A contínua expansão populacional, aliada à concentração urbana e ao consumo exacerbado, causa problemas para as gerações atual e futura. À medida que o consumo cresce, aumentam o descarte dos resíduos sólidos e as dificuldades para administrá-lo. Tais resíduos, segundo as legislações vigentes, são tutelados pelo município e devem ser gerenciados adequadamente, com propostas efetivas de redução da geração, reciclagem e destinação final. De outra forma, agentes degradadores comprometem o meio ambiente e a vida útil dos aterros sanitários. Diante desse problema, o objetivo da pesquisa foi um estudo participativo propondo a implantação de diretrizes sustentáveis para gestão integrada de resíduos sólidos em municípios de pequeno porte: uma pesquisa-ação em Alagoa Grande - PB. A metodologia envolveu a gestão pública e a comunidade. O estudo iniciou pela segregação dos resíduos orgânicos, na fonte geradora, para reciclagem pela compostagem e a coleta seletiva solidária e voluntária dos resíduos domésticos. A proposta de implantação da gestão dos resíduos sólidos em equipamentos públicos deu-se nas escolas, nos serviços de saúde, nos órgãos da administração, definindo-os como Ecopontos (composteiras e baias), e buscou praticar a coleta seletiva solidária, considerando desde a geração de resíduos até a sua destinação final. A coleta seletiva voluntária atendeu aos demais geradores em seus domicílios e equipamentos particulares. Foram utilizados instrumentos da educação ambiental, como oficinas de compostagem; seminários sobre coleta seletiva para capacitação dos gestores municipais e multiplicadores; tendo sido institucionalizados grupos de sustentação, os Atores da Sustentabilidade Ambiental – ASA – e fortalecida a promoção da saúde comunitária por intermédio dos Agentes de Saúde – AS. Contribuiu-se, também, para a implantação da associação de catadores SOLUZ, com programas de capacitação a seus membros, assim como para a criação da Lei Municipal nº 1.177/2012 e, ainda, para o estabelecimento de um ciclo de capacitação para os funcionários da infraestrutura e do apoio logístico municipal. Ao final do estudo, foi possível definir uma proposta à implantação de diretrizes sustentáveis em sistemas de gestão de resíduos sólidos, em municípios de pequeno porte. A educação ambiental foi a diretriz orientadora da mudança de hábitos de multiplicadores voltados para a segregação dos recicláveis orgânicos e inorgânicos e reciclagem. Nos órgãos públicos, os recicláveis orgânicos foram destinados para composteiras construídas com materiais descartados; e os inorgânicos, para as baias dos Ecopontos georreferenciados. Esses foram identificados em mapas de rotas da coleta seletiva solidária urbana monitorada e avaliados por processos educativos e relatórios de registro. Os mapas das rotas da coleta seletiva voluntária georrefenciadas nas zonas urbana e rural foram definidos por meio dos arruamentos dos domicílios. Os resultados da pesquisa-ação foram as ações desenvolvidas a partir da proposta de implantação. Elaborou-se, ao final, o planejamento da proposta de implantação da coleta seletiva voluntária, com o estudo do procedimento de monitoramento e avaliação também motivacional, e foi criado um protocolo modelo para elaboração e implantação de um Plano Municipal de Resíduos Sólidos com Diretrizes Sustentáveis para municípios de pequeno porte. / Global human population growth associated to urban concentration and consumerism have been causing damages to the environment as well as several issues for current and future generations: as consumption increases, solid wastes increase too, creating a wide array of issues relating its management. Today, in Brazil, according to the current laws, the government has the primary responsibility to manage solid wastes, and it should be handled with effective public policies in order to reduce generation, thus encouraging recycling and reuse, and finally, providing an adequate disposition to it. Otherwise degrading agents endanger the environment and the useful life of landfills. Therefore, this study aims to - by means of participatory study - implement sustainable guidelines for integrated solid waste management in small towns: action research in Alagoa Grande town, in the state of Paraíba - Northeast Region of Brazil. For that, the method applied have involved public administration and community. The study have began with the segregation of organic waste in its generating source, recycling and composting - solidarity and voluntary - selective gathering of household waste. The proposed implementation of solid waste management in public facilities: schools, health services, the management bodies, defining them as Ecopontos (composters and bays), sought to practice solidarity selective gathering, from its generating source to its final destination. Voluntary selective gathering met the other generators in its homes and personal equipment. On this research, we have used several ways of environmental education such as: workshops; seminars - about selective gathering intending to raise awareness on our govern representatives, multipliers and teams of sustainability - actors of environmental sustainability (in Portuguese ASA), and; promotion and strengthen of community health care by the Health agents (in Portuguese AS). Also, we have contributed for implementing the Association of Collectors, named SOLUZ, providing educational and capacity building programs, and writing the municipal bill nº. 1.177/2012, as well as an establishing the capacity cycle for the staff in the country, and also providing logistics support. We pointed out that environmental education was the main guideline, which leads to changing habits of multipliers on waste segregation and recycling. Public institutions usually sent organic recycling materials to composters, and inorganic materials, sent to bays from eco-dots geo-referenced. Ecopontos were identified in route maps from urban voluntary selective gathering - monitored and evaluated by motivational and educational processes and reports. The results of action research was the implementation of the proposed conduct; the planning of voluntary selective gathering, the studying and monitoring of the entire process and peridoci motivational assessment. At the end, it was created a model protocol to elaborate and drive the municipal plan of solid waste management, with sustainable guidelines for small towns.

