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In this thesis, I examine the archaeological history of the Cyclades over the course of five centuries, from approximately 1200 to 700 BCE. The main body of the thesis is divided into four chapters that correspond to major chronological subdivisions: the Late Helladic IIIC, the Protogeometric, the Early/ Middle Geometric, and the Late Geometric. In each of these chapters, I combine different network methods, that is to say spatial networks and networks of archaeological data. First, I consider the settlement patterns and the settlement networks and how they compare with and were affected by contemporary developments that took place outside the region. For the construction of the settlement networks, Proximal Point Analysis is employed as a methodological tool. The results are tested against empirical evidence in order to explore if and how they correlate with each other and to examine the connectivity of the Cycladic sites with other Aegean regions. The exchange networks are plotted on the map as directed and weighted networks. Both types of networks are used to reconstruct possible sea-routes that involved or passed through the Cycladic islands. Finally, various aspects of the archaeological and literary record (images, monuments, and local traditions) are discussed with the aim to explore how the past was claimed and how notions of identity operated in many different scales, mainly with reference to the eighth and seventh centuries BCE.

The Oseberg Viking ship burial is one of the most extensive collections of Viking wooden artefacts discovered in the world. In the early 20th century, many of these artefacts were treated with alum. Today, it is known that this alum treatment was very damaging to the wood, as a significant number of the artefacts demonstrate a high degree of deterioration. The Saving Oseberg project was set up in 2014 by the Museum of Cultural History at the University of Oslo to work towards gaining understanding of the chemical composition of the alum-treated wood and establishing novel conservation treatments. Current studies on the state of the Oseberg collection prove that the artefacts are undergoing continuous degradation. Alum-treated wood is a highly complex substance and no truly effective treatment has yet been developed for the most degraded objects. It is therefore crucial to develop new polymers which could be used to conserve these artefacts and prevent their disintegration. Consolidants which are soluble in organic solvents are particularly needed, as these could be used to treat some of the most degraded pieces in the Oseberg collection. Additionally, bioinspired polymers represent a more sustainable alternative to some of the consolidants currently in use. To this end, the research aim was to develop novel, organic solvent-soluble, bioinspired polymers which would be suitable to use for the retreatment of the Oseberg artefacts, as well as other archaeological wood. Terpenes were identified as a suitable feedstock for the synthesis of such compounds, as they are derived from biomass and are easily functionalised. Two monomers were subsequently synthesised, derived from α-pinene, each modified with an acrylate group. An additional, non-terpene monomer was also prepared using oleic acid. These were then used to synthesise three hydroxylated polymers named TPA5, TPA6 and TPA7. TPA5 and TPA6 were homopolymers which were entirely terpene-derived, while TPA7 was a copolymer with α-pinene and oleic acid components. The polymerisation reactions of all three molecules were optimised so that each had a small molecular weight which enables wood penetration (~ < 5 kDa). All the polymers were soluble in isopropanol, a solvent which was deemed acceptable to use in archaeological wood treatment. These polymers were extensively characterised, primarily using analytical ultracentrifugation, viscometry and other hydrodynamic techniques, in order to investigate whether they would be suitable for wood consolidation purposes. These characterisation studies confirmed that TPA5, TPA6 and TPA7 were excellent candidates for use as potential consolidants. Due to time constraints it was decided to not continue developing TPA5 beyond this point and instead focus on TPA6 and TPA7. This was because the synthesis routes of these two polymers were more efficient and less laborious than that of TPA5. The synthesis of TPA6 and TPA7 was then scaled up to be able to make enough material for the subsequent wood testing. These preliminary wood studies were carried out using archaeological pine. The polymers were dissolved in isopropanol at an appropriate concentration and the wood specimens were immersed in the solutions. Subsequent analyses involved weight and dimensional measurements, colour and pH measurements, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy and hardness tests. These studies confirmed that both TPA6 and TPA7 successfully penetrated the wood, with the highest concentration of polymer being found on the specimen surfaces. The hardness tests showed that treatment with these polymers caused the wood surface to become more resistant to indentation. Other research that was carried out involved characterising two existing consolidants, Butvar® B-98 and PDMS-OH, with the use of analytical ultracentrifugation. This was used to confirm their molecular weight and heterogeneity. The tests that were carried out indicated that the samples showed considerable conformational asymmetry from measurements of intrinsic viscosity, which would facilitate networking interactions as consolidants. It is anticipated that the accumulated data on these two consolidants will enable conservators to make a more informed decision when it comes to choosing which treatment to administer to archaeological artefacts.

The research presented below investigates the nature of the extramural areas associated with 1st- and 2nd- century Roman forts within the northernmost frontier zone of Roman Britain. This frontier zone stretches from immediately before Hadrian's Wall along the Stanegate, north through the Antonine Wall, and into Perthshire where it encompasses the Gask System. Although the number of investigations into extramural areas continues to grow, a relatively small amount of fieldwork and comparative analyses have been conducted on the extramural areas compared to the forts. However, through the use of data gathered by citizen scientists and the reassessing of legacy assemblages, I was able to supplement modern excavations reports to obtain a sufficient number of assemblages for analyses. Six case studies representing three positions in the Roman fort and road network were identified: Castledykes and Newstead represent forts at important road junctures; Inveresk and Cramond represent harbour forts; and Birrens and Elginhaugh represent road-side forts. By assigning functional categories to artefacts and analysing the compositions of both fort and extramural assemblages through descriptive statistics and correspondence analysis, I was able to identify the primary activities occurring within these areas and conduct comparative analyses. These analyses showed that the fort and extramural assemblages were statistically different, revealed the character of activity in the extramural areas, and the nature of its relationship to the fort. Sites residing in similar positions within the Roman fort and road network were then compared to investigate the extent to which location determined primary activities. This resulted in the development of site-type profiles, or sets of characteristics found at each position, that could aid in future identification and analyses of similar sites.

This thesis uses Bayesian modelling and radiocarbon dating to develop refined, precise chronologies for upland settlement in Scotland north of the Forth/Clyde line in the 2nd millennium BC. In the course of this research, 73 new radiocarbon dates were produced, 32 from archival charcoal samples (sourced from the archive of the Lairg Project [1988-1996]), 41 from peat sampled from the Allt na Fearna quarry site, Achany Glen, Sutherland. Further chronological models for seven additional Bronze Age settlement sites were produced using published or publicly available dates. The results of this research update current narratives for Bronze Age settlement in Scotland. It is generally held that settlement expansion or intensification in this period occurred notably in upland areas. The chronologies produced during the course of this research indicate that settlement expansion occurred at both upland and lowland sites after c.1700 cal BC, with a decline in settlement activity again seen at both upland and lowland sites in the late 2nd/early 1st millennium BC. Potential drivers behind settlement intensification and decline - climatic shifts and social and economic change - are explored. Individual roundhouses appear to have been in use for only a generation or so before being abandoned. This has implications for existing narratives for settlement in Scotland (and potentially further afield) in the Bronze Age. Additionally, a potential old wood effect was observed in legacy dates from bulk charcoal samples, and potential issues were also identified with legacy palaeoenvironmental chronologies. Going forward it is suggested that archaeological and palaeoecological chronologies based on uncritically accepted legacy dates should be treated with caution.

Scholarship in recent decades has characterized fortification, beginning in the fourteenth century, as declining in defensibility and erected largely for comfort and status. Most literature on the subject, however, leaves out the border counties of England or dismisses them as not fitting into their narrative, without further investigation. In Northumberland, as with the other border counties, the Anglo-Scottish Wars of Independence and subsequent period of border conflict created a culture of fortification in the north which was largely different from that in the rest of the country both in scale and style. Frequent Scottish raiding into Northumberland created a reactive pattern of building, with fortification cropping up along invasion routes shortly after incursions took place. By analysing the patterns of raiding during the fourteenth century, this thesis argues for a concrete link between the Anglo-Scottish border conflict and the high level of fortification within Northumberland. While other typical uses for these sites, including the judicial and administrative, do apply, none of these can explain the high number of fortifications built in Northumberland between 1296 and 1415 relative to other counties in England. Nor can Northumberland's density of castles be attributed to the county's reputation for supposed lawlessness: there is little evidence that crime rates in the fourteenth century were any higher in the county, nor was the judicial system any weaker there, than anywhere else in the country for the period. Of the sites themselves, the vast majority were free-standing tower houses, a new form of fortification within England, and one that only became prevalent in the English borders from the early fourteenth century. These towers offered a more affordable alternative for lesser members of the gentry to protect their lands against the threat of raiding, and they proved successful enough that they were used prevalently in Ireland in the fifteenth century, and similar towers were erected widely in Scotland in the sixteenth century. Both in-person investigations of the sites, and archaeological research showed that these tower houses were typically built with at least two external defences, thick walls, narrow windows, and seldom with windows on the ground floor, generally placing the need for defence above a comfortable interior space in their construction. Both the historical and archaeological examination of these sites reveal strong links between their construction and border conflict. Significantly, nearly no obvious defensive weaknesses are present in any of the sites surveyed, portraying the image of a county still very much in need of practical fortification, and not one whose defensibility is in decline.

This doctoral research employs a multi-scalar taphonomic approach to Neolithic human remains from caves in southwest Britain to reconstruct mortuary practices and examine regional, chronological and demographic variation. Human remains from caves represent a rich resource for understanding Neolithic mortuary practices which are in turn central to understanding wide-ranging aspects of society. This research aims to identify diversity in practices of inhumation, exhumation and excarnation in caves in south-west Britain and explore the impact of cave taphonomy. To successfully understand the processes that affect human remains in caves and examine regional and chronological variation in practices between sites and individuals three main methods are used: 1. Macro- and microscocpic taphonomic analysis of disarticulated material to examine pre- peri- and post-depositional processes and compare practices to Neolithic monumental burials 2. Osteological analysis of all available human remains from caves in Wales to investigate demographic patterns in mortuary treatment 3. Provision of new radiocarbon dating to examine chronological variation between sites and individuals and determine if methods are part of widespread practices in the Neolithic The multi-level approach revealed differences in treatment and chronological variation between individuals, regions and sites across South Wales, north Wales and north Somerset. Practices of inhumation, excarnation and exhumation overlapped and human agency was identified in methods of curation and processing between individuals. Adoption and re-use of practices across regions showed a continuum in the use of caves and was characterised by various stages of manipulation and constant re-working of bone similar to Neolithic monumental burials. Use of this multi-scalar approach was unique in a Neolithic context and provided a new understanding of Neolithic mortuary treatment.

