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Wiriyaromp, Warrachai, and n/a. "The neolithic period in Thailand." University of Otago. Department of Anthropology, 2008. http://adt.otago.ac.nz./public/adt-NZDU20080904.111233.
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There are two principal models that purport to interpret the evidence for the origins of the Neolithic period in Thailand. Both stress the importance of rice cultivation and the domestication of a range of animals. One incorporates archaeological and linguistic evidence in identifying the origins as the result of the diffusion of farming communities into Southeast Asia and India from a source in the Yangtze River valley. The alternative stresses a local evolutionary pathway whereby indigenous hunter-gatherers began to cultivate rice within Thailand.
This dissertation is centred on the results of the excavation of Ban Non Wat, in the Upper Mun Valley of Northeast Thailand. This has provided one of the largest, best dated and provenanced samples of occupation and mortuary remains of a Neolithic community so far available in Southeast Asia. Its principal objective is to define the motifs incised, impressed and painted onto the surface of ceramic mortuary vessels, in order to permit a comparison with other assemblages first in Thailand, then in Southeast Asia north into China. It is held that if there are close parallels over a wide geographic area, in these motifs, then it would support a model of diffusion. If there are not, then the alternative of local origins would need to be examined closely.
It is argued that the similarity in motifs, particularly a stylised human figure, between Thai and Vietnamese sites lends support to a common origin for these groups. The motifs are not so obvious when examining the southern Chinese data, although the mode of decoration by painting, incising and impressing recur there. This, in conjunction with mortuary rituals, weaving technology, the domestic dog, and the linguistic evidence, sustains a model for demic diffusion. However, the presence of ceramic vessels also decorated with impressed/incised techniques in maritime hunter-gatherer contexts stresses that the actual Neolithic settlement may have been more complex.
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Karsten, Per. "Att kasta yxan i sjön en studie över rituell tradition och förändring utifrån skånska neolitiska offerfynd /." Stockholm : Almqvist & Wiksell International, 1994. http://catalog.hathitrust.org/api/volumes/oclc/31654751.html.
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Coolidge, J. W. "Southern Turkmenistan in the Neolithic a petrographic case study /." Oxford : Archaeopress, 2005. http://books.google.com/books?id=BjVmAAAAMAAJ.
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Meakes, Alison A. "Scientific analysis of Neolithic period ceramics from Fars, Iran." Thesis, University of Nottingham, 2016. http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/36039/.
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This thesis forms the first application of scientific analysis (thin section petrography, electron microprobe and scanning electron microscopy) to Neolithic ceramics from Fars province, Iran. The research specifically addresses the questions surrounding the choice of raw materials, production techniques and the use and consumption of ceramic vessels at these village sites. I have sought to attempt a deeper understanding of the past socio-economic context of ceramic production and consumption, as well as draw comparisons with wider ceramic technologies in the surrounding regions of Iran, Mesopotamia, Anatolia and Central Asia. Analysis and interpretation of decorated ceramics from Neolithic Southwest Iran has traditionally focused on decorative designs, where coloured pigments have clearly played an influential role. However, very little was specifically known about the raw materials, manufacture, and production stages of these wares. The samples selected for analysis include newly excavated and previously unpublished ceramics that have been incorporated into an updated typology. This is then used to provide detailed characterisation of the materials and techniques employed by past potters to create the wares. Ceramics from different sites and valley locations were compared, and the development and changes in pigment raw materials and painted motif selection is demonstrated across different village sites and throughout the Neolithic time period. The introduction of manganese black and bichrome designs at Tol-e Nurabad is particularly interesting amidst the widely used iron oxide pigments and monochrome designs recorded from other sites. The choice of these raw materials is considered in respect to potters’ interaction with their surrounding landscape and in the context of other crafts and productive technologies. The transfer of potting knowledge is also considered, with visible evidence of a range of skill levels and marked corrections and adjustments made to painted motifs on the vessels studied. The use and consumption of vessels in Neolithic Fars is based on the remains of kitchen hearths and cooking equipment, namely clay balls and river cobbles, combined with use-wear analysis to show that plain wares were not subjected to direct heat and that painted wares were most likely used in the presentation and consumption of food. The painted motifs and decorative designs created on Neolithic vessels in this study are compared to other excavated sherds and whole or reconstructed vessels and show a broad similarity in apparent manufacture and painted designs. I suggest that this is evidence of the capacity of ceramics to store visual information, and to signify the Neolithic style of design that was actively shared and participated in across village sites in Fars. This was potentially done to demonstrate group membership and contribute to the construction of community, perhaps at feasting events which have been proposed across this region during the Neolithic, which would have provided venues for the consumption of such ceramics alongside the transference of decorative schemes between villages. Wider comparisons with contemporary Neolithic wares in the surrounding Iranian region, as well as Mesopotamia, Anatolia and Central Asia are also drawn, linking the communities of Fars with wider Neolithic technologies and styles.
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Liu, Li. "The Chinese neolithic : trajectories to early states /." Cambridge [u.a.] : Cambridge Univ. Press, 2004. http://www.loc.gov/catdir/toc/cam051/2004049440.html.
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Quinn, Colin Patrick. "Vital signs : costly signaling and personal adornment in the near eastern early neolithic." Online access for everyone, 2006. http://www.dissertations.wsu.edu/Thesis/Fall2006/c_quinn_121106.pdf.
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Thomas, Antonia. "Art and architecture in Neolithic Orkney : process, temporality and context." Thesis, University of the Highlands and Islands, 2016. https://pure.uhi.ac.uk/portal/en/studentthesis/art-and-architecture-in-neolithic-orkney(8a1d24c9-bfe6-4dd8-a215-70076c10600e).html.
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This thesis presents a contextual analysis of Neolithic art and architecture in Orkney. Focussing upon the Heart of Neolithic Orkney World Heritage Site, it details the results of original fieldwork at three sites with in situ dressed and decorated stonework: Maeshowe, Skara Brae and the Ness of Brodgar. It combines the re-interpretation of known architecturally-situated carvings with primary data from new survey and excavation work, and reports the discovery of many previously unrecorded examples. This study reveals a diversity of stoneworking practices at these three sites which contradicts a broad catch-all term of 'art', demanding a more nuanced investigation. Previous studies have discussed the in situ decoration at Maeshowe and Skara Brae, but these have never been compared in detail, and the long histories of attention at these sites have led to questions over the authenticity of their carvings. The discovery of hundreds of comparable, in situ decorated stones from sealed Neolithic deposits during excavations at the Ness of Brodgar demolishes these doubts. The insight that this fieldwork has allowed is crucial. Excavation exposes aspects of the architecture which normally remain hidden, and allows the recording of decoration and stoneworking in situ, and as it is first revealed. This takes the discussion beyond the surface to allow an understanding of how stones were worked and decorated as part of the processes of construction and occupation. This challenges many narratives of Neolithic art and architecture, which have tended to focus upon superficial aspects of visual form, overlooking the ways in which buildings and stones came to be worked, carved, built and appreciated. It allows an exploration of how buildings and carvings emerge though process, and how the temporality of the working, decoration and appreciation of particular stones relates to the wider context of art and architecture in Neolithic Orkney.
