The Epiclassic period (AD 650-900), a time of major political and artistic changes, saw the rise of independent polities throughout Mesoamerica that sought to take advantage of the decline of Teotihuacan and to express their newly formed identities through public monuments of a highly eclectic nature, stemming from the extensive interaction of distant regions. Two of these centers in Central Mexico, Cacaxtla and Xochicalco, developed distinctive art styles expressed primarily in single media categories that prominently deploy elements from the Maya style, known from the faraway tropical lowlands, today southern Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras. To date most art historical studies have focused on the analysis of Cacaxtla murals and Xochicalco sculpture, while often relying on sixteenth-century historical documents to interpret developments at these centers. Other media categories--elite sumptuary or ritual goods (greenstone masks, figurines, and pendant plaques; tecali vessels; obsidian eccentrics; worked and unworked shell; ceramic effigy vessels) and utilitarian trade goods (ceramics, obsidian)--can also shed light on Cacaxtla's and Xochicalco's distant contacts, while also revealing contextual patterns that suggest different agendas in forging distinctive identities in monumental artworks. References to Teotihuacan and Maya monuments, and to a lesser extent those from Oaxaca and Veracruz, suggest different strategies were employed in the discourse of identity formation at these two centers.

The Late Period (747–332 BC)/Early Ptolemaic (332–30 BC) monuments at the necropolis of North Saqqara have historically been investigated either in isolation or within small spatially close groups. The monuments have rarely been compared within their wider landscape setting, or their relationship with the topography upon which they are imposed considered. This study seeks to redress the situation for the monuments associated with the sacred animal cults through the investigation of topographic associations, monument interconnectedness, and affordances and entanglements within the sacred landscape. To achieve this, a new and detailed GIS (Geographical Information System) of the North Saqqara and South Abusir archaeological areas was researched and compiled, as there was no other currently available. The GIS provided the foundation for the construction of an innovative multi-layered digital 3D representation of the ancient necropolis, which was used to examine the landscape from a terrestrial viewpoint. This was fundamental to developing an holistic understanding of a sacred landscape which is no longer wholly extant. By employing the creative power of digital reconstruction, the task of visualisation and the investigation of divergent viewpoints becomes achievable in ways that otherwise might not be possible. The employment of archaeological theory, not previously applied widely within the field of Egyptological studies, has permitted a nuanced interpretation of the funerary landscape visualised through the digital representation. Investigation of the landscape in this manner has offered new perspectives into the place of the monuments, and their topographic and interconnected relationships: a correlation between the sacred animal monuments, networks of movement, and specific milieus of terrain has been recognised; a mechanism of visual performance employed by the monument builders has been identified; and a new mixed-media narrative account of the landscape has been constructed.

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

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

Using assemblages of marine and non-marine mollusc shells from recent excavations in the Western Isles of Scotland, with reference to previously published studies, this thesis contributes to an enhanced understanding of the cultural palaeoecology of insular societies. Chaoter 1 sets out the topics that will be covered in this thesis. Chapter 2 introduces the methods and principles that drive molluscan analysis; Chapter 3 outlines the natural history of the Western Isles; and Chapter 4 the archaeology. Previous work on molluscs from the islands are summarised in Chapter 5, and emergent themes identified. Chapter 6 presents the results of analyses of new non-marine molluscan assemblages from 9 sites, ranging in date from the Mesolithic to the Norse period. Comparative data collected from a transect of samples for modern snails are also presented, along with a statistical meta-analysis of the data. Chapter 7 presents the results of marine shell analyses from 4 sites, ranging in date from the Early Bronze Age to the Norse period. The results are discussed in terms of their regional and wider significance in Chapter 8, and the thesis concluded in Chapter 9. Studying non-marine and marine molluscs from a wide range of sites across the islands has made important contributions to the archaeology of the Western Isles. The movement of new species of snail into and across the islands emphasises the connectedness of prehistoric communities across wider social networks on the Atlantic coast of Europe. The study of non-marine molluscs and the use of statistical analysis contributes to a broader understanding of taphonomy and site formation processes. Combined analysis of marine and non-marine mollusc shells highlights the agricultural practices and land use of prehistoric and Norse farmers. Studies of larger marine shells indicate changing tastes at the time of increasing contact with the Norse diaspora.