Etruscan painted tombs provide the earliest and most well-preserved corpus of figurative wall paintings in the ancient Mediterranean. Depictions of musicians, banqueters, and other images provide a vibrant array of social and performative events inside a small subset of chambered tombs in central Italy. In part, the rarity of tomb paintings in Etruria, along with their figurative nature, have contributed to a surplus of scholarship related to the tomb paintings themselves. Such perspectives tend to emphasise the presumed meaning of visual imagery inside the tomb, rather than how the tomb space was cognitively and somatically experienced during the interment. Consequently, crucial areas of the tomb, such as the dromos, have been minimised, and burial rites originally performed inside the painted tomb remain unclear. I argue that further clarifying sensory mechanisms underlying sight, sound, and space offers a novel way forward in confronting this reality. This thesis seeks to re-contextualize the Etruscan painted tomb with respect to the physical and cognitive experience of funerary ritual. Rather than singly assessing bodily movement or tomb paintings, the tomb is considered from an emic perspective, as a bounded space with unique visual, spatial, and acoustic properties. Fieldwork data involving sound propagation from 14 painted tombs in Tarquinia and Orvieto are presented along with intact photogrammetric and acoustic models illustrating the painted tomb as an intact navigable space. Such interpretation, when applied in conjunction with existing scholarship, provides a clearer understanding of the Etruscan painted tomb space whilst generating new avenues of research in pre-Roman archaeology. Perhaps most importantly, the Etruscan record is allowed to assume precedence over the words and materiality of another culture, language, author, or object.

This thesis constitutes the first comprehensive assessment of the north-western frontier province of Liguria in present-day Italy, from the Byzantine reconquest of the region in 553 until its surrender in 643/44 to the Longobards. The work, following an extensive review of archaeological data, both published and unpublished, integrated with the scarce textual sources available, ultimately reassesses the role of Byzantium in its westernmost domains, at times considered of marginal importance and largely disconnected from the broader Imperial system. The study goes beyond the recognized role of Liguria as a militarized frontier province, showing instead the complexity of a region still integrated into the Imperial economic and cultural network inherited from Rome and mediated by Byzantine rule. After an historical overview, subsequent chapters examine key topics such as the transformation of urban centres (Ch. 2), the landscape (Ch. 3), the economic and cultural aspects (Ch. 5), closely related, but not directly controlled, by the military sphere (Ch. 4). Most of these themes were part of the so-called "Byzantine variable", a paradigm postulated by Enrico Zanini in 1998 to distinguish Imperial and Longobard domains across the peninsula. The combined analysis of these elements over the course of this work has led to a redefinition of the "variable", reducing the role of urbanism, and introducing an ex-novo focus on rural landscapes. This new model, potentially applicable to other parts of Byzantine Italy as well as to the wider western Byzantine world, shows how, in spite of the growing cultural and economic fragmentation of the Mediterranean from which Liguria was not immune, the Byzantine presence helped preserve, at least for some time, certain distinctive material and cultural elements. This model is structured to carry out a comparative analysis on urban (Luna, Genoa, Albingaunum, and Albintimilium), rural (Corti and Filattiera-Sorano), ecclesiastical (Noli) and military (Castrum Perti) sites. In the last chapter this is tested through a preliminary comparative analysis with Byzantine (Sicily) and non-Byzantine domains (Provence, Tuscany). This is an essential step to define the patterns of change and resilience which affected Liguria in this period. Such an approach considers the effective role the Eastern Roman Empire had in every part of the "variable", distinguishing the direct and indirect consequences of the policies of Constantinople beyond its hypothetical area of influence. The results offer new insights into the Byzantine West during a time of critical changes throughout the Mediterranean.

The study addresses the production of urban heritage in South Korea by focusing on the historic cities of Jeonju and Gyeongju. Previous studies of South Korean heritage conservation have pointed out that development needs were frequently prioritised over conservation concerns. In a country characterised by rapid economic development and urbanisation this is not surprising however, the two case study cities have largely, successfully maintained their heritage resources, unlike the other cities in South Korea, based on the government-led conservation schemes. Using strong government initiatives, Gyeongju and Jeonju, through a process of heritage commodification, have gained popularity amongst domestic and international tourists, but they have also experienced negative impacts as both heritage sites and tourist attractions. This thesis examines the range of impacts and issues that infiltrate the everyday lives of local communities in the two historic centres, which has included de-population, social discontent, economic challenges and a loss in community vitality and sense of place, that plays amongst locals and tourists. To address these issues, I explore the discrepancy that exists among the key stakeholders in the case cities, particularly the national and city-based authorities, heritage professionals and the local communities. I investigate how the communities recognise their local heritage in the process of construction, reconstruction, and negotiation of 'place.' The authorised heritage and its firm narratives can be seen to marginalise communities, but I demonstrate that what remains important are the more intangible practices and traditions of non-authorised heritage. These aspects of heritage are more closely attached to peoples' everyday life and enhance the communities' connection to place. Though a substantive body of literature advocates community involvement in heritage production, my work in both of the case sites, demonstrates that there is still an evident asymmetry in power relations at work. By using grounded theory, semi-structured, in-depth interviews and observational work, I examine the dialogues of the heritage production and management processes and identify how notions of community voice and empowerment still manage to surface and negotiate these processes. The thesis synthesises implications and attempts to seek improved ways to employ community empowerment approaches to the heritage management building on the idea that heritage is a medium for progressive social and economic change.

This thesis presents a holistic investigation into enigmatic Iron Age mortuary practices in Southwest Britain, a region with interesting variations in the burial record but has been largely discounted in previous scholarship. This is due in part to the poor geological conditions for bone preservation that cover much of the region, however 'invisible' funerary rites have been suggested to explain the paucity of human remains in Britain. Excarnation has been the dominant theory to explain the often disarticulated and scattered nature of Iron Age mortuary evidence, the possibilities are manifold. Thus, this research aims to identify mortuary practices afforded to the Iron Age dead by employing a multi-scalar methodology of microscopic and macroscopic analyses. Three main methods are used to shed light on various post-mortem stages: 1. Histological light microscopy of bone diagenesis of human bone samples representing various types of deposition (articulated, partially articulated and disarticulated), recovered from various site types and features, to determine early post-mortem treatments including excarnation or immediate burial; 2. Macroscopic taphonomic analysis of sampled elements to inform on secondary processes such as manipulation, curation and exposure; 3. Large-scale analysis of burial data collected from site reports (both published and unpublished) and HER records to determine regional patterns in burials or 'final deposition' characteristics. The combined results of these methods suggest that mortuary practices in the Iron Age of southwest Britain were protracted, involving series of multifaceted processes and various treatments leading up to the final deposition. Most importantly, this research suggests that exhumation, rather than excarnation, was largely responsible for skeletal disarticulation. Variations in post-mortem treatments may represent different stages of a widespread practice, or less common mortuary practices that were performed concurrently within Iron Age communities. The research presented here provides new insights into complex mortuary practices in a fascinating and under-studied region.

This thesis is borne out of concerns about the uptake of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education (and by extension, careers) amongst the UK population. Arguments for increasing the number of people participatingin STEM, inspired the author to examine how archaeology might contribute. Archaeology occupies a unique position at the nexus of humanities, arts and STEM, making it apotentialtool in engaging learners who have not connected with STEM via traditional means. Self-concepts and identity are critical contributors to STEM participation, fed by individuals' understanding of the skills and aptitudes they possess. This thesis explores the impact that engaging with archaeology can have on learners' perceptions oftheir abilities and suitability for STEM. Early STEM experiences are key indicators for future engagement, thereforethis project focuseson primary level children. 233 pupils from 5 primary schools participated in three archaeological interventions, delivered throughout one academic year. Multi-modal data collection methods trackedpotential changes in participants' STEM self-concepts. Data collection comprised questionnaires and child-friendly interview techniques to assess participants' perceptions of skills, aptitudes and identity. Participants demonstrated the capacity to develop nuance in their STEM perceptions throughout multiple peer discussions. Results highlighted shortcomings of the STEM acronym when considering skill usage, and revealed the importance of interdisciplinary education in supporting learners'engagementwith concepts of ability and identity across the curriculum. Many participants did not fully appreciate the relationship between their interests and STEM practice, indicating thatmore can be done by educators to capitalise upon this. Curriculum reform, currently underway in Wales, represents a crucial opportunity to adopt a new approach to STEM education. Embedding interdisciplinary subjects like archaeology into primary education empowerslearners to engage with skills/aptitudes throughout the curriculum, and supportsindividuals to understand the value of their contributions within STEM contexts.