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Goodale, Nathan B. "Convergence in the neolithic : human population growth at the dawn of agriculture." Pullman, Wash. : Washington State University, 2009. http://www.dissertations.wsu.edu/Dissertations/Spring2009/N_Goodale_040309.pdf.
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Gantley, Michael John. "The rites of spring : a cognitive analysis of ritual activity in the agricultural transition in south-west Asia and north-western Europe." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2016. https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:e84a90b0-5fba-4841-96af-b17c56d1ebd4.
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What cognitive and cultural mechanisms facilitated the agricultural transition? In this thesis, I evaluated the hypothesis that ritual action involving large groups of people meeting regularly created a significant sense of collective purpose to bring about the social cohesion necessary for agriculture. I test this hypothesis against the archaeological record in two distinct regions: south west Asia and north-western Europe. Following Whitehouse's (2000) Modes of Religiosity theory, I show that the agricultural transition in both regions is connected with a shift from an imagistic to an increasingly doctrinal mode of religious behaviour. This result is important because it brings together insights from the prehistoric archaeology and cognitive anthropology to generate new knowledge about the agricultural transition.
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Fraser, Shannon Marguerite. "Physical, social and intellectual landscapes in the Neolithic contextualizing Scottish and Irish Megalithic architecture /." Thesis, Connect to e-thesis, 1996. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/787/.
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Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of Glasgow, 1996.BLL : DX192053. Ph.D. thesis submitted to the Faculty of Art, Department of Archaeology, University of Glasgow, 1996. Includes bibliographical references. Print copy also available.
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Skeates, Robin. "The Neolithic and Copper Age of the Abruzzo-Marche region, central Italy." Thesis, University of Oxford, 1993. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:0a678cd1-b710-4ac3-a6c4-de44f1e9991b.
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This is a regional synthesis, which draws together a wide range of data concerning the Neolithic and Copper Age in the Abruzzo-Marche region (c. 5750-2050 Cal. BC), and examines it in the light of contemporary archaeological methods and theories and current topics of debate within Mediterranean prehistory. In Chapter 1 a new chronological framework is established, using radiocarbon, stratigraphic and typological dating methods. Five main chronological phases are defined, namely the early, middle and late Neolithic, the final Neolithic/early Copper Age, and the middle-late Copper Age. Chapter 2 provides a generalized reconstruction of the Neothermal environment, and changes in it, based upon present-day and prehistoric data from central Italy. An increasingly unstable ecological situation may have developed on the coastal lowlands during the Copper Age. In Chapter 3 changing patterns of settlement and subsistence are examined within four major geographical zones. These patterns remain similar to those previously identified by Barker, although new details and interpretations are provided, concerning, for example, colonization, settlement infilling and cattle breeding. Chapter 4 examines changes in the nature, scale and direction of networks of communication and exchange. The emergence of certain sites as regional nodes of production, consumption and exchange is charted, and developments in long-distance ceremonial gift-exchange and alliance systems are also proposed. Chapter 5 considers mortuary practices, which were performed in residential sites, caves and special-purpose burial sites. Neolithic rites may have expressed concern over group unity, structural divisions in society and the threats of death and economic misfortune, whereas Copper Age transformations might be understood in terms of growing social advertisement. In Chapter 6 these different themes are drawn together, along with a greater emphasis upon social factors and intra-regional variation. The development of certain sites as social and economic centres is, in particular, given further consideration. Suggestions for future research are made throughout the thesis, with reference to limitations in the existing body of data.
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de, Moulins Dominique. "Agricultural changes at Euphrates and Steppe sites in the mid-8th to the 6th Millenium B.C." Thesis, University College London (University of London), 1994. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.319261.
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Skoulikari, Dimitra B. "Archeomagnetic study of baked clays from a neolithic site in thessaly, Greece." Master's thesis, Universidade de Évora, 2022. http://hdl.handle.net/10174/31085.
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Abstract
The study conducted for this thesis was a classical archaeomagnetic study with the
aim of obtaining archaeodirectional data to enrich the poorly covered Neolithic period in the
Greek directional SVCs. Burnt clay samples, from the kiln complex at the Middle Neolithic
site Koutroulou Magoula located in Thessaly, Greece, were studied. The grouping of the
initial NRM measurements was satisfactory, thus indicating that the majority of the samples
were burnt in situ. Stepwise thermal demagnetization was employed to isolate the ChRM of
the samples, which in most cases revealed one characteristic component of magnetization.
Rock magnetic measurements were also employed to access the mineralogical composition
and stability of the sampled material. Specifically, thermomagnetic analysis and coercivity
spectrum analysis (i.e., acquisition of isothermal remanent magnetization (IRM), indicated
that the samples contained mainly low-coercivity magnetic minerals (such as magnetite or
titanomagnetite). Some samples did contain a small portion of high-coercivity minerals as
well, most likely haematite. Overall, the experimental procedures proved to be successful and
the mean directions (declination – D, inclination – I, and confidence parameter - α95) for the
site were calculated: D [°]= 6.9; I [°] = 55.9; and α95 [°] = 4.5. From the mean directions
calculated a final date was purposed for the site by comparing the obtained directions to the
Balkan and Neolithic reference curves. Date interval (Balkan curve) = 5463 – 5200 BC; date
interval (Neolithic curve) = 5488 – 5187 BC, both at a 95% confidence level. Both dating
intervals are similar suggesting a reliable date was obtained.
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Leivers, Matthew Anthony. "The architecture and context of mortuary practices in the Neolithic period in north Wales." Thesis, University of Southampton, 2000. https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/43754/.
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This thesis examines the megalithic chambers and associated buildings of the Neolithic period in north Wales. It is proposed that these buildings have been interpreted incorrectly through a reductionist paradigm which sees all formallydeposited human remains as funerary. The material in the study area is introduced, and placed into a historical context in terms of the history of archaeology in Wales, and a geographical context in terms of other NeolithiG evidence in the area. Three main explanatory discourses are identified which are considered to have determined a flawed interpretation: our own western understandings of and approaches to death; the understanding of the Neolithic period as an agricultural society based on kinship alliance and therefore involving an over-riding concern with notions of ancestry manifested through corpse treatment strategies; and the continued quest to identify the so-called 'origins' of megalithic chambers in earlier Neolithic societies outside of Britain. Having examined and critiqued these discourses in some detail, the thesis returns to a detailed consideration of material in the study area, examining the depositional acts undertaken at a number of excavated sites. This material is examined in terms of the differences apparent within it. In the concluding chapter, this analysis is continued and an attempt is made to postulate a number of possible meanings for megalithic chambers. It is argued that, when considered as a single class of monument, such buildings are not understandable in any way which may approach the diversity of meanings which they held during the Neolithic period.
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Pechenkina, Ekaterina A. "Diet and health changes among the millet growing farmers of northern China in prehistory /." free to MU campus, to others for purchase, 2002. http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/mo/fullcit?p3075414.
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BYRD, BRIAN FRANKLIN. "BEIDHA AND THE NATUFIAN: VARIABILITY IN LEVANTINE SETTLEMENT AND SUBSISTENCE (PLEISTOCENE, HOLOCENE)." Diss., The University of Arizona, 1987. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/184110.
