%0 Thesis %B Anthropology %D 2006 %T Preclassic excavations at Punta de Chimino, Peten, Guatemala: Investigating social emplacement on an early Maya landscape %A Bachand, Bruce %K Excavations %K Guatemala %K Maya %K Peten %K Preclassic Maya %K Punta de Chimino %K Social emplacement %X Two excavation seasons in Punta de Chimino's E-Group Acropolis provide a record of monument construction, refurbishment, desecration, and abandonment. This evidence is used to explore the material dimensions of social emplacement---any act, event, practice, or behavior that affects the way a community and its descendants relate to a particular locality over time. The attributes and treatment of monuments are taken to signify cultural and political dispositions. An extensive overview of Preclassic and Protoclassic Maya archaeology situates Punta de Chimino's monumental remains in different historical settings. Bayesian analysis of the stratified sequence of radiocarbon and luminescence dates is used to accurately pinpoint the timing of specific cultural events. Stratigraphy and radiometry allow refinement of the Punta de Chimino ceramic sequence. In the end, varied lines of material evidence are garnered to infer changing social dispositions toward Punta de Chimino's ceremonial precinct and the ancient Mesoamerican world at large. %B Anthropology %I University of Arizona %V PhD %U http://ezproxy.library.arizona.edu/login?url=http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=1296087131&sid=2&Fmt=2&clientId=43922&RQT=309&VName=PQD %0 Thesis %D 1997 %T Precipitation seasonality recorded in D/H ratios of pinyon pine cellulose in the southwestern United States %A Pendall, Elise Gislaine %Y Leavitt, S. %X I assessed the paleoclimatic significance of $\delta$D values of pinon pine (Pinus edulis and P. monoyhylla) cellulose nitrate (cn) by developing, testing and applying deterministic and empirical models, in the context of the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum. Stable isotope values of precipitation, soil water, xylem sap, leaf water, atmospheric vapor, annual and sub-annual samples of tree-ring and needle cellulose, and climatic parameters, were measured along, a gradient of decreasing summer rain in the southwestern U.S. Stable isotope composition of sap indicated depth of moisture extraction. Over the growing season in New Mexico and Arizona, where monsoon rains are important, trees shifted their water use to shallower depths. In Nevada, where summer rain is scarce, trees shifted to deeper moisture late in the growing season. Evaporation altered $\delta$D and $\delta\sp{18}$O values of precipitation inputs to soil. Only after heavy monsoons did soil water and sap isotopically resemble recent precipitation. Average precipitation $\delta$D values set the baseline for $\rm\delta D\sb{cn}$ values at each site, but interannual variations in relative humidity and precipitation amount altered wood and leaf $\rm\delta D\sb{cn}$ values, via leaf water effects. Leaf water (lw) was evaporatively enriched by seasonal moisture stress. $\rm\delta D\sb{lw}$ and $\rm\delta\sp{18}O\sb{lw}$ values were strongly correlated with relative humidity on a seasonal basis, but not on a diurnal basis. Measured $\rm\delta\sp{18}O\sb{lw}$ values fit a steady-state model, with an offset attributable to relative humidity. Measured $\rm\delta D\sb{lw}$ values were more depleted than predicted by the model, suggesting leaf water-organic matter isotopic exchange. Biochemical fractionation $\rm(\epsilon\sb{B})$ of hydrogen isotopes between leaf water and cellulose was inversely correlated with relative humidity. Empirical models based on linear regressions demonstrated significant correlations between $\rm\delta D\sb{cn}$ values and precipitation seasonality. An El Nino-Southern Oscillation signal (wood $\rm\delta D\sb{cn}$ values inversely related to winter precipitation amount) was found in New Mexico and Arizona. A summer rain signal (leaf $\rm\delta D\sb{cn}$ values inversely related to summer humidity) was found at all sites. $\rm\delta D\sb{cn}$ values of pinon needles in packrat middens from Sevilleta LTER, New Mexico, suggest that late Pleistocene summers were as wet as today’s, and/or that storm tracks could have shifted, bringing in more tropical moisture than currently. %I University of Arizona %V PhD %G eng %U http://ezproxy.library.arizona.edu/login?url=http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=736806701&sid=12&Fmt=2&clientId=43922&RQT=309&VName=PQD %0 Thesis %B Biology %D 1996 %T Patterns and processes of treeline forest response to late Holocene climate change in the Sierra Nevada, California %A Andrea Lloyd %X Climate variation that occurred during the late Holocene left a visible imprint on the Sierra Nevadan landscape. Dead trees rooted above the current treeline testify to the dynamic history of subalpine forests, while seedlings established above treeline in recent decades hint at ongoing change. I used a combination of modern studies of tree growth and retrospective studies of forest population dynamics and treeline history