This project takes an "intellectual history" or "history of ideas" approach toward reconsidering the work of Sir John Gardner Wilkinson (1797-1875), who has been referred to as "the father of British Egyptology". Existing interpretations of the history of archaeology and Egyptology in the early 19th century are exclusively dominated by a focus on the race to decipher hieroglyphs, the discovery of tombs and the scramble for collecting antiquities, a state of affairs which are presented as giving way to "scientific" archaeology as the 19th century progressed. However, I argue that Wilkinson, and other early 19th-century scholars, pioneered an antiquarian approach, borrowing from a strong antiquarian tradition of scholarship widespread in 18th and 19th century Britain, and that they were interested in an array of research questions, which extended well beyond hieroglyphs and antiquities. Whereas later Egyptian archaeology focused on excavation and reconstructing individual site histories, Wilkinson studied classical texts and indigenous Egyptian material culture to gain insights. Rather than studying Egyptian antiquities and monuments in isolation, he sited them in their original context, thus demonstrating a high degree of spatial awareness. This is notably evident in two of his research projects. First, Wilkinson was interested in ascertaining the former extent of the ancient Egyptian empire in Nubia and Asia. This depended on fieldwork which was contingent upon the location of antiquities and monuments: temples, fragments of temples, boundary stones and ancient frontier fortresses. When Wilkinson was denied access to such sources, he turned to relief scenes of temples such as the Ramesseum and Medinet Habu, to reconstruct ancient Egyptian history and geography. Second, Wilkinson conducted geomorphological research into the nature of the ancient Egyptian environment, which he then used to draw conclusions about Egyptian prehistory and economic development - an approach that was only rediscovered in the late 20th century. To further upset the current narrative, Wilkinson, and other antiquarian colleagues, showed that the first stratigraphic excavation, supported by leading professional scientists such as Lyell and Darwin, relied on highly problematic assumptions. Finally, in addition to his work in Egypt, Wilkinson undertook an extended research programme in Dalmatia and Montenegro, in the Balkans. Here, he carried over his antiquarian approach, of giving equal emphasis to texts and material sources, in an investigation of the classical topography of the region, its history, and its peoples: the last of these also drew on romantic antiquarianism, conditioned by classical sources.

This thesis examines the archaeobotanical evidence for settlement, cultivation, and woodland management in England during the early medieval period, here defined as the era between the 5th and 11th centuries AD. The research provides new perspectives on how the landscape and woodlands were managed for fuel and building materials and provides evidence of horticultural cultivation of food, craft, and medicinal plants. A multidisciplinary approach is taken combining carpological and anthracological analysis of primary archaeological material using the evidence from the settlements at Dando Close, Higham Ferrers and Flixborough in the East Midlands of England as principal case studies. This was supported by the creation of an extensive comparative data collection study of archaeobotanical records from early medieval Britain, as a whole. This research also provides the first application of a quantitative dendro-anthracological approach to English sites, exploring patterns of oak use in early medieval England. The outcomes of the dendro-anthracological study have yielded ground-breaking high-resolution evidence of timber and fuel wood collection strategies and woodland management regimes. The exceptionally well-preserved charcoal from the early medieval settlement of Flixborough has allowed a unique insight into the selection of timber for the renovation of buildings and possible long-term woodland management strategies undertaken in the area during the mid 8th to 9th century AD. To further support the research into horticulture and woodland management an experimental early medieval rural garden was created, with the purpose of providing essential experimental data to compliment the analytical research and to allow observations of the plants' growth habit as well as providing material to conduct reference analysis for the methodology and interpretation. The garden also functioned as an open-air laboratory for public engagement and outreach activities that were supported by a range of hands-on STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and maths) laboratory workshops. To help contextualise the archaeobotanical evidence, selected medieval textual sources are assessed, to explore documented horticultural and silvicultural strategies from the early medieval period, as well as the uses of wild and domestic plants for medicine.

The published work included with this thesis explores the evidence for the existence of local identity and loyalty to place in the past, and how it can be recognised in the archaeological record. Two of the publications submitted involve the meticulous excavations undertaken on Dùn Èistean, a late medieval clan stronghold situated in Ness, Isle of Lewis (Barrowman 2015a; 2019), the third is the publication of a survey of the chapel-sites of Lewis (Barrowman 2020). The lack of modern excavations of medieval sites in Lewis until recently has meant that research into the development of vernacular architecture in Lewis had been particularly limited. Similarly, the dearth of primary historical sources for Lewis prior to the 17th century has meant that the study of chapel-sites and church organisation in Lewis relies almost totally on archaeological work, of which there had been very little. The published work included in this thesis has therefore been transformative in identifying building features, techniques, and processes that had not previously been identified on a high-status late medieval site such as Dùn Èistean, or on ecclesiastical sites, which were fundamentally linked to the contemporary landscapes of power in which the clan strongholds like Dùn Èistean were situated (see Barrowman, C S 2015, 246–50; Stiùbhart 2015; Barrowman 2020, 121). The Dùn Èistean excavations have also brought new vigour and perspectives to the study of local identity and culture during the medieval period. The layout of Dùn Èistean apes that of medieval castles seen elsewhere in the Western Isles, with a small keep or tower, ancillary buildings, and a defensive enclosure wall. However, the excavations identified that each constituent feature on the site was built in the local vernacular style, using local building methods and resources such as turf roofing, clay-bonded stonework, and solid earthen walls rather than imported materials and techniques. It could be argued that Dùn Èistean was cut off and remote, its occupants lacking the contacts, influence, and resources of their mainland counterparts. This argument keys into traditional antiquarian views of Lewis as an inherently inaccessible, cultural backwater (Barrowman 2019, 38). However, Dùn Èistean was in fact situated at the crux of the maritime trade and fishing routes that were operating in the late medieval period around Ireland and the west coast, across the north of Scotland and across northern Europe. The analysis of the results of the excavations has established that the site was fully engaged in the contemporary world of widespread contacts and influence (Barrowman 2019). It was also entangled in the conflicts abounding at a time of political chaos in Lewis, when the struggles between the Scottish Crown and the clans of the Hebrides, and in the infighting amongst the clans themselves, were particularly tumultuous (see MacCoinnich 2008; 2015a). Many of the buildings on the site were shown to have been in a constant state of re-building and adaption, probably occupied on a seasonal basis as a refuge as and when needed, and lead projectiles and gunflints were both used and made on the site. The fact that a strong local culture prevailed within this sphere of outside influences and politics, suggests that a degree of cultural autonomy existed in the Ness district at this time and confirms that a strong local identity can co-exist with engagement in the wider world (Barrowman 2015b). When the results of the Dùn Èistean excavations and the Lewis Coastal Chapel-sites Survey are combined, it shows that the landscapes of belief and clanship were inextricably linked and evolving and were fundamentally grounded in the local culture and identity. An almost total lack of primary historical documents relating to the church in Lewis in the medieval period, coupled with very little archaeological research undertaken on the chapel-sites, has meant that our knowledge has been particularly limited. However, with the completion of the Lewis Coastal Chapel-sites Survey and the Dùn Èistean excavations together, it is becoming possible to identify hints of local culture and organisation, in the form of shared building methods between secular and ecclesiastical sites. The re-building and re-working of chapel buildings in a similar way to those on Dùn Èistean is also seen, with chapel buildings being repurposed and re-used when cultural beliefs and religious organisation shifted. When attempting to understand and study local identity, I have been privileged to be able to live and work in the landscape I am studying (Illus 1), to really live in and experience it, and the culture that has grown out of it, something that is not always available to the academic. Through my own personal experience of life in Lewis over the last twenty years, I have realised that in the past, as well as the present, the island was governed not by a sense of remoteness or an 'otherness', but by a strong local identity that came out of a shared culture, birthed from the land, and from shared practice, traditions, and language which is only now beginning to be eroded due to the decline of crofting in the area, and increasing globalization.

This thesis reconstructs a possible sequence of events of the ritual of the i̓šd tree of ancient Egypt. The main piece of evidence is the Festal Wall Stela of Ramesses IV. I̓šd tree scenes have been discovered on temple walls from the reigns of Thutmosis I to Hadrian. Reliefs and captions are examined and are supplemented by texts from other monuments including stelae, obelisks, and statuary. The scenes are analysed by their locations within the temples with respect to interior and exterior locations, wall registers, cardinal directions, and number of participants depicted. The stages of the ritual that occur most often in the scenes are the deities writing on the i̓šd tree, the king being presented with his sd festivals, and the king kneeling in front of the tree. Once thought to be a royal tree where a miracle happened, the thesis concludes that i̓šd tree scenes are part of the legitimisation of a king's claim to the throne and relate to the coronation as a ritual of status elevation through reciprocal actions rather than divine right. The purpose of these scenes is to aid in the dissemination of knowledge regarding the king's titulary, years of rule, and numbers of sd festivals as divine gifts from the gods. This ritual takes place in both the divine and human planes and shows changes in decorum relating to the amount of information about the king that is available to the general population of ancient Egypt.

The purpose of archaeological archives at first glance appears to be clear; it is defined in national and international standards, taught as a basic requirement of any archaeological project and required by professional bodies as part of best practice policy. However, this research has demonstrated that this vision for the purpose of archaeological archives is not reconcilable with the current situation surrounding their long-term curation. The opinions and actions around whether archaeological archives should be treated as museum collections or as a resource for future research are complicated, and while there does appear to be a disconnect between those who produce archives and those who curate them, the division is not clear-cut. The many problematic and interrelated obstacles for gaining real value from archaeological archives, are compounded by the range of organisations and individuals responsible for their creation and curation and the social, political and economic spheres they must work within. This thesis concludes that if the competing visions for the purpose of archaeological archives cannot be reconciled under the reality of the current system, the system requires re-organisation and four recommendations are made to that effect.

Neolithic monument complexes in Britain and Ireland were places where dispersed non-human and human powers were gathered and drawn upon by people, creating new political, religious and social configurations. This thesis investigates the circulation of power within Neolithic societies by examining the evidence from these ceremonial complexes, focusing particularly on five case studies (Stonehenge, Avebury, Dorchester, Brú na Bóinne and Stenness-Brodgar). Approaches derived from relational, new materialist and assemblage thinking are used to explore the interconnectedness of people, places and things at monument complexes. By considering and including non-human aspects of the world, including rivers, topography, landforms, directionality, alignments and concepts of past, present and future, it is shown how these places were appropriate for the construction of monuments, and how complexes emerged and developed over time. This includes a detailed interpretation of the chronology of the Dorchester complex, derived from new radiocarbon dates and Bayesian analysis. A focus on unequal power relations is retained throughout, with a particular emphasis on how human relations were mediated through things and places, in order to move forward discussions of power within archaeology. Monument complexes emerge as places where relations of power with other beings or things, as well as other people, could be negotiated and worked through.

