Stones, Bones, Tribes & Scribes
Department of Anthropology, Cleveland State University ~ Fall 2003
~ Barbara Grale, Editor
_____________________________________________________________
Nakunte Diarra, Master Bògòlanfini Artist, at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival
- Dr. Barbara Hoffman
It was just a few days before the end of the spring semester that I learned that Nakunte Diarra had been selected by the Malian government to be part of its delegation to the 2003 Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington D.C. Mali was to be featured along with Scotland and Appalachia: three seemingly disparate cultures that share surprising commonalities. Nakunte Diarra is Mali's premiere bògòlanfini (mudcloth) artist, and was the guest of CSU in winter of 1994 for a five-week program which included an exhibit of her work in the main library as well as in the Cleveland Museum of Art, a series of lectures by experts on Bamana history, culture, and art, and demonstrations of the art form by Nakunte herself.
Since that time, her reputation has grown substantially, and her work has been placed on permanent display in the African Voices exhibit of the National Museum of Natural History. She is featured in the best scholarly study of the art form, Bògòlan: Shaping Culture through Cloth in Contemporary Mali, by Dr. Victoria Rovine, and has achieved international fame.
It just so happened that Carole Lade, one of the students in my course, Visual Anthropology (ANT 323), had agreed to use my footage of Nakunte and her family for her class project, an edited ethnographic video. On the last day of class, I proposed that we work together to revamp her project into a film that could be sold at the festival, with the profits going directly to Nakunte. She enthusiastically agreed. Carole spent hours outside of class time working on the film, and she continued to work on it after semester's end, taking the editing as far as she could. I then fine-tuned her work, and took the electronic files with me to 
Nakunte at CMA in 1994
I arrived in Washington on the 4th of July to spend the last three days of the festival with Nakunte. She was very glad to finally have someone with her who could not only translate for her but who could explain the processes she uses to create her art to the hundreds of people who came to see her each day. Over and over, I outlined the sequence of steps Nakunte follows to arrive at a finished cloth. Starting with narrow white cotton strips sewn together into the desired dimensions, the cloth is first dyed with a mordant made from boiled leaf solutions (four different kinds of leaves indigenous to
Contrary to what the eye perceives, what the artist paints is the background of the design, not the design itself. The traditional designs of the Bamana people consist of geometric shapes and lines, each one with a name and a history.
When the cloth is spread out, the lines appear to be straight, even though traditionally women artists like Nakunte paint the straight lines on a curved surface: half a calabash gourd with the curved side facing upward, supporting the cloth like an easel supports a canvas. The better the artist, the straighter the lines and the darker the background. Nakunte excels in these domains.
When she has completed two coats of mud “paint,” the cloth is rinsed so that the soil in the mud comes out. A chemical reaction between the tannin in the mordant and the iron in the mud causes the color to remain. The “mud” has effectively become a dye. The color of the mordant (ranging from bright yellow to rust) remains so that the piece looks like a black cloth with yellow designs. In order to restore the original whiteness of the undyed parts of the cloth, Nakunte goes back over every yellow inch with a bleaching soap that removes the mordant, leaving the undyed “designs” as white as a virgin cloth.
Depending on the size of the piece, it can take a week to a month to complete one work. Bògòlan express, on the other hand, can be done in one day. The tent devoted to bògòanfini was divided into two sections, one featuring Nakunte's traditional, painstaking work; the other spotlighting one of Nakunte's apprentices who has left behind the laborious methods of her master by using stencils to apply the traditional Bamana designs to cloth. This is a much more rapid process which gives results more pleasing to the Western eye--the target market for this form of bògòlan which is referred to in
Nakunte herself had brought only 25 or so pieces to be sold in the festival boutique, and most had been sold by the time I arrived there with my husband and a friend who had known Nakunte when she stayed in our home back in ‘94. We brought with us a suitcase full of cloths that Nakunte had sent me over the years to sell on her behalf. Since life as a professor doesn't leave much room for commercial activities, I'd not had time to market them. We put these new cloths out on display so they could be sold as well, and immediately ran into the kind of cross-cultural conflict that makes field work both fascinating and sometimes exhausting.