Although grindstones - that is, pairs of stone implements used to grind, pound, pulverise or otherwise process intermediate materials - have been intensively studied by archaeologists in other parts of the world, in southern Africa to date they have received little attention. Despite a near-ubiquitous presence on Middle and Later Stone Age archaeological sites, their primary function in archaeological reconstructions has been as proxies for other behaviours. These include behavioural modernity; gender; particular plant types, such as geophytes/underground storage organs. This doctoral thesis interrogates grindstones with a view not only to establishing specific (rather than proxy) uses in the southern African archaeological record,but also as a means to explore the gathered side of hunter-gatherer lifeways, which have also historically been neglected. It does this by developing a methodological toolkit for grindstone analysis in southern Africa. Comparison of archaeological and historical literature from the southern African Grassland Biome and elsewhere suggests a tension between archaeological accounts which posit geophyte and mineral pigment grinding as a primary purpose for grindstones and ethnohistorical accounts suggesting that grass-processing was a staple of hunter-gatherer life. Finally, a corpus of putative grindstones from the site of Ha Makotoko in western Lesotho is typologically assessed and analysed for plant starches and phytoliths. It emerges that at this site, and in contrast to received wisdom, geophyte grinding was not extensive but by contrast, grass seed processing was practised. This belies models suggesting that C4 grass seeds were unlikely to have contributed to hunter-gatherer diets, and questions interpretations of grass 'bedding' as well as the distinction between 'forager' and 'farmer'. Most importantly, this thesis validates the idea that grindstone study is worthwhile, and should be integrated into wider lithic study in southern Africa as a matter of course.

The Internet and World Wide Web have become dominant newsgathering tools in a sholi period of time. While the body of research, particularly in the First World, has developed quickly along with the Web, many unanswered questions remain on how journalists in developing countries make use of the Internet for newsgathering purposes. This study combined social constructivist theory with the socio-organisational and cultural approaches to news production in order to critically investigate how journalists at The Post newspaper in Zambia relate to, and make use of, the Internet as a newsgathering resource, in the context of Third World conditions. The study critiqued technological detelminism perspectives on journalists' use of the new information technology. The technological determinism theory, which has largely been advanced by some scholars from the developed world, takes a celebratory approach to journalists' use of the Internet in the newsroom. Using qualitative semi-structured interviews and observations, the study established that while journalists at The Post acknowledged the lnternet's potential in news gathering, factors such as unreliable telecommunications infrastructure, poor Internet skills, lack of local content on the World Wide Web, and organisational and occupational demands inhibited the use of the Internet as a journalistic newsgathering resource. The study established further that online reporting is only a tool within the broader news gathering and production process; and in the case of The Post, it does not replace the traditional news gathering techniques used by journalists, particularly direct contacts with human sources. The respondents cited face-to-face interviews, a traditional means of newsgathering, as the main driving force in news gathering routines at the newspaper. However, although the respondents saw some mixed blessings in the Internet as a reporting tool, they also believed that the benefits outweighed the problems. / KMBT_363 / Adobe Acrobat 9.54 Paper Capture Plug-in

A contínua expansão populacional, aliada à concentração urbana e ao consumo exacerbado, causa problemas para as gerações atual e futura. À medida que o consumo cresce, aumentam o descarte dos resíduos sólidos e as dificuldades para administrá-lo. Tais resíduos, segundo as legislações vigentes, são tutelados pelo município e devem ser gerenciados adequadamente, com propostas efetivas de redução da geração, reciclagem e destinação final. De outra forma, agentes degradadores comprometem o meio ambiente e a vida útil dos aterros sanitários. Diante desse problema, o objetivo da pesquisa foi um estudo participativo propondo a implantação de diretrizes sustentáveis para gestão integrada de resíduos sólidos em municípios de pequeno porte: uma pesquisa-ação em Alagoa Grande - PB. A metodologia envolveu a gestão pública e a comunidade. O estudo iniciou pela segregação dos resíduos orgânicos, na fonte geradora, para reciclagem pela compostagem e a coleta seletiva solidária e voluntária dos resíduos domésticos. A proposta de implantação da gestão dos resíduos sólidos em equipamentos públicos deu-se nas escolas, nos serviços de saúde, nos órgãos da administração, definindo-os como Ecopontos (composteiras e baias), e buscou praticar a coleta seletiva solidária, considerando desde a geração de resíduos até a sua destinação final. A coleta seletiva voluntária atendeu aos demais geradores em seus domicílios e equipamentos particulares. Foram utilizados instrumentos da educação ambiental, como oficinas de compostagem; seminários sobre coleta seletiva para capacitação dos gestores municipais e multiplicadores; tendo sido institucionalizados grupos de sustentação, os Atores da Sustentabilidade Ambiental – ASA – e fortalecida a promoção da saúde comunitária por intermédio dos Agentes de Saúde – AS. Contribuiu-se, também, para a implantação da associação de catadores SOLUZ, com programas de capacitação a seus membros, assim como para a criação da Lei Municipal nº 1.177/2012 e, ainda, para o estabelecimento de um ciclo de capacitação para os funcionários da infraestrutura e do apoio logístico municipal. Ao final do estudo, foi possível definir uma proposta à implantação de diretrizes sustentáveis em sistemas de gestão de resíduos sólidos, em municípios de pequeno porte. A educação ambiental foi a diretriz orientadora da mudança de hábitos de multiplicadores voltados para a segregação dos recicláveis orgânicos e inorgânicos e reciclagem. Nos órgãos públicos, os recicláveis orgânicos foram destinados para composteiras construídas com materiais descartados; e os inorgânicos, para as baias dos Ecopontos georreferenciados. Esses foram identificados em mapas de rotas da coleta seletiva solidária urbana monitorada e avaliados por processos educativos e relatórios de registro. Os mapas das rotas da coleta seletiva voluntária georrefenciadas nas zonas urbana e rural foram definidos por meio dos arruamentos dos domicílios. Os resultados da pesquisa-ação foram as ações desenvolvidas a partir da proposta de implantação. Elaborou-se, ao final, o planejamento da proposta de implantação da coleta seletiva voluntária, com o estudo do procedimento de monitoramento e avaliação também motivacional, e foi criado um protocolo modelo para elaboração e implantação de um Plano Municipal de Resíduos Sólidos com Diretrizes Sustentáveis para municípios de pequeno porte. / Global human population growth associated to urban concentration and consumerism have been causing damages to the environment as well as several issues for current and future generations: as consumption increases, solid wastes increase too, creating a wide array of issues relating its management. Today, in Brazil, according to the current laws, the government has the primary responsibility to manage solid wastes, and it should be handled with effective public policies in order to reduce generation, thus encouraging recycling and reuse, and finally, providing an adequate disposition to it. Otherwise degrading agents endanger the environment and the useful life of landfills. Therefore, this study aims to - by means of participatory study - implement sustainable guidelines for integrated solid waste management in small towns: action research in Alagoa Grande town, in the state of Paraíba - Northeast Region of Brazil. For that, the method applied have involved public administration and community. The study have began with the segregation of organic waste in its generating source, recycling and composting - solidarity and voluntary - selective gathering of household waste. The proposed implementation of solid waste management in public facilities: schools, health services, the management bodies, defining them as Ecopontos (composters and bays), sought to practice solidarity selective gathering, from its generating source to its final destination. Voluntary selective gathering met the other generators in its homes and personal equipment. On this research, we have used several ways of environmental education such as: workshops; seminars - about selective gathering intending to raise awareness on our govern representatives, multipliers and teams of sustainability - actors of environmental sustainability (in Portuguese ASA), and; promotion and strengthen of community health care by the Health agents (in Portuguese AS). Also, we have contributed for implementing the Association of Collectors, named SOLUZ, providing educational and capacity building programs, and writing the municipal bill nº. 1.177/2012, as well as an establishing the capacity cycle for the staff in the country, and also providing logistics support. We pointed out that environmental education was the main guideline, which leads to changing habits of multipliers on waste segregation and recycling. Public institutions usually sent organic recycling materials to composters, and inorganic materials, sent to bays from eco-dots geo-referenced. Ecopontos were identified in route maps from urban voluntary selective gathering - monitored and evaluated by motivational and educational processes and reports. The results of action research was the implementation of the proposed conduct; the planning of voluntary selective gathering, the studying and monitoring of the entire process and peridoci motivational assessment. At the end, it was created a model protocol to elaborate and drive the municipal plan of solid waste management, with sustainable guidelines for small towns.