Conservation is of vital importance for museums. The Viking Ship Museum has a particular problem in terms of conservation. It houses artefacts from the Oseberg Viking ship burial that are of great significance in terms of Viking history and are of national pride to Norway. These artefacts were buried in 834 AD, excavated in 1904, treated with alum and dried. The alum treatment, which started in 1905, led to them becoming acidic (pH 1-2), resulting in severe degradation of the artefacts. Current conservation methods have their limitations due to the alum previously used to conserve these artefacts, the removal of which could cause some of the most fragile artefacts to collapse entirely. However, some of the less fragile artefacts could cope with a water treatment. Even in that case, PEG, the most commonly used aqueous conservation treatment, may not be suitable due to the high concentration of acid and metal ions in some artefacts. Natural polymers pose some advantages to traditional methods in terms of sustainability and future use, so, for this reason, chitosan was initially investigated. Additionally, chitosan contains amine groups which may help to increase the pH and aid in metal chelation and in preventing hydrolysis reactions. The molecular weight of potential consolidants was determined with an analytical ultracentrifuge prior to wood treatment to determine the likelihood of wood penetration. This was followed by testing on artificially degraded wood and on archaeological wood. Chitosan gave good results in wood treatment tests, however, the use of acid for the dissolution of chitosan is a concern, hence, despite obtaining good results, an alternative aqueous treatment was sought. Chitosan acetate salt and aminocellulose were researched using the same methodology. Chitosan acetate salt did not aid in consolidation. Aminocellulose produced good results for conservation, appearing suitable either alone or in combination with PEG and has potential advantages to PEG, although the long-term stability needs to be assessed. For where an aqueous treatment could not be used this study investigated a silyl modified chitosan, already known to be soluble in organic solvents. The reaction was successfully carried out with the chitosan of desired molecular weight, which ensured penetration into the wood. The silyl modified chitosan was however, found to be very brittle and therefore not suitable for conservation. For comparison during this investigation known consolidants paraloid B72 and butvar B98 were also investigated. B72 appears suitable for immersion as a pre-consolidant, to be followed by washing out the acid and alum, or to be used in combination with calcium hydroxide nanoparticles. B98 appears preferable for injection. However, long term acid stability needs assessed: if stable, B98 may be suitable even without removal of alum; alternatively, it could be used in combination with calcium hydroxide. This research demonstrates aminocellulose as a possible aqueous treatment and B72 or B98 as non-aqueous treatments. Stability of aminocellulose needs to be assessed and B72 and B98 require exploring in combination with calcium hydroxide. Mechanical testing and long-term stability require further investigation. These treatments may prove to be suitable consolidants for the Oseberg artefacts. In particular, aminocellulose could aid in the conservation of other artefacts with high acid and iron content, including newly discovered waterlogged artefacts.

This thesis examines cetacean bone zooarchaeological assemblages and investigates human-cetacean relationships on the Scottish Islands. Cetaceans provide a wide variety of resources including flesh, baleen, bone and oil and although cetacean bone is found on archaeological sites spanning millennia this material is often overlooked due to methodological and interpretive hurdles. By identification and examination of cetacean remains through time and space this thesis explores human-cetacean relationships in Atlantic Scotland over a four-thousand-year period. A key part of this work is the development of a method and toolkit for morphometric identification of cetacean vertebrae. This is achieved through study of a large novel dataset combined with data from existing studies and drawing on research into functional morphology and evolutionary biology. Species-level identifications using this method are possible, and the data covers all species which inhabit north-eastern Atlantic today, and one third of all species globally. Cetacean bone assemblages from two multiperiod sites, Cladh Hallan and Bornais, are recorded, analysed and identified using morphometric data and biomolecular analyses (Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry). Investigation reveals complex patterns of utility. The Hebridean islanders used cetacean meat, oil, bone and likely blubber, but use also went beyond functional utility, and cetacean remains represent social processes. There are hints that active whaling may have occurred in prehistory, and comparison of historical evidence with zooarchaeological data revels complex patterns from the Norse period suggesting interplay between cetacean exploitation and that of other marine species. While many cetacean species were exploited, the sperm whale held a special place in the Hebridean past and the relationship with this animal may have been the focal point of human-cetacean relationships on the islands. The methodological advances and analysis of two large cetacean bone assemblages shed new light on human-cetacean relationships in the past and pave the way for future investigations.

The study of Neanderthal behaviour and ecology has been shaped by the overarching question of Neanderthal cognitive modernity. The debates concerning Neanderthal cultural complexity and subsistence strategies cross paths in the study of birds. Recent research has shed light on the contribution of bird remains as a proxy in interpretations of Middle Palaeolithic diet and behaviour. Additionally, birds function as excellent indicators of past climate and environmental conditions because some species have highly restricted niche requirements. This thesis contributes new information to our understanding of Neanderthal behaviour and ecology across their geographical and temporal range by employing ecological and taphonomic methods to bird remains recovered from five Neanderthal sites: Gorham's Cave and Devil's Tower Rockshelter in Gibraltar, Cova Negra, Spain, Scladina Cave, Belgium, and Tabun Cave, Israel. Intra- and inter-site analyses establish that Neanderthals exploited gamebirds and wetland species for subsistence purposes in all five locations. Ecological results indicate that the Neanderthal bioclimatic and habitat niche did not vary by geographic position. Within their niche, Neanderthals efficiently exploited birds as a regular addition to their diet, focussing their efforts on specific taxa. This conflicts with earlier research, which proposed that Neanderthals were incapable of conceptualising the complex strategies necessary for hunting birds and small, fast game.

The Celts are a collection of tribes and/or populations that inhabited much of Central Europe during the Iron Age and are still something of an enigma. The relationship among the spread of their material culture, the application of Celtic ethnicity, movements among the diverse populations possessing Iron Age Hallstatt and La Tène artefacts throughout Central Europe believed to have been spread by Celtic people, and/or spoken languages identified as Celtic have long been questioned by researchers. However, previous research has primarily focused only on chronological and typological descriptions and documentation of diachronic change. Diverse populations throughout Europe have been intrinsically linked based on perceived similarities in burial practice, art styles and material culture. Subsequently, these associations have resulted in the creation of the so-called La Tène=Celtic paradigm. Under this paradigm, the presence of La Tène artefacts designate a population as Celtic, which is still prevalent in the field of Celtic studies regardless of documented regional differences. The underlying biological diversity among presumed Celtic populations and processes driving the observed variation in artefacts, art styles and burial practices throughout the core and expansion regions (i.e., where the Hallstatt and La Tène material cultures initially developed versus those into which they subsequently spread during the 4th and 3rd centuries BC) are not well understood. The present study helps fill the void in the current understanding of underlying biological diversity among these populations in several ways. First, 36 morphological traits in 586 dentitions from 11 regional samples, from Britain and Europe, were collected using the Arizona State University Dental Anthropological System (ASUDAS). The above samples represent the core and expansion regions, along with a comparative European Iron Age sample outside the known range of Celtic expansion. Frequencies of occurrence for each dental and osseous nonmetric trait were recorded by sample. Second, the suite of traits was compared among samples using principal components analysis, (PCA) and the mean measure of divergence (MMD) distance statistic. Multidimensional scaling was subsequently employed on the symmetric MMD matrix to illustrate graphically inter-sample relationships. Phenetic patterns of overall biological similarity and dissimilarity among individuals and populations based on morphological traits were determined. MMD distances were then compared with geographic distances among samples, under the assumption that genetic affinity is inverse to spatial distance. The biological distance estimates suggest the following. First, populations in the expansion regions exhibit less biological diversity than those within the core. Specifically, two samples within these regions are biologically indistinguishable, the remaining two are biologically distinct, and all samples within the core are phenetically diverse. Thus, populations in the expansion regions are genetically distinct from those in the core and were likely acculturated, not genetically influenced by these groups. Limited intra-and-extra regional gene flow and genetic isolation explain the population structure within the above regions. Second, overall phenetic heterogeneity, biological diversity, and population discontinuity are indicated, as the majority of the samples within both regions are biologically distinct from one another. This diversity may also reflect genetic and linguistic boundaries among the samples. Third, waves of migration from the core during the 4th and 3rd centuries BC were not likely responsible for diachronic changes in material culture within the expansion regions. Fourth, the separation of populations and material culture into the core and expansion regions, and the application of Celtic ethnicity to diverse populations possessing artefacts and a spoken language(s) identified as Celtic may be a nominal association, i.e., in name only. Simply put, the comparative results suggest that these groups represent biologically distinct populations. These findings were compared with published archaeological, linguistic, genetic and bioarchaeological information to test for concordance between dental and other evidence. The present study does not support findings of previous studies and suggests there is more genetic diversity than previously assumed under the La Tène=Celtic paradigm. Thus, a combination of genetic isolation by distance, limited intra-and-extra-regional gene flow, trade, cultural diffusion and/or assimilation is likely responsible for the observed art style, burial practice, archaeological, genetic and linguistic diversity among populations possessing Hallstatt and La Tène artefacts and/or language(s). These diverse populations may have lost their cultural autonomy after being subsumed into a greater Celtic identity. Thus, the contemporary concept of Celts is likely a modern construct that has hindered understanding of the extent of regional diversity and cultural autonomy among diverse populations throughout Iron Age Europe.

