The Manifestation of New Public Service Principles in Small-town Government: A Case Study of Grand Island, New York

Although New Public Service (NPS) principles are well known, their practice in local government settings has only been limitedly explored. As a means of better understanding governance practices that adhere to NPS principles in local contexts, this study engaged in a case study of Grand Island, New York. Through the analysis of interviews with elected officials and civic servant department heads, it is observed that public servants practice various public engagement strategies for gauging public sentiment and interests in public policy. However, these same public servants point out the challenges of public hearings and social media to understanding their citizens. Information on public servants’ notions of accountability is observed, which relates to how they view the public’s involvement in policy processes. Recommendations for future research are provided as a means of enhancing our understanding and development of more inclusive governance practices.

USE-ALTERATION ANALYSIS OF FIRE-CRACKED ROCKS

Although it is now commonplace for archaeologists to study use-alteration patterns on ceramics, the same cannot be said of one of the most ubiquitous classes of hunter-gatherer artifacts, fire-cracked rocks (FCR). It can be shown, however, that many of the same methods and theories applied to the study of cooking ceramics are also relevant to the investigation of rocks used as heating elements. Because use alteration analyses of FCR are so scarce, I describe a range of attributes with the goal of helping researchers identify use alterations (e.g., sooting, reddening, various fracturing patterns) on lithic artifacts from sites worldwide and evaluate their potential function in various cultural practices. These attributes are also outlined in order to create a standardized terminology for describing FCR use-alteration patterns. I discuss my analysis of FCR from three Late Archaic sites (Duck Lake, 913, and 914) on Grand Island in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, followed by an interpretation of their cooking contexts, as a case study. The results indicate great intersite variability among FCR characteristics, cooking methods, and cooking facilities (earth oven, stone boiling, and rock griddle). This use alteration analysis can be applied in archaeological contexts worldwide where similar materials are recovered.

Quaternary Stratigraphy and Stratigraphic Nomenclature Revisions in Kansas

This paper outlines Quaternary nomenclature changes to Zeller (1968) that have been adopted by the Kansas Geological Survey (KGS). The KGS formally recognizes two series/epochs for the Quaternary: the Holocene and Pleistocene. Pleistocene stage/age names Kansan, Aftonian, Nebraskan, and Yarmouthian are abandoned and replaced with the broader term "pre-Illinoian." Formation names Bignell, Peoria, Gilman Canyon, and Loveland are maintained for loess units. Formation names for the following alluvial lithostratigraphic units are abandoned: Crete, Sappa, Grand Island, Fullerton, and Holdrege. The Severance Formation is adopted as a new lithostratigraphic unit for thick packages of late Pleistocene alluvium and colluvium in Kansas. The DeForest Formation is accepted as a valid lithostratigraphic unit for deposits of fine-grained Holocene alluvium in Kansas. Formation names Iowa Point, Nickerson, and Cedar Bluffs for glacial tills and Atchison and David City for glaciofluvial deposits are abandoned. The Afton and Yarmouth Soils are abandoned as pedostratigraphic units, whereas the Sangamon Geosol and Brady Geosol are maintained.

Late archaic hunter-gatherer lithic technology and function (chipped stone, ground stone, and fire-cracked rock)

This doctoral research highlights the complicated trajectories of hunter-gatherers by offering a case study from an understudied but rich hunter-gatherer landscape, the Late Archaic period (c. 5,000-2,000 BP) on Grand Island in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, United States. Although there is a paucity of Late Archaic period archaeological data from the mainland of the Upper Peninsula, recent excavations by the Grand Island Archaeological Program (GIAP), directed by James M. Skibo (Illinois State University) and co-directed by Eric C. Drake (Hiawatha National Forest), have yielded a sizable body of evidence of Late Archaic occupations on Grand Island. I have been a staff member and collaborator with GIAP since 2007, conducting research, laboratory work, and co-directing excavations. My analysis of 39,186 lithics from five sites on the island more than doubles the current number of c. 32,000 lithics analyzed in the entire southern shore of Lake Superior in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula from dated Late Archaic sites. Similarly, the 495 faunal remains identified and analyzed by Terrance Martin and Elizabeth Scott for this dissertation also more than doubles the total 296 pieces of animal bones analyzed from dated Late Archaic sites of the Upper Peninsula. In addition, in contrast to those sites, where no complete and finished projectile points have been recovered in context, GIAP have identified a total of five projectile points. These points may contribute to data on diagnostic artifact types in the Upper Peninsula, which is currently almost non-existent, and to our general understanding of exchange practices and social interactions.

STUDY OF DNIEPER’S ISLANDS’ SHORELINE CHANGE DYNAMICS WITHIN KIEV REGION (AT THE EXAMPLE OF VELYKIY PIVNICHNIY ISLAND)

Changes of Dnieper’s islands’ landscapes within Kyiv at the example of Velykiy Pivnichniy Island are studied. Using GIS, cartographic materials and remote sensing data the island’s square dynamic for more than seventy years is obtained. During decoding vector layers – the contours of the coastline of the island and the island area – were created and island’s square for 1942, 1975, 1985, 1990, 2000, 2015 years was estimated. Using module implemented in ArcScene ArcGIS the dynamics of long-term changes of Velykiy Island’s shape was modeled and clearly reflected in the form of three-dimensional models. The coastal landscape of Kyiv began to rapidly change for the past 100-200 years due to rapid urban sprawl. Before it Dnieper’s backwater in Kyiv formed by glaciers and it became the basis for floodplain in Kyiv region for a long time. In the 19th century held-rectifying work was conducted and it greatly influenced the coastal landscape of our city. Formation of new islands, such as Grand Island and changes of old islands (such as the island of Murom united with Truhanov Island) has begun. Great Island consisted of 2 parts, one of which joined the island much later than the first part of the island was formed. From 1950 to 1990 the island had the largest area and it was unchanged while this period. The rapid square reduction began in the 1990s when sand mining started for the purpose of Troieshchyna district building. Currently the island is used as a career for the extraction of sand, which is important for development of different districts, including cottages on the site of meadows and oak forests on north of the Gulf of Camel. It is a negative factor for the island, where there are different species of animals and plants are located. The island is also an example of modern Dnieper floodplain formation and it should be preserved as a conservation area of the city.