Lucille Harris - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Lucille Harris
The Evolution of Social Institutions, 2020
This research explores the changing nature of social organization associated with the growth and ... more This research explores the changing nature of social organization associated with the growth and breakup of large nucleated hunter-gatherer winter settlements in the Mid-Fraser region of southcentral British Columbia, ca. 2000-300 cal. B.P. It uses hierarchy and heterarchy as overarching conceptual frameworks for theorizing and evaluating structures of social and political organization. Regional radiocarbon data were used to examine issues of demography and to evaluate the role of scalar stress in producing social change in these burgeoning communities. In order to explore aspects of economic practice and wealth distribution over time artifacts, fauna, and features from sixteen different housepits from five different village sites near the present-day town of Lillooet, British Columbia were analyzed. Results suggest that the villages formed around 1800 cal. B.P. and attained peak population ca. 1200 cal. B.P. The onset of the Medieval Climatic Anomaly at that time altered resource conditions, resulting in greater reliance on mammalian rather than riverine resources. Increased pressure on these resources led to the incorporation of greater amounts of small bodied mammals after 1000 cal. B.P. Apparent declining numbers of houses within large villages after 1200 cal. B.P. suggest that village abandonment began at this time, with individual families likely settling in dispersed villages. This research would not have been possible, or successful, without the help and support of a number of individuals and institutions. First and foremost, this research was funded by the Wenner-Gren Foundation (Dissertation Fieldwork Grant #7788) and the Department of Anthropology, School of Graduate Studies, University of Toronto. I would like to gratefully acknowledge Arnoud Stryd, who kindly suggested I incorporate data he collected in the 1970s into this research. This easily doubled the number of housepits that I could use and contributed to many insights that would otherwise have gone unnoticed in a smaller sample. Stemming from this, I would like the acknowledge the Royal British Columbia Museum, which houses Stryd's collections, and Martina Steffan, and Grant Keddie for facilitating access to the artifacts and field notes. My time in the museum was easily one of the important and illuminating experiences of my graduate career. While I was away from my home institution I was helped and supported by a number of individuals. Primary among these is Dr. Anna Prentiss, who many years ago introduced me to the archaeology of the Plateau and who over the years has helped me in more ways than I can begin to enumerate. She also kindly permitted me to use the Bridge River data. Chuck Harris and the Social Science Research Laboratory at the University of Montana provided office space and much needed technical support. The members of the U of T Lithics Workgroup sat through several sessions of me pontificating on my theories on expedient flake tools (thanks…and sorry). But when it comes to the content herein, several individuals deserve recognition. My friend and colleague Andrew Riddle and my husband Michael Wanzenried have been constant pillars of support and allowed and even encouraged me to talk endlessly about my dissertation, a subject which decidedly does not merit so many hours of discussion. Andrew has repeatedly helped me resolve technical and methodological issues as they arose in the course of this research. Michael has helped me refine many of these ideas and allowed his mapping skills to be ruthlessly exploited in the production of many graphics. My committee members also deserve mention for without them, their keen editorial skills, and their insightful comments this document would not be what it is. Any errors herein are my own. Finally, my family has helped over the years with love, encouragement, and emotional support. I would like to dedicate this achievement to my grandmother, Arlene Harris, who has been the single most vocal advocate for education in my family and who has truly taught me what it means to have more sisu than sense. v
Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 2007
This article was originally published in a journal published by Elsevier, and the attached copy i... more This article was originally published in a journal published by Elsevier, and the attached copy is provided by Elsevier for the author's benefit and for the benefit of the author's institution, for non-commercial research and educational use including without limitation use in instruction at your institution, sending it to specific colleagues that you know, and providing a copy to your institution's administrator.
American Antiquity, 2012
A fundamental problem for anthropological archaeology lies in defining and explaining the evoluti... more A fundamental problem for anthropological archaeology lies in defining and explaining the evolutionary origins of social inequality. Researchers have offered a range of models emphasizing variability in the roles of managers, aggrandizers, ecological variability, and historical contexts. Recent studies suggest that the form of emergent inequality may have varied significantly between groups, implying that pathways to inequality may have varied as well. Unfortunately it has been difficult to test many of these models using archaeological data given their requirements for fine-grained assessments of spatiotemporal variability in many data classes. Recent research at the Bridge River site in British Columbia provides the opportunity to explore the utility of a range of explanatory models associated with early social inequality. Results of the study suggest that inequality, measured as significant variability in accumulation of a range of material wealth items, came late to the Bridge R...
