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The goal of this thesis was to go beyond typology and consider the form, material, size and context of brooches in order to determine their meanings and functions to the Late Iron Age/early post-Conquest peoples of northern France. Apart from assembling a database of these ubiquitous objects, the objectives were: first, to standardize typological language and description in order to consider material and size; second, to ask broader questions about contexted finds from sanctuaries, funerary, rural sites and oppida. The evidence examined demonstrates that brooches were seldom stand-alone finds, as one would expect of lost or casually discarded objects. Rather, their deposition with other objects demonstrates their integration into ritualized practices that were more complex and varied than previously assumed. Moreover, the increase of ornamental types during La Tène D2 marks a distinct change from the homogeneity of earlier types; perhaps relating to the impact of increased competition, or need to promote co-operation, between the different family, household groups and social classes at that were increasingly intermingled at oppida, as well as sanctuaries. The transition from iron to copper alloy during this period matches the amplified interest in ornamental types, aided by the malleability of the material. However, this shift also parallels certain changes in iron production in the study area, echoing possible increased restriction of iron production during La Tène D2b/GR1. Beyond typology, brooches are a useful means of tracking changes in Late Iron Age social and ritual practice, as well as responses to conquest and increasing contact with the Roman world. By considering the chronological and contextual relationships of brooches this thesis examines how Late Iron Age and Early Roman societies in northern France reproduced themselves through material culture.

This thesis discusses the social and architectural changes from the early Neolithic (just before 5000 cal BC the RRBP: Rubane Recent du Bassin parisien and the VSG: Villeneuve-Saint-Germain cultures) to the middle Neolithic (4700 cal BC the Cerny and Michelsberg/Chasseen cultures) in the Paris Basin, France. Commencing with a characterisation of daily life, the thesis considers the dwelling perspective, which underpins the theoretical approach taken here, and then debates different approaches to the study of houses found in anthropology and archaeology. It is concluded that daily life in the early Neolithic of the Paris Basin can be illuminated through consideration of different practices of inhabitation, and how materials and tasks provided particular constructions of time. Thus an approach to archaeology and prehistoric architectures that envisions social life as creative, tactical and performative is advocated. The longhouse is considered as a suite of practices that provided daily life with a particular temporality and it is argued that this temporality was increasingly challenged throughout the VSG period. The archaeological data is discussed in two case studies. The first is based around the early and middle Neolithic settlements in the Aisne and Oise valleys and the second, those sites at the Seine-Yonne confluence. This facilitates discussion of local experiences of settlement, landscape and deposition, demonstrating that different conceptions of community relations, architecture, animals and social scale existed, leading to the creation of different post-RRBP and VSG architectures in the two areas, including the Passy-style monuments. This challenges the rather static views of LBK social structure that have been prevalent in current literature. The death of the longhouse is characterised as a change in the scale of community and conceptions of temporality experienced in the middle Neolithic, inspired by the desire to explore difference in social relations in a more immediate setting than the longhouse provided. Three appendices contain a site gazetteer and a discussion of the architectural and burial data from the Paris Basin.

The Decem Libri Historiarum of Gregory of Tours, our only coherent narrative source for the latter half of the sixth century in Gaul, has been the subject of much lively scholarly debate as to its reliability and original purpose. Literary approaches have proved useful; however, the findings of gender studies, applied so fruitfully in many other areas of historical research, have thus far had virtually no impact on the study of Gregory's work. For the first time, this thesis examines the role of gender in the DLH. Just as gender assumptions were vital to the thought world of the writers of the books of the Old Testament, so too they were vital to Gregory, who took these books as his main inspiration. It will be shown that gender can offer a fresh and vital perspective on some of the most contentious issues associated with the DLH, taking us closer than ever to a full appreciation of Gregory's objectives. In exposing Gregory's literary devices and strategies, this study goes beyond Gregory's viewpoint, with implications for the study of kingship, and particularly queenship, in the sixth century. It will be shown that competing norms of elite masculine and feminine behaviour were in flux over the period, and required careful negotiation. This study also has repercussions for gender studies more widely. In demonstrating the usefulness of gender approaches in analysing a text to which such approaches have never before been applied, the thesis indicates that gender must be considered an essential analytical tool in historical research.

In this thesis I explore population processes in the Upper Palaeolithic of Southwest France. Traditionally, prehistorians have regarded the region as a ‘refugium’ during the Last Glacial Maximum, into which populations contracted during periods of climatic deterioration in Europe. This refuge zone status has been used to explain the proliferation of artworks and diverse archaeological traces found in the region. Innovation and demography have been theoretically linked for some time. High population densities are thought to lead to high innovation rates. Two possible mechanisms link these two variables. In the first scenario, high population densities cause intra-species competition, which leads to a pressure to innovate. The second scenario is a simple ‘numbers game’; high population density increases the probability of innovation occurring and being transmitted from person to person. In this thesis I explore population processes in the Upper Palaeolithic of Southwest France using the proxies of radiocarbon dates and intra-site lithic densities. I demonstrate that there are several peaks in population in the region, including one coinciding with the LGM. Based on this data, I argue that the region served as a refugium during the LGM and also at several other points during the Upper Palaeolithic. I demonstrate that there is a negative relationship between climate and population in the region. This contrasts with the situation for modern hunter-gatherers. The cold conditions of the Pleistocene create a ‘unique situation’, where usual rules linking population and environment are interrupted as populations contract into refugia. I also test the relationship between demography and innovation, using lithic assemblage diversity data as a proxy for innovation. I demonstrate that population and innovation are positively correlated. This relationship is unchanged in modern hunter-gatherers. I argue that the mechanism linking demography and innovation has changed from prehistory to the present day. Environment, demography and innovation all interact in a complex manner during the Upper Palaeolithic and I shed some light on wider patterns of human behaviour through exploring these processes in this fascinating period.

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This thesis presents a new systematic arrangement of the coinage of the Gallic Empire as the basis for a revised edition of Roman Imperial Coinage. The coinage of all denominations, gold, silver and bronze, are unified into a single structure of issues. In 260, Postumus revolted against the Roman emperor Gallienus and took control of the Gauls. The chronology of his reign and of his successors is reviewed. The short reign of Domitianus II is interpreted as a revolt against the elevation of Tetricus. A rearrangement of Tetricus’s coinage supported by the epigraphic evidence proves that the elevation of Tetricus II to the Caesarship must be redated from 273 to 272. The location of the mints is discussed. Conclusive hoard evidence proves that the main mint was located at Trier, and not at Cologne. The study of iconography implies that choices were not necessarily made by the imperial authorities, but that more freedom was given to engravers than is usually assumed. The use of earlier coins as an iconographic repertoire strongly suggests that earlier coins were brought to the mint to be melted down. Metrological analyses of gold coins of the Gallic emperors show for the first time that silver was deliberately added to the alloy, following a practice introduced by Valerian and continued by Gallienus. The debasement of the ‘silver’ coinage is studied in parallel with its contemporary evolution within the Central Empire. Coin circulation is used in order to determine the frontiers of the Gallic Empire. It is demonstrated that the Gallic Empire reached its apogee between 262 and 265, ruling over Britain, the Gauls, Hispania and Raetia. The nature of the Gallic Empire is discussed. It is argued that this ‘Empire’ should not be viewed as a form of separatism, as often claimed, but as the unintended result of a status quo following Postumus’s acclamation and the long postponement of a final confrontation against the emperor of Rome.