Abstract The dissertation examines the settlement and interactions of the Late Iron Age communities of northern Finland by focusing on the archaeological sites and finds documented in the regions of Northern Ostrobothnia and Kainuu. The point of departure for the study is to understand the data from a local point of view as in the previous evaluations the hunter-gatherer population inhabiting the area has been overlooked with most of the discussions revolving around the peasant influence arriving from southwestern Finland and Karelia. Partially for this reason, the period in question has appeared problematic and many questions regarding the settlement remain unadressed. The reason for the poor research situation articulates with the problems related to the archaeologica remains. Most of the material must be classified as so-called stray finds or archaeological objects to which no context can be determined without excavations taking place. These stray finds comprise the most significant portion of the available data, as besides them only a few burials, dwelling sites or other feasible remains are documented in Northern Ostrobothnia and Kainuu. In spite of this, the research interest towards these finds has been relatively minor until recent years. The research questions are approached via three case studies, which represent stray finds that were excavated during the research process of the dissertation. These sites are addressed by taking into consideration their form, function and dating as well as examining their archaeological context on a borader geographical scale. In addition to the case studies, the dissertation considers previously known sites and finds in the research area and elsewhere in the interior and northern Fennoscandia. Based on the study, it is argued that several stray finds are associated with burial sites, dwellings and other indicators of settlement whose formation process has likely been affected by local traditions and subsistence as well as contacts and interactions with other Iron Age communities. / Tiivistelmä Tutkimus tarkastelee Pohjois-Suomen myöhäisrautakautista asutusta ja väestön vuorovaikutussuhteita Pohjois-Pohjanmaan ja Kainuun maakuntien alueelta tunnettujen löytöjen ja kohteiden valossa. Tutkimuksen keskeisimpänä lähtökohtana on näiden teemojen hahmottaminen paikallisesta näkökulmasta, sillä monissa aikaisemmissa tulkinnoissa alueella asunut metsästäjä-keräilijäväestö on jäänyt kohtalaisen vähäiselle huomiolle keskustelujen keskittyessä Lounais-Suomesta ja Karjalasta tulleeseen talonpoikaisvaikutukseen. Osittain tästä syystä kyseinen aikakausi on pitkään näyttäytynyt ongelmallisena, eikä moniin alueen asutusta koskevaan kysymykseen ole voitu vastata. Syy myöhäisen rautakauden heikkoon tutkimustilanteeseen niveltyy arkeologiseen aineistoon liittyvään problematiikkaan. Valtaosa tutkimusalueelta talletetusta materiaalista on luettava niin kutsutuiksi irtolöydöiksi, eli arkeologisiksi esinelöydöiksi, jolle ei ilman kenttätutkimuksia ole mahdollista määrittää tarkkaa löytöyhteyttä. Irtolöydöt muodostavat merkittävän aineistokokonaisuuden, sillä niiden lisäksi Pohjois-Pohjanmaalta ja Kainuusta tunnetaan ainoastaan muutamia myöhäisrautakautisia asuinpaikkoja, hautoja tai muita arkeologisia kohteita. Tästä huolimatta, niihin kohdistunut tutkimuksellinen mielenkiinto on viimevuosiin saakka ollut pääosin vähäistä. Väitöskirja lähestyy aineistoa kolmen tapaustutkimuksen kautta. Tapaustutkimukset koostuvat kaivauksin tutkituista irtolöytökohteista sekä niiden lähiympäristön sekä laajemman arkeologisen kontekstin havainnoinnista. Kaivauksin tutkittujen kohteiden lisäksi tutkimuksessa tarkastellaan myös muuta myöhäiselle rautakaudelle ajoittuvaa aineistoa niin tutkimusalueella kuin sen lähialueilla. Tutkimuksen perusteella useat irtolöydöt voidaan liittää hautoihin, asuinpaikkoihin tai muihin asutuksesta kertoviin muinaisjäännöksiin, joiden muodostumisprosessiin ovat vaikuttaneet niin paikalliset traditiot ja elinkeinot kuin yhteydet ja vuorovaikutus muiden rautakautisten yhteisöjen kanssa.

