The Jacobite era (1688-1760) was a time of political, social, and economic change, when political culture and social practices combined with new technologies to produce material means of expression that are recognisably modern. By examining the material culture of the Jacobite wars, this thesis explores the ways in which artefacts reflect and inform the socio-political milieu. Specifically, it looks at how domestic objects became an extension of conflict in the period of study, acting as agents of political expression as well as aesthetic taste as warfare moved from the battlefield into the home. This research documents the ways in which individuals in the late-17th and 18th centuries used material culture to further political agendas by examining artefacts held in collections throughout Scotland. This politicised material culture struggled to negotiate the realities of war within an increasingly polite, Enlightenment society. The messy, divisive political factionalism that characterised the period hid behind a veneer of artistic craft. Political causes were planned and furthered alongside convivial habits like drinking, smoking, and snuff-taking, each of which required specialised material culture. Artefacts such as snuff boxes, wineglasses, and punch ladles were emblazoned with propagandistic sentiments, blending sociability and political expression. Jacobite, Williamite, and Hanoverian rulers materially represented power and authority through objects like medals and portrait ceramics, as well as the official material culture of state. In return, their subjects expressed loyalty and resistance through a variety of material goods, like household textiles and furnishings, or personal dress. Artefacts also commemorated and memorialised events and individuals, with specific types of objects blurring the ambiguous distinction between artefact and relic. These artefacts have maintained a prominent place in popular imagination over time and still have a resonance today. They have been sought out by private and corporate collectors, as well as public institutions, and there is a robust market for this material culture at auction. This study provides an examination of the collection and display of Jacobite-era artefacts from the end of the 18th century to the present, specifically highlighting the collections of individuals like Sir Walter Scott, Alexander Carmichael, and Frederick Duleep Singh, as well as institutional collections such as the National Museum of Scotland (formerly the National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland), as recorded by the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, and the corporate Drambuie Collection. Further data was gleaned from Jacobite-era artefacts at auction (2000 - 2012) at Christie's, Sotheby's, Bonham's, and Lyon & Turnbull. Finally, this thesis looks at the ways in which the material culture of the Jacobite wars has been exhibited from the 19th century onwards, and how specific types of artefacts have come to materially represent an accepted narrative of the Jacobite wars. Key exhibitions examined in detail include the 1903 Highland and Jacobite Exhibition in Inverness, the 1911 Scottish Exhibition of National History, Art, & Industry in Glasgow, the 1938 Empire Exhibition in Glasgow, the 1996 The Swords and the Sorrows exhibit in Edinburgh, the 2010 Rebels with a Cause: that Jacobites and the Global Imagination exhibit at Holyrood, and the 2011 Imagining Power: the Visual Culture of the Jacobite Cause at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery. This thesis assesses collections of artefacts from the Jacobite era, bringing research on this material up to date, while offering fresh interpretations and thoughtful analysis of the cultural importance of these objects in their contemporary period as well as their modern significance. It interrogates this subset of artefacts and expands available resources for future study.

This thesis addresses the archaeology of Kuwait from 13000BC to the 18th century AD, to further understand its significances within the Arabian Gulf and wider world. Kuwait has witness many diverse cultures By comparing for the first time the archaeology, geography, and historical sources, I illustrate that this region has been continual inhabited and used as an important hub of social networks since its beginnings. By introducing the Ubaid civilization and their relations with other regions, we witness the first exchange and trade strategies in Kuwait. By looking at the burial mound phenomenon in Kuwait we witness a hiatus of permanent settlements and a time when people were more nomadic. The impact of these mounds resonated into later periods. Petroleum based substances play a key role in modern Kuwait; the Ubaid and the Dilmun first developed the usage of bitumen, and here we see how that created links with others in the world. Ideas move as well as people, and I demonstrate the proto-Hellenistic and Hellenistic periods in Kuwait to illustrate influences from the Mediterranean. Modern Kuwait is Islamic, and here we will investigate how and why and the speeds at which Christianity gave way to Islam, and the impacts of a different religion on the region. In highlighting Kuwait’s past, I show how the state became one of the most democratic and diverse places in the Arabian Gulf.

This thesis examines surface finishes and tinning on Archaic period (7th-5th c. BC) Greek helmets. Experiments are designed to review and further understanding of what comprises evidence of tinning on low-tin archaeological bronzes and to investigate the efficacy of common and non-destructive methods for its detection. Methods examined include SEM, XRD and neutron diffraction. Problems related to composition analysis are identified and the thesis offers new data on the corrosion profiles of low tin bronzes, which adds to current understanding. A ternary diagram to aid interpretation of compositional data is proposed. This thesis also provides new data on the manufacturing and development of the Corinthian and Illyrian type helmets.

