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Part I is a chronological record of the fortifications in the history of Cyprus in the period &ndash; how they influenced that history and were in turn affected by it. In Part II 'Understanding the fortifications ...' the thesis recognises that castles and fortifications were a feature - a symptom - of the social structure, of the state's economy and of a culture, simultaneously constituting the tools of kings and military orders serving as their residences, administrative centres and weapons of war.&nbsp; This leads naturally to an assessment of why the island&rsquo;s fortifications were created, as all interpretations of their value must stem from that. The answer is complex and in discussing it we see that military exigencies were not the sole arbiter of castle planning. Part II, however, also looks at the role that castles played in the conflicts in which Cyprus was involved and utilises a comparison with matters in England as a means to achieve an additional dimension of understanding. Finally Part II pays particular attention to the massive investment involved in the creation and maintenance of the <italic>enceintes</italic> at Kyrenia, Famagusta and Nicosia. It aims to show that they were built for a number of reasons of which defensibility was merely one. Part III &lsquo;Architecture&rsquo; is a summary of the principal features of the fortifications and draws analogues with developments on the Syrian mainland, Anatolia and Europe. It serves as an analysis and introduction to Part IV, the site-by-side gazetteer. This longest section of the thesis serves two purposes. First, it contains new material both in terms of fresh information and conclusions and suggested revisions of those who have gone before. Second, it presents a survey of all the sites, benefiting from all preceding studies, both historical and archaeological.

This thesis looks at selected issues related to the management of archaeological heritage in Europe. It focuses on the theory, principles and standards of the archaeological conservation and the protection of the historic environment laid out in a number of international treaties and policies supported by the work of UNESCO, ICOMOS, Council of Europe and the European Union and seeks to demonstrate the complexities of their practical implementation on a national and regional level. Attention is given to the role of the archaeological heritage and the historic environment as sources of collective narratives: the thesis explores the consequences of the institutionalisation of preconceptions about the past and cultural values and the use of the archaeology and heritage administration as instruments of creating and controlling visions of the past and future. These problems are discussed in the context of modem socio-political issues, such as the process of the European integration and globalisation, the quest for a 'common European heritage1 and the values and consequent tension between local, national and 'European' identity. Finally, this dissertation explores the relationship between the protection of the archaeological (cultural) heritage and the natural environment and the growing dependence of the heritage sector on the EU environmental legislation and policies. A critical approach is based on the dual nature of the archaeological heritage: as a universal (trans-national) concept governed by international principles and the material remains located within nation states subjected to diverse domestic laws. The study concentrates on the analysis of the empirical material drawn from the European Union including the UK, the Republic of Ireland, France, Italy, Germany (old member countries) as well as Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and the Balkans (new members).

This thesis explores how focusing on knowledge formation can enable theoretical development beyond recent thematic analyses of prehistoric lives (such as materiality and identity). It prioritises the elucidation of specific rather than generalised concerns which emerged and disappeared from constantly re-worked psyches during the Late Neolithic to Early Bronze Age of the Irish Sea region (c. 3000&ndash;1600 cal BC). By focusing on the three specific concerns of knowledgeability, familiarity and normality, discerned from widespread or durable patterns in the form and nature of past performances, pocketed glimpses into the world-views of past peoples are offered. These concerns were not present, prominent or relevant to all people, all of the time, but instead wove in and out of various configurations of how life was differentially understood. In this way, the true relativity of past meanings is addressed. After initial discussion about the social relativity of knowledge, and its dialectical formation through engagement, past comprehensions of two 'entities' (taskscapes and practices) are considered. A 40 &times; 40km study area (the north-western Clun Hills) and mining and herding are explored to this end, generating insights into how shifts in the form and nature of dwelling were inextricably interlinked with changing knowledge. This thesis therefore attempts a fully contextualised appreciation of past lives, building on the dwelling approach by foregrounding the consideration of knowledge. It also offers a fresh consideration of wider ideas which have been side-lined in most recent analyses (such as social change and ethnicities). Such topics are considered in a multi-scalar manner, where a single, engaged re-configuration of meaning can be linked to cascading changes in social life. In this way, past worlds are presented as complex, multi-faceted, fractured and dynamic realities.

In the early part of the 20th Century Egyptologists were often on the cutting edge of archaeological practice, but in the latter part of the century, Egyptology had seemingly fallen behind other areas of the world in regard to methodology and archaeological theory. A historical survey covering not just the development of Egyptology, but also of archaeological theory is provided to support this contention. This dissertation then reviews this situation and seeks to remedy it by providing a theoretical methodology for interpreting Egyptian sites. Instead of selecting either processualism or post-processualism or holistic explanations as a sole theoretical model, the question is ask and answered as to what kind of theoretical methodology should be developed for use in Egypt. The Pluralistic Contextual Approach is introduced, which builds on the interpretive works scholars such as Lynn Meskell and Stuart Tyson Smith. It features the use and interplay of textual, artistic/representational, archaeological data sets which are then examined through an integrated, mutually supporting theoretical structure drawn from both processualism and post-processualism to provide interpretive insights into Egyptian culture. Two Middle Kingdom (2055-1650 BC) sites, Kahun and Buhen, were chosen as case studies. These case studies were not intended to be full reinterpretations of the sites, but rather to demonstrate the interpretive value of the Pluralistic Contextual Approach. The case studies focus on interpretations of social class at these sites using this methodology, thus providing indications of class relations and hierarchies in Middle Kingdom Egypt.

This dissertation suggests alternative ways of thinking about the scales of interpretation in Syro-Palestinian archaeology. It does this by outlining a number of ideas prevalent in what has been called post-processual or interpretive archaeology and looking at ways they could be employed in the Iron Age Hula Valley region. Chief among these are considerations of landscape, ethnography, phenomenology, post-colonialism and narrative. The central site examined is that of Tel Dan and, importantly, an overview of the valley itself and its outstanding features - the lake and swamp - are also considered. The purpose of this thesis is to show that it is possible to write small-scale, even personal narratives, about the way people may have lived at a particular place and time without recourse to the biblical texts. I suggest that the use of such narratives can be used to produce alternative accounts of the past and thus subvert the grand-narratives of the region. The method outlined is as opposed to the large-scale Annalistic approaches which currently predominate. To this end a number of sample story-narratives are included which hope to show that this form of writing can be utilised to revivify the personal archaeologies of everyday life.

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