Thèses sur le sujet « Funeral group »

Several twentieth century archaeological expeditions to Lower Nubia recovered the skeletal and cultural remains of C-Group populations mainly from cemetery sites between Shellal and the Second Cataract. Along with the remains of the more or less contemporary Pangrave and Kerma peoples, the C-Group archaeological sequence was assigned to the Middle Nubian Period which lasted from the Sixth to the Eighteenth Egyptian Dynasties and is dated from ca. 2200 B.C. to ca. 1500 B.C. Conflicting interpretations of C-Group socioeconomic conditions are inevitable since no systematic analysis of the data resulting from the excavations of Middle Nubian cemeteries has ever been undertaken. In an attempt to assess the extent of C-Group economic contact with the Egyptians and to resolve the issue of possible growing social differentiation within the C-Group community, a quantitative analysis of the mortuary remains from fifteen C-Group cemeteries was undertaken. The results indicate that the flow of a small number of Egyptian artefacts into Lower Nubia was relatively constant and that contact between Lower Nubians and Egyptians was probably quite limited. Egyptian portrayals of constant fluctuation in Egyptian-Nubian political relations do not correspond with the evidence from the Nubian archaeological record. The analysis also indicated that economic inequality amongst the Middle Nubian population was present in each date category and tended to increase over time. Socioeconomic differences were greatest during the middle of the Second Intermediate Period. These findings indicate that the Middle Nubian socioeconomic system tolerated increasingly conspicuous differences amongst its members. They are not consistent with the hypothesis that no increase in differential access to burial resources occurred between ca. 2100 and ca. 1550 B.C. and that C-Group social and economic conditions remained virtually unchanged throughout their 800-year history.

Gaps in financial access remain stark in the largest part of developing countries and have relevant consequences on poor households’ economic decisions, such as credit, saving and risk management. Lack of availability of formal financial services provided by either the market or public authorities (e.g in case of health insurance) have been compensated by the activity of informal groups, associations and arrangements. Old and new forms of community-based groups have been largely documented in most of developing countries and are shown to be active in several crucial economic domains. They have different levels of institutionalization as they can simply rely on social norms or can have rules and a certain degree of formalization concerning e.g. selection criteria, enforcement, sanctions. They all have in common the voluntary participation of people from the same community (village, neighbourhood, people of the same profession), the delivery of services to members, the non-profit character, the underpinning values of solidarity and mutual help. Some examples of community-based groups in Sub-Saharan Africa are analysed in this thesis: Rotating Saving and Credit Associations (roscas), funeral groups and mutual health organizations (MHOs). The importance of studying community-based arrangements lies in the premise that interventions at the level of a local community can deliver more effective and equitable development. Moreover, examining the mechanics of the informal market is very important for two reasons. First, the strength of the informal market is important for measuring and predicting how effective specific formal sector interventions could be, in the perspective of scaling-up. Second, lessons learned in the informal markets can help shape policy in the formal (Karlan and Morduch 2009). In chapter 1, drawing on data from a household survey in urban Benin1, we examine membership in two types of informal groups that display the characteristics of a commitment device: rotating savings and credit associations (roscas) and funeral groups. We investigate whether agents displaying time-inconsistent preferences are sophisticated enough to commit themselves through taking part in such groups. We provide evidence indicating that women who are hyperbolic are more likely to join these groups and to save more through them, but men displaying similar preferences appear naïve with regards membership. Moreover, we find that hyperbolic agents, irrespective of their gender, tend to restrain consumption of frivolous goods to a larger extent. Furthermore, weak evidence is provided that microcredit can be used as a device to foster self-discipline. We also ensure that our results cannot be explained by intrahousehold conflict issues. The second chapter largely draws on Bonan J, Dagnelie O., LeMay-Boucher P. and Tenikue M. (2012) “Is it all about Money? A Randomized Evaluation of the Impact of Insurance Literacy and Marketing Treatments on the Demand for Health Microinsurance in Senegal”, Working Papers 216, University of Milano-Bicocca, Department of Economics. It is based on a field work we carried out in Spring-Summer 2010 in Thies, Senegal, which I coordinated and supervised. The chapter presents experimental evidence on mutual health organizations (MHOs) in the area of Thiès, Senegal. Despite their benefits, in some areas there remain low take-up rates. We offer an insurance literacy module, communicating the benefits from health microinsurance and the functioning of MHOs, to a randomly selected sample of households. The effects of this training, and three cross-cutting marketing treatments, are evaluated using a randomized control trial. We find that our various marketing treatments have a positive and significant effect on health insurance adoption, increasing take-up by around 35%. Comparatively the insurance literacy module has a negligible impact on the take up decisions. We attempt at providing different contextual reasons for this result. The third chapter is an extension of the second and draws on the same dataset. We measure the willingness to pay (WTP) for MHOs premiums in a Senegalese urban context. WTP valuations can help both policy makers and existent MHOs in better understanding the characteristics of the demand of microinsurance products. This chapter considers the role of individual and household socio-economic determinants of willingness to pay for a health microinsurance product and add to the previous literature evidence of the role of income, wealth and risk preferences on individual WTP. We find that richer, more wealthy and more risk-averse head of households are more likely to reveal a higher WTP for health microinsurance. Conscious of the potential limits of our elicitation strategy (bidding game), we incorporate the existent literature on the effects of ‘preferences anomalies’ (Watson and Ryan 2007) and estimate WTP accounting for structural shift in preferences (Alberini et al. 1997), anchoring effect (Herriges and Shogren 1996) and the two effects together (Whitehead 2002). We find evidence of slight underestimation of the median WTP if preferences anomalies are not taken into consideration. However, the extent of such difference is far from being relevant. Previous results on the determinants of WTP are robust to the effect of such preference anomalies. We also provide an analysis of the predictive power of WTP on the actual take-up of insurance following our offering of membership to a sample of 360 households. WTP appears to have a positive and significant impact on actual take-up.