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This dissertation research examines variability in Natufian settlement and subsistence patterns. The Natufian is a late Epipaleolithic culture that flourished in the Levant during the late Pleistocene and early Holocene. There has been considerable research interest in the nature of Natufian settlement and subsistence over the last fifty years. This is due to the apparent pivotal position the Natufian holds in the developmental sequence from mobile hunting and gathering societies to sedentary village communities subsisting on domestic plants and animals. The research has two major components. The first aspect of the research focused on the range of activities and the nature of settlement intensity and duration during the Natufian occupation at one site, Beidha. The second aspect of the research entailed examining data for settlement and subsistence patterns throughout the Levant during this time period in order to gain insight into pan-Levantine variation. Research on the Beidha settlement has provided information on the range of chipped stone manufacturing processes carried out at the site, the nature of the tools produced, the range of activities that these tools imply, and the distribution of these elements between different areas of the site. The minimal evidence of spatial differences between provenience units is indicative of a site that was occupied as a relatively short-term camp site. The interpretation of the site as a short-term settlement, that was occupied repeatedly, fits with the lack of evidence for permanent features such as houses and storage facilities, as well as the lack of large groundstone objects and burials. Analysis of available data on Natufian settlement and subsistence has indicated that there are regional differences in settlement and subsistence patterns, most notably between steppe and desert sites versus sites of the forest and coast. In addition, there appear to be patterns in variability within the steppe and desert area with respect to the permanence of sites and the range of activities carried out in them. One set of sites is characterized by moderate settlement permanence and intensity, while the other set of sites is characterized by less permanent occupation and more specialized activity focused primarily on hunting.
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Clayton, Lucy Ann. "The technology of food preparation the social dynamics of changing food preparation styles /." Diss., Online access via UMI:, 2004. http://wwwlib.umi.com/dissertations/fullcit/1424906.
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McGeehan, Liritzis Veronica. "The role and development of metallurgy in the late Neolithic and early Bronze Age of Greece." Thesis, University of Oxford, 1990. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:8fcea0f9-feed-4ad2-a005-cf92e896d9bf.
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The main object of this thesis is to reassess critically the nature and development of the earliest metallurgy of the Greek mainland in the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age periods (c. 4800 - c. 1900), both in its technological and socio-economic context. The aims of the research are thus to: 1) show whether or not the LN finds represent the beginnings of autonomous mainland metallurgy or whether they simply represent artefacts imported from contemporary neighbouring cultures involved in metalworking. Diffusionists regard the development of EBA metallurgy as some revolutionary break. Accumulating evidence should put the Greek mainlandindustries more into line with those from the Aegean; 2) show whether the LN industry was ancestral in some way to that of the EBA or if the development of the EBA industry was due to external influence; 3) make some chronological assessment of the initial progress of technological ability as well as the structure and organisation of metallic mineral acquisition. This will further provide data on the degrees of communication between communities and metalworking sites; and, 4) examine the socio-economic context which permitted the development of metallurgy. To achieve these aims it will be necessary to demonstrate the potential availability of copper, tin and other minerals and to show clearly through analytical techniques the range of technical skills known and mastered (especially smelting and alloying). Evidence on the relationship between metalwork, settlement, sources and the role of foreign influence will also be required. The first step was to compile a fully up-to-date catalogue of metal finds and evidence for metalworking. This was done from published material, museum collections in Greece and Britain, tracing artefacts referred to in publications but never fully described and obtaining information on artefacts from recent excavations and finds (until end 1986). This work had the effect of doubling the number of artefacts to come under study and justified taking a fresh look at the state of the industry, the range of types and techniques, and, through them, the evidence for foreign or internal relations. This was a necessary preliminary to the analytical study and the study of the contexts of the metals. No single typological study had been devoted specifically to the LN and EBA material and so one was made, devising at the same time a standard typology and comparing previous classification systems. The typological affinities of the artefacts from every sub-phase of the LN-EBA period were then studied and discussed. This study brought out the range of local types, the continuity of some types from the LN to the EBA and the evidence of foreign influence. The next task was to demonstrate that this large collection of metals could have been produced from local sources, the geological evidence for metallic minerals in Greece was reviewed and a visit was made to one of the richest mineral areas in Greece to assess the types of deposits with which we were dealing. It was demonstrated that the copper, arsenic, gold, silver and lead supplies of the mainland were more than adequate to meet the needs of the local industries in the LN and EBA. Tin was not locally availably and so an extensive review of all possible sources was carried out and two potential supply areas were designated -Yugoslavia and north west Anatolia. The analytical programme presented the chemical and lead-isotope results of over seventy mainland artefacts, attempting to interpret these results for both the technological and chronological information which they could give, formed the main part of the programme. The actual analyses were carried out, in the main, by Dr N H Gale (Oxford). To assist the interpretation of the results a review was made of the metallurgical processes used in the manufacture of copper, arsenical copper, tin bronze, lead, silver and gold. The historical background of the metal technology of the Old World was reviewed, in particular the beginnings of melting, smelting and the origins and development of alloying,in order to provide a reference with which to compare the status of the Greek mainland metallurgical industries. A brief review of the analytical techniques used then led to a full interpretation of the results themselves. The results of the lead-isotope programme demonstrated that several sources were used by both the LN and EBA metallurgies three sources were used in the LN and EBA periods - so there was some continuity of tradition. A new source was identified in the lead-isotope diagrams, though it was not geographically located. This source was used only by mainland communities and, on present evidence, it is highly likely that it is a local source. The chemical results for the mainland artefacts demonstrated that all the main techniques current in the Aegean were known and practiced on the mainland. These include smelting, alloying with arsenic tin and even lead, casting in single and double moulds, cupelling silver from lead and smelting lead as well as working gold. The Greek LN metal industry was not simply an offshoot of the Balkan industries and the EBA industry was in no way backward compared with the other industries of the Aegean. Over 200 chemical results mainly from the EBA Aegean were computed in order to obtain some new information regarding the status of the mainland industry and also to attempt a new approach to provenancing. All the computing work was carried out by Dr M Pollard (Oxford). First of all, the character of the mainland industry was assessed and then it was compared, using various computer techniques, with the industries of the Troad, the Cyclades and Crete. The result was that the mainland industry was basically quite distinct from the other three industries, though it did share several common techniques (or possibly sources) with other areas in the Aegean. Provenancing metals by chemical analyses has had little success in the past and so an attempt was made to utilise the vast bulk of chemical results available for the Aegean by devising a new approach to provenancing, employing the results themselves, lead isotope results (where available), computer cluster dendrograms and typological information, While the approach does not claim to be a general panacea for provenancing problems it did, when applied, offer a few insights into the problem and will become more effective when more lead-isotope data becomes available One of the advantages of the approach is that it provides a much needed check on the lead-isotope technique. A study of the temporal, spatial and socio-economic context of metals and the evidence for metalworking during the LN and EBA periods was quite revealing. The dating of artefacts showed that there were two main periods of increased metallurgical activity -the LN and the EBA II. Metalworking started in northern and southern Greece at roughly the same time, though there is more evidence for metals in northern Greece during the LN and in central and south west Greece during the EBA II and III. The relative distribution of different types of metals demonstrated that copper was always the main metal used, though lead and silver were restricted to southern Greece and gold was found mainly in northern Greece. The distribution of different types showed that weapons were most often found in central Greece, tools in northern Greece and tools and jewellery in southern Greece. Both artefacts and the evidence for metalworking tended always to be located on land routes or close to the sea. Most of the finds come from settlement sites, with grave finds being important only in central Greece.
