Outlined here is a course that would serve as an introduction to archaeological science, specifically within the context of Aegean Prehistory. The main objective of this course is to expose students early in their archaeological careers to a variety of methods and questions, and to depart from the culture-historical perspective that typifies introductory survey courses. The class structure is equal parts lecture and discussion, moving between learning how the methods work and evaluating case studies. All graded assignments build on one another, guiding the students through designing their own research project. The ultimate goals of the assignments are to build key writing and professional skills, develop a basic understanding of research design, and to instill confidence that the student can contribute to the production of knowledge, whatever field he or she decides to pursue.

The central part of the thesis consists of the chronological arrangement and discussion of the coin series struck by the Chian mint from the beginning of the Hellenistic period (c 332 BC) down to its demise during the late Roman Imperial period (c 270 AD). After establishing a sequence of issue for the individual series I consider other aspects of the coinage, such as patterns of issue, links with the economy, and developments in typology and denominations. These topics are presented and discussed in general chapters following that of the coin series. The study of coin typology has contributed to our knowledge of Chian society and economy of the period. For example the adoption and permanent use of sphinx type on the obverse of the coinage offered the opportunity to trace the development of the main civic symbol of an ancient Greek city over a continued period of six centuries. The wine amphora appearing on the reverse of most coins revealed that this jar was manufactured locally at Chios throughout the Roman period, which archaeology has failed to record. This finding has repercussions on our idea of contemporary Chian economy since it constitutes strong evidence that the export of wine -known to have been an important economic activity for Chios in earlier periods- continued after Roman domination. A separate chapter on the denominational system at Chios proved of particular importance for understanding the denominations used in the Eastern Greek world in general, since Chian coinage of the Roman period is one the few bearing marked denominational values. Numismatic findings have also contributed much to the meager information we have on the local history during Hellenistic and Roman periods. The last chapter discusses the Chian issues as economic objects and their circulation overseas. The study has established a link between the Chian trade pattern and foreign finds of this coinage during the same period.

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This thesis aims to construct a historical narrative for the region of the north-eastern Aegean (NEA) during the Early Iron Age (1050-700 BCE) and the early Archaic period (7^th century BCE) based primarily on archaeological evidence. Its goals are to investigate the most distinctive material culture elements for the studied period; to explore themes of continuity and connectivity between regions; to trace large- and smaller-scale population movements; to discuss how early communities perceived themselves and each other; and to investigate the social structure and organisation of these communities. Evidence from settlement sites, funerary contexts, and sanctuaries are presented in the first three chapters in that order. Following that, the final chapter presents the primary, overarching conclusions of the thesis, in four sub-chapters. Firstly, it is argued that the NEA was characterised by relative cultural continuity from the Late Bronze Age to well within the Archaic period: when new elements were introduced, they were, generally, integrated into earlier paradigms. Secondly, evidence is provided for an increase in connectivity and maritime traffic peaks during the late 8^th century BCE; shortly afterwards, new population groups from the central and southern Aegean arrived in the NEA, and seem to have cohabited relatively peacefully with earlier populations. Thirdly, it is posited that there is little evidence for overarching NEA regional identities before the 6^th century BCE: communities appear to have developed local identities, through association with specific sites and through references to the communal past in cult practice and funerary contexts. Finally, it is argued that social elites were markedly active in NEA communities of studied period: there is considerable evidence for socially exclusive groups, primarily in funerary and ritual contexts. The thesis concludes with a short chapter containing the author's closing remarks.