This thesis investigates Iberian communities in central Hispania Citerior during the Roman Republic. I demonstrate the usefulness of an actor-network approach for understanding a topic characterised by scarce archaeological datasets. This approach is not intended to create a new narrative for Roman Provincial Studies but instead allows us to ask new questions: what was at stake for these communities? What was of interest to the Iberians? How did things happen? Iberians lived primarily in small, often fortified settlements in elevated locations, although some larger settlements are known and during the Republic many sites were abandoned for new locations on flatter ground. I find that throughout the period settlements were often clustered, creating communities distributed in small groups of sites. These Iberian groups grew versatile staple crops in a variety of locations but may have tailored additional crops to regional environmental conditions. I consider the potential for collaboration in the autumn ploughing and conclude that any such collaboration must have relied on dense and wide relationships given changing patterns of variability in rainfall. I show differences within coin circulation that suggest Iberian coins were part of distinct sets of relationships. I also test the ability of carts to pass over various long-distances routes and find that some coins were bound up in the same assemblages as cart transport. The thesis positions the interface between all these different assemblages as crucial to further work on these communities.

The major factors which influenced the settlement system of the late prehistoric Nuxalk of the Bella Coola valley are examined in this study. Detailed data on settlement, subsistence, environment and the socio-political and socio-economic worlds of the Nuxalk are presented. Ethnographic, ethnohistoric, archaeological and environmental data have been compiled for this purpose. The theoretical approach applied in this thesis differs from other comparable studies on the Northwest Coast. Many studies are concerned only with the relationship between energy gains and settlement. In this study the potential determinants of settlement patterns are compiled from both the natural and cultural environment of the Nuxalk. Each determinant is examined within a cultural framework that would have been relevant to the Bella Coola valley Nuxalk. The nature of the analyses and methodology employed here also sets this study apart from other settlement studies. Salmon-settlement studies investigate the importance of a single species at several sites, while site catchment studies concentrate on the relative importance of several resources at a single site. Here, several different sites are compared according to eight different determinants (the presence of salmon, other aquatic resources, plant resource, animal resources, mineral resources, trade, shelter from the elements and protection from raiding); each determinant is measured in a different manner according to the nature of the data set. A rank order of each village location is produced according to its accessibility to each determinant analysed. From this, an overall ranking of settlements which combines all the determinants is generated. The Nuxalk results are then compared to the settlement systems of other Northwest Coast groups, as a means of identifying more general statements concerning the pre-contact settlement systems of Northwest Coast Native peoples. Results indicate that the presence of a range of food resources, especially plants and fish, was among the most important criteria for a preferred settlement location in the Bella Cool a valley. The presence of a variety of other resources and cultural attributes was the minimum requirement of a suitable Nuxalk village location. Among other coastal groups, preferred village sites were those which offered the greatest number of resources from a single location. In the instances where primary villages were situated in areas that did not offer a range of resources, other (cultural) factors seem to have influenced the decision to settle in a specific location. Additionally, it is hoped that this study contributes to the field of ecological anthropology by offering new methods for quantifying economically important plants. Previously uncollected information from Nuxalk elders adds to the body of knowledge concerning land use among the Nuxalk people specifically and the peoples of the Northwest Coast in general. / Arts, Faculty of / Anthropology, Department of / Graduate