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Vaiglova, Petra. "Neolithic agricultural management in the Eastern Mediterranean : new insight from a multi-isotope approach." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2016. https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:c8824136-da35-43b2-a700-f458d0cc2fdf.
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The work presented in this dissertation explores the nature of agro-pastoral strategies developed by Neolithic farmers as a way to understand how early food production was inter-twined with environmental and socio-economic opportunities and constraints. Towards this end, a multi-isotope approach is used to address questions of scale and intensity of crop cultivation and animal management at the archaeological sites of Kouphovouno, southern Greece, Makriyalos, northern Greece, and Çatalhöyük, south-central Turkey. Measurements of stable carbon, nitrogen, oxygen and strontium isotope values of carbonized plant remains, human and animal bone collagen and animal tooth enamel are used to examine the similarities and differences in the types of treatments that individual species of plants and animals received during the agricultural cycle at the distinct locations. The results show that farmers at the three sites developed variable methods for exploiting the arable and pastoral landscape and catering to their economic and culinary needs. The discussion considers the implications of these findings to our understanding of the complexity and adaptability of early farming systems.
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Strömberg, Bo. "Gravplats--gravfält : platser att skapa minnen vid--platser att minnas vid /." Göteborg : Göteborgs universitet, Institutionen för arkeologi, 2005. http://bvbr.bib-bvb.de:8991/F?func=service&doc_library=BVB01&doc_number=014744532&line_number=0001&func_code=DB_RECORDS&service_type=MEDIA.
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Ramminger, Britta. "Wirtschaftsarchäologische Untersuchungen zu alt- und mittelneolithischen Felsgesteingeräten in Mittel- und Nordhessen : Archäologie und Rohmaterialversorgung /." Rahden/Westf. : Leidorf, 2007. http://www.vml.de/d/detail.php?ISBN=3-89646-374-8.
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Budd, Chelsea. "Neolithic Anatolia and Central Europe : disentangling enviromental impacts from diet isotope studies." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2015. https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:3166062c-6c74-4d5c-b347-c9967bedbbde.
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The aim of this thesis was to reconstruct dietary choices for Neolithic populations in Anatolia and Poland using stable isotope analysis, and to examine the extent to which local environmental factors in these regions affected the isotope values recorded from skeletal collagen. In total 278 new δ13C and δ15N values were obtained from human and animal bone collagen for this project (161 from the site of Oslonki 1, 59 from Barçin Höyük, and 58 from the site of Aktopraklik). From an environmental perspective, the multi-level statistical modelling highlighted a clear relationship with δ13C and δ15N and moisture availability, which was most evident through the proxy of mean annual precipitation (MAP). The modelling highlighted a 0.4‰ decrease in d13C for every 100mm decrease of MAP, and a 0.5‰ decrease in d15N for every 100mm decrease between sites. The δ13C and δ15N values for the North-West Anatolian sites are the first dietary isotopic studies for the Neolithic period in the region. The values are largely commensurate with the dietary isotope studies from Neolithic sites located on the Central Anatolian plateau, with the caveat that the North-West sites perhaps had a greater reliance on herbivore protein (instead of plant protein) than their plateau counterparts. The dietary reconstruction of Oslonki 1 uncovered a rather unexpected outcome - namely that status exerted a degree of control over human diet. If this is indeed true it will be the earliest evidence in Europe of a distinct relationship between the socioeconomic status and diet of an individual.
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Richardson, Rebecca Helen. "Craft specialisation, workshops and activity areas in the Aegean from the Neolithic to the end of the protopalatial period." Thesis, Durham University, 1999. http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/1995/.
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This thesis examines the theory behind workshops, including craft specialisation, and presents a catalogue of workshops and activity areas in the Aegean from the Neolithic to the end of the Protopalatial period. No systematic procedure for analysing and classifying workshops has been used or proposed previously. The main aim of this thesis is to develop a method by which loci suggested to be workshops may be analysed, with a view to ascertaining whether this identification is correct. Following on from this, a further objective is to formulate a means of classifying the information to determine the type of working area and the degree of certainty with which it may be called a workshop or activity area. This method will be used in the compilation of the catalogue. For a comprehensive study of workshops, two main theoretical issues are considered in Volume I. Firstly, the theory of craft specialisation, integral to the study and definition of workshops, is examined. Its definition, features, associated aspects and connection with workshops are researched. Secondly, a theoretical study of the possible varieties of workshops and their likely locations, products, and consumers provides a basis for the following examination of actual loci within the Aegean. In Volume II a catalogue of working areas in the Aegean is presented, which also includes other craft-related loci: craftsman's graves, hoards and mines. The method for analysis is employed extensively throughout the catalogue to reinterpret areas previously suggested to be workshops or activity areas. New classifications are suggested for many loci. It is concluded that the proposed method is successful in achieving the aims for which it was developed.
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Jalal, Tamimi Tesneem Akram. "EVALUATION OF TREPANATION IN THE NEOLITHIC PERIOD BY 19TH CENTURY SCIENTISTS: AN OBJECT LESSON OF SOCIETAL BIAS IN RESEARCH." Thesis, The University of Arizona, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/613093.
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Society shapes a great deal of our ideas and beliefs. No matter the field of research scientists choose to pursue, preconceptions exist that prevents them from being fully objective. To illustrate this point, this article explores the nineteenth century in order to highlight the subjective nature of the scientific community, specifically the neuroscientists at the time. It is my contention that society’s view of race interfered with their objective evaluation of the practice of trepanation in Neolithic times. Trepanation is a practice where a portion of the skull in removed from a living patient. Prominent among several scientists at the time, Paul Broca’s subjective approach to explaining the motivation behind the practice highlights how we are conditioned by our environment. This observation emphasizes the need to be aware of bias whenever we approach new information.
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Hall, Kathryn Elizabeth. "All the live-long day : developing time-space maps to structure archaeological and palaeo-environmental data relating to the mesolithic-neolithic transition in southern England." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 2015. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.709216.
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Jones, Paula Louise. "Moving heaven and earth : landscape, death and memory in the aceramic Neolithic of Cyprus." Thesis, University of Wales Trinity Saint David, 2006. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.683220.
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Wong, Edna H. Y. "Ceramic characterization and inter-site relationships in the northwestern Central Plateau, Iran, in the Late Neolithic to the Bronze Age." Thesis, The University of Sydney, 2008. https://hdl.handle.net/2123/28170.
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Until recently, the syntheses of cultural development of northwestern Iran in the late prehistory, as with most areas in Iran, have been predominantly based on stylistic study of pottery. This thesis aims to approach the study of ceramics using an integrated approach employing methods derived from the physical sciences, such as petrography and chemical analysis, to provide a different perspective into the characterization of the different wares. This would provide further understanding into the process of production and distribution of the ceramics, which in turn would facilitate the study of inter-site relationships and the nature of cultural transmission of technology, not only within the Qazvin Plain but also with the neighbouring regions.
