This thesis explores the role of collections of classical antiquities in UK regional museums through qualitative research in six case study museums, with a focus on previously under-researched collections outside London, Oxford and Cambridge. First, an analysis of their history and intended role provides new insights into the broad picture of the development of foreign classical archaeological collections, in a range of contexts: two municipal museums; two university museums; and two galleries founded by private art collectors. The collections' contemporary role is analysed through the related concepts of outputs, benefits and meaning, situated within an exploration of the personal, physical, and socio-cultural contexts. Despite evidence of under-use, in some contexts, classical collections are shown to be made accessible in multiple ways. Focusing on casual visitors to permanent exhibitions, and drawing on interviews with museum visitors, staff members and stakeholders, I use the categories of the Generic Learning Outcomes and Generic Social Outcomes to analyse the perceived benefits of encounters with classical collections. I also discuss the wide range of meanings made from classical antiquities, presenting categories of meaning which emerged from analysis of the interview data. In the final chapter, I discuss the role of collections of classical antiquities, both within the specificity of each case study context, and also drawing general conclusions. I compare their intended role with the role they are expected to play today, and trace some effects of their history on the ways they are now perceived and used. I point, in particular, to tensions between the elite associations of classics and the socially-engaged, inclusive, post-modern museum, and between the foreign origins of classical antiquities and the local focus of many regional museums. I suggest that, within this context, interpreting the history of classical collections offers a productive means of enhancing their role in contemporary society.

Archaeological education is under researched and poorly understood and despite drawing upon the richly theorised fields of archaeology and education, archaeological education is also under theorised. Therefore, I have sought to add to the limited knowledge about archaeological education by exploring the theoretical basis for archaeological education. I have identified the range of relevant educational and archaeological theories and used this information to develop a framework for analysing the theoretical basis for archaeological education. I used this framework to deconstruct the theoretical basis of a selection of archaeological education programmes. I was interested in how the theoretical basis for archaeological education might relate to its value for pupils. Therefore, I explored how a selection of archaeological education programmes might have value for pupils in terms of enjoyment, educational value and empowerment. I analysed how these values relate to the theoretical basis of those programmes. These ideas were chiefly investigated through the non-participant observation, written assessments and analysis of the experiences of pupils from 12 different schools engaging with the archaeological education programmes of five different organisations. This research revealed that archaeological education can be deconstructed against a range of different theories, and is variable, but tends to be educationally progressive. The 4 relationship between archaeological education and value for pupils is complex, but pupils generally seem to enjoy engaging with archaeological education and there does seem to be a suggestion of a link to empowerment, particularly when pupils are given opportunities to explore freely. However, there is an unrealised potential for archaeological education and thus I hope that this study will encourage others to explore these ideas further and will provoke archaeologists and archaeological education specialists to examine the theoretical influences of archaeological education more closely.

This investigation seeks to define the strands of continuity and change in structured deposition across the Late Pre-Roman Iron Age to Early Roman transition in Britain, and interpret their significance in terms of cultural interaction. These interpretations not only examine and re-think structured deposition in relation to ritual traditions, but also explore how the continuity of such traditions was impacted by the transition between these two periods. Metalwork is a central focus but a wide range of other finds are also considered in order to take a holistic perspective on deposition. Watery deposits were an obvious starting point but comparisons with dry context deposits were necessary to provide a more complete understanding of these practices. The data were gathered from a number of individual sites throughout two contrasting case study zones defined by major waterways and labelled as such: the Severn-Thames Axis in the south and the Solway-Forth Axis in the north of Britain. Through the use of site reports as the main source of data, the analysis took a two-tiered approach. Individual episodes of structured deposition were examined and interpreted on a site-by-site basis. This then led to investigations on a broader scale by examining changes in the continuity of practices in the type of finds deposited, the contexts into which deposition took place and pre-deposition practices, such as deliberate breakage to determine patterns of deposition across the case study zones as a whole. With this comparative analysis it can be concluded that watery contexts were not a unique locus of structured deposition, and indeed that this practice is highly diverse across the zones studied. The temporal patterning in this diversity is examined in detail and related to cultural interaction.

The subject of this PhD thesis is the study of ancient metallurgical crucible assemblages, with a particular focus on the methodological framework for such studies. This is approached through three case studies from the eastern Mediterranean: Qantir – Pi-Ramesse (Ramesside Egypt, 13th century BC), Gordion (Late Phrygian/Achaemenid Anatolia, 6th-4th century BC) and Nicopolis/Philippopolis/Serdica/Stara Zagora (Roman Thrace, 2nd-5th century AD). For each of these three case studies, the metallurgical activities are reconstructed and contextualised. This involves determining the technical processes, material use and organisation of metal production both on the site and regional scale. No relation exists between these sites and each case study stands on its own: results from the technological reconstruction are interpreted within their particular archaeological and regional/historical context, to which they offer novel contributions. The main research material consists of crucible remains, and to a lesser extent metal remains, which are investigated using optical microscopy and SEM(-EDS) to establish the technological processes and material use. The applicability of handheld XRF for such reconstructions is evaluated as well. Finally, lead isotope analysis (using MC-ICP-MS) of metal remains (scrap, spills, ingots, objects and prills extracted from crucible slag) and crucible ceramic and slag is performed. The overarching goal of this research is to evaluate methodological approaches to the study of crucibles and crucible assemblages by comparing the results for these three examples, not in terms of technology, but by evaluating the influence of varying crucible typology, preservation, abundance, contextual information, and sample availability, as well as the use of various analytical techniques. These considerations are then combined to formulate more general recommendations for the sampling, examination and interpretation of ancient crucible assemblages.

