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Thesis--Roma--Pontificia universitate gregoriana, 1997. / Bibliogr. p. 315-344. Index.

In Rwanda, graves containing the bodies of those killed during conflict and the 1994 genocide hold great significance both for the Rwandan state and for individuals caught up in the violent conflicts that have troubled the country over the last century. The ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) has initiated a national exhumation program, unearthing thousands of genocide victims. The exhumations are undertaken by genocide survivors and local community members who unearth the bodies, disarticulate the corpses, wash and layout the bones for re-internment together. The destruction of graves and/or the reconstruction of memorials takes place alongside this process, a transformation into collective spaces of genocide ‘remembrance’. My thesis interrogates these processes and considers a conundrum: in as much as these are revealing acts, making visible the horrors of a violent death, that also conceal and complicate. Understanding the multiple intentions behind this work requires a delicate unpacking of the everyday presence of uncertainty within Rwanda post-genocide and a careful consideration of the properties of materials through which troubling memories are made visible. These are inherently risky projects and thinking through the transformations that are enacted upon the recovered items invites fresh review of the potential for material remains of the dead to evoke destabilizing pasts or assist in the imagining of the future at a salient moment for Rwanda.

The main research questions examined in this thesis concern the interaction between an increasing State Pension Age (SPA) and health in the UK. The conclusions drawn from this investigation cast further light on the equality of an increasing SPA, including whether individuals in different circumstances will be able to continue working until reaching retirement age. In particular, this research suggests that inequality and the social gradient of health should be taken into account when designing a policy as influential as the State Pension. To explore the relationship between continued employment and health, a Dynamic Microsimulation Model is constructed. This projects individual health trajectories using English Longitudinal Study of Ageing data onto a representative Census base population. Within this framework, current and counterfactual SPA policy scenarios are used to assess the relative impact. This thesis furthers our understanding of the impact that the currently legislated SPA policy may have over the next 30 years. The study found a decline in overall health within the population of the UK throughout life. Each year the SPA was delayed resulted in an increasing proportion of individuals projected to fall into poor health before reaching the SPA. The results indicate that those in lower NS-SEC groups experiencing poor health at significantly earlier ages. This was found to be likely to lead to a much larger proportion of those in low NS-SEC groups experiencing difficulty remaining in employment before reaching SPA than their high NS-SEC group counterparts. The level of feedback between employment status and health was additionally found to be influential when defining the impact of a SPA change. It was found that if employment leads to an improvement in health, additional working years might protect individuals from an overall decline in health. If however continued employment is detrimental to health, declines in health may be exacerbated, leading to a rapid reduction in health state when nearing SPA. It was identified that allowing individuals to retire following 45 years of contributions has the potential to significantly decrease the number of individuals falling into poorer health while being under SPA. Conversely, the 50 years of contributions suggested by the Cridland (2016) Independent Review of the State Pension Age was found to pose little benefit in this regard. The health measure utilised was found to be influential when assessing the impact of policy. The study utilised the subjective Self-Reported Health measure, as well as an objective Hand-Grip Strength measure. Significantly different results were obtained, dependent on both the measure of health used and the manner in which conceptualisations of health were made.

The central role of human cognition in forensic science and its effect on the interpretation of forensic evidence is being increasingly recognised within the forensic disciplines. It is clear that the concerns over expert decision-making and their vulnerabilities have not only been highlighted in recent key governmental reports, but also created a debate within the literature. This has, within recent years lead to a rise of empirical research focusing on the impact of cognitive biases in all stages of the forensic science process, highlighting that these vulnerabilities are not limited to a specific area of expertise. In forensic anthropology, the presence of cognitive bias, its impact, and how to mitigate its effects are still not fully empirically assessed or appreciated. This thesis seeks to unearth and understand the degree to which contextual biases are present in forensic anthropology, and present ways that can mitigate the impacts in biological profiling. This research addresses the effect of context within forensic anthropological analysis throughout the forensic science process (collection, analysis, interpretation,) through a series of experimental studies. The results of the experimental studies showed that context could have a powerful effect in visual assessments of skeletal remains in sex, ancestry and age at death. Furthermore, the findings also provided an important first step towards understanding the potential effects of initial exposure to irrelevant context at a crime scene in the excavations of skeletal remains, showing a potential for cascading bias on the subsequent assessment of the skeletal remains. An evidence-based approach for dealing with cognitive interpretation issues within the human identification field is presented. The findings of this thesis have contributed to the body of knowledge and provide empirical data that illustrate the benefits of developing a more holistic approach to forensic decision-making from crime scene to court within forensic anthropology and the wider forensic disciplines.