Nakunte demonstrating her technique
I'd heard that many of the artisans were complaining that their work was not selling, and now I found out why. The festival is held on the Mall in the space between the Capitol and the Washington monument. That land is officially National Park territory, and because of a lawsuit a few years ago, no selling of anything other than food and drink concessions can take place there. That's why the Smithsonian puts its festival boutique outside the official festival area every year, on Smithsonian land. The artisans, however, could not understand why they were not permitted to bargain and sell directly to the people who came to see their work, as they would do at home. An important part of the culture of art was missing in their minds. In
Nakunte Diarra at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival
I quickly found that I could not conduct those transactions for her, either. I was needed to translate for her and explicate the cultural significance of her work to the constant flow of visitors each day. Suddenly I found myself in demand as her unofficially “official” guide and translator. The Smithsonian and the Malian government had tried to provide adequate assistance, but fluent American speakers of Bamana, Nakunte's language, are hard to find!
It was a cross-cultural challenge to present this information to the festival visitors in ways they could understand, but it gave me a chance to spend three days by the side of Nakunte, whom I've known and counted among my friends for 17 years. My husband has known her for almost as long, and was eager to help in whatever way he could, so he and our friend took charge of leading the clients off park grounds to conduct the transactions which rewarded the visitors with a piece of Bamana art and gave Nakunte enough income to feed her family for three years!
Naming mudcloth designs
Another wonderful cross-cultural moment occurred when we took Nakunte into the National Museum of Natural History to show her the display of her work. Not only are her cloths displayed there, but video of Nakunte and her family can be viewed on a computer kiosk where visitors can see her at work in her home and get an idea of both the process and its meanings. 
When we approached her section of the African Voices exhibit, we found two young African-American girls standing in front of it, looking at her photo. I leaned over and said to them, “Girls, see the woman in that photo? Turn around.” They squealed with delight and amazement when they saw the same woman standing right behind them. We explained to them and their mothers that this was Nakunte's first time to see her exhibit, that she had come all the way from
Nakunte by the sign for her exhibit
So, you never know what can happen when you take Visual Anthropology (which will be offered again in AY 2005-06). Carole was unable to come to the festival, but we took video of Nakunte thanking Carole for her hard work after watching the film, as well as lots of photos and video of Nakunte at the festival itself so that Carole could experience it vicariously. Perhaps some of that video will be incorporated into the next version of the DVD, Through the Eyes of a Master: Nakunte Diarra's Bògòlanfini.
Every year, the Smithsonian offers a glimpse into cultures from around the world in its Folklife Festival. With some advance planning, participation in the festival could offer CSU students a chance to experience another culture first hand, without ever leaving their home country. The Smithsonian is always looking for volunteers: keep your eye on www.smithsonian.org for information about next year's festival as it develops.
Nakunte Diarra, Master Bògòlanfini Artist: The Film
- Carole Lade
“Wow! This file cabinet drawer has some interesting stuff in it”, I said to Dr. Hoffman while working for her last semester through the Work-Study Program. In the drawer I found two to three yards each of brightly colored batik fabrics, two small batik handbags, and a book entitled Nakunte Diarra: Bògòlanfini Artist of the Beledougou by Tavy D. Aherne. Along with the book were several file folders containing information about Nakunte's past visit to CSU, as well as The Plain Dealer and New York Times articles that were written about Nakunte and her textile art.
The book was filled with black and white photographs of bògòlanfini cloths, most of them owned by
Dr. Hoffman and her husband. I was excited to find a glossary of designs that named each design, explained its cultural meaning, and listed the corresponding photos that incorporated each one. The book also included a brief history of bògòlanfini, step-by-step photographs of the process, and photographs of Nakunte at work in her compound.
Seeing that my appetite was whet to learn more about this textile art, Dr. Hoffman suggested that I edit footage that she had shot during several trips to Nakunte's compound in Mali for my class project in Visual Anthropology. I jumped at the chance to further my knowledge of wearable art and, especially, an art form whose centuries-old roots were deeply embedded in the culture.
