Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Date of Degree

2-2026

Document Type

Doctoral Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Program

Anthropology

Advisor

Anna Boozer

Committee Members

Jochen Albrecht

Kelly Britt

Matthew Sanger

Keywords

Affordance Theory, Geographic Information Systems, Human–Environment Interaction, Landscape Archaeology, Phenomenological Archaeology, Poverty Point

Abstract

At the core of the tension between scientific and humanistic approaches to archaeological knowledge production, epitomized by the processual movement and the post-processual critique of the late 20th century, is a disjuncture between abstract models and lived reality. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and phenomenology are interpretive approaches that reflect this broader tension. Here, I contend that more authoritative knowledge claims arise not from choosing amongst conflicting methods but by integrating the strengths of contrasting methods through the application of affordance theory as developed by James J. Gibson (1979) and initially applied to archaeology by Marcos Llobera (1996).

To substantiate this claim, I developed a framework integrating GIS and phenomenological techniques to evaluate four lines of inquiry—layout, movement, visibility, and hydrology—each essential for identifying what a landscape affords its inhabitants. I designed my dissertation to test and prove the value of this integration. As a test case, I applied the techniques to a case study of the Late Archaic Poverty Point site in Louisiana, which remains enigmatic despite more than a century of archaeological investigation. This case study demonstrated the robust results that arise when combining these disparate approaches.

I found that the layout of the earthworks at Poverty Point restructured movement, having implications for the distribution of goods and activities within the site; that visibility varied between the human- and landscape-scales, specifically as related to identifiability; and that the ridges, by their elevation above the swales and surrounding terrain, afforded dryer ground surfaces for dwellings and, more intriguingly, for movement, as they are more appealing movement corridors for people than the saturated soils of the adjacent swales.

My case study at Poverty Point demonstrates that GIS and phenomenological techniques provided contrasting and complementary insights—GIS offered an abstract landscape-scale perspective, while phenomenology captured the nuances of experience at the human-scale—that help to identify landscape affordances and enhance understanding of past human agency and actions. The approach developed in this dissertation offers a replicable framework for researchers aiming to rigorously investigate how affordances shaped the ways past peoples experienced and engaged with landscapes.

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