Debra Martin - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Books by Debra Martin

Papers by Debra Martin

The Poetics of Processing: Memory Formation, Identity, and the Handling of the Dead

The 81st Annual Meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists, Portland, OR, 2012

The infant mortality rate was 3.8% in Japan and 6.8% in the United States in 1999. Even though th... more The infant mortality rate was 3.8% in Japan and 6.8% in the United States in 1999. Even though the maternal death rate per 100,000 people is 7.1% in both Japan and the U.S., how does Japan have such a low infant mortality rate? This paper will present a general understanding of the way childbearing is handled today by Japanese people in comparison to Americans, touching on controversial and important issues in both cultures.

Bioarchaeology of Women and Children in Times of War, 2017

In investigating the links between terror, violence, increasing inequalities, and poverty, anthro... more In investigating the links between terror, violence, increasing inequalities, and poverty, anthropologist Michael Taussig emphasizes the words of a social working trying to deal with the escalating violences he sees people trying to live within. He (the social worker) stated that the “…deeper you dig, the dirtier it gets; the web of connections, the tangled family histories of failure, abuse and neglect spread out in awesomely unmanageable proportions” (Taussig 2004:269).

o steoarthritis is among the oldest and most commonly known diseases af f l ic t ing humans. Flow... more o steoarthritis is among the oldest and most commonly known diseases af f l ic t ing humans. Flowever, the paleopathological diagnosis is complicated, for neither the causes nor an exact definition of various osseous manifestations of arthritic responses are clearly known for archaeological skeletal specimens. The problem of measuringsuch an elusive but commonly encountered pathology is compounded by many factors but remains inviting to anthropological researchers nonetheless.

Landscapes of Violence, 2012

Chaco Canyon's Room 33 (excavated by George Pepper) and Aztec Ruins room 178 (excavated by Earl M... more Chaco Canyon's Room 33 (excavated by George Pepper) and Aztec Ruins room 178 (excavated by Earl Morris) are recognized for their rich taphonomic context. These two mortuary features reveal a great deal of information about ritualized behavior. Researchers such as Akins and Palkovich have provided partial analyses of the Chaco skeletal material in the 1980s. The reanalysis of those remains considers the Chaco burials in relation to those at Aztec and analyzes their meaning through a thorough analysis of the grave goods, archaeological records, and ethnohistorical documents to provide a better understanding of these elaborate and unique mortuary rooms. Specifically, this study focuses on signatures of identity, biological, cultural, and socioeconomic. Biological identity markers include age, sex, and stature. Cultural identity includes mortuary context, graves goods, and site layout. Socioeconomic identity, which is the hardest to reconstruct is evidenced by the frequency and distribution of trauma related to exposure to violence, changes to anatomy related to unequal amounts of labor, and susceptibility to diseases over time. The result of looking at all these factors is that it is possible to reconstruct identity, such as Burial 3672 in Room 33. This male is especially intriguing because the burial shows evidence of extensive perimortem fractures on the cranium suggesting a violent death, and yet this is a very high status individual based on the stature and isotopic analysis as well as the grave offerings he was interred with. These kinds of taphonomic and mortuary features are explored.

SpringerBriefs in Anthropology, 2013

There are case studies from places such as China, the Canary Islands, Europe, and Southern Califo... more There are case studies from places such as China, the Canary Islands, Europe, and Southern California that appear to show increased levels of violence in the form of intergroup conflict, warfare, and, in extreme cases, cannibalism and genocide. These are explored in detail to demonstrate that even though there appears to have been an increase in the use of violence, often that increase was the result of a complexity of cultural and political factors, and not solely related to climate change per se. Thus, even when violence is recorded during periods of climate change, it is crucial that they be carefully looked at before using them to generate policies. There have been politically generated announcements that wealthy industrial countries will need to fortify their borders and redirect their attention to improving technological innovations that can increase the yield of agricultural crops on nonproductive land. An alternative to this, as history has shown, could be that nation states could cooperate (e.g., share resources, prevent further environmental degradation, and limit consumption) and avoid the need for closing borders and increasing conflicts. While we must be careful not to project modern ideals on to past peoples, these case studies provide alternative ways to think about the role of violence in any situation where groups feel threatened and fearful for their future. Violence certainly is used by groups throughout the past and present, but the underlying causes for that are complex, multiple, and rarely every tied to one variable such as climate or weather.