Research for the project was fairly simple. I had a copy of Tavy's book and Dr. Hoffman recommended another book, Bògòlan: Shaping Culture through Cloth in Contemporary Mali, written by her colleague, Victoria Rovine. I also found additional information on the internet. Armed with my research materials, I entered the Art Department's computer lab to do battle with my old adversary, an Apple computer.
Now I'm no stranger to the Apple computer. My first computer was an Apple IIGS, and I worked extensively with a Mac while working for a friend of mine who was an Apple software programmer. I felt limited by the software, and I always hoped that one day it would finally catch up with my expectations. When I switched platforms and purchased my first PC, my hopes were
fulfilled--here was software that did more than I needed! As I turned on one of the iMacs in the Art lab, I hoped that a truce had been established.
The footage for my project was loaded onto the iMac and broken down into a number of clips of Nakunte, her compound, her family, and her work. Nakunte's explanations of her work, as well as her son's, grandchildren's, and late husband's speech, were all in the Bamana language; fortunately Dr. Hoffman is fluent in that language, and she was able to translate my selected clips. I also chose to let their voices be heard by subtitling.
Unfortunately, no truce in my ongoing war with Apple was in sight. iMovie would not let me create individual subtitles for each speaker that would display only when they were speaking. I could only scroll them, and when two speakers were in one clip, it was difficult to space the text for each individual, control the speed of the scroll, and most important, time the subtitle to the words being spoken. It was a long process of trial and error because each attempt had to be “rendered.” Depending on the length of the clip, it could take longer than thirty minutes. iMovie doesn't allow for multitasking while rendering, so class time was eaten up by it and further editing was at a standstill.
The Apple and I clashed again during the narration of the film. I wrote a script for each clip that I wanted to narrate. As the clip played, I clicked on the record button, said my piece, and clicked the stop button. During playback, I realized that I had to edit out the mouse clicks that recorded when ever I clicked the stop button. In addition, iMovie supposedly allows the editor to fix the narration in place so that each audio clip stays attached to the video it narrates. However, on several occasions, the “fixed” narration jumped forward more than a few clips. I was sure that I had secured them in place, but I began to wonder if I was experiencing senility, until Dr. Hoffman confirmed that she'd had the same experience!
On the last day of class, Dr. Hoffman informed me that Nakunte and her textile art were coming from Mali in July to be a part of the Smithsonian Institution's Folklife Festival and that her colleague at the
Nakunte Diarra Film
continued
Smithsonian suggested mass producing the film I had edited for sale during the festival. I was excited at the prospect of having my work involved with the Smithsonian. I had edited the film for a specific audience, my classmates, and I knew that someday Nakunte would view it as well. Now it had to be edited for a broader audience, so Dr. Hoffman and I made plans to tweak it into a more professional version suitable for the Smithsonian Institution and the visitors to the Folklife Festival.
Dr. Hoffman and I took turns tightening up on the editing, communicating to each other what we had done, but at times whatever we did didn't stay done. The Apple refused to surrender and continued to fight with us. It was during this time that we realized that the version of iMovie we were using was not a stable program, so Dr. Hoffman decided to finish the tweaking on an upgraded version of iMovie while she was at a conference at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia. She finished it in time to take ten copies of the DVD with her to the festival. All 10 copies sold for $25 each, with the proceeds going directly to Nakunte to help support her family. I came away with a feeling of satisfaction for the work and the knowledge that what I had done had helped ease the burden of another human being.
During this project, I grew to admire Nakunte as a woman and an artist, and I hope that one day I will be able to meet her. I also discovered a love for bògòlanfini and the culture and people that it represents. I don't know if I won or lost the battle with the Apple, but I felt very good about the whole experience. Life wouldn't be interesting without its little challenges, and the Apple computer and its iMovie software provided me with just that.
