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An expansive spatio-temporal approach is used to pattern variations in exploitation of faunal resources at 14 mainland coastal, island, and pericoastal sites with occupations spanning nearly 10,000 years. These sites are arrayed along 500 miles (6 degrees of latitude) of the Central and Southern California coast. An allometric method for estimating faunal biomass is used along with chronological sequences of abundance indices to explore the nature ofthe initial maritime adaptation to the West Coast ofNorth America and changes to this economic strategy over time. Data reveal that throughout prehistorY, California's coastal hunter-gatherers obtained the majority oftheir animal protein from large quantities ofmarine shellfish while vertebrate taxa played a lesser role in the diet. Unexpectedly, however, consumption ofall types of animal flesh, especially the chiefresource (shellfish), declined severely over time. This suggests that: (1) non-trivial dietary changes were \videspread along the entire coast and persisted throughout the Holocene; and (2) major lifeway adaptations involving lesser use of animal protein became the norm throughout prehistory as coastal settlements grew and populations expanded. Although several causal theories are discussed, it appears that ecological changes marking the Late PleistoceneIHolocene transition are the likely root ofthe observed dietary changes. Based on these data, the Paleocoastal colonisers ofthe California coast subsisted on a diet rich in animal protein compatible with a Pleistocene environment and were more 'maritime' than later prehistoric groups based 0t:I their more intensive use ofmarine fauna. Post- Paleocoastal populations subsisted on less animal protein in a pattern consistent with the adoption ofa more carbohydrate-focused diet incorporating resources increasingly available in the emergent Holocene and the more southern latitudes. Scenarios presupposing increasingly intensive exploitation ofmarine mammals and fish over time fostered by technological or cultural elaboration are not supported by the dietary data.

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Most research focusing on nut exploitation has concentrated on hazelnuts and the Mesolithic. Thus, there has been no serious archaeological research exploring the exploitation of any nut species beyond the Mesolithic. The aim of this thesis is to focus on the exploitation of four nut species (acorns, water chestnuts, hazelnuts and beechnuts), during several archaeological periods, but with a particular focus on the Mesolithic and Neolithic. Furthermore, taking a wide temporal approach forces us to examine the bias inherent in the way we interpret archaeological data between the Mesolithic and later periods. A series of hazelnut and. acorn processing experiments provide a means of identifying two possible functions of Mesolithic and Neolithic pits. The results from the experiments demonstrate that hazelnut and acorn pit storage and roasting were possible during both periods. Archaeological evidence, coupled with the results from the experiments, suggest that nut processing changed very little in domestic situations between the Mesolithic and later prehistoric periods, but locating nut processing within ceremonial and funerary contexts from the Neolithic, implies a change in nut exploitation. Additionally, the results from a gathering study and the ecological data questions a universal reliance on nuts during the Mesolithic. Rather than simply using nuts to determine local environment, or for dating purposes, the results from the processing experiments demonstrate that we can begin to use nut exploitation to understand past human behaviour. Understanding nut exploitation forces us to evaluation how we perceive similar activities that occurred during the Mesolithic and Neolithic in a new light. TIlls research ultimately gives a more holistic approach to the understanding of�· nut-people relationships in prehistory.

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The multi-period site of Tille Höyük, on the River Euphrates in South-East Turkey was occupied through much of the pre-Hellenistic Iron Age (approximately from the 12^th/11^th to the 5^th centuries BC). The site was excavated between 1979 and 1990 by the British Institute of Archaeology at Ankara. The thesis uses the analysis of the stratification, architecture and material cultural remains revealed by the excavations to examine the nature of the Iron Age sequence at a site on the periphery of North Mesopotamia and, thereby, that of the wider region (including North Syria and South-East Turkey). The thesis aims to produce a coherent account of the stratigraphic and architectural sequence at Tille; to evaluate information on the length of occupation; and to establish the reliability of pottery and selected objects. By comparison with other material on a local, regional, and inter-regional basis, it aims to place the results in their historical, chronological and archaeological context. The strengths of the site: a long stratigraphic sequence; a reasonably well-established chronology; breadth of exposure of architectural plans; a reliable ceramic sequence; are combined to provide an exemplar for the North Mesopotamian Iron Age. Tille adds new factors to an assessment of the Iron Age sequence: demonstrably continuous occupation through the ‘dark ages’ of the 12^th/11^th centuries; distinctive pottery types tied into the stratigraphic sequence that show other sequences to be incomplete. It enlarges the corpus of material culture; and fills gaps in knowledge of the provincial settlement and installations of the Neo-Assyrian and Persian Empires. Supplementary aspects include the discussion of well-preserved architectural plans of the Neo-Hittite, Neo-Assyrian and Persian periods; and the examination of aspects of archaeological excavation and interpretation with wider applications, in particular the validity of inferences from the study of pottery and artefacts.

This work presents a new analysis of the mission undertaken by Under Secretary of State Sumner Welles to Europe on behalf of President Roosevelt in February-March 1940. The thesis asks what Roosevelt’s motivations were for undertaking the mission, and what he sought to achieve from it. It considers that the Welles mission was an expression of a number of influences upon Roosevelt that date back to late 1937. These influences, or themes, which provide the broader context and run throughout the period up to the beginning of 1940, are as follows: firstly the integral role in Rooseveltian foreign policy played by Sumner Welles is considered. The second theme concerns the position of his superior, Secretary of State Cordell Hull, who was to counsel caution in the face of an increasingly serious world situation, whilst a third influence was the limits upon American foreign policymaking itself, especially from American opinion. The last element to be considered throughout this study is the influence of Anglo-American relations upon the Welles mission. Further these themes are not distinct and are interrelated. And all were subject to the influence of an American public who were deeply interested in, but firmly against intervention in, European affairs. This work concludes that the mission that resulted developed multiple objectives after being born out of a discussion between Roosevelt and Welles on the role the United States could play in achieving a sound and lasting peace in Europe. Such a hope, reckoned by Roosevelt to be ‘one chance in a thousand’, was at the outset incongruous with the situation in Europe. Roosevelt and Welles knew this to be the case, and pressed ahead because of the existence of other objectives that such a mission could achieve. These were the gathering of first-hand information by Welles from the four capitals Europe, the perpetuation of Italian neutrality and the prolonging of the ‘phony war’. These objectives were never clarified by the protagonists and evolved in themselves through the deployment of the mission, thus requiring the analysis provided here.

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