This dissertation is the first detailed description and in-depth analysis of the Middle Kingdom (2055-1650 B.C.) ceramic assemblage from the archaeological site of North Abydos, Egypt. It focuses on the pottery from an area just outside the main temple of the god Osiris, which was called the “Terrace of the Great God” during this period, where many private individuals built mud-brick chapels for their commemoration. Chapter 1 provides the background information, such as the history of previous investigations of the site and the design of the present research project. Chapter 2 describes the archaeological contexts of the pottery assemblage, including the types, distribution, and chronological sequence of the memorial chapels, as well as the stratigraphic information gleaned from new archaeological excavations. Chapter 3 lays out the pottery fabric types that are attested at the site and presents the results of the quantitative analyses of various fabrics. Chapter 4 discusses the form classification system. Each morphological type is defined, illustrated, and provided with comparanda from other sites and notes on their chronological significance. This chapter also presents the results of the quantitative analyses of various forms. In Chapter 5, more specific dates are assigned to the stratigraphic phases discussed in Chapter 2 based on the ceramic evidence. Chapter 6 examines the ceramic industry at North Abydos during the Middle Kingdom and compares and contrasts it with the modes of pottery production and distribution that were practiced in the rest of Egypt during the same period. The assemblage analyzed in this study is catalogued in an appendix and illustrated in the figures. General index is provided.

This dissertation is the first detailed description and in-depth analysis of the Middle Kingdom (2055-1650 B.C.) ceramic assemblage from the archaeological site of North Abydos, Egypt. It focuses on the pottery from an area just outside the main temple of the god Osiris, which was called the “Terrace of the Great God” during this period, where many private individuals built mud-brick chapels for their commemoration. Chapter 1 provides the background information, such as the history of previous investigations of the site and the design of the present research project. Chapter 2 describes the archaeological contexts of the pottery assemblage, including the types, distribution, and chronological sequence of the memorial chapels, as well as the stratigraphic information gleaned from new archaeological excavations. Chapter 3 lays out the pottery fabric types that are attested at the site and presents the results of the quantitative analyses of various fabrics. Chapter 4 discusses the form classification system. Each morphological type is defined, illustrated, and provided with comparanda from other sites and notes on their chronological significance. This chapter also presents the results of the quantitative analyses of various forms. In Chapter 5, more specific dates are assigned to the stratigraphic phases discussed in Chapter 2 based on the ceramic evidence. Chapter 6 examines the ceramic industry at North Abydos during the Middle Kingdom and compares and contrasts it with the modes of pottery production and distribution that were practiced in the rest of Egypt during the same period. The assemblage analyzed in this study is catalogued in an appendix and illustrated in the figures. General index is provided.

This study examines the origins of complex societies in Mesoamerican archaeology, and the “mother culture” versus “sister cultures” debate and whether or not the sharing of ideas and materials, from one or multiple sources, catalyzed internal changes toward greater complexity for some early centers during Formative times, prior to the emergence of cities and states. The examination includes pottery analyses and other contextual observations from the Tayata site, in the Mixteca Alta region, as a marker for larger regional and macroregional developments, and as a means of evaluating the Olmec-centric (mother culture) versus pan-Mesoamerican (sister cultures) viewpoints. Tayata is an ideal case study to examine the emergence of complex societies and interregional interaction for early Mesoamerica because of its initial dates of occupation, its location in one of the “nuclear areas” in the emergence of Mesoamerican civilization, and because of its relationships with other regions and contemporaneous sites. The central research question guiding this study concerns the origin of early decorated, well-finished pottery in the Mixteca Alta, and whether they were imported products from other regions, or local copies, or if it was a simultaneous and mutually influential tradition present not only in the Mixteca Alta and greater Oaxaca area but also in different Mesoamerican regions. The focus of this study is Area A of Tayata, where excavations in 2004 revealed one of the largest pre-urban Formative centers in the Mixteca Alta. Tayata’s growth in social complexity is evident by 900/850 BC, when the site expanded significantly and initiated the construction of non-residential buildings and public spaces far in excess of prior phases of occupation. This data set includes architectural features and other deposits, which permit an analysis that compares the presence, and characteristics of pottery in different contexts. Data generated from this study come from 166 sherds selected for macroscopic fabric analysis, then 141 used for portable X-ray fluorescence analysis (pXRF), and then 60 for applying instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA), show relevant and potential conclusions to understand the local, regional and macroregional exchange and production of pottery. The sample includes utilitarian vessels, such as tecomates, jars, and braziers, and non-utilitarian vessels, such as well-finished vessels of gray and white wares, and focus on pan-Mesoamerican pottery styles identified across Early and Middle Formative times. Samples were from diverse contexts excavated at two different compounds, where Compound 1 shows the earliest material (ca. 1400 BC) and presents clear evidence of multi-craft production; and Compound 2 has later occupation, from Middle Formative to the beginning of Late/Terminal Formative, and its contexts correspond to an elite residence, an adjacent temple, and cremated human and animal burials. Multiple lines of evidence, including pottery production, multicrafting, goods and routes of exchange, architecture, and funerary practices, support the idea that Tayata in the Mixteca Alta, was immersed in social transformations observed across different regions during the Early/Middle Formative (ca. 1400 – 350 BC). Tayata’s interactions with multiple areas related to its local development, showing particularly similarities with the Central Valley of Oaxaca in public constructions, such as the one-room temple, and rituals, such as feasting and funerary practices. Results of macroscopic, contextual, and compositional analyses from Tayata’s pottery, show that pottery production at this site followed both regional and macroregional traditions. Tayata’s imported pottery was primarily associated with a Pacific-coast exchange route that crossed the lowland coastal Isthmus of Tehuantepec, the mountainous Nejapa/Yautepec region, and the highland Central Valleys of Oaxaca, and from there reaching the north of the Mixteca Alta, being a corridor of influence in both goods and ideas to the Formative centers in the region.

