Research master thesis | Literary Studies (research) (MA)
open access
This study examines de Digitale Stad, or the Digital City, a pioneering virtual community in the Netherlands (1994-2001), as a metaphorical urban space. Drawing from urban theory, play theory and...Show moreThis study examines de Digitale Stad, or the Digital City, a pioneering virtual community in the Netherlands (1994-2001), as a metaphorical urban space. Drawing from urban theory, play theory and media theory, this thesis analyzes how users navigated and positioned themselves in the virtual realm. By focusing on DDS and the early Web, it sheds light on the Digital City's significance as an experimental space reflecting and influencing the evolving Dutch internet landscape.Show less
Research master thesis | Literary Studies (research) (MA)
open access
This study examines de Digitale Stad, or the Digital City, a pioneering virtual community in the Netherlands (1994-2001), as a metaphorical urban space. Drawing from urban theory, play theory and...Show moreThis study examines de Digitale Stad, or the Digital City, a pioneering virtual community in the Netherlands (1994-2001), as a metaphorical urban space. Drawing from urban theory, play theory and media theory, this thesis analyzes how users navigated and positioned themselves in the virtual realm. By focusing on DDS and the early Web, it sheds light on the Digital City's significance as an experimental space reflecting and influencing the evolving Dutch internet landscape.Show less
Research master thesis | Archaeology (research) (MA/MSc)
open access
In this study, five archaeological sites across the Netherlands from early medieval to early modern time periods were sampled to reconstruct past diet of the individuals found therein. The sites...Show moreIn this study, five archaeological sites across the Netherlands from early medieval to early modern time periods were sampled to reconstruct past diet of the individuals found therein. The sites chosen for the study were Alkmaar, Arnhem, Eindhoven, Klaaskinderkerke and Zwolle. The focus of the diet reconstruction was to analyze the childhood and adolescent diet using stable isotope analysis of carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen isotopes (δ15N). Through the use of tissues which are underutilized in archaeological diet reconstruction, dental enamel (en) and dentine (co) in conjunction, derived from second molars, it was possible to obtain isotopic ratios representative of childhood diet (enamel) and adolescent diet (dentine collagen). The results obtained were then used to analyze trends between the sites, between assigned sex and statistical relationships which served to provide grounds for further improvement of the methodology. Sampling and analysis of enamel was 100% successful, while sampling and analysis of collagen was 89% successful. The respective 76 and 68 samples were analyzed using a mass spectrometer and returned with reliable values. Results of intersite comparison aligned the, obtained results with past published literature regarding historical trends found in across the analyzed time periods, including increased consumption of marine fish in younger and more urban sites. Comparison of male and female assigned individuals has shown significant overlap between their values, suggesting that male and female individuals from the sites analyzed shared very similar diets during their childhood and adolescence. The investigation of isotope spacing of carbon values (Δen-co) allowed for determining that the diets of individuals analyzed was in large portion plant based, with significant inclusion of omnivore and marine foods as determined by isotopic ratios of carbon-13 and nitrogen-15. Analysis of statistical relationships between δ13Cen, δ13Cco and Δen-co has found a lack of correlation between δ13Cen δ13Cco, a positive correlation between Δen-co and δ13Cen and a negative correlation between Δen-co and δ13Cco. Follow-up studies should continue to investigate the recorded isotopic ratios in dental tissues, utilizing first and third molars as sources of further data capable of reconstructing sub-adult diet, as well as analyze local fauna to improve the accuracy of dietary reconstruction. The use of first and third molar isotopic ratios would also prove invaluable for investigating the statistical relationship between the tissues, due to the age of dental development and its relationship to diet reconstruction.Show less
Research master thesis | Archaeology (research) (MA/MSc)
open access
It is currently believed that there was no hominin presence on the British Isles during the Eemian interglacial stage, which lasted from 130 kya to 115 kya. However it is unclear what the reason...Show moreIt is currently believed that there was no hominin presence on the British Isles during the Eemian interglacial stage, which lasted from 130 kya to 115 kya. However it is unclear what the reason for this apparent absence is. This is especially the case considering that during the Eemian, temperatures in north-west Europe are known to have been several degrees warmer than even today, making it a potent habitat for early hominins. Several theories have existed in order to explain this, which include a complete absence in north-west Europe due to constraints in mental fortitude and an ecology that would have been unsuited for hominins to survive, as well as an early disappearance of the land bridge that connected France to Great Britain during the glacial periods. This was based on the fact that hominin sites that date back to the Eemian are exceedingly rare in north-west Europe, with the first examples only having been discovered relatively recently. This thesis aims to further explore these possibilities by making an ecological reconstruction of the site of Waziers, which is located in northern France and dates back to the Eemian. It does this based on carpological and palynological