SOCIAL SCIENCES.

Chair: Ann Marie Kinnell, University of Southern Mississippi

Vicechair: Emmanuel C. Nwagboso, Jackson State University 

THURSDAY AFTERNOON

Room 604

2:00 Joint Divisional Business Meeting of Psychology and Behavioral Neuroscience and Social Sciences

2:30 DETERMINING SUBSISTENCE STRATEGIES THROUGH ANALYSIS OF DENTAL WEAR AND CARIES 

Jennifer L. Hotzman, University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, MS 39406

Dentition can provide valuable information into the subsistence strategies of prehistoric groups by evaluating caries and tooth wear. The pattern of tooth wear and the number of caries will help to determine whether the group of people were hunter and gatherers or whether they practiced agriculture. Thirty-nine burials were analyzed from Williams Landing Site(1JA306) located on the west bank of the Guntersville Resorvoir, Jackson County, Alabama. Dental caries were scored based on the size and location of the caries. Dental wear was scored using two different systems. Molars were scored using the system developed by Scott, whereas the other classifications of teeth were scored based on a modified version of the Murphy system. There is currently a dispute over the time period of this site. The analyses conducted should help to determine more accurately the time period. Preliminary analyses show that this population could be a Woodland Site, although further investigations could show that it is Mississippian.

2:50 BRING IT ALL BACK HOME: LOCATING THE PLACE IN IRISH TRADITIONAL MUSIC

Valerie A. Plested, University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, MS 39406

Emmanuel Wallerstein (1992) states that people in the midst of creating a national identity erect a set of symbols and ideas that lend authority to the identity they create. The concept of a cultural "place" figures prominently in the maintenance of ethnic identity. Irish traditional music, indigenous to rural villages and townships, mirrors aspects of folk life and archives folk memory. Originally a local phenomenon, traditional dance music has strong ties to its particular locale: tune titles often cite a town or geographic feature, certain regions favor particular tune type, etc. Recently, it has enjoyed resurgence in popularity both within Ireland and worldwide. This paper examines prominent Irish musicians' interpretations of the primacy and authority of place in Irish traditional music and the effects the globalization of Irish music has on it.

3:10 DOCUMENTING AMATEUR EXCAVATION OF A MOCK FORENSIC CASE

Kristi E. Turner, University of Southern Mississippi Hattiesburg, MS 39406

This paper examines the patterns of excavation scars left on bone by student workers in a mock forensic setting. Such patterns are of importance since they can be potentially misidentified as trauma or pathology. All postmortem trauma indicated by the bones of two adult cows and a fetal calf was documented prior to student excavation. The bones were then incorporated into a burial setting. Suggestive of homicide, a fetal calf was incorporated into the grave of one adult female cow actually known to have died during childbirth. After classroom instruction of techniques the students excavated the graves in two distinct fashions- The first is known as pedestaling, in which a trench is dug next to the grave and the bones can be dug around. The second method of excavation was carried out by digging directly down on top of the grave. Upon observation of the excavated bones, a large number of trowel scratches were seen especially on projecting ends and areas first encountered stratigraphically. We conclude that exp erience in excavation is of vital importance in teaching correct methods of forensic excavation.