to investigate the patterns and processes of subalpine forest response to late Holocene climate variation in the Sierra Nevada. Seedling apical growth increased with elevation, suggesting that local-scale microclimatic gradients, perhaps in combination with changes in resource availability, were a more important control over growth than are coarse-scale features of climate. The retrospective analysis of past population dynamics indicated that recruitment was more sensitive to climate variation than mortality. Recruitment was inversely correlated with temperature; mortality exceeded recruitment during warm, dry episodes, whereas recruitment exceeded mortality during cold, wet episodes. Mortality was uncorrelated with climate, except in the most marginal locations. Life history traits (extreme longevity, long reproductive life span) may impart inertia to treeline forests: population demise has not occurred in the past 3,500 years without increased adult mortality. Treeline elevation was higher than present for most of the last 3,500 years. Tree abundance and treeline elevation declined between A.D./B.C. and A.D. 400, A.D. 1000 and A.D. 1400, and after A.D. 1500. Treeline elevation and tree abundance increased at 2 sites from A.D. 400 to A.D. 700. Both moisture and precipitation appear to be important controls over population processes at treeline. Contraction of subalpine forests was associated with cold and warm/dry conditions, and the expansion of subalpine forests was associated with warm conditions. Treeline response to temperature can apparently be modified by water availability, which can invert treeline response to temperature, causing treeline to decline during warm periods. The most marginal populations, within 30 m of treeline, are sensitive to decadal to centennial-scale climate conditions. Non-marginal populations are generally insensitive to climate, and are likely buffered both by life history and by their position relative to the forest border. %B Biology %I University of Arizona %V Phd %U http://ezproxy.library.arizona.edu/login?url=http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=742626921&sid=20&Fmt=2&clientId=43922&RQT=309&VName=PQD %0 Thesis %B Department of Geosciences %D 1987 %T Potential for Use of Cottonwoods in Dendrogeomorphology and Paleohydrology %A Clark, Susanmarie %K cottonwood %K dendrochronology %K dendrogeomorphology %K escalante %K fluvial system %K fremont %K harris wash %K paleoflood %K paleohydrology %K paria %K ponderosa pine %K terrace sediment %K tree ring %K twenty five mile wash %K utah %X

Fremont cottonwoods contain valuable environmental information that can be used to augment knowledge of fluvial systems. Cottonwoods have not been commonly used in dendrochronological studies because of difficulty in determining ring boundaries, uncertainty if growth rings are annual, as well as doubt whether riparian species cross-date. A new method of sample examination utilizing transmitted light permits clear view of ring boundaries, and resampling techniques suggest that the growth rings are annual. The cottonwoods studied are growing along Twentyfive Mile Wash and Harris Wash, both tributaries of the Escalante River in south-central Utah. Cross-dating was found among most of the cottonwood cores, except those from Harris Wash, which were approximately dated by ring counts. After application of rigorous dendrochronological methods, ring counts were deemed to be sufficient to estimate ages of cottonwoods, as the cores contain no missing rings and few false rings. Careful ring counts would accurately estimate the age of these trees to within 1 to 2%. The cottonwoods studied are partially buried by 2 to 4 m of terrace sediments. Dating of the trees provides a minimum age for the terraces of 130 to 227 years. Lack of cross-dating between the cottonwoods and nearby arid-site ponderosa pines indicates that these species respond to different environmental or climatic factors. The ponderosas are limited by lack of moisture, while correlation analysis suggests that the cottonwoods are limited by excess moisture. Soil saturation often causes a decrease in growth due to insufficient oxygen available to the roots. However, in years with very little precipitation, cottonwood growth appears to be limited by lack of moisture, and in these particular years a small ring occurs in the cottonwood series as well as in the ponderosa series. Growth suppressions in the cottonwoods correlate either with known floods on the Escalante or Paria Rivers, or with droughts. If the suppression is due to drought, a corresponding small ring occurs in the ponderosas. Timing of paleofloods can be interfered from suppressions in the early portion of the cottonwood chronology. Rates of alleviation were estimated at 0.9 to 3.0 cm/yr by dividing the amount of sediment above the basal root flare of the trees by the age of the trees. All of these methods would be especially useful in dendrogeomorphological studies on ungaged watersheds, before periods of record, or in watersheds where cottonwoods are the only tree species available.

