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- ItemOpen AccessWildfires and precipitation in the lowlands of Guatemala: an analysis of precipitation and vegetation indices as potential wildfire drivers(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2023) Malaker, Tanmoy, author; Leisz, Stephen J., advisor; Pons, Diego, committee member; Stevens-Rumann, Camille, committee memberWildfire is an inevitable natural disaster that is considered exclusive to dry and temperate regions. However, the increasing wildfire occurrences in tropical and humid forest regions urge us to investigate the drivers of this natural phenomenon for a humid forest region. Although wildfire is inevitable, it can be managed with proper strategies; thus, identifying the drivers of wildfire in humid and tropical regions is imperative. This thesis focuses on identifying the role of precipitation as a driver for wildfire occurrences and fuel generation for fires in a humid forest ecological system in the lowlands of Guatemala (Petén). Using the data library and cloud computation system of the International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI), INAB (Instituto Nacional de Bosques/Guatemala's Forest Authority) fire records for Guatemala, and geospatial tools like GIS and Google Earth Engine, the thesis identifies the influence of precipitation on vegetation and wildfires in Petén. The findings suggest that precipitation's influence on Petén's wildfires is two-dimensional. Precipitation influences vegetation or total fuel generation and fire occurrences by influencing fuel availability by influencing green-up and the dry down of fuels in a humid forest ecosystem. This two-dimensional influence makes precipitation one of the most critical drivers of wildfire for tropical-humid forest ecology. Besides the seasonal accumulative precipitation, the precipitation pattern and amount at different times within a preceding season of the fire months highly influence vegetation conditions and fire frequencies. The findings also suggest that seasonal precipitation forecasting could potentially be a tool for wildfire management and forecasting.
- ItemOpen Access5000 years at Crow's Roost in eastern Colorado(Colorado State University. Libraries, 1992) McDonald, Robert A., author; Jennings, Calvin H., advisor; Leyendecker, Liston, committee member; Zier, Christian, committee member; Theodoratus, Robert, committee memberMany areas on the high Plains of eastern Colorado have had little prehistoric research conducted on them. One of the areas where there is insufficient information about local prehistory is the area between the two major river drainages, the Arkansas and the Platte. Crow's Roost, a large sandstone cliff, located east of Colorado Springs, Colorado, is situated near this dividing line, known as the Palmer Divide. A series of prehistoric sites at Crow's Roost has been investigated over a period of five years by the Anthropology Department, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. These investigations indicate that there has been prehistoric occupation at this locality dating back at least 5400 years. This study presents an interpretation of the culture history, and of recent paleoclimatic fluctuations for this locality.
- ItemOpen AccessAn examination of Middle Woodland pre-mound contexts in the Ohio and southeast regions(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2023) King, Artemis, author; Henry, Edward, advisor; Hausermann, Heidi, committee member; Riep, David, committee memberMounds are one of the oldest forms of monumental architecture in North America and have been the fascination of archaeologists and antiquarians for centuries due to their large scale and association with intricate craft goods. However, much research into mounds has focused on their use as repositories for human remains or as potential platforms for elite housing and other architecture. This is true of the Hopewell archaeological culture of the Middle Woodland period, 300 BCE-500 CE, which has been the focus of archaeological inquiry due to its large ceremonial sites and material network of items coming to the Midwest and Southeast from as far as the Rocky Mountains or the Gulf Coast. Using legacy data for 13 sites throughout Ohio and the Southeast, I examine variability in pre-mound contexts to expand on mound research by focusing on this pre-natal stage which represents the activities that people conducted before the construction of the monument itself. Using a binary model of presences and absences, I look at 26 pre-mound attributes found across the 13 sites and 64 mounds in the study and use multivariate analysis in ArcGIS as an exploratory and pattern revealing tool. I argue that these contexts are incredibly varied, and that this lack of homogeneity is material evidence of the decisions made by people to overcome dissonance created by encountering varying cultural values for these important ritual events as well as evidence for a lack of a clear Hopewell model in either the Ohio and Southeast regions, instead arguing that both regions should be included in the larger discussion of Middle Woodland ceremonialism and exchange, rejecting a core and periphery model.
- ItemOpen AccessCuidate mija: power in everyday discourses about adolescent pregnancy in urban Ecuador(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2023) Ortega, Cynthia, author; Kwiatkowski, Lynn, advisor; Snodgrass, Jeff, advisor; Souza, Caridad, committee memberAdolescent pregnancy is a phenomenon which is heavily contested by local, national, and international entities. Problematically, the topic is predominantly referred to as a "social problem," a view which is often rooted in pathologized narratives about young people and their sexual and reproductive lives. This critical ethnography challenges these narratives by centering the voices of young people and their experiences with sex, sexuality, and pregnancy in the urban cities of Quito and Cuenca, Ecuador. Drawing upon interviews with young women who have experienced pregnancy and professionals working with pregnant adolescents, as well as a survey distributed to male and female adolescents, I identify several dominant discourses related to adolescent pregnancy in urban Ecuador. I argue that these discourses are informed by raced, classed, gendered, and aged notions about young women and their sexual and reproductive lives. Through the lenses of critical-interpretive medical anthropology, governmentality, and reproductive justice, my findings show that young women negotiate these discourses, reproducing some aspects while rejecting others. I further contend that these discourses work through the lives and bodies of young women through different forms of power. Although these young women could identify their desires, emotions, and frustrations, they were restricted in their social and bodily autonomy during and after pregnancy. I conclude by offering suggestions for advancing sexual and reproductive justice for young people based on the experiences that were shared with me by young women.
- ItemOpen AccessPublic archaeology and geophysics: searching for unmarked human burials in rural Colorado(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2023) Rowe, Donald J., author; Henry, Edward, advisor; Harry, Dennis, committee member; LaBelle, Jason, committee memberRural communities in Colorado are often left in control of lands that potentially contain unmarked burials. Two such communities in Colorado, Gould and Wray, are interested in examining the possible existence of unmarked burials on public lands. The land near the Gould Community Center was used to house prisoners of war during the final year of World War 2 and the community believes mostly fallen concrete markers (one still stands) found at the site may be related to burials from that time. Wray, CO in Yuma County is home of the East Yuma County Cemetery Board (EYCCB), which manages the Kingston and Evangelical Lutheran Cemeteries. The EYCCB took over management of these properties after periods of abandonment and the burial records are lost, this has the left them with potential unmarked burials at each of these sites. The expense and ethical concerns related to accidental disinterment provide rural communities an incentive to locate any unmarked burials on land they manage. I combined four geophysical methods with historical information provided by community partners to determine what areas at the respective sites were most likely to contain unmarked burials. The four methods I employed include: ground-penetrating radar (GPR), electrical resistivity tomography (ERT), electromagnetic induction (EMI), and magnetometry. Using these methods, I was able to locate numerous geophysical anomalies and geolocate them in the mapping software of ArcGIS Pro. In Gould I was unable to determine the source of the geophysical anomalies found due to the wide variety of uses the site has had in the past as well as the lack of historical evidence for burials. Historical evidence of previous burials at the Kingston and Evangelical Lutheran Cemeteries allowed me to make the argument that these anomalies were potentially related to burials. At Evangelical Lutheran Cemetery I concluded the cemetery is likely to contain unmarked burials throughout the southern half of the site. However, the lack of geophysical markers suggests that the soil in the northern quarter of the site is largely undisturbed and likely does not have burials. I concluded that Kingston Cemetery is expected to contain burials in the south and west of the site. Additionally, the part of Kingston Cemetery that is least likely to contain unmarked burials is the northeastern corner of the site, with a strip along the northern boundary that possibly contains burials.