Jeff Boyer | USDA - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Jeff Boyer
International Journal of Paleopathology, 2017
Ancestral Puebloan people in the North American Southwest suffered high rates of disease, poor he... more Ancestral Puebloan people in the North American Southwest suffered high rates of disease, poor health, and early age-at-death. Four individuals with skeletal expressions of cancer were found in a pre-Columbian population in the Taos Valley-Reports of malignant neoplasms in the archaeological record are uncommon and their presence in four of 82 individuals is a high occurrence. This study continues Whitley and Boyer's (2012) research testing whether concentrations of ionizing radiation were sufficiently high to induce cancer and related health issues. Access to a preserved and partly reconstructed subterranean pit structure inhabited between AD 1120 and 1170, allows us to test radon concentrations in a residential dwelling. This study found radon occurring in high levels, 19.4-20.3 pCi/L (717.8-751.1 Bq/m 3) within the structure. Epidemiological reports are inconsistent when linking specific cancers and radon exposure. However, this study can control for many of the confounding factors plaguing other studies, provide unique data that have the potential to initiate dialogue on the etiology of neoplastic disease in the American Southwest, and add new dimensions to the study of the living conditions and health of the Ancestral Puebloans and their descendants.
Bulletin of the History of Archaeology, 2013
International Journal of Paleopathology, 2017
Ancestral Puebloan people in the North American Southwest suffered high rates of disease, poor he... more Ancestral Puebloan people in the North American Southwest suffered high rates of disease, poor health, and early age-at-death. Four individuals with skeletal expressions of cancer were found in a pre-Columbian population in the Taos Valley-Reports of malignant neoplasms in the archaeological record are uncommon and their presence in four of 82 individuals is a high occurrence. This study continues Whitley and Boyer's (2012) research testing whether concentrations of ionizing radiation were sufficiently high to induce cancer and related health issues. Access to a preserved and partly reconstructed subterranean pit structure inhabited between AD 1120 and 1170, allows us to test radon concentrations in a residential dwelling. This study found radon occurring in high levels, 19.4–20.3 pCi/L (717.8–751.1 Bq/m 3) within the structure. Epidemiological reports are inconsistent when linking specific cancers and radon exposure. However, this study can control for many of the confounding factors plaguing other studies, provide unique data that have the potential to initiate dialogue on the etiology of neoplastic disease in the American Southwest, and add new dimensions to the study of the living conditions and health of the Ancestral Puebloans and their descendants.
Chasing Chaco and the Southwest: Papers in Honor of Frances Joan Mathien, 2008
Examinations of prehistoric puebloan community organization have often relied on definitions of p... more Examinations of prehistoric puebloan community organization have often relied on definitions of population size and aggregation. Others have argued that certain structures, identified by different characteristics as "kivas," served to integrate communities or portions of communities. Both arguments ignore the vital roles played by central areas within communities as locations of activities that integrate community members. LA 391 is one of a group of Developmental Period puebloan sites, similar to other groups of sites in the Tewa Basin of New Mexico's northern Rio Grande Valley, that includes surface and subsurface residential structures. Recent excavations at LA 391 revealed features that suggest the site was used repeatedly, over many years, as a location of sets of similar activities involving a population larger than the occupants of the one or two pit structures at the site. The site may have functioned as an incipient "plaza," a central place in a community of semi-sedentary residents of relatively short-lived structures. If so, this location identifies a focus of community integration and suggests a previously undefined level of community organization in this early puebloan period.
Among the many impacts of Spanish Euroamericans on Rio Grande Puebloans were the attempts to shap... more Among the many impacts of Spanish Euroamericans on Rio Grande Puebloans were the attempts to shape Puebloan communities into forms that fit Spanish concepts of appropriate community organization. At Taos Pueblo, those attempts resulted materially in the imposition of the pueblo's league, or square land grant, which contrasted distinctly with the circular Taos Pueblo "world." They also resulted in the construction, probably in the mid 1700s, of the wall surrounding the pueblo, which created a community form resembling a European castle or fortified town, and which disrupted the "balance" of the pueblo community features.