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Johnson, Martha J. "Rock matters : a geological basis for understanding the rock at the Ness of Brodgar, Orkney." Thesis, University of Aberdeen, 2019. http://digitool.abdn.ac.uk:80/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=240715.
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This research introduced a geological perspective into an archaeological setting, the Ness of Brodgar, a Middle to Late Neolithic site in the West Mainland of Orkney. Discovered in 2003, the site is located on an isthmus of land between two lochs and is equidistant between the Ring of Brodgar and the Stones of Stenness stone circles. The site consists of more than two dozen drystone buildings encircled by a massive wall. To date, ten per cent of the site has been excavated. This research established a systematic framework of protocols and procedures for the recovery, macro geological assessment and identification of the rock and mineral species in the non-tool, non-structural rocks, termed Foreign Stone for this research. Once identified, the frequency and distribution of the rock in the Foreign Stone finds were calculated, providing a geological basis for understanding any patterns of rock choice across the site. Integrated into a more conventional archaeological study of the Worked Stone artefacts was a systematic macro petrological analysis of these finds. Additionally, selected segments of the interior drystone walling were assessed to identify the rock in the various members. These petrologic analyses combined to provide insight into the range of rocks transported to and utilized within the site. Comparative analysis of the data from all three aspects, Foreign Stone, Worked stone and walling, was undertaken to identify trends in frequencies and patterns of use of the various rock species. Archival and more current information on the petrologic resources available within Orkney were synthesized in a gazetteer identifying the location(s) of rock outcrops and deposits. This permitted the source location(s) of many of the rocks from the Ness of Brodgar to be identified.
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Cluett, Jonathan Paul. "Soil and sediment-based cultural records and The Heart of Neolithic Orkney World Heritage Site buffer zones." Thesis, University of Stirling, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/1893/357.
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The designation of World Heritage Sites (WHS) by UNESCO is the principal international and formally recognised strategy allowing the conservation of sites of outstanding cultural value throughout the world. This study demonstrates that soils and sediments influenced by cultural activities retain cultural records (soils and sediments-based cultural records, hereafter abbreviated to SSBCR) associated with WHS, and further the understanding and contribute to the cultural value of WHS. Considering The Heart of Neolithic Orkney WHS and its surrounding landscape as the study location, systematic fieldwork is combined with geoarchaeological analyses including soil organic matter content, pH, particle size distribution, phosphorus concentration, soil magnetism and thin section micromorphology to determine the nature of the SSBCR. Chronologies of the formation of SSBCR and of palaeo-environmental records were ascertained using radiocarbon analyses and optically stimulated luminescence analysis. Findings of particular importance to the interpretation of the WHS are the identification of a Late Neolithic SSBCR located between the WHS monuments. This SSBCR is a valuable cultural record of a specific Late Neolithic community and provides significant insight into the interaction between settlement and ritual aspects of the Orcadian Late Neolithic. An understanding of these interactions is of crucial importance to a fuller interpretation of the WHS and to the wider discussion of the Orcadian Neolithic. The implications of this research to other WHS designated for their cultural value are discussed, together with future conservation considerations for this specific WHS.
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Castro, Gessner Ana Gabriela. "The technology of learning painting practices of early Mesopotamian communities of the 6th millennium, B.C. /." Diss., Online access via UMI:, 2008.
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Bofinger, Jörg Kind Claus-Joachim Stephan Elisabeth. "Untersuchungen zur neolithischen Besiedlungsgeschichte des oberen Gäus /." Stuttgart : Theiss, 2005. http://www.loc.gov/catdir/toc/fy0608/2006364705.html.
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Relaki, Maria. "Social arenas in Minoan Crete : a regional history of the Mesara in south-central final Neolithic to the end of the Protopalatial period." Thesis, University of Sheffield, 2004. http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/14940/.
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Minoan archaeology is dominated by the study of Palaces. The establishment of such monumental structures with assumed central authority across the island of Crete at the beginning of the MBA has promoted historical questions which focus exclusively on the emergence of social complexity. Almost without exception such studies have been framed within a regional background. However, although Region has been considered the scale of analysis par excellence for understanding the rise of the Palaces, a more thorough investigation of the dynamics which generate regional patterns seems to be lacking in current studies. This thesis argues that the directionality imposed to Minoan studies by the focus on palatial emergence generates inadequate accounts of social change. Moreover, the uncritical equation of regional conformities with social integration, reduces regionalism to an accidental phenomenon and impedes the investigation of the relationship between local and wider processes. An alternative approach is put forward whereby social practices are at the centre of inquiry. It is argued that social relations are negotiated through particular social practices which prove more relevant for the articulation of identities, thereby becoming social arenas. The recurrent investment in common social arenas through time generates particular understandings of region as a sense of community. Region is perceived here as an ongoing process of belonging and not as the concentration of people and objects in a bounded geographical area. The Mesara in south-central Crete has been considered the 'ultimate' region in Minoan studies by virtue of its distinct topography and its unique cultural pattern. The thesis examines the social processes which generated such an impression of regionalism for the Mesara, from the FN to the end of the Protopalatial period. It is argued that the scale at which belonging was practised, marked the extent and the density of the relevant region. The emergence of the First Palace of Phaistos is re-evaluated through this alternative perspective. It is suggested that the geographical distinctiveness of the Mesara did not always warrant the social cohesion of its communities. Instead the Mesara consisted of different regions throughout its history, which reflected the scale at which community was felt and actively performed.
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Laurie, Eva M. "An investigation of the common cockle (Cerastoderma edule (L)) : collection practices at the kitchen midden sites of Norsminde and Krabbesholm, Denmark /." Oxford : Archaeopress, 2008. http://www.loc.gov/catdir/toc/fy0903/2008472338.html.
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Job, Jayme L. "An archaeology of the aesthetic examination of the güzel tas from Fıstıklı Höyük /." Diss., Online access via UMI:, 2009.
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Wace, Pamela Margaret. "The role of enclosures in the TRB groups of central Germany, northwest Germany and southern Scandinavia." Thesis, University of Oxford, 1992. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.670288.
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Braghin, Cecelia. "Beads and pendants in ancient China (Neolithic and Western Zhou period c. 6000-770 BC) : an archaeological study to illuminate patterns of social interaction and cultural exchange." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2000. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.365602.
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Knutsson, Helena. "Slutvandrat? aspekter på övergången från rörlig till bofast tillvaro /." Uppsala : Societas Archaeologica Upsaliensis : Distribution, Dept. of Archaeology, Uppsala University, 1995. http://catalog.hathitrust.org/api/volumes/oclc/33245292.html.
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Widmann, Esther [Verfasser], and Diamantis [Akademischer Betreuer] Panagiotopoulos. "Ain't no mountain high enough. Man and the environment in the uplands of Crete from the Neolithic to the end of the Roman period / Esther Widmann ; Betreuer: Diamantis Panagiotopoulos." Heidelberg : Universitätsbibliothek Heidelberg, 2014. http://d-nb.info/117992469X/34.