A contínua expansão populacional, aliada à concentração urbana e ao consumo exacerbado, causa problemas para as gerações atual e futura. À medida que o consumo cresce, aumentam o descarte dos resíduos sólidos e as dificuldades para administrá-lo. Tais resíduos, segundo as legislações vigentes, são tutelados pelo município e devem ser gerenciados adequadamente, com propostas efetivas de redução da geração, reciclagem e destinação final. De outra forma, agentes degradadores comprometem o meio ambiente e a vida útil dos aterros sanitários. Diante desse problema, o objetivo da pesquisa foi um estudo participativo propondo a implantação de diretrizes sustentáveis para gestão integrada de resíduos sólidos em municípios de pequeno porte: uma pesquisa-ação em Alagoa Grande - PB. A metodologia envolveu a gestão pública e a comunidade. O estudo iniciou pela segregação dos resíduos orgânicos, na fonte geradora, para reciclagem pela compostagem e a coleta seletiva solidária e voluntária dos resíduos domésticos. A proposta de implantação da gestão dos resíduos sólidos em equipamentos públicos deu-se nas escolas, nos serviços de saúde, nos órgãos da administração, definindo-os como Ecopontos (composteiras e baias), e buscou praticar a coleta seletiva solidária, considerando desde a geração de resíduos até a sua destinação final. A coleta seletiva voluntária atendeu aos demais geradores em seus domicílios e equipamentos particulares. Foram utilizados instrumentos da educação ambiental, como oficinas de compostagem; seminários sobre coleta seletiva para capacitação dos gestores municipais e multiplicadores; tendo sido institucionalizados grupos de sustentação, os Atores da Sustentabilidade Ambiental – ASA – e fortalecida a promoção da saúde comunitária por intermédio dos Agentes de Saúde – AS. Contribuiu-se, também, para a implantação da associação de catadores SOLUZ, com programas de capacitação a seus membros, assim como para a criação da Lei Municipal nº 1.177/2012 e, ainda, para o estabelecimento de um ciclo de capacitação para os funcionários da infraestrutura e do apoio logístico municipal. Ao final do estudo, foi possível definir uma proposta à implantação de diretrizes sustentáveis em sistemas de gestão de resíduos sólidos, em municípios de pequeno porte. A educação ambiental foi a diretriz orientadora da mudança de hábitos de multiplicadores voltados para a segregação dos recicláveis orgânicos e inorgânicos e reciclagem. Nos órgãos públicos, os recicláveis orgânicos foram destinados para composteiras construídas com materiais descartados; e os inorgânicos, para as baias dos Ecopontos georreferenciados. Esses foram identificados em mapas de rotas da coleta seletiva solidária urbana monitorada e avaliados por processos educativos e relatórios de registro. Os mapas das rotas da coleta seletiva voluntária georrefenciadas nas zonas urbana e rural foram definidos por meio dos arruamentos dos domicílios. Os resultados da pesquisa-ação foram as ações desenvolvidas a partir da proposta de implantação. Elaborou-se, ao final, o planejamento da proposta de implantação da coleta seletiva voluntária, com o estudo do procedimento de monitoramento e avaliação também motivacional, e foi criado um protocolo modelo para elaboração e implantação de um Plano Municipal de Resíduos Sólidos com Diretrizes Sustentáveis para municípios de pequeno porte. / Global human population growth associated to urban concentration and consumerism have been causing damages to the environment as well as several issues for current and future generations: as consumption increases, solid wastes increase too, creating a wide array of issues relating its management. Today, in Brazil, according to the current laws, the government has the primary responsibility to manage solid wastes, and it should be handled with effective public policies in order to reduce generation, thus encouraging recycling and reuse, and finally, providing an adequate disposition to it. Otherwise degrading agents endanger the environment and the useful life of landfills. Therefore, this study aims to - by means of participatory study - implement sustainable guidelines for integrated solid waste management in small towns: action research in Alagoa Grande town, in the state of Paraíba - Northeast Region of Brazil. For that, the method applied have involved public administration and community. The study have began with the segregation of organic waste in its generating source, recycling and composting - solidarity and voluntary - selective gathering of household waste. The proposed implementation of solid waste management in public facilities: schools, health services, the management bodies, defining them as Ecopontos (composters and bays), sought to practice solidarity selective gathering, from its generating source to its final destination. Voluntary selective gathering met the other generators in its homes and personal equipment. On this research, we have used several ways of environmental education such as: workshops; seminars - about selective gathering intending to raise awareness on our govern representatives, multipliers and teams of sustainability - actors of environmental sustainability (in Portuguese ASA), and; promotion and strengthen of community health care by the Health agents (in Portuguese AS). Also, we have contributed for implementing the Association of Collectors, named SOLUZ, providing