In this thesis, I intend to examine differences between religious communities and practices through a comparative study of funeral ceremonies performed at Hacibayram and Kocatepe Mosques in Ankara. The ethnographic data, which have been collected through eighty-seven funeral ceremony that I attended in these two mosques, shows that there are repetitive patterns among funeral ceremonies performed in the same mosque. When we compare the ceremonial patterns in Hacibayram Mosque and Kocatepe Mosque, it is observed that funeral ceremonies performed in these two mosques is differentiated in terms of material culture, gender and sentiments. There are different variables for these ritual differentiations, such as the nature and composition of a religious community frequenting a mosque, and the meanings and traditions ascribed to a mosque, which affect the way in which prayers are perceived and practiced. Besides, it is also realized that repetitive patterns among funeral ceremonies performed in the same mosque may even differentiate, because of social status and worldview of deceased and mourners.

Ces recherches mettent en évidence comment les anciens Égyptiens rendaient visibles leur position sociale d’une part dans la hiérarchie des rapports entre individus et d’autre part au sein de leur groupe d’appartenance. Les marqueurs sociaux considérés sont de nature matérielle mais aussi culturelle et peuvent prendre la forme concrète d’objets de luxe et de prestige ou l’aspect plus subjectif de manières de s’exprimer ou de se comporter en faisant appel à la culture développée par les élites. Il ne s’agit pas ici d’établir un catalogue exhaustif mais de montrer comment les individus, en fonction de leur appartenance à des catégories sociales différentes, utilisent et interprètent les marques d’identité, de pouvoir et de prestige créées et perpétuées par la royauté et par les élites placées à son service. En fonction de l’importance sociale des individus, de l’époque considérée et de la capacité du pouvoir central à s’affirmer comme source de légitimité, les comportements ne sont pas les mêmes et les valeurs dont sont porteurs certains objets, certaines manières ont changé en même tant que la société évoluait. L’importance matérielle et symbolique de certains marqueurs sociaux a en effet pu être remise en cause ou au contraire développée par l’intégration de références à de nouvelles sources de pouvoir, tels les ancêtres ou les gouverneurs locaux sous la Première Période intermédiaire. En ce sens, le mimétisme culturel permet d’observer comment des personnes situées en dehors des sphères institutionnelles de l’État parviennent malgré tout à s’approprier le discours officiel imposé par le pouvoir central. L’étude s’organise en trois temps : la place de l’héritage lignager dans l’affirmation de la position sociale ; la manière de se comporter et d’occuper l’espace, tant dans la topographie que lors de manifestations cérémonielles ; l’usage des objets comme témoins de l’appartenance sociale et moyens d’expression du statut et de l’identité via la culture matérielle
This research highlights how Ancient Egyptians displayed their social position, on the one hand according to the hierarchical relationships between individuals, and on the other hand according to their membership of different groups. Social markers are of both material as well as cultural kinds and can take concrete forms like objects of luxury and prestige, but also as subjective forms, like ways of expressing oneself and behaving through references to a culture developed by the elite. It is not a matter of presenting a complete catalogue here. The intellectual process consists of making understand how individuals, ddepending on their membership of different social classes, used and interpreted marks of identity, power and prestige, which had been created and sustained by the royalty and the elite at their service. Depending on the social importance of individuals, the considered time period, and the ability of the central government to assert itself as a source of legitimacy, personal and collective behaviours were not always the same, and values embodied in objects and manners have changed, as society has evolved. The material and symbolic significance of social markers could have been thrown into question during leadership crisis or on the contrary, it could have been developed by the adoption of references to new sources of power, such as ancestors and local governors during the First Intermediate Period. In this way, cultural imitation allows us to observe how persons who are not linked to the institutional spheres of the State manage to take up the official discourse imposed by the central government after all. This study is divided into three parts: the significance of lineage to assert a social position; the way ones behaves and occupies the space around, in topography or in ceremonial events; the use of objects as signs of social membership et means to express status and identity through material culture

