The subject of this study falls into two parts. Firstly an examination of the methodology of the analysis of archaeological fish remains. It considers the problems of recovering and quantifying material and then the aims and difficulties of analysis. Several lines of evidence can be used to study how the fish were caught and utilised but much of it is ambiguous and natural agencies can produce similar patterns. One major use-for fish remains lies in the study of seasonality; behavioural evidence is not as reliable as is often claimed but growth rings and sometimes fish size are clear indicators. Integrated with this is a case study of a large and well-recovered assemblage of fish remains from a series of five fourth millennium bc. shell middens on the small island of Oronsay(Inner Hebrides). The fauna is dominated by the young age stages of one species, the saithe(Pollachius virens) but at least fifteen other fishes are represented; they are mostly found along rocky shores or in inshore waters. The size of the assemblage and the lack of selectivity, both in species and sizes, suggests a technique of mass capture such as a weir or nets; however, a combination of methods including line fishing from boats seems likely. The behaviour of the species and evidence from the traditional fisheries demonstrates that it could be caught for most of the year, except the 'winter' quarter. Fish size and growth ring data reveal a consistent pattern of a single principal fishing season at each site and differences between them. Collectively, the period of fishing spans much of the year and, as the sites are broadly contemporary, there is a strong possibility that they functioned as part of a single economic system.

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Prehistoric archaeology has had major difficulties in identifying ritual practices. The history of archaeological approaches ranges from a total repudiation of the capability of the discipline to recognise and analyse ritual activities in the past, to absolute acceptance of all identified prehistoric patterns as ritual. Even within a postmodern apprehension of the world, where deconstruction of all established perceptions seems to have reached an end point, prehistoric archaeology has never successfully constructed a notion of ritual in prehistory. Acknowledging that ritual definition and identification is a problem of the modern western archaeologist, this thesis identifies the root of the problem in methods of thinking deeply rooted in western civilization, in our cultural schemata, and in approaches to archaeology that only superficially observe the problem rather than confront and resolve it. In seeking a resolution, this work proposes a structural dismantling of the problem and its recomposition from its basics. The thesis proposes a middle-range theory based on structuralism and pragmatics and a method of meticulous contextual and relational analysis for the identification and interpretation of ritual practices in prehistory. As a starting point, death is identified as the quintessential category for the exploration of a mytho-logic system and its subsequent definition. The treatment of the dead is recognised as the ideal starting point for an examination of the archaeological record in quest for ritual. Ritual structural elements identified in the context of burial are used subsequently for the identification of non-death ritual practices. The identification of religious practices in Early Prehistoric Cyprus reveals a vibrant ritualpracticing culture contrary to previous commonly accepted observations. Structured depositions in ritually empowered containers; ritual transport; hoarding; symbolic abandonment; ritual sealing; ritual burning; ritual use of burials for the creation of liminality; construction of highly symbolic structures and subsequent attribution of agency to them, all constitute religious practices attested by this thesis for the Cypriot PPNB and Aceramic Neolithic. This identification of ritual in Early Prehistoric Cyprus enables the exploration of this culture’s mytho-logic. The thesis demonstrates how early Cypriots viewed their world and their position in it. Finally, this research offers new perspectives in recognising past socio-cultural realities through the examination of ritual practices.

Mortuary practices in the western provinces of the Roman Empire up to c.A.D. 300 are considered in the context of recent work in other areas on the archaeological interpretation of mortuary remains. Regional surveys of Britain, Gaul and the western Mediterranean give the background for detailed analyses of large samples of excavated data by quantitative means. There are few examples of cemeteries excavated on a large enough scale to provide truly satisfactory samples at least of urban mortuary populations and where full research has been done on the dating of individual graves and on the skeletal material. However, it has been possible to isolate detailed chronological changes in burial practices at particular places and also to distinguish differences within cemeteries and between contemporary cemeteries. It is argued that there were strong local traditions for communities using individual cemeteries, as well as at a regional level, but that within those traditions there were other variations which can best be explained as related to social factors. The applicability of this interpretation is restricted by the lack of satisfactory palaeodemographic studies, but the case for a social explanation to variations in burial practice is stronger here than in other archaeological areas because of tighter chronologies, larger samples and a better understanding of the living societies, and especially because the variations can be seen as parts of the wider traditions. The relationships between cemeteries and settlements and religion and burial practices are discussed. Doubt is also cast on the validity of the demographic conclusions based on the most common methods of studying the skeletal material.

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