It is a little over thirty years since modern battlefield studies began the serious investigation of unstratified archaeology for what it could tell us about historic battles. In those three decades the field has grown in breadth of time periods opened to investigation through new methodologies, and in the depth of investigation into the archaeology for what it can tell us about subjects such as weapon development, the historic terrain and evolving methods of warfare. Nevertheless, conflict archaeology for the early modern period has thus far failed to apply the methodological developments made in the study of historic battles to an exploration of siege actions. This thesis seeks to address this imbalance of focus upon battles, and by developing a methodology for the investigation of siege actions. To achieve this the research has focussed on defining the criteria of action for investigation, and examining existing siege site studies for what aspect of siege evidence are yet to be explored as part of a siege study, specifically the unstratified finds of the siege action, the impact scars on surviving structures, and the remnants of impacted projectiles. An overview and rapid assessment of the extent of the national resource of siege sites available for examination was compiled, selecting several candidates for specific investigation, and one candidate with suitable criteria to serve as a case study survey, Moreton Corbet Castle, Salop. Examination of impact scar evidence required a detailed investigation of scars across a multitude of sites, and the development of a low-cost recording and analytical methodology for these features. Questions arising from scar investigation drove a set of ballistic experiments for impacts against stone targets, identifying further research opportunities for developing understanding of bullet impacts on stone targets. The penultimate chapter focuses on the Moreton Corbet survey, which entailed a combined documentary and archaeological investigation, incorporating examination of impact scar evidence, metal detector survey, and an attempt to develop a methodology for the recovery of impacted bullet fragments. The outcome of the study showed that there are opportunities and benefits to conducting intensive surveys for interpreting small-scale siege locations, even where the contemporary documentary evidence is limited in comparison to battles of the same period. The same study also identifies risks to the archaeology at similar sites owing to the unprotected status of the archaeological scatter, the ignorance towards impact scars as archaeological features, and the difficulty with developing strategies towards management of heritage sites where existing protections of the archaeology prevent new data from being obtained.

This thesis analyses the medieval ceramics circulating in Rome between the tenth and the fourteenth centuries, using quantitative methods for fitting ceramic data into the wider economic history of Rome. Even though the importance of Rome during the Middle Ages is undeniable, it is still difficult to fit the numerous archaeological data into an overall analysis of the city. In particular, with ceramics as the most numerous find, it is crucial to fully understand what kinds of information these might return: the ceramic assemblages found in three sample-sites (Vicus ad Carinas, Colosseum, and church of S. Omobono) have been fully studied and compared, in order to reach a diachronic level of analysis. In fact, each site has a different chronology, thus this diachronic approach clearly shows differences and similarities of each period. Finally, the results of such analysis have been put together again and reanalysed regarding the economy of medieval Rome. The final aim is to demonstrate the importance of ceramics as a source, as these increase our knowledge of medieval trades, production, and diet. The thesis is divided into different sections: the first part is an overview of sources for medieval Rome, its people and economy, and medieval ceramics of Rome; in the second part each site has been analysed, from its earliest phases to the medieval ones, assessing both archaeological evidence and written sources; the third part focuses on quantification methods, particularly those used for analysing the three assemblages; finally, the conclusions fit the results of these quantifications into the broader context of medieval Rome.

This thesis describes an investigation of the wider landscape archaeology of bog bodies: a case study of Lindow II found on Lindow Moss, Cheshire and Tollund Man deposited on Bjӕldskovdal bog, Denmark. Focused on establishing the surrounding cultural archaeology, pre-peat landscape, development of the bog landscape on Lindow Moss and Bjӕldskovdal bog. Then locating the positions of Lindow II and Tollund Man in their respective shape of bog basin. A spatial exploration of Lindow II and Tollund Man's relationship to the contemporary edge of the peat landscape was facilitated using 3D models created using newly generated auger data. A landscape investigation has shown that there was an absence of cultural archaeology surrounding Lindow II and Tollund Man within a 1.9km circumference. Spatial analysis demonstrated Lindow II was placed 164m from the northern contemporary edge of peatland and 169m from the southern edge. Tollund Man was located 91m from the northern edge of contemporary peatland and 64m from the southern edge. Development of the bog landscape has demonstrated accessibility to central areas on both sites were difficult due to open water and pools. This study has demonstrated the potential and significance of a landscape approach to bog body research.

The introduction of new fauna is almost without exception not solely about enriching human diet. Instead, non-native fauna can be linked with the arrival new cultural phenomena, especially in the realm of religion. The religious and secular festival of Easter provides a case study with which to explore this phenomenon in the British archaeological and historical record, as its three associated animals - the brown hare, European rabbit, and chicken - are all not native to Britain. But, the circumstances and timing of the introduction of the brown hare (Lepus europaeus) to Britain have never been tackled with the aid of zooarchaeological evidence because zooarchaeologists have lacked the methods necessary to securely separate zooarchaeological brown hare remains from those of Britain's native lagomorph, the Scottish mountain hare (Lepus timidus). This thesis establishes a zooarchaeological baseline for the timing and cultural impact of the brown hare's introduction to Britain. It develops an identification method using traditional, linear morphometrics to separate brown and mountain hares in British populations and applies this to method to archaeological hare remains.

Fars is an area characterised by a great diversity not only in natural resources, but also in cultural and economic aspects. Reconstructing subsistence strategies of prehistoric settlements has always been one of the main objectives of the archaeological research undertaken in this region. In particular, discussions have been centred on whether the emphasis was on agricultural or pastoral activities. However, these arguments were mainly based on archaeological finds and settlement distributions rather than primary bioarchaeological evidence. The recent zooarchaeological studies in the region provided important insights into the prehistoric subsistence strategies practiced by the prehistoric inhabitants of Fars. However, the current archaeobotanical record of Fars is rather limited. Therefore, to shed more light, new macrobotanical remains (seeds and charcoal) were collected from three recently excavated sites in Fars namely Rahmatabad, Nurabad, and Mehrali. The analysed plant assemblages from these sites cover a long sequence of occupation from the late 8th to the Late 4th millennium B.C. The results of this study significantly expanded the archaeobotanical dataset of the region and added new important insights into the plant subsistence practices, woodland exploitation and fuel collection of these prehistoric communities. They indicated the likely importation of cereal crops (rather than a local domestication event), the significant role and exploitation practices of specific wild plant resources for food and fuel, and an overall regional variety and flexibility in subsistence practices. Ultimately, the comparison of these new data with other archaeobotanical evidence in Fars and the wider area significantly enhanced our understanding of prehistoric human-vegetation interactions.

Archaeological approaches to socialisation are underdeveloped. As interpretative models are most often borrowed from other disciplines, rather than developed with a material-focus at their centre, archaeologists are left without effective object-centred frameworks with which to examine how individuals interacted with and learnt about their world. This thesis addresses these issues with a new approach, drawing upon Giles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, who offer many analytical tools that can directly connect highly theoretical interpretations of ancient societies to archaeological data. By stressing how humans understand the world through their accumulated previous experiences, Deleuze and Guattari direct the archaeologist to consider how identifiable human interactions with objects and places informed their subsequent experiences, and therefore their developing perceptions of their surroundings. This approach is tested against three case studies, in the 3rd Millennium Jazira, 2nd Millennium Anatolia, and 1st Millennium Southern Levant, that stress the intersection of landscapes and religious practice, both of which are frequently highlighted as powerful agents of socialisation. The varying forms and resolutions available for these case studies allow for a comprehensive exploration of a Deleuzo-Guattarian framework’s effectiveness in reconstructing and understanding ancient experiences of the world, and new interpretations of how ancient individuals both shaped and were shaped by their experiences of religiously-loaded landscapes.

The aim of this thesis is to integrate Unmanned Aerial Vehicle-based Structure-from-Motion 3-D modelling into subterranean environments to aid the recording of archaeological Strata, overcoming the challenges of acquiring data in a cave. This research is conducted as part of a larger project, the DigiArt Project, No 665066, which deals with the digitisation and dissemination of cultural heritage. The initial experiments are conducted in the Scladina Cave in Belgium. This is an active archaeological site with culturally important historical findings. A 3-D model is created using Structure-from-Motion (SfM) with data captured from a UAV-mounted camera. Although the camera has a wide-angle lens there is only one view captured of the roof and floor of the cave and so they are not properly reconstructed. Other issues arose during this data capture, including the lighting being too warm of a colour-temperature. This proves to be an issue because one of the main aims is to clarify the excavated stratigraphic profiles in the sediment to aid archaeologists. The first experiment from the conclusions of the initial Scladina test is conducted on the image file output from the camera. Many cameras are able to record in a RAW format, however most record in compressed JPEG. The impact this compression has on the model needs to be known so a series of tests are conducted to examine it. The RAW dataset provides the best reconstruction, however good-quality JPEG images are also suitable to be used. Next came a test on the camera types, with the ones being easily attached to the UAV, an action camera, being compared with a mirrorless interchangeable-lens camera. Due to various factors such as better quality optics and a larger, lower noise, sensor, the interchangeable-lens camera produces the best results, however the action camera can still provide good results if the correct settings are used. SfM modelling requires lenses to be as optically perfect as possible to have good reconstructions, however no optical system is perfect. These tests examine lens artefacts along with sensor noise to determine what their impact is on the resulting models. There is an optimum lens sharpness setting, however a lower sensor sensitivity is preferable if balancing the settings. Along with lens artefacts, the software itself needs to be examined and validated. A test is devised to use purely synthetic data so the reconstructed models can be compared against a ground truth model. Two publishers’ software are tested. All reconstructions are acceptable. After the testing is completed, a return trip to Scladina Cave is made. This allows all knowledge gained during the testing to be implemented. The new model of the cave has an increase in coverage of 30% over the old one. The need to clarify the strata is left unfulfilled, so a different approach is taken by post-processing the images. This results in an algorithm which examines the individual colour channel differences in the digital image. The output is a difference image which can be shown on the 3-D model. This new image-processing technique, the testing of the data capture techniques and processing, along with the case-study locations are all the contributions of this thesis.