O objetivo dessa dissertação é entender quais são e como se dão os padrões de variabilidade de contextos funerários dos grupos Guarani e Tupinambá, com foco na região da bacia dos rios Paranapanema e alto Paraná. Para tal, fizemos um levantamento bibliográfico de sítios com contextos funerários, escavados por diversos arqueólogos e arqueólogas, que se localizam nos estados de São Paulo, Paraná, Mato Grosso do Sul e Rio de Janeiro. Desses sítios, escolhemos aqueles que possuíam mais informação e material disponível para análise como a base para nossas considerações. Analisamos material cerâmico e remanescentes humanos, e fizemos um levantamento de práticas funerárias de grupos Tupinambá e diversos grupos Guarani a partir de fontes etnohistóricas. Os dados analisados demonstram que a variabilidade das práticas funerárias desses grupos é constituída por continuidades e descontinuidades, elementos básicos que se repetem e elementos que se distinguem. Esses elementos estão presentes na cerâmica, na espacialidade funerária, e conversam com padrões de assentamento. Eles mostram como grupos Guarani e Tupinambá ocuparam áreas ao longo do Paranapanema e afluentes, formando diferentes ocupações que por vezes podem ter existido em um período próximo, no qual esses dois grupos - ou ao menos pessoas que faziam cerâmicas desses dois tipos - podem ter convivido.
The aim of this dissertation is to understand what are and how are the patterns of variability of the funerary contexts of Guarani and Tupinambá groups, focused on the region of the Paranapanema and upper Paraná rivers basins. For such purpose we had conducted an extensive literature review of sites with funerary contexts, excavated by different archaeologists, located in São Paulo, Paraná, Mato Grosso do Sul and Rio de Janeiro states. From these sites we selected those who had more information and material available for analysis as the basis of the research. We analyzed pottery and human remains, and we consulted ethnohistorical sources about funerary practices of Tupinambá groups and several Guarani groups. The analyzed data demonstrate that the variability of the funerary practices of these groups is constituted by continuities and discontinuities, basic elements that are repeated and elements that are distinguished. These elements are present in pottery, funerary spatiality and settlement patterns. They show how Guarani and Tupinambá groups occupied areas along the Paranapanema and tributaries, forming different occupations that may have existed, in some cases, in a near period, in which these two groups - or people who produced these two different types of pottery - may have coexisted.