All in all, I walked away from my semester in Visual Anthropology with pride and satisfaction in what I had accomplished. And armed with new knowledge, I'm ready to meet with my adversary again--I hear iMac's Final Cut Pro software is more powerful than iMovie. We'll see…touché!
Ethiopian Studies Conference
Associate Professor Ron Reminick traveled to Hamburg,
on topics in numerous disciplines, including paleoanthropology, geology and archaeology, history, linguistics, geography, mythology, and religion, as well as current issues of economics, politics, ethnic conflict, warfare, and human rights.
A recognized authority on highland Ethiopian cultures, Dr. Reminick presented six papers that will be included in a five-volume compendium, Encyclopedia Aethiopica. One set of papers summarized previous research he had conducted in the remote regions of the north-central highlands on major customs, rituals and institutions, cultural geography, and the mythological and actual history of the Ethiopian highlands. A second set summarized his ongoing research on the evolution of the urban African cultural landscape and the motivational foundations of development.
Dr. Reminick's presentation also included a discussion of his continuing study of prostitution in
Attending this conference gave Dr. Ron the opportunity to meet colleagues in Ethiopian studies he had not known previously and to renew old friendships, warming the channels of communication for the preparation of his application for a Fulbright Fellowship for 2004-2005. His previous Fulbright grant was awarded in 1993 and ran two consecutive years.
Words on Stones: News about Linguistic Anthropology and Archaeology
- Phil Wanyerka
As all of us can attest, it has been an extremely busy and exciting year in the Department of Anthropology!
In addition to teaching, writing, and public speaking, I continued work my doctoral dissertation (Epigraphic Evidence of Macro-Political Organization in Southern Belize and Adjacent
I was honored to be the 2003 recipient of the College
of Arts and Sciences Part-Time Instructor Teaching Award for excellence in teaching and exceptional contributions to the vitality of the college. I am deeply indebted to Drs. Jeff Williams and Peter Dunham for nominating me for this important award. I would also like to thank Dr. Earl Anderson, Interim Dean, and
Dr. Richard Rakos, Associate Dean, for their support as well. I also received recognition from the Scientific Research Society known as Sigma Xi, and in May I was awarded the prestigious Padgett Scholarship in recognition of excellence in outstanding original research in the field of Maya epigraphy.
An article that I wrote with fellow CSU alumnus
Dr. Keith Prufer (Auburn University) and Monica Shah (Shah Conservation) will be published in the journal Ancient Mesoamerica this fall. The article, “Wooden Figurines, Scepters, and Religious Specialists in Pre-Columbian Maya Society,” features a thorough discussion of an extremely rare wooden scepter found in a cave discovered in 1999 by the Maya Mountains Archaeological Project near the Late Classic center
of Mukleb'al Tzul in the Maya Mountains of Southern Belize (see Figure 1). Wooden figurines, idols, and scepters are commonly depicted in Classic Maya art; however, few have ever actually been found in situ. The article discusses the function and usage of caves in Maya society and provides a detailed analysis and interpretation of the archaeological context of its discovery based on a thorough ethnohistoric review of the role of scepters and ancestral figurines in Maya society. I also signed on as a consultant with Scholastic Press to review a number of children's books on the ancient Maya.
 |
Figure 1: Line drawing of the Mukleb'al Tzul wooden scepter (Drawing by Thomas Gatlin).
Linguistic Anthropology and Archaeology
continued
In February I presented a public lecture on “Classic Maya Political Organization: A View from the Maya's Own Perspective” at the Cleveland Museum of Art as part of the Archaeological Institute of America's Distinguished Lecture Series. I continue to collaborate with Dr. Susan Bergh, Curator of Pre-Columbian Art at the museum, on various pieces in the museum's extraordinary collection of Maya art. If you walk by the huge Maya stela known as El
In addition to being the project epigrapher for the
Maya Mountains Archaeological Project, I was invited to become the project epigrapher for the Nixtun-Ch'ich' Archaeological Project. Directed by Drs. Donald and Prudence Rice and sponsored by Southern Illinois University and the National Science Foundation. The Nixtun-Ch'ich' Archaeological Project is a multi-disciplinary/multiyear investigation of Nixtun-Ch'ich', a Classic Maya site located on the Candeleria Peninsula of Lake Petén Itzá in northern
On the archaeological front, I was asked to conduct
an archaeological impact assessment this past winter for the installation of a pedestrian bridge as part of the West Creek Preserve in Parma, Ohio. Fieldwork was conducted in consultation with the Midwest Archaeological Center, the archaeological division of the National Park Service, and the City of Parma. Based on the success of this project, I hope to use my ties with the West Creek Preserve and National Park Service to explore the possibility of bringing CSU students into the field for some hands-on archaeology in the coming years. Stay tuned!