The Late Period (747–332 BC)/Early Ptolemaic (332–30 BC) monuments at the necropolis of North Saqqara have historically been investigated either in isolation or within small spatially close groups. The monuments have rarely been compared within their wider landscape setting, or their relationship with the topography upon which they are imposed considered. This study seeks to redress the situation for the monuments associated with the sacred animal cults through the investigation of topographic associations, monument interconnectedness, and affordances and entanglements within the sacred landscape. To achieve this, a new and detailed GIS (Geographical Information System) of the North Saqqara and South Abusir archaeological areas was researched and compiled, as there was no other currently available. The GIS provided the foundation for the construction of an innovative multi-layered digital 3D representation of the ancient necropolis, which was used to examine the landscape from a terrestrial viewpoint. This was fundamental to developing an holistic understanding of a sacred landscape which is no longer wholly extant. By employing the creative power of digital reconstruction, the task of visualisation and the investigation of divergent viewpoints becomes achievable in ways that otherwise might not be possible. The employment of archaeological theory, not previously applied widely within the field of Egyptological studies, has permitted a nuanced interpretation of the funerary landscape visualised through the digital representation. Investigation of the landscape in this manner has offered new perspectives into the place of the monuments, and their topographic and interconnected relationships: a correlation between the sacred animal monuments, networks of movement, and specific milieus of terrain has been recognised; a mechanism of visual performance employed by the monument builders has been identified; and a new mixed-media narrative account of the landscape has been constructed.

This thesis explores the relationship between people and material culture in the south-west of England from the first century BC to the fifth century AD. This area has often been ignored in the narratives of Britannia and the application of traditional theoretical models to the archaeology of the region, such as the Romanisation paradigm, has perpetuated the idea that the south-west peninsula was largely ‘un-Romanised’. The lack of developed urban centres, villa estates, temple sites and the low level of engagement with imported ceramics and other materials from the Roman world has been interpreted through the Romanisation model to suggest that was never fully integrated into the province of Britannia. In recent years the Romanisation paradigm has been heavily critiqued. New theoretical concepts such as discrepant identity theory have been developed which recognise that interactions in the provinces were far more complex than the simplistic dichotomy of Roman v Native. In line with this more emphasis is being placed on artefacts and their use in the creation of identity. Building on this shift in theoretical frameworks this thesis explores the relationship between material culture and the creation of identity. This is achieved through the analysis of the ceramics, personal adornment items and coins found in the region, both through excavation and from data recorded through the Portable Antiquities Scheme. The analysis has shed new light on the role these objects played in the renegotiation of identity that resulted from the Roman conquest. The result of this analysis has shown that far from being one politically cohesive society the region was inhabited by a number of smaller social and political groupings, who reacted differently to the conquest. This has allowed the conclusion to be drawn that modern Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly lay beyond the bounds of the Roman Empire.

Using assemblages of marine and non-marine mollusc shells from recent excavations in the Western Isles of Scotland, with reference to previously published studies, this thesis contributes to an enhanced understanding of the cultural palaeoecology of insular societies. Chaoter 1 sets out the topics that will be covered in this thesis. Chapter 2 introduces the methods and principles that drive molluscan analysis; Chapter 3 outlines the natural history of the Western Isles; and Chapter 4 the archaeology. Previous work on molluscs from the islands are summarised in Chapter 5, and emergent themes identified. Chapter 6 presents the results of analyses of new non-marine molluscan assemblages from 9 sites, ranging in date from the Mesolithic to the Norse period. Comparative data collected from a transect of samples for modern snails are also presented, along with a statistical meta-analysis of the data. Chapter 7 presents the results of marine shell analyses from 4 sites, ranging in date from the Early Bronze Age to the Norse period. The results are discussed in terms of their regional and wider significance in Chapter 8, and the thesis concluded in Chapter 9. Studying non-marine and marine molluscs from a wide range of sites across the islands has made important contributions to the archaeology of the Western Isles. The movement of new species of snail into and across the islands emphasises the connectedness of prehistoric communities across wider social networks on the Atlantic coast of Europe. The study of non-marine molluscs and the use of statistical analysis contributes to a broader understanding of taphonomy and site formation processes. Combined analysis of marine and non-marine mollusc shells highlights the agricultural practices and land use of prehistoric and Norse farmers. Studies of larger marine shells indicate changing tastes at the time of increasing contact with the Norse diaspora.

Processes of culture contact have been approached in traditional studies on early empires through unilateral perspectives such as acculturation studies and World System theories. Over the past decades, however, a new scepticism of these dominant narratives has emerged. The Wadi Gaza area during the period of Egyptian New Kingdom imperialism provides a to-date little utilised analytical arena in which to explore the challenges and opportunities of a different approach. This research aims to critically examine the imperial encounter between Egypt and the Gaza area, revaluating its timeframe and changing nature, and highlighting differences from previous interpretations of Egyptian imperial narrative. I approach these issues using a conceptual framework based on postcolonial concepts of hybridisation and cultural fluidity, which sees contact between cultures as a constant negotiation. The aims are addressed through a multiscalar approach, focusing on the regional scale, first, and on two site-specific case studies, Tell el-cAjjul and Tell el-Farcah (South), then. I investigated these case studies through the analysis of their major “Egyptianizing” features alongside significant local material evidence. I took into account architecture, funerary customs, and pottery, examining the contribution of both cultures, Egyptian and Canaanite, in the creation of objects and practices. The results of this research demonstrate that a hybridisation perspective provides a new and more balanced account of the cultural dynamics resulting from the Egypto-Canaanite encounter and its negotiation. Liberated from the restraints of a literal interpretation of Egyptian sources, this nuanced interpretation casts new light on the material evidence, and provides fresh avenues for research on cultural encounters and early empires.