Le site des Ruelles, à Serris (Seine-et-Marne), émerge dans le cadre d’une création d’habitats au VIIe s. Il débute avec l’implantation d’une ferme domaniale et s’achève au début du XIe s. après une résurgence du pôle de pouvoir au Xe s. L’opération archéologique menée sur 16 hectares, s’inscrit dans un terroir largement exploré par l’archéologie ; elle révèle un habitat groupé bipolaire et un grand ensemble funéraire qui s’est développé autour de deux édifices religieux dont l’un est abandonné à la fin du VIIIe s. Avec les petits ensembles funéraires dispersés dans l’habitat, les Ruelles comptent un peu plus d’un millier de sépultures. Ce travail a pour objectif de classer et d’étudier les phénomènes taphonomiques du squelette afin d’identifier les architectures funéraires et de comprendre leur évolution (analyse typochronologique). Concernant cet aspect, la synthèse s’accompagne du catalogue analytique exhaustif des sépultures. Un second volet concerne l’analyse des pratiques funéraires, de manière à mettre en évidence les formes d’organisation sociale qu’elles transcrivent ; cette partie aborde l’analyse du recrutement (sexe et âge au décès) par phases chronologiques, la répartition spatiale des sépultures en fonction des choix architecturaux et du sexe et de l’âge au décès, les formes de regroupements et la gestion matérielle de l’espace, les continuités et les discontinuités spatiales, ainsi que les rapports entretenus par les différentes zones d’inhumation. Sont enfin discutés la genèse des pôles funéraires, les modalités de leur développement, le rôle des deux édifices religieux, le statut des différents groupes dégagés par l’étude des pratiques funéraires, la relation entre les lieux d’habitat et les espaces sépulcraux, et aussi les modalités de gestion et d’organisation des morts dans ce territoire. Ces conclusions s’inscrivent dans les questionnements relatifs à l’organisation et à l’évolution des sociétés rurales du haut Moyen Âge
The site of Les Ruelles, at Serris (Seine-et-Marne, France), emerges within the framework of a creation of settlements in the 7th century. It begins with the establishment of a domanial farm and is abandoned at the beginning of the 11th century after the revival of the pole of power in the 10th century. The archaeological excavations covering16 hectares, fit in a territory largely explored by archaeology ; it reveals a bipolar agglomerated settlement and a major funerary unit which developed around two religious buildings of which one is destroyed at the end of the 8th century. By taking into account the small funerary units dispersed in the different parts of the “pre-village”, Les Ruelles add up to a little more than one thousand burials. This work aims to classify and study the taphonomic phenomena of the skeleton in order to identify funerary architectures and to understand their evolution (typochronological analyses). Concerning this aspect, the synthesis is accompanied by the exhaustive analytical catalogue of the burials. A second orientation relates to the analysis of the funerary practices, to highlight the shapes of social organization that they are supposed to transcribe. This part approaches the analysis of sex and age repartition by chronological phases, the spatial distribution of the burials according to the architectural choices and to the sex and the age at death, the forms of regroups and the material management of the funeral settlement, the spatial continuities and discontinuities, as well as the relations maintained by the various burial units between them. Are finally discussed the genesis of the funerary poles, the way in which they develop, the role of the two religious buildings, the status of the various groups revealed by the study of the funerary practices, the relation between domestic and sepulchralplaces, and also the patterns of management and organization in this territory. The conclusions fit in to the general questioning relating to the organization and the evolution of the rural societies of the Early middle ages

Priests and Weavers in the Inka Province of PachacamacBy following the principle that offerings, accompanying the dead, can be used effectively to determine the former occupation the deceased, we can extend our knowledge of the social organisation of the Province of  Pachacamac. The meaning of offerings in terms of level of social status and occupation is interpreted by artifacts which probably belonged the deceased, including those which would include personal items and the tools of the trade, both of which would confirm what kind of social status the deceased enjoyed and what trade he or she pursued. This suits particularly well if the tools and other instruments for specific tasks show signs of wear and if there are half-finished products, such as textiles or nets. In this article I want to identify aspects concerning two specialists groups: the priests and weavers.
Investigaciones arqueológicas han comprobado que, durante el Periodo Intermedio Tardío y el Horizonte Tardío, algunos contextos funerarios son diagnósticos en la identificación de especialidades u oficios laborales. Esto puede demostrarse en la provincia inka de Pachacamac y en este artículo se intenta caracterizar algunos aspectos de dos grupos de especialistas identificados por el análisis arqueológico, apoyado por importantes y reveladoras informaciones etnohistóricas. Es interés del autor mostrar los resultados de sus investigaciones respecto a los sacerdotes y tejedores andinos.

