Few lithic analyses have been conducted or published on collections from Mount Rainier National Park (MORA). This study's lithic debitage analysis, and investigation of hunter-gatherer technological organization through time, contributes to the knowledge base and understanding of how hunter-gatherers used subalpine environments in MORA. The debitage sample is from archaeological excavations between 2005 and 2007 at a Buck Lake Site (45PI438) activity area in the subalpine environmental zone. Two cultural components were examined: the pre-Mount St. Helens Yn tephra component (before 3500 RCYBP) is thought to represent a forager-like mobility strategy and the post-Mount St. Helens Yn tephra component (after 3500 RCYBP) is thought to represent a collector-like strategy. Expectations theoretically grounded in hunter-gatherer mobility, tool design, raw material procurement, site function, and tool function were developed and tested. Results suggest that hunter-gatherers at Buck Lake relied on and maintained small, lightweight, transported bifaces made of nonlocal raw material regardless of expected changes in mobility strategy through time. For both foragers and collectors at Buck Lake, similar lithic raw material availability, terrain, and seasonality constraints and a common resource acquisition goal and overlapping site function resulted in similar hunter-gatherer technological organization strategies. Slight differences between the cultural components include: the use of more local igneous raw material in the forager-like component, the use of a more expedient technology in the collector-like cultural component, and smaller size debitage in the forager-like component. The use of expedient bipolar technology in both cultural components is possible, but only partially supported. Evidence of bipolar technology would suggest that hunter-gatherers were conserving nonlocal CCS by using the bipolar technique on exhausted transported tools or cached cores to produce expedient flakes used for small-game hunting and processing. Further research for the Buck Lake site should include: the sourcing of raw material; conducting experimental lithic reduction on toolstone found at Buck Lake to produce comparative debitage specimens; and increasing the lithic analysis sample size to include debitage recovered from 2008-2009 excavations and other artifact types.

As the world seeks to become less reliant on fossil fuels and use more electric energy instead new possibilities for development of agricultural implements opens. Major tractor manufacturers have recently announced tractors with over tenfold increases in electrical power. This promises to be the next step in lowering the reliance on fossil fuels in a crucial, carbon-intensive, sector. A new type of connector allows for standardizing connections, however, the implements taking advantage of this electrical power are still lagging. This thesis seeks to understand what implications this increase in electrical power has for the development of agricultural implements. This is done through a case study at a major agricultural implement manufacturer, following the development of a prototype electric cultivator tool fitted to a seed drill. The first question answered was which requirements impact electrified agricultural implements, and the second was what possibilities the different proposed electrical systems allow for. The knowledge was then applied to the creation of the final prototype. Throughout the development, it was found that while the electric technology allowed for much greater control, it came at a higher cost and requires more careful design. The trade-off between speed, force, and cost was at the centre of the development process. More development will be needed for motor controls and environmental exposure concerns such as vibrations, mechanical shocks, water ingress, etc. The study helps further understand the implications of electrification on agricultural implements' development. This further understanding will help in the design of a more efficient, user-friendly and less polluting implement of the future.

This study aims to determine whether current and past research on the Badarian culture of early Egypt accurately reflects the evidence uncovered in the past and the evaluation of the excavation reports by the early excavators. An archaeological re-evaluation of the Badarian culture and relevant sites is presented in the introduction. Inter-regional development of the Badarian is crucial to placing the Badarian in the temporal ladder of the predynastic cultures, leading up the formation of the dynastic era of Ancient Egypt. The following thesis is not meant to be a definitive answer on the origins and placement of the Badarian people in the Predynastic hierarchy of ancient Egypt, but one of its aims is to stimulate discussion and offer alternatives to the narrative of the Badarian culture. A set of outcomes is presented to test all hypotheses. Research questions are discussed to determine whether the Badarian culture is a regional phenomenon restricted to a small area around the Badari-Mostagedda-Matmar region, or as a wider inter-regional variable carrying on into the later Nagada cultures. To reach a hypothesis, the chronology of the Badarian is analysed, in-depth study of the original excavation reports and later research on the Badarian question. An important facet of this study is a literature review of the Badarian culture, past and present. The Badarian culture had always been a subject of speculation, especially in terms of its chronology and regional development. There is no consensus on the chronology of dispersion out of the desert to the Nile Valley, as well as areas north and south of the Nile Valley. It is important to establish the concept of an agronomic sedentary lifestyle by the Badarian, and to re-evaluate the evidence for the long-standing idea that the Badarian was in fact the first farmers of the Nile Valley, also in terms of their perceived exchange and trade networks. / Biblical and Ancient Studies / D. Litt. et Phil. (Ancient Near Eastern Studies)

Discontinous regulation, PLC control system, Programmable controller, Temperature control using Peltier´s module.

Family house, security system, wireless communication, IQRF, RSA, central control unit, SPI, I2C, glass break sensors, motion sensors, magnetic contact sensors, graphic displey, LCD displey, microcontroler, SIM900, 24FJ256GB106, EA DOGM106, eDIPTFT43-A.