When does a 'continuum' become a divide? My research investigates the genetic relationship between Linear A and Linear B (henceforth LA, LB), two Bronze Age scripts attested on Crete and Mainland Greece and understood to have developed one straight out of the other. By using an interdisciplinary methodology, I integrated linguistic, epigraphic, palaeographic and archaeological evidence, and placed the writing practice in its socio-historical setting. By challenging traditional views, my work has called into question widespread assumptions and interpretative schemes on this relationship. I carried out a systematic assessment of the structural characteristics underlying both systems and a palaeographic examination of their sign inventories. Built on these analyses, I put forward a more fluid model of script development, which takes LA and LB no longer as two separate scripts but as the very same one: the 'Aegean Linear Script'. Over time, this underwent only minimal adaptation when required to meet the needs of another language, arguably in view of the changing socio-political context. This new interpretation is in sharp contrast with the view traditionally held of a strong standardisation process having taken place, which sees LB as mere product of secondary script development. My conclusion has interesting implications not only for the history of the writing tradition on Crete, but also for our appreciation of the contemporary socio-historical context. This view, in turns, opens up new perspectives on the ideology associated with the retention of a script, matters of identity and how identity was negotiated at the very moment when Cretans and Greek-speaking Mainlanders came into closer contact in the Late Bronze Age. I have also noted that in this period the same scenario depicting soft adaptation of motives is witnessed on the side of material culture, displaying meaningful interplay and amalgamation of both Mainland and Cretan traditions.

This research utilizes two analytical methods to examine the dental microwear of two skeletal samples from East Lokris, Greece. The samples are from the Bronze age/Early Iron age sites of Mitrou and Tragana Agia Triada. The samples were tested according to various temporal and geographic designations in an attempt to determine if any differences in dietary constituent could be discerned from their dental microwear signatures. Both traditional dental microwear analysis using a scanning electron microscope and dental microwear texture analysis employing scale sensitive fractal analysis and a Sensofar Plµ Confocal Profiler were used. The results of analysis for both methods differ in regards to their level of statistical significance but both suggest a general trend of coarsening of masticated materials during the Bronze/Iron age transition. Current evidence suggests that the changes in the dietary texture are due to changes in pottery production and are likely not due to dietary changes.

Given the long history of research within the Aegean, the Middle Bronze Age (MBA) of the Cyclades is surprisingly poorly understood. This region is often considered within the context of other ‘worlds’, particularly in the quest to understand ‘Minoanisation’. Prominent Middle Cycladic sites such as Ayia Irini (Kea), Phylakopi (Melos) and Akrotiri (Thera) have played a dominant role towards informing the perceived Cycladic ‘response’ to growing Minoan influence within the Aegean sphere, often at the expense of considering the interactions between these important settlements. However, the recent 2000-2001 pillar pit excavations at Akrotiri have allowed a whole new phasing for the MBA ceramic deposits and offer great potential for characterising these neglected interactions. The ceramic material studied here, from Phases B and C of the MBA assemblage at Akrotiri, corresponds to the introduction of imported and ‘Minoanised’ material traits, both compositional and technological, to the local ceramic repertoire. This material is contextualised within previous research in the Cyclades, including Phylakopi, Ayia Irini and Mikre Vigla. Scale is considered an important theme and provides a key structure throughout this thesis. Three scales were defined for considering all aspects of the ceramic assemblage at Akrotiri: a) the potters at Akrotiri, the technological choices they make, the social practices they participate in and perpetuate and the character of the local ceramic production sequence (the micro-scale of individuals); b) the character and significance of the Akrotiri ceramic assemblage within the Cyclades (the meso-scale of group interaction); c) the role that Akrotiri played as a node within larger social and exchange networks throughout the Aegean (the macro-scale of community interactions). From a theoretical standpoint, four explanatory frameworks are employed to tackle and integrate these various scales: the chaîne opératoire, dynamic systems framework, network theory and communities of practice. In combination, these frameworks have the potential to bridge the structure-agency divide, by acknowledging the fundamentally social nature of artefact production and consumption, and to integrate recent considerations of human and non-human agency within dynamic processes. Ultimately, by considering the socially constituted processes that drive the learning and practice of a craft or technique, and how these processes contribute to and perpetuate communities of practice, archaeologists can begin to meaningfully characterise the contact between different groups of people in the past. Therefore, this technological study of the late Middle Cycladic ceramic assemblage of Akrotiri, integrates macroscopic, petrographic and QEMSCAN analyses to characterise and explore the interactions within and between the many communities of practice operating within the late MBA Cyclades. In addition, this methodology allows a better understanding of the choices the communities in the Cyclades were making in the lead up to ‘Minoanisation’ so we can approach these material phenomena from a more localised, site-based perspective rather than a traditional Creto-centric viewpoint.