During the past year I have also become heavily involved in the newly announced K'inal Winik Cultural Center directed by Dr.Laura Martin of the Department of Modern Languages. We will host a Maya Hieroglyphic Weekend in October as part of the annual K'inal Winik Festival of Maya Art, Language, and Culture. This year's distinguished presenter will be
The Nim Li Punit Emblem GlyphSimon Martin, Honorary Research Fellow of the Institute of Archaeology at University College of London, who will present a two-day glyphic workshop titled “Maya Warfare and Politics: New Data and Perspectives” at CSU on October 4 and 5. He will also present a public lecture on the topic of “Art of the Maya Royal Courts: Recent Discoveries from
Nadine Grimm, Program Coordinator, at n.grimm@csuohio.edu (216-687-3929).
Finally, I am very happy to be teaching ANT 171 Native Civilizations of the Americas this fall. The course is designed to highlight the fascinating Pre-Hispanic cultures of the New World. With the Maya Hieroglyphic Weekend scheduled in October, students enrolled in this course will have a unique opportunity to hear the very latest Maya discoveries from one of the biggest names in the field. For those interested, I will be teaching ANT 293 Maya Hieroglyphic Writing and ANT 303 Cultural Anthropology in the spring. I hope to see many of you either in my courses or at the various events that will take place this fall!
K'inal Winik Festival of Maya Art, Language and Culture – Fall 2003
Hispanic Awareness Week - free and open to the public
Presented in cooperation with the Office of Minority Affairs and Human Relations
· Lecture: Imagery in Mayan Poetry – Nadine Grimm, MA
September 22 – 12:00-1:00 p.m. – CSU Library Rhodes Tower 415
· Slide presentation/discussion: Images of Contemporary Guatemala – Laura Martin, PhD
September 26 – 2:00-4:00 p.m. – CSU Science Research Building 255
K'inal Winik Festival –free and open to the public
· Lecture: Native Civilizations of the
September 29 – 11:00-11:45 a.m. – CSU University Center 1
· Gallery talk: MesoAmerican Collection – Sue Bergh, PhD, Curator
October 1 – 7:00-8:00 p.m. and
October 3 – 2:00-3:00 p.m. - Cleveland Museum of Art
Space is limited; advance registration is required. Call 216-687-4797 to register.
· Lecture: Mayan People Making Use of the Past – Laura Martin, PhD, and Lic. Ajpub' Pablo Garcia Ixmatá
(Tz'utujiil Mayan linguist); in Spanish with English translation
October 7 – 12:00-1:00 p.m. – CSU University Center 361
· Introducing K'inal Winik International Exchange Projects: Guatemala Field Work
College of Arts & Sciences faculty and students
October 9 – 3:00-4:30 p.m. – CSU Main Classroom 401
· Video and discussion: El Futura Maya: voices from the Present - Laura Martin, PhD, and
Lic. Ajpub' Pablo Garcia Ixmatá; in Spanish with English translation
October 9 – 6:00-8:00 p.m. – CSU Main Classroom 401
Special Events for Teachers – fees/registration required
Space is limited; $20 fee includes registration, curricular materials, handouts, and certificate. Call 216-687-4797 to register.