Durant l’Antiquité, Valence bénéficie du prestigieux statut de colonie romaine, au même titre qu’Arles, Vienne et Lyon. Sa position au confluent du Rhône et de l’Isère et au carrefour de plusieurs itinéraires terrestres - Voie d’Agrippa, Voie des Alpes - lui conférait un rôle stratégique et économique considérable. Cette région, au cœur de la moyenne vallée du Rhône, occupe une position charnière qui lui assure, au moins depuis le Premier Âge du fer, un rôle d’intermédiaire entre le bassin méditerranéen et le monde celtique.Elle bascule dans l’orbite de Rome en même temps que la Gaule méridionale, soit dès la fin du IIe s. av. J.-C. Valence est fondée dans un deuxième temps, vraisemblablement entre 46 – 36 av. J.-C. et acquiert son statut de colonie de droit romain peut-être dès cette date avancée selon P. Faure et N. Tran (2013). La fondation d’une colonie romaine s’accompagne d’une division du sol public, matérialisée par une centuriation afin qu’il soit distribué aux membres du corps civique nouvellement créé comprenant plusieurs milliers de colons. Dans ce contexte historique précis, ces citoyens sont principalement des vétérans de l’armée romaine alors constituée majoritairement d’Italiens. Ce phénomène a donc un impact démographique et culturel considérable pour la vie des populations locales. Le statut juridique avantageux conféré à ces communautés leur assure également des avantages économiques importants stimulant les productions agro-pastorales et artisanales. Les travaux consacrés aux provinces gauloises ont montré que les siècles suivants ne sont pas exempts de mutations économiques et culturelles importantes qui touchent les structures de peuplement et de production. Partant de ce constat, j’ai choisi d’aborder cet impact culturel et économique à travers la culture matérielle (vestiges architecturaux, objets de la vie quotidienne) et l’analyse de l’occupation du sol. Le cadre chronologique et spatial retenu doit permettre d’observer de manière dynamique l’évolution des modes de vie et des activités agro-pastorales et artisanales dans les campagnes de la cité de Valence. L’examen des caractéristiques de plusieurs centaines d’établissements ruraux doit permettre de proposer une lecture diachronique et complexe de l’occupation et l’exploitation de ce territoire, d’aborder les rapports qu’entretient la colonie avec l’espace rural. L’approche chronologique et fonctionnelle des bâtiments et des objets de la vie quotidienne permet d’apprécier plus finement l’évolution dans le temps des techniques, des modes de vie, mais aussi de relever la diversité des situations locales à une même période. / During the Antiquity, Valence is known as a roman colony like Lyon, Arles or Vienna, settled in the middle Rhône valley at the confluent of the Rhône and the Isère, and also at the crossroads of alpine route and the Via Agrippa. This strategic position confers to the colony an important role in the economy of the roman Gaul. Since the early Iron Age, this area is a link between the mediterranean and the celtic worlds.Even if the region is conquered by Rome since the end of the II c. B.-C., the colony is founded later, perhaps between 46 and 36 B.-C. and maybe already own his prestigious status of colonia of roman rights according to P. Faure and N. Tran hypothesis (2013). As a consequence of the foundation, the public soil is divided, centuriated, and distributed to thousands of new citizens.In this specific historical context, the citizens are chosen among the veterans of the roman army, who were Italians at this time. This decision should have huge demographic and cultural consequences on local communities. The legal status of the citizens gives them considerable economics advantages that stimulate the local economy. The studies devoted to the gallic provinces have shown that the following centuries see numerous changes affecting settlements and economic structures.Considering this historical context, I have chosen to evaluate the cultural and economic impact of this foundation by studying settlement patterns and material culture (architectural remains, objects of the daily life) between the II c. B.-C. to the VIth c. B.-C.The study of few hundreds of settlements allows us to introduce a complex and diachronic view of the settlements, their economic roles and relations with the colony.The chronological and functional study of the buildings and daily life objects allow us to assess finely the evolution through time about craftsmen’s techniques, lifestyle and highlight regional differences during a same period.