The present thesis provides a methodological examination of Pyla-Kokkinokremos and Maa-Palaeokastro, two settlement-sites that were established in Cyprus during the transition from the Late Cypriot IIC (roughly the thirteenth century BC) to the Late Cypriot IIIA (roughly the twelfth century BC). These two settlements were extremely short-lived and persisted for merely a couple of generations before their eventual abandonment. The period under consideration is often referred to as the “Crisis Years”, and marks a time when the politically and economically powerful land-based polities of the eastern Mediterranean were brought to an end. The foundation of Pyla-Kokkinokremos and Maa-Palaeokastro coincides with these critical years for the eastern Mediterranean and the upheaval of the settlement pattern of Cyprus. Since their excavation, the two sites have been considered as two very controversial and intriguing phenomena. Their selected position on top of naturally fortified locations and the marked absence of perennial water sources in their vicinity suggested that they were established in order to fulfil a special purpose. The original suggestion put forward by the excavator that Pyla-Kokkinokremos and Maa-Palaeokastro represent the earliest establishments of refugees fleeing from the Aegean following the palatial collapse has been questioned by a number of scholars, who insist on the Cypriot character of the two sites, and therefore consider them as outposts established by local populations. This dissertation provides a re-examination of the topographical setting of the two settlements, their architectural characteristics and their material culture, mostly pottery, aiming to determine the series of events that led to their establishment, as well as the roles and functions fulfilled by the two sites. The objective of this study is not exclusively concerned with the detailed presentation of excavated architectural and artefactual remains from Pyla-Kokkinokremos and Maa-Palaeokastro. In extent, the aims of this thesis are to define the character of Cyprus during the years marking the transition from the thirteenth to the twelfth century BC, and examine transformations in the settlement pattern of the island, its socio-political landscape and provide a holistic approach of its material culture.

William Rimmer is an enigmatic figure in the history of American art. Works created by him are the single exception to an otherwise undistinguished body of mid-nineteenth century sculpture. Yet, Rimmer was virtually ignored by the art public of his generation. In his own lifetime the considerable skill and talent Rimmer evinced as a sculptor and draftsman were overshadowed by the novelty of his medical practice and teaching career. Rimmer's only true fame was to come not as an artist, but from the popular success of his "art anatomy" lecture courses in Boston and New York. Acknowledgement of the excellence of his teaching method and drawing skill, however, must have been insufficient praise to a man seeking artistic celebrity. The closed eye of the American art public could only have increased the existing feelings of frustration in Rimmer and made more bitter the fate he believed had been dealt him. Ironically, his fatalistic view of life became both the wellspring and circumscription of his artistic expression. William Rimmer's importance in the American art scene of the mid-nineteenth century is lost in the maze of contradiction that was his life.

