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This thesis examines the personal, non-armorial seal impressions and matrices surviving from two rural communities in medieval England between c. 1175-1349. Seals of the medieval lower orders have been largely neglected by historians who have instead devoted most of their attention to the comparatively small number of seals used by the secular and ecclesiastical elites. Accordingly, the seals and sealing practices of the primary users of non-armorial seals - people of lower status such as peasants, craftsmen, merchants and small landowners - remain little understood. Recent developments in the field have begun to address this issue, and this thesis contributes to that new scholarly discussion. It tackles this lacuna primarily through the prism of 'identity', by exploring how non-armorial seal users utilised their seals to construct and express aspects of their personal identities through their choice of legends and motifs. In a departure from previous studies, a local history-focused methodology is followed here. The thesis concentrates on two rural communities - Saltfleetby (Lincolnshire) and Tanworth (Warwickshire) - both of which have large numbers of surviving seal impressions attached to deeds as well as smaller numbers of matrices, largely recovered in recent years by metal detectorists (illustrated in the Appendix, Volume 2). Previous discussions of seals have often failed to contextualise them appropriately. Here the seals of these two places are considered against the backdrop of their local, social and economic environment. By focusing on four key themes of status, gender, family and kinship, and occupation, this thesis demonstrates clearly that non-armorial seals were used by their owners to construct and express aspects of their personal identity in a range of different ways both individually and collectively.

In this thesis, I explore the legal status of archaeologically-recovered material obtained during development-driven fieldwork. To address this research, the contract and practice relating to development-driven archaeological work is analysed through a number of case studies, as well as pertinent property law, court cases, Acts of Parliament, national policies and international regulations and conventions, that form the corpus of legal literature relevant to archaeological work undertaken in England. My research has shown that ownership of, and title to, archaeologically-recovered objects transfers from landowners to archaeologists during the course of CRM-based (Cultural Resource Management) pre-development archaeology projects, on the condition that the landowner does not assert an intention to maintain title to the objects. Archaeologically-recovered objects belong to the organisation holding them, under the stipulation that the work was carried out under a valid contract. Contractual archaeological investigations resulting in lawful possession of recovered items imply an entitlement to the possession of the recovered material by virtue of the collection and retention of the items being a well-known practice that has been taking place for many years. As such, archaeologists' practice of obtaining and retaining objects discovered during fieldwork constitutes an implied contractual term incorporated into all pre-development archaeological field investigative work undertaken in England. Archaeology industry guidelines and policies applicable to projects which take place in England should thus be amended to accurately reflect this position and resolve perceived uncertainties regarding title to collections of recovered items. A concomitant issue addressed in this thesis concerns access to and use of material, data and information which remain with the archaeology contractor because the amount of accumulated material exceeds the storage capacity of museums. This situation, in combination with perceived legal uncertainties, hinders the use of recovered material in a way which is beneficial to society. Here I use case studies and analysis of scholarly literature to illustrate and examine these issues.

The fall of the Roman Empire has long been characterized as a period of regression and deterioration of living conditions across Europe– the ‘Dark Ages’. The nature of the cultural and political environment during Late Antiquity (300-700 CE) and whether transitions might be considered as continuous or catastrophic has been a contentious source of debate. Analyses of health data from human skeletal remains have yet to be fully integrated into discussions of societal change in Late Antiquity, despite their informative potential. If catastrophic hypotheses of Late Antique life experiences are correct, the social and political instability would have had a discernible effect on the health and well-being of the populace. The skeletal remains of 844 individuals from Roman and Late Antique Gaul were analysed for demographic data (age, sex), growth disruption (Height-for-Age Z scores, femur length), non-specific stress indicators (dental enamel hypoplasia, cribra orbitalia, tibia periosteal reaction), carious lesions and trauma to contribute to current understanding of Late Antique transition. A subset of 65 individuals were also included in a pilot study for the detection of cortisol in dental enamel and dentine. Gallo-Roman samples demonstrated more skeletal signs of stress than either Late Antique sample. This suggests that social and cultural factors rooted in Roman lifeways were more deleterious to health than the process of transformation. Gallo-Roman individuals may have been more regularly exposed to stressors throughout the life course, as a result of overcrowding and insalubrity in urban settlement structures. Changes in mortality patterns between males and females from the Roman period to Late Antiquity suggested a differential transition experience based on sex and gender. Cortisol concentrations were detected from within archaeological tooth dentine and enamel, but results were insufficiently linked to other skeletal stress indicators or sex. Stress experience as indexed through cortisol analysis did not reveal differences between Roman and Late Antique samples.

The study explores the construction of Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments in the region of northern Wessex in terms of the labour invested in their creation. A historiography of 'megalithic construction studies' is initially presented, along with an account of experimental studies evaluating different approaches to the material problems likely experienced by prehistoric monument builders. A summary of the various forms of prehistoric structure found throughout northern Wessex is then provided, along with any archaeological observations relating to their construction. Two key sub-areas are particular foci: the Stonehenge and Avebury landscapes. Individual case studies exploring the construction of key structures-Stonehenge and the West Kennet chambered tomb-within these sub-areas are presented, forging new understandings of the great effort expended in creating these places. Much of the main study draws on a previous research paper, published by Colin Renfrew in 1973, entitled Monuments, Mobilization and Social Organization in Neolithic Wessex. The study presented herein attempts to replicate Renfrew's (ibid.) findings and critically evaluate the empirical basis of his claims.

This commentary explores the nature and impact of a body of research and publication by the author which examined and contextualised archaeological research, initially in the city of Norwich and later more extensively in northern Europe. The commentary is divided into six sections. Section 1 outlines the characterisation, assessment, research, synthesis and publication of archaeological data, notably from Norwich, resulting in a range of stand-alone reports as well as scholarly papers. Section 2 explores the evolution of the research, detailing the development of approach, and publication of a series of academic papers in regional, national and European journals. Section 3 summarises the wider dissemination of concepts concerning the origins and early development of Norwich, notably through publication of a monograph in 1994. Section 4 notes the broadening of the scope of archaeological research on a national scale and how this has been supported by the publication of a number of papers, utilising the perspective from Norwich. Recognition that the hinterland of the medieval city was much larger than its immediate territorial surroundings led to investigation of the potential of the network of ‘North Sea world’ cities and their own hinterlands. This is explored in Section 5 where research also led to the publication of a monograph in 2016 examining the development of medieval maritime societies and illustrating how the historic environment highlighted their ‘diverse commonality’. Section 6 takes the twin aspects of the research within a single city, Norwich, and contextualisation within its wide transnational hinterland and illustrates how their publication provides greater awareness of the urban process, assisting both future research agenda and present-day education and engagement.

This thesis explores changing foodways in late Iron Age and Roman Britain. Focusing on one region, Cirencester and its hinterland, the study uses organic residue analysis to investigate the use of pottery on a range of different site types: a major town and its Iron Age precursor, three small towns, three rural settlements and two villas. It aimed to characterise what pots were used for and to determine whether this was different on various types of site and whether this changed through time. A total of 573 potsherds were analysed from ten different sites, dating from the 1stcentury BC to the 4th century AD. These sites were Cirencester, Kingshill North, Asthall, Latton Lands, Whitewalls, Claydon Pike, Cotswold Community, Thornhill Farm, Kingscote and Chedworth. Organic residues were extracted from each sherd, following the protocol outlined by Correa-Ascencio and Evershed (2014), and the resulting total lipid extract (TLE) was screened using gas chromatography (GC). Combined gas chromatography and mass spectrometry (GC/MS) was used to identify biomarkers and gas chromatography-combustion-isotope ratio mass spectrometry (GC/C/IRMS) was used to determine the δ13C values of the C16 and C18 saturated fatty acids from suitable TLEs. The resulting δ13C values were then compared with suitable reference values to assign an origin to these residues. The results of the GC/C/IRMS analysis showed that more non-ruminant products, almost certainly deriving from pig and/or chicken, were processed in vessels at Cirencester than any other site. Moreover, dairy products, which had been frequently processed in the Iron Age, decreased in prevalence on rural sites by a considerable amount and were seemingly only rarely processed on other site types. It was suggested that pigs and chickens were not infrequently raised within Cirencester itself and that meat products began to be favoured over dairy products on other sites from the 2nd century onwards. In both cases, this was interpreted as part of a strategy of extensification undertaken by inhabitants of the Cirencester hinterland who sought to maximise food production as a result of increased pressures from taxation and the increasing population.