· Social Studies and Spanish Teachers' Workshop
October 16 – 12:30-2:30 p.m. – Center for Native American Studies, Wright State University
· Teachers' Workshop: Using Mayan Literature Across the Disciplines
November 13 – 4:30-6:00 p.m. – K'inal Winik Cultural Center, Cleveland State University
Maya Hieroglyph Weekend Events - fees/registration required
· Novice workshops - Calendrics – Bruce Frumker; Hieroglyphs – Phil Wanyerka, ABD - $5 fee
October 2 – 7:00-9:00 p.m. – CSU University Center 1
· Art of the Maya Royal Court: Recent Discoveries from
$5 fee ($3 for CSU students)
October 3 – 7:00-8:30 p.m. – Drinko Hall, CSU Music and Communication Center
· Maya Hieroglyph Weekend – led by Simon Martin
Advance registration required; $60 fee ($30 for CSU students) includes workbook, Maya Warfare and Politics:
New Data and Perspectives
October 4 – 8:30 a.m.-5:00 p.m. and
October 5 – 8:30 a.m.-4:00 p.m.
Optional: Box lunches available - $10 each. Dinner/video screening on October 4 – $25.
Note: Registration and information is available via web at www.csuohio.edu/kinalwinik, by phone 216-687-3929 or fax 216-687-4650, or email at kinalwinik@csuohio.edu
WHAT'S NEW IN THE BIOANTHROHOOD
- Dr. Bob Mensforth
Winter/Spring 2003
Last winter and spring were very busy times in the Biological Anthropology Laboratory. Congratulations go to alumna Diane Parkinson, who successfully defended her Master's Thesis at Kent State University to earn a graduate degree. Her thesis focused on dental age estimation in forensic anthropology and is titled
The Relationship Between Age and Secondary Dentin Formation in Adult Human Mandibular Premolars and Molars.
Several of us worked long days and weekends to complete research and prepare presentations for professional anthropology conferences that took place last April. Three of us attended the Central States Anthropology Society Meetings (CSAS) that were held in Louisville, Kentucky this year. Our research group delivered three papers in the Biological Anthropology Session. Diane Parkinson (KSU) presented a synopsis of her Master's Thesis project, and Jennifer Way (CSU anthropology alumna and current graduate student in health sciences) presented a study on a fetal and infant skeletal age estimation technique that she developed for forensic and paleodemographic applications. The title of her presentation was Fetal and Subadult Age Estimation Using the Os Temporale Pars Petrosa. My research presentation, Vitamin D Deficiency and Mortality: Impaired Immune Response in Infants and Elevated Cancer Risk in Adults, focused on the roles that Vitamin D plays in maintaining a healthy immune system in infants and young children, as well as in preventing certain cancers in men and women over 50 years of age (i.e., breast, prostate, and colon cancers in particular).
Our trip to Kentucky had several highlights in addition to the good travel weather. The Motel 8 night manager who checked us in to our rooms entertained us with an update of what was going on in his personal life, where his married adult daughter, a professional jockey, was at that moment in the 40th hour of painful labor with her first child! Yikes, that was more information than we really needed to know, especially before dinner! Nonetheless, we were lucky to find a really, really good Mexican Restaurant. And the next day, after
we presented our papers, I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to meet Alice Kehoe. She is a bright, enthusiastic, and well-published cultural anthropologist who still has great ideas and a professional commitment to her discipline. All in all, the CSAS Meetings went very well!
The very next week Diane, Jennifer, and I flew to Tempe, Arizona for a few days to participate in the Annual Meetings of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists sponsored by the Department of Anthropology at the University of Arizona. The weather in Tempe was absolutely wonderful, with lots of sun, sun, and more sun! It was just what we needed after a long, dark, cold, and wet winter here in Cleveland. We presented full-size color posters of the fetal age estimation research conducted by Jennifer and the vitamin D relationships to impaired immune response and cancer risk that I had been working on. Our poster sessions went extremely well, attracting quite a bit of attention and a lot of very positive feedback from our peers. Even after our discussion period had ended, people kept coming up to us, asking engaging questions, sharing useful information, asking about potential future collaborations, and handing out business cards.