Les mécanismes de formation et de croissance des films d'oxydes à la surface des bronzes Cu-Sn sont encore peu connus. Dans ce contexte, cette étude a pour objectif de lever l'ambiguïté concernant la nature, la structure et la localisation des produits de corrosion formés à la surface des bronzes. Pour cela des électrodes de bronze ont été élaborées, mises en forme, puis oxydées par immersion et par polarisation anodique en milieu sulfate à 10 2 mol.L-1. Les espèces ainsi formées en surface sont ensuite réduites en mode galvanostatique. Les courbes font apparaître des paliers caractéristiques des réactions électroniques qui opèrent à l'électrode. Les valeurs de potentiel correspondant aux différents paliers sont comparées à celles obtenues sur des composés modèles. Cette étude comparative permet d'attribuer certains paliers à certains composés mais pas tous.Pour compléter l'identification, la diffraction des rayons X, la spectroscopie Mössbauer et la micro-spectrométrie Raman ont été mises en œuvre afin d'observer la présence d'oxyde d'étain (+ IV) en plus des composés du cuivre. La spectroscopie d'électrons Auger et la spectroscopie de photoélectrons X (XPS-AES) ont permis une analyse en profondeur des films par érosion progressive de la surface, qui a révélé qu'en premier lieu un film d'oxyde d'étain se forme à la surface de l'alliage Cu-Sn et, qu'ensuite, une couche d'oxyde de cuivre croit à l'interface oxyde/électrolyte. Les observations effectuées par microscopie électronique en transmission (MET) confirment ces résultats. Dans un second temps, les techniques électrochimiques conventionnelles, et plus particulièrement la spectroscopie d'impédance électrochimique, ont été utilisées afin d'identifier la structure des couches ainsi que les processus mis en jeu lors de l'oxydation. Elles ont permis d'en déduire un mécanisme réactionnel d'oxydation possible / Formation and growth mechanisms of oxides films on monophased copper-tin bronzes are still in discussion. In the literature two different patterns of corrosion are exposed. The first one claims that the bronze corrosion is similar to that of copper whereas the second one asserts that the copper-tin alloys oxidation lead to a double layer structure. The inner layer is enriched in tin consequently to copper selective dissolution. The outer layer is essentially composed of copper oxides.To The present study deals with the chemical-physical and electrochemical characterisations of artificial patinas, thin layer of corrosion products electrochemically formed at the surface of copper-tin alloys. A bronze containing 7 wt% of tin is oxidised in a 10-2 mol.L-1 desaerated sulphate solution, buffered at pH = 6.8. The synthesised species are cathodically reduced. The successive steps of the potential vs time curves, characteristic of the electrochemical reactions occurring at the electrode surface, are successfully calibrated with reference oxides.In order to complete the previous results, X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) depth profiles are carried out by abrading progressively the oxidised surface. The deconvoluted XPS and Auger Electron Spectroscopy (AES) spectra speak in favour of an “alloy/SnO2/Cu2O” layered structure similar to that reported in the literature. Analyses carried out on the oxidised samples by Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) confirm this pattern.The characterisation techniques carried out on archeological artefacts produce conclusions that are compared to those obtained on the electrochemical samples. This multi analytical study gives crucial piece of information. The reactional sequence that will be deduced is an essential tool for the good preservation of the world cultural heritage

In this dissertation, I study a critical transition in the urban development of Tell es-Sweyhat, a large site in Syria occupied from c. 3000-1900 BCE. In the middle of the third millennium, Sweyhat was an open town centered on a fortress. It was ringed with cemeteries and had a ceremonial public building in its outskirts (Sweyhat Period 3). Around 2150 BCE, the settlement experienced a sudden expansion from 15HA to 35-40HA. Sweyhat became a fortified city with a high central ceremonial platform and no formal cemetery (Sweyhat Period 4). The new fortifications combined with increased population density signifies Sweyhat's transition from a town to a regional urban center. In this dissertation, I identify the changes in land use during this transition and examine the accompanying social changes. I focus on several domestic structures excavated along the edge of the Sweyhat 4 Inner City wall, along with the associated artifact inventories, including spinning and weaving equipment, grinding and cooking equipment, and whole ceramic vessels. One adult burial and several infant burials were also uncovered here. Additional soundings reached down into the Sweyhat 3 layers of this neighborhood. I synthesize the data from these excavations alongside architectural remains and artifact assemblages from other excavated areas of the site, to create a narrative of the changes in the site's occupational history and the possible meanings inherent in those changes. The results reveal that the character and location of certain daily and special activities changed, including mourning the dead, grain storage, grinding and cooking activities, and ceremonial activities. The outer town cemeteries were abandoned, possibly in favor of individual household burials. Grain storage, grinding, and cooking activities that had been located in the central storage area moved to the home. The locus of ceremonial activities shifted from the public building in the outer town to a new structure located in the city center. Access to this new structure was limited: it sat atop a high terrace that was accessible only by particular ramps or stairways, in a district at the center of the city's two fortifications. These shifts suggest increased control of formerly accessible public activities and greater attention to individual privacy. These changes were an integral part of Tell es-Sweyhat's transition from open town to walled city.