This thesis demonstrates the utility of unstructured data for archaeological research using the example of the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS). The aim was achieved using a two-part methodology. Firstly, the longue durée was assessed using the whole dataset and key periods of difference from overall trends identified. Secondly, the data were reduced to a case study period, building on previous work by going beyond distribution maps and analysis of settlement patterns. The greater statistical power of such a large dataset was exploited using analysis of categories of finds to determine whether there were statistically significant differences in the make-up of finds assemblages. Overall, the research demonstrated the utility of PAS data and its usefulness in terms of the long durée and nationwide trends. It also demonstrated that the data can provide coarse-grained analysis of a period and a broad overview of regionality. Limitations were identified, namely that a lack of secure dating, specific artifact type identification and association with other archaeological material hinder the ability to conduct detailed analysis. As the data is used on more micro-levels, the limitations on the data become more prevalent.

Food Vessels, which are recognised as a distinct Bronze Age ceramic type, are found throughout the British Isles, dating to between c.2200-c.1700 BCE. The category comprises a morphologically and contextually varied group of vessels, which are broadly defined in contrast to other Bronze Age ceramics and grouped together through the conventionally assumed shared tradition of use and formal affinity. Over 550 Food Vessels are known from Scotland, but there has been no comprehensive examination of the entire corpus to date, and the analysis of the material is generally limited to normative formal typologies, or overarching narratives on the socio-cultural symbolism of the tradition. As such, the Scottish Food Vessel corpus presents a long neglected and little utilised analytical arena, perfectly suited for exploring the opportunities of a novel interpretative approach. The key aim of this thesis is therefore to collate and re-evaluate the complete assemblage of Scottish Bronze Age Food Vessels, producing a reference database of the corpus, and utilising a relational new materialist approach with an assemblage focus to challenge the traditional unilateral interpretations and effectively de-code conventional Food Vessel conceptualisations. These aims are addressed through a relational attribute analysis and a multiscalar approach, investigating examples of single pots, specific sites, and different artefact corpora, to critically examine the nested processes behind formal and contextual similarity and difference within the sample. Focusing on the actively referential and collective processes involved in the manufacture and performance of Food Vessels, this study challenges monocausal explanations of direct and socio-culturally specific origins of ceramic or depositional attributes, in order to appreciate the fluid meaning that is actively negotiated in the making and enactment of the pots, and which emerges from the meshwork of relationships between their various constituting elements. Effectively, this thesis argues that Food Vessel pot- and site-assemblages are inherently unstable and fluid phenomena, rather than fixed categories of meaning, and the Food Vessel corpus assemblage is not a clearly bounded category defined by a stable package of attributes, but one with fuzzy boundaries. The results of this research demonstrate that a new materialist perspective and an assemblage approach supported by relational attribute recording practice, provide a more nuanced interpretation of continuity and variation within the Food Vessel corpus. Moreover, the approach developed here, not only represents a contribution to the study of Food Vessels, but also provides a fresh avenue of investigation that can facilitate novel analyses and new understanding of prehistoric ceramics in general.

This thesis provides a comprehensive comparison and analysis of portable inscribed objects from all ethno-linguistic cultures in early medieval Britain and Ireland, in the period between the post-Roman era (c. AD 400) and ending just after the Norman Conquest (c. AD 1100). It looks at the relationships between people and objects, observing differences in inscribing practices between object types, the application of text onto material culture, and the differences and similarities of the types of inscriptions found on these objects. Where past research has placed focus on only a single script, culture, or object type, this thesis is the first to combine all Insular scripts (runes, Roman, ogham) and languages (Old English, Old Norse, Latin, Irish/Early Gaelic) on portable objects from all major cultures in early medieval Britain and Ireland (Anglo-Saxon, Scandinavian, Pict, Irish, Scots). In total, 270 objects are catalogued and discussed, consisting of personal adornments and dress accessories, household and personal tools, weaponry and armour, ecclesiastical objects and church equipment, objects related to writing and reading in learned environments, funerary and memorial-related objects, and objects that cannot be identified but are categorised by raw material (i.e. metal, bone, stone). The types of object show a trend towards inscribing jewellery and dress accessories in Anglo-Saxon contexts and scripts (runes and Roman letters), whilst most of the objects of Scandinavian character and text (only runes) are made of ephemeral material including complete and incomplete pieces of bone and antler. Objects with ogham inscriptions follow a similar pattern and are primarily inscribed onto tools made of antler and bone, but, like the inscriptions in Scandinavian runes, can also be found on metal dress accessories and household items. To analyse these objects in their social, personal, and political environments, this thesis employs the theories of object biography, gift and social exchange, and agency to look at the contexts in which the objects were used and inscribed and to consider the purposes behind the inscriptions. Additionally, ideas behind the power of writing and text, in particular those texts that are described as ‘gibberish’ or non-lexical, gives insight into how text was perceived and used in those cultures that engaged with it and how this evolved over time. The inscriptions include personal names and statements of ownership, maker, and commissioner, demonstrating direct relationships between people and things, and religious texts indicating that objects were used as vehicles for devotion and faith. This thesis has revealed that a wide variety of objects were given text in early medieval Britain and Ireland. It presents new and different perspectives on concepts of cultural and personal identity in regard to the study of material culture, providing discussions that are consistently growing and evolving as more objects and inscriptions are discovered each year.

The consumption of alcoholic beverages is a multi-sensorial experience which was in many past societies a fundamental part of everyday life as well as integral to ritual practices. And yet, this topic has been understudied in Archaeology, although the study of alcohol in ancient Mesopotamia has been slowly gaining in popularity over the last two decades, with an emphasis on the capacity of alcohol access to create power and status differences. Advances in the field of archaeological organic residue analysis over the past three decades have particularly become crucial to obtain significant additional data and information, unreachable through texts and iconography. Yet, to date the analysis of residue remains of alcohol recovered in ancient ceramic vessels have been restricted to a small number of cases related to alcohol production rather than its consumption due mainly to the current lack of a secure approach that allows the identification of alcoholic beverages in a consumption context. This thesis aims to distance itself from the common view of beverages as a social distinction tool by reflecting on the sensory and emotional experiences of social drinking based on strong archaeological evidence to create new narratives on social-cultural identity, sense of belonging, and community building in the Late Bronze Age (ca. 1500-1100 BCE) site of Khani Masi, located in the Upper Diyala region of Iraq. In order to be able to recreate elements of the sensory experience of social drinking at Khani Masi, the first aim was to formulate a new multi-disciplinary approach consisting of combining ancient texts, iconography, contextual archaeology and a refined organic residue analysis protocol that allowed us to identify confidently alcoholic beverages in drinking vessels. The results not only highlighted the strong preference for beer but also unveiled information on the ingredients incorporated in its production as well as the practices, paraphernalia and social contexts of its consumption. Based on these results, this study establishes that the highly sensual experience of social drinking at Khani Masi would have inculcated and reinforced a sense of community, accentuated by the communal activity of sharing this experience with other people in a same space.

Spatial analysis techniques, performed using Geographical Information System (GIS) software packages, have become commonplace, even ubiquitous, in landscape archaeology over the last three decades. However, they have not had as significant an impact in the field of Ancient Near Eastern historical geography, despite the inherently spatial nature of this area of research. Settlements and regions named in documentary sources are still sought using traditional methods of textual study and field survey, with digital methodologies rarely implemented. An excellent example of such a case is the search for the Hittite city of Tarḫuntassa - capital of the Hittite Empire in the early 13th century BC, then the seat of a vassal kingdom and a rival dynasty for the throne in the Empire's declining years, but as yet unlocated. This thesis first critiques previous attempts to locate the borders and city of Tarḫuntassa, putting forward a case for why and how GIS spatial analysis techniques can be used to assess the criteria on which these previous studies based their conclusions, and investigate the context of, and relationships between, Bronze Age settlements and the regional landscape. These analyses are combined to form a model of Hittite regional landscape use, which forms the basis for a new hypothesis as to the capital's location. Finally, it is argued that this innovative GIS-based approach can, alongside a broader understanding of Hittite interaction with the landscape in terms of settlement, religion and monumentalism, challenge current consensus as to Tarḫuntassa's location and expand the study of Hittite historical geography beyond the traditional methods of survey, excavation and toponymy.

Effective preservation of earthen architecture has eluded researchers for decades. While strides have been made in understanding the drivers of degradation and monitoring their effects, the impact of consolidation is still poorly understood. As a result, consolidation interventions at archaeological earthen sites are driven by empirical practice, with limited opportunities for quantitively evaluating treatment outcomes. The research presented in this PhD study contributes to addressing this gap in sector practice and understanding. A methodology is tested and used to examine the impact of consolidation on an earthen substrate through the application of a synthetic carbon-based polymer. For this research, Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) Microspectroscopy is used to determine the depth of penetration of polymers applied to the surface of archaeological mudbrick and laboratory analogues. Polymer impact on compressive strength of analogues is measured with a Universal Testing Machine (UTM). Earthen architectural samples for this study were sourced from the Neolithic site of Çatalhöyük. This integrated approach of combining analysis of archaeological and analogous samples serves to verify the methodology and demonstrate its applicability to evaluation of other consolidants for earthen materials. Results show that the perception of consolidation resulting from treatments involving surface application of polymers to earthen architecture at Çatalhöyük is erroneous. A polymer skin has formed which offers no improvement in the mechanical properties of this structural material, as confirmed by UTM testing of the laboratory analogues. These findings challenge conservators to re-evaluate their perception of treatments and examine the vocabulary of their practice. The case for further work in this area is clear and an investigative approach is proposed. This research highlights the need for evidence-based decision-making in conservation practice and discusses the difficulties in achieving this in the field. The outcomes of this work have already made an impact on conservation practice. At Çatalhöyük, treatments for the earthen structures have been revised in the light of the findings reported here. Improved systems for monitoring of treatment effects and long-term stability have been developed. Importantly, conservators now understand the effect that decades of polymer application at the site has had on the structure and mechanical properties of the architecture. This insight underpins treatment strategies in the present and allows evidence-based planning for the future survival of the UNESCO site.