This was an extra-special trip because we also reunited with Harald Horni, another anthropology alumnus who originally came to CSU in the mid-1990's from
continued on next page
The Bioanthrohood
continued
Last but not least, Dawn Medved, another CSU anthropology alumna, successfully defended her thesis in the spring of 2003 and earned her Master's Degree in anthropology at the University of Montana. In her graduate training Dawn specialized in the forensic sciences overall and forensic anthropology in particular. Dawn's thesis project explored the extent to which patterns of premortem tooth loss can be used to estimate adult age at death for skeletonized human remains. While an undergraduate student here at CSU, Dawn conducted supervised dental research using the Hamann-Todd Collection at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. The data set she collected here served as the foundation for her Master's Thesis. Congratulations, Dawn!
Summer 2003
I spent most of the summer working on a book chapter dealing with prehistoric warfare and trophy taking, but we also had some visiting researchers in from the Kent State University Department of Anthropology. One of their current graduate students, Megan Jukich, is working on a Master's Thesis project that will test the accuracy with which two particular bony features of the pelvis (iliopectineal region and retro-auricular groove) can be used to estimate sex of the skeleton in adults. These anatomical features are of particular interest because they tend to preserve very well in bone that has been exposed to the elements of time, weather, and scavengers. In order to conduct tests of accuracy in sex estimation we acquired several hundred Hamann-Todd Collection pelvic bones from the Cleveland Museum of Natural History's Physical Anthropology Laboratory. We transported the bones to our CSU lab and carefully laid them all out for an extensive series of data collection observations. Three of us (Megan Jukich, Dr. Linda Spurlock, and I) collected the same information at different times, so Megan could compare levels of accuracy both among and between researchers. The research went very well and we expect Megan to submit and defend her thesis this fall.
Other folks that deserve thanks for helping with the packing and transport of the bones, as well as other data collection tasks and assistance, include Lyman Jellema (CMNH), Diane Parkinson (KSU), and Jennifer Way (CSU). And special thanks go to Dr. Haile Selassie, Director of the CMNH Physical Anthropology Lab, for letting us borrow the Hamann-Todd Collection skeletal materials for our study.
Also this summer, Dr. Stephanie J. Belovich, another CSU anthropology alumna who is now with the Ohio College of Podiatric Medicine, and I got together to update and complete two chapters for an archaeology book on the prehistory of the Green River, Kentucky Shell Mound Archaic Culture. Stephanie's chapter is a thorough treatment of skeletal trauma and long bone fractures that characterized the skeletal remains of 390 individuals recovered from the famous Carlston Annis (15Bt5) shell midden. My chapter presents a reconstruction of the age and sex distribution of the skeletons recovered from the site along with a demographic analysis of vital rates that were implied by the survivorship pattern of the Archaic period people from this site (4,850 ybp). The book was organized and edited by W. Marquardt and Patty Jo Watson, and will be published by the University of Alabama Press in late 2003 or early 2004.
What's New in the Study of Fossil Ancestors?
In a nutshell, quite a bit! Since 1990, eight new hominid (human ancestor) fossil species have been discovered, primarily in Africa, with the oldest dating back to some 7 million years ago. Of course, anthropology students have always complained and whined about learning the names of our fossil ancestors. Dealing with Latin binomials, sites with strange names from foreign countries with strange names, and complex temporal and spatial associations can all be a bit much for the beginner, especially if the interpretations of all that information are chronically steeped in controversy. Well, folks, a recent news article published in AnthroNotes provides interested readers with a very basic and understandable synopsis and description of the who, when, and where with regard to fossil hominid discoveries that have made their way onto the landscape of human evolution since 1990. The reference is as follows:
Brooks, A.A. and R. Potts (2003) New Research in Early Human Origins 7 to 1 Million Years Ago. AnthroNotes,
volume 24, issue no. 1. Museum of Natural History Publication for Educators.