This thesis explores the discourse of cultural heritage internationalism and nationalism as they were expressed within the broader theoretical discourse in the cultural heritage field, as well as their expressions during the making of Greek Law 3028/2002 on the Protection of Antiquities and Cultural Heritage in General. More particularly, this research investigates the underlying interests of powerful groups, motivations of actors, ideological beliefs, and the origins of conflicting interests on cultural heritage protection within Greece during the making of this particular Law in comparison to the theoretical debate over cultural heritage ownership and control of its use, value and meaning. Furthermore, it explains the origins of conflicting interests, power relations, and motivations of actors, groups and institutions in their attempt to dominate, accumulate capital, distinguish themselves and maintain their social position in the cultural heritage discourse by adopting Bourdieu’s theories of habitus and practice. Analysis of archival material from various primary and secondary sources constituted the methodological framework alongside interviews with officials, specialist lawyers, and academics in Greece. My thesis reviews specific examples of Greek law and policy by looking into trends that show how the ideas of cultural heritage nationalism have been reflected in Greek legislation to protect material representations and identities from the foundation of the Greek state in 1830, when Greece gained independence from the Ottomans, until the enactment of the current Law 3028/2002. Additionally, it examines the journey of this particular Bill of Law 3028/2002 throughout its legislative stages, analyses the main factors that necessitated a new cultural heritage protection law, and evaluates the policy priorities behind the Bill. The in-depth analysis of the lengthy discussions that took place during the making of Law 3028/2002 at three different stages of the legislative process indicated interwoven and structured dynamics between international and national arrangements in Greece’s case and that all forms of internationalism had an element of a ‘built-in’ nationalism. This evidence-based approach revealed, empirically, that during the enactment of the Law actors expressing both sides of the debate,attempted to systematise and orchestrate their ‘voices’ according to their practices, beliefs and personal interests in order to control the use and value of heritage exclusively, and maintain their ownership rights and social status.

The oration Against Androtion (Dem.22) is one of the five extant speeches found in the Attic orators which involve graphe paranomon (a legal action against the introduction of illegal decrees), one of the two public actions (the other being graphe nomon me epitedeion theinai) related to illegal and inexpedient legislation, with significant implications for the Athenian legal system and the Athenian democracy in general. The speech was written by Demosthenes, probably the first of his public speeches, for Diodoros against a prominent political figure and Atthidographer, Androtion. The speech is a significant source for a number of legal and historical issues including the issue, hotly debated by modern scholars, of male prostitution and the laws regulating the sexual conduct of the citizens and political leaders in classical Athens. Despite its richness and its peculiarity (e.g. most of it pre-empts the rhetorical strategy of the altera pars), the speech is relatively neglected by modern commentators. The last commentary on the speech is dated to the 19th century (Wayte W. (1882) Demosthenes Against Androtion and Against Timocrates, Cambridge). The present study is a detailed, lemmatic, literary commentary: the main focus is on the rhetorical strategy employed and developed throughout the speech and the evaluation of the force of its rhetoric. Along with rhetorical issues, linguistic features and stylistic devices deployed receive important consideration, while textual issues are discussed only when vital for the interpretation and better understanding of the text. Legal issues are discussed, not for their own sake but to the extent that it is necessary for our better understanding of our speech and more importantly for our appreciation of its rhetoric. When historical evidence and prosopographical information are deployed in the speech this is also discussed in the commentary for our better appreciation of the orator’s argumentation. The study consists of a detailed introduction which discusses the legal action employed against Androtion, prosopographical evidence for the dramatis personae, the date and the political context of the trial, the rhetorical strategy of Diodoros and the commentary.

This dissertation examines the role that the building of royal mortuary complexes (RMC hereafter) played in the consolidation of the Egyptian state between the reigns of kings Khasekhemwy and Shepseskaf, c. 2,700-2,500 BC. The theoretical basis for this research is inspired by cross-cultural studies that demonstrate (a) that monuments are not only the after-effect of a centralised state system, but may themselves be integrative strategies that contribute more directly to a state’s formation and consolidation and (b) that a monument’s location and construction materials reflect both logistical and symbolic concerns with salient socio-political scope. The main analysis offered here consists of a sequential, monument-by-monument archaeological assessment of RMC location and construction materials with a particular emphasis on the role of a specialist workforce. This research combines both quantitative and qualitative methods that help flesh out possible logistical and symbolic implications associated with the decisionmaking process behind each RMC. The working and symbolic properties of a whole range of construction materials is determined via careful use of the limited contemporary, and more abundant later, Egyptian documentary sources, as well as demonstrable patterns of material use in the archaeological record. A geoarchaeological analysis of mudbrick provides an important category of additional information on the sourcing of mudbrick and the labour organisation, which has received only limited attention. A locational and materials-based approach brings together a wealth of complementary information pertaining to the functional and symbolic aspects of these monuments, and their wider landscapes that is usually treated separately and selectively. It also provides the tools necessary for addressing the use of mudbrick in architecture during this early period and a well-known shift from mudbrick to stone in RMCs. Overall it provides a more dynamic and holistic framework for understanding the role that monumental building played in this early period of the Egyptian Pharaonic state.

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