%B Department of Geosciences %I University of Arizona %C Tucson %V Master of Science %P 52 %G English %0 Thesis %B Anthropology %D 1982 %T Prehistoric agricultural adaptation and settlement in Long House Valley, Northeastern Arizona %A Harrill, Bruce G. %X

A recently completed intensive archaeological survey of Long House Valley in northeastern Arizona has provided a detailed body of data on prehistoric settlement distribution and environmental variation. Long House Valley was occupied between A.D. 1 and 1300 by prehistoric agriculturalists referred to as the Kayenta Anasazi. This study examines the changing relationship between settlement locations and agricultural adaptations from A.D. 500 to 1300 in Long House Valley. As part of this analysis, the archaeological, ethnographic, and environmental background of the Kayenta region is reviewed as a basis for understanding the nature of agricultural adaptation in this region. Agricultural practices of the Hopi Indians of northern Arizona provide the basis for a model of probable agricultural field locations. This combined with an examination of the physiographic, hydrographic, and edaphic features in the valley allow identification of potential field areas. Changes in the potential of identified field areas are postulated on the basis of variation in available moisture as determined from a regional dendroclimatic reconstruction. Prehistoric habitation site locations and their changing distribution through time are examined against these proposed changes in field potential. This study demonstrates that there is a distinct positive correlation between settlement location and potential field location as determined by available moisture. Beginning about A.D. 1150 deteriorating environmental conditions in the form of decreased moisture, arroyo cutting, and lowered water table are considered the primary determinants of changes in site locations. These changes are viewed as an adaptive response by the Kayenta Anasazi to conditions of decreased moisture. Continuing deterioration of the environment made the practice of agriculture impossible and resulted in the total abandonment of Long House Valley and the entire Kayenta region by A.D. 1300.

%B Anthropology %I University of Arizona %V PhD %U http://ezproxy.library.arizona.edu/login?url=http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=752836931&sid=25&Fmt=2&clientId=43922&RQT=309&VName=PQD %0 Thesis %B Anthropology %D 1980 %T Prehistoric settlement variability in the Grosshopper area, east-central Arizona %A Alan Sullivan %X The variability of prehistoric settlements and settlement systems (settlement variability) is a result of the kinds of activities conducted (functional variability) and how long and intensively settlements were occupied (occupational variability). Previous studies of settlement variability, especially in the American Southwest, have emphasized primarily functional variability. This study explores the implications of both functional and occupational variability in contributing to settlement variability and how these factors in turn influence our ability to reconstruct past settlement systems. In investigating the effects of functional and occupational variability on settlement variability, an attempt was made to control the effects of other variables that might possibly contribute to settlement variability. Accordingly, the experimental design for this study required that a sufficient number of archaeological sites of the same developmental stage and cultural affiliation occurring in the same homogeneous environment be located. These design requirements were fulfilled by the discovery of the Pitiful Flats locality located midway between Grasshopper and Cibecue in east-central Arizona. The surface material of 34 archaeological sites (12 lithic sites, 22 ceramic sites) on Pitiful Flats was systematically collected to ensure data comparability. To control further for the effects of functional variability, interpretation-free units of analysis were developed for the lithic and ceramic assemblages by means of taxonomically based typologies. Typological and metric variation in these units of analysis, as well as variation in non-assemblage measurements (site size, density, and distribution of occupational debris), is used as evidence to support conclusions about site-type differences in lithic technology and settlement function, and to develop an occupational history of each Pitiful Flats site. These site-specific inferences provide a basis for reconstructing the structure of an extinct settlement system in the Grasshopper area. This reconstruction suggests that prior to the appearance of masonry architecture in the Grasshopper area, the basic regional settlement system consisted of a small number of "home bases" (permanently occupied habitations) and numerous sporadically occupied "work camps." The home base and work camps were spatially exclusive; the work camps were tethered to a particular home base. The tether settlement system explains many of the facts of the regional archaeological record. It also provides a basis for advancing the hypothesis that a modified form of