The Evolution of Social Institutions, 2020
This research explores the changing nature of social organization associated with the growth and ... more This research explores the changing nature of social organization associated with the growth and breakup of large nucleated hunter-gatherer winter settlements in the Mid-Fraser region of southcentral British Columbia, ca. 2000-300 cal. B.P. It uses hierarchy and heterarchy as overarching conceptual frameworks for theorizing and evaluating structures of social and political organization. Regional radiocarbon data were used to examine issues of demography and to evaluate the role of scalar stress in producing social change in these burgeoning communities. In order to explore aspects of economic practice and wealth distribution over time artifacts, fauna, and features from sixteen different housepits from five different village sites near the present-day town of Lillooet, British Columbia were analyzed. Results suggest that the villages formed around 1800 cal. B.P. and attained peak population ca. 1200 cal. B.P. The onset of the Medieval Climatic Anomaly at that time altered resource conditions, resulting in greater reliance on mammalian rather than riverine resources. Increased pressure on these resources led to the incorporation of greater amounts of small bodied mammals after 1000 cal. B.P. Apparent declining numbers of houses within large villages after 1200 cal. B.P. suggest that village abandonment began at this time, with individual families likely settling in dispersed villages. This research would not have been possible, or successful, without the help and support of a number of individuals and institutions. First and foremost, this research was funded by the Wenner-Gren Foundation (Dissertation Fieldwork Grant #7788) and the Department of Anthropology, School of Graduate Studies, University of Toronto. I would like to gratefully acknowledge Arnoud Stryd, who kindly suggested I incorporate data he collected in the 1970s into this research. This easily doubled the number of housepits that I could use and contributed to many insights that would otherwise have gone unnoticed in a smaller sample. Stemming from this, I would like the acknowledge the Royal British Columbia Museum, which houses Stryd's collections, and Martina Steffan, and Grant Keddie for facilitating access to the artifacts and field notes. My time in the museum was easily one of the important and illuminating experiences of my graduate career. While I was away from my home institution I was helped and supported by a number of individuals. Primary among these is Dr. Anna Prentiss, who many years ago introduced me to the archaeology of the Plateau and who over the years has helped me in more ways than I can begin to enumerate. She also kindly permitted me to use the Bridge River data. Chuck Harris and the Social Science Research Laboratory at the University of Montana provided office space and much needed technical support. The members of the U of T Lithics Workgroup sat through several sessions of me pontificating on my theories on expedient flake tools (thanks…and sorry). But when it comes to the content herein, several individuals deserve recognition. My friend and colleague Andrew Riddle and my husband Michael Wanzenried have been constant pillars of support and allowed and even encouraged me to talk endlessly about my dissertation, a subject which decidedly does not merit so many hours of discussion. Andrew has repeatedly helped me resolve technical and methodological issues as they arose in the course of this research. Michael has helped me refine many of these ideas and allowed his mapping skills to be ruthlessly exploited in the production of many graphics. My committee members also deserve mention for without them, their keen editorial skills, and their insightful comments this document would not be what it is. Any errors herein are my own. Finally, my family has helped over the years with love, encouragement, and emotional support. I would like to dedicate this achievement to my grandmother, Arlene Harris, who has been the single most vocal advocate for education in my family and who has truly taught me what it means to have more sisu than sense. v
Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 2007
This article was originally published in a journal published by Elsevier, and the attached copy i... more This article was originally published in a journal published by Elsevier, and the attached copy is provided by Elsevier for the author's benefit and for the benefit of the author's institution, for non-commercial research and educational use including without limitation use in instruction at your institution, sending it to specific colleagues that you know, and providing a copy to your institution's administrator.
American Antiquity, 2012
A fundamental problem for anthropological archaeology lies in defining and explaining the evoluti... more A fundamental problem for anthropological archaeology lies in defining and explaining the evolutionary origins of social inequality. Researchers have offered a range of models emphasizing variability in the roles of managers, aggrandizers, ecological variability, and historical contexts. Recent studies suggest that the form of emergent inequality may have varied significantly between groups, implying that pathways to inequality may have varied as well. Unfortunately it has been difficult to test many of these models using archaeological data given their requirements for fine-grained assessments of spatiotemporal variability in many data classes. Recent research at the Bridge River site in British Columbia provides the opportunity to explore the utility of a range of explanatory models associated with early social inequality. Results of the study suggest that inequality, measured as significant variability in accumulation of a range of material wealth items, came late to the Bridge R...