The thesis examines the transition from the Late Bronze to the Early Iron Age, i.e. the periods from Late Helladic IIIC (LHIIIC) to Protogeometric (PG) ( 1200-900 BC) in two areas of the Greek Mainland, the Argolid and Phokis-East Lokris. The Argolid, and in particular the Argive plain, which included among others the citadel of Mycenae, could be described as the core area of the Mycenaean world par excellence, while Phokis -East Lokris could be conventionally thought to belong to the Mycenaean periphery, since no palatial establishment was ever developed in the area. Through the comparative study of the evidence from the two areas, the different course of their post-palatial development is studied, and the factors that affected this development are carefully examined and discussed. In particular, the thesis investigates whether and how the different Mycenaean past of the two areas, and more specifically the different role of each one of them in the Mycenaean world affected their evolution in the period not only immediately after the palatial collapse but also in the transition to the Early Iron Age. The analysis of all the published evidence from LHIIIC to PG period (settlement remains, burials and cult evidence) offers a detailed view of the occupation of the areas in each phase of the transitional period and helps us gain a general, long-term understanding of settlement patterns, burial customs, cult practices and material culture. The study of continuity and changes in all these aspects also allows us to follow the socio-political evolution. In general, it is shown that the transition from the Late Bronze to the Early Iron Age was experienced very differently in each of the two areas under examination. The long-term view of the evidence as adopted by the present study, bridges the divide that scholarly literature has created between the two eras, while at the same time places the two areas in the general context of the Aegean. It also takes into account the significant role that external factors such as trade contacts or population movements played in this crucial period. Overall, this study stresses the individuality of each area and of each site of the Greek mainland, and demonstrates the complex historical reality of the transitional period and its many different components. The final aim of the thesis is to enlighten the transformation process that two different areas of the Greek mainland underwent from the post-palatial times until the beginning of the Early Iron Age, a process believed to carry the seeds for the rise of the most typical political formation of ancient Greece, the polis.

Thesis--Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität, Frankfurt am Main, 1974. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Diss. Uppsala : Uppsala universitet, 2006.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Universiṭat Bar-Ilan, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis--Frankfurt am Main. / A part of the author's larger work with title Äxte und Beile in Österreich, which will be published in its entirety as Abt. IX, 9 of Prähistorische Bronzefunde. Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

It is now widely assumed that many artefacts found in the prehistoric archaeological record were not casually discarded as unwanted material but were deposited in features and contexts with structure and meaning. This appears to include saddle and rotary querns for they are often found whole and apparently still usable or, conversely, deliberately broken. Analysis of the structured deposition of querns in the south-west of England shows that they were deposited in features on both domestic and non-domestic sites. Furthermore, the location and state of the querns, together with the artefacts found in association with them, indicates that they were deposited with different levels and layers of meaning, even within the same type of feature. The deposition of querns appears to have pervaded all aspects of prehistoric life and death suggesting that they played a role above, but nevertheless related to, their prime task of milling. An exploration of the object biography of querns demonstrates the importance of what are often considered to be mundane tools to subsistence communities. Each quern has its own unique life history, its meaning and value determined by the reasons that gave cause for its manufacture, the material from which it was made, the use(s) to which it was put and who used it. However, all querns share points of commonality, related to their function as milling tools, their role as transformers of raw material(s) into usable products (s), their association with women and the production of food, and the movement of the upper stone. Through these, symbolical links can be made between querns and agricultural, human and building life cycles, gender relations and the turning of the heavens. The reason for a quern’s deposition in the archaeological record may have drawn upon one or more unique or common values.