Between the Mountains, Beyond the Mountains: Papers in Honor of Paul R. Williams, 2009
Glen Canyon, Legislative Struggles, and Contract Archaeology: Papers in Honor of Carol J. Condie, 2012
The RANCHO of Don Vicente Valdez, near Cuyamungue in north-central New Mexico, is a large compo... more The RANCHO of Don Vicente Valdez, near Cuyamungue in north-central New Mexico, is a large compound of fi ve residential and other structures dating from at least 1828, when Valdez acquired the land, to 1868 when he died, ending occupation of the rancho. Archaeological investigations at the site, LA 4968, conducted by the Offi ce of Archaeological Studies in 2002 prior to NMDOT reconstruction of US 84/285, involved a remodeled house, two small circular structures, and several trash deposits. Among the thousands of artifacts recovered are three thin, narrow-stemmed, ferrous metal projectile points ( ). As I investigated the context of the points, it became clear that thin, ferrous metal points are much more common on Native American sites in New Mexico than on Hispanic sites. 1 Further, the only recorded evidence I could fi nd for manufacture of thin metal points comes from Native American contexts. 2 In this venue, I present information for Native American manufacture of thin metal points
Books by Jeff Boyer
Scholar of the City Different: Papers in Honor of Cordelia Thomas Snow, 2019
The Multifacted Forester: Papers in Honor of John S. Hayden, 2015
History and Archaeology—Connecting the Dots: Papers in Honor of David H. Snow, 2016
Leaving Mesa Verde, Kohler et al. 2010
International Journal of Paleopathology, 2017
Ancestral Puebloan people in the North American Southwest suffered high rates of disease, poor he... more Ancestral Puebloan people in the North American Southwest suffered high rates of disease, poor health, and early age-at-death. Four individuals with skeletal expressions of cancer were found in a pre-Columbian population in the Taos Valley-Reports of malignant neoplasms in the archaeological record are uncommon and their presence in four of 82 individuals is a high occurrence. This study continues Whitley and Boyer's (2012) research testing whether concentrations of ionizing radiation were sufficiently high to induce cancer and related health issues. Access to a preserved and partly reconstructed subterranean pit structure inhabited between AD 1120 and 1170, allows us to test radon concentrations in a residential dwelling. This study found radon occurring in high levels, 19.4-20.3 pCi/L (717.8-751.1 Bq/m 3) within the structure. Epidemiological reports are inconsistent when linking specific cancers and radon exposure. However, this study can control for many of the confounding factors plaguing other studies, provide unique data that have the potential to initiate dialogue on the etiology of neoplastic disease in the American Southwest, and add new dimensions to the study of the living conditions and health of the Ancestral Puebloans and their descendants.
Bulletin of the History of Archaeology, 2013
International Journal of Paleopathology, 2017
Ancestral Puebloan people in the North American Southwest suffered high rates of disease, poor he... more Ancestral Puebloan people in the North American Southwest suffered high rates of disease, poor health, and early age-at-death. Four individuals with skeletal expressions of cancer were found in a pre-Columbian population in the Taos Valley-Reports of malignant neoplasms in the archaeological record are uncommon and their presence in four of 82 individuals is a high occurrence. This study continues Whitley and Boyer's (2012) research testing whether concentrations of ionizing radiation were sufficiently high to induce cancer and related health issues. Access to a preserved and partly reconstructed subterranean pit structure inhabited between AD 1120 and 1170, allows us to test radon concentrations in a residential dwelling. This study found radon occurring in high levels, 19.4–20.3 pCi/L (717.8–751.1 Bq/m 3) within the structure. Epidemiological reports are inconsistent when linking specific cancers and radon exposure. However, this study can control for many of the confounding factors plaguing other studies, provide unique data that have the potential to initiate dialogue on the etiology of neoplastic disease in the American Southwest, and add new dimensions to the study of the living conditions and health of the Ancestral Puebloans and their descendants.