This thesis focuses on the development of ceremonial landscapes of Neolithic and Bronze Age Scotland, along with exploring the concept of ceremonial complexes within Scotland by looking at the patterns of development and reuse of sites and locations of ceremonial and funerary monuments built during the Neolithic through the Bronze Age. In order to accomplish this, three major ceremonial landscapes within Scotland, the Fife, southern Perth and Kinross regions; the Kilmartin Valley; and the Orkney Islands, are used as case studies. This study was conducted using site reports from the various excavations within the three case study areas, as well as using environmental studies, land use and soil maps, and topographical maps in order to understand what motivated the Neolithic communities to construct their funeral and ceremonial monuments where they did, and why the Bronze Age people either continued to use these areas or abandon them. Further, the methods of using various maps, such as land use, soil, and topographical maps, in understanding the reasons prehistoric communities had for the placement of monuments within the landscape are assessed with a discussion of the differences and similarities in the location of earlier cursus monuments and later henges. Of the sites studied within the three case studies, the majority of the Neolithic sites were found to be located on or near good arable farming land, usually near either lochs/waterways or valleys, which would have been used as routeways for travel across the landscape. During the Bronze Age, the sites follow a similar pattern with many monuments placed on or near Neolithic sites; however, several monuments were built away from earlier ones and found to be constructed on land less suited to agriculture and marginal land. These findings are mirrored within the discussion of the cursus monuments and henges, with the Early Neolithic cursus monuments located along or near waterways on arable farming land, while the later henges sited away from the cursus monuments were built in marginal locations. The positioning of these monuments along such travel routes would have made these sites important markers in the landscape for the transportation of goods and people for trade, migration, and pilgrimage as well as establishing a claim of the surrounding land for the communities who built and used them.

Human and faunal osteological material from the southeastern Carpathian Bend area, Romania, was analysed for δ13C, δ15N and δ34S to reconstruct the dietary practices of the Middle Bronze Age Monteoru culture. As a secondary objective, the extent of intraskeletal variation in stable isotope values was investigated by comparing skeletal elements with differing collagen turnover rates. The intraskeletal isotope results revealed a pattern where cortical bone samples produced statistically lower δ13C values compared to trabecular bone samples, highlighting the necessity for more systematic research to understand how stable isotopes are incorporated into bone collagen of various skeletal elements. Diet in the Monteoru culture was shown to be exclusively or predominantly terrestrial in origin with no detectable input of C4 or marine resources. Differences in average δ13C and δ15N values between the two sites included in the study (representing distinct phases of the culture) suggest a shift in dietary preferences from a more meat-based economy to a more dairy- and plant-based economy. The dissimilar contribution of animal foods to overall diet between the two sites was supported by estimates generated by the Bayesian mixing model FRUITS, which also showed that in both sites plant foods accounted for most of the calories consumed. The faunal isotopic data contained a few outliers, suggestive of deliberate movement of livestock, either through long-distance herding or trade. A combined approach using juvenile bone collagen and incrementally sectioned tooth dentine from adults demonstrates that the duration of breastfeeding varied between individuals, but that there were no significant differences in weaning practices between survivors and non-survivors. Sulphur isotopes reflect a population that was relatively homogeneous in its isotopic composition and local in origin, except for the presence of two possible migrants. The δ13C and δ15N data from the Carpathian Bend are comparable to those from contemporaneous sites in coastal and inland Greece and Croatia, suggesting a broad uniformity in Bronze Age dietary practices across Southeast Europe. As the first major stable isotope study conducted on osteological material from the Romanian Sub- Carpathians, this thesis provides new insights into the lives of these communities, expands our knowledge of Bronze Age subsistence strategies in Southeast Europe, and establishes a foundation for further isotopic investigations in the region.

