The Upper Plym Valley, Dartmoor, containing an exceptional range and number of field monuments, has already attracted considerable attention from archaeologists and antiquarians. However, previous studies have tended to focus on a single aspect of land use. Thus, the total landscape survey, commissioned in 1982 by English Heritage, and executed by Edinburgh Archaeological Services under the direction of Mr. Roger' Mercer, of an area of 25km2, provided the first opportunity to assess the relationships between remains of different periods and between those of contemporary but different types of land use. The survey provided the database for this thesis and maps of the whole area and descriptions of nearly 2000 monuments have been compiled as Appendices. Analysis of the field evidence is divided into four parts. Discussion of the prehistoric monuments concentrates on`the variations in size and structure of the settlement remains, aided by large-scale plans of over 400 hut-circles. The contrast between seasonal and permanent occupation and the relationship between the settlements and the ceremonial and burial sites are considered. The development of medieval agricultural settlement is traced through field remains and documentary sources. Evidence was found of 13th century colonization and 14th century desertion, a pattern repeated elsewhere on Dartmoor, but at least three farms survived into the Post- Medieval period and use of the valley for pasture may be pushed further back, at least to Domesday. Two major Dartmoor industries are also discussed: rabbit-warrening, which was practised from the 17th to the 20th centuries, and tin-working, documented in the valley from the 16th century but possibly originating in the Bronze Age. The field evidence for both is examined and interpreted with the aid of contemporary accounts and comparison with other sites. Finally the evidence for links between contemporary activities, particularly tin-working and agriculture, is examined and the main conclusion to be drawn is that this tract of "marginal" land has been a much more valuable and widely-used resource than might at first appear.

The study of the goat has been largely disregarded by British archaeologists, partly because there is a methodological problem related to the difficulty of distinguishing goat remains from those of the more common sheep, and partly because the relative rarity of this species during the Middle Ages has contributed to the perception that this animal was not important. Despite the fact that different methodological approaches have been proposed, problems still affect our ability to correctly differentiate sheep and goat bones. The most commonly used approach relies on morphological traits that have been established by analysing goat specimens from many different parts of the world, and not all of them may necessarily apply to British populations. In addition, these criteria are based on morphological differences whose assessment may be highly subjective. The development of a more objective methodology is of paramount importance in order to address the various historical and archaeological questions concerning the role of the English medieval goat. For instance, why is the goat commonly recorded in the Domesday Book when it appears to be so scarce in the contemporary archaeological record? Is it under-represented in the archaeological record or over-represented in the Domesday Book? Why is the goat, when identified in English medieval animal bones assemblages, almost exclusively represented by horncores? This study provides a new methodology that is based on a combination of two approaches: morphological and biometric. Through the study of modern reference material, a short-list of reliable morphological criteria has been defined and a new biometrical approach focused on translating, whenever possible, morphological differences into Biometrical Indices, has been tested for a variety of mainly post cranial bones. This has permitted the development of a more objective tool for the assessment of archaeological sheep/goat identification. The new protocol has then been then applied to three English sheep and goat medieval assemblages so that a reassessment of the role this animal played in the Middle Ages could be carried out. The results obtained have confirmed what many researchers have previously observed: the goat was not a very common animal. When identified, it is mainly represented by horncores, which are more numerous than those of the sheep; when postcranial bones are considered, sheep by far outnumbers goat. It is likely that the abundance of goat horns is a consequence of an international trade in goat skins (containing horns) while only a relatively small number of goats lived on British soil, probably to be used for small scale household consumption.