Currently, there is no comprehensive study and therefore understanding of procurement and glazing practices in 13th century AD England. The aim of this research is to determine the chemical composition, dating and the chaîne opératoire of 281 fragments coming from original 13th century AD north Dean's Eye rose window and panel 4 of the south lancet window SG32 of the Lincoln Cathedral, England. It is to understand the extent of the original 13th century AD stained-glass fragments, its provenance and the history of the restoration. Furthermore, due to the lack of knowledge of the English 13th century AD glazing practices, the aim is to have a comprehensive understanding of the wider context these windows were made in and where the glass was procured from, in comparison with the glazing practices of coeval, antecedent and succeeding stained-glass windows in Britain and Europe. The bibliographic review, formalist method, archival research and physico-chemical analyses of the glass fragments and statistical analyses were the basis of this archaeometric study. The fragments were analysed by Handheld Digital Microscope (HDM), Optical Microscope (OM), Scanning Electron Microscope - Energy Dispersive X-Ray System (SEM-EDS), Laser Ablation - Inductively Coupled Plasma - Mass Spectrometry (LAICP-MS), Micro-Raman Spectroscopy (µ-RS) and Contact Angle Goniometer (CAG). The OM revealed a new type G (with two sub-types G1 and G2) of red striated glass. The visual appearance and the chemical composition show an evolution of previous striated types (AD). The existence of striated glass in purple and yellow colour, and additionally, visible different refractive indices and presence of non-prominant striations (called stripes) of white glass, prove that glass mixing was not reserved only for red coloured glasses. The classification of the data has been done by expanding on the existing flowchart of the glass compositions by reviewing the published data and gaining new information about the dinstiction through PCA (Principal Component Analysis) and LDA (Linear Discriminant Analysis). Notably, the flowchart has to be used with flexibility as the bordering values need to be understood in relation to the rest of the chemical composition. The majority (181 out of 281 fragments) was proven to be original and have a typical medieval potassium composition dated to 13th century AD. Different glass-making workshops were hired to glaze Lincoln Cathedral, as fragments produced from both Central and North French glass-making workshops were found in the same panel. This might be due to the high demand of glass necessary to glaze the Cathedral, which could be the reason why the trace element data of the Lincoln Cathedral potassium glass do not match with other contemporary French cathedrals (done in the same laboratory) as shown by PCA. Only in a few instances, a direct association with the French cathedrals' fragments can be made. Possibly nine mixed-alkali (bordering with potassium composition) glass fragments are also original as this composition has been found in Lincoln Cathedral's panel 6 of SG32 lancet window, which is also dated to the 13th century AD. Newer insertions are evidenced with a terminus post quem of 14th century AD by potassium glass (red-flashed glass), including 15th century AD yellow flashed glass and 16th century AD sandwiched blue and purple flashed glass, 17th century AD HLLA and mixed-alkali glass, 19th century AD lead-based glass and 19th-20th century AD synthetic soda glass. The new flowchart revealed that some of the bordering HLLA glass can be classified as kelp (mixed-alkali) glass due to high strontium values (>2000 ppm). The Lincoln Cathedral stained-glass has systematically been taken care of by the glaziers, restorers and conservators throughout the 800 years of its existence - a care that successfully preserved the stained-glass in such a manner that it can provide outstanding information about the English history as it remains to be one of the extraordinary pieces of European Gothic Art.

The study of past human communities can be enhanced by combining traditional forms of archaeological research with information obtained from preserved sedimentary footprints. This thesis describes the results of a seven-year study at Formby, in the North West of England, of well-preserved footprints. Formby is a unique site for footprint studies because the radiocarbon dates obtained for this thesis show that the saltmarshes existed for a period of 8,000 years, between 7177 cal BC and 889 cal AD. A range of field and laboratory methods (coring, ITRAX chemical structure and plant macrofossil analysis) have been used to establish the composition of the main footprint beds. The dynamic palaeoenvironments in which they formed and the temporal variations of the footprints preserved within them, have been described. The identification of animal species present during the Mesolithic period - red deer, roe deer, aurochs, lynx, wolf/dog, oystercatcher and crane - has shown the importance of the intertidal landscape to animals. The openness of the saltmarsh, in contrast to the adjacent fen-carr woodland, offered greater visibility and freedom of movement, qualities attractive to humans who also populated these locations. The footprints in the stratigraphy of the beds show that the saltmarshes were used over the entirety of their existence by men, women and children, except when excluded by flooding. The directions in which humans moved on the mudflats shifted over time, as evidenced by a change in the footprint patterning, from one suggesting habitus of an intertidal environment, to one in which the saltmarshes were largely used for food procurement. There was also a notable change in the occurrence of humans and animals on the saltmarshes over millennia. In the Mesolithic period, humans and large numbers of animals were present. By the Neolithic period, only red deer, oystercatchers, and sea-birds were recorded amongst the human footprints. This study has added to our understanding of prehistoric lifeways within an intertidal palaeoenvironment that would otherwise be completely devoid of archaeological evidence and without whose preservation, would be seen as an 'empty' zone.

For over a century the causewayed enclosures have defined an increasing part of the research in Early Neolithic Britain. These enigmatic monuments have been interpreted as all from defensive structures to settlements and rally point. Through use‐wear analysis of flint artefacts from selected sites such as Etton, Staines, Windmill Hill, Caerau in Wales this thesis seeks to characterise some of the activities that these artefacts represent. By generating life‐biographies of the flint artefacts, the thesis explores and compares the tradition of deposition across the Early Neolithic in northern Europe. Therefore, as a comparison, the causewayed enclosure Sarup I from Denmark has been incorporated to accentuate the similarities or differences between the two regions. In addition to the enclosures, two other sites have been selected to investigate the potential similarities in activities between these sites. One site is the long barrow Ascott‐under‐Wychwood, which is a site with settlement areas, such as a house and a midden before a long barrow is constructed over the domestic areas. This site has enabled an insight into the diachronic change from a living space to a space for the dead. The other site is a contemporary settlement, Skaghorn (Denmark), that equally has served to compare activities between the enclosures and more mundane sites. This study has qualified a rare and nuanced understanding of the role that flint artefacts played in the event of deposition at the causewayed enclosures. The flint artefacts are involved in both cycles of curation and immediate use in the event of deposition in the ditches at the monuments. Moreover, the use‐wear analysis of the deposited flint artefacts highlights the selectiveness behind the composition of structured deposit at the selected causewayed enclosures.

Iron Age marsh-forts are large, monumental structures located in low-lying waterscapes. Although they share chronological and architectural similarities with their hillfort counterparts, their locations suggest that they may have played a specific and alternative role in Iron Age society. Despite the availability of a rich palaeoenvironmental archive at many sites, little is known about these enigmatic structures and until recently, the only acknowledged candidate was the unusual, dual-enclosure monument at Sutton Common, near Doncaster. This thesis assesses marsh-forts as a separate phenomenon within Iron Age society through an understanding of their landscape context and palaeoenvironmental development. At national level, a range of Iron Age wetland monuments are compared to Sutton Common to generate a gazetteer of potential marsh-forts. At local level, a case-study is presented of the Berth marsh-fort in North Shropshire, applying a multi-disciplinary approach which incorporates GIS-based landscape modelling, multi-proxy palaeoenvironmental analysis (plant macrofossils, beetles and pollen) and excavation. The results of both the gazetteer and the Berth case-study challenge the view that marsh-forts are simply a topographical phenomenon. These substantial Iron Age monuments appear to have been deliberately constructed to control areas of marginal wetland, and may have played an important role in the ritual landscape.

London was the administrative centre for and largest city in Roman Britain. After centuries of excavation, Londinium is one of the best understood cities in the Empire. London is also home to one of the most exceptional collections of craft and agricultural tools in the Roman world. These objects represent a wide range of practices, including woodwork, metalwork, leatherwork, masonry, agriculture, and animal husbandry. Due to excellent preservation in waterlogged contexts, many are in exceptional condition. This thesis brings together c.837 metal (mostly iron) tools from multiple collections, many of which have not been published before. Using a combination of detailed typological study and theoretical perspectives on technology and practice, this thesis provides an innovative insight into society and economy amongst the working people of a Roman city; a diverse population of locals, immigrants, specialists and amateurs. A typological discussion identifies these usually neglected objects with reference to French and German literature, highlighting new types for the first time in Britain, and demonstrating a close connection to Continental working practices. These artefacts are then used as the basis for a discussion of craft and agricultural practice in London, focussing on how tools were made, used and discarded. Tools are synthesised with evidence from finished objects, waste, tool marks, structures, epigraphy, iconography and classical sources. This discussion reveals that craft practices were highly specialised, with numerous distinct professions which cannot be accurately condensed to ‘woodworking’ or ‘leatherworking’. Tools were used in working practices which shaped peoples’ lives; either limiting their opportunities of social mobility or providing avenues to express pride in their work. Several industries were controlled in part by the state, or by Roman citizens. Finally, a detailed contextual analysis reveals high levels of metalwork consumption, with deposition in the Walbrook valley largely reflecting rubbish disposal, and not ritual activity.