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Burri, Elena. "La céramique du Néolithique moyen : analyse spatiale et histoire des peuplements /." Lausanne : Bibl. Histor. Vaudoise, 2007. http://bvbr.bib-bvb.de:8991/F?func=service&doc_library=BVB01&doc_number=016252442&line_number=0001&func_code=DB_RECORDS&service_type=MEDIA.
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Snoeck, Christophe. "A burning question : structural and isotopic analysis of cremated bone in archaeological contexts." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2014. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:0e08ba32-1f9a-4b3c-afc4-86b99acefb69.
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Cremated bone occurs in many archaeological sites as small grey and white fragments. The high temperatures reached during heating induce structural, chemical and isotopic changes to bone apatite (the inorganic fraction of bone). These changes are investigated here by infrared spectroscopy and mass spectrometry (d13C, d18O and 87Sr/86Sr) in both modern heated bone and archaeological cremated specimens. The results of various heating experiments (in laboratory and natural conditions) highlight the significant carbon and oxygen exchanges with the fuel used as well as with bone organic matter (mainly collagen). While not informing on dietary practice and hydrology as is the case with unburned bone, the d13C and d18O values of calcined samples together with infrared results provide information on the conditions in which the bone was heated (e.g. presence of fuel, size of the pyre, temperatures reached, dry or fresh bone, etc.). In parallel, the effect of heat on the strontium present in bone is minimal, if not undetectable. Furthermore, as observed through artificial contamination experiments, post-burial alterations also appear to be extremely limited, which is to be expected due to the higher crystallinity of calcined bone apatite compared to tooth enamel and unburned bone. These experiments demonstrate that calcined bone provides a reliable substrate for mobility studies using its strontium isotope composition. The application of these results to the study of six Neolithic and one Bronze Age sites from Ireland showed the possibility of discriminating cremated individuals that ate food originating from different regions, as well as highlighting possible variations in cremation practices between different sites. The results of this thesis greatly extend the application of strontium isotopes to places and periods in which cremation was the dominant mortuary practice, or where unburned bone and enamel do not survive. They also provide insights into the reconstruction of ancient cremation practices.
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Kunkel, Brian. "FROM PRESTIGE GOODS TO THE POSSESSION OF A COLLECTIVE PAST: A Dual-Processualist Approach to Social Organization in the Mirabello Region of Crete from the Final Neolithic to the End of the Protopalatial Period." Diss., Temple University Libraries, 2017. http://cdm16002.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p245801coll10/id/455401.
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Art HistoryPh.D.
This dissertation focuses on social organization in the Mirabello region of Crete from the Final Neolithic to the end of the Protopalatial period. The primary goal of this study is to provide a more localized and nuanced understanding of the political and economic strategies that preceded the rise of palatial administration. Traditionally, explanations of social change in Pre- and Protopalatial Crete were expressed broadly as island-wide phenomena that occurred either gradually through internal evolutionary processes, or suddenly, in response to foreign contacts and ideas. Rather than attempting to understand the development of Minoan culture as a whole, or viewing change in terms of evolution or influence, this regional study focuses on a range of local factors, including the cycles of growth and collapse observable in the archaeological record. Here, a dual-processualist approach is employed in order to better explain these shifts. This approach contrasts two types of political behavior, network and corporate, which are not mutually exclusive, but operate concurrently and according to varying degrees within the same society. It is argued here that EM I-II network strategies were effective in generating wealth and status, but were ultimately limited by their focus on exclusionary and competitive behaviors. At the end of EM IIB, a series of destructions seems to have initiated a shift toward more corporate organization, which is evident in both settlement patterns and mortuary practices. The character of the evidence, when compared with the earlier period, suggests that this new form of organization was ideological, rather than wealth-centered, and was built upon the creation of larger corporate identities, which were legitimized through the control of communal rituals and degrees of access to a shared ancestral past.
Temple University--Theses
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Viberg, Andreas. "Remnant echoes of the past : Archaeological geophysical prospection in Sweden." Doctoral thesis, Stockholms universitet, Institutionen för arkeologi och antikens kultur, 2012. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-79239.
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The aim of this thesis has been to investigate the benefits, pitfalls and possibilities of using geophysical methods in archaeological projects. This is exemplified by surveys carried out at archaeological sites in different geographical and chronological contexts. The thesis also aims at investigating the cause for the under-use of the methods in Swedish archaeology by looking at previously conducted surveys. The methods used during these surveys have been Ground-penetrating radar (GPR), magnetometer, slingram and a kappameter. The surveys in the mountain tundra region of Lapland show that magnetic susceptibility surveys is a valuable aid in discovering heaps of fire-cracked stones and when combined with magnetometry, also hearths. GPR and magnetometer surveys within the Migration Period ringfort Sandbyborg provided the spatial layout of the fort and indicated, along with results from recent excavations and metal detections, many similarities with the ringfort Eketorp II. The non-magnetic character of the sedimentary bedrock on Öland and Gotland is suitable for magnetometer surveys and the method is also highly appropriate for the detection of the remains of high-temperature crafts. GPR surveys at St. Mary’s Dominican convent in Sigtuna produced the spatial layout of the central cloister area. The investigations also show that the geology, pedology, land use and the character of commonly occurring prehistoric remains in Sweden, in certain circumstances and in certain areas, have restricted the possibility of successfully carrying out geophysical surveys. Care must therefore be taken to choose the right instrument for the survey and to tailor the sampling density of each geophysical survey, according to the character and size of the expected archaeological remains, in order to maximize their information return. To increase the use of geophysical methods in Sweden the educational opportunities, both for surveyors and professional archaeologists, need to improve.At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 2: Submitted. Paper 3: Manuscript.
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Eriksson, Love. "I jordbrukets periferi : En studie om utvecklingen av agrar bebyggelse i marginella miljöer från stenåldern till järnåldern i Norra Sverige." Thesis, Umeå universitet, Institutionen för idé- och samhällsstudier, 2019. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-163367.
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The development and establishment of agriculture in Northern Sweden has since long been believed to appear during the Late Iron Age, close to the Viking period, but recent finds from the Bronze Age in Umeå has opened up new discussion of when agriculture first emerged. Although too early to discuss where and when it developed, the material currently available on the topic allows for discussion for how it developed. By looking at sediment and soil conditions surrounding the settlements in combination with palaeoenvironments and past climate one aim was to try and search for settlement patterns in relation to agricultural potential, this was however unsuccessful. Cultivation practices were analysed using weed and wetland flora as well as agricultural indicators in pollen diagrams. Most settlements appear to focus firstly on animal husbandry and secondarily on cultivating crops, and they might have because of their coastal positioning also relied on fishing. The results confirmed previous hypothesis about the development of agriculture and cultivation practices in Northern Sweden during the Bronze and Iron Age, however, some issues remain concerning the lacking osteological material.Utvecklingen och etableringen av jordbruk i Norrland har sedan länge verkat förekomma först under yngre järnåldern, nära vikingatiden, men nya fynd från bronsåldern i Umeå har öppnat upp diskussionen igen om när jordbruket först etablerade sig. Fastän det är för tidigt att behandla var och när, så tillåter det nuvarande materialet att börja till att diskutera hur jordbruket utvecklade sig. Kringliggande jordförhållanden har undersökts runtom bosättningar i relation till palaeomiljöer och forntida klimat med målet att söka efter bosättningsmönster i relation till potentialen att etablera jordbruk, men inga mönster framkom. Odlingsmetoder undersöktes genom ogräs och våtmarksväxter såväl som indikatorer på jordbruk och betning i pollendiagram. De flesta bosättningarna uppvisade ett fokus i första hand på djurhållning och i andra hand odling, samt att dess närhet till kusten och havet troligen såg ett utvecklat fiske. Resultaten bekräftade tidigare hypoteser om jordbrukets utveckling och odlingsmetoder i Norrland under Brons- och Järnåldern, dock återstår vissa problem beträffande det bristande osteologiska materialet.