The swell waves which are an important component of wind generated waves have significant effects on small craft and fisheries. The swell wave climate has an important role in the design and operation of fishing harbors and harbors for small craft. Despite this fact the swell wave climate is not well known for the Turkish coasts. The purpose of the present study was to identify the swell wave climate along the Aegean and Mediterranean Sea coastline of T&uuml / rkiye. For this purpose wind and swell wave data for a 72 months period is obtained from ECMWF for the analysis. And the data are analyzed for twenty one locations selected along the Turkish coast. For every location the wind and swell wave roses, significant swell wave height versus Mean period of primary swell relations, extreme probability distribution and log-linear cumulative probability distribution are presented. Also some extreme swell events in the Aegean and Mediterranean Sea occurred in the data period are presented for a better understanding of generation and propagation of swell waves. The results showed that the swell wave activity and severity is higher in the Aegean and Mediterranean Sea coastline of T&uuml / rkiye. The investigation of extreme swell events provided that the swell waves occur and diminish in a relatively short duration and the data available from ECMWF which is provided for 12 hour intervals is not sensitive to time enough for the investigation of swell wave occurrence and propagation. The significant swell wave height versus Mean period of primary swell relations and analysis on period of swell waves showed that the swell wave periods could reach up to 12 seconds in the Western and Southern shores of T&uuml / rkiye.

From excavations of burial complexes of the Early Bronze Age Cyclades (c. 3000-2200 BC) we know that obsidian was just as important and as widely consumed in burial contexts as it was in contemporaneous household contexts; Early Bronze Age Cycladic tomb assemblages are dominated by beautiful obsidian blades produced through a unique knapping technique reserved for burial contexts (Carter 2007; Dickinson 1994). The lack of sourcing studies in the area is an unfortunate pitfall in Aegean archaeology, as understanding patterns of source selection provides us with precious insight into the complex social structures and behaviors that characterized these ancient communities. The research detailed in this thesis set out to accomplish these goals for obsidian assemblages from 11 Early Cycladic cemeteries. Structurally, these assemblages are dominated by pressure-flaked blades manufactured specifically for funerary consumption, but also include a small number of blade cores and some pieces of flaking debris. Contextually, the composition of the assemblages reflects the social significance of body modification amongst these islanders, with the blades themselves likely used for depilation, scarification, and tattooing, and the cores reemployed as pestles in the grinding of pigments, as evidenced by pigment residues located on the artifacts (Carter 1998). Two additional assemblages from settlements on Crete were analyzed, one from a Late Neolithic cave site and another from a Late Minoan settlement. These assemblages served both to provide additional regional and temporal context for the Early Cycladic findings and to advance obsidian sourcing efforts in the Aegean as a whole. In order to characterize the chemical profiles of these artifacts for sourcing purposes, this study employed portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometry, a non-destructive archaeometric method which allows for the time- and cost-effective mass-sampling of objects on-site. The results display clearly that the Early Cycladic artifacts are overwhelmingly made from Melian obsidian, and approximately 88% derive from the Sta Nychia source. How far-reaching this procurement bias is throughout the Early Bronze Age Aegean is currently difficult to say, though contemporary data from previous studies, as well as the results obtained from the two Cretan assemblages in this study, seem to show a similar pattern. Future research integrating regional traditions of obsidian source selection with previously defined regional distinctions in pressure-blade technology is necessary in order to begin to map communities of practice across the broader Aegean.