Anthropology

Coal mining generated enormous quantities of waste, including small pieces of unburnt coal and other non-economic materials. Waste from mines entered the Susquehanna River, mixed with naturally occurring sediments, and formed deposits of coal silt along the banks and mid-channel islands of the river. To understand the effect of coal silt on the river, I use processual archaeology to characterize and examine the Anthropocene – an informal geologic era defined by human induced changes to Earth’s ecosystems. What led to unburnt coal in the Susquehanna River? When did unburnt coal enter the Susquehanna River? I used data collected during a ten-week internship to answer these questions and define the occurrence and chronology of deposits of coal silt along the river. Archaeologists generally agree deposits of coal silt date to the late nineteenth century, but fine-tuning the date of deposition is not easy (Stinchcomb et al. 2013). To help solve the problem, I investigated two archaeological sites along the river – Fort Halifax and Calver Island. This thesis highlights reasons why archaeologists should take deposits of coal silt seriously. Considering the importance of energy to human economic and social life and the urgency of addressing contemporary energy problems, this thesis draws on evidence from the stratigraphic record to incorporate anthropological and archaeological
perspectives for studying the past, present, and future of energy development and industrialization.

In this paper, I center my thoughts around five themes: 1) How lava stopped just short of the Pāhoa transfer station; 2) How lava threatens to cover the Pāhoa Village Road and Highway 130; 3) How the PLF caused business closures in the Pāhoa Marketplace and old downtown Pāhoa; 4) The outward movement of community members; and last, 5) My thoughts about the future of Pāhoa. These example are meant to give a basic discussion and relate them directly to community members experiencing the lava flow.

This paper describes the changes that took place from the Archaic to the Early Agricultural period in terms of subsistence, mobility, material culture, and social organization and  the ways in which the lifeways of the Late Archaic prepared human groups for the adoption of agriculture.

Theoretical discussions revolving around British social anthropology and American cultural anthropology remain relevant to contemporary studies of social theory. An exploration into the contexts of social theories gives the reader a more complete idea of how and why the theory forms. Theories about culture develop and change over time. A theory will emerge from previous theories and progressively change over time, making the topic of social theory a unique subject of inquiry.