The Indian Ocean represents one of the oldest exchange networks connecting South-East-Asia with India, the Arabian peninsula, as far as Africa in the West. Since the beginning of the Common Era, extensive trade between geographically distant and culturally diverse people enabled the transmission of not only new technologies, exotic goods and food items, but also diverse plant and animal species. Although archaeological remains, particularly from the 1st millennium AD, reflect an intensification of maritime connectivity across the Indian Ocean, the exact routes of travel and trade across this vast area in early times are still subject to discussion. This thesis presents different projects that aim to assess the potential of using commensal animals, such as the house mouse Mus musculus, the black rat Rattus rattus, and the Asian house gecko Hemidactylus frenatus, as proxies to infer pathways of human travel and trade. Commensal species are usually small animals, that live in close association with humans and opportunistically exploit their habitat and food sources. Utilisation of these new resources has led to a close relationship between humans and certain species, and thus favoured their global distribution due to translocations through humans. Therefore, genetic analyses from modern and museum samples of the species in question have been employed, and embedded in a phylogeographic approach. This integrative methodology connects genealogy and geography, with the aim to reconstruct evolutionary, demographic, and biogeographic processes that led to the contemporary distribution of genetic lineages of the commensal species and subsequently mirrors travel routes of the humans who carried them. The incorporation of ancient DNA analysis provides a powerful method, not only enabling the detection of source populations, but direct monitoring of their genetic change through time. Given that people have moved them around for a long time, undirected distribution pattern of populations were expected for each species. However, the results demonstrate that several unique and geographically restricted lineages have been identified, reflecting past human-mediated translocation throughout the Indian and Pacific Ocean from the 1st millennium AD onwards.

No description available.

Thesis (MPhil)--University of Stellenbosch, 2008. / On title page: Master of Philosophy in Ancient Cultures. Bibliography. Also available via the Internet

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1968. / Typescript. Vita. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D. in Anthropology)--Vanderbilt University, Aug. 2007. / Title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 227-251).

During pre-Columbian times, the Lake Okeechobee Region was home to people of the Belle Glade culture. The lake provided an area rich in resources that facilitated not only the hunter-gatherer-fisher lifestyle of the people but also supported increased cultural complexity. Over time, people participated in an exchange network, trading materials with cultural groups from a variety of locations. This thesis provides an analysis of those non-local artifacts, their probable points of origins and the type of exchange that facilitated the movement of these goods into the region. / by Gregory J. Mount. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2009. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2009. Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Bridges, railways stations, warehouses, bandstands, fountains, shop fronts, lamps, gates and other cast-iron elements can still be found throughout Argentina. Some of these elements are impressive, others humble; some are abandoned, others are still in use. Many are part of important monuments; others are so incorporated into the urban landscape that they almost go unnoticed. When one's attention is drawn to these features, however, a company nameplate and place of origin - 'London', 'Liverpool', 'Glasgow' - is usually visible. These elements are so far from Argentina that their appearance begs several questions: why are most of the visible nameplates British? Are they the same as those found in London, Liverpool and Glasgow, or in former British colonies like India, South Africa or Australia? If so, why? Can we think of these elements as British imperial architecture in Argentina? In what context can their arrival in Argentina be understood? Who commissioned and designed them? Are there more Scottish nameplates than English, or any other? Does it matter? Did these elements act as models that were later copied or imitated by local manufacturers? Did they affect architecture and urban development in Argentina? If architecture reflects the view of a society, what do these elements reflect? Considering the wider context of British cast iron manufacturing, this dissertation asks what role Scotland's burgeoning cast iron industry played in the export of British iron products to Argentina during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. If in recent years historians have reconsidered the specific contributions of Scotland and its people to the growth and expansion of Great Britain as an imperial power, this dissertation takes this analysis into the realm of cast iron as an export industry. If British cast iron was ubiquitous throughout the developed world during this period, how do we begin to understand the Scottish cast iron industry as a major contributor to this trade? Here Argentina is used as a micro-study in an attempt to measure and understand that contribution. In addressing some of the above questions, the dissertation attempts to form a coherent analysis of the architectural, historic, cultural and economic dimensions of the phenomenon of Scottish architectural ironwork in Argentina. In so doing, the study hopes to shed light on larger questions concerning British 'informal' imperialism, considering exports of cast iron as a significant component in Britain's attempts at economic leverage and coercion in Argentina during that country's most dramatic period of development and urbanisation. The dissertation arrives at the conclusion that British cast-iron elements found in Argentina are the same or similar to elements found in Great Britain and its colonial empire because they arrived in Argentina through a process of commercial expansion that involved imperial trade routes, global networks, cooperation between British architects and engineers, as well as migration and the assistance of the pro-British elite in Argentina. It is argued that British iron in general, and Scottish in particular, contributed to the expansion of British power and influence in the region through helping shape the architectural and urban environments of Argentina. To reach this conclusion, the thesis is structured in three sections dealing with the three most significant aspects of the thesis: informal empire in Argentina, the iron trade, and Scottish cast-iron architecture in Argentina.

The demand for natural gas has been growing much faster than the demand for other primary resources and it is expected that the European Union (EU)&amp / #8217 / s dependency on natural gas will continue to grow. For this reason gas supply security policy has been more important lately than before on the European political agenda in securing a smooth supply of gas. According to the EU external policy directives, EU natural gas energy security can be enhanced by diversifying geographical origin as well as transit routes. Turkey in that concept was assumed as one of the important transit hub countries to reach the new sources in the Azerbaijan and Central Asia region as well as in the Middle East. However, the transportation of gas from this region to Europe through the new route via Turkey has become very complex issue in terms of technical and political point of view arising from suppliers within their export policy and from the U.S&amp / #8217 / s bilateral sanctions. This dissertation argues that under the present circumstances especially due to the difficulties in the supplier side being a major transit gas hub country will be very difficult for Turkey combined with the increasing internal gas demand in the next decade.

This study comprises analysis of geological, geomorphological constraints that played role in the site selection of caravanserais. In order to do this, 15 caravanserais located along a route from NevSehir-Aksaray-Konya to BeySehir were used. The data used in the study include a caravanserai database, lithological maps, and digital elevation model of the area. GIS analyses performed in the study are proximity, visibility, and probability distribution (PDA). The first step is the generation of the ancient trade route which is used as a reference in other analysis. Results of the analysis indicate that the average distance between consequent caravanserais is 10 km. PDA suggests that there should be two more caravanserais between BeySehir - Yunuslar and one caravanserai between Obruk - Sulatnahani hans. Caravanserais are very close to a water source but not at their immediate vicinity. Groundwater is not considered in this study / dominant water sources are streams, springs and lakes. Their visibility tested in an area of 78 km2 shows a great variation suggesting that visibility is not considered during the site selection. Ignimbrite, limestone and marble are preferred rocks types although other rocks such as clastic rocks are exposed in closer distances.