International Journal of Paleopathology, 2012

International Journal of Paleopathology, 2012

Increasing violence and inter-group conflict in the American Southwest is prevalent into the 13th... more Increasing violence and inter-group conflict in the American Southwest is prevalent into the 13th and 14th centuries AD. In the northern Mogollon region during this time period, the site of Grasshopper Pueblo experienced a shift in social organization as population movements occurred in response to regional stressors. The skeletal remains of 187 adult individuals from the site are analyzed for nonlethal and lethal trauma, musculoskeletal stress markers, and pathology as indicators of changing social dynamics. Nonlethal, healed trauma is present in all adult age groups and both sexes. Approximately one-third (n=63) of the population has healed cranial depression fractures. Females and males are fairly equal in the proportion of cranial injuries incurred; however more females are injured overall when post-cranial injuries are added. Musculoskeletal stress markers do not differ substantially among age groups or between sexes. Heavy musculature development is also similar for groups with and without cranial depression fractures. The results of this study suggest that interpersonal violence was ubiquitous within the pueblo and may have escalated as the community grew in size. Immigrants from other parts of the Southwest may have sought refuge at Grasshopper only to find that the community was experiencing its own social stress.

American Journal of Human Biology, 2010

This study explores the dynamic relationship between the introduction of agriculture and its effe... more This study explores the dynamic relationship between the introduction of agriculture and its effects on women's oral health by testing the hypothesis that female reproductive physiology contributes to an oral environment more susceptible to chronic oral disease and that, in a population undergoing the foraging to farming transition, females will exhibit a higher prevalence of oral pathology than males. This is tested by comparing the presence, location, and severity of caries lesions and antemortem tooth loss across groups of reproductive aged and postreproductive females (n = 71) against corresponding groups of males (n = 71) in an Early Agricultural period (1600 B.C.-A.D. 200) skeletal sample from northwest Mexico. Caries rates did not differ by sex across age groups in the sample; however, females were found to exhibit significantly more antemortem tooth loss than males (P > 0.01). Differences were initially minimal but increased by age cohort until postreproductive females experienced a considerable amount of tooth loss, during a life stage when the accumulation of bodily insults likely contributed to dental exfoliation. Higher caries rates in females are often cited as the result of gender differences and dietary disparities in agricultural communities. In an early farming community, with diets being relatively equal, women were found to experience similar caries expression but greater tooth loss. We believe this differential pattern of oral pathology provides new evidence in support of the interpretation that women's oral health is impacted by effects relating to reproductive biology.

The SAA archaeological record, 2012

La Cueva de Dos Cuchillos, near San Francisco de Borja, is a mortuary cave site in Chihuahua, Mex... more La Cueva de Dos Cuchillos, near San Francisco de Borja, is a mortuary cave site in Chihuahua, Mexico. Dating to the late Prehistoric period, commingled human skeletal remains were interred in this cave and are thought to belong to the Tarahumara cultural group. Skeletal analyses indicate that a minimum of 10 adults and 7 subadults were interred at this site. Of these, three individuals exhibited signs of perimortem trauma. This included chop marks on one adult male and perimortem neck fractures on two other individuals. In order to investigate these indications of violence and place the remains in the larger social and political landscape, archeological, ethnographic and ethnohistoric data on the Tarahumara and rehistoric Northern Mexico erimortem trauma other groups in the region was examined. This included information on intergroup interactions between the Tarahumara and other local cultures. The results of the analysis indicate that the wounds on these three individuals could be ...