Denna studie undersöker relationen mellan landskap, miljö och placeringen av boplatser från neolitikum och bronsålder i Ystadområdet. Uppsatsen åstadkommer detta genom maximal entropi modellering av boplatsernas placering i relation till flera variabler i landskapet och miljön. Uppsatsens teoretiska ramverk utgår från en antagen koppling mellan variabler i miljön och placeringen av boplatser. Resultatet av modelleringen översätts till tabeller som visar vilka variabler i miljön och landskapet som är viktiga i relation till placeringen av boplatser under dessa perioder, och till kartor som visar vilka delar av Ystadområdet som har rätt kombination av dessa variabler. Dessa används sedan för att besvara frågeställningarna. Resultaten av studien visar en stark koppling mellan kvartärsjordarten kärrtorv och närvaron av boplatser. Variablerna som föredrogs vid placeringen av boplatser visar också en viss variation mellan tidsperioderna. Utöver detta bedömdes modellen av historisk miljö från Ystadprojektet vara användbar. / This study examines the relationship between landscape, environment, and the placement of settlements during the neolithic and bronze age periods in the Ystad area. The study accomplishes this through maximal entropy modeling of the placement of settlements in relation to several variables in the landscape and environment. The theoretic framework of this study centers around a presumed connection between variables in the environment and the location of settlements. The results are translated into tables that show which of these variables were important in relation to the placement of settlements during the above-mentioned periods. The results are also translated into maps that show which areas of Ystad have the right combination of variables that were determined to be important by the model. These tables and maps are then used to produce an answer to the main questions of this paper. The results of this study show a strong connection between the quaternary soil type bog peat, and the presence of settlements. The preferred conditions also show some variation between time periods. Furthermore, the model of historic environment from the Ystad project was deemed to be useful.

The archaeological record of the Iroquois supports that settlements were regularly relocated during the protohistoric period (1500-1650 A.D.). With the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) computer software, archaeologists may analyze variables potentially resulting in or influencing the movement of settlements. Through the use of spatial analysis, I argue that Cayuga Iroquois settlement locations were influenced by the environmental characteristics of their surrounding landscape. Specifically, wetlands are believed to have influenced settlement location choices in central New York state. This study examines the spatial relationships between wetland habitats and protohistoric period Cayuga Iroquois settlements where swidden maize agriculture comprised most of the diet. Considering previous research that has linked the movement of settlements to Iroquois agricultural practices, I hypothesize that wetlands played a significant role in the Iroquois subsistence system by providing supplementary plant and animal resources to a diet primarily characterized by maize consumption, and thereby influenced the strategy behind settlement relocation. Nine Cayuga Iroquois settlements dating to the protohistoric period were selected for analysis using GIS. Two control groups, each consisting of nine random points, were generated for comparison. Distance buffers show the amount of wetlands that are situated within 1-, 2.5-, and 5-kilometers from Cayuga settlements and random points. The total number of wetlands within proximity of these distances to the settlements and random points are recorded and analyzed. The results indicate a statistical significance regarding the prominence of wetlands within the landscape which pertains to the Cayuga Iroquois settlement strategy.

No description available.

Theoretical and methodological issues of disposal behavior are examined at the village site of Murcielago. Ethnoarchaeological, archaeological, and modern material culture studies of discard practices are discussed. The generalizations and conclusions contained therein are incorporated into a synthesis of the emerging body of disposal theory. The method used for the analysis of Murcielago, which is drawn from traditional geographic models of land use, is described. The model allows description of the conventions governing the regulation of space and the delineation of disposal patterns. Analysis of artifact distributions illuminated the organization of household activities and the definition of activity differences.

Ancestral Pueblo communities of the central Mesa Verde region (CMVR) became increasingly reliant on agriculture for their subsistence needs during Basketmaker III (BMIII) through Terminal Pueblo III (TPIII) (AD 600–1300) periods. Researchers have been studying the Ancestral Pueblo people for over a century using a variety of methods to understand the relationships between climate, agriculture, population, and settlement patterns. While these methods and research have produced a well-developed cultural history of the region, studies at a smaller scale are still needed to understand the changes in farming behavior and the distribution of individual sites across the CMVR. Soil moisture is the limiting factor for crop growth in the semi-arid region of the Goodman Watershed in the CMVR. Thus, I constructed the soil moisture proxy model (SMPM) that is on a local scale and focuses on variables relevant to soil moisture – soil particle-size, soil depth, slope, and aspect. From the SMPM output, the areas of very high soil moisture are assumed to represent desirable farmland locations. I describe the relationship between very high soil moisture and site locations, then I infer the relevance of that relationship to settlement patterns and how those patterns changed over time (BMIII – TPIII). The results of the model and its application help to clarify how Ancestral Pueblo people changed as local farming communities. The results of this study indicates that farmers shifted away from use of preferred farmland during Terminal Pueblo III, which may have been caused by other cultural factors. The general outcome of this thesis is an improved understanding of human-environmental relationships on the local landscape in the CMVR.