swidden agriculture (non-slash and burn as opposed to slash and burn) was practiced. This form of cultivation was a non-labor-intensive technique for transforming a marginally productive environment for agricultural purposes. The demographic and social implications of the tether settlement model and the non-slash swidden hypothesis for understanding regional Grasshopper prehistory are also discussed. %B Anthropology %I University of Arizona %V PhD %U http://ezproxy.library.arizona.edu/login?url=http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=749715921&sid=26&Fmt=2&clientId=43922&RQT=309&VName=PQD %0 Thesis %B Geoscience %D 1976 %T Past Air-sea Interactions Over the Eastern North Pacific Ocean as Revealed by Tree-Ring Data %A Douglas, Arthur Vern %X Analyses are made of sea surface temperature (SST) data and tree-ring data from Southern California. Multiple linear regression analyses of the two sets of data indicate that SST data for Port Heuneme, Balboa, and La Jolla can be reconstructed using tree-ring data from five tree-ring sites in Southern California. Prediction equations were obtained from the analyses, and 23% to 63% of the year-to-year variance in seasonal SST were explained, with the highest percentages for the spring and summer equations. The reconstructed SST data are believed to be a conservative estimate of past SST anomalies, but independent data suggest the predictions are qualitatively accurate. An analysis was made of possible air-sea interactions using the reconstructed SST data which begin in 1611. The reconstructed SST data suggest that at times during the decades of 1610,1680, 1770, 1830, and 1850, sea surface temperatures may have been 20 C or 30 C warmer than the present averages. At times during the decades of 1640, 1710, and 1880, sea surface temperatures may have been 20 C or 30 cooler than the present averages. An analysis presented indicates that these reconstructed SST data for coastal Southern California may reflective of broad scale SST anomalies in the eastern North Pacific, and thus, the uses of the reconstructed data need not be limited to local problems along the coast of Southern California. %B Geoscience %I University of Arizona %V PhD %G eng %U http://ezproxy.library.arizona.edu/login?url=http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=760943281&sid=5&Fmt=1&clientId=43922&RQT=309&VName=PQD %0 Thesis %B Geoscience %D 1974 %T Paleoecology and the Prehistoric Maya: A History of Man-Land Relationships in the Tropics %A Wiseman, Fredrick Matthew %Y Martin, P. %K Geoscience %X A series of modern soil samples were collected in lowland Guatemalan rainforest, savannah, milpa, and lakeside association or pollen analysis… %B Geoscience %I University of Arizona %V MS %G eng %0 Thesis %B Geoscience %D 1973 %T Past Air-sea Interactions off Southern California as Revealed by Coastal Tree-Ring Chronologies %A Douglas, Arthur Vern %Y Fritts, H. %B Geoscience %I University of Arizona %V MS %G eng %0 Thesis %B Biological Science %D 1968 %T The Photosynthetic Regime of Some Southern Arizona Ponderosa Pine %A Brown, James Milton %K Botany %X The climate and CO2 exchange rates of some semi-arid site ponderosa pine were measured over a four-year period. Upper crown branches were placed in polyethylene enclosures and the CO2 exchange measured by an infrared gas analyser. These enclosures had little effect upon the natural environment, except through the maintenance of a constant wind speed. In this study the wind speed was low. Needle temperatures of unenclosed seedlings departed significantly from air temperature, and daytime needle temperatures of an enclosed seedling were similar to those of unenclosed seedling in low wind conditions. Nighttime needle temperatures of the enclosed seedling were lower than those of enclosed seedlings. An energy balance analysis was successfully applied to the needle temperature measurements of enclosed seedlings. When applied to enclosed seedlings this analysis sowed a considerable decrease in the amount of radiant energy transmitted by the polyethylene, primarily due to the reflection of 13% of the long wave radiation. The absorption by the seedling of emitted long wave radiation reflected by the enclosing polyethylene made it impossible to accurately predict the needle temperature of enclosed branches. A distinct, climatically influenced annual CO2 exchange regime was found with high rates of net CO2 absorption during non-freezing winter periods, and with low net CO2 absorption or net CO2 evolution during the hot, dry summer. With favorable environmental conditions high rates of net CO2 absorption were also measured during the spring and autumn seasons. Distinct daily regimes of CO2 exchange were found associated with specific environmental conditions. The measurements of CO2 exchange obtained from the enclosed branch were confirmed as representative by occasional enclosure and monitoring of the entire tree. %B Biological Science %I University of Arizona %V PhD %G eng %U http://ezproxy.library.arizona.edu/login?url=http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=756120291&sid=2&Fmt=1&clientId=43922&RQT=309&VName=PQD