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This is an experimental investigation of some archaeological site formation processes. The investigation used laboratory based container experiments to study differential earthworm bioturbation of soil lead and copper with macro-artefacts using Lumbricus terrestris and Eisenia fetida, during six month studies. A second experiment traced the geochemistry of experimental metal working at Butser Ancient Farm, Hampshire, both spatially and in depth profile. Soil chemical analysis in all cases followed a similar technique, using aqua regia pseudo-total extraction soil digests, followed by analysis using Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectroscopy (ICPOES). The soil chemical patterns developed in a new experimental metalworking hut at Butser Ancient Farm were confined almost totally to the top 5cm of the soil profile, but could not conclusively be related to the number of episodes of metalworking in the hut. This was mostly due to the effects of trampling, and frequent reconstruction of the metalworking furnaces. Thirdly, the effects of trampling on artificially seeded macro-artefacts were related to chemical traces within the soil at experimental metal working sites at Butser Ancient Farm. Sedimentological models were adapted to analyse the differential movement of the macro-artefacts, and used to suggest movement pathways around the experimental metalworking areas. The models developed from these experimental investigations were used to inform interpretations of activity areas on an excavation at Insula IX, Si1chester, Hampshire, using Middle Range Theory to relate the observed experimental patterns to the excavated archaeology. Suggestions are made that the use of the distributions of a population of chemical concentrations can give better interpretations of activity areas than the use of individual concentration values. This may be a way of overcoming the great inherent variability in soil samples, while keeping current soil sampling regimes, and a manageable number of samples. It is further suggested that acid soil digests can possibly conflate high element concentrations arising from several different formation pathways. The bioturbation studies suggested some differential separation of soil chemical values and macro-artefacts initially arising from a single artificial assemblage. The geochemical and trampling experiments allowed some more sophisticated interpretations of soil chemical patterns to be suggested.

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This thesis examines the consumption and reception of two connected bodies of material culture from the Bronze and Early Iron Age Aegean: 'orientalia' (imports to the Aegean from the Levant, Cyprus, Egypt, Anatolia and Mesopotamia) and 'orientalising' artefacts (locally produced, but demonstrating the impact of the Near East in material, technique, style or iconography). Research questions addressed are the localised patterns of consumption of orientalia across this period; broader patterns of connectivity between regions of the Aegean and Near East; how imported goods and foreign connections were responded to in terms of processes of orientalisation; and the impact of and implications for Aegean socio-political structures. The historical background to the Bronze and Early Iron Age Aegean is outlined, focusing on socio-political structure and the character of elites in each period. Previous scholarship is discussed, including historiographical background and perceived gaps in research. The theoretical framework for the thesis is presented, outlining three levels of analysis: worldsystems, regional and local, and artefact category. The data for the thesis and the methods used to analyse it are discussed. Chronological and regional analysis of the consumption of orientalia in the Aegean is presented. A broader chapter moves between site- and regional-levels of analysis to draw conclusions about the consumption patterns of orientalia in the context of local socio-political structures, and how this impacted on embeddedness in world-systems level patterns of connectivity. The significance of the 'orie!1talness' of orientalia is discussed. Three case studies of orientalisation are presented: faience and glass technologies; the role of stone and bronze artefacts in value regimes; and figured ivories. A broader chapter takes a diachronic perspective of processes of orientalisation, the significance of 'orientalness', and the impact of Aegean socio-political structures on the adoption and adaptation of Near Eastern materials, technologies, styles and iconographies in the Aegean. The thesis concludes with consideration of the consumption, reception and impact of orientalia during two periods of state formation in the Aegean.

This thesis will present the results of an investigation into arable crops and farming systems of Bronze Age Ireland. Earlier studies have suggested that barley - particularly the naked variety - was the predominant crop of this period, with wheat playing a very minor role in farming economies. These studies relied heavily upon evidence from plant impressions on ceramic vessels. The research presented here will explore the production and consumption of crops in Bronze Age Ireland through the examination of an alternative dataset – the evidence from charred plant macro-remains recovered from archaeological excavations. Investigations are focused upon evidence from the Middle and Late Bronze Age in Ireland, due to a relative dearth of Early Bronze Age material. The collation and analysis of mainly unpublished data from more twenty sites provide a strong contrast to the evidence from the seed impressions record. Clear differences can also be observed when comparing data from the Middle and Late Bronze Age periods. Investigation of the types of contexts in which these remains were recorded has revealed new insights into deposition processes and activities at this time. Analysis of the arable weeds accompanying the cereals has also enabled an exploration of cultivation, harvesting and crop-processing activities. Investigation of the scale of agricultural production suggests the mobilisation of communities for agricultural work, as well as the accumulation of agricultural surpluses. The record from Bronze Age Ireland does, however, indicate that a variety of agricultural strategies could have been deployed, and a progressive or 'evolutionary' trend towards agricultural intensification is unlikely to have occurred in all areas.

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