Ce travail de doctorat vise à valoriser la pertinence du concept du - complexe culturel atlantique -, pour les périodes du Bronze ancien et du Bronze moyen, à partir de l'analyse des manifestations funéraires documentées de la façade nord de l'Espagne jusqu'au sud-ouest de la France. Nous avons, effectivement, choisi pour cette réflexion, d'étudier les régions les moins visibles de la documentation du domaine atlantique afin, d'une part, de les valoriser individuellement, et d'autre part, de comprendre les relations qu'elles ont entretenues entre elles, mais aussi avec celles du domaine continental Ibérique. Sur cet espace méridional atlantique, les données ont été considérablement renouvelées ces trente dernières années, grâce au développement de l'activité archéologique préventive, et permettent ainsi de contextualiser celles issues des anciennes explorations. Notre objectif consiste à caractériser les solutions funéraires ainsi que les mobiliers qui ont été adoptés sur cet espace afin de définir et de délimiter les groupes culturels en présence. Pour cela, nous avons mis en place une double échelle d'analyse : - une micro-échelle centrée sur la Galice et le bassin de l'Adour, et - une macro-échelle, sur les régions centres et orientales de la façade atlantique Ibérique. La première échelle nous permet d'analyser la documentation de façon exhaustive, en intégrant des données inédites, tandis qu'avec la seconde, globale et synthétique, nous dressons un panorama général et critique sur celle des régions cantabriques et du Pays Basque espagnol. La conjugaison de ces deux approches nous permet d'effectuer des comparaisons variées sur la documentation de ces espaces et d'identifier de nombreuses convergences, en particulier à partir d'aspects de la culture matérielle qui n'avaient pas été abordés lorsque le concept du Bronze Atlantique a été bâti. Elles concernent, notamment, des mobiliers céramiques, mais aussi la réponse unanime de ces régions atlantiques face aux cultures de la Meseta : celle de l'immobilisme. Ces éléments ainsi que les changements funéraires qui se sont opérés entre le Bronze ancien et le Bronze moyen nous permettent de caractériser ce qu'il convient de considérer comme des dynamiques atlantiques communes. Enfin, notre base documentaire, constituée de plus de 260 sites, nous amène, également, à aborder la question des facteurs qui ont été à l'origine de la constitution des groupes culturels, multiples, de cet espace, en valorisant la place des influences extérieures, des substrats locaux ainsi que des obstacles topographiques dominants du paysage
This doctoral work to highlight the relevance of the - atlantic cultural complex - concept, spanning the ancient and middle Bronze age, based on the analysis of funeral manifestations documented throughout Northern Spain and South-Western France. The choice to study regions which remain less visible with respect to the available documentation on the atlantic domain, as a point of reference for this research, was done in order to acknowledge their individual value and to understand the relationships between these regions and with those of the continental iberian domain. Data for the meridional atlantic zone has considerably expanded over the past thirty years, thanks to the development of preventive archaeological activities, thus enabling the contextualisation of data from past explorations. The main objective of this research is to characterise the funeral finalities and furniture used by people in this area, in order to define and delimit different cultural groups. In order to do this we used a double-scale for analysis : a micro-scale centered on Galicia and the Adour basin, and a macro-scale encompassing the central and east-central front of atlantic Iberia. The first scale allowed us to analyse the data in a very exhaustive manner, integrating brand-new data, whereas with the second scale, which is much more global and synthetic, we established a general and critical panorama of the data for the cantabrian and Basque regions of Spain. The combination of these two approaches allows us to establish a variety of comparisons on the documentation about these areas, and to identify many convergences, especially with regards to material culture that had not been addressed when constructing the Atlantic Bronze concept. This includes pottery items, as well as a certain immobilism on behalf of the atlantic regions in response to the Meseta cultures. These elements, along with funeral changes that occurred between the ancient and middle Bronze age allow us to characterise what can be considered as the common atlantic dynamics. Lastly, our database of over 260 sites, raises the question of what factors might have caused the composition of the various different cultural groups in the area, emphasizing the role played by exterior influences, local substrates and topographical obstacles
Ese trabajo de doctorado pretende valorar la pertinencia del concepto del - complejo cultural atlántico -, para los periodos del Bronce antiguo y medio, mediante el análisis de las manifestaciones funerarias documentadas de la fachada norte de España hasta el suroeste de Francia. Hemos elegido para esta reflexión el estudio de las regiones menos visibles de la documentación del ámbito atlántico con el fin, por una parte, de valorar cada una de ellas individualmente, y por otra, de comprender los tipos de relaciones que mantenían entre ellas, pero también, con las del ámbito continental Ibérico. Sobre ese espacio meridional atlántico, los datos se incrementaron de forma significativa estos últimos treinta años, gracias al desarrollo de la actividad arqueológica preventiva, y permiten, por lo tanto, contextualizar las que provienen de las antiguas exploraciones. Nuestro objetivo consiste en caracterizar las soluciones funerarias así como los mobiliarios que han sido adoptados, para definir y delimitar los grupos culturales presentes en ese espacio. Para eso, hemos procesado a una doble escala de análisis: - una micro-escala centrada sobre Galicia y la cuenca del Adour, y una macro-escala, sobre las regiones centrales y orientales de la fachada atlántica Ibérica. La primera escala nos permite analizar la documentación de forma exhaustiva, integrando datos inéditos a nuestro discurso, mientras que, con la segunda, global y sintética, establecemos un panorama general y crítico de Asturias, Cantabria y del País Vasco. La combinación de estos dos tipos de enfoques nos permite efectuar unas variadas comparaciones sobre la documentación de esos espacios e identificar numerosas convergencias, en particular en relación con aspectos de la cultura material que no habían sido tratados cuando el concepto del Bronce Atlántico nació. Estas implican, especialmente, los recipientes cerámicos, pero también la respuesta unánime de las regiones atlánticas hacia las culturas de la Meseta: la del inmovilismo. Esos elementos, así como los cambios funerarios que se operan entre el Bronce antiguo y el Bronce medio, nos permite caracterizar lo que conviene considerar como una dinámica atlántica común. Por fin, nuestra base documental, constituida por más de 260 yacimientos, nos lleva a abordar la cuestión de los factores que han estado en el origen de la constitución de los grupos culturales, múltiples, de este espacio, valorizando el papel de las influencias exteriores, de los substratos locales, así como de los obstáculos topográficos dominantes del paisaje

