No

Yes / Shamanic belief systems represent the first form of religious practice visible within the global archaeological record. Here we report on the earliest known evidence of shamanic costume: modified red deer crania headdresses from the Early Holocene site of Star Carr (c. 11 kya). More than 90% of the examples from prehistoric Europe come from this one site, establishing it as a place of outstanding shamanistic/cosmological significance. Our work, involving a programme of experimental replication, analysis of macroscopic traces, organic residue analysis and 3D image acquisition, metrology and visualisation, represents the first attempt to understand the manufacturing processes used to create these artefacts. The results produced were unexpected—rather than being carefully crafted objects, elements of their production can only be described as expedient. / AHRC

Yes / Previous work on elucidating the tranquillity of various environments has largely focussed on prediction and validation in urban environments. The setting for the latest phase of research was an English country park and surrounding moors on the urban fringe located 8 miles west of Bradford. Within the area selected there were a number of environments and man-made features and sounds that were thought to significantly affect tranquillity and which were not covered in earlier studies. The experiment extended over a number of months and utilised a jury technique for evaluation involving leading small groups of walkers to different locations in quasi-random order. At each location participants were asked to complete a short questionnaire and measurements of the physical soundscape and landscape images were used to interpret the results and give insights into the importance of the various factors affecting tranquillity. Such data will be useful for effective environmental management and conservation in the countryside.

Data derived largely from ecclesiastical (mostly churchwardens') accounts, foxhunting statistics, local scientific society records and 19th and 20th century literature sources from a wide range of published material, have provided detailed evidence of the status and changes in distribution over the past four centuries in Yorkshire for fox (Vulpes vulpes), badger (Meles meles), otter (Lutra lutra), pine marten (Martes martes), stoat (Mustela erminea), weasel (M. nivalis), polecat (M. putorius), American mink (M. vison), wildcat (Felis silvestris) and domestic cat (Felis catus). In the case of the domestic cat, questionnaire surveys quantified population sizes and predatory activity in rural, suburban and urban situations. Evidence of the former distribution of all the carnivores studied provides a credible historical basis for biodiversity action planning and the substantial archived database and bibliography provide further research opportunities.

This thesis examines domestic service practises among some members of the Yorkshire gentry during the nineteenth century. Historians usually consider the gentry to have shared the same social outlooks and practises as other members of the upper class in spite of significant differences in income and political power. However, as they were less well-to-do, they could not afford to maintain the variety of servants a wealthy aristocrat could. Three main families were selected to reflect the range of incomes and possession or lack thereof of a hereditary title: the Listers of Shibden Hall, the Sykes of Sledmere House and the Pennymans of Ormesby Hall. The Yorkshire gentry organised country houses servants along the same hierarchical lines as prescriptive authors suggested because this gave servants clear paths for promotion which reduced the frequency of staff turnover; furthermore the architecture of their country houses promoted such organization. Secondly, this architecture reinforced the domestic social positions of every rung of the domestic hierarchy. As part of a unique subgroup of the upper class, gentry ladies were less likely to experience class conflict with servants clearly placed within the domestic service hierarchy. The conclusion is that through selective recruitment processes, the distinctive work environment and a particular labour pool, this group created a unique labour market tailored to their social and economic standing.

University of Macau / Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities / Department of English

This thesis examines domestic service practises among some members of the Yorkshire gentry during the nineteenth century. Historians usually consider the gentry to have shared the same social outlooks and practises as other members of the upper class in spite of significant differences in income and political power. However, as they were less well-to-do, they could not afford to maintain the variety of servants a wealthy aristocrat could. Three main families were selected to reflect the range of incomes and possession or lack thereof of a hereditary title: the Listers of Shibden Hall, the Sykes of Sledmere House and the Pennymans of Ormesby Hall. The Yorkshire gentry organised country houses servants along the same hierarchical lines as prescriptive authors suggested because this gave servants clear paths for promotion which reduced the frequency of staff turnover; furthermore the architecture of their country houses promoted such organization. Secondly, this architecture reinforced the domestic social positions of every rung of the domestic hierarchy. As part of a unique subgroup of the upper class, gentry ladies were less likely to experience class conflict with servants clearly placed within the domestic service hierarchy. The conclusion is that through selective recruitment processes, the distinctive work environment and a particular labour pool, this group created a unique labour market tailored to their social and economic standing.

In this thesis, the dissolution of the monasteries is treated as an event in the history of patronage relationships between the English crown and local patronage groups. In a comparative approach, the regions of East Anglia and Yorkshire are examined in search of patronage-related differences that help to explain the contrasts in regional political responses to the dissolutions. / The first section deals with aspects of patronage in the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, exploring through test cases the normal patterns of patronage on monastic estates and the estates of lay landlords and the Crown. Normal durations in tenure, remuneration and networking patterns are explored, in order to show what expectations monastic servants would have held as to the effects of the dissolutions on the duration and value of their positions as well as the creative or destructive impact of the dissolutions on patronage networking. / The second section then analyzes patronage on the monastic estate under the management of the Court of Augmentations, following through in case studies the patronage impact of the sale of major blocks of monastic property to lay landlords in either region. The study finds that the northern region underwent more severe patronage dislocation than was the case in East Anglia, partly on account of long-term structural conditions and partly because of the differences in the more immediate political relations between the crown and elites in either region.

The thesis considers the effects of vehicle type on highway traffic control. The effects of vehicle type on the capacity of traffic signal approaches are examined by the experimental determination of passenger car units at intersections in London and West Yorkshire and in addition saturation flows and lost times are examined. Vehicle type effect at roundabout entries are investigated and the results of field observations reported. Details are given of the gap acceptance of varying vehicle types, the effect of vehicle type on delay and comparisons are made with existing recommendations for the capacity design of roundabout entries. Observations of traffic flow on a rural motorway are used to demonstrate the effect of vehicle type on speed and observed values are fitted to a normal distribution. Overtaking behaviour is also examined and conclusions drawn of the relative effect on capacity of vehicle type. A review is given of the effects of vehicle type on the design and operation of the highway system in Saudi Arabia.

The thesis investigates the concepts of archaeological spatial association within the context of both site and regional data sets. The techniques of geophysical surveying, surface distribution collection and aerial photography are described and discussed. Several new developments of technique are presented as well as a detailed discussion of the problems of data presentation and analysis. The quantitative relationships between these data sets are explored by modelling them as operands and describing association in terms of operators. Both local and global measures of association are considered with a discussion as to their relative merits. Methods for the spatial association of regional lattice and point processes are developed. A detailed discussion of distance based spatial analysis techniques is presented.