Both the perceived successes and failures of the Maya are often linked to their relationship with the local environment, and their response to episodes of climate change over a period of nearly 2000 years. However, our understanding of human responses to environmental stress has been mostly shaped by narrow focus on drought as a cause for societal collapse, even in relatively well-watered tropical regions. We still know little about the choices humans make in response to extreme variability in rainfall in different environmental conditions and on multiple timescales. This project responds to recent debates and new analytical opportunities in Maya archaeology provided by developments such as increased amounts of paleoclimatic data, the growing field of settlement archaeology and advances in Maya epigraphy, and by combining a range of evidence seeks to explore the relationship between Maya society and the local environment on multiple spatial and temporal scales, while also taking into account socio-cultural agencies. In addition, results from ethnographic fieldwork among contemporary Maya communities provide insights into the impact of stress-inducing climatic events on people’s lives and their coping strategies. These serve as a guide when looking for similar patterns in archaeological and textual evidence. The results demonstrate that drought is a real phenomenon in the Maya neo-tropics, with potential to affect peoples’ lives, despite a widespread assumption that water supplies are abundant and unproblematic in such environments at least by people from temperate climates. Evidence both for episodes of environmental stress and for effective ways that ancient (and modern) Maya used to cope with these episodes is visible in different ways, such as via changes in settlements, subsistence strategies, water management and ritual activity. In fact, I argue that drought-related ritual activities that can still be identified in contemporary Maya communities today can be traced back to the Classic Maya period, and I suggest that two specific rituals appearing in the Terminal Classic texts are very likely planting and rain-beckoning rituals, and potentially linked with episodes of environmental stress. In addition, results from an exploration of human-environment relationship in different regions emphasise the variability present in Maya perceptions of and responses to adverse conditions depending on both environmental and cultural factors.

This thesis presents the results of a systematic study of Roman period crucibles in Britain. Detailed fabric and technical analysis were carried out on crucibles, from two major case study areas, London and Hadrian’s Wall. The ceramic fabrics of the crucibles were characterised through macroscopic, microscopic, and chemical analysis. The results have revealed two distinct technological traditions that appear to correlate with site type. The first tradition identified is wheel-thrown vessels made of white firing, refractory ceramic. These crucibles often have a second layer of clay applied to the exterior surface (EOLs). These crucible types appear to predominate at large urban centres, such as London—the provincial capital of Britain. The evidence collected indicates a high degree of standardisation in the fabric and form, both across sites and over considerable time periods. In contrast, the second tradition identified, predominates at military and periphery settlements. The crucibles found in these settings are handmade and show large variation in form and, to a lesser degree, fabric. These results have been used to explore how the structure of industry varied within different socio-economic environments and identify cross-craft interactions between the metals and ceramics industry. The degree of interdependency between the two is also considered. The practice of applying a second layer of clay to crucibles has been identified as a widespread Roman practice and the impact of these layers have been investigated through a series of material tests. The results have shown that the EOL afforded the crucible protection against catastrophic failure during use at high-temperatures. These results have been used to suggest that metalworkers had an empirical understanding of their materials and tools.

This doctoral thesis assessed the development of iron and steel technology in Central Anatolia from the Late Bronze through the Early Iron to the Middle Iron Age, ca. 1650-550 BC. By means of multidisciplinary analyses of new assemblage of iron and steel objects excavated at Kaman-Kalehöyük, at least two technological stages were confirmed in the Middle Iron Age after a period of discontinuity of iron technology around ca. 1200 BC. These technological stages were chronologically coincident with the cultural phase already confirmed by intensive ceramic investigations. Such synchronicity between iron and ceramic traditions indicated a dynamic socio-cultural change occurred in the end of ninth century BC. Through this project, iron and steel with reference to concrete archaeological and chronological contexts made it possible to discuss not only technological but also further archaeological issues before/after the collapse of the Hittite.