Whilst Roman architecture has long stood as a discrete branch of classical studies, investigated for its artistic merit and cultural importance, the technical details of Roman construction have only recently started to receive considerable attention. This thesis contributes to a growing trend in Roman scholarship, that of the investigation of the processes, materials, and technologies behind the Roman built environment. The most prestigious buildings of the Empire often remain the focus of many of these studies, and so this thesis turns to explore the use of more everyday buildings and building materials, seeking a Romano-British vernacular, and investigating the processes of construction, building material production, and transport. It is argued, through using theoretical calculations of building material quantities, that even for relatively minor constructions, considerations of building material supply must have represented highly significant economic and logistical investment. To comprehend fully the subject it is asserted that building materials should not be treated, as they often are, as disparate artefacts, divided by substance into stone, ceramic, mortar, metal, etc., but rather they should be considered as related fragments of a building. They require synthetic analysis, through which a far truer understanding of the incredible effort involved in construction in the ancient world can be gained. The built environment of Roman Oxfordshire, and the Roman building material assemblage from Dorchester on Thames, are used as case studies. Primary analysis of building materials is carried out using an integrated analytical approach, combining thin section petrography with scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive x-ray analysis. The outcomes of these analyses are interpreted against a background of archaeological and historical evidence for construction and material supply, in both the Roman and later periods, in the region and beyond.

This thesis explores the relationship between people and material culture in the south-west of England from the first century BC to the fifth century AD. This area has often been ignored in the narratives of Britannia and the application of traditional theoretical models to the archaeology of the region, such as the Romanisation paradigm, has perpetuated the idea that the south-west peninsula was largely ‘un-Romanised’. The lack of developed urban centres, villa estates, temple sites and the low level of engagement with imported ceramics and other materials from the Roman world has been interpreted through the Romanisation model to suggest that was never fully integrated into the province of Britannia. In recent years the Romanisation paradigm has been heavily critiqued. New theoretical concepts such as discrepant identity theory have been developed which recognise that interactions in the provinces were far more complex than the simplistic dichotomy of Roman v Native. In line with this more emphasis is being placed on artefacts and their use in the creation of identity. Building on this shift in theoretical frameworks this thesis explores the relationship between material culture and the creation of identity. This is achieved through the analysis of the ceramics, personal adornment items and coins found in the region, both through excavation and from data recorded through the Portable Antiquities Scheme. The analysis has shed new light on the role these objects played in the renegotiation of identity that resulted from the Roman conquest. The result of this analysis has shown that far from being one politically cohesive society the region was inhabited by a number of smaller social and political groupings, who reacted differently to the conquest. This has allowed the conclusion to be drawn that modern Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly lay beyond the bounds of the Roman Empire.

Kent was a key component of Roman Britain, featuring aspects it held in common with the rest of this north-western fringe of Empire, but also elements unique to the region. With economic activity for much of the occupation concentrated in three specific areas - the industrial zone of the Weald, a region ranging from Canterbury to Folkestone on the Channel coast, and the upper Medway Valley - the area covered by the modern county was particularly important for the exploitation of natural resources. These included ferrous-ores for iron production in the Weald, greensands for quern production around Folkestone and ragstone quarrying in the upper Medway Valley (the latter providing much of the building stone used in the occupation-period South East). This study brings together a wide range of research findings to present a picture of the economic use and associated organisation of this landscape. The study shows there to have been a hitherto unrecognized depth of economic exploitation, demonstrated by the variety of evidence types assembled in these pages. These activities had an important role within the Imperial, commercial and personal agendas of the time, with the thesis aiming to address the question of how and why these enterprises were brought into being in the area of Kent, and their links to wider spheres within the Empire. Establishing the details of change and continuity regarding this exploitation provides a unique insight into the narrative of Roman Britain. It also allows some specific themes and theories to be explored, informing our wider knowledge of the occupation. These include the concept of the region as being more militarised than a 'normal' civitas, the links between elite settlement, individual agency and industry, the changing balance of importance between industry and agriculture, and what remained of Romanitas in Kent at the end of the occupation.

Although prehistoric megalithic monuments dominate the landscape of Guernsey, these have yielded little information concerning the Mesolithic, Neolithic and Early Bronze Age communities who inhabited the island in a broader landscape and maritime context. For this thesis it was therefore considered timely to explore the alternative material culture resource of worked flint and stone archived in the Guernsey museum. Largely ignored in previous archaeological narratives on the island or considered as unreliable data, the argument made in this thesis is for lithics being an ideal resource that, when correctly interrogated, can inform us of past people’s actions in the landscape. In order to maximise the amount of obtainable data, the lithics were subjected to a wide ranging multi-method approach encompassing all stages of the châine opératoire from material acquisition to discard, along with a consideration of the landscape context from which the material was recovered. The methodology also incorporated the extensive corpus of lithic knowledge that has been built up on the adjacent French mainland, a resource largely passed over in previous Channel Island research. By employing this approach, previously unknown patterns of human occupation and activity on the island, and the extent and temporality of maritime connectivity between Guernsey and mainland areas has been revealed. Further, a greater understanding of the lithic industry on the island has been achieved through the cross referencing of assemblages with those of the adjacent French mainland. It is argued that this research has made an original contribution to the archaeological knowledge of Guernsey. Not only has the value of a comprehensive lithic research programme been proven, but the understanding of the prehistory of Guernsey has been enhanced and visibility of peoples’ lives beyond the monuments has been gained.

The nature of the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition in Britain has often been debated. This thesis represents the first application of strontium and oxygen isotope analysis to study land use and mobility during this period (c. 4000-3500 BC). Results of analysis of populations from a sample of long cairns and a causewayed enclosure complex are described and interpreted in relation to current archaeological evidence for the period. Limitations to the application of oxygen isotope analysis as a direct proxy for landscape use are identified. The potential of strontium isotope analysis to study the period is demonstrated and prospects for future development and application of this method are discussed.

The transitional period between the Roman occupation of Britain and the creation of smaller kingdoms during the Early Medieval period is one that is heavily debated. The shift in material culture from the fifth century onwards suggests Continental influences, but the extent to which this represents large-scale migrations or acculturation by indigenous people is contested. New bioarchaeological and isotopic studies of skeletal remains demonstrate an improvement in health from the Roman to Early Medieval periods, along with greater evidence of a much more complicated picture with respect to the direct association of particular grave goods with migrants. This comprehensive analysis of stature, body proportions, and health stress from the Romano-British to Early Medieval period represents an additional bioarchaeological contribution to these debates. A total of 1248 individuals excavated from 20 cemetery sites of Romano-British and Early Medieval date throughout southern and eastern England were analysed. Stature was examined as an indicator of health and growth as it is associated with childhood adversity, whilst body proportions can reflect adaptations to local environments. The stature and body proportions of individuals from all sites were determined through the reconstruction of living stature using Raxter et al.’s (2006, 2007) revised Fully anatomical method and through the analysis of a variety of indices. New mathematical regression formulae were created for each sample based on the reconstructed living stature. Comparisons of the anatomical and mathematical methods of stature calculation discovered a general overestimation of stature when the Trotter and Gleser, 1952, 1958 and Trotter, 1970 methods were used. The use of different indices aided in the assessment of examining differential body proportions within and between periods. In combination with the skeletal indicators of stress recorded, shorter tibial lengths, lower crural and higher intermembral indices, and shortened relative lower limb lengths demonstrated the negative impact that Roman occupation had on the residents of Britain. An improvement in overall health was noted within the Early Medieval sample with a decreased prevalence of these stress indicators, as well as increases in indices and stature. This thesis demonstrates the usefulness of utilizing the anatomical method when estimating stature of past populations in conjunction with the analysis of body proportions and stress indicators.