The Poetics of Processing: Memory Formation, Identity, and the Handling of the Dead

The 81st Annual Meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists, Portland, OR, 2012

The infant mortality rate was 3.8% in Japan and 6.8% in the United States in 1999. Even though th... more The infant mortality rate was 3.8% in Japan and 6.8% in the United States in 1999. Even though the maternal death rate per 100,000 people is 7.1% in both Japan and the U.S., how does Japan have such a low infant mortality rate? This paper will present a general understanding of the way childbearing is handled today by Japanese people in comparison to Americans, touching on controversial and important issues in both cultures.

Bioarchaeology of Women and Children in Times of War, 2017

In investigating the links between terror, violence, increasing inequalities, and poverty, anthro... more In investigating the links between terror, violence, increasing inequalities, and poverty, anthropologist Michael Taussig emphasizes the words of a social working trying to deal with the escalating violences he sees people trying to live within. He (the social worker) stated that the “…deeper you dig, the dirtier it gets; the web of connections, the tangled family histories of failure, abuse and neglect spread out in awesomely unmanageable proportions” (Taussig 2004:269).

o steoarthritis is among the oldest and most commonly known diseases af f l ic t ing humans. Flow... more o steoarthritis is among the oldest and most commonly known diseases af f l ic t ing humans. Flowever, the paleopathological diagnosis is complicated, for neither the causes nor an exact definition of various osseous manifestations of arthritic responses are clearly known for archaeological skeletal specimens. The problem of measuringsuch an elusive but commonly encountered pathology is compounded by many factors but remains inviting to anthropological researchers nonetheless.

Landscapes of Violence, 2012

Chaco Canyon's Room 33 (excavated by George Pepper) and Aztec Ruins room 178 (excavated by Earl M... more Chaco Canyon's Room 33 (excavated by George Pepper) and Aztec Ruins room 178 (excavated by Earl Morris) are recognized for their rich taphonomic context. These two mortuary features reveal a great deal of information about ritualized behavior. Researchers such as Akins and Palkovich have provided partial analyses of the Chaco skeletal material in the 1980s. The reanalysis of those remains considers the Chaco burials in relation to those at Aztec and analyzes their meaning through a thorough analysis of the grave goods, archaeological records, and ethnohistorical documents to provide a better understanding of these elaborate and unique mortuary rooms. Specifically, this study focuses on signatures of identity, biological, cultural, and socioeconomic. Biological identity markers include age, sex, and stature. Cultural identity includes mortuary context, graves goods, and site layout. Socioeconomic identity, which is the hardest to reconstruct is evidenced by the frequency and distribution of trauma related to exposure to violence, changes to anatomy related to unequal amounts of labor, and susceptibility to diseases over time. The result of looking at all these factors is that it is possible to reconstruct identity, such as Burial 3672 in Room 33. This male is especially intriguing because the burial shows evidence of extensive perimortem fractures on the cranium suggesting a violent death, and yet this is a very high status individual based on the stature and isotopic analysis as well as the grave offerings he was interred with. These kinds of taphonomic and mortuary features are explored.

SpringerBriefs in Anthropology, 2013

There are case studies from places such as China, the Canary Islands, Europe, and Southern Califo... more There are case studies from places such as China, the Canary Islands, Europe, and Southern California that appear to show increased levels of violence in the form of intergroup conflict, warfare, and, in extreme cases, cannibalism and genocide. These are explored in detail to demonstrate that even though there appears to have been an increase in the use of violence, often that increase was the result of a complexity of cultural and political factors, and not solely related to climate change per se. Thus, even when violence is recorded during periods of climate change, it is crucial that they be carefully looked at before using them to generate policies. There have been politically generated announcements that wealthy industrial countries will need to fortify their borders and redirect their attention to improving technological innovations that can increase the yield of agricultural crops on nonproductive land. An alternative to this, as history has shown, could be that nation states could cooperate (e.g., share resources, prevent further environmental degradation, and limit consumption) and avoid the need for closing borders and increasing conflicts. While we must be careful not to project modern ideals on to past peoples, these case studies provide alternative ways to think about the role of violence in any situation where groups feel threatened and fearful for their future. Violence certainly is used by groups throughout the past and present, but the underlying causes for that are complex, multiple, and rarely every tied to one variable such as climate or weather.

