbed residue analysis is now used in archaeology to extract and identify food compounds from pottery sherds in order to reconstruct the diet of people in the past. Often, this method can be used to decribe particular species of plants or animals processed within the vessel due to the recovery of their specific biomarkers even after hundreds of years of burial. The analytical procedure, however, has involved irrevocably destroying at least small samples of the ceramic material. Therefore museum pieces, complete vessels, or irreplaceable sherds are poor choices for this technique. This study developed and tested an alternative protocol that would be able to remove organic compounds from within pottery sherds without causing any detectable damage. The new technique was successfully tested on a small number of ceramic fragments from in and around the site of La Isabela in the Dominican Republic, the first European town in the New World. The protocol yeilded similar results to the standard method of residue extraction, and can be utilized on many different types of ceramic vessels. This new method will be of considerable benefit to researchers seeking to gather data concerning subsistence patterns and the use of organic material by early people while doing the least harm to valuable artifacts.
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Papers by James M VanderVeen