MA, University of Cincinnati, 2012, Arts and Sciences: Geography

Archaeology, like many disciplines, has employed GIS as a tool which allows a diversity of new research agendas, from predictive site modeling to combining of spatial data sets, which were once too cumbersome to be handled in entirety. With the explosion of web mapping applications over the past decade, the opportunity now exists to bring these capabilities, which once required specialized education and software, to the entire archaeological community. The Puuc Region Archaeological Geographic Information System (PRAGIS) is a methodological foray into bringing spatial analysis to professionals regardless of their computer mapping experience. With the combination of data sets pertaining to site location, landforms, modern features, recent land use patterns, as well as several basemaps, it is intended that this type of program will provide the intermediary functionality between the options of static viewing of sites and the full suite of spatial tools, and corresponding knowledge base for their implementation. http://egis.artsci.uc.edu/PRAGIS/

Committee: Nicholas Dunning PhD (Committee Chair); Changjoo Kim PhD (Committee Member); Hongxing Liu PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Geography

Master of Science (MS), Ohio University, 2015, Environmental Studies (Voinovich)

This thesis is an analysis of land use patterns in the Copan Valley, Honduras. It is a comparative, GIS-based analysis of the archaeological/population site data of the ancient Copan Maya population (A.D. 250-1300) and the 1978 modern Copan Valley population. These two populations were compared to ascertain the resilience of the Valley's ecosystem over time. Time series data from the ancient Maya was combined with mean center and standard distances tests on both populations and these were overlain onto slope and aspect data to determine how both populations utilized similar landscapes. Results demonstrate that the ancient Mayan utilization of the valley was nonresilient, and unsustainable, while the 1978 population was also non resilient, and only currently sustainable due to outside markets.

Committee: AnnCorinne Freter-Abrams (Committee Chair); Elliot Abrams (Committee Member); Dorothy Sack (Committee Member) Subjects: Agricultural Economics; Agriculture; Ancient Civilizations; Ancient History; Archaeology; Cultural Anthropology; Demography; Ecology; Environmental Philosophy; Environmental Science; Environmental Studies; Geographic Information Science; Latin American History; Latin American Studies; Sustainability

MA, Kent State University, 2014, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Geography

COAKLEY, CORRINE, M.A. AUGUST 2014 GEOGRAPHY ACTIVITY SPACE IN A TERMINAL CLASSIC MAYA HOUSEHOLD, XEUNKAL, YUCATAN, MEXICO (222 pp) Director of Thesis: Mandy Munro-Stasiuk The Terminal Classic Maya period in the Northern Yucatan was a time of political upheaval, when long established cities such as Uxmal collapsed and Chichen Itza began to rise to power. Xuenkal, a site about 40 km north of Chichen Itza, was located directly on trade routes that would have supplied the city of Chichen Itza with imported goods and prestige items during this transition. Xuenkal itself shows several occupational phases, from a monumental phase during the Classic period, to abandonment, to a third phase in which population expanded during the Terminal Classic and new structures were built upon the former monumental, ritual spaces from the Classic period. These new structures include the subject of this research, Structure 9L-31, a walled complex of three buildings built on the platform of Xuenkal's most impressive structure, Structure 10M-62, the site's Classic period temple. Focusing on the social construction of place and scale, this thesis uses concepts from feminist geography and time geography to determine activity spaces across Structure 9L-31. Household scale analysis includes type variety analysis of the ceramics found at Structure 9L-31 and source and production stage analysis on the lithic artifacts. Through the use of artifact patterns as social behavior proxies, residents' space use and behavioral patterns are explored. Methods used include the use of descriptive statistics, Getis Ord Gi* analysis, and geostatistical prediction surfaces. Specifically, gendered use of space, production and domestic uses of space, and household vs. prestige artifact patterns are examined. Traditional archaeological ceramic analysis is compared to geostatistical techniques to inform upon both practices and answer the question of how the residents of Structure 9L-31 used their space. Re (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Mandy Munro-Stasiuk Ph.D. (Advisor); T. Kam Manahan Ph.D (Advisor); Jacqueline Curtis Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Archaeology; Geographic Information Science; Geography

BA, Kent State University, 2012, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Geography

Xuenkal was a settlement of the ancient Maya dating from the Late Preclassic to Terminal Classic periods (~400BC to ~1000AD). This research focuses on a geographic analysis of eleven limestone sinkholes (rejolladas) in the settlement core to determine their significance to local Maya settlements and their utilization by the ancient Maya. In the field season of 2011, data were collected from the site, including GPS and GPR data, soil samples from the excavation of test pits, and archaeological survey data. GIS analysis using Esri's ArcMap software was performed using these data as well as data collected in previous field seasons. Primary analysis involved the use of buffers to categorize ancient structures by distance to rejolladas. In addition, the density of structures by area was calculated and statistically analyzed. These analyses showed a quantitative relationship between the structures and the sinkholes, with a statistically significant preference to settlement in proximity to the sinkholes.

Committee: Mandy Munro-Stasiuk PhD (Advisor); T. Kam Manahan PhD (Committee Member); Emariana Taylor PhD (Committee Member); Elizabeth Howard PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Archaeology; Geographic Information Science; Geography