Obsidian has long been recognised as a proxy for tracing long-distance interaction and exchange. In this thesis, I use these lithics to examine the directionality, intensity and nature of interactions of the Neolithic communities that lived in western Anatolia, the Aegean and the Balkans between the late 7th and the mid-5 th millennia BC. The study sites are located in the zones of circulation of material from three major obsidian sources: central Anatolian, Melian and Carpathian. More specifically, they are located in the peripheries of, and overlaps between, distributions zones in which obsidian was procured from long distance. The thesis investigates the modes and scales of interaction that are responsible for bringing obsidian to these sites and that can be measured through characterising obsidian consumption. The main approach is based on examination of interrelationships between raw material and technology in a number of assemblages. This is done by provenancing obsidian artefacts to sources by quantifying characteristic trace element patterns using data obtained with a portable X-Ray Fluorescence spectrometer. Techno-typological analysis of artefacts within the chaîne opératoire framework is used to understand the forms in which obsidian was exchanged and consumed at settlements. The results show that the interactions in these regions are not highly uniform. The amount of obsidian found in these assemblages is sufficiently small that it could not be counted as a primary raw material, and so in many cases it could be related to irregular or occasional events rather than formal exchange networks or long-term relationships. The thesis also seeks to develop our understanding of the varying motivations and mechanisms underlying the consumption of obsidian from its role in day-to-day practices to its use as a symbolic representation of long-distance contacts.

This study explores the growth of commercialisation at museums and heritage sites, focusing specifically on the development of onsite retailing. It examines the shop as an economic entity and considers its cultural role as part of the wider visitor experience. The content and direction of the thesis have been shaped by the paucity of academic work in this area. There is little understanding of the historical trajectory of museum and heritage trading; a barely developed theorisation of the shop in cultural terms; little contemplation of the financial sustainability of the enterprise; and a lack of evidence concerning visitor opinions of retailing. Thus, rather than pursue a detailed contemporary analysis built on intellectual quicksand, the principal objective of this study is to supply a basic apparatus for the furtherance of critical inquiry in this area. Consequently, the thesis is split into two sections. Section 1 provides an historical account of trading at museums and heritage sites with the purpose of furnishing a cultural context for retailing that situates the shop in a lineage of outreach, supporting the underlying objectives of the institution. Section 2 addresses the lack of theorisation of retailing, and develops an intellectual context within which such analyses may take place. It argues that the shop should be seen as a legitimate representational and educational space, in addition to its economic function. These theorisations of contemporary museum and heritage trading are grounded using a series of case studies to demonstrate how experience of the shop plays out in practice among visitors. Ultimately, this study conceptualises retailing as an important cultural and economic activity at museums and heritage sites, and advocates for further academic attention for this area so such spaces can be better understood and properly utilized.

This project studies the impacts of the ongoing government policy of austerity on Local Authority Museums in England. I undertook a comprehensive and systematic survey of the impact of austerity on LAMs in order to understand the nature and scale of the situation, and to evaluate different strategies for responding to it. Ongoing fiscal austerity in the public sector is causing budget cuts for LAMs and while they have continually struggled financially the situation may exacerbate the issue. Existing sectoral studies of the situation lack depth and there is limited academic literature to help build an expectation of the impact of changes in museum funding on museum values and activities. This study clarifies how LAMs are reacting to funding cuts in terms of income diversification, governance and management, and considers the impact of any developments on museum values and activities. It therefore provides enhanced understanding of the relationship between museum funding and museum operations and practical exploration of museum economics theory. Further, by analysing the consequences of this economic fall-out, this study learns from the ongoing public finance situation to provide strategies for future resilience, establishing an evaluative resource of enduring value to the sector. Key findings of this thesis include a clear difference between LAMs that engaged within their LAs and those that are geographically, hierarchically or culturally distant from the LA. While both received budget cuts, the former showed greater understanding of the situation and their contribution to it, and demonstrated a more active response. A further finding is that LAMs must act opportunistically, but due to risk-averse LA bureaucracy and budget paucity lack the organisational agility to do so. However, I argue that the current wealth of HLF funding is creating a relatively benign environment for LAMs that hides the need for innovative, sustained change.

Fundamental to mortuary associated gender studies is the comparison of the biological sex of skeletal remains with the cultural aspects of burial. Previously this type of gender study has been limited to the study of adults and those concerning children have been somewhat hypothetical due to the problems inherent in the osteological assignment of sex to immature human remains. However, the sexual dimorphism displayed in adult teeth is also found in the dentition of children and adolescents and this research project uses dental morphometrics of both the permanent and deciduous dentition to assign biological sex to subadult individuals. This thesis is comprised of three distinct phases of research. A comparison of the effectiveness of maximum coronal tooth diameters with cervical tooth diameters of known sex adult individuals (Spitalfields Collection, Natural History Museum, London). This phase of the project directly compares the sexual dimorphism of two types of diameter taken from the same teeth of the same individuals. Cervical tooth crown diameters can be very useful in archaeological odontometric studies where dental attrition precludes the use of maximum coronal crown diameters. A pilot study to establish a reliable method of assigning sex to subadult individuals, using a historical sample of known biological sex (Bocage Collection Lisbon, Portugal and Coimbra Collection, Coimbra, Portugal). This phase uses discriminant functions derived from the adults in this sample to classify the subadults The application of this piloted method to an archaeological sample (Windover, Florida State University, Tallahassee) using morphologically sexed adults and subadult individuals of unknown sex from the same population This thesis then attempts to make comparisons between the assigned biological sex of the Windover subadult individuals and pathology, and the cultural burial aspects represented by the burial assemblage, which consists of textiles, tools and other artefacts.