This thesis characterizes and interprets the nature of Exmoor’s late 3rd and early 2nd millennium BC landscapes, including an unusual array of ‘minilithic’ stone configurations. It develops a new theoretical framework using an ontology of assemblages, the concept of affectivity and perspectives on miniaturisation and scale, adopting a Deleuzian understanding of materiality. This promotes an exploration of the processes which led to the appearance, use and dispersal of archaeological entities as assemblages. It includes all forms of people’s interactions with materials, monuments, material culture (lithics) and landscapes; questioning the value of classificatory approaches and studying such themes as monumentality in isolation. The first detailed study of the lithic collections explores how the ontological significance of stone developed over millennia, leading to the emergence of upright stone configurations in the landscape. A detailed synthesis of the available archaeological evidence from excavation, survey, HER and museum datasets is then presented focusing on three case study zones, with entirely new interpretations developed for key sites at multiple scales. It then goes on to explore their wider relationships in terms of chronology, spatial placement, archaeological and landscape context. This is achieved through GIS analysis, original fieldwork (field visits, surveys, geophysics and excavation) and the synthesis and re-interpretation of secondary and archive data. The wider context of Exmoor is then briefly assessed, particularly drawing on evidence from Bodmin Moor. Tendencies to dismiss Exmoor as a poorer relation of such regions is challenged. Exmoor’s monuments challenge thinking on monumentality, particularly regarding the establishment of authority, through the choreography of space, movement and visibility. The miniliths had distinct affective qualities, with a unique capacity for frequent reconfiguration, quite different from megalithic sites elsewhere; yet many of the same practices are apparent. On Exmoor however, what people were doing with these practices was wholly different.

The current thesis is a study of the Northumbrian aristocracy during the Anglo-Saxon period. The main goal of the thesis is to analyse the aristocracy as the ruling social class, trying to understand it with a holistic approach. Therefore, the decision for focusing on production, circulation and consumption is an attempt to cover as many aspects of the aristocratic life as possible. Also, the option for having the three dimensions mentioned on the title of the thesis is to highlight the Marxist perspective from which the thesis is derived. In order to understand the aristocracy as a class, the thesis focused both on the inter-class (mainly with the peasantry) and on the intra-class relations of the ruling class. As the current thesis is a question orientated thesis, the body of evidence used is diverse and heterogeneous. The main written sources used are the Durham Liber Vitae; Bede’s Historia Ecclesiastica, Epistola Bede ad Ecgbertvm episcopvm, Historia Abbatvm; Stephen’s Vita sancti Wilfrithi; Æthelwulf's De abbatibus; Symeon of Durham Historia Regum. The main archaeological sources are the sites of Flixborough, West Heslerton and Sherburn; the Coppergate Helmet; Northumbrian coinage; the Bed burial at Loftus, Street House; the stone grave markers of Street House and the namestones of Hartlepool. The main conclusion of the thesis is that the crisis that ended Northumbria as a kingdom was the product of the historical contradictions of the devices of reproduction of the ruling class. The thesis was sponsored by CAPES (Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior).

This thesis presents the first detailed and systematic examination of Anglo-Saxon ‘great hall complexes’. Characterised by their architectural grandeur and spatial formality, these rare and impressive sites represent a distinct class of high-status settlement that were primarily occupied during the later sixth and seventh centuries AD. Though their existence has been known to archaeologists since the mid-twentieth century, a series of recent and high-profile excavations has reignited the debate about these sites and necessitated the provision of a comprehensive study. Following an introductory account, the thesis begins with an archaeological review. This considers sixteen great hall complexes that are known from across the Anglo-Saxon realm. From this, a definition and broader characterisation of the great hall phenomenon is advanced. A series of four regional case studies represent the analytical core of the thesis. Focused on specific great hall complexes, and underpinned by comprehensive regional gazetteers, these investigations utilise a wide-ranging and multiscalar programme of spatial and chronological analysis in order to model the data. Particular emphasis is placed on the landscape context of sites, as is their interaction with wider hinterlands. The results are contextualised within a broader archaeo-historical framework, with original interpretations offered for each of the great hall complexes under consideration. It is concluded that great hall complexes likely operated as administrative centres and nodes of governance within broader socio-economic and politico-religious networks. It is also maintained that they fulfilled a range of social and symbolic functions – as emblematic displays of political authority that were emplaced within landscapes of power designed to legitimise and institutionalise emergent political hegemonies. Ultimately, it is argued, great hall complexes are to be understood as archaeological manifestations of the more overtly hierarchical society that was emerging in the sixth century.

The inclusion of animal remains in funerary contexts was a routine feature of Anglo-Saxon cremation ritual, and less frequently of inhumations, until the introduction of Christianity during the 7th century. Most interpretation has focused either on the animal as symbolic of identity or as an indication of pagan belief, with little consideration given to the interaction between these two aspects. Animals were a fundamental and ubiquitous part of early medieval society, and their contribution to mortuary practices is considered to be multifaceted, reflecting their multiple roles in everyday life. This project considers the roles of animals in mortuary practice between the 5th-7th centuries across five counties in eastern England - Norfolk, Suffolk, Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire and Essex - in both cremation and inhumation rites. Animal remains have been recognised in 5th to 7th century burials in eastern England from an early date, and the quality of the existing archives (both material and written) is investigated and discussed as an integral part of designing a methodology to effectively summarise data across a wide area. From the eastern England dataset, four aspects of identity in mortuary practice are considered in terms of their influence on the role of animals: choice of rite (cremation/inhumation); human biological identity (age & gender); regionality; and changing expressions of belief and status in the 7th century. The funerary role of animals is argued to be based around broadly consistent cosmologies which are locally contingent in their expression and practice.

Lithic scatters are the most abundant class of evidence relating to Late Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic activity in southern Britain. Many such scatters, especially those from surface and ploughsoil contexts, have long been characterised as being of low-interpretive value and have been marginalised both in academic studies of the periods and in the wider context of protecting and managing the historic environment. This vast body of evidence makes little contribution to contemporary understandings of the LUP and Mesolithic, which remains largely informed by work which privileges the investigation of well-preserved sites with in situ lithic scatters, especially those with associated faunal remains and palaeoenvironmental evidence. This has serious implications for our ability to characterise and interpret activity in locations and regions where such well preserved and intensively investigated sites are lacking, and in many areas of the country policy makers, fieldworkers and curators are not equipped with the information necessary to make informed decisions concerning the investigation, management and protection of the archaeology of these periods. This thesis explicitly address these issues through a detailed case study of the lithic scatter record from a study area in eastern England. This study is based around a comprehensive database of reported lithic scatters, assembled from a wide range of published and unpublished sources and encompassing all kinds of scatters, from well preserved and exhaustively analysed in-situ scatters to poorly provenanced collections of lithics amassed in the late 19th and early 20th century. This thesis provides the first comprehensive synthesis of the Late Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic of the study area and explicitly assesses the interpretative potential of the lithic scatter record, in terms of how it can be used both to develop narratives of landscape occupation and to inform future work on, and management of, lithic scatters in the study area and beyond.

My research examines how Roman-style material culture was used to express identity, how this changed during the Roman period, whether different types of material culture were adopted at the same time and whether there were differences across different types of site. Evidence for expression of identities related to wealth, status, gender, group identities and ethnicity was also examined. Datasets were analysed by four themes: literacy, including evidence for writing and knowledge of Classical literature; personal appearance, including personal grooming, hair-styling and dress; foodways, what was eaten, how it was prepared and served; and the use of settlement space as the setting for social interaction, and how individuals experienced these spaces. Taken together these provided a more nuanced understanding of the nature of identity expression at each site than is apparent from consideration of each site in isolation, or from consideration of single artefact types. Data from forty-six settlement sites where detailed published excavation reports were available were examined to explore the similarities and differences in the use of Roman-style material culture between 'nucleated settlement', 'shrine', 'estate centre', 'villa' and 'farm' sites, with a comparison against data for 'military', 'urban', and 'Iron Age oppidum' sites. A non-statistical methodology was developed for comparison of different types of artefacts. The four types of material culture were adopted at different rates and in different combinations at the different rural sites types, with a link between the function of a site and the way in which identity was expressed. Consideration of changes over time indicate that, contrary to general assumptions, adoption of Roman-style material culture in the study area was relatively slow and modest, comparable to other areas in Britain at the periphery of the Empire, with little evidence for differentiation of an elite material culture until the elite villa architecture of the later Roman period. Changes in the extent and use of material culture can be linked to the major re-organisation of the landscape in the early second century, and the establishment of Cirencester as the probable capital of the new province of Britannia Prima.