International Journal of Paleopathology, 2012

International Journal of Paleopathology, 2012

Increasing violence and inter-group conflict in the American Southwest is prevalent into the 13th... more Increasing violence and inter-group conflict in the American Southwest is prevalent into the 13th and 14th centuries AD. In the northern Mogollon region during this time period, the site of Grasshopper Pueblo experienced a shift in social organization as population movements occurred in response to regional stressors. The skeletal remains of 187 adult individuals from the site are analyzed for nonlethal and lethal trauma, musculoskeletal stress markers, and pathology as indicators of changing social dynamics. Nonlethal, healed trauma is present in all adult age groups and both sexes. Approximately one-third (n=63) of the population has healed cranial depression fractures. Females and males are fairly equal in the proportion of cranial injuries incurred; however more females are injured overall when post-cranial injuries are added. Musculoskeletal stress markers do not differ substantially among age groups or between sexes. Heavy musculature development is also similar for groups with and without cranial depression fractures. The results of this study suggest that interpersonal violence was ubiquitous within the pueblo and may have escalated as the community grew in size. Immigrants from other parts of the Southwest may have sought refuge at Grasshopper only to find that the community was experiencing its own social stress.

American Journal of Human Biology, 2010

This study explores the dynamic relationship between the introduction of agriculture and its effe... more This study explores the dynamic relationship between the introduction of agriculture and its effects on women's oral health by testing the hypothesis that female reproductive physiology contributes to an oral environment more susceptible to chronic oral disease and that, in a population undergoing the foraging to farming transition, females will exhibit a higher prevalence of oral pathology than males. This is tested by comparing the presence, location, and severity of caries lesions and antemortem tooth loss across groups of reproductive aged and postreproductive females (n = 71) against corresponding groups of males (n = 71) in an Early Agricultural period (1600 B.C.-A.D. 200) skeletal sample from northwest Mexico. Caries rates did not differ by sex across age groups in the sample; however, females were found to exhibit significantly more antemortem tooth loss than males (P > 0.01). Differences were initially minimal but increased by age cohort until postreproductive females experienced a considerable amount of tooth loss, during a life stage when the accumulation of bodily insults likely contributed to dental exfoliation. Higher caries rates in females are often cited as the result of gender differences and dietary disparities in agricultural communities. In an early farming community, with diets being relatively equal, women were found to experience similar caries expression but greater tooth loss. We believe this differential pattern of oral pathology provides new evidence in support of the interpretation that women's oral health is impacted by effects relating to reproductive biology.

The SAA archaeological record, 2012

La Cueva de Dos Cuchillos, near San Francisco de Borja, is a mortuary cave site in Chihuahua, Mex... more La Cueva de Dos Cuchillos, near San Francisco de Borja, is a mortuary cave site in Chihuahua, Mexico. Dating to the late Prehistoric period, commingled human skeletal remains were interred in this cave and are thought to belong to the Tarahumara cultural group. Skeletal analyses indicate that a minimum of 10 adults and 7 subadults were interred at this site. Of these, three individuals exhibited signs of perimortem trauma. This included chop marks on one adult male and perimortem neck fractures on two other individuals. In order to investigate these indications of violence and place the remains in the larger social and political landscape, archeological, ethnographic and ethnohistoric data on the Tarahumara and rehistoric Northern Mexico erimortem trauma other groups in the region was examined. This included information on intergroup interactions between the Tarahumara and other local cultures. The results of the analysis indicate that the wounds on these three individuals could be ...