Thesis (M.Dev.) --University of Limpopo, 2010 / Urbanization and rural-urban migration are processes that are surrounded by a great deal of controversy and pose as significant challenges in contemporary South Africa. In dealing, controlling, and managing urbanization and rural urban migration, the South African government has developed a number of policies to respond to this to these challenges such as Urban Development Framework of 1997 which aims to promote effective urban reconstruction and development, to guide development policies, strategies and actions of all stakeholders in the urban development processes and other policies that are geared towards urban development management. In this study, an effort is made to evaluate rural-urban migration and its link to informal settlement patterns at Disteneng area (Limpopo Province). The study used both qualitative and quantitative approaches to collect data. Questionnaires, formal interviews and observations were used to assemble primary data. Policies, journals, books were used to gather secondary data. The study found that there are quite number of issues that lead to rural-urban migration such as rural poverty and unemployment. It also established that policies that have been developed to control rural-urban migration and urbanization are not comprehensive enough to respond to rural-urban migration. They need to be revitalized and reviewed. The study also found out that the main reason for the backlog in services and development relate to a lack of commitment, capacity and experience of officials mandated to bring development to the study area. Recommendations of the study include community empowerment, skills development, monitoring of performance and capacity building for officials. There is a direct link between rural-urban migration and the sprawling of urban informal settlements calling for multi-pronged interventions from multiple government agencies to address the phenomenon. The Disteneng area is a melting pot which requires urgent attention.

Thesis (M.Dev.) -- University of Limpopo, 2007 / Apartheid land policy and its constitution as a whole conceptualized and structured South African in a way that encouraged inequalities in terms of land ownership, job opportunities and access to education and recreational facilities. The privileged few (whites and a few black elites and whosoever summarized with the former apartheid regime) got richer and richer while the less privileged people, (in this case, the majority of the black people of South Africa) got poor. They were even denied reasonable access to land and quality education. This investigative study examines the state in which they lived and how they are still living in Squatter Camp as an attempt to make qualitatively justifiable recommendations. Informal settlement is as old as the origin of urban settlement, which existed through industrialization process worldwide. A need for peace, jobs, security, housing and land ownership resulted in the establishment of informal settlement near big towns and mines. The most disadvantaged people, those characterized by poverty due to unemployment, lack of land ownership due to one reason or another move to informally settle nearer to areas in which there are possibilities for employment opportunities and better standard of living. Specifically, this study examines the deficiencies associated with the existing informal settlement through its assessment and evaluation. In this regard all aspects of assessment techniques of the way in which inhabitants of Disteneng informal settlement live i.e. interviewing processes (both structured and informal), observation through site visit, checking of documented information with regard to informal settlement etc have been used. The gaps that exist between urban life and the living conditions of people from squatter camp have been investigated and reflected. Vii The focus of the argument in this study is that the less job opportunities and access to land that people have, the more they live in squalid conditions and move to towns in search of work. This means that the problems they face have to be addressed positively and effectively by the relevant departments of South African Government. Alternative well-serviced living conditions have to be developed and provided to these people (people living in Disteneng squatter camp). Timeously, the department of housing should take statistics of the number of people who are without houses and employment as well as those who are illiterate, so as to develop better responsive policies for addressing these problems before they are out of control. As a mean of addressing these problems the life in Disteneng squatter camp has been investigated. The results from the data analysis, including the views of the inhabitants of Disteneng squatter camp have been reflected and recommendations were spelt out in the last chapter of this study.