This paper deals with the Late Neolithic Nordic Flint Daggers excavated from the gallery grave at Utbogården, Västergötland County, Sweden. Studies were undertaken in order to gain more understanding regarding the production processes and types of tools utilized during production/reduction, which can be assigned to certain specific, well preserved examples of these daggers. The results of these studies, in turn, will be able to shed light on the processes involved in producing Late Neolithic daggers in general, regardless of their individual states of preservation. This will be attempted by means of experimental flint knapping, comparative microscopic analysis, and chemical analysis.

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Human blood, saliva, semen and vaginal secretions are the main body fluids encountered at crime scenes. In the “Live-Time” era of forensic science it has become evident that the current challenge in the examination of body fluids is that non-destructive screening methods of greater specificity are required for body fluid identification compared to the presumptive tests currently utilised. Further to this, a method suitable for routine application is strongly sought after to determine the age of body fluid stains as it could enable police forces to make informed decisions regarding the relevance of forensic biological evidence recovered from crime scenes. The focus of this research was to investigate the use of analytical techniques (ATR-FTIR spectroscopy and protein analyses; SDS-PAGE and the Bradford assay) in the application of robust confirmatory body fluid identification and age determination. The findings of this research demonstrated that human blood, saliva, semen and vaginal secretions could successfully be detected and differentiated from one another when analysed with ATR-FTIR spectroscopy, based on the unique spectral pattern and combination of peaks corresponding to macromolecule groups, and SDS-PAGE, based on separation patterns of various proteins within each of the body fluids. Direct ATR-FTIR spectroscopic examination of blood and vaginal secretion stains enabled successful detection and identification in stains aged up to 18 months and 6 months, respectively. In contrast, stains of saliva and semen aged up to 18 months and 9 months, respectively, could not be detected when directly analysed. However, when the stains were extracted with a simple water-based method, all four body fluids could be detected. Age determination analysis with ATR FTIR spectroscopy demonstrated that peak intensities and ratios were not appropriate variables to discriminate between body fluids stains and extracts. Successful detection of extracted blood, semen and vaginal secretion stains aged up to 7 days was also achieved with SDS-PAGE, although saliva stains were not detected when extracted. The age of extracted samples appeared to have no impact on the detection of the proteins. Furthermore, comparison of average total protein yield obtained with the Bradford assay from aged extracted body fluid stains demonstrated no correlation with protein concentration and sample age for any of the body fluids examined. Overall, this research has demonstrated the successful application of both ATR-FTIR spectroscopy and SDS-PAGE for the identification of human body fluids. ATR-FTIR spectroscopy in particular has reproducibly demonstrated detection and identification of body fluids, which has great potential to be utilised in the routine screening of biological evidence due to its quick and robust application within forensic science.

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Outlined here is a course that would serve as an introduction to archaeological science, specifically within the context of Aegean Prehistory. The main objective of this course is to expose students early in their archaeological careers to a variety of methods and questions, and to depart from the culture-historical perspective that typifies introductory survey courses. The class structure is equal parts lecture and discussion, moving between learning how the methods work and evaluating case studies. All graded assignments build on one another, guiding the students through designing their own research project. The ultimate goals of the assignments are to build key writing and professional skills, develop a basic understanding of research design, and to instill confidence that the student can contribute to the production of knowledge, whatever field he or she decides to pursue.

Despite nearly one hundred years of archaeological and palaeoecological research in Madagascar, the human colonisation of the island remains poorly understood. Long- standing narratives of this colonisation described the arrival of Austronesian- speaking peoples by AD 400, eventually reaching the Central Highlands by the 12th century. The recent discovery of microlithic tools at the rockshelter of Lakaton'i Anja has radically disrupted conventional narratives for this colonisation by more than doubling the known period of Madagascar's human history, and questioning the presumed Austronesian origins of these first Malagasy peoples. This discovery also challenges existing models for the late Holocene extinction of the island's megafauna. This thesis constitutes the first systematic review in the last thirty years of literature relating to the colonisation of the island, as well as the first to approach this multidisciplinary material in light of new archaeological evidence from Lakaton'i Anja. This study also represents the first comprehensive and comparative phytolith analysis conducted on Madagascar. Despite the wide application of phytolith analysis across regional archaeological and palaeoecological contexts, it has never before been applied here. This thesis explores the botanical impact of these early colonists in and around sites of occupation, as well as tracing the introduction of Asian rice (Oryza sativa) and domesticated bananas (Musa acuminata). New methods of phytolith analysis were developed, adapted, and applied to sediments collected from two seasons of excavations in 2012 and 2013. The sites of Lakaton'i Anja, Mahilaka, and Ankadivory D'Ralambo were re-excavated, as well as the new site of Ampasimahavelona, near Vohémar. This thesis presents and discusses these excavations as well as the earliest evidence for the cultivation of both Musa acuminata and Oryza sativa on Madagascar, and an ultra-high resolution botanical perspective on the last four millennia of Madagascar's prehistory.