Lambda Alpha Journal of Man, v.16, no.1, 1984
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The Lambda Alpha Journal of Man is published annually by the Lambda Alpha Anthropology Honors Society at Wichita State University. The Journal of Man is partially funded by the Wichita State University Student Government Association.
Editor-In-Chief : Dr. Wayne L. Parris
Student Editors : Ronnie Breth and
Bill Walker
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Item Lambda Alpha Journal of Man, v.16, no.1 (complete version)(Lambda Alpha Anthropology Honors Society at Wichita State University, 1984) Lambda Alpha National Collegiate Honors Society for AnthropologyThis issue consists of four articles: An Analysis of Voids in Ceramics by David Hill; The Berdache as Shaman: An Analysis by P. Christiaan Klieger; The Tobin Site - 36Cw27: An Archaic Manifestation in Northwest Pennsylvania by Charles R. Jenkins; and Bitch: An Example of Semantic Development and Change by Charles A. Collins.Item An analysis of voids in ceramics(Lambda Alpha Anthropology Honors Society at Wichita State University, 1984) Hill, DavidCompression voids caused by the presence of air trapped during the kneading process and given their preferred orientation by paddling are found in cerawics throughout the ceramic sequence with few exceptions. These exceptions in Peisker, Hopewell, and Baeher/Pike sherds may be due to greater pressure exerted on the clay during vessel thinning. The rarity of compression voids in Mississippian ceramics requires another explanation. Paddle and anvil thinning is suggested in Mississippian ceramics by the strong orientation of the temper particles. Mushroom shaped pottery anvils have been recovered from Mississippian sites in the lower Illinois River Valley. In Mississippian vessels there are air pockets whic~1 are only slightly oriented parallel to the vessel walls. This may indicate the use of larger-diameter coils in the construction of Mississippian vessels. The use of larger coils would make a thicker pot, if the coils were not compressed very much, and therefore would not deform the air pockets to any great extent. Drying cracks ~re found in ceramics of all periods but are less common in -Hopewell and Mississippian ceramics, indicating better control over the amount of temper used versus the amount of shrinkage expect'ed in the clay. It is interesting to note that the ceramic type with the most drying cracks, White Hall ware, also was the most abundantly tempered. This may indicate a change in clay resource utilization from the source used at an earlier period . and learning to cope wita a- .moister cl!"iY. Leaching voids are present only in limestone-tempered ceramics and often have some limestone occupying a much larger void. These voids are found in most limestone-tempered sherds. Ceramics from the lower Illinois River Valley have, throughout their history, been formed by coiling and the coil built to walls thinned by the use of paddle and anvil. Other methods of vessel-shaping were products of a combination of individual potters' desires and the culture which produced the potters.Item The Berdache as shaman: an analysis(Lambda Alpha Anthropology Honors Society at Wichita State University, 1984) Klieger, P. ChristiaanThe phenomenon of berdache sexual inversion among the Northern Plains Indians continues to be both a source of interest and confusion for anthropologists. Early ethnohistoric literature and later causal analyses of the role of the berdache have tended to be biased by either western morality or western psychological paradigms. This problem was clearly described by Blakeslee (1979). Yet even recent interpretations have tended to circumvent the issues of role transgression in regards to the maintenance of the role in Plains cultures and the ritualistic importance of the berdache to those groups. What has been missing in the analysis of the berdache is the process of native conceptualization of sex roles and the process by which these cultures accommodate individuals who do not conform to the norm. A comparative analysis of belief systems can be useful in demonstrating the integration of atypical roles into society, for it appears that the berdache is intimately associated with shamanism.Item The Tobin site - 36Cw27: an archaic manifestation in northwest Pennsylvania(Lambda Alpha Anthropology Honors Society at Wichita State University, 1984) Jenkins, Charles R.Author presents the results of arhaeological excavations of the Tobin Site and concludes that this site represents a summer camp of a small band or extended family group of the Brewerton or closely related culture of the Late Archaic period. Illustrations and maps are included.Item Bitch: an example of semantic development and change(Lambda Alpha Anthropology Honors Society at Wichita State University, 1984) Collins, Charles A.Perhaps the most undisputable statement which can be made about language is that it changes. This process of change has occurred since the beginning of spoken language and most definitely remains active in the present day. Change may happen on several linguistic levels but most often concerns syntax, morphemics, 9honetics, or semantics. The most common language change, according to Liles, is in a texical item or, more simply stated, in the meanings we assign to words (1975:286). New words may be added, old words may disappear, functions may change, features may be added, new dimensions of meaning may appear, or any other unforeseeable change may o~cur, for change is not limited to one type and is totally unpredictable in nature. In fact, Wardhaugh states that the process of change is predictable only in that certain kinds of things happen and these things happen slowly (1972:185). With this in mind, all that a student of language change can do is attempt to note past changes, what they were and what possibly prompted them into being. It is according to this thinking that, in this paper, I investigate the several meanings of one word, "bitch," which is extremely common in American vocabularies. I will show not only what it has meant through the years, but also what might be the ideas behind the changes in this particular lexical item. To best do this, it is beneficial to look first at some of the theory regarding the ways in which language accomplished meaning changes as well as at a few ideas regarding the interaction of word meanings with cultural environments.