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Yes / In the context of unanswered questions about the nature and development of the Late Neolithic in Orkney, we present a summary of research up to 2015 on the major site at the Ness of Brodgar, Mainland Orkney, concentrating on the impressive buildings. Finding sufficient samples for radiocarbon dating was a considerable challenge. There are indications from both features and finds of activity predating the main set of buildings exposed so far by excavation. Forty-six dates on 39 samples are presented and are interpreted in a formal chronological framework. Two models are presented, reflecting different possible readings of the sequence. Both indicate that piered architecture was in use by the thirtieth century cal BC and that the massive Structure 10, not the first building in the sequence, was also in existence by the thirtieth century cal BC. Activity associated with piered architecture came to an end (in Model 2) around 2800 cal BC. Midden and rubble infill followed. After an appreciable interval, the hearth at the centre of Structure 10 was last used around 2500 cal BC, perhaps the only activity in an otherwise abandoned site. The remains of some 400 or more cattle were deposited over the ruins of Structure 10: in Model 2, in the mid-twenty-fifth century cal BC, but in Model 1 in the late twenty-fourth or twenty-third century cal BC. The chronologies invite comparison with the near-neighbour of Barnhouse, in use from the later thirty-second to the earlier twenty-ninth century cal BC, and the Stones of Stenness, probably erected by the thirtieth century cal BC. The Ness, including Structure 10, appears to have outlasted Barnhouse, but probably did not endure as long in its primary form as previously envisaged. The decay and decommissioning of the Ness may have coincided with the further development of the sacred landscape around it; but precise chronologies for other sites in the surrounding landscape are urgently required. The spectacular feasting remains of several hundred cattle deposited above Structure 10 may belong to a radically changing world, coinciding (in Model 2) with the appearance of Beakers nationally, but it was arguably the by now mythic status of that building which drew people back to it. / We are very grateful to many institutions and individuals, in particular: Ness of Brodgar Trust, Foundation for World Health, Orkney Islands Council, University of the Highlands and Islands, Orkney Archaeology Society, American Friends of the Ness of Brodgar, Northlink, Talisman- Sinopec, Hiscox Insurance, Historic Environment Scotland, and numerous other supporters and volunteers; Mark Edmonds, Ann MacSween, Colin Richards, and Alison Sheridan for encouragement, advice, and critical comments on an earlier draft of this article; three anonymous referees for their comments; and Kirsty Harding for help with the figures. Dating and modelling have been supported by a European Research Council Advanced Investigator Grant (295412), The Times of Their Lives (www.totl.eu), led by Alasdair Whittle and Alex Bayliss.

Yes / Bell Beaker pottery spread across western and central Europe beginning around 2750 BCE before disappearing between 2200-1800 BCE. The mechanism of its expansion is a topic of long-standing debate, with support for both cultural diffusion and human migration. We present new genome-wide ancient DNA data from 170 Neolithic, Copper Age and Bronze Age Europeans, including 100 Beaker-associated individuals. In contrast to the Corded Ware Complex, which has previously been identified as arriving in central Europe following migration from the east, we observe limited genetic affinity between Iberian and central European Beaker Complex-associated individuals, and thus exclude migration as a significant mechanism of spread between these two regions. However, human migration did have an important role in the further dissemination of the Beaker Complex, which we document most clearly in Britain using data from 80 newly reported individuals dating to 3900-1200 BCE. British Neolithic farmers were genetically similar to contemporary populations in continental Europe and in particular to Neolithic Iberians, suggesting that a portion of the farmer ancestry in Britain came from the Mediterranean rather than the Danubian route of farming expansion. Beginning with the Beaker period, and continuing through the Bronze Age, all British individuals harboured high proportions of Steppe ancestry and were genetically closely related to Beaker-associated individuals from the Lower Rhine area. We use these observations to show that the spread of the Beaker Complex to Britain was mediated by migration from the continent that replaced >90% of Britain's Neolithic gene pool within a few hundred years, continuing the process that brought Steppe ancestry into central and northern Europe 400 years earlier.