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Clist, Bernard-Olivier. "Des permiers villages aux premiers européens autour de l'estuaire du Gabon: quatre millénaires d'interactions entre l'homme et son milieu." Doctoral thesis, Universite Libre de Bruxelles, 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/2013/ULB-DIPOT:oai:dipot.ulb.ac.be:2013/211046.
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La thèse porte sur la mise au jour d'une séquence culturelle continue dans le nord-ouest du Gabon, sur le territoire de la Province de l'Estuaire.Cette séquence démarre avec les traces des derniers chasseurs-collecteurs datées avant 4.000 bp, se poursuit avec la présence des premiers villages avant 2.600 bp, se développe avec l'arrivée des premières populations métallurgistes vers 1.900 bp et se termine un peu après l'arrivée des premiers européens sur la côte Atlantique entre 1471-1475.
Ces quelques quatre millénaire d'histoire sont construits autour d'un protocole d’analyse détaillée des poteries, principaux traceurs des ensembles culturels et de leurs échanges.
A chaque grande époque culturelle (Néolithique puis Age du Fer), les données de l'estuaire du Gabon sont comparées et enrichies par toutes les autres informations archéologiques compilées au Gabon.
Dans le cadre d'une synthèse régionale, toute la documentation relative à la néolithisation en Afrique Centrale du Cameroun à l'Angola est réétudiée en utilisant la même grille d'analyse, et une nouvelle modélisation de l'expansion du système de production villageois est proposée.
Enfin, tous les éléments qui portent sur les premières traces de réduction du fer sont repris, critiqués, et une chronologie plus sûre de l'expansion de cette métallurgie est proposée.
Doctorat en philosophie et lettres, Orientation histoire de l'art et archéologie
info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished
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Cussans, Julia Elise. "Changes in the size and shape of domestic mammals across the North Atlantic region over time : the effects of environment and economy on bone growth of livestock from the Neolithic to the post-medieval period, with particular reference to the Scandinavian expansion westwards." Thesis, University of Bradford, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10454/5734.
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A large database of domestic mammal bone measurements from sites across Greenland, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, and the Northern and Western Isles of Scotland is presented. The reasons for variations in bone growth of domestic ungulates are examined in detail; nutrition is identified as a key factor in the determination of adult bone size and shape. Possible sources of variation in bone size in both time and space in the North Atlantic region are identified. Four hypotheses are proposed; firstly that bone dimensions, particularly breadth, will decrease with increasing latitude in the study region; secondly that higher status sites will raise larger livestock than lower status sites within the same time period and region; thirdly the size of domestic mammals in the Northern and Western Isles of Scotland will increase in the Later Iron Age, possibly in relation to increased fodder supply; finally at times of environmental degradation (climatic and/or landscape) domestic mammal size will decrease. The latitude hypothesis could only be partly upheld; there is no evidence for increased size with site status; a small increase in size is noted at some Scottish Iron Age sites and varying results are found for the environmental degradation hypothesis. The results are discussed with particular reference to how changes in the skeletal proportions of domestic mammals affect their human carers and beneficiaries. The potential of further expanding the dataset and integrating biometrical data with other forms of evidence to create a powerful tool for the examination of economic and environmental changes at archaeological sites is discussed.
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Cussans, Julia E. "Changes in the size and shape of domestic mammals across the North Atlantic region over time. The effects of environment and economy on bone growth of livestock from the Neolithic to the Post Medieval period with particular reference to the Scandinavian expansion westwards." Thesis, University of Bradford, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10454/5734.
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A large database of domestic mammal bone measurements from sites across Greenland, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, and the Northern and Western Isles of Scotland is presented. The reasons for variations in bone growth of domestic ungulates are examined in detail; nutrition is identified as a key factor in the determination of adult bone size and shape. Possible sources of variation in bone size in both time and space in the North Atlantic region are identified. Four hypotheses are proposed; firstly that bone dimensions, particularly breadth, will decrease with increasing latitude in the study region; secondly that higher status sites will raise larger livestock than lower status sites within the same time period and region; thirdly the size of domestic mammals in the Northern and Western Isles of Scotland will increase in the Later Iron Age, possibly in relation to increased fodder supply; finally at times of environmental degradation (climatic and/or landscape) domestic mammal size will decrease. The latitude hypothesis could only be partly upheld; there is no evidence for increased size with site status; a small increase in size is noted at some Scottish Iron Age sites and varying results are found for the environmental degradation hypothesis. The results are discussed with particular reference to how changes in the skeletal proportions of domestic mammals affect their human carers and beneficiaries. The potential of further expanding the dataset and integrating biometrical data with other forms of evidence to create a powerful tool for the examination of economic and environmental changes at archaeological sites is discussed.The Division of AGES (University of Bradford), the Andy Jagger Fund (University of Bradford), the Francis Raymond Hudson Fund (University of Bradford), the Viking Society, the Prehistoric Society, SYNTHESIS and the Paddy Coker Research Fund (Biogeographical Society)
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Hamlet, Laura Elisabeth. "Anthropic sediments on the Scottish North Atlantic seaboard : nature, versatility and value of midden." Thesis, University of Stirling, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/1893/21175.