The study of bounded polities is dominated by research which focuses on those landscapes and those sites believed to lie at the territorial core, often overlooking the 'bounded' nature of these units. This research, in contrast, advocates that for a new perspective on the development of socio-political units, studies which concentrate on frontier zones should be prioritised. Consequently this thesis refocuses attention on the frontier zones between polities, proposing a methodology for working in and identifying frontier zones and promoting these areas as dynamic landscapes, integral to the emergence, development, and maintenance of socio-political units during the early medieval period. This methodology combines investigation of the distribution of distinct material culture, burial practices, and patterns of landscape use with an approach more frequently used by anthropologists – the identification of processes characteristic of frontier environments. The Avon Valley, the landscape through which the historically attested 7th century frontier between the Hwicce and Mercia ran, provides the ideal environment in which to explore the origins of early medieval polities. A dataset of 58 sites within this study area is analysed. The focus on the Avon Valley also aims to highlight the potential of this oft overlooked part of the country. It aims to show the wealth of archaeological and toponymic data available and the contribution this region can make to the study of the early medieval period. The results of this analysis demonstrate that the Avon Valley was divided into an eastern and western zone as early as the 5th and 6th centuries. This has direct implications for the later emergence of the kingdom of the Hwicce. It suggests that between these two zones lay an area of contact and coalescence. This evidence, along with conclusions drawn from comparative studies of placenames, the western Severn Valley, and the middle Trent Valley, was used to set forth two new models for kingdom formation. These models focus on the interactions between polities, foregrounding the significance of external relations alongside internal developments.

The Great Orme copper mine on the coast of North Wales is one of the largest surviving Bronze Age mines in Europe. However, linking the mine to metal artefacts has been impeded by influential claims in the literature of the 1990s that the mine could only produce low impurity metal, which is uncommon in Bronze Age Britain. This has marginalised the importance of the mine as a metal source combined with the claim that the mine was only large because it was worked on a small scale for nearly a millennium. In addition, the past use of lead isotopes has produced confusing evidence due to the mine’s radiogenic ores and a lead ore vein crossing the copper deposit. The main objective of this thesis is to resolve the confusion and contradictions in the literature and allow the distribution of Great Orme metal to be determined and interpreted. Applying an interdisciplinary approach, involving ore geology, mineralogy, geochemistry and pyrotechnology, a new methodology has been developed. This is based on the concept of establishing mine-based metal groups rather than using the existing artefact-based metal groups. Ore samples, taken throughout the Bronze Age mine workings along with metal produced from controlled smelting experiments, have been analysed using a variety of analytical techniques. The full range of the probable chemical composition field and the lead isotope field of Great Orme metal has been established. Confidence in this mine-based metal group has been increased by its consistency with the bronze tool fragments excavated in the mine and with copper prills from the nearby Pentrwyn Bronze Age smelting site. The results have shown that, contrary to the low impurity claims in the literature, the Great Orme mine mainly produced copper with significant nickel-arsenic impurities. Applying the mine-based metal group model to existing data on all Bronze Age metalwork assemblages suggests there was a zenith with large-scale production in the Acton Park assemblage phase (1600/1500-1400 BC), followed by many centuries of very low production. Distribution maps of artefacts that have been newly correlated with Great Orme metal have revealed possible distribution networks across Britain and into mainland Europe. In particular, there are strong links into Brittany but also stretching as far as the Baltic area, possibly related to the amber trade. The implications for mine organisation are reviewed including a potential link to the invention of the palstave, an iconic symbol of the Middle Bronze Age, and possible support or control from the agriculturally richer area of north-east Wales with its strategic position into wider communication networks.

Ancient trace residues left on stone artefacts by people represent a source of potentially fruitful data about diet, technology, and behaviour, but their investigation is not problem-free. Rather, correct identification of degraded residues and determination of their natural or anthropogenic origin remains at the heart of current methodological development in lithic residue analysis. This thesis addresses these issues by examining: 1) 13 modern reference residues on flint flakes, 2) modern residues on 78 experimentally buried flint flakes at Star Carr and off-site, and 3) residue traces on 138 archaeological stone artefacts from Star Carr. The study of modern reference residues showed that only residue types bearing diagnostic structures can be confidently identified by visual analysis alone. The study of experimentally buried flakes showed that tree resin, softwood tissue, and red ochre preserved after both one month and 11 months burial periods and across three burial environments, and were the most likely candidates to be encountered archaeologically. When the archaeological material was examined using reflected visible light microscopy (VLM), hypotheses of residue origin based on visual observations were tested against chemical information collected from the residues. Importantly, the microscopic hypotheses of residue identity based on comparison with reference residues and published literature were, in nearly all cases, falsified by confocal Raman microspectroscopy (micro-Raman) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Key identifications were: iron (III) oxide, gypsum, quartz, pyrite, and organics. Some residue samples also contained compounds consistent with pine tree resin, but this finding is considered preliminary. These results from stone artefacts highlight the need in lithic residue analysis for: 1) more careful consideration of chemical processes in the burial environment, and 2) further incorporation of appropriate scientific techniques to verify microscopic residue identifications.

This thesis examines the archaeological material from Hadrian’s Wall within the Clayton Collection at Chesters, Northumberland. The Collection was formed through the work of John Clayton, antiquarian and landowner in the 19th century. His work took place at a pivotal time in the study of Hadrian’s Wall, as public interest was growing, access was improving, and the discipline of archaeology was developing. As part of a large network of antiquarians, Clayton excavated, studied and published his discoveries. After his death his archaeological estate was retained, and the Collection was moved into a museum in 1896. Despite being in the public domain for so long, the material has never been studied as a whole, or in the light of its 19th century creation. One aim of this thesis is to explore the 19th century context within which this collection was formed. Using published accounts, and archival letters and other sources, Clayton’s methodology will be revealed. He was not simply a ‘wall-chaser’ or ‘treasure hunter’, but often considered carefully the motivations for his excavation. Nonetheless, he was also a man of his time, with his methodology regarding the retention of material not meeting modern archaeological standards. The second thesis aim is to use the Collection to illustrate life on Hadrian’s Wall in the Roman period. The Clayton Collection will be considered in comparison with other sites on Hadrian’s Wall, as well as other sites in Britain and on the Continent. Case studies of certain groups of material will show that despite the lack of detailed findspots, the material recovered by Clayton can still provide information about Roman life, in particular at Cilurnum. Research throughout this thesis will show that despite constraints, the Clayton Collection can still provide answers to 21st century research questions.

This thesis presents a holistic study of Middle-Late Iron Age material culture from East Yorkshire (UK). It analyses the decoration, or pattern, of a whole range of different types of objects in order to answer the question; ‘what did pattern do?’. A database of over 4600 plain and patterned objects has been compiled using information from museum databases, published literature, unpublished reports and the Portable Antiquities Scheme database. Analysis of this database showed that patterns found on some objects are inextricably linked to the materials they are made from the broad purposes of objects and the ways they were eventually deposited. An in-depth investigation into the biographies and itineraries of a sample of objects has allowed for further exploration of the development of the relationship between pattern and purpose during the ‘lives’ of objects. This multi-scalar analysis has led to the conclusion that pattern did different three things in Iron Age East Yorkshire. It allowed craftspeople to engage with materials in specific ways; to adhere to tradition and function within design rules whilst also creating individualised objects. Pattern also contributed to the overall purposes of objects during use and deposition. Finally, pattern was an important part of the accumulation of biographies; a process that added value and significance to objects. This work contributes to new directions of scholarship currently being pursued in the study of decorated Iron Age objects by reintegrating many famous Early Celtic Art objects from East Yorkshire with the full material assemblage in which they once belonged, providing them with context and directing attention towards lesser-studied groups of objects.

This thesis presents an investigation into children in medieval England through burial, the most archaeologically-visible evidence for the treatment and conceptualisation of children in life. It examines whether children were distinguished in burial from adults in parish cemeteries of the 10th-16th centuries. Selected cemeteries are analysed in detail to establish whether or not children received different burial treatment to adults. The burials of biologically-immature individuals are compared with the remainder of the burial population, totalling c.4,700 individuals, assessing whether the provision of burial furniture, burial in a shared grave and location of graves varied by age at death. The dissertation includes a discussion of archaeological and historical approaches to children and child burial, both general and medieval, medieval attitudes to children, death and burial, before discussing the case study sites in depth. From this, the methodological issues of undertaking such a study are considered and a sympathetic methodology developed, before the presentation of analysis, discussions and conclusions. I demonstrate that a variety of burial practices were used during the medieval period and that differentiation by age at death occurred. The results show that burials of juveniles are commonly differentiated, particularly infants aged 0-1 year or children aged 12 years or younger, by furniture, inclusion in a multiple burial and location. The thesis concludes that a variety of factors affected how an individual was buried, with age a strong determining factor for those dying at a young age. The influence of age is interpreted as resulting from medieval attitudes to infants, children and adolescents based on active, socially-identified characteristics, indicative of age-based appropriate burial treatment on both familial and community levels due to emotional, social, religious and economic concerns.

