Thesis (Ph.D.)--Southern Methodist University, 2002. / Adviser: Lewis R. Binford. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis ( M.A.) -- University of Texas at Arlington, 2008.

This thesis argues that in Archaic and Classical Greece (700-336 B.C.E.), the construction of social and civic identities relied on the redeposition and repurposing of older artifacts, including architecture, dating from the Mycenaean period (1600-1100 B.C.E.). By considering the distribution of Mycenaean artifacts in later contexts, this work aims to demonstrate that discernible patterns emerge. From 1000 to 700 B.C.E., the deposition is primarily limited to private burials, but from 700 to 336 B.C.E. deposition switches to sanctuaries, as there is a shift from constructing familial identities to communal identities. This process is intimately linked with the emergence of the political institution known as the polis. Interacting with the prehistoric ruins dotting their landscape, both by building on them, as well as imitating them, the ancient Greeks engaged in the process of memory modification. Because these ruins served as the loci of memory, their survival or loss had a profound effect on historical narratives. Nowhere is this more apparent than in ancient Athens. By tracing the development of Athenian interaction with Mycenaean artifacts and architecture, this thesis demonstrates the profound role Athens’ prehistoric past had on the construction of a singular Athenian identity. / Graduate

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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.