educational and capacity building programs, and writing the municipal bill nº. 1.177/2012, as well as an establishing the capacity cycle for the staff in the country, and also providing logistics support. We pointed out that environmental education was the main guideline, which leads to changing habits of multipliers on waste segregation and recycling. Public institutions usually sent organic recycling materials to composters, and inorganic materials, sent to bays from eco-dots geo-referenced. Ecopontos were identified in route maps from urban voluntary selective gathering - monitored and evaluated by motivational and educational processes and reports. The results of action research was the implementation of the proposed conduct; the planning of voluntary selective gathering, the studying and monitoring of the entire process and peridoci motivational assessment. At the end, it was created a model protocol to elaborate and drive the municipal plan of solid waste management, with sustainable guidelines for small towns.

Esta dissertação discute o contexto regional de ocupação das populações sambaquieiras do litoral sul do Estado de Santa Catarina em uma área lagunar de formação holocênica que, quando do máximo transgressivo do nível médio marinho, teria tomado a conformação de uma grande baía, com recortes microambientais variados e diversas formações insulares, denominada aqui como Paleolaguna de Santa Marta. Por meio de pesquisas bibliográficas, visitas de campo, levantamentos regionais extensivos, prospecções intensivas e intervenções arqueológicas, foi confeccionado um cadastro contendo informações de todos os sítios conhecidos na área (mais de 90 sambaquis, além de sítios relacionados aos grupos Guarani e Je do Sul), incluindo localização, implantação, estrutura estratigráfica, composição e estado de preservação, tendo-se também datado vários deles. Estes dados propiciaram uma análise de distribuição espacial e cronológica deste conjunto de sambaquis a partir de um enfoque regional, possibilitando inferências acerca do sistema de ocupação e territorialidade das populações pescadoras-caçadoras-coletoras que ali habitaram em um período compreendido entre 7000 e 1000 anos AP. / This dissertation discusses the settlement system of the sambaqui mounbuilders from the southern shores of Santa Catarina between 7000 and 1000 years BP, focusing in a regional level. The lagoonal study area has formerly been an open bay environment by the time of the transgressive maximum sea level, with a wider variety of micro-environmental settings and internal islands. By means of intensive field survey and systematic site intervening, a catalog of sites has been compiled with information on more than 90 sambaquis therein recorded so far (plus a number of later Guarani and southern Je sites), that includes site location and environmental setting, stratigraphy and composition, as well as their preservation conditions. A chronological framework has been established by dating several of these mounds, allowing the modeling of settlement evolution and territorial patterns of this long lasting, transitional, fisher-gatherer society.

The thesis focuses on application of theory of software testing in data warehousing area. The main goal of the thesis is an introduction of selected theory of software testing and analogical use of the theory in data warehousing environment. Part of the main goal is an introduction of architectonic model of testing process and later on focusing on part of testing which is problematic in data warehousing area. Partial goal of the thesis is validation of problematic part of the model using practical scenario. This partial goal is divided into two parts. First part focuses on requirements gathering and categorizing their priority. Second part focuses on demonstrating how project requirements, available resources and Teradata specific environment manipulate with the testing process. Theoretical part summarizes selected theory of software testing which is later applied in the area of data warehouse testing. The chapter introduces phases of data warehouse testing and specific goals of each testing phase. Chapter also describes model FURPS which is used to classify software quality dimensions a selected methods of requirements priority classification. An architectural model of testing process and its entities are described in the second part of theory. The theory then focuses on problematic part of the model which is requirements gathering and classification of their priority and demonstrates the influence of time, quality requirements and available resources on the overall process of testing. Practical part introduces a real-life scenario which demonstrates an application of described theory, namely requirements gathering, classification of requirements priorities and assigning dimensions of quality. The next part demonstrates the influence of available resources and requirements on the scope of testing. The outcome of the practical part of the thesis is that requirements gathering and classification of their priorities allows us to classify and sort scope of testing into logical and clear units, assign roles and their responsibilities and flexibly react on changes of project requirements. The thesis also points out that there are risks associated with changes of scope and emphasizes on the need of their evaluation.