This thesis compares burial practices of Beaker-using communities in Britain and provides a corpus of British Beaker burials. Chronologically, this study covers the period from around the 25th until the 18th century BC, from the Chalcolithic to the Early Bronze Age. Beakers were a new feature in late British prehistory and were probably introduced through small-scale migration and cultural transfer. Together with the pottery, a new style of funerary practices was introduced, that was comparable to continental practices at that time and strictly distinguished between male and female individuals. The standard continental practice, e.g. in Bohemia, was that men were buried with their head to the north, lying on their left side, thus facing east. Women were also facing east, but were buried on the right side and were consequently orientated to the south. This particular pattern can be found in southern Britain but is less strict in its application. This peculiar finding has attracted much scholarly interest since its discovery. Therefore, the research of Beaker funerary practices has a long tradition and still forms a core area of research. This study considers two main questions: does the data confirm established opinions on Beaker burial practices, including a distinct regional division of burial traditions, e.g. in terms of body orientation between northern and southern Britain, and is it possible to identify which area of continental Europe exerted the greatest influence on developments in Britain? In order to be able to structurally compare these burials, a database containing 311 entries has been compiled from the published literature. All available data on the skeletons has been integrated, including orientation, position, and limb position. Additionally, data on grave construction and artefacts has been collected. This data has been analysed quantitatively and qualitatively, both comparatively and statistically. Through the collected data, this thesis argues that the general image of Beaker burial practices is still valid. However, certain generalisations require revision, for example the orientations of individuals. Chronologically, early Beaker burials follow strict standards, while during the course of Beaker currency these standards become less strictly adhered to. Possible regions of the origin of British Beaker burial practices are usually connected with the Lower Rhine area. The study agrees that this area had strong influences in northern Britain, but argues that southern Britain, on grounds of orientations and positions of the bodies, had more varied influences with a stronger input from central Europe.

Roman roads are one of the most important legacies of the Roman period in Britain and many of the routes that they define still remain in use today. Although they have long been the subject of academic research, their history since the end of the Roman period has been largely overlooked. By studying the use, significance, and survival and loss of Roman roads in parts of eastern England between the fifth and mid nineteenth centuries this thesis directly addresses the gap in the existing literature. The survival of Roman roads is intrinsically linked to the continued existence and significance of their destinations, be they former Roman settlements or new (urban or religious) locales. Whilst destinations continued to function the roads leading to them also remained in use. When destinations failed the roads ceased to serve as long-distance routes and became prone to fragmentation and loss. The initial breakdown of the Roman road network commenced as part of wider societal and landscape changes in the eighth century when former Roman settlements finally ceased to function. Sections of some Roman roads continue to be used as local roads today but countless more were probably removed during the post-medieval enclosure process. Roman roads have significantly influenced the development of the landscape through which they pass by acting as foci for burials, settlements, churches and economic activity. They have also functioned as boundaries, most notably those of medieval parishes – a role which influenced the continued use of some roads. The relationships between Roman roads and the surrounding landscape, and the factors affecting their survival and loss, examined in this thesis are also applicable to roads of other periods. Consequently the findings presented here not only advance our knowledge of Roman roads but also have wider implications for English landscape history.

This project presents and analyses all of the signet rings and intaglios so far unearthed in Roman Britain to reinterpret how they were used and their role within provincial society. These small artefacts have traditionally been regarded as attractive but relatively insignificant minor objets d’art, with little relevance to the wider discourses of Romanists. This thesis attempts a more critical examination of how they were used and their role within provincial Roman society. I argue that signet rings were an essential element in provincial society that should no longer be overlooked. This project builds on the pioneering Corpus assembled by Martin Henig in the 1970s, including more recent discoveries and more than doubling the material available to him. This combined body of evidence includes 2,012 signet rings and intaglios, making it one of the largest contextualised assemblages of these objects ever studied. It also benefits from the results of developer funded archaeology and the advent of recording by the Portable Antiquities Scheme, enabling us to create a richer and more detailed picture how they were used. My approach has been to resituate these objects in terms of the archaeological context in which they were found, but also to consider them as functional as well as decorative objects. When studied in this way signet rings provide a unique perspective on the identity of their wearers, and how they wanted to present themselves to others. I have found growing evidence for the use of signet rings amongst local elites before the Roman invasion of Britain, and it is clear that they had a role to play in negotiating identity after the conquest. I have also been able to identify trends in the way that different communities used signet rings, both as regards their imagery and materiality. It is also apparent that in some parts of Britain these objects remained a feature of a type of dress and the hallmark of a society that remained alien to their inhabitants throughout the Roman period. However, for those who chose to wear them, signet rings could be more than just objects but reflections of themselves.

This thesis is concerned with the hydrology of the River Walbrook and its influence on Roman London. The Walbrook had a small catchment (4.7 km2), most of which was rural in the Roman period, and flowed to the Thames through urban Roman London. The research is based upon data abstracted from reports, plans and sections of seventy archaeological investigations in the urban Roman Walbrook Valley, supplemented by archaeological literature, maps, boreholes and modern data. A methodology specifically developed for the research is described and hydrological descriptors of the Roman Walbrook and catchment are recreated, as they would have been 2,000 years ago, for a river that has not flowed for at least 400 years. A mean base flow rate of the river in the Roman period of 87 litres/sec is derived by means of a surrogate river analysis. An analysis of geoarchaeological data using GIS (Geographic Information System) is used to re-create the pre-Roman and late Roman land surfaces and to define the course and bed slopes of the river through urban Roman London and hence its flow-full capacity. A storm flow regime is derived and used to assess flood frequency for key areas within urban Roman London for a range of 36 channel conditions. In the flat northern urban area, flooding would have occurred more than once a year and somewhat less frequently in the other areas. The effectiveness of Roman land-raising activity and river management to reduce flooding is assessed and indicates limited success until completion of the town wall in 220 CE that acted as a flood control device. The counter-intuitive siting of industry in the northern suburbs, in spite of marshy conditions and frequent flooding, is examined. The beneficial use of the Walbrook, by industry, including milling, farming and for water supply and rituals, is also discussed in the context of its hydrology.

The Yorkshire Dales National Park contains some of the UK’s most extensive and well-preserved prehistoric landscapes. Of particular interest are a number of coaxial field systems, which cover hundreds of hectares and exhibit significant time-depth, yet remain little studied and poorly understood in relation to comparable resources elsewhere in Britain and north western Europe. This research aims to address this situation, bringing together existing disparate source materials for the first time, alongside supplementary field observation, to develop a detailed record of the coaxial landscapes. Using a Geographic Information System to manage, interpret and interrogate the combined datasets, analysis focuses on form and character, and explores prehistoric use of the iconic landscape. The study seeks to enhance our knowledge and understanding of the landscapes’ place in space and time, setting them against the backdrop of systems elsewhere, and attempts to place them within the context of later prehistoric society. The research, conducted in association with the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority, also informs the management and public understanding of the archaeological resource of the Dales via the Historic Environment Record.

This study provides chemical confirmation for the use of resinous plant exudates in mortuary contexts in Roman Britain. Analysis of amorphous masses, adhering residues and grave deposits using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry has revealed terpenoid biomarkers in sixteen inhumation and two cremation burials. The natural products characterized include European Pinaceae (conifer) resins, Pistacia spp. (mastic/terebinth) resins from the Mediterranean or the Levant and Boswellia spp. (frankincense) gum-resins from southern Arabia or eastern Africa. In addition, traces of a balsamic resin, probably Liquidambar orientalis, have been identified. A correlation between the use of these exotic exudates and interment in substantial, often multiple, containers with high-quality textiles and grave goods was observed. Theoretical consideration of this imported rite illuminates the multiplicity of roles played by resins/gum-resins in the mortuary sphere. The material properties of these highly scented substances speak to the biological reality of the decomposing body and to the socially constructed identity of the individual. On a practical level, they acted as temporary preservatives and masked the odour of decay. As social signifiers, they denoted the status of the deceased and promoted remembrance through conspicuous consumption and sensory impact. Encoded with ritual meaning, they purified the body and facilitated the final rite of passage to the afterlife. The recovery of these resinous traces provides us with new insights into the treatment of the body in the Roman period and establishes fresh links between the remote province of Britannia and the remainder of the Empire.