La méconnaissance de l’Auvergne durant l’Antiquité tardive tient en partie à l’absence de référentiels chrono-typologiques. La découverte récente d’ensembles céramiques conséquents et la reprise de données anciennes permettent aujourd’hui de combler ce vide documentaire. Ce travail se propose ainsi de dresser un nouveau panorama du territoire arverne durant l’Antiquité tardive et le très haut Moyen Âge (fin IIIe-milieu VIIIe siècle), d’un point de vue économique et culturel par l’étude de la céramique. L’évolution des répertoires montre que les faciès antiques persistent jusqu’au VIe siècle de même que les pratiques culinaires et les manières de table. Diversifiées jusqu’au Ve siècle, les formes et les catégories céramiques s’uniformisent au VIe siècle et, à partir du VIIe siècle, les productions réductrices et les récipients fermés à usage culinaire prédominent. L’étude d’ensembles funéraires des IVe et Ve siècles montre l’insertion du territoire arverne dans l’évolution des pratiques funéraires alors en cours en Gaule. L’Auvergne se démarque néanmoins par le nombre élevé des vases céramiques déposés dans les tombes et par la préférence donnée aux récipients à solides dans la composition du repas funéraire.Les importations indiquent que le territoire arverne est bien inséré dans les circuits commerciaux à la fin de l’Antiquité. Leurs quantités parfois faibles suggèrent cependant un approvisionnement parcimonieux, qui place l’Auvergne aux confins des aires de diffusion de la plupart des productions commercialisées, comme en « bout de circuits ». Les correspondances établies avec les céramiques des IVe et Ve siècles des autres régions de Gaule du Centre montrent l’existence de traditions de fabrication communes et l’ensemble de ces territoires pourrait appartenir à une même entité économique et culturelle. Le sud du territoire arverne apparaît en revanche tourné vers les régions méridionales, comme l’a montré l’étude des céramiques des VIe et VIIe siècles du site lozérien de La Malène, influencées par les faciès de Gaule du Sud
The sparse knowledge of the late antiquity in Auvergne is partly due to the absence of chronological typology for this period. The recent uncovering of significant ceramic assemblages and the reassessment of pastdata make it possible today to fill this research gap. This thesis attempts to bring new light to the Arverne territory, its economy and culture, in the late antiquity and the early middle ages (from the late 3rd century to the mid-8th century), through the study of its pottery. The evolution observed in the repertory shows that the antique facies remained until the 6th century, as well as the culinary practices and table manners. Until the 5th century,forms and types of ceramics are very varied, becoming more standardized in the next century, and finally starting in the 7th century, closed culinary vessels are predominant.The study of funerary assemblages from the 4th and 5th centuries, demonstrates how the Arverne territory participated in the general evolution of funerary practices in Gaul. However the Auvergne region stands out by the considerable number of ceramic vases found in tombs and the clear preference for solid food vessels in funerary repasts.The presence of imported goods is evidence that the Arverne territory was part of the commercial routes by the end of Antiquity. However the small amounts of importations imply a parsimonious procurement, which would mean that the Auvergne region was actually located on the outer limits of the distribution areas of most industrial productions. The correlations established with 4th and 5th century pottery from other areas of Central Gaul could be proof of a common tradition of production, and how such territories could have possibly belonged to a same cultural and economic entity. The South of the Arverne territory seemed however more influenced by southern Gaul as shown by the study of 6th and 7th century pottery from the lozerian site of La Malène

碩士
國立中正大學
會計與資訊科技所
96
In the modern service industry, nothing is more important than to satisfy the demand of customers in order to increase their loyalty. So, the establishment of an effective call center to acquire customers’ acknowledgement of the services provided has become a key factor to this end. In order to identify the key factors to the success of call center development, we studied the call center development project of a funeral service group. We compared how the project actual proceeded to the literature for the overall project life cycle including project approval, strategic planning, operating processes layout, system construction, and performance evaluation. The focus was on the analyses of gains and losses from the actions the followed and did not follow the literature. The findings are as follows : 1. Information technology suppliers should be carefully chosen right from the beginning of the call center development project. 2. The project manager should have a good command of information technology. 3. The call center staff recruitment policy would significantly affect the success of the development project. 4. The call center could be a platform for integrating the resources of both the enterprise and its customers in order to increase customer satisfaction and to improve business process efficiency.