Pendant les dernières trente années le centre historique de la ville Fossano (Coni, Piémont) a été intéressé par nombreuses fouilles et plusieurs sondages archéologiques à la suite des fréquents travaux de construction. Ces interventions, liées au développement de la ville, ont toujours eu un caractère d'urgence, de sauvetage, préventif, sans être jamais liées à une programmation précédente. L'étude de chaque site a imposé du début l’analyse approfondie des modalités d'intervention et de la méthodologie de fouille. Dans la plupart des cas, l'analyse stratigraphique a été liée à celle du mobilier archéologique, qui, en absence de structures protohistoriques ou de niveaux anthropiques en place, est le seul élément qui nous a permis de dater la première période d’occupation du site. Est possible dater au XIe siècle av. J.-C. (Ha B1 ancien du plateau suisse) le début d’une présence humaine permanente sur toute la surface sommitale du plateau de Fossano, avec son apogée pendant la transition Bronze/Fer italien. Le groupe céramique de Fossano se place dans un contexte culturel propre de la fin du l'âge du Bronze final du nord-ouest de l'Italie, intermédiaire entre la culture du Protogolasecca de la Lombardie et du Piémont orientale et la culture RSFO. Dans ces territoires au l'extrême nord-ouest de l’Italie les influences RSFO sont très profondes, surtout de la Suisse occidentale et des régions de l’est de la France. Les caractéristiques spécifiques du Piémont occidentale le rendant plus apparenté aux complexes nord alpins qu'à ceux de l'Italie péninsulaire, jouant un rôle fondamental dans le tableau des relations entre les deux versants alpins pendant toute la préhistoire. / During the last thirty years the historic center of Fossano (Cuneo, Piedmont, Italy) has undergone numerous archaeological excavations and survey as a result of many construction works related to the development of the city. These operations have never been programmed, but always related to emergency situations or preventive archaeology. The study of each site imposed an early-depth analysis of the applied methods of intervention and excavation. In most cases, the stratigraphic analysis is linked to the archaeological material, which, in the absence of proper prehistorical levels or structures, is the only element that has allowed us to date the early moments of occupation of the site. The beginning of a permanent human presence on the Fossano plateau is Probably dated to the end of the 11th century BC (Ha B1 in the Swiss plateau), with its peak during the transition between the Italian Bronze age and Iron age. The ceramic group of Fossano is located in the final Italian Bronze age in the Northwest of Italy, intermediate between the culture of Protogolasecca of Lombardy and eastern Piedmont and the RSFO culture. In these territories, in the extreme north-west of Italy, the RSFO influences are very strong, especially from the western territories of Switzerland and the eastern regions of France. The specific characteristics of western Piedmont making it more similar to the northern Alpine complex as those of the Italian peninsula; playing a fundamental role in the relations between the two sides of the Alpes during the prehistory.

This paper deals with the question of when hill forts – or enclosed mountains – were built and to what purpose, by examining two enclosed mountains (RAÄ 78 and 79) in Grödinge parish in the province of Södermanland. A phosphate analysis was conducted to trace anthropogenic activities. The analysis showed only a slight elevation of phosphate content in the soil. A histogram indicated that the elevations were not normally distributed, which could suggest that they were caused by anthropogenic activities. A focus on boundaries is evident in the material, whether it is about erecting physical barriers or the boundary between life and death.

During the first millennium BC, the people of the chalk landscapes of the Yorkshire Wolds began carving up their world with monumental linear earthworks. This project explores the meanings of the later prehistoric boundary systems of the Yorkshire Wolds. It writes a biography of the linear earthwork landscapes of the north-central Wolds, using geographic information systems (GIS), original fieldwork and theories of agency and memory. Tracing the construction, use and modification of particular linear earthworks, it examines how these monuments would have related to other features in the landscape, and how they could have exercised agency within networks of interconnected people, animals, objects and other places. Finally, the project attempts to situate these boundary systems within the larger context of Late Bronze Age and Iron Age society in order to understand how the later prehistoric people of East Yorkshire would have experienced their world. Taking a biographical approach to landscape and allowing linear earthworks to become the protagonists of this narrative, the project charts the life histories of the earthworks at Wetwang-Garton Slack and Huggate Dykes and investigates the collective authorship of the wider landscape. To understand the rural, monumental landscapes of the Wolds, we must consider the agency of not only people, but also of animals and of monuments themselves. By focussing on the relationships which bound together linear earthworks and other agents, we can begin to understand the ways in which monumentalised landscapes both reflected and generated the cosmologies of prehistoric communities.

During the first millennium BC, the people of the chalk landscapes of the Yorkshire Wolds began carving up their world with monumental linear earthworks. This project explores the meanings of the later prehistoric boundary systems of the Yorkshire Wolds. It writes a biography of the linear earthwork landscapes of the north-central Wolds, using geographic information systems (GIS), original fieldwork and theories of agency and memory. Tracing the construction, use and modification of particular linear earthworks, it examines how these monuments would have related to other features in the landscape, and how they could have exercised agency within networks of interconnected people, animals, objects and other places. Finally, the project attempts to situate these boundary systems within the larger context of Late Bronze Age and Iron Age society in order to understand how the later prehistoric people of East Yorkshire would have experienced their world. Taking a biographical approach to landscape and allowing linear earthworks to become the protagonists of this narrative, the project charts the life histories of the earthworks at Wetwang-Garton Slack and Huggate Dykes and investigates the collective authorship of the wider landscape. To understand the rural, monumental landscapes of the Wolds, we must consider the agency of not only people, but also of animals and of monuments themselves. By focussing on the relationships which bound together linear earthworks and other agents, we can begin to understand the ways in which monumentalised landscapes both reflected and generated the cosmologies of prehistoric communities. / The Appendices A to E are not included online.