This diploma thesis deals with the requirements engineering as one of the key areas of development of software applications. By requirements prospective users express their needs and goals which shall be achieved using the developed application. The correctness and completeness of the requirements is thus critical for the success of any software project. The main objective of this dissertation is determination of steps which must be made to improve quality of requirements on real software project in Czech financial institution. This is achieved by analysis of current requirements development process as well as by analysis of the sample of specific requirements. One part of the carried out analysis focuses also on the revision of actual settings of Atlassian JIRA application which is used for requirements management. Based on the analysis some crucial shortcomings are identified and steps for their elimination are introduced. This includes, inter alia, manual of how to specify correct requirements and checklists for different actors who work with requirements. The theoretical part gives a comprehensive overview of selected techniques and practices which are applicable for requirements gathering and analysis. Every mentioned technique is then evaluated from the perspective of its usability in the environment of large Czech bank. This overview can be useful both for junior analytics as a collection of best practices and for senior analytics as an overview of possible areas for their professional development.

This diploma thesis results from the need for Competitive Intelligence as a system for gathering, analyzing and communicating information about competitors to obtain a competitive advantage. The work attempts to analyze current knowledge gathering processes as well as an application of that information for strategic decision making inside the XXX corporation. After definition of basic terms several different methods and approaches to Competitive Intelligence are described. These methods are reviewed and those that suit XXX requirements best are picked up afterwards. In this thesis there are also identified some of the crucial information sources, to begin with public and commercial databases and catalogues, business publications, online sources, personal knowledge, but also data-mining and other sophisticated methods. The main contribution of this work is the proposal of Competitive Intelligence system itself, empathising an effective functionality that solves identified issues, and is based on our theoretical resources and on actual competence of the company.

Bibliography: pages 282-299. / Investigations in the archaeologically unexplored region of Namaqualand show that it was unoccupied for much of the terminal Pleistocene and early Holocene. Marginally more favourable climatic conditions circa 2000 BP encouraged re-occupation of the region. It would appear that Khoe-speaking hunter-gatherers with livestock and pottery first entered Namaqualand along the Orange River before moving southward along the Atlantic coast. Both sheep and pottery are present at /Ai tomas in the Richtersveld and Spoeg River Cave on the coast, some 1900 years ago. This is strong evidence for a western route of Khoekhoen dispersal into southern Africa and invalidates one of the hypotheses proposed by Elphick in 1972. Domestic stock was initially only a minor addition to the economy and these early inhabitants of the region continued utilising wild plant foods and game, slaughtering their domestic stock only infrequently. It is proposed that hunter-gatherer society may undergo the structural changes necessary to become pastoralists and that there is evidence for this in the archaeological record from Namaqualand during the period 1900 to 1300 BP. The historical and ethnographic records relating to the Little Namaqua Khoekhoen indicates that gender conflict structured much of the lives of the historical population and it is postulated that the pre-colonial period was also characterised by changing gender relations. Central to this thesis is a consideration of the active role of material culture in negotiating relations between various interest groups within a society as well as structuring relations between 'ethnic' groups. Certain material culture items are identified which were used to negotiate and structure gender relations. The archaeological material from Namaqualand are therefore analysed in order to determine changing social relations through time. It is concluded that ethnic distinctions between pastoralist groups and hunter-gatherers in Namaqualand became more stressed with the arrival of the Dutch as a consequence of increasing competition for resources. The collapse of Namaqua Khoekhoen society was brought about as a result of trading excess stock for luxury items rather than in establishing stock associations. This thesis proposes that material culture from archaeological excavations be analysed for evidence of the structuring of within-group relations and that material cultural changes dating to within the last 2000 years should not automatically be ascribed to the presence of two 'ethnic' groups.