Title from PDF of title page. / Document formatted into pages; contains 327 pages. / Thesis (M.A.)--University of South Florida, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references. / Text (Electronic thesis) in PDF format. / ABSTRACT: Harold Frederic's The Damnation of Theron Ware (1896) is an important work of American fiction that deserves greater critical attention. My intention in creating a website devoted to Frederic's masterpiece is not only to promote awareness of the novel but also to provide high school and undergraduate students, as well as their teachers, with a resource that will situate The Damnation of Theron Ware within an historical as well as a literary and cultural context. Significant events and discoveries in the fields of science, technology, religion, philosophy, art, and literature shaped Frederic's thinking and writing, particularly the events and characters of The Damnation of Theron Ware. An understanding of this milieu is critical to understanding the issues of the richly complicated novel. / ABSTRACT: The Damnation of Theron Ware, or Illumination as it is known in England, is the story of a Methodist minister who loses his faith when he makes the acquaintance of a Catholic priest, a post-Darwinian scientist, a New Woman, and a pragmatic con artist. In the end, critics are in disagreement as to the extent of Theron's damnation or illumination. A best seller in the 1890s, The Damnation of Theron Ware was heralded as both "the great American novel" and as "anti-American" in its sentiments. Conceived as an ongoing project and research tool, my thesis is an online study guide with annotated bibliography of criticism devoted specifically to The Damnation of Theron Ware. / ABSTRACT: The website is divided into six main sections: (1) the home page, which briefly introduces users to the site, identifies the scope of the project and provides links to other pages; (2) "Harold Frederic," which includes a biography of the author, a timeline of significant events during his lifetime, a select bibliography of his writing, and a sampling of interviews with and articles on Frederic as author and critic; (3) "Bibliographical Studies," which lists bibliographies, checklists, catalogues, critical overviews, and online resources; (4) "The Damnation of Theron Ware," which includes a discussion of the contemporaneous critical reception of the novel, an annotated bibliography of criticism in list form and broken down by subject, a bibliography of dissertations and theses, and recommended discussion questions or topics for essays; (5) a "Glossary," which includes terms that may be unfamiliar to students; / ABSTRACT: and (6) "Links of Interest," which directs users to other websites relevant to a study of The Damnation of Theron Ware. / System requirements: World Wide Web browser and PDF reader. / Mode of access: World Wide Web.

This one-year master's thesis investigates the late part of the Middle Neolithic on the island of Gotland. This thesis has been written without the influence of a singular theoretical pespective, and has therefore seen input from the processual, and postprocessual theories. By using several perspectives, an attempt is made to view the material remains used in the most objective manner possible. The specific aim of this thesis is to investigate whether the Mid-Neolithic inhabitants of Gotland were a part of the Corded Ware culture (or as it is called in Sweden, the Battleaxe culture or the Boataxe culture). Most recent literature has concluded that Gotland was never a part of the Battlexe culture, though this thesis has discovered many parallels with the mainland culture, including the production of similar objects and ritual practices. There are indications that the Gotlandic culture also integrated traits from several other coastal regions of the Baltic Sea, something most Battle Axe settlements did not. After investigating all the data that have been linked with the Battleaxe culture, this thesis concludes that the people on the island of Gotland were not fully assimilated to the Battleaxe culture, but were approaching the culture in both a material and ritual aspects. This leaves the conclusion that the Gotlandic culture towards the end of the Middle Neolithic was somewhat of a hybrid.

A series of recent excavations on the 2nd Century AD Antonine frontier forts of the Midland Scottish valley, have produced results which suggest that the army was making its own pottery on an appreciable scale. This was at a time when pottery production was thought to have moved almost exclusively into civilian hands. The possible local ware groups identified by the excavations were largely independent of firm source indicators such as kiln and waster material and the number of available samples was often-small. A program of Neutron Activation and Thin Section petrological analyses was undertaken along with an investigation into Textural Analysis, a facet of the Petrological toolkit. The aim was both to define the site ware groups and a group of specialist vessels thought to be local to Scotland, the Mortaria, and to make statements as to their provenance. Although the Mortaria analysis was limited by problems of sample group size and availability, by improving the objectivity of the statistical handling of the derived data sets and developing methods for the high level study of textural data, the site ware groups were defined successfully at both the "intrall and "inter" site levels. The analyses also furnished interpretations as to the mode and nature of the site production schemes. Through the full analysis of' site Daub samples linked to more traditional provenancing techniques, in all but one case the ware groups could be assigned to the source sites, where contrasting production modes could be identified with military as opposed to civilian production.

