Although it is accepted that Phoenician colonization occurred on Sardinia by the 9th century B.C., it is possible that contact between Sardinia‟s indigenous population and the Levantine region occurred in the Late Bronze Age (LBA). Eastern LBA goods found on the island are copper oxhide ingots and Aegean pottery. Previously, it has been suggested that Mycenaeans were responsible for bringing the eastern goods to Sardinia, but the presence of Aegean pottery shards does not confirm the presence of Mycenaean tradesmen. Also, scholars of LBA trade have explained the paucity of evidence for a Mycenaean merchant fleet. Interpretations of two LBA shipwrecks, Cape Gelidonya and Uluburun, indicate that eastern Mediterranean merchants of Cypriot or Syro-Canaanite origin, transported large quantities of oxhide ingots from the Levant towards the west. It remains possible that similar itinerant merchants conducted ventures bringing eastern goods to Sardinia while exploring the western Mediterranean. Trade in eastern goods may have stimulated the advancement that occurred in Nuragic culture in the LBA, resulting in the emergence of an elite social stratum in the Nuragic society. Archaeological evidence, such as elitist burials and increasingly complex architecture, supports the idea of cultural change due to internal competition. This „peer-polity‟ effect may have been incited because of limited accessibility to the exotic eastern goods and the „ownership‟ to the rights of this exchange.

The Udabno Project is an archaeological fieldwork in Eastern Georgia which includes three settlements from ca. 11th 10th century BC (Udabno I, II and III). The project aims to provide information about the settlement of this period of time. Extensive surveys including geomagnetic prospection took place before the excavations and these are all reveal proto-urban settlement structures. In this project, one of the most important investigations is the pit dwellings, which are located in the middle of the settlement. The primary goal of this thesis is to reveal the construction process of those pit dwelling, House D, at Iron Age Udabno III by studying the excavation reports in order to be able to understand Udabno within its chronological and geographical context as well as shed light on the societal structure.

This thesis examines Phrygian cultic sites in Western Phrygia from the perspective of landscape using a range of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) analyses. More specifically, it explores spatial relationships between these cultic sites and the regional geographical context with reference to certain environmental and cultural parameters. These include topography, geology, and distance to settlements, hilltop sites, and ancient roads. A total of 30 Phrygian cultic sites form the primary archaeological evidence. Secondary archaeological evidence covers a range of mound settlements and hilltop sites associated with Phrygian culture. The study heavily relies on the readily available archaeological site data from related publications and recent surveys in the region. Geographic datasets used include ASTER Global DEM and derived surfaces, as well as digital geological and historical maps. This study contributes to our understanding of Phrygian cultic sites by revealing certain patterns as to their locations. It also brings all the available site data from Western Phrygia together for the first time. Ultimately, it suggests that the &ldquo / highlandscapes&rdquo / of Phrygia with spectacular geological formations could have played a crucial role on the cultic site locations.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2009. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 191-218).

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Archaeomagnetism is an area of research that utilises the magnetic properties of archaeological materials to date past human activity. This research aimed to use the evidence of past geomagnetism, as recorded by archaeological and geological materials, to identify and characterise short timescale changes in the Earth¿s magnetic field. This contribution to the discipline focused on the first millennium BC, as there is evidence that during this time the Earth¿s magnetic field experienced rapid changes in direction. This work focused on an established weakness in archaeomagnetic studies, i.e. the application of archaeological information to assign a date range to the magnetic directions. The date ranges for 232 magnetic directions from 98 Iron Age sites were reviewed and a programme of fieldwork produced 25 new magnetic directions from 11 Iron Age sites across Britain. The approach developed in this thesis has made significant improvements to the data examined, which represent the prehistoric section of the British secular variation curve (SVC). These data have been incorporated into the British archaeomagnetic dataset that now comprises over 1000 magnetic directions and will be used to generate future British SVCs. The potential of the near continuous records of geomagnetic secular variation from British lake sediment sequences to SVCs was explored. This showed that these sediments have recorded the relative changes in the Earth¿s magnetic field but the dating and method of constructing the British master curve requires revision. As SVCs are predominately used as calibration curves for archaeomagnetic dating, this work provides a foundation for a revised and extended British SVC. This revision would be to the mutual benefit of studies in archaeology and archaeomagnetism, as the latter could potentially enable highresolution dating of Iron Age material, providing a viable alternative to radiocarbon dating.

No description available.

Picture stones were produced on the island of Gotland during the Iron Age, about 100-1150 AD. In this dissertation it has been made clear that biographical- and pre-iconographic perspectives enables new understandings of the stones. The wave-shaped cist stones, about 30 of the nearly 500 picture stones, were clearly produced as different from the axe- or mushroom-shaped large- and dwarf stones. This has been shown by their difference in shape, size and the frequency and placement of motifs. Reuses of cist stones does however concur with the other stones and suggest they were used for the same reasons and purposes. In this dissertation it has also been made clear that there is no concrete evidence that the cist stones were erected as cists constructions, especially for women or used for offerings. The term “small wave-shaped” picture stones has therefore been introduced as a substitute.

No description available.

The aim of this thesis has been to investigate and interpret late Iron Ageand Early Medieval traces of non-ferrous metalworking on the islandGotland, Sweden. Gotland was not, based on the archaeological record, anintegrated part of the common Scandinavian culture. Instead a local,endemic cultural expression had developed; a seclusion which lasted forcenturies despite the islands central position in the Baltic Sea. In thepast, key elements for the understanding of local settlement- and burialpractices as well as the local material culture were mainly recovered andreported by local farmers. A specific category of such finds – so-called‘bronze slag’ is discussed and partly reinterpreted in the first study ofthis thesis. Two further studies treat different aspects of metalworkingand metalworkers – one discusses common archaeological notions ofScandinavian workshops, production sites and metalworkers from a criticalperspective while the other mainly focuses on the Gotlandic finds frommetal-detector surveys carried out over the last 35 years. Based on whereand to which extent, both from a quantitative and a qualitative point ofview, these finds occur a hierarchical classification into four sub groupsis presented – ordinary farm sites with traces of non-ferrous metalworking,workshop sites, potential workshop sites and last, extrovert harboursettlements. A fourth study presents an attempt to evaluate the usefulnessof magnetometry in delimiting extant traces of high-temperature crafts,such as metalworking. The last study of the thesis presents an attempt touse trace elements analysis of skeletal lead in human bone to identifypotential non-ferrous metalworkers. As the wearing of endemic Gotlandic jewellery appears to have been centralin the manifestation of the local identity it is argued that themetalworking artisans played a crucial role in defining how this identitywas signalled and displayed via the jewellery and dress-related metalobjects. It is further suggested that these artisans might have played animportant role in upholding the local economy before the advent of localminting. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following paper was unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 5: Manuscript.</p>