This diploma thesis examines the burial architecture of selected Berber tribes of Northern Africa, namely the Garamantian and Numidian ones, within a period from 4th century B. C. to 5th century A. D. First, the Garamantian tribe and its history is introduced. Afterwards I focus on garamantian burial customes and architecture. Further I describe each types of tombs and individual monuments , thein proportions and decoration. The other important part is devoted to the Numidian tribe. Again, its history, types of burial structures and individual important monuments are described in detail. In this diploma thesis there is also a mention about tribes and monuments which influenced funeral structures and architecture of tribes in North Africa and also about buildings which were the models for these tombs. Keywords architecture, burial customs, Berbers, north Africa, tombs

In contemporary North America, death is often responded to by means of geographical and social separation. Formally removed from the everyday lifeworld and boundaries of home and community, the cemetery landscape has depreciated greatly in its cultural significance and visible taking care. As changing death practices and perceptions towards mortality look to reintegrate the dead back into the living community, traditional ways of locating, memorializing and ritualizing the dead no longer reflect or express the meaning of death held by modern cultural ideals. This research looks to investigate how landscape architecture may re-imagine the cemetery landscape providing newfound cultural significance and presence within the modern everyday lifeworld. In the City of Brandon, Manitoba, the limited interment capacity of the current Municipal cemetery has established a need for expanded cemetery space. This practicum proposes rather, to relocate the cemetery within a place of meaningful significance to the community of Brandon. The design responds to the shifting ideals, and patterns of disposal and ritualization emerging within present western society. / May 2016

This master thesis investigates the phenomenon of men with filed (modified) teeth in Scandinavia during late Iron Age. More than 100 buried men with filed teeth have up till now been discovered. Of these, 92 are included in my analysis. Burials containing men with filed teeth have been discovered on Gotland, in Skåne, Uppland, Västergötland and Öland in Sweden, on Fyn in Denmark and in one mass grave in Dorset, England. Most of the men derive from burials on Gotland.   The men with filed teeth have hitherto mostly been studied from an osteoarchaeological approach. Instead, this study regards the burial contexts in which they were found. In order to study this, I have compiled a data base in which available information about these men and their burial contexts have been gathered. The term ¨burial context¨ in this essay refers to the grave finds and the aspects of the burial itself, as well as the landscape in which it is situated.   The aim of the study is to try to determine what unites, and separates, the men with filed teeth; what can be said about the dating of their occurrence, the men’s origin/provenance and what social status and occupation they may have held.

This dissertation is focused on changes in burial culture in the modern and post-modern era resulting from the introduction of cremation as a new part of burial practices in Western countries. Its aim is to analyze changes in burial culture in the context of social and political developments and through their physical effects on the landscape. In order to evaluate contemporary burial culture in the Western world, the main cause of changes in burial culture was first separately analyzed as a phenomenon that appeared (the conditions for the origins of cremation) and expanded in geographical space (the circumstances under which cremation was adapted in Western countries). The diffusion of innovations theory is used, which is capable of describing and interpreting the process of introducing cremation in its modern form. In the second phase of research, specific manifestations of changes in burial culture caused by the introduction of cremation are examined based on case studies conducted in the field. In the following part of the dissertation findings are generalized, and how the perception and function of cemeteries have changed due to the influence of changes in burial culture and how the significance of the concept of the deathscape - landscapes and places whose appearance and relationships are...

“The Self: Towards A Method for Queering death” is an identity testament, a speculative method for designing the space of your own funeral before you die. It is a format to create a fair memorial of a person’s identity that does not feel welcome or fits in the current formats of burial ceremonies we have in Sweden today, usually connected to Christianity or other religious traditions. Even the secular burial traditions of Sweden today have a very clear traditional format and aesthetic that can be intimidating to a lot of members of society. “The Self” is also a method to relegate the power of narrative to whom it belongs.  “The Self “is executed through this thesis, a sacred document, a spatial installation and a film, showing a possible scenario of a burial ceremony as a result of the method of the identity testament. This thesis demonstrates and problematizes the secular burial traditions in Sweden and how the common rituals are still based on the norms of Christianity, heteronormativity and traditional values, and why this is oppressing a lot of individuals in society. It does so by using a speculative method of an identity testament, which gives every human the right to own the narrative about their persona and who they were to the afterlife. It also problematizes the hierarchies and norms in society of what “family” means, and how consanguinity is valued by state and law. The term “queer” or “queering” is used in multiple ways, both as an adjective (being queer, a queer community, a queer sexual identity) but also as a verb or an adverb, as in the method used by the Queer Death Studies Network. The content of this thesis consists of texts, pictures, research in form of written sources and interviews, queer theory, descriptive design methods and descriptions of a sculptural exploration and spatial installation as well as a motion picture. The thesis asks and answers questions such as: How could a new type of burial ceremony - based on our secular beliefs in contemporary Sweden – look, feel and be arranged to be more connected to what we can relate as religion today? Is it possible to create an organized system to collect information about a person´s identity to be used as a formal ground to create a fair burial ceremony after the person’s death? The analysis focuses upon speculative ideas about what could happen if every person had a right to state a will for their intangible possessions and assets as well as their physical ones. The thesis also goes through multiple examples of cases of queer deaths where there have been strong needs to arrange an alternative funeral to feel safe and comfortable. Finally, the thesis reflects upon how this method could be used and if it really could be applied to society, and if so, who would be able to use it?