<p>This thesis examines a sample of Pitted Ware pottery from the Gotlandic site of Ajvide in regard to the spatial and temporal relationship of the shards. Ajvide Stone Age site have been extensively excavated over the past 25 years and the most recent analysis of pottery was carried out by Inger Österholm in 1987 and new analyses of the material are therefore greatly needed. Pottery from three sample areas was analysed in regard to their distribution, decoration, fragmentation, part of pot and quality of the goods. To analyse the material in a contextual way a multivariate statistical analysis called correspondence analysis was used. Two areas denominated “dark areas”, which Österholm defined previously, as possible ritual sites, and one reference area with mixed material were chosen for the analysis. By including two of these “dark areas” the study also examine if similarities or differences could be seen among the shard distribution how these areas have been defined and possibly re-defined.</p>

This article is an attempt to put forward the use of new digital techniques and data for understanding prehistoric landscapes. The starting point is that the specific characteristics of the landscape and of the sites included affect the interpretation. One character is the contemporary landscape and its topographies. Ancient landscapes can be successfully recreated digitally using GIS. By applying GIS methodology, a regression equation and new data, we reinvestigated an hypothesis proposed by Welinder in 1978 concerning the acculturation of the Pitted Ware Culture. The results indicate that a reconstruction of the landscape may alter the understanding of the Neolithic land use and the question of the relocation and termination of the Pitted Ware Culture at the end of Middle Neolithic B.

Through this thesis I aimed to further investigate how we can adapt our western and modern views of masculinity and femininity in an ancient population, here on the Pitted Ware population from Ajvide on Gotland. A questionnaire survey was used to compile the modern view of masculinity and femininity. This modern view was then compared with patterns which had become visible through statistical processing of the burial gifts found on Ajvide. The thesis is mainly focused around the concept of gender, but age and status have also been discussed. Through several performed correspondence analysis, it became clear that the current view of male and female differed from the one that became visible in the archaeological record. Grave gifts that in the survey, for example, was estimated to be typically feminine turnes out to be more common in mens' graves. This means that the use of burial gifts as a method, for example in gender assessment or as an indicator of identity is inadequate. The study of the interaction between material culture and gender and gender roles require further development.

This study investigates the petrographical and chemical characteristics of a group of Zeuxippus Ware Related Ceramics dating to the late 12th-13th centuries from Kusadasi Kadikalesi/Anaia. Kadikalesi was a Byzantine fortress at the coast of Aegean Sea. It was also a significant commercial port and an episcopacy center during the 13th century. In this study, visual classifications of the ceramics were carried out based on their stylistic properties. Then, ceramic samples were investigated by several methods including mineralogical, micromorphological, chemical (SEM-EDX, ICP-OES, ICP-MS) and Raman Spectrometry techniques and further evaluated by statistical analyses. Bodies are found to be rich in SiO2 and Al2O3 while relatively high amounts of Fe2O3 measured, agree well with their reddish bodies. These bodies mostly display micaceous matrix with a relatively low degree of vitrification. Cluster analysis performed among thirty selected samples, points out the presence of two main groups. Observed slip layers are also found to be rich in SiO2 and Al2O3 contents and exhibit various types of crystalline and/or vitreous matrix. Glazes are found to be high lead glazes processed at or below. The glazes are found to be high lead glazes processed at or below 700&deg / C as confirmed by SEM-EDX and Raman spectrometry investigations. Iron compounds are the major coloring agents for most of the glazes analyzed regardless of their observed colors. Presence of Raman peaks in some yellow glazes which may be assigned to a solid solution of Naples yellow type of pigment is significant since its use in the Byzantine period as a glaze pigment has been scarcely reported before.