The late-Victorian and Edwardian period marked the zenith of urban park construction, spurred on in part by concerns about the physical and moral health of those living in the city. For the middle-class reformers at the time, public parks offered a space through which the unique and complex social issues of the era could be addressed and resolved. The public park was unique in that it made children visible on an unprecedented scale. Their role was fixed at the very heart of discourses on health; of the body, the mind, the nation, and the empire. This research explores these discussions of identity, and how that was negotiated by children in the very specific landscape of the public park. Previous work on the concept of childhood during this period has focused on an adult interpretation of the figure of the child, steeped in nostalgia and imbued with an adult fear and hope for the future. I argue that this ignores the lived experience of the child, and denies them agency in creating their own identity. This thesis uses a methodology inspired by current research in the emerging interdisciplinary field of childhood studies and drawing on the insights of material cultures studies to address this. The park space offers a unique opportunity to study lived experiences of childhood, designed as it was for use by the general public, with children firmly in mind. This work addresses the gaps in our knowledge and understanding of public urban parks in relation to children and explores the idea of a late-Victorian and Edwardian childhood identity as a complex and nuanced phenomenon. Throughout my thesis I use three parks as my primary case studies. These are Saltwell Park in Gateshead, Whitworth Park in Manchester, and Greenhead Park in Huddersfield. All three parks are situated in towns in the north of England that experienced dramatic change as a result of the industrial revolution and so reflect the anxieties present nationwide as a result of this change. By way of contrast I also consider parks in London and elsewhere to understand the uniqueness of these parks but also how they were situated within broader national debates over children and childhood. My investigation is broken down into three major thematic areas, each of which seeking to explore and analyse a particular aspect of childhood identity. The first of the three themes is the ‘Natural Child’. I explore the notion that children were thought of having a greater connection with, or affinity for, the natural world, and that they benefitted in particular from access to nature. The second area of research is the ‘Playful Child’. Here the idea that children were inherently playful, frivolous and could be shaped through correct play will be discussed. Finally, I investigate the ‘Empire Child’, exploring the notion of the child as the future of the Empire and the Nation, and the embodiment of concerns over racial superiority, military conquest and economic power. Within each of these sections I examine the way that this idea is expressed in the prescriptive and other literature, before addressing the way in which these notions could be articulated in the park landscape. The material culture of the park and the way in which the parks encouraged or discouraged children’s behaviour is analysed in relation to each of these themes. Significantly I also show how children engaged with, or rejected, notions of childhood identity, acknowledging that children were not just passively receiving instruction, but were actively involved in negotiating their own identity.

Through an examination of the processes and influences on the character of grey literature and its producers, this thesis explores the nature of archaeological investigation, how it is reported and the creation of archaeological data in England from 1990 to 2010 and the implications for future understanding of the English archaeological record. I intend to address broad research questions regarding grey literature and archaeology: What is grey literature? Who creates it and why? What is it meant for? Is it fit-for-purpose? My research objectives in studying grey literature reporting and archaeological fieldwork investigation in England are: •To explore the nature of archaeological grey literature reporting and its producers, the framework of its production and communication, and its impact on archaeological research and knowledge production; •To capture the developments and changes in English archaeological practice between 1990 and 2010 and their implications for the creation and understanding of the archaeological record; and •To consider potential future directions for archaeological fieldwork and reporting. I propose to achieve this using a combination of both quantitative and qualitative approaches including spatial analysis techniques, comparative analysis at a range of scales from England-wide to individual case study areas, and detailed analysis of the nature and actual content of grey literature reports alongside a characterisation of the many creators of grey literature reporting. This study will illustrate and explore the process of producing grey literature reporting as well as examining the end product itself - grey literature reports. This European Research Council funded DPhil research was undertaken within the context of the English Landscapes and Identities Project, which analyses change and continuity in the English Landscape from the middle Bronze Age (c.1500 BC) to the Domesday survey (c. AD 1086).

The ‘native’ population in Roman Cumbria, the majority of whom are thought to have lived in farmsteads in the countryside beyond the civitas at Carlisle, forts, and vici, continues to be defined by its difference to the ‘invader’. This is not only a result of the nature of the artefactual record but of the history of research in the region which continues to influence the creation of archaeological narratives, with perhaps the most pervasive problem being a continuing reliance on analogies. Instead, by studying artefact assemblages from ‘native’ farmsteads on their own merits and taking a critical, self-reflective approach to their interpretation, it is possible to create a more dynamic model which posits that people and ‘things’ have the ability to move within and between two separate, yet co-dependent, ‘spheres’ of exchange. As expected, the process of analysis demonstrated that the material ‘fingerprints’ of pottery and glass assemblages are very different at farmsteads, forts, and vici in Cumbria. Existing narratives have tended to interpret this as either a result of the poverty or disinterest of the ‘native’, or that they were actively resisting the influence of the ‘invader’. However, by taking into account the form and function(s) of ‘things’, it can be argued that their selection was an active choice, and that this was influenced by a range of different social, cultural, and individual factors. Taking the same approach to the study of a number of sites in the Pennines/Northumberland, North East Wales/Cheshire, and Droitwich demonstrated that, although the size of artefact assemblages might indicate a strict North:South divide, the forms of pottery and glass implies an intermediate zone around North East Wales/Cheshire. All of these results appear to indicate that the economy of Roman Britain was composed of multiple, overlapping systems, and that individuals and groups had the power to choose if and when they engaged with them. However, at the moment, the ability to discuss this idea in depth is restricted by the number of sites available for examination. The problem in Cumbria is that the same farmsteads have been repeatedly re-interpreted and although a handful have been excavated over the last decade, a recent trend towards large-scale community projects focused on vici means that there is a danger this practice will continue. To break out of this cycle of re-interpretation requires the creation of a research project dedicated to establishing a detailed chronology of pre- and post-Conquest rural settlements in Cumbria. Doing so will enable us to truly move beyond ‘native’ and ‘invader’.

In the late 1990s Suffolk County Council Archaeology Service (now Suffolk Archaeology) began a series of excavations in advance of construction work at the US Air Force base RAF Lakenheath (Eriswell, Suffolk). During the course of this work three substantial Early Anglo-Saxon cemeteries (dated from 475 to 650 CE) were excavated. These sites are some of the largest and best preserved Anglo-Saxon cemeteries excavated in modern times. Many of the inhumations were furnished. Amongst the host of grave goods were approximately 800 non-ferrous metal objects. This presented a significant opportunity to examine Early Anglo-Saxon non-ferrous metallurgy. Previous studies of Early Anglo-Saxon non-ferrous artefacts have tended to focus on acquiring quantitative data using invasive sampling on specific (predominantly cast) object types. The data from these small subsets of objects were then extrapolated to create an interpretation of the technological and metallurgical skills of the era. As this tended to exclude sheet metal objects and the more utilitarian metalwork it is suggested by the author here that this approach is not representative and leaves something to be desired. In this study it was decided to focus on producing a broad data set that, whilst being qualitative, would allow broad trends in alloy composition to be assessed (if present) against a variety of variables. Data was predominantly acquired using handheld portable X-ray fluorescence (HHpXRF). The results showed that the usage of copper and silver alloys in the Early Anglo-Saxon period is more complex than has previously been suggested. It is thought that this is predominantly linked to decisions regarding an object’s manufacturing technique, but there is also evidence to suggest that elements of cultural identity may have also had a role to play. There is also evidence for continuity of practice between the late Romano- British and Early Anglo-Saxon periods.

This thesis is an account of social organisation in the Upper and Middle Thames Valley from the Late Bronze Age to the end of the Middle Iron Age, c.1150-100 BC. This is approached through the integration and synthesis of various different types of evidence, including houses and settlements; metalwork; pottery; depositional practices; human and animal remains; 'special deposits'; monuments; and landscape boundaries. Patterns have been found within each period that cross different types of evidence. These patterns relate to underlying internal social and conceptual logical systems. Qualitative and quantitative methods are used, and comparison between periods is an important feature of the analysis. This demonstrates the 'non-functional', culturally specific nature of many aspects of material under study and how it was treated in the past. The thesis begins with an exploration of the role that material culture plays in ways that people create identities and community relationships. The following four chapters each discuss the archaeology and interpret the social organisation of a different period. Much of the Late Bronze Age archaeology is characterised by two features: the repeated destruction and abandonment of objects, settlement and place; and the plain, undifferentiated nature of the material culture. It is argued that Late Bronze Age communities were relatively fluid; identity was not structured around lineage, and differences in status not particularly marked. In the Late Bronze Age, three distinct areas within the study region have been identified, each with differences in various types of material culture and depositional habits. The Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age Transition is argued to have been a truly transitional period between two distinct types of social organisation. In the Early Iron Age, ancestors were being increasingly identifed with, as material culture, settlements and hillforts were passed down and used by multiple generations. Ancient and foreign exotica were acquired and appear to have been employed in the negotiation of power relationships. Aspects of ritual practice and material culture were becoming more heterogeneous. The segregation of smaller, more distinct social groups continued in the Middle Iron Age, shown in part by the construction of boundaries around the household. Hillforts were a focus for deposition. The final chapter charts changes in various aspects of the archaeology before discussing process and causes of social change. A reassessment of the pottery chronology of the period is also included.