In recent years, archaeologists have demonstrated that they can help to deconstruct dominant heritage narratives and develop new ones which are more nuanced and sensitive to both past and present stakeholder and subaltern communities. In this study, material culture from excavated enslaved villages, human remains from excavated enslaved cemeteries, and oral histories from participant interviews, were used to construct alternative narratives of the lifeways of enslaved people on the Dutch Caribbean islands of Curaçao, St Eustatius, and St Maarten/St Martin. The use of qualitative data in a thematic analysis facilitated nuanced understandings of many aspects of enslaved lifeways and allowed comparisons to be made between the islands and between the various datasets as well as between the study area and other regions of the Caribbean and the wider Americas. On each island, the research provided a perspective lacking in the existing literature: in St Maarten/St Martin the evidence indicated that enslaved people here had highly complex spiritual, cultural, and communal lifeways which were intricately linked with the island landscape; in St Eustatius the evidence indicated that enslaved people experienced high levels of stress despite periods of economic and material wealth; and in Curaçao the evidence indicated that the social structures of Atlantic slavery persisted well into the 20th century. Overall, the study demonstrates that narratives describing slavery in the Dutch Caribbean as 'mild' have neglected many of the physical and psychological aspects of enslavement for which there is ample evidence. The new narrative presented here is therefore important for our understanding of Dutch Caribbean heritage and structures of modern slavery, the development of island identities, and positive social and political change.

The Liao dynasty (907-1125) was a dominant force in the political landscape of East Asia for a period of over two centuries. Despite this, when placed within the framework of Chinese history, the Liao polity and its associated architecture are forced to the periphery. This study aims to re-centre the Liao by exploring the pagodas constructed under this polity within a wider regional and chronological framework. To achieve this end, extant pagodas from China, North Korea, South Korea and Japan were recorded together in a database for the first time. The HEAP (Historical East Asian Pagoda) Database logs the date, location and feature set of each pagoda it contains and provides a means to compare Liao examples to those from other polities, places and periods. Through analysis and visualisations of this data, the Liao are identified as a polity that produced unique pagoda designs and a distinct visual style. While Liao pagodas played a major role in the wider design trends of the period, it is the influence they had at a more local level that may be of most significance, potentially making us rethink the way we frame and construct histories of architecture in China and East Asia.

The ritual and incantation series Šurpu 'Burning' is one of the most important sources for understanding religious and magical practice in the ancient Near East. The purpose of the ritual was to rid a sufferer of a divine curse which had been inflicted due to personal misconduct. The series is composed chiefly of the text of the incantations recited during the ceremony. These are supplemented by brief ritual instructions as well as a ritual tablet which details the ceremony in full. This thesis offers a comprehensive and radical reconstruction of the entire text, demonstrating the existence of a large, and previously unsuspected, lacuna in the published version. In addition, a single tablet, tablet IX, from the ten which comprise the series is fully edited, with partitur transliteration, eclectic and normalised text, translation, and a detailed line by line commentary.

Seal amulets, particularly those in the form of scarab beetles but also cowroids and scaraboids, were the most popular form of amulet in ancient Egypt. They have been comprehensively studied by experts (including Ward (1978), Tufnell (1984), Keel (1995), and Ben-Tor (2007)) who have focussed on the periods of the early second millennium BCE and/or the Levant. This study builds upon their decades of prior research on seal amulets to utilise and amend previous typologies in order to fill the chronological gap in comprehensive seal amulet studies beyond the first half of the second millennium BCE. This study analyses the materials and technology, as well as surface characteristics of 876 seal amulets from seven sites dating to the early Eighteenth Dynasty in Egypt in order to identify 'typological' workshops (those based on shared characteristics) and 'material' workshops (archaeological evidence of production) of the seal amulets of the period. The organisation, output, and influences of these workshops are discussed, alongside how the seal amulet workshops of the early Eighteenth Dynasty reflect the socio-political and cultural landscape of the period. Comparisons are also drawn to the seal amulets of the Second Intermediate Period and late Eighteenth Dynasty, as well as those from the Levant.

The research presented in this thesis addresses the significance of Romanian WWI sites as places of remembrance and heritage, by exploring the case of Maramureș against the standards of national and international heritage standards. The work provided the first ever survey of WWI sites on the Eastern Front, showing that the Prislop Pass conflictual landscape holds undeniable national and international heritage value both in terms of physical preservation and in terms of mapping on the memorial-historical record. The war sites demonstrate heritage and remembrance value by meeting heritage criteria on account of their preservation state, rarity, authenticity, research potential, the embedded war knowledge and their historical-memorial functions. The results of the research established that the war sites not only satisfy heritage legal requirements at various scales but are also endangered. Hence, the threats that impend upon this valuable, but yet unrecognised heritage, calls for urgent measures in view of officialising legal heritage status and thus assuring preservation of the war sites. In addition to elucidating the research question, the work identified a new coherent scale of WWI heritage research coining the notion of conflictual landscape and hence approaching a category of war heritage that has hitherto remained unexplored.

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.

This work explores the utility of digital imaging techniques as research tools in the study of early medieval carved stones. Often three-dimensional imaging is seen primarily as a means of recording an object for preservation, illustration or outreach. The approaches developed here use these digital resources to gain a new perspective on the carving of the stones to address questions relating to the presence or absence of a 'Govan school'. The terms 'Strathclyde Style' or 'Govan School of Carving' are used as a convenient shorthand to describe the 9th-11th century carved stones in the Strathclyde area; however, it has also been suggested that the traits shared by these monuments indicate that the carvers were either trained in or worked in a centralised location. The thesis presented here provides a new perspective on these questions through a digital lens. The thirty-one carved stones housed at Govan Old have experienced varying degrees of wear. Three-dimensional imaging and Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI) were instrumental in recovering worn patterns on many of the stones. This has led to the recognition of several trends in the Govan collection that had been previously overlooked. These digital techniques were also used to determine whether templates had been employed in the replication of figures, which could indicate that tools were shared by members of a single workshop. Finally, Kitzler Åhfeldt's Groove Analysis was applied to the 3D models to identify the carving 'signatures' of individual carvers. These strands of research were then considered together to determine whether a centralised school or workshop is likely to have been connected to Govan. This research demonstrates that digital imaging techniques are invaluable research tools; their flexible and infinitely replicable nature offer new insights into carved stone that would be otherwise untenable. While these applications are by no means restricted to stone in the early medieval period, the digital corpus of the Govan collection presented here demonstrates that these new avenues of investigation facilitate new analyses from which all early medieval sculpture in Scotland would benefit.

This thesis examines the hogbacks and hammerhead crosses of Viking Age Strathclyde and Northumbria. Both are Insular forms of carved stone sculpture often found in Christian contexts. This thesis aims to highlight the significance of these carved stones within a contemporary landscape dominated by a complex historical and archaeological narrative, with the overall aim of ascribing them functions, beyond those of funerary. The approach this thesis takes is theoretical in its construct, both methodologically and analytically, and is grounded in the phenomenological principles of Maurice Merleau-Ponty. It is hoped that this thesis will break down the perceived barrier imposed on research by the modern Scotland-England border, thus potentially alleviate the implied disconnect between Viking Age Strathclyde and Northumbria. While acknowledging the current art-historical work, this thesis archaeologically reappraises hogbacks and provides an original and detailed archaeological treatise of hammerhead crosses. Additionally, this thesis espouses a conceptual framework for approaching, analysing and interpreting carved stones, which considers the idea of what makes space become a place. This framework involves the adoption of a reflexive phenomenological approach to the recording of carved stone monuments in the landscape, and, in approaching material, the adoption and adaption of the concepts of hybrid practice, supervenience, Deleuzian difference, common difference, the third space, and art and agency. In integrating these approaches and concepts, the idea of place-making emerges, discerned via non-dialectical interrelationships between people, material, and space. It is conceptualised here in abstract form as the person/object/place framework. In applying this framework to postulate the functions of hogbacks and hammerhead crosses in the landscape, the following, non-mutually exclusive, themes are considered: commemorative space, economic space, biblical space, mythological space, political space, and sacred space. Considering these themes in the application of the conceptual framework to approaching notable carved stones gives rise to the concept of functional landscapes. These abstract landscapes emerge and are understood through a network of functional places, developing out of particular carved stone monuments inhabiting specific spaces. Ascribing functions to Viking Age carved stones allows for interpretation beyond the traditional and uncritical narrative that hogbacks and hammerhead crosses are simply Viking 'calling cards' or gravestones. Furthermore, in considering the Christian context and syncretic nature of many hogbacks, this thesis challenges the common idea that their origins and models often lie solely in Scandinavian paganism and culture.