Shelters, as preventive conservation methods, have traditionally been considered a better option than leaving the site exposed. However, there has been limited research on their effect on the preservation of heritage materials and, as a result, there is no clear scientific evidence to support sheltering. This study aims to provide the first rigorous scientific assessment of the effect of lightweight, open shelters on limestone deterioration at archaeological sites. A method based on the use of low-cost environmental monitoring equipment and limestone blocks and tablets (as indicators of decay) has been developed to determine the degree of protection provided by the shelters at the Bishop' Palace (Witney, England) and Hagar Qim (Malta). Preliminary visual assessments of the field sites were followed by 12-18 month exposure trials. Temperature extremes and fluctuations, frost events, relative humidity extremes and fluctuations, NaCl crystallisation events, solar radiation, wetting events, salt content, atmospheric pollutants and dust deposition were monitored. In addition, stone decay was studied by analysing changes in weight, elasticity, surface hardness, ultrasonic pulse velocity, surface colour, moisture content and general appearance (microscopic and macroscopic pictures) in stone samples. An exhaustive assessment of the shelter at the Bishop's Palace was carried out using Chalk, Cotswold and Portland limestone blocks as well as Portland limestone tablets (specifically for studying dissolution, soiling and biological growth). Additionally, a comparative assessment of the effects of the two shelters in contrasting climatic environments, the Bishop's Palace (temperate maritime) and Hagar Qim (Mediterranean), was undertaken by monitoring Globigerina and Coralline limestone blocks simultaneously at both sites. The research has shown that lightweight, open shelters do not exclude decay completely but minimise it. However, there are some areas at higher risk of decay, i.e. top parts of the walls and the periphery. In addition, problems with the shelter design can enhance some decay mechanisms, such as biocolonisation on the periphery at the Bishop's Palace and dust deposition under the shelter at Hagar Qim. Therefore, the effectiveness of shelters should not be assumed.

Animals were given a preponderant position in Egyptian art, symbolism, and cultual practices. This thesis centres on the relationship between humans and animals during the predynastic period in Upper Egypt (Naqada I-IIIB, 4th millennium BCE), focusing on hippopotamus and crocodile as representatives of the Nile environment and antelope species as representatives of the desert environment. Depictions of these animals are analysed and compared with contemporary faunal remains derived from activities such as cult, funerary, or every day consumption. The material analysed covers several centuries: temporal evolutions and changes have been identified. The animals studied in this thesis were first used by the Naqada I-IIB elites as means to visually and practically express their power, which they envisioned in two contrasting and complementary ways. The responsibilities of the leaders were symbolised by the annihilation of negative wild forces primarily embodied by antelope species. In contrast, they symbolically appropriated positive wild forces, chief among them being the hippopotamus, from which they symbolically derived their power. Faunal remains from after mid-Naqada II are few, depictions of hippopotamus disappeared and those of crocodile became rare. Antelope species became preponderant, especially on D-ware vessels, which were accessible to non-elite people. However, toward the end of the predynastic period, antelope species came to be depicted almost exclusively on high elite material; they lost their individuality and became generic representatives of chaotic forces that the leaders and early rulers had to annihilate in order to maintain control and order.

Expected release date-April 2021