Anthropology GIS Lab

Abstracts List

A Measure of Change: Putting Literacy and Disability in Perspective.

A research project soon to be released by the Abilities Foundation, uses mapping to bring a spatial perspective to the issues of literacy and disability in Canada. But the spatial perspective is not the only one highlighted in this National Literacy Secretariat funded project. As many people in the disability community recognize, there are different ways to understand, interpret and measure 'disability'; the same is true for the concept of 'literacy'. This is one of the reasons why both literacy and disability are difficult concepts to operationalize in surveys - a challenge that is the focus of numerous working groups around the world. With this in mind, the project -The Geography of Literacy and Disability in Canada -compares different data sets to see how different ways of interpreting and measuring these two concepts shape the spatial perspective.

Barriers and Accommodations: Applying the Human Rights Model of Disability to HALS.

The research team for The Geography of Literacy and Disability has developed a new variable index that promises to provide a powerful tool for disability activists, policy-makers and advocates in Canada. This index applies the human rights model of disability to the analysis of the 1991 Health and Activity Limitation Survey (HALS). Our team's Barriers and Accommodations Index places the locus of disablement on environments, systems of support and the exercise of rights, rather than on functional limitations of the individual. This is an important conceptual, methodological and analytical change.

On the Map: the Geography of Literacy and Disability.

In the last issue of Abilities we outlined the goals of a new study, entitled "The Geography of Literacy and Disability" which uniquely combines disability and literacy policy and Geographical Information Systems (GIS). The aim of this project is to create an atlas of maps that present a visual picture of the relationship between literacy, disability and related supports and services in Canada. The study is already beginning to reveal the exciting potential of GIS for combining findings from sources that previously seemed incompatible.

Lithic and Ceramic Cross-Mends at the Eaton Site.

Two aspects of the artifact assemblage at the Eaton site in Western New York are examined. First, in what way and to what extent did extensive plowing affect the context of the site. The data suggests that some important inferences can be made, which allows for the second discussion, regarding behavioral patterns. Extensive artifact collections, well-preserved features, and post molds are examined to study waste streams at Eaton. Using distribution maps of ceramic and lithic cross-mends, along with post mold maps, several distinct lines of refuse disposal are identified. The emphasis of the waste stream analysis is an attempt to discover a pattern in the discard practices of the two artifact types.