Through the Looking Glass – Dioramas, Bodies, and Performances in New York

Dioramas are multimedia installations used in museums and popular culture since the 19th century. I study two sets of anthropological dioramas: the ones made for the Museum of Natural History in New York by Franz Boas; and the ones fabricated at the New York State Museum in Albany by Arthur C. Parker. As I will show, dioramas are not only visual dis- plays but also installations with a proper materiality and temporality: they are the stage of multiple performances and work as contact zones between objects, models, makers, and beholders.

New AMS Radiocarbon Dates from Late Pleistocene Mastodons and Mammoths in New York State, USA

During the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) about 25,000 yr ago, the area of what is now New York State (USA) was almost entirely covered by the Laurentide Ice Sheet (LIS; Dyke et al. 2002). Subsequent habitation of this area after the melting of the LIS necessitates dispersal of fauna, and the timing of the dispersal of particular species may aid in the understanding of how the modern ecosystems of New York were assembled. Mastodons and mammoths represent the most abundant post-LGM Pleistocene megafauna recovered in New York. However, many of the specimens have not been dated. This paper presents a set of dates from bone and tooth dentine collagen of late Pleistocene mastodon (n = 7) and mammoth (n = 3) specimens housed in the Vertebrate Paleontology Collections at the New York State Museum, Albany, New York, USA.

New AMS Radiocarbon Dates from Late Pleistocene Mastodons and Mammoths in New York State, USA

During the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) about 25,000 yr ago, the area of what is now New York State (USA) was almost entirely covered by the Laurentide Ice Sheet (LIS; Dyke et al. 2002). Subsequent habitation of this area after the melting of the LIS necessitates dispersal of fauna, and the timing of the dispersal of particular species may aid in the understanding of how the modern ecosystems of New York were assembled. Mastodons and mammoths represent the most abundant post-LGM Pleistocene megafauna recovered in New York. However, many of the specimens have not been dated. This paper presents a set of dates from bone and tooth dentine collagen of late Pleistocene mastodon (n= 7) and mammoth (n= 3) specimens housed in the Vertebrate Paleontology Collections at the New York State Museum, Albany, New York, USA.

AMS Radiocarbon Dates from Pleistocene and Holocene Mammals Housed in the New York State Museum, Albany, New York, USA

Despite its rich paleontological record, only limited research has been published on the Pleistocene and Holocene vertebrate faunal record of New York State. This paper presents a set of dates from the bone collagen of Pleistocene and Holocene mammal specimens housed in the Vertebrate Paleontology Collections at the New York State Museum, Albany, New York, USA.