During the Vendel period the elite started to bury their men and women in the boat graves. The boat graves have been interpreted differently depending on if the graves were made for men or women. But the grave goods have one thing in common. The grave goods, consisted of weapons, jewelry, riding equipment, gaming pieces and hand craft tools, proves that the buried persons belonged to an upper-class with a connection to the religion, the gods and the fertility cult.

The boat-burials in Scandinavia presents several rich findings in the form of boats, possession and their owners. These boat-burials are reviewed in this work through a lens of maritime archaeology, to connect the possible roles held by the boat itself in context with the placement and nature of the burial gifts deposited around and inside the vessel. The burial grounds in Vendel, Valsgärde, Tuna I Badelunda, Ultuna and Old Uppsala are presented to compare and create context between findings to define a common tradition and cosmology involving the boat-burials in question.

Ce projet de recherche se propose d'analyser l'exceptionnel patrimoine archéologique de l'ancienne Volcei (l'actuelle cité de Buccino, dans la province de Salerne, Italie) dont les vestiges, découverts dans les années 1980 durant la reconstruction de la ville après le grand tremblement de terre qui frappa la Campanie et la Basilicate, montrent une fréquentation ininterrompue du site du VIIIème siècle avant J.C. au IIème siècle après J.C.. L'arc chronologique pris en compte s'étendra du VIIIème au Vème siècle avant J.C.Le travail consistera d'abord à étudier les vestiges découverts en contexte funéraire dans les structures d'habitat puis en suivant de manière diachronique les développements et les évolutions de la culture dite "nord-lucanienne", à chercher à mettre en évidente les dynamiques de contact entre les "indigènes" et les populations allogènes, ainsi que les processus fondamentaux qui ont conduit à la formation du peuple lucanien. / After the destructive earthquake that took place in 1980 in many localities of the Irpinia and the Basilicata, even the territory of the city of Buccino (Campania) former center of the ancient city of Volcei, was involved in the construction of new residentialblocs. During the reconstruction, the excavations of the Archeological Superintendence of Campania brought to light, all around of the hill on which the town is settled, about 270 burials dated from the mid VII and the III century BC. The study of the grave goods and burial practices as well as the analysis of the topography of the two necropolis area - in Braida and Santo Stefano localities - allowed us to get some important informations about the burials spatial organization, funeraryrituals, the material culture and about changes of the burial ritual after the arrival of the new population, of the Osco-Sabellian origin, in the delicate passage between V and IV century BC.

