The remains of the Buddhist stupa at Bharhut have long been the subject of much study. While the remains have been well documented, however, a pre-occupation with only a few ‘important’ sculptures and inscriptions has limited the full examination of archaeological data. Interpretations about Bharhut, and the ways in which the Buddhist community at the site were engaged with the wider society around them, have always been made with reference to wider models of Buddhism, and not the evidence provided by the site and the region. Addressing this, research carried out for this PhD has re-examined this important site from all points of view. An inter-disciplinary methodology was formulated with 3 distinct foci of enquiry. First, shifting attention away from a traditional preoccupation with the stupa monument, the wider archaeological context of the site of Bharhut has been comprehensively examined. Second, the wider regional contexts of Bharhut have been examined by surveying the archaeological and geographical features in the surrounding region. Third, the sculptures and inscriptions have been thoroughly re-assessed in light of the findings of the examination of the site and the region. Examination of the site has established the extent, nature and life-span of Bharhut. Examination of the wider region has resulted in the discovery of 311 new sites. The spatial analysis of these and other known sites in the surrounding area has enabled the construction of the first historical outline of the wider Bharhut region, identifying the main socio-political and economic processes that occurred throughout the life-span of the site of Bharhut. Consideration of the evidence of the site, the region and the sculptures and inscriptions from the Bharhut stupa has then enabled the identification of the ways in which the monastic community at Bharhut was actively engaged in these wider processes.

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This thesis is an examination of monumental architecture on the mainland of Greece during the Mycenaean period. The phenomenon of monumentality has been largely neglected within the Mycenaean context. This thesis has derived inspiration from a variety of other architectural contexts, ranging from the European Neolithic to Mediaeval British Castles, as well as broader theoretical approaches which emphasise the active nature of material culture. Within the Mycenaean world three forms of monumental architecture are discussed: stone built tholos tombs, fortifications, and palatial complexes. These architectural forms occur over a period of several centuries, spanning the period of the growth and apogee of the palatial system. Several key observations were made. A new presentation of the distribution of tholoi led to a reassessment of the current interpretation of this form as a highly charged political symbol. Tholos architecture was instead interpreted as largely of local significance within the burial community, broadly defined. The traditional interpretation of enclosure architecture in overwhelming military terms (as ‘fortifications’) was found to impose a uniformity of form and function on what was in fact a more variable architectural phenomenon. Moreover, while the extreme visibility of circuit walls typically resulted in their significance being seen largely on a regional scale, an emphasis in this study on the process of construction has highlighted their role within the local community also. The architecture of palaces was analysed in terms of its ‘theatricality’, that is its impact on visitors from both within and beyond the local community. In particular the relationship between status and different access to architecture units was explored. In addition, several key themes cross-cut the analysis of specific architectural forms: the process of construction; changes through time in form, which may in turn relate to changes in function; the interplay between visibility and invisibility; differential access to architectural spaces; the relationship between architecture and social structure. This study emphasises the uniqueness of architecture as a form of material culture, and provides a new perspective on the Mycenaean <i>koine.</i>

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The aim of this research was to develop a better understanding of buried soils using experimental sites as analogues of prehistoric and early historic buried soil s. Three experimental earthworks were investigated; a 16 year old buried soil beneath Butser Ancient Farm Octagonal Earthwork, Hampshire built on Middle Chalk and previously cultivated, a 22 year old buried soil beneath Fishbourne Octagonal Earthwork, Sussex built on Aeolian drift over Pleistocene gravels and the 17 year old buried soil beneath the enclosure bank surrounding the 'Celtic Village' at the National Museum of Wales at St Fagans, near Cardiff. Three archaeological case studies were investigated; two henge monuments in Scotland, Broomend of Crichie, Aberdeenshire and Pullyhour, Caithness; and one site on chalk; Mound VII of the Bartlow Barrow Complex, Cambridgeshire. The buried soils were investigated using pH, organic matter content, calcium carbonate content and particle size. This was complemented by multi-clement analysis by ICP-OES and thin section micromorphology. Analytical data was compared and combines with evidence from excavation and historical maps to create retrogressive landscape histories. Key questions related to evidence for pre-burial activity and land use and to post burial changes. The buried soils at the experimental sites exhibited alterations in structure and loss of organic matter after only 16-22 years, exhibiting structures similar to archaeologically buried soils in thin section; this implies early rapid change leading to semi-equilibrium a decade or two after burial, and is consistent with results found in the Experimental Earthwork Project. Tentative interpretations for earlier cultivation phases at Fishboume and St Fagans based on artefact and historical evidence could not be supported by analytical data, highlighting the need for caution in identifying cultivation, as the evidence indicates that faunal reworking, mixing and other processes of pedogenesis could mask evidence in a soil if it is not buried soon after cultivation. Data and interpretations from the experimental sites were applied to the interpretations of the archaeological case studies to generate new hypotheses. A model was created for the application of interpretations of experimental buried soils to archaeological investigations

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