London remains the most thoroughly excavated city in Britain, with a significant corpus of data recovered from many hundreds of excavations. The vast majority of this work has been carried out under the auspices of development control and planning guidance, although the situation has developed from one of rescue excavations carried out by volunteers to the position we see today of large professional teams working on multi-disciplinary projects. It is entirely within this milieu that my own career has progressed. The portfolio presented within this thesis presents the stages of analysis and publication in use at MOLA, my employer. I have published the results of many excavations, a selection of which I have chosen to illustrate the issues which I consider to be pertinent within the development-led commercial sector. Chapter 1 provides a background to the legislative and professional situation within which I operate, as well as relevant discussion of the current research agendas and frameworks which should be considered by archaeologists working in the City. Chapter 2 contains the portfolio material. The concluding Chapter 3 provides a detailed introduction to the portfolio sites and the contribution to knowledge provided by the archaeology excavated. This chapter also presents the critique of the portfolio sites and all aspects of the projects, from fieldwork to publication. I observe difficulties with the current structure of the commercial sector and in the following recommendations and conclusion suggest ways in which these can be alleviated.

In later Anglo-Saxon England, executed offenders and, probably also, other social deviants were separated from the rest of the community in death. They were buried in cemeteries far from settlements but in raised landscapes which would have been visible from frequented areas – so-called ‘execution cemeteries’. However, from the second half of the eleventh century, these deviant cemeteries appear to have fallen out of use. This thesis seeks to discover where criminals where buried after the Norman Conquest and examines the influences behind the changes in funerary treatment of judicial offenders. Numerous published excavation reports and databases were analysed for evidence of funerary deviance – i.e. any trait unusual for normative Christian burial – but with particular focus on evidence for decapitation or for individuals remaining bound at the wrists at the time of interment, both of which are the most direct indicators of potential execution. While 343 individuals were buried in Anglo-Saxon execution cemeteries – sixty-two of these decapitated and seventy-three potentially bound – only three such deviants could be identified from the Anglo-Norman period. To inform on this transformation in burial tradition, historical evidence, particularly legislation and historical chronicles, were used to aid in an examination of capital punishment from c.850 to c.1150 to better understand the treatment of judicial offenders from conviction to execution. Using both the written and funerary evidence, it is argued that that capital punishment was modified but did not cease to be used after the Conquest and that offenders executed under Norman rule were buried among and in the same manner as other members of the Christian community. The influences behind these changes in the treatment of criminals around the event of the Norman Conquest were not simply a result of the transition to Norman rule but were also a reaction to theological developments occurring in European Christianity.

This thesis has used building recording techniques, documentary research and oral history testimonies to explore how concepts of the modern and new between the 1870s and 1930s shaped the urban built environment, through the study of a particular kind of infrastructure that was developed to meet the needs of expanding cities at this time – social (or municipal) housing – and how social housing was perceived and experienced as a new kind of built environment, by planners, architects, local government and residents. This thesis also addressed how the concepts and priorities of the Victorian and Edwardian periods, and the decisions made by those in authority regarding the form of social housing, continue to shape the urban built environment and impact on the lived experience of social housing today. In order to address this, two research questions were devised: • How can changing attitudes and responses to the nature of modern life between the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries be seen in the built environment, specifically in the form and use of social housing? • Can contradictions between these earlier notions of the modern and new, and our own be seen in the responses of official authority and residents to the built environment? The research questions were applied to three case study areas, three housing estates constructed between 1910 and 1932 in Birmingham, London and Liverpool. During the course of answering these research questions, three further themes have arisen, which have broader relevance beyond this thesis: • How to interpret buildings that have a life extending beyond their original purpose. • The practice of contemporary archaeology as it relates to the built environment • How new kinds of environments are created and experienced, and how this can be investigated through material evidence.

This thesis set out to explore the changing nature of consumption patterns in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century London through the analysis of archaeological evidence previously excavated by the Museum of London Archaeology. The aim of this research was to address existing gaps and limitations within the existing methodology related to the excavation and analysis of these environments, to establish a more holistic method of approaching consumption practices from this period, and to explore the complexities which were being performed within the setting of these establishments. To do this, a typological system for artefact classification was developed which enabled the categorization of material by their fabric, form and their associated functions. The distribution patterns of the various types and functions across three sites and five establishments in the City of London were analyzed. The material was then assessed for patterns indicating changes in consumption. Linkages from these patterns are then made between historical themes and theoretical frameworks outlined within the thesis. Particular focus will be given to developing a better understanding of how these venues changed over time based on the degree of variation that can be perceived between the late seventeenth to the late eighteenth centuries. By exploring the character of consumption practices, I will demonstrate how they work together to provide a more complete picture of the complex systems at work. During the course of this research, specific objectives have been achieved and conclusions reached which make original contributions to the wider dialogues surrounding how meaningful patterns of consumption can be perceived and interpreted through material goods from establishments of social or public consumption. The focus on the everyday materials from closed deposits related to clearance episodes (Pearce 2000) from these establishments and their how they relate to emergent and shifting patterns of social trends in consumption is what separates this thesis from other scholarship on these and similar spaces. Significantly, this research differs from the previous examples by attempting to detect social change across a variety of classes and in a variety of different settings, all brought together in relatively modest atmospheres of social and public consumption. This has allowed for both the subtle and the overt shifts in social patterns to be detected, and from there, conclusions are drawn regarding wider social ideology.

This thesis deals with the development of farming landscapes in the Thames Valley from the Neolithic to the Roman period (4000 BCE - 410 CE). The focus is on the major domestic animal species, cattle, sheep and pig, and their roles in the agroecosystem, traced using carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios measured in collagen. The large dataset of faunal isotope values from a limited area, obtained from sites with extensive archaeological and environmental information, allowed a thorough characterisation of variability in isotope values, within and between species, sites, archaeological periods, and landscape regions. Isotope ratios in a flock of modern sheep showed less variability than archaeological assemblages. Linear mixed models were used to analyse variation in isotope values in 1490 archaeological samples from 23 sites. The pattern of change over time differed for cattle, sheep and pig, reflecting both wide-scale environmental change and changes in animal management. d13C values of cattle and pigs reflected the loss of primary closed-canopy woodland. Pig management changed from an emphasis on woodland resources to a closer association with settlement and consumption of anthropogenic waste. Herbivore d15N values probably reflect variations in the intensity of pasture use and association with arable farming. Climatic cooling since the post-glacial thermal maximum cannot explain these varied trajectories of change. Variation between sites in faunal isotope values was related to landscape regions. Faunal isotope values at individual sites were useful in site interpretation in the context of other evidence. The trend in pig and cattle δ13C values with time was widely found in the UK, as expected if it represents forest clearance. In the Neolithic, cattle management was similar to the UK at central and eastern European Neolithic sites, but pig management was different. Patterns of faunal isotope values and their changes over time, analysed in the context of archaeological and environmental information, can contribute to the interpretation of sites, and give a unique perspective on changes in farming practice and their effects on the landscape.

Since the birth of rescue archaeology in the wake of the Second World War through to the embedding of archaeological consideration in the planning process, the number of investigations being undertaken each year in England has increased. With this increase has been a high profile crisis in ensuring that information from excavations is adequately published. In addition, the archaeological discipline has often struggled to collate information on the number of excavations taking place and their associated outputs. This research provides an insight into the nature of modern archaeological publication never before attempted in England, presenting quantitative evidence from an assessment of excavations and their sources from Staffordshire and North Yorkshire 1938-2007. This data presents detailed insight into familiar problems affecting publication such as time and money, but also the unexpected pitfalls and human factors that can affect the post-excavation process. It also highlights the large levels of significant sites either unpublished, or restricted to so-called grey literature. Through data gathering, and attempts to compile an accurate list of excavations for England and the study areas, the research also highlights the extent to which historic and modern recording systems have led to disparity in the databases and inventories of various organisations. However, when collated this data has the capacity to provide country and regional analyses of excavation and publication trends that facilitate the analysis of long-held, but seldom quantified, biases in the excavated record.