Chasing Chaco and the Southwest: Papers in Honor of Frances Joan Mathien, 2008
Examinations of prehistoric puebloan community organization have often relied on definitions of p... more Examinations of prehistoric puebloan community organization have often relied on definitions of population size and aggregation. Others have argued that certain structures, identified by different characteristics as "kivas," served to integrate communities or portions of communities. Both arguments ignore the vital roles played by central areas within communities as locations of activities that integrate community members. LA 391 is one of a group of Developmental Period puebloan sites, similar to other groups of sites in the Tewa Basin of New Mexico's northern Rio Grande Valley, that includes surface and subsurface residential structures. Recent excavations at LA 391 revealed features that suggest the site was used repeatedly, over many years, as a location of sets of similar activities involving a population larger than the occupants of the one or two pit structures at the site. The site may have functioned as an incipient "plaza," a central place in a community of semi-sedentary residents of relatively short-lived structures. If so, this location identifies a focus of community integration and suggests a previously undefined level of community organization in this early puebloan period.
Among the many impacts of Spanish Euroamericans on Rio Grande Puebloans were the attempts to shap... more Among the many impacts of Spanish Euroamericans on Rio Grande Puebloans were the attempts to shape Puebloan communities into forms that fit Spanish concepts of appropriate community organization. At Taos Pueblo, those attempts resulted materially in the imposition of the pueblo's league, or square land grant, which contrasted distinctly with the circular Taos Pueblo "world." They also resulted in the construction, probably in the mid 1700s, of the wall surrounding the pueblo, which created a community form resembling a European castle or fortified town, and which disrupted the "balance" of the pueblo community features.
Between the Mountains, Beyond the Mountains: Papers in Honor of Paul R. Williams, 2009
Glen Canyon, Legislative Struggles, and Contract Archaeology: Papers in Honor of Carol J. Condie, 2012
The RANCHO of Don Vicente Valdez, near Cuyamungue in north-central New Mexico, is a large compo... more The RANCHO of Don Vicente Valdez, near Cuyamungue in north-central New Mexico, is a large compound of fi ve residential and other structures dating from at least 1828, when Valdez acquired the land, to 1868 when he died, ending occupation of the rancho. Archaeological investigations at the site, LA 4968, conducted by the Offi ce of Archaeological Studies in 2002 prior to NMDOT reconstruction of US 84/285, involved a remodeled house, two small circular structures, and several trash deposits. Among the thousands of artifacts recovered are three thin, narrow-stemmed, ferrous metal projectile points ( ). As I investigated the context of the points, it became clear that thin, ferrous metal points are much more common on Native American sites in New Mexico than on Hispanic sites. 1 Further, the only recorded evidence I could fi nd for manufacture of thin metal points comes from Native American contexts. 2 In this venue, I present information for Native American manufacture of thin metal points
Scholar of the City Different: Papers in Honor of Cordelia Thomas Snow, 2019
The Multifacted Forester: Papers in Honor of John S. Hayden, 2015
History and Archaeology—Connecting the Dots: Papers in Honor of David H. Snow, 2016
Leaving Mesa Verde, Kohler et al. 2010
ARCHAEOLOGY NOTES 164 SANTA FE 1997 NEW MEXICO ADMINISTRATIVE SUMMARY In 1992, the USDA Forest Se... more ARCHAEOLOGY NOTES 164 SANTA FE 1997 NEW MEXICO ADMINISTRATIVE SUMMARY In 1992, the USDA Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station awarded to the Office of Archaeological Studies (OAS), Museum of New Mexico, a grant to investigate the dating of the initial Anasazi occupation of the Taos District of north-central New Mexico. Archaeologists know this occupation as the Valdez phase. This report describes the results of the Dating the Valdez Phase project. Descriptions of the Valdez phase by archaeologists, including dates for the phase derived by cross-dating, are examined. The project research questions are then presented.
Lima de Abiquiú (LA 806) to yield information relevant to local prehistory and history. Santa Ros... more Lima de Abiquiú (LA 806) to yield information relevant to local prehistory and history. Santa Rosa de Lima de Abiquiú is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, but the part of the site investigated contained no subsurface cultural remains. Based on our findings, it was determined that no further investigations were needed in the section of the site within project boundaries.
Historical Archaeology, 2014
Presentation to Taos Historic Museums and Taos County Historical Society, August 2019