Around AD 500 Palaeo-Inuit groups, known archaeologically as the Late Dorset, resettled parts of the Canadian Arctic and Greenland their ancestors had left uninhabited for nearly five hundred years. At this time, they started to use and exchange metal that derived from two native sources on opposite ends of the Eastern Arctic and potentially through exchange with the Greenlandic Norse. Despite metal being found in generally low quantities, the presence of it alone in many Late Dorset sites across the Arctic, some nearly one thousand kilometres away from potential sources, has led some researchers to suggest it is under-represented in current collections. This drastically hinders any attempt at understanding how much metal was being used, where it was being used, and why it was being used. Moreover, given its known wide distribution and constrained source regions, metal is a potentially important, measurable, and, arguably, unique indicator of the maximum extent of Late Dorset interaction networks. Fortunately, most Arctic sites have good organic preservation leaving the Late Dorset archaeological record rich in ivory, bone, and wood objects, such as harpoon heads and knife handles, that may have held metal blades. This thesis quantitatively and qualitatively assesses two key potential proxy indicators of metal use that has in the past been used successfully in Inuit contexts in order to better understand the extent, intensity, and nature of Late Dorset metal use and exchange. First, the analysis demonstrates that the thickness of blade slots of harpoon heads, side-, and end-hafted handles can be a reliable indicator for the raw material of the blade it once held. Once compared with lithic and metal blades to provide a baseline, the data show that blade slot sizes, particularly in the case of harpoon heads, become thinner during the Late Dorset period. In the case of one Late Dorset harpoon head type, metal was used more frequently than stone. Second, deposits left behind on those organic objects through contact with metal endblades were identified with a microscope. Despite the identification of these metal deposits being impacted by the object's conservation and taphonomic history, no similar deposits were identified on any of the pre-Late Dorset material. This means that metal was being consistently and intensively exchanged over thousands of kilometers of Arctic landscape for a nearly eight-hundred-year period starting around AD 500. With these data in mind, the nature of this metal exchange can be examined with specific regards to the materiality of Late Dorset metal and the individual object itineraries that are created through the exchange process. The significance of metal within these continuous long-distance interaction networks enchained Dorset social relations through both time and space at a scale never before seen in the Eastern Arctic. It is along these same vectors of exchange that flowed the knowledge and ideas of what it meant to be Dorset.

Sensorial approaches in archaeology have been criticized due to the difficulty of the analytical documentation of the past senses. This thesis aims to correlate current trends on archaeological theory about non-rational decision-making factors in prehistoric communities (such as senses, emotions and feelings) with current mapping and geo-analytical techniques. The research introduces the idea of the "paleosensorial spectrum" of an archaeological site and proposed recording techniques using GIS and statistical software. For this research case study, paleosensorial spectra are drafted by using advance mapping techniques for capturing sensorial data in Neolithic caves from Greece and the Western Balkans and further correlating the field data with the archaeological evidence. Cognitive psychology frameworks have been used for grouping the field data and bridging the gap between the material and the immaterial worlds. Caves from the Balkans works as complimentary case studies but a discussion on how the application of the proposed methods can alter the current understanding of the human use of the Neolithic Balkan caves is taking place, in order to showcase if the "paleosensorial spectrum" approach can offer a better understanding of the past. As an outcome of the thesis, a step-by-step workflow is proposed on how we can record with digital tools paleosensorial spectra in subterranean environments and how these can be correlated with past activities.

The analysis of spherical lead bullets recovered from early modern battlefields (1500-1815) has produced valuable data regarding battle location and the extent of the action. Previous experimentation and analysis of individual bullets demonstrate that diagnostic traits can be transferred to the surface of the bullet. However, the nature of impacted bullets and their potential to retain characteristic evidence from the impact surface have yet to be systematically addressed within conflict archaeology. This thesis examines the nature of bullet impact evidence through a series of proof of concept experimental firing trials. To achieve this aim, a reference collection of known bullet impacts which can be used as a comparative tool against archaeologically recovered bullets was established. To build this reference collection, a reproducible experimental firing methodology was created by examining military treatises and scientific publications contemporary to the early modern period, along with previous experimental firing trials and ballistics to identify and define experimental variables and parameters. Experimental designs were developed by examining the reconstructed historic landscape from two case study battlefields to identify common landscape features in which bullets may have impacted during battle. A ballistic modelling program was created through experimentation to enable a regimented experimental firing methodology that would compensate for musket inaccuracy, although with limitations. Experimental firing was conducted over sterile and stony ground surfaces as well as numerous wooden targets to establish a baseline of known bullet impacts. The results from the experimental firing reveal that bullets that impacted the ground surface retain distinct diagnostic characteristics that can be identified within bullets from archaeological assemblages. However, the distinctive characteristics identified on bullets that impacted wooden targets were not observed. This thesis demonstrates that experimentally fired bullets retain diagnostic traits from the impact surface that allow for specific classification and an advanced understanding of archaeologically recovered bullet assemblages.

All archaeological buried assemblages are subject to deterioration. Research has focused on the decay of artefacts in stratified contexts from excavations, with less consideration given to the objects from the ploughsoil. In recent years, the acceleration of metal artefact decay has been witnessed, with increases in soil acidification, pollution and the intensification of agricultural practices being identified as key factors in this process. This project examines the various factors which contribute to the decay of metallic archaeological materials in topsoils. The study seeks to identify associations between the decay of materials and their burial environments in order to identify the principal factors influencing deterioration. This will assist in the prediction of site condition and enable the design of mitigation strategies to aid preservation and conservation, highlighting the importance of ploughsoil assemblages as a significant part of our cultural heritage. This research explores the threats artefacts face in unstratified contexts by designing and applying a condition assessment and mapping the condition of artefacts across landscapes. 17th-century British Civil War sites of conflict, including both battlefields and siege sites,are used as case studies for this research, with lead bullets as the object type examined. Battlefields were chosen for study because they are particularly vulnerable to loss of data as the majority of evidence survives in the form of scatters of lead projectiles and other artefacts in the topsoil. Three main parameters affect the survival of metal in the ground: soil chemistry and superficial geology, the historic land use of sites, and the chemical composition of artefacts. These factors have been addressed in turn for each case study, in an attempt to identify which parameter has the most impact on the condition and preservation state of lead bullets. This study has revealed the condition of artefacts can vary greatly in ploughsoil environments. Analysis has shown that a soil's pH and texture have a significant effect on the preservation of lead bullets. Tin content of the bullets has a slightly negative impact on their preservation. An important discovery has been that probably the most significant aspect of the burial environment is land use history. Bullets were in consistently better condition in permanent pasture fields, overriding the significance of soil chemical attributes, revealing the impact of arable farming has had on the preservation of buried metallic artefacts. It appears the most effective conservation strategy in future would be to retain land under pasture or convert arable land to pasture in order to preserve buried assemblages for the long term.

Hominin fossilised trackways are commonly used to reconstruct locomotory behaviour and to characterise track-maker biometrics. They are the most direct representation of hominin locomotion available, yet the recording and measurement of the tracks and the subsequent interpretation to characterise the track-maker is problematic. The fossil sites are susceptible to extreme cases of erosion, often resulting in the destruction of the fossil beds. In this project, a series of experiments using non-invasive methods tested the applicability of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) technology to rapidly and accurately record footprints before further damage to the fossil interface occurred. Various flight paths, UAVs and camera types were incorporated to test the accuracy in minute depth reconstruction and subsequent 3D mesh creation. Data from the UAV was compared to traditional handheld methods of 3D modelling. Results indicated that a handheld DSLR camera following a circular path should be deployed to record fossil footprints. After successfully identifying the best practise for creating 3D reconstructions of footprints, this study sought to determine if the track-maker was identifiable from print shapes. An experimental study that combined morphological assessments with that of 3D motion capture systems to record modern human movement across different substrates at several speeds examined the variability in footprint shapes and investigated if these shapes can be used to infer biometric and/or biomechanical information about the track-maker. Numerous patterns of morphology were recognised, such as the changing prominence of the midfoot impression associated with limb posture, and a ridge-like impression that extends across the forefoot associated with an effective toe-off on a looser sediment. The latter was identified in a number of fossilised footprints. Although the internal morphology of tracks was sensitive to changes in shape concurrent with a range of variables (substrate typology and kinematics), track outlines were much more consistent within an individual. Outlines were statistically compared between tracks from nine different fossil localities, ranging from the Pliocene to the Holocene. It was established that all prints belonging to Homo species are statistically similar in outline shape, but disparate from prints associated with australopithecines. The main conclusion of this thesis as a whole is that functional morphology can be inferred from fossil tracks. Track morphologies are sensitive to substrate and speed, which need to be considered and approximated for accurate identification of the track-maker. The reconstruction of biometrics, however, needs to be refined by further analytical methods.

This thesis investigates the demographics of paleo-populations of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) as a means of testing the hypothesis that this species was domesticated or managed as a vital cultural and economic resource by the ancient Maya in Mesoamerica. To do so it employs a set of standardized bone measurements derived from a modern population and compares them with 1100 deer bone samples recovered by archaeologists from Maya sites dating from 450 B.C. to the late 16th century. These measurements were also applied to modern white-tailed deer specimens representing a discrete population from south eastern Florida of know age, and sex, for use as a baseline. The recorded measurements were used for side by side comparisons and to generate log ratios testing population stature and sexual dimorphism represented in the archaeological materials. Changes in deer stature and mortality profile over time are examined and tested against standard methods for the detection of herd management strategies, that may potentially reveal deer domestication or resource management. Pathologies common to white-tailed deer are identified and their potential for assessing the ontological age of mature deer is investigated. The results show variations in white-tailed deer stature over time and space, suggesting dynamic alterations in prey selection that may be reflective of changes in Maya social complexity.

This thesis employs two approaches to investigate water stress at the early and mid Epipalaeolithic site of Kharaneh IV in the Azraq Basin, Jordan. Firstly, the archaeobotanical analysis explores the local environment by using the ecology of identifiable charred seeds to indicate water availability (autoecology). Included alongside this is a seed catalogue, which presents the unique archaeobotanical assemblage recovered through sampling. Secondly, to further explore the local palaeoenvironment and due to the potential broad hydrological tolerances of some species, stable carbon isotope δ13C analysis of the archaeobotanical remains is used to track changes in water stress during the occupation of the site. These analyses provide a complementary approach to traditional archaeobotanical studies. Combined, these data offer considerable insight into questions about the local environment, particularly water stress, and the potential use of plants during the occupation of Kharaneh IV. The results presented here demonstrate that Kharaneh IV experienced variable water stress throughout its occupation, with a drying out of the site coincident with the end of occupation. This signature of drying is found within both the isotopic and autoecological analyses, providing multiple lines of evidence for this pattern. This thesis serves as a case study for the usefulness and inferential power of multi-method approaches that combine archaeobotanical and isotopic analysis.