The Shape of Seeing: An Ethnography of Phytolith Analysis

Phytolith 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.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts (MA)

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Anthropology

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

Graduate Studies

Year dc:date.issued

2023

Author dc:creator

• Thomas, Kelly

Advisors dc:contributor.advisor

• Mather, Charles
• Mercader, Julio

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Seneviratne, Cydnee
• McKay, Ben
• Pavelka, Mary

• phytolith analysis
• science and technology studies
• actor network theory
• enactment
• semiotics

Statement dc:rights

• University 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.

Language dc:language.iso

en

DOI

https://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/dspace/41032

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:ucalgary.scholaris.ca:1880/116187