This doctoral thesis explores the origins and development of Neolithic crop agriculture in the western Balkans from c.6100 to 4500 cal. BC, through archaeobotanical data. The western Balkans is a geographical area comprising of Montenegro, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and the Former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia. The western Balkans is the first area in the westward spread of agriculture into Europe where different maritime and inland routes can be observed to progress simultaneously whilst retaining distinctive cultural signatures. The aim of this thesis is to identify and describe the crop packages, gathered edible plants and cultivation practices between the two streams of neolithisation, and to place them within their wider geographical and chronological contexts. As such, archaeobotanical records from Adriatic Italy, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Greece were also used. Data for this thesis is thus composed of samples from ten sites analysed by the author, in addition to a dataset of 244 archaeobotanical records from published and unpublished Neolithic sites. The ten sites are analysed individually before being added to the larger dataset, allowing for site-specific interpretations to be made. This thesis demonstrates that the suite of crops cultivated by the first farmers to reach Europe was not as restricted as was previously suggested by other meta-analysis approaches. Through statistical methods, spatial and diachronic differences within the crop packages are illustrated, and ecological characteristics of the possible weed flora are used to define past agricultural systems. Both environmental and cultural explanatory frameworks are sought to explain the patterns in agricultural practices, which appear to have been variably influenced by both parameters. Although domesticated fauna are not the focus of this thesis, information on animal husbandry regimes is included wherever possible, with a view to present a more accurate image of the agricultural foundations that defined the Neolithic in the western Balkans.

This study investigates the validity of Mary Leakey’s original distinction between the Classic Oldowan and the Developed Oldowan A (DOA) at Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania. Until now, the majority of academic research into the nature of the Developed Oldowan has concentrated on the Developed Oldowan B (DOB) / Acheulean distinction, with little attention paid to the Oldowan / DOA differentiation. In addition most studies rely heavily either on Leakey’s original data and / or typological classification system. Recent modern technological studies, based on first hand reanalyses of the archaeological material have brought the issue of the Developed Oldowan at Olduvai to the forefront, with some arguing for the removal of both the DOA and B and their inclusion with the Classic Oldowan and Acheulean. These studies, however, have not specifically concentrated on the DOA, and often make recommendations without full analyses of all assemblages. Through first-hand re-analyses of all DOA assemblages and a substantial sample of Oldowan assemblages from Olduvai Gorge, this study aims to address the validity of Leakey’s original distinction between the non-handaxe-bearing assemblages of Bed I and Lower / Middle Bed II of Olduvai, as well as the issue of Oldowan technical variation at Olduvai Gorge. In addition a detailed experimental programme aims to elucidate analytical issues related to the study of Olduvai lithics, these include the effect of raw material on the accuracy of analyses and the ability to identify varying knapper skill levels. The results of these studies indicate that Olduvai raw material has a significant effect on analyst accuracy, inter-analyst variation, and the identification of knapper skill levels. Furthermore, the comparative analyses show few differences between the lithic assemblages of Bed I and Lower / Middle Bed II; however, an increase in reduction intensity in Bed II is identified, resulting in the recommendation for removal of the term DOA as a separate techno-culture.

This thesis focuses on the characteristics and the development of the stone vessel industry in the Near East during the Iron Age and the Persian period (c. 1200 - 330 BCE). Three main aspects of this industry are investigated. First, the technology behind the manufacture of stone vessels, the tools and techniques, and how these changed across time. Second, the mechanisms of exchange of stone vessels and how these were affected by the changing political landscape through time. Third, the consumption patterns of stone vessels in both elite and non-elite contexts, and how these patterns changed through time. The aim is to evaluate how the formation of new regional states, occurred in the Iron Age I-II, and their subsequent inclusion within large-scale empires, in the Iron Age III and Persian period, transformed the Near Eastern societies by exploring how the stone vessel industry was affected by these transformations. For the period and area under analysis, such a comprehensive study of stone vessels, covering a wide area and connecting this industry to the broader socioeconomic and political landscapes, has never been attempted before.