One of the most evocative archaeological cultures in the Netherlands is the Funnel Beaker culture, further referred to as TRB. During the TRB period megalithic burial structures were erected, the...Show moreOne of the most evocative archaeological cultures in the Netherlands is the Funnel Beaker culture, further referred to as TRB. During the TRB period megalithic burial structures were erected, the hunebedden. Most of the hunebedden have been excavated and are located in the north-east of the Netherlands (specifically the province of Drenthe). The excavations of the hunebedden were not very thorough but did however reveal a lot of information about burial practices of the TRB culture. For instance, the hunebedden were communal burials in which multiple people were buried. Along with the deceased, a range of different grave goods were provided, including flint tools and pottery. Due to the excavations, and the visibility of the hunebedden, a lot is known about them. This does not apply to the settlements of the TRB, so where did the people of the TRB live (van Gijn & Bakker, 2005, p. 288-289; van der Sanden, 2017, p. 4; Wentink, 2006, p. 33)? Settlements of the TRB are scarce, which results in less information about the settlements or the way of life of the TRB people. There are however a few settlements known of the TRB, the site of Slootdorp-Bouwlust is for instance one them as well as the site of Haren De Vork, which is examined in this thesis. What is known about the way of life of the TRB people is that their means of survival was in both hunting (and fishing) and agriculture. Their agricultural way of life consisted mostly of a method that is called slash and burn, where parts of forests were burned down to create fertile soil on which crops could be cultivated and harvested. For this agricultural system flint axes, strike-a-lights and sickle blades were used. They also held a range of livestock including pigs, goats and cattle, however no chickens were held (van der Sanden, 2017, p. 6; van Gijn 2013, p. 26-27). These people possibly lived in two-aisled houses. Within the settlements many different activities had probably been carried out, including hide working, wood working and plant working. For these activities a range of flint tools were used including scrapers and axes. The TRB people also produced a distinctive type of pottery, decorated by the deeply incised decoration (van Gijn & Bakker, 2005, p. 282). To interpret what kind activities were conducted at a settlement site, use-wear studies of the ubiquitous flint artefacts recovered from a site can reveal something about the activities carried out. In this thesis a use-wear analysis has been conducted for a selection of flint artefacts recovered at the site of Haren De Vork (Haren, the Netherlands). The site of Haren De Vork is possibly one of the scarce settlements of the TRB found in the Netherlands, and was excavated in 2017. The excavation brought forth a large amount of flint artefacts, namely 20.000 artefacts. Due to the large amount of flint artefacts that were found during the excavations, the finds have been divided in clusters (van Kruining et al., 2018, p. 14; Devriendt, 2021, p. 2-4). In this thesis the 50 artefacts were selected from two different clusters, clusters 3 & 4. Of cluster 3, 11 artefacts were selected and from cluster 4, 39 artefacts were selected. This difference in sample size can be explained through the sizes and the preservation of the artefacts per cluster. Hence, cluster 4 is the bigger cluster and seems to have better preserved artefacts. The selected artefacts of both clusters have been analysed by the so-called low- and high-power approach, where the artefacts are examined through two different microscopes. Among the selected artefacts of both clusters, there also burned artefacts. Cluster 3 consisted of 45% of burned objects, and cluster 4 of 32%. This complicated the analysis but in most cases traces were still visible. Three artefacts from cluster 3 were not interpretable due to heavy burning. The other artefacts showed evidence of hide working, plant working, wood working and bone working, of which hide working was the most prominent activity. The most prominent motion was cutting. For cluster 4 it was not possible to interpret four artefacts. On these artefacts there were either no traces or the traces were not interpretable due to burning. On the remaining 35 artefacts traces of hide working, plant working, bone working and wood working were inferred, of which again hide working was the most prominent. For cluster 4 the prominent motion is scraping but it is closely followed by cutting the contact material. For both clusters there was also a number of edges on which traces were seen but the contact material or motion could not be inferred. The artefacts with the probable used edges were therefore included in the analysis. The preservation of the artefacts of cluster 4 was better in cluster 3, which was clearly visible while conducting the use-wear analysis. Based on the results of the use-wear analysis it is clear that within cluster 3 and 4 a range of different activities were conducted. The main activity conducted at the site was probably hide working (both scraping and cutting hide). In cluster 3, the activities were diverse and no real main activity could be interpreted. Due to the high burning rate within cluster 3 it is believed by MUG archaeologists that within this cluster fire-related activities were conducted. This could however not be proven by the analysis. For cluster 4 it was seen that scraping hide was the main activity of the cluster, closely followed by cutting plant and plant-like materials. Bone working traces were scarce in both clusters which can indicate that this activity was probably conducted elsewhere. The activities are diverse and this diversity is consistent with a (permanent) settlement, which is also the interpretation of the site. The use-wear analysis supports the interpretation by showing the multiple activities and hide working as a possible main activity.Show less
The Archaeology of Food has allowed us to rethink the origins of food products, the ways they were processed as well as the social implications involved in the processing activities. On this regard...Show moreThe Archaeology of Food has allowed us to rethink the origins of food products, the ways they were processed as well as the social implications involved in the processing activities. On this regard, microremains analyses – particularly starch grains analyses – provide of a wealth of information for specific, well understood archaeological contexts. Indeed, it is widely accepted that starch grains analyses can identify the processed plant foods at various taxonomic levels, but it has also been suggested that information about the processing methods applied to them can be obtained by looking at the changes in starch grain morphologies. However, whereas the changes in starch grains of some of the ‘founder crops’ through cooking processes have been already analysed and published, the transformation of the starch grains in wild plants still remains poorly understood. This thesis, therefore, aims to create a collection of reference which