Idades de soterramento de grãos de quartzo pelos isótopos cosmogênicos \'ANTPOT.26 Al\' e \'ANTPOT.10 Be\' foram obtidas em depósitos sedimentares que assorearam os sistemas de cavernas associados aos vales cegos dos riachos das Almas e Água de Rega, região de Iraquara (BA). Os resultados também incluem a caracterização faciológica e uma abordagem preliminar sobre a arquitetura dos depósitos, além do mapeamento em campo do contexto geomórfico dos sistemas de condutos e seu preenchimento sedimentar. Coberturas terciárias assentadas sobre todas as unidades pré-cambrianas testemunham que a superfície cárstica e os sistemas de condutosfazem parte de uma longa história de evolução, envolvendo episódios de exposição, soterramento e exumação. Durante os dois últimos milhões de anos, a drenagem superficial e os sistemas de cavernas estavam plenamente articulados na condução de água e sedimentos, com rotas de fluxo subterrâneas que incluíam ainda trechos labirínticos pré-existentes, que serviam de repositório de sedimentos durante os eventos de inundação, proporcionando também, rotas alternativas ao canal,na medida em que o sistema agradava. A sucessiva migração do canal por estas redes labirínticas originou o padrão distributário observado na Lapa Doce e na Gruta da Torrinha. Os depósitos sedimentares estudados nas cavernas dividem-se em dois grupos: fluviais e de água estagnada. Osdepósitos fluviais ocorrem na base e são constituídos por fácies de canal e fácies de inundação. As idades de soterramento de grãos de quartzo destes sedimentos apontam para um período de assoreamento fluvial compreendido entre 1,91±0,12 e 0,36±0,08 milhões de anos para o sistema Lapa Doce-Torrinha (riacho Água de Rega) e 1,37±0,15 e 0,87±0,17 milhões de anos para o sistema Cão-Talhão (riacho das Almas). No sistema Lapa Doce-Torrinha as idades de soterramento concentram-se no intervalo compreendido por dois períodos úmidos (350-450 Ka e 900-1000 Ka), registrados em estudos anteriores através do crescimento de tufas calcárias no semiárido baiano.Tal fato sugere que a agradação fluvial verificada, tanto nos rios quanto nas cavernas, esteja associada a fatores climáticos, particularmente o aumento da carga dos rios derivado da diminuição na estabilidade dos grãos nas vertentes exercida por uma vegetação arbustiva esparsa ou ausente. No topo, os depósitos de água estagnada, preferencialmente compostos por lamas, não possuem estruturas trativas ou de corrente e são associados a uma sedimentação em ambiente freático,para o qual é necessário considerar a subida do nível de base. Gretas de contração, além de relações estratigráficas e erosivas destes depósitos com crostas calcíticas evidenciam que eles não foram depositados em um evento único. Idades U/Th obtidas nas crostas calcíticas apontam para uma deposição durante o Pleistoceno Tardio. Interpreta-se que as lamas foram depositadas durante períodos de elevação do nível de base devido aos eventos úmidos abruptos de escala milenar que ocorreram no nordeste brasileiro ao longo dos últimos 210 ka. / \'ANTPOT.26 Al\' and \'ANTPOT.10 Be\' burial ages have been obtained from quartz grains sampled in extensive sedimentary deposits that fill cave systems associated with Das Almas and Agua de Rega creeks blind valleys, Iraquara region, Bahia (Brazil). The geomorphic context of the caves and their sedimentary record is presented, as well a facies analyses and a preliminary architecture approach for subterranean deposits. Tertiary covers deposited over all Precambrian geological units give evidence that karstic surface and conduit systems are features of a long term evolving landscape, sculpted during episodes of exposure, burial and exhumation. In the last two million years, surface drainage and cave systems were full connected in terms of water and sediment transport.Conduit systems still connected with preexisting passage networks, working as sediment repositories during floods and offering alternative routes to the channels as the systems aggraded. Sucessive channel migration led to the distributary pattern observed in the caves Lapa Doce and Gruta da Torrinha. The cave sedimentary record can be divided into two major categories: alluvial and slackwater deposits. At the bottom of the sediments, channel and flood facies were recognized in alluvial deposits. Quartz simple burial ages point to fluvial aggradation between 1,91±0,12 and 0,36±0,08 My in Lapa Doce-Torrinha cave system (Água de Rega creek) and between 1,37±0,15 and 0,87±0,17 million years in Cão-Talhão cave system (Das Almas creek). Burial ages from Lapa Doce-Torrinha samples group in between two past humid periods (350-450 Ky and 900-1000 Ky) recorded in previous studies from travertines growth in arid regions of Bahia State. This fact suggests that valley and cave aggradation is associated with climate factors, particularly an increase in river load derived from decreased stabilization of hillslopes due to a sparse or absent forest vegetation. At the top of sedimentary pile slackwater deposits are ordinarily muddy without tractive or current sedimentary structures. They are assigned to be deposited in a phreatic environment which, in turn, necessarily requires the base level to rise longer than seasonal floods. Mud cracks, erosive surfaces and stratigraphic relations to calcite crusts and flowstones prove that they were not deposited in a single event. U/Th ages from interstratal calcite crusts point to mud deposition during the Late Pleistocene. Slackwater deposits are interpreted to be a result of sedimentation during successive abrupt wet events defined on millennial time scale for the Brazilian northeast during the last 210ky.

This thesis examines the changing meaning and conceptualisation of the city boundary of Rome, from the late republic and imperial periods into late antiquity. It is my aim in this study to present a range of archaeological and historical material from three areas of interest: the historical development of the city boundary, from the pomerium to the Aurelian wall, change and continuity in the ritual activities associated with the border, and the reasons for the shift in burial topography in the fifth century AD. I propose that each of these three subject areas will demonstrate the wide range of restrictions and associations made with the city boundary of Rome, and will note in particular instances of continuity into late antiquity. It is shown that there is a great degree of continuity in the behaviours of the inhabitants of Rome with regard to the conceptualisation of their city boundary. The wider proposal made during the course of this study, is that the fifth century was significant in the development of Rome – archaeologically, historically, and conceptually – but not for the reasons that are traditionally given. I have pushed back against the idea that this era was defined by its turbulence, and have constructed an argument that highlights the vast inheritance of the city of Rome that is so often ignored in discussions of the fifth century.