This thesis is an attempt to explain economic and cultural changes during the Neolithic and Bronze Agefocusing on Asele Lappmark in Northern Sweden. The transitions are apparent in changing lithic technology,settlement structure traditions, land-uje patterning and the introduction of metallurgy. The subsistenceeconomy remained dependent on, fishing, hunting and gathering. Hunters and gatherers, however, becameinvolved in fur-trading and other resource-supplying exchange networks.This economy for trade, became so dominant that optimising models normally applied to huntergatherereconomies, are inapplicable. Instead explanations should be sought among a variety of economicworld-systems where hunter-gatherer sub-systems are included. In Asele Lappmark subsistence during theNeolithic was dependent on moose and beaver hunting. During the Bronze Age moose were still hunted butreindeer became more important and evidendy trade-networks were being established.Winter sites were moved to the main river routes, previously used as summer meeting-grounds. Thislocalisation is probably an effect of the increasing importance of trade. Reindeer herding is suggested tohave developed during the Bronze Age as the inland population took advantage of their geographicalknowledge and possession, and developed a middleman-function in an exchange network.These trade activities called for a means of transportation of trade goods across the mountains of theScandinavian peninsula, and one important role of reindeer in this context was as a beast of burden.Metallurgical knowledge is evident from the finds of moulds and crucibles for bronze-casting. The relativelyscanty evidence, however, suggests that bronze was not major trade-item, but that craftsmanship was importantto ri tually maintain cultural identity between trading groups. / digitalisering@umu

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Processes of culture contact have been approached in traditional studies on early empires through unilateral perspectives such as acculturation studies and World System theories. Over the past decades, however, a new scepticism of these dominant narratives has emerged. The Wadi Gaza area during the period of Egyptian New Kingdom imperialism provides a to-date little utilised analytical arena in which to explore the challenges and opportunities of a different approach. This research aims to critically examine the imperial encounter between Egypt and the Gaza area, revaluating its timeframe and changing nature, and highlighting differences from previous interpretations of Egyptian imperial narrative. I approach these issues using a conceptual framework based on postcolonial concepts of hybridisation and cultural fluidity, which sees contact between cultures as a constant negotiation. The aims are addressed through a multiscalar approach, focusing on the regional scale, first, and on two site-specific case studies, Tell el-cAjjul and Tell el-Farcah (South), then. I investigated these case studies through the analysis of their major “Egyptianizing” features alongside significant local material evidence. I took into account architecture, funerary customs, and pottery, examining the contribution of both cultures, Egyptian and Canaanite, in the creation of objects and practices. The results of this research demonstrate that a hybridisation perspective provides a new and more balanced account of the cultural dynamics resulting from the Egypto-Canaanite encounter and its negotiation. Liberated from the restraints of a literal interpretation of Egyptian sources, this nuanced interpretation casts new light on the material evidence, and provides fresh avenues for research on cultural encounters and early empires.

How do people conceptualize a new landscape, is a study of research in archaeology with a long tradition. This paper proposes to approach the study of landscape through Belonging. With no prior theorization in archaeology, Belonging is developed through a multidisciplinary perspective to understand how people form attachments to landscapes. Belonging is then applied to the landscape of the San Emigdio Hills in south central California. This thesis both proposes four themes of Belonging: identity, emotional ties, instrumental ties, and performativity, and applies these themes to a rural case study. The post-colonial landscape provides an ideal data set, as issues of identity and Belonging are inherent, and are further magnified by the ever changing demographics of the rural landscape. The San Emigdio Hills in the modern period was inhabited by both homesteading families who lived in dual-gendered households and corporate households of the Kern County Land Company. Some corporate households are also nested dual-gendered households living in paternalistic situations, and are commonly linked to positions of power in the corporate structure. Tensions of the similarities and differences between dual-gendered and corporate households allows for the study of Belonging to occur. Households were both affected by the past landscapes they inhabited (emotional ties), particularly through chain migration from international and internal sources of similar ethnic backgrounds, such as Basque or Midwestern. Different ethnic groups expressed their Belonging in different ways. Both are affected in their instrumental ties by domestication of the landscape through Victorian notions of the domesticity / bread winner model, with the corporate households further affected by capitalism and corporate structure. The primary labour sector for the San Emigdio Hills is agricultural, particularly cattle husbandry performed by vaqueros. Finally, the aspects of performavity rooted in the work of Fortier and Butler, are applied to show how the two households utilized fences to express outward notions of gentility. Ultimately, three forms of Belonging are proposed, consisting of instrumental, imagined and bridge attachments.

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 27-08, Section: A, page: 2470. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1966.