The Shape of Seeing: An Ethnography of Phytolith Analysis

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dc.contributor.advisorMather, Charles
dc.contributor.advisorMercader, Julio
dc.contributor.authorThomas, Kelly
dc.contributor.committeememberSeneviratne, Cydnee
dc.contributor.committeememberMcKay, Ben
dc.contributor.committeememberPavelka, Mary
dc.date2023-06
dc.date.accessioned2023-05-09T15:15:02Z
dc.date.available2023-05-09T15:15:02Z
dc.date.issued2023-04-28
dc.description.abstractPhytolith analysis is the study of microscopic silica fossils which often take on the shape. of the plant cells in which they form. This thesis proposes that in order to understand the phytoliths’ original plant context, researchers conduct cycles of phytolith analysis consisting of six stages – collection, processing, microscopy, analysis, interpretation, and inscription. However, there is not one consistent object of inquiry that is present during all six stages. Instead, researchers enact each stage around a different simulacrum which serves as a partial representation, or proxy, of the original plant context. Combining data from ethnographic methods with theory such as semiotics, enactment, and Actor Network Theory, this thesis proposes a model of decontextualization and recontextualization to explain how phytolith researchers translate meaning from one simulacrum to the next. In this model, analysts remove all non-essential context from one simulacrum, reinterpret the reduced form, and in doing so create a newly enacted simulacrum. Decontextualization and recontextualization occurs between each stage of analysis as well as over the course of a full cycle of research.
dc.identifier.citationThomas, K. (2023). The shape of seeing: an ethnography of phytolith analysis (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1880/116187
dc.identifier.urihttps://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/dspace/41032
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisher.facultyGraduate Studies
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Calgary
dc.rightsUniversity of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.
dc.subjectphytolith analysis
dc.subjectscience and technology studies
dc.subjectactor network theory
dc.subjectenactment
dc.subjectsemiotics
dc.subject.classificationAnthropology--Cultural
dc.titleThe Shape of Seeing: An Ethnography of Phytolith Analysis
dc.typemaster thesis
thesis.degree.disciplineAnthropology
thesis.degree.grantorUniversity of Calgary
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Arts (MA)
ucalgary.thesis.accesssetbystudentI do not require a thesis withhold – my thesis will have open access and can be viewed and downloaded publicly as soon as possible.
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