Research master thesis | Archaeology (research) (MA/MSc)
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During the third millennium BC, similar funerary rituals and objects appear throughout Europe. This event is known as the Beaker phenomenon and has sparked a long-standing controversy in...Show moreDuring the third millennium BC, similar funerary rituals and objects appear throughout Europe. This event is known as the Beaker phenomenon and has sparked a long-standing controversy in prehistoric archaeology. This controversy consists of two key questions: what mechanisms resulted in the spread of funerary rituals and objects; and what are the causal factors behind this mechanism? This thesis aims to verify explanatory theories for the first question. These theories fall into three categories based on the mechanisms they propose: migrationist theories, diffusionist theories, and network theories. Regardless of their classifications, all theories share two aspects: 1) they are based on ceramic typology; 2) they equate ceramic types to social entities. Both aspects are controversial in the contemporary archaeological discourse. Nevertheless, there is a continued need to engage with ceramics, because it is the most abundant find category at sites from this period. Moreover, the above-mentioned assumption remains widely-used, despite contradictory evidence. Therefore, this thesis formulates and performs an alternative verification procedure for the above-mentioned explanatory theories. The study area for the application of this procedure is the western coastal area of the Netherlands. The basis for the above-mentioned verification procedure is an ethnoarchaeological study of the relations between ceramic technology and identity that departs from the concepts chaîne opératoire and community of practice. This study enables the formulation of hypotheses for the technological impact of classes of explanatory models on ceramic technology. Subsequently, an integrated technological study of ceramic vessels from three sites in the study area (Hazerswoude-Rijndijk N11, Voorschoten-De Donk, and Zandwerven) maps the technological developments during the Beaker transition. A comparison of the observed and hypothesised developments in ceramic technology points out that the beaker phenomenon was not a uniform process in the study area. Whereas a diffusionist scenario matches the patterns observed at Voorschoten-De Donk and Zandwerven, the technological developments at Hazerswoude-Rijndijk N11 are akin to a network model. Lastly, the results also point at the importance of communication networks and interaction for the conceptualisation of the Middle and Late Neolithic at the western coastal area of the Netherlands.Show less
Research master thesis | Archaeology (research) (MA/MSc)
closed access
A cluster of rich Hallstatt burials in the Lower Rhine Area, geographically distinct from the Hallstatt culture region, holds a special position within northwest Europe due to their relative wealth...Show moreA cluster of rich Hallstatt burials in the Lower Rhine Area, geographically distinct from the Hallstatt culture region, holds a special position within northwest Europe due to their relative wealth and early dating (Roymans 1991, 10). The Dutch Hallstatt burials are generally considered exceptional because they contain grave goods imported from the Hallstatt Core region. The Lower Rhine Area has traditionally been seen as the periphery, separated both geographically and cosmologically from the Core area. Recent discoveries, however, have called this traditional stance into question. In this thesis the four richest Hallstatt burials in the Netherlands, those from Meerlo, Oss, Rhenen and Wijchen, are examined. All artifacts from these graves, including ‘ugly’ and fragmented ones, were inventoried and photographed. During this work several previously unpublished and unknown objects were discovered. For the first time there is now a comprehensive and complete overview of the artifacts from these burials. This revealed that these burial contain (versions of) a specific set of grave goods that includes horse-gear and wagon components, drinking and feasting equipment, sword,paraphernalia associated with personal grooming and adornment, and tools in the form of an axe and knife. Close examination of artifacts revealed signs of wear indicating (at least some of) the grave goods are curated objects. It also established that many objects were manipulated, bent, dismantled, broken and in general made unusable prior to interment. Grave goods and possibly cremation remains were wrapped in precious textiles prior to being placed in an urn. The construction of the cinerary urn was undertaken with great care and was conducted in a structured manner. The information gathered from the grave goods was combined with other archaeological and historical sources to reconstruct the burial rituals that resulted in these rich burials. This work revealed the burial rituals to have been visual displays of transformation. The Early Iron Age people were creating a specific kind of burial containing specific grave goods treated in a particular way. The burial ritual was a transformatory spectacle meant to create and portray a specific identity or personhood for and of the deceased. This work has revealed much regarding the four individual burials examined, and is intended to serve as a starting point for further research into the ‘Hallstatt phenomenon’ in the Lower Rhine Area.Show less
Research master thesis | Archaeology (research) (MA/MSc)
closed access
The material category of cremation remains is of high importance for archaeologists. For many time periods, cremation was the prime way of disposing the dead and therefore has significant value for...Show moreThe material category of cremation remains is of high importance for archaeologists. For many time periods, cremation was the prime way of disposing the dead and therefore has significant value for understanding burial rituals of past societies. Next to that, in many areas including large parts of the Netherlands, cremations are more often retrieved than inhumation burials due to their resistibility to acidic soil circumstances. Although highly important, knowledge on how this material can be of assistance in archaeological research is often underestimated or misunderstood. This study therefore gives an up to date overview of possibilities and limitations of the material. The second part of the thesis is concerned with the ability of cremation research to shed new light on the burial ritual of the Urnfield culture in the South of the Netherlands. Although Urnfields are a well studied phenomenon, relatively little is still known about how the deceased were cremated and how the ritual took place. This thesis therefore seeks to give further insight in the possibility to gain more insight into the performed ritual, based on the information which can be extracted by osteological analysis. The study focuses on material from the Urnfield of Maastricht Ambyerveld, used as a case study. Attention is put on the possibilities to integrate histological and tooth cementum annulation research in standard cremation analysis as well.Show less