碩士
國立中山大學
高階經營碩士班
101
This research is dedicated to upgrading the operating, managing and profiting capability of Sino-Life Group Limited (the Group). The Group was founded by a Taiwanese and it currently had stopped its funeral service business in Taiwan region （the Group is only performing services of the pre-need contracts from the past）, and has focused its business in the China market (the Group also has business in Vietnam and Hong Kong). The Group is listed in the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and has main service locations in Chongqing and Hong Kong. Besides, the Group operates cemetery in Beijing and Vietnam. Therefore, many terms used in this paper is according to the usage of China. Through Five Forces Analysis, SWOT Analysis, and Value Chain Analysis, it is known that the company’s advantages are high service quality, continuous introduction of techniques, transparent financial information, young staff, and strong management. On the other hand, the downsides of the company are about human resources, such as difficulties in recruiting, low level of staff loyalty, high chances of embezzlement. Because the company has chances to host national funeral service demonstration, cooperating with the Government, high purchasing power of Chongqing, low employment wages, and relatively low service quality in China, the company is able to lead in the funeral industry and it has great future to continue leading the industry development though inviting others to join and be trained. However, the environment poses threats, such as restriction on foreign industry company in the funeral industry, high level of business model imitation, low volume in returning customer, stable sales and growth ceiling for single service location. Besides, the company individually diagnosis its service procedures to show that the company’s strategy is to have its products with high price and high differentiation but not aiming to lower its cost and price. Through the help of these analyses, the discussion of how to upgrade its management ability to improve price quality and lower chances of embezzlement is initiated. Also, it also points out what types of techniques are needed and where those techniques providers can be found. Lastly, Pinggu, Beijing is an appropriate market for the company to expand to. Besides analyzing the pros and cons of the market, the paper also reveals how to be profitable, such as changing the customer structures, exploiting the business opportunity and staff training enhancement are accompanied by contracting Pinggu Funeral parlor.

碩士
國立臺灣大學
國際企業學研究所
106
Though Taiwan has become an aging society, the popularity rate of preneed funeral contract is less than 2.38%. This qualitative research adopts focus group interview that analyses different attitudes toward preneed funeral contract from different members of family and advertising appeals of raising the willingness of buying the contract. This research adopts Tricomponent Attitude model to analysis the cognition, affect and conation of consumers. As for cognition, we discovered that consumers have low awareness toward the preneed funeral contract. Only because their relatives pass away or their relatives work as a preneed funeral contract sales did they recognize the information of the contract. As for affect, consumers mentally take funeral service as a comfort of livings and the memorization to the death. On the other hand, offspring held funeral service as luxury and high-end as possible to make their parents proud because people would judge it as the love to their parents. As for the conation, the reason consumers purchase the preneed funeral contract is that they thought they could reduce the burden to their offspring and make sure they could be settled well after passing away. However, the reason consumers did not purchase one is that they are reluctant to face the death and do not take the contract as necessary. As for the brand choosing for purchasing the contract, consumers are care more about the following reasons. (1) Reasonable price (2) various locations (3) trustworthy company (4) their participation experience. This research is based on the focus group interview and proposes the advertising appeal to raise the wiliness of contract purchasing. Targeting offspring who purchase the contract for their parents, this research separates into three aspects. First, from the aspects of offspring to themselves, they want to feel satisfied and regretless. From the aspects of offspring to their parents, they want their parents can leave with honor and dignity. And from the aspects of offspring to their relatives, they want to show their love to their parents. For consumers who purchase the contract for themselves and have offspring, we suggest the advertisement focus on reducing the burden to their offspring; for those who do not have offspring, we suggest the advertisement focus on the funeral company could help them to organize their funeral well. For those who want to take charge in their funeral by themselves, the advertising appeal will focus on that all the location, style and content could be customized. Furthermore, Funeral company could also highlight the assurance to their consumers in their advertisement.

博士
國立雲林科技大學
企業管理系
106
The death care industry faces fierce competition and rising consumer awareness. The operators have to design a business model that caters for their target customers’ needs, and achieve the purpose of value creation through a value delivery process. It is, therefore, of great importance to study how to create values for both enterprises and customers and how to match the value propositions of enterprises with the actual needs of customers. The business model was used in this study to discuss value proposition delivery and value creation. Consequently, this study utilized in-depth interviews with seven senior funeral directors. Then, case analysis was conducted based on the Grounded Theory. The findings show that Lungyen Group delivered its service value and corporate philosophy to morticians through internal marketing. It was observed that the same company makes profits by providing quality products and services to customers in key activities of “death”, “encoffining” and “funeral” and by offering solutions for customers’ specific needs. At the stage of “death”, it was noted that the Lungyen Group provides services such as pre-death contracts, and complaint channels. At the stage of “encoffining”, funeral directors provide cleaning of the remains, during which they deliver values by being considerate with the needs of the customers, by delivering warm service, and by offering a positive life education. At the stage of “funeral”, it was found that the software SFA is used to regulate the funeral process, and the ERP system is used to execute material management. At this stage, good communication and understanding are achieved before the ritual starts, which shapes the quality of the whole funeral service.