This thesis examines the ways in which British and Caribbean commemorative practices were shaped to construct and negotiate identities, relationships and experiences in the colonial era, reacting and contributing to transformations in social structure, global mobility and local communities. Based on a multi-site analysis of cemeteries in Barbados and Britain from the seventeenth to twentieth centuries, it examines the connections between colony and metropole, family, and memory by weaving together microhistorical and transatlantic narratives of expansion, interaction, and conflict. Traditionally, colonial histories have favoured European- and male-dominated narratives of exploration, administration, and military, while neglecting other major components of society, including family – the fundamental social unit at the time. Cemeteries and monuments provide the opportunity to develop alternative narratives because they have historically acted as venues through which to establish and promote identity. As the material manifestations of practice, emotion, exchange, fashion, environment, and economics, commemorative monuments embody family traditions, experiences and relationships. In considering the role of cemeteries in short-term memory construction and long-term cultural processes, the interconnected nature of the development and negotiation of British, African and Creole family identity and community heritage can be studied in unprecedented ways. This is the only systematic study connecting British experiences and memory practices on either side of the Atlantic and the first large-scale examination of post-emancipation funerary practices of African-descendant communities in a British colony. The transformation of family self-representation, engagement in society, connection to place, and concepts of race, status, and position highlights the changing relationships between tradition, memory, and society, and the continuing impact of historical landscapes on contemporary understandings of the past. The results of this research contribute both to emerging Atlantic studies of cultural interaction and global connections, as well as broader discussions of material culture and landscape in the production and negotiation of memory and heritage.

This thesis considers the relationship between Bronze Age metalwork deposits and topography in north-east England. Through a critical examination of the metalwork record for the region, the first time all Bronze Age metalwork finds from north-east England have been catalogued and analysed together, depositional patterns are demonstrated to be highly contingent on topography. Structured by means of a multi-scale approach that adopts the river catchment as the basic unit of study, a number of novel methodological approaches are applied to the dataset, such as the use of metal detecting records from the Portable Antiquities Scheme database to assess potential biases in the metalwork record (chapter 4), and a GIS based Monte Carlo simulation to characterise the distribution of find-spots of different types of metalwork deposit within a generic river catchment area (chapter 5). A number of associations identified between certain types of metalwork deposits and topographic features are consistent with overarching conventions that operated across Bronze Age Britain, such as the prevalence of Late Bronze Age swords from rivers and river valleys. However, the presence of discrete and more nuanced patterns within distinct topographic zones demonstrates the existence of unique depositional histories based on localised geographies of experience. A case study focusing on one such pattern - a discrete grouping of martial metalwork deposits from north Northumberland, is used to explore the potential significance of metalwork deposition within both a social and cosmological landscape. Deposition has commonly been interpreted as a ritual activity that took place in peripheral locations that were removed from daily life. This thesis provides an alternative perspective by considering how the places where metalwork deposition took place may have been linked to other activities and routines that were central to Bronze Age life.

No description available.

This thesis aims to characterise the use of antler in the British Mesolithic, and to place this within the broader context of human and deer relations during the period. It uses traceological analysis to study worked antler from Mesolithic Britain, building up a picture of the ways in which the chaîne opératoire for the treatment of antler artefacts varied across time and space during the period. This marks the first large-scale application of this method to material from the British archaeological record, resulting in the analysis of 516 pieces of worked antler. In doing so, it extends the current understanding of technological variation within the British Mesolithic further than the previous comparisons between Early Mesolithic sites in North Yorkshire and Final Mesolithic sites in Western Scotland, by including material from 39 sites across England, Scotland and Wales. New artefact types are defined and previously undocumented patterns of re-use and repair of antler materials are identified within specific archaeological contexts. Additionally, this thesis considers variations and consistencies within the treatment of antler as a material, in relation to the dynamic and changing relationship between people and deer during the period. This relationship has become the focus of academic discussion in recent years, following shifts in theoretical thinking within Mesolithic Studies. Several authors have used the treatment of deer remains to argue for variations in the perception of animals within the British Mesolithic, although these have been restricted to a limited number of archaeological sites. This thesis considers the analysis of antler technology within the context of a wider pattern of human/deer encounters and interactions, and draws out subtle differences in the relationships between people, red deer, roe deer and elk during the period.

No description available.