will provide valuable information for further research on ancient societies’ foodways. From another perspective, Gastronomy & Food Science disciplines are now more interested than ever before in conveying cultural aspects such as the origins and development of different cooking techniques in human history. Several projects focusing on understanding how the different human communities before us interacted with their food resources have recently taken off. However, the lack of information for several extended periods of time in prehistory on the one hand, and the inherent difficulties that both gastronomes and food science researchers are experiencing when trying to understand the complexity of the archaeological outcomes on the other, is resulting into coarse interpretations and an overgeneralized explanation of the past. On top of that, in the last 20 years, the gastronomic sphere has widely demonstrated its power for creatively promoting and communicating numerous cultural and scientific concepts to people, hence providing of a brand new scenario for archaeology to spread cultural knowledge in new, sometimes more efficient ways. In this regard, this thesis focuses on the analyses of the changes of starch grains from a selection of diverse starchy wild plants available during the season that this research is undertaken (autumn-winter) through the application of diverse cooking techniques (boiling, grinding, baking). The determination of the processes will be assessed by the merging of archaeological methods and gastronomic knowledge. Finally, by combining the knowledge acquired through the study of both of them, this thesis will offer some of the guidelines to be undertaken for the development of this research in the future.Show less
Dental calculus, which is mineralised dental plaque that preserves well in archaeological contexts, is increasingly of interest for researchers for several reasons. One of them is its potential to...Show moreDental calculus, which is mineralised dental plaque that preserves well in archaeological contexts, is increasingly of interest for researchers for several reasons. One of them is its potential to preserve plant micro-remains which can be used to infer information about diets in the past. These microscopic plant parts may exhibit taxon-specific morphologies, and their integration into dental calculus provides strong evidence in support of food consumption. However, traditional methods used to extract plant micro-remains from dental calculus are destructive, which can be a concern depending on the availability of the material. Therefore, this study aimed to test non-destructive micro-CT scanning as a method to examine plant micro-remains by comparing the results to the findings of destructive light microscopy analysis. Materials and Methods: Three dental calculus samples from the site of Arnhem Jansbeek/Eusebiuskerk (The Netherlands), dating from roughly 1350 to 1829 AD, were scanned using a Phoenix Nanotom micro-CT scanner. The resulting scans revealed the complete structure of the samples in resolutions ranging from 3.5 to 8µm. Aliquots of the scanned samples were then dissolved using EDTA, and the extracted plant micro-remains analysed using an AxioScope microscope at 400x magnification. After identification of some of the plant micro-remains using light microscopy, an effort was made to identify them in the micro-CT scans. Results: Light microscopy was used to identify two starch grains, two potential phytoliths, fungal remains, fibres, and fragments of a mite. None of the inclusions identified under light microscopy could be recognised in the micro-CT scans. Discussion: The two starch grains share affinities with wheat starch, whereas the two phytoliths could not be identified further. This severely limited possibilities for a dietary reconstruction. The fact that none of the organic inclusions from the calculus could be identified in the micro-CT scans suggests that plant micro-remains are either too small to be recognised or are incorporated into the dental calculus matrix in a way that does not reflect their diagnostic morphologies. While the results did not provide material for a dietary reconstruction, and the plant micro-remains could not be identified in the micro-CT scans, testing new applications of non-destructive methods is still important. The micro-CT scans are available for future research on DANS EASY (https://doi.org/10.17026/dans-2av-8agb). Conclusion: This study contributed to the development of non-destructive analysis methods by showing that micro-CT is not a suitable non-destructive method for the identification of plant micro-remains in dental calculus deposits. The fact that, while the research aims were not all fulfilled as expected, the micro-CT scans will be available for other research, underlines the value of non-destructive methods.Show less
In this thesis, the potential of archaeological predictive modelling within England’s Archaeological Heritage Management (AHM) system is assessed through the case study of Roman-age Hertfordshire,...Show moreIn this thesis, the potential of archaeological predictive modelling within England’s Archaeological Heritage Management (AHM) system is assessed through the case study of Roman-age Hertfordshire, in south-east England. The case study involves the creation of an archaeological predictive model from the bottom-up, using only open-access data. An assessment is also made on the quality of the open-access digital infrastructure within England, as well as on the knowledge that can be gained from the creation and product of the model. A detailed description of the collected data provides information about the environment (elevation, soil, geology, hydrogeology and river system), the social aspects of the landscape (Roman road network and towns) in addition to the modern-day factors which impact planning permissions (land-use, modern roads, protected areas and scheduled monuments). The quality of the environmental data is evaluated for its applicability to the Roman landscape in Hertfordshire. Archaeological site data (n = 4358), provided by the Archaeological Data Service (ADS), is categorised into site types (settlements, economic, ritual, military, water sources and miscellaneous). The representability of the archaeological data is evaluated for potential observational biases. The Roman Hertfordshire predictive model is created using deductive techniques (weighted multi-criteria analysis) and an inductive technique (site density). The final product predicts five areas of archaeological potential within Roman Hertfordshire, ranging from ‘Very High’ to ‘Very Low’. The model is evaluated for its predictive abilities by an unused testing sample of archaeological sites. The accuracy and precision of the model’s predictions are tested using Kvamme’s Gain equation, producing a high-yielding score of 0.72. The applications of the Roman Hertfordshire predictive model are discussed in the context of its uses within the modern development process. Proximity-based analysis of the different site types is explored in regards to water sources, Roman roads and Verulamium (St. Albans). The elevation of different site types are also analysed.Show less
