In this dissertation, I investigate the organization of urban activities in Early Bronze Age cities of Northern Mesopotamia. I combine evidence from archaeological survey, magnetometric studies, and excavations to demonstrate that cities were broadly integrated in terms of function and use of space: inhabitants in outer cities, lower towns, and extramural areas all pursued a range of diverse activities. The organization of urban life in Northern Mesopotamia is best described as "distributed," a conclusion at odds with the prevailing belief that public institutions were concentrated in city centers and outer city areas were solely residential. I analyze new excavations and surveys from two major cities--Tell Mozan and Tell Chuera--and compare those remains with information from other excavated cities across third-millennium BCE Northern Mesopotamia. I identify nine individual components of urbanism within third-millennium cities: city walls, water resources, roads and streets, agricultural and pastoral land, houses, workshops, temples and shrines, burials, and administrative buildings. The spatial distribution suggests regular correlations between certain components, particularly houses/workshops, houses/burials, city walls/administrative buildings, and extramural workshops/roads. This overall pattern reveals multifunctional neighborhoods with a range of ceremonial, domestic, and production-related activities situated within the stable boundaries of city walls, water courses, and major roads. Single-function areas often occur alongside other activity or mixed-use areas. I found the distribution of activities to be similar across cities, despite variations in overall layout and size. Widespread co-occurrence, especially of houses and workshops, indicates a kind of "dual economy" of elite and non-elite production, with lower-class inhabitants producing their own lithics, ceramics, and agricultural/pastoral products. Furthermore, although large temples and palaces are located in city centers, the existence of smaller shrines and non-domestic buildings in lower towns indicates that religious and administrative functions also occurred beyond the city center. The surveys and excavations illuminate two important patterns: first, that administrative, productive, and religious activities took place throughout the city; and second, that social rank did not preclude the pursuit of a range of activities. The stability afforded by this broadly integrated organization and heterarchical social organization may have been instrumental in a city's longevity.

This thesis investigates similarities and differences in the chemistry of the Linear B clay tablets and sealings found at the Palace of Nestor in Pylos, located in the western Peloponnese, Greece. Their chemistry provides clues regarding the flow of material goods in and out of the palace and therefore to the degree of centralization of the political-economy. Over a thousand 3,000 year-old clay tablets and sealings currently housed at the National Archaeological Museum in Athens were analyzed using a pXRF over the course of the summers of 2015 and 2016. The chemical compositions were analyzed statistically. Results of the study and the conclusions are presented here.

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This research focused on the petrographic analysis of prehistoric ceramics within the East Midlands. Prior assessments have been intermittent and not drawn together by a research-based agenda, with a few notable exceptions. This research uses petrographic analysis to shed light on early prehistoric society within Leicestershire, a county overlooked in comparison to other regions. The aim of this research was to investigate the procurement of raw materials and the subsequent production of Neolithic and early Bronze Age ceramics in Leicestershire, placing the county in its regional context. Petrographic slides from several early prehistoric sites were produced and analysed to determine the presence of any non-local material within the fabric of the ceramics. Existing petrographic data from other sites in the East Midlands were used as a comparative data set to test whether the ceramics from Leicestershire were typical or atypical of the wider production and procurement pattern. The results of the petrographic analysis on the Leicestershire sites indicated that the clay and inclusions were most likely of local origin, with no definitive evidence for non-local inclusions. However, the results from the comparative petrographic data obtained from sites within the wider East Midlands does support the movement of raw materials and/or finished ceramic products within the region. Preferential sources appear to have been continually exploited, both chronologically and geographically. The prime target of the exploitation was the Charnwood Forest area of Leicestershire, with groups from Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire utilising this resource in addition to more local groups within Leicestershire.

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No / Swiss National Science Foundation

No / The impact of rapid climate change on contemporary human populations is of global concern. To contextualize our understanding of human responses to rapid climate change it is necessary to examine the archeological record during past climate transitions. One episode of abrupt climate change has been correlated with societal collapse at the end of the northwestern European Bronze Age. We apply new methods to interrogate archeological and paleoclimate data for this transition in Ireland at a higher level of precision than has previously been possible. We analyze archeological 14C dates to demonstrate dramatic population collapse and present high-precision proxy climate data, analyzed through Bayesian methods, to provide evidence for a rapid climatic transition at ca. 750 calibrated years B.C. Our results demonstrate that this climatic downturn did not initiate population collapse and highlight the nondeterministic nature of human responses to past climate change.

No / supported by Edition board of the Philosophical faculty, University of Hradec Králové

The end of the Bronze Age was a tumultuous period throughout the Mediterranean, seeing the fall of the major palatial economy in Greece. This project seeks to reconstruct the lived experiences of individuals interred at the Nikoleika cemetery in eastern Achaea, utilizing a variety of methods to analyze biological profiles and pathological conditions. Through the analysis of the 55 burials of Chamber Tomb Four, it was found that low levels of pathology and the presence of locally-produced goods may emphasize the self-sufficient nature of Achaea during the Bronze Age. The osteobiographies of three primary burials also revealed a great deal of similarities that provide evidence of deliberate acts taken during mortuary processing. This project found that eastern Achaea was relatively autonomous and continued unaffected by the palatial collapse.

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