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Traditionally archaeology has referred to the anthropic sediments accumulated around prehistoric settlements with the blanket term ‘midden’. This is now recognised as an inadequate term to describe the complex formation processes and functions represented in these sediments. This thesis reviewed the body of evidence accumulated over the past century of research into Neolithic and Bronze Age settlements on the islands of the Scottish North Atlantic seaboard and extrapolated the many occurrences of ‘midden’. Several contexts emerged for these sediments including interior floors, hearths, exterior occupational surfaces, dumped deposits, building construction materials and abandonment infill. In addition, ‘midden’ is described added to cultivated soils to form fertile anthrosols. The way in which prehistoric communities exploited this material for agriculture and construction has been described through geoarchaeological research which implied that to past communities ‘midden’ was a valuable resource. This led to the formation of a model based upon a human ecodynamics framework to hypothesise sediment formation pathways. Rescue excavation at the Links of Noltland, Westray provided an opportunity to conduct a holistic landscape and fine resolution based study of Neolithic and Bronze Age settlement to test this model. The research incorporated auger survey, archaeological and geoarchaeological excavation, thin section micromorphology and SEM EDX analyses. Sediments identified in literature review and recovered from the field site were described using this toolkit and set within a cultural and environmental context. Results demonstrate that anthropic materials were incorporated into all contexts examined. Discrete burning and maintenance activities were found to have taken place during the gradual accumulation of open-air anthropic sediments whilst incorporation of fuel residues and hearth waste into floors lead to the gradual formation of ‘living floors’ inside structures. An unexpected discovery was evidence of animal penning within late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age settlement and the in situ burning of stabling waste. Three types iv | P a g e of land management strategy which relied upon the input of anthropic sediments were evidenced and the range and extent of anthropic inclusions in the landscape recorded. Spatial interpolation of auger survey data utilised a new sub-surface modelling technique being developed by the British Geological Survey to explore soil stratigraphic relationships in 3D. SEM EDX analysis supported micromorphological analysis providing chemical data for discrete inclusions and assisting in the identification of herbivore dun ash and the Orcadian funerary product ‘cramp’. SEM EDX analysis was also applied to fine organo-mineral material for statistical testing of nutrient loadings across context groups. It was found that anthropic sediments were enriched in macro and intermediate plant nutrients Mg, P, K, S and Ca compared to geological controls, and the application of anthropic material to cultivated soils improved soil fertility for the three observed land management practices. The versatility of anthropic sediments was explored through discussion of context groups based upon the results of this research and the potential significance of this material to prehistoric communities is explored.
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Oms, Arias F. Xavier. "La neolitització del Nord-Est de la Península Ibèrica a partir de les datacions de 14(C) i les primeres ceràmiques impreses c.5600-4900 cal BC." Doctoral thesis, Universitat de Barcelona, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10803/353618.
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Aquesta tesi doctoral té com a objectiu analitzar el procés de neollitització al nord-est de la Península Ibèrica, en un lapse comprès grosso modo entre 5600-4900 cal BC.
A l'inici, uns capítols introductoris fan un repàs de les dades historiogràfiques i de l'estat del coneixement actual del neolític tant al oest Mediterrani com concretament a Catalunya. Per altra banda, es repassen també les ocupacions mesolítiques prèvies i les condicions paleoambiantals durant aquest període. Posteriorment, el nucli del treball es centra en dos aspectes de la recerca. Per una banda les datacions radiocarbòniques; i per l'altre, l'anàlisi de les primeres ceràmiques impreses.
Per aquest període es comptava amb nombroses datacions pel NE peninsular, malauradament algunes d'aquestes no tenien la qualitat suficient com ser considerades vàlides. Per aquest motiu, s'han analitzat tots els contextos arqueològics de procedència i els tipus de mostra emprada per obtenir les datacions radiocarbòniques, en base a un criteri de validesa proposat per nosaltres per aquesta recerca. L'eliminació de les datacions poc fiables ha permès proposar unes bones forquilles radiocarbòniques i al mateix temps, s'ha observat la presència de diferents fases de concentració de datacions: un grup anterior a 5500 cal BC, un altre entre 5500-5300 cal BC, un entre 5300-5100 cal BC i un darrer amb datacions posteriors a 5150 cal BC.
Per altra banda, s'han analitzat els registres d'un total de 32 jaciments, dels quals 27 s'ha fet de manera directa i la resta a partir de dades publicades. L'estudi s'ha centrat tant en aspectes tècnics i morfològics com sobretot a nivell decoratiu. Aquest darrer tipus d'informació ens ha permès observar diferències i similituds entre els territoris i en les diferents fases cronològiques observades a partir de l'estudi de les datacions.
En les àmplies discussions i a les conclusions, es treballa sobre la periodització de la neolítització al NE peninsular en base a les dades inèdites obtingudes. En aquest sentit, es detecta una primera colonització dels trams del litoral i prelitoral central i meridional durant les fases que comprenen fins a 5300 cal BC, sent clares diferències en les produccions ceràmiques entre cada territori. Posteriorment, la neolitització s'estén a la resta del territori català, amb importants focus al NE de Catalunya, al sud i a la zona compresa entre el riu Segre i els Pirineus. Les diferències entre cadascun dels territoris es mantenen a nivell cultural.
En conclusió, es proposa que el fenomen de neolitització no és tant homogeni com es creia, sinó que afecta a biòtops independents entre ells, tant durant les fases més antigues com fins aquelles més evolucionades.My main interest in this research lies in the study of the first Neolithic populations in the NE of Iberian Peninsula, focus in two axes: tracing the exact chronology of the Early Neolithic in this area and the analysis of the first pottery productions. After introductory chapters where historiographical aspects are analyzed, it comes data on the state of affairs of the Early Neolithic, both at South European and Catalan zoom. The nucleus of the study focuses on the central chapters. First, I have proposed a taphonomical filter to accept or reject the radiocarbon dating from the NE of Iberia. This has allowed us to set a proper chronological periodization by Early Neolithic of this area. The existence of four chronological phases is proposed: before 5500 cal BC, 5500-5300 cal BC, 5300-5150 cal BC and after 5150 cal BC. The other main research line is the analysis of the Early Neolithic pottery from 32 different sites, both technical and morphological viewpoint, but specially the decoration of the vessels is studied. The chapter discussion is focused to combine the correct radiocarbonic dating and the pottery data, And so may be infer information about the Neolithisation process in NE of Iberian Peninsula at different levels, chronological, geographical and cultural
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Orrelle, Estelle. "Material images of humans from the Natufian to pottery Neolithic periods in the Levant." Thesis, University of East London, 2011. http://roar.uel.ac.uk/2638/.
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This dissertation demonstrates that the surprising iconography of human images in the archaeological assemblages of the Levantine Neolithic indicates that they were gods. An analysis of the iconography of the human-like artifacts of my data reveals genital shapes used metaphorically to portray androgynous images as well as elements of therianthropic imagery and red pigment. This iconography meets the predictions of the evolutionary anthropological hypothesis, the 'Female Cosmetic Coalition model' (FCC), which describes the first supernatural symbols as fused male: female, human: animal and red, and predicts that the iconography of early gods would bear this same symbolic syntax, y thesis shows that the material images of the Natufian and Neolithic in the Levant fit this model closely, confirming their identity as gods. The hunter-gatherer socio-economic structure established by the strategies of the FCC was expressed as the first social contract, by which humans lived for thousands of years. The FCC model provides an underlying unchanging syntax in the face of changing political-economy and sexual politics. I interpret my data as revealing a process of male ritual elites increasingly appropriating this syntax, incorporating it in a new social contract. At the end of the last Ice Age, I predict that in the Near East male elites competedto circumvent the onerous burden of the first social contract, to appropriate female ritual power and to establish hierarchical religion legitimizing a new social contract between humans and supernatural beings. This new contract bound gods and humans in a partnership of exchange. I suggest that this process can be identified in the increasingly elaborate ritual activity using costly signalling theory. This work contributes to the decipherment of the iconography of this assemblage of human images, and proposes a model for the origins of religion and social differentiation in the Levant.
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Zachos, Konstantinos. "Ayios Dhimitrios, a prehistoric settlement in the Southwestern Peloponese : the Neolithic and early helladic periods /." Oxford : Archaeopress, 2008. http://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb41263745t.
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