Browsing by Author "Hickey, Kristen"

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    Excavations at the Varner-Hogg Plantation Slave Quarters: 2020 Field Season Results
    (Rice University, 2020) Jalbert, Catherine; Morgan, Molly; Hickey, Kristen; Howe-Kerr, Luke; Merchant, Joe; Bartsch, Kyle; Bhatnagar, Anshul|Custer, Katherine; Devine, Lizzie; Gonzalez, Virginia; Hwang, Elaine; Miller, Victoria; Rasich, Biz; Anthropology
    In the spring semester of 2020, Rice University students participated in archaeological excavations at the Varner-Hogg Plantation State Historic Site, under the project directors Dr. Molly Morgan (Rice faculty) and Dr. Catherine Jalbert (Texas Historical Commission). The project team conducted research over four weekends in February and the first weekend in March. This fieldwork fulfilled the requirements for the course ANTH 362: Archaeological Field Techniques. Fieldwork in this project involved students in setting up units of investigation, learning about soils and stratigraphy, hands-on excavation and materials collection methods, and the recording and documentation of all facets of research. Typically, this fieldwork is followed by artifact analysis and interpretation, but in this year of COVID-19, the Rice University Archaeology Laboratory closed and students finished the course by writing summaries of fieldwork and literature reviews on particular artifact categories and their importance in historical archaeology.
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    King of the Birds: Making Symbol, Subject, and Science in the Skies of Hindustan
    (Rice University, 2020) Hickey, Kristen; Hettler, Catherine
    When the Mughals founded an empire in Hindustan, they sought to legitimize their budding dynasty through diverse sources of power. In the texts and art produced by emperors and their courts during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, these performances of power constantly featured birds. Birds, enfleshed and imagined, were used as motifs that positioned the Mughals as the cultural descendants of a long Islamic tradition of storytelling and spirituality. Wild and captive birds became an extension of the imperial court as emperors strove to model the legendary rule of King Solomon, who was renowned for his just power over all creatures. During this age of scientist-kings, avians also became catalysts for experimentation and the production of knowledge. This intricate relationship between birds and power reveals a Mughal conception of empire, defined by fluid boundaries between the human and animal kingdoms.