The Mesolithic-Neolithic transition is a period which has long held fascination for archaeologists, and yet the lifeways of individuals at this time are still not fully understood – in part due to the lack of human remains in Britain from the period. This thesis therefore aimed to adopt a combined biomolecular approach to determine more information about the lifeways of both the Mesolithic and Neolithic of Britain, and of the transition between them, but utilising archaeological material not traditionally included within these debates – notably unidentifiable bone fragments, disarticulated skeletal remains, and dental calculus. Through analysis of these materials, the thesis focuses on five main areas of interest: identification, diet, mobility, chronology, and health/disease; utilising six different techniques: ZooMS, δ13C and δ15N stable isotope analysis, 86Sr/87Sr isotopic analysis, AMS dating, and metagenomic and metaproteomic analysis of dental calculus. As such, this marks the largest combined application of biomolecular techniques to British Mesolithic and Neolithic material to date. The results of this study highlight the value which may be held within previously overlooked early prehistoric archaeological materials, and the information which they may be able to contribute to existing discussions of Mesolithic and Neolithic lifeways. Overall, it can be seen that the main outcomes of this study are (i) that additional human remains may be present within early prehistoric ‘unidentifiable’ fragmented bone assemblages; (ii) dietary complexity in both the Mesolithic and Neolithic of Britain may be greater than previously thought; (iii) enhanced understanding of Neolithic mobility; (iv) a reconsideration of the approach to chronology at the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition; and (v) that dental calculus may provide a suitable and useful new medium via which to study prehistoric health and disease in future studies.

This research examined the context of incised stones in the Great Basin. Incised stones are small tabular shaped stones, that are easily portable, and have designs incised on the surface. The Great Basin is located in western North America and encompasses a roximately California, Idaho, Nevada, and Utah. The landscape was used by prehistoric hunter-gatherers for over 10,000 years. The incised stones were left at caves, rock-shelters and open-air sites. This research focused on five sites that are either caves or rock shelters: Camels Back Cave, Gatecliff Shelter, Hogup Cave, Ruby Cave and Swallow Shelter. Context was used as a fundamental theoretical lens to approach incised stones. A contextual analysis was achieved by employing three analytical methods: chronology, spatial analysis, and design grammar. The chronology of incised stones was discussed in terms of how climate trends affect the number of incised stones left at sites. The spatial analysis examined the incised stones through a chronology at the unit or trench level. The design grammar classifies the imagery of the incised stones. The design grammars were contextualised into the spatial placement of the designs and analysed. The results of this doctoral thesis will highlight how incised stones were connected with specific activities. Interpretations of the incised stones are inferred from this research.

Zooarchaeological enquiry of animals and their products in the post-medieval period has largely been disregarded in British archaeology. Yet, there is multitude of ways in which animals can inform upon the profound social and economic changes that took place during this era. This research reveals how fruitful the study of post-medieval animals can be in improving our understanding of: the meat trade; agricultural economies; urban history; industries; livestock ‘improvement’; urban culture; and food consumption in England. The thesis explores the transformations in the production and consumption of animals and animal products by drawing upon primary and secondary faunal data and historical accounts. Primary investigations of animal bones excavated from Chester were analysed along with secondary faunal data from the city, in order to undertake a detailed zooarchaeological analysis of an urban centre, and to consider the potential challenges of undertaking post-medieval faunal analyses. Zooarchaeological data from urban sites in England were also sourced from grey literature and published reports to conduct a regional review of animal bones from the post-medieval period. These investigations showed that innovations in agriculture and the industrialisation of food production had a considerable effect on the size and shape of livestock, which coincided with the introduction of imported breeds and morphotypes. Animals provisioned to towns and cities reflected regional husbandry practices as well as urban supply and demand for various meat and animal products for consumption, crafts and industries. The diversity of wild mammals and birds on domestic sites demonstrated the increasing wealth generated in industrial Britain and the emergent middle classes’ desire to emulate elite tastes. Other evidence points to the environmental repercussions that hunting, urban expansion and industrialisation had on the proportion of wild species.