As the renewable energy sector in Scotland, particularly in the past fifteen years, onshore wind, has grown, so have landscape impacts and impacts on the settings of heritage assets – on how they are perceived and experienced in their landscape context. Such non-physical impacts, characterised in archaeology as ‘indirect’, nonetheless affect the cultural fabric of society, and are linked with issues such as social tensions, tourism, local identities and political values. Moreover, setting impacts have been the subject of intense disagreement within the archaeological profession. This research aims to critically examine the concept of setting, the effectiveness of various related processes and of recent policy and practice, the causes of tension and disagreement, and the value of strategies proposed to redress the balance where setting impacts have been deemed insufficient to prevent development. The ultimate aim in doing this is to consider potential future directions. I approach these issues using a conceptual framework based on perceptual experience, values and ethics, which sees these as relational in nature and broadly supports a discourse of sustainability to which the cultural dimension is fundamental. The aims are addressed through a focus on three case studies, dating between 2004 and 2009: all windfarm proposals culminating in public inquiries, in Orkney, Caithness and Clydesdale. The time elapsed enables reflection both grounded in hindsight and taking account of subsequent changes; and in the cases of consented and built developments, additional insight into actual, as opposed to potential, impacts that was unavailable during the case study period to the actors involved. I investigated the case studies through public inquiry reports, landscape visualisations and setting assessments, other available online and documentary sources, fieldtrips and informal qualitative interviews. I found that the concept of setting has evolved over the past decade, in part as a result of testing through onshore wind energy developments, and the work of heritage professionals of all kinds, whose different roles and remits have contributed to strong differences of opinion. Setting also must be differentiated from landscape impacts and from more general windfarm opposition: it is fundamentally about the cultural significance of heritage assets as experienced by people, in the widest sense of the term. However, how people value and experience heritage sites in Scotland remains under-researched. I also found that this debate is interconnected with certain injustices, some of which are quite embedded, and that one of the most significant of these was the disparity between levels of investment in the heritage resource in different areas of Scotland, which can be self-perpetuating. I argue that development-related processes can contribute positively to this situation, through for example more effective use of the data and analysis so generated, greater involvement of local communities, and the development of research-based principles and guidance to facilitate greater innovation and flexibility in relation to compensatory mitigation measures.

Archaeological investigations of pre-colonial contacts in Sicily and Sardinia during the Middle and Late Bronze Age (15th – 10th centuries BC) often represent such encounters as both systematic and highly influential in the development of islander societies. Discussions of the involvement and impact of Aegeans and Cypriots dominate these investigations of cultural encounters. Such studies typically discuss networks of exchange from the extrainsular perspective, focussing on trade routes and provenience analyses, which almost always involve mobile foreigners coming to these islands to establish economic relationships with passive, receptive, and stationary islanders. The dominance of these ‘acculturation’ interpretations, while understandable within the context of the history of Mediterranean archaeology, is nonetheless unfortunate, as eastern Mediterranean material consistently represents only a small fraction of material assemblages throughout the region. Often it is assumed that foreigners controlled such contacts, based on the assumption that members of a more complex society will dominate those of a simpler one. There seems to be little room, however, for interpretations which involve mobile, enterprising or self-aware Sicilians and Sardinians during this timeframe, even when it is recognised that trade networks (e.g. of Sardinian obsidian) had existed in the region since the Neolithic period. Similarly, local motivations for establishing or maintaining contacts are often ignored. My thesis employs a postcolonial perspective, even though dealing with a precolonial period. Postcolonial archaeology, however, need not be exclusively concerned with re-analysing the archaeology of colonisation, but also re-assessing the scholarship which is a by-product of the colonialist representations, such as the over-representation of contacts with eastern Mediterranean peoples, and their supposed cultural superiority. Instead, three themes of representation are employed: (1) the investigation of materials from a local, consumption-based perspective; (2) the abandonment of simplistic dualist paradigms; and (3) the recognition of the hybrid productions and practices which result from these material connections. These perspectives give a more accurate assessment of local agency, illuminate the involvement of other possible participants in the central Mediterranean, and analyse how the consumption of foreign and hybrid materials affected the development and promotion of islander identities. There is an active separation made between the presence of foreign objects and that of foreign peoples, and as a result, the cultural encounters described are interpreted as instances of object diasporas, rather than physical encounters.

This thesis concerns the manner in which the monumental remains of earlier human activity within the Irish landscape were perceived and investigated with meaning and value during the early historic period. This period is defined here as comprising the sixth to eleventh centuries AD. That some monuments were regarded as significant during the early historic period is indicated by the prominence which they are accorded in epic literature and topographical lore, their recording in annalistic compilations as the sites of battles and assemblies, and their spatial proximity to - or even incorporation within - ecclesiastical or royal sites.