Lambda Alpha Journal, v.39, 2009

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https://hdl.handle.net/10057/3256

About the Lambda Alpha Journal

The Lambda Alpha Journal is a yearly publication of student papers by members of the Lambda Alpha National Collegiate Honors Society for Anthropology and is published at the Wichita State University Department of Anthropology. Professional, avocational, student manuscripts, and book reviews of recent publications are welcome. The journal is made possible through the efforts of the Journal editorial staff residing at the founding chapter, Alpha of Kansas . Funding for the Journal is obtained through subscriptions and continuing sponsorship by the Student Government Association of Wichita State University.

Editor in Chief : Dr. Peer H. Moore-Jansen

Founded by Dr. Lowell D. Holmes

Student-editors: Michelle Maynor and James Simmerman

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Recent Submissions

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    Lambda Alpha Journal, v.39 (complete version)
    (Wichita State University. Department of Anthropology, 2009) Lambda Alpha National Collegiate Honors Society for Anthropology
    LAJ v.39 presents five papers with topics in biological, archaeological and cultural anthropology, three book reviews, and abstracts of student papers presented at the 11th Annual Symposium of Lambda Alpha. The volume concludes with an updated list of chapters and advisors, followed by a recognition of past award recipients of the National Scholarship Award competition and the National Dean‘s List Scholarship.
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    Letter from the editor
    (Wichita State University. Department of Anthropology, 2009) Moore-Jansen, Peer H.
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    Practice, culture and belief among independent inventors: A preliminary study
    (Wichita State University. Department of Anthropology, 2009) Kostelnik, Michael B.; Beasley, Brian; DeBruhl, Darren; Morrow, Heidi; Holditch, Lauren; Sanner, Lindsey; Peterson, Scott; Wirth, Vanessa; Nyce, James M.
    This research looks at a number of cultural resources, material and ideological, inventors use to produce, justify and market inventions. While the sample is small, and limited to one particular kind of inventors, the study does raise some questions about how inventors have been portrayed in the literature. It also raises some issues about the kinds of policies and institutions public money is spent on in the US today, to encourage “to market” innovation and knowledge transfer.
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    Finding our way: Osage ribbonwork and revival
    (Wichita State University. Department of Anthropology, 2009) Powell, Jami
    Ribbonwork, the cutting and sewing of ribbons into geometric patterns, is practiced by various Plains Indian tribes, for example the Osage Nation of Oklahoma. The ribbonwork of the Osage is placed upon traditional clothing, generally worn today for ceremonial activities. Unfortunately, much of the meaning of the patterns and colors of ribbonwork has been lost due to the acculturation of the Osage tribe into more mainstream, Western culture. Today, ribbonwork has become a symbol of the Osage Nation and a marker of pride for its members. The material culture study of ribbonwork uncovers some of its traditional meanings and transformation over time.
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    Captive orangutan locomotion and its relation to the origin of human bipedalism
    (Wichita State University. Department of Anthropology, 2009) Putt, Shelby S.
    One of the prominent questions in paleoanthropological studies is the origin of bipedalism. There have been several hypotheses presented on the ancestral type of locomotion that predated bipedalism. These hypotheses include a terrestrial knuckle-walking quadrupedal ape, a brachiating hylobatid-like ancestor, a palmigrade terrestrial ape, and a climbing arboreal ape. Thorpe et al. present an extension to the climbing hypothesis with the data that they gathered from wild orangutans of the Gunung Leuser National Park in Sumatra, Indonesia (2006, 2007). They present the hypothesis that bipedalism originated with an arboreal ape similar to extant orangutans, and they provide that the orangutan locomotor data that they gathered supports this claim. This paper includes locomotor data that I collected from captive orangutans in the Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo. The two data sets are not correlative, but my observations of assisted and unassisted bipedalism in the captive orangutans lend some support to the climbing hypothesis. When considering the functional anatomy of the wrist and ankle of extant primates and extinct hominins, the answer still remains inconclusive.