碩士
國立暨南國際大學
管理學院經營管理碩士學位學程碩士在職專班
101
“To show respect to funeral, and to remember the ancestors” is always pervading in the Chinese culture, therefore, the death issue is taken in serious concern. “Death is the most terrible catastrophe to people, who will be afraid of hearing anything about death. If it’s not the elder, the patients, and people involved say first, it will be a taboo to note anything about death. Often, we talk in euphemism about it.” (任聘, 1993). Nowadays, isn’t it going to be a different perception to make a plan for death for those people who are afraid of death or of the news about their relative in critical condition? This study adopts the post-consumption survey to know how Taiwanese people act when buying “Pre-need Funeral Agreements” and also to understand how the customer perceived value influences the re-purchase intention, in which the attitude plays as a moderator, different interviewee as background variable.We will make a study on the interchange among those variables to see if there is any difference.This study is quantitative by 100-piece questionnaires of “the relatives who ever received funeral service” and “the clients who purchased the agreement.” The cognition from the interviewee will be given into statistical analysis, in order to verify the hypothesis of this study, by the Likert-type scale, descriptive statistics, T-Test, One-way ANOVA, and hierarchical regression. The result of this study is found out as below: 1.Consumer perceived value and attitude has partial significant influence to re-purchase, when clients are given in different background variables. 2.The variables of consumer perceived value, attitude, and re-purchase have significance. This study explores the consumer behavior when Taiwanese people purchase “pre-need funeral agreement.” The result of this study will make up the insufficient document about funerary service industry. It reflects appropriately the demand and the concern of pre-need funeral agreement, and serves as a product development or marketing strategy for funerary service industry, moreover, gives the government for reference when making relative policies. Finally, it could instill the most refreshing development into funerary service industry, and gives those students of medical department, nursing department, and life-and-death related for academic reference.

Charles University in Prague, Faculty of arts Institute of Prehistory and Early History Lucia Žilincová SETTLEMENT OF BOHEMIAN PARADISE IN THE PERIOD OF LUSATIAN URN FIELDS Dissertation thesis Summary: The main aim of my dissertation thesis is to contribute to better understanding of the Bohemian Paradise settlement in the Lusatian urn fields period and its relation and contacts to the neighbouring areas. The basic source is archaeological material from seven cemeteries (Sovenice /bez. Mladá Boleslav/, Sovenice /bez. Nymburk/, Svijany, Svijanský Újezd, Koryta, Březina, Příšovice) and two settlements of the Lusatian culture (Turnov-Maškovy zahrady, Svijany). Its analysis is basis for enrichement knowledge of Lusatian material culture and its clue for completing of missing elements in chronological development. Inevitable part of this work is substitution of these localities to the Bomemian Paradise frame and classification in the wider space of this culture widespreading. On the base of acquired knowledge I will try to solve the question of possibility for comparation of the settlement and burial material of Lusatian culture. 2016

This thesis will look at the depiction of the Achilles and Troilos death myth on the Attic Black-Figure “Tyrrhenian” Group and its possible influence in Etruria from the mid 6th century BC to the Hellenistic period. The appearance of this Attic-made export ware in Etruscan sites of the 6th century BC, distribution of extant group pots with known provenance along with the emulation of the “Tyrrhenian” neck-amphora style and narrative frieze content in mid to late 6th century BC Etruscan pottery supports evidence for the popularity of the group amongst the Etruscan population. I will approach my investigation in Chapter Three by first giving an overview of the construction and decoration of the Attic-made “Tyrrhenian” Group and listing the variety of traits that characterize this group as being a true case of Athenian export product to Etruria. In Chapter Four I will focus on the appearance of the Achilles and Troilos myth on pots of the “Tyrrhenian” Group and trace the development of the myth’s iconography in Greek art starting in the mid 7th century BC. In Chapter Five I will focus on the appearance of the myth in Etruscan art in the mid 6th century BC and its subsequent development in Etruscan mythology through the analysis of Etruscan-made specimens. I will also attempt to give a reasoning behind the Etruscans’ adaptation of the Greek myth into their corpus.
Thesis (Master, Classics) -- Queen's University, 2009-09-22 13:27:11.548