The Bioanthrohood
continued
Anyone interested in a copy can pick one up for free at my office. I keep them in an envelope on the bulletin board just outside my office (Chester Building 141). The information in the article is presented well and will get you updated about the past very quickly. You will also learn some new words which may come in real handy if you need to come up with a name suggestion for your neighbor's new kitten, or your neighbor's old Mesochoerus limnites (also known as the Pliocene Bacon-That-Bites Back!).
Fall 2003
I expect fall semester to be as fun and as busy as usual. This year we have some new resources for ANT 493 Forensic Anthropology. With funds provided by the College of Arts & Sciences Dean's office, the Department of Anthropology, and some funds I garnered by making my cats dance to skiffle music on Friday nights at the BP gas station at Warrensville and Mayfield Roads, I was able to purchase two new microscopes, several human osteology specimens, and a series of forensic trace evidence and DNA fingerprinting kits for the biological anthropology lab. We're going to experiment with these this fall, and I hope to develop a full laboratory curriculum for future offerings of this course (i.e., a natural science lab section with credit). Also, since the last time I taught the forensics course, several new and very affordable books are now available for classroom use in forensic anthropology. Most of these books only cost about $30, and they present important material in a logical and meaningful way. Also, if you have any questions about forensic anthropology, I recommend that you check out the website www.ForensicAnthro.com. You won't be disappointed. The web site provides a substantial amount of information about schools and programs that offer special training, certifications, and advanced degrees in forensic anthropology, as well as plenty of other useful information about texts, information resources, and organizations that you can belong to. Check it out!
Future Activities
Two of our alumni, Jennifer Way and Diane Parkinson, will be presenting papers and/or posters at the 2003 Biological Anthropology, Archaeology, and Forensic
Anthropology Association (BAARFA) meetings in October at Loyola University in Chicago. This group was established back in the mid 1990's to be an accessible, inexpensive, and student-friendly professional organization of folks interested in all aspects of bioarchaeology and forensic osteology, goals it has served quite admirably.
CSU alumna Jill Jones received a scholarship and full tuition waiver to finish up her graduate studies at the University of Hawaii. She expects to have both an MA in medical anthropology and a certificate in maternal and child health in hand next spring.
My major commitment for next year will have me heading north in the late spring. I was invited to participate in a symposium on human trophy taking behaviors that will be held at the 2004 Annual Meetings of the Society for American Archaeology in Montreal,
Well, folks, I think that's it for now. Have a good fall semester, live long and prosper, and be kind to animals! Here's this year's health safety tip: If you eat a lot of fish, but your hair is falling out in clumps and you're tired all the time and you can't seem to remember where you put the Ginko Biloba, you probably have mercury poisoning, so stop eating fish for about six months!
Stones, Bones, Tribes & Scribes
Department of Anthropology 0010-0388-01
Cleveland State University
2121 Euclid Avenue, CB 119
Cleveland, OH 44115
Spring Semester Anthropology Course Offerings
(subject to change)
ANT 100 Introduction to Anthropology T-TH 10:00-11:50 a.m.
ANT 101 Human Biocultural Evolution M-W-F 9:45-10:50 a.m.
ANT 102 Study of Culture T-TH 6:00-7:50 p.m.
ANT 227 Power, Authority & Society M-W-F 12:15-1:20 p.m.
ANT 280 Adulthood & Aging M-W-F 1:30-2:35 p.m.
ANT 293 Maya Glyph Writing T-TH 1:00-2:50 p.m.
ANT 301 Biological Anthropology M-W-F 12:15-1:20 p.m.
ANT 303 Cultural Anthropology T-TH 10:00-11:50 a.m.
ANT 322 Writing About Culture M-W-F 12:15-1:20 p.m.
ANT 332 World Prehistory T-TH 1:00-2:50 p.m.
ANT 352 Native South Americans M-W-F 9:45-10:50 a.m.
ANT 356
ANT 493 Anthropology of Human Sexuality M-W-F 2:45-3:50 p.m.
Stones, Bones, Tribes & Scribes is a publication of the Department of Anthropology, Cleveland State University.
Cleveland State University is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity institution