The intentional destruction of Bronze Age metalwork prior to deposition is frequently recognised within assemblages, but rarely forms the focus of study. Furthermore, most research focuses on why metalwork was deliberately destroyed without considering how this process was undertaken. This thesis therefore analyses how metalwork might have been intentionally damaged and uses this to better interpret why. The material properties of bronze are considered alongside past research into the use of different implements, before a series of experiments are presented that explore how one might best break a bronze object. A better understanding of the methods by which Bronze Age metalwork might become damaged means one can identify intentional damage over that sustained accidentally, through use or post-deposition. This culminates in a Damage Ranking System, which can be utilised to assess the likelihood that damage observed on archaeological specimens is the result of intent. The Damage Ranking System is applied to Bronze Age metalwork from South West England (i.e. Cornwall, Devon, Dorset and Somerset). The catalogue of metalwork from this region was recently updated, highlighting instances of deliberate destruction that would warrant further study (Knight et al. 2015). The present research builds on this catalogue and involved analysis of complete and damaged objects from across the study region and from throughout the Bronze Age. Approximately 1300 objects were handled and studied and set within the Damage Ranking System alongside a contextual analysis of the findspots. This allowed trends in damage and depositional practices to be observed, demonstrating increased intentional destruction throughout the Bronze Age. It is shown that the deliberate destruction of metalwork throughout the Bronze Age related to the construction of personhood and emphasised links with other regions of Bronze Age Europe. This research demonstrates a new approach to the material that has wide-reaching applications in future studies.

Thesis (B.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Humanities, 1976. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND HUMANITIES. / Bibliography: leaves 68-72. / by Tania A. Krapchev. / B.S.

This dissertation presents the results of an archaeological investigation into the environmental strategies of emergent aggregated societies in coastal Lebanon over the course of the Early Bronze Age (c. 3200-2400 BCE). The Early Bronze Age marked not only the rise of large-scale urbanized polities in neighboring regions of Mesopotamia and, to a lesser extent, the Southern Levant, but it took place during the dramatic climate variability of the Middle Holocene. This dissertation uses the analysis of microbotanical and ground stone tool data to assess agricultural strategies, land use, and plant processing technologies at two settlements along the Lebanese littoral during this time of political and climatic upheaval. By comparing phytolith data, stone tool use-wear and microbotanical residues from grinding tools from the sites of Sidon and Tell Fadous-Kfarabida, this project reconstructs local plant and stone environments and the choices that populations were making about those resources over time. It concludes that selectivity between conservative and innovative plant management technologies allowed these settlements to maintain small-scale local networks built into the landscape and to participate with, while resisting incorporation into, growing urban and state economies nearby.

Feasting and shared drinking are long suspected to have been practiced in Anatolian settlements during the Early Bronze Age (EBA). New drinking vessels of metal and ceramic seem meant for drinking together with others. Platters and bowls seem intended to display food and vessel handling. No study has examined these practices in detail. This is largely because of a lack of evidence for the production of special beverages, for instance wine, beer, or mead. The Early Bronze Age is a period of intensifying personal distinction. It is characterised by developments in metallurgy, craft production, long-distance exchange, and at some sites, monumental architecture. Yet how EBA Anatolian communities were organised is unclear. A lack of writing and a limited number of seals suggest that there was no central administration within settlements. This contrasts with contemporaneous sites in southeastern Turkey and in Mesopotamia, whose metallurgy, craft production, architecture, and other developments were overseen by temple and palace complexes. This thesis uses feasting and drinking as a way to examine the social complexity of EBA Anatolian sites. It compiles evidence for these activities in both north-central and western Anatolia. It analyses the incidence of different drinking and pouring shapes across sites, and qualitatively assesses vessel features and the contexts in which they are found. This thesis also evaluates the role of drinking and feasting within settlements. It assesses the settings where drinking and feasting was practiced, together with other indices from each site. Two theoretical models are used to evaluate these activities. One details how the use of objects facilitate social relationships. Another specifies how communities may be organised. Both models provide a wide spectrum for assessing the drinking, feasting, and organisational evidence from sites. These models allow for variation: in how drink and food are used to form social relationships, and also in social complexity. The approach is able to distinguish between different organisational and social strategies across sites and regions. This detail is key for beginning to understand Anatolia's unique development during the period.