material that was found at the site. In addition to this a correlation of pollen records was made using several other Eemian type sites located in both France and Great Britain. This data is then combined with pre existing literature of other Eemian sites in north-west Europe with signs of hominin activity, in order to correlate these sites together so that Waziers can be placed in a wider chronological and climatological framework. In addition to this several other biological factors that were encountered at Waziers, are compared to the climatological conditions that were prevalent in the wider region as well. In doing so it was found the hominin activity that was detected at Waziers took place very early in the Eemian, when the stage had just transitioned from the Saalian glacial stage. In addition to this it could also be concluded that this early period was much warmer than originally anticipated. This could be seen in the presence of such indicator taxa as Lemna cf. minor, Hedera helix, and Salvinia natans, which could all be found within the vegetational record of the site. Because of these factors it is concluded that while there was already a hominin presence very early in the Eemian interglacial, which indicates that climatological conditions were at least adequate to sustain a hominin presence. It also shows that these hominins did not lack the mental fortitude to exist in these conditions, as was suggested by earlier theories. Despite this it is likely that, due to the high temperatures melting the land based ice locked in the glaciers during the Saalian, the land bridge that had existed between France and Britain during the glacial stage had already disappeared, inhibiting further hominin dispersal to the British Isles.Show less
Research master thesis | Archaeology (research) (MA/MSc)
open access
Diet has been one of the main drivers in the origin, evolution, and behaviour of our ancestors. Key moments in our evolutionary trajectory have been linked to changes in diet. These evolutionary...Show moreDiet has been one of the main drivers in the origin, evolution, and behaviour of our ancestors. Key moments in our evolutionary trajectory have been linked to changes in diet. These evolutionary developments include an increase in brain size, changes in habitat choice, adaptations in body size, and changes in life history. However, the Pleistocene archaeological record is highly fragmentary. To complement this lack of data, archaeology and ethnography have been combined for over decades. The predominant part of studies investigating early Homo subsistence behaviours and nutrition have focused on extant foraging populations from the African savannas to develop substantial models of human behavioural evolution. Though, studies focusing on hunter-gatherer nutrition have significantly undervalued the variability that is present within foraging diets. Furthermore, the rainforest-type environment is largely rejected its crucial role in the evolution of our lineage. The predominant part of studies have based their analyses on large-scale dietary indexes. Some authors have assumed that taken on aggregate, the average hunter-gatherer dietary profile can be recruited as a universal, ancestral diet. This led to the formation of the so-called Paleodiet movement, that attempts to help solve and understand public health issues known as the diseases of civilization such as obesity, diabetes, and other non-communicable diseases. However, it remains unclear what a uniform, ancestral Paleodiet should look like, or whether such a concept is feasible. Here, we show that hunter-gatherer nutrition is highly variable in nature, and that no uniformly applicable Paleodiet exists. By conducting a high-resolution macronutrient analysis on 30 wild edible plant taxa used by the Baka forager-horticulturalists from Southeastern Cameroon, we have shown that the nutritional qualities of wild edible plants are greatly affected by the effects of habitat and plant age, on a within- and between species level. Furthermore, we found that previously established aggregate hunter-gatherer nutritional profiles greatly differ from the reconstructed dietary- and macronutrient profiles established for the Baka. As Baka rainforest nutrition could be reverse-engineered, we illustrate that the Congo Basin rainforest-type environment provides enough macronutrients for hominins to sustain themselves without the aid of agriculture, and that the rainforest-type environment has been a crucial environment for the evolution of our lineage. Carbohydrates from starchy tubers are proposed to play a key role in Baka nutrition. Such underground storage organs are argued to have been important to early hominin nutrition within African rainforests. Public health studies may benefit by shifting their focus towards other components of Western lifestyle as more important contributors to diseases of civilization such as physical activity, stress, time spent outdoor, and overconsumption. We anticipate that future studies on extant foraging diet may greatly benefit from supplementing their use of large-scale hunter-gatherer nutritional indexes with high-resolution chemical nutritional data, as well as data 148 on weight of food brought back to camp, and estimated consumption patterns, to broaden our understanding on Pleistocene subsistence behaviour. We stimulate other research to partake in multi-disciplinary discourse for more increasingly diverse and inclusive narratives on human nutrition, Pleistocene subsistence behaviours, and human evolution. Lastly, to fully understand the influences of hominin dietary practices on the trajectory of our own evolution, it is imperative to acknowledge the plurality of both extant- and extinct hunter-gatherer lifeways, and to project a similar range of variability onto Pleistocene behaviours across different habitats.Show less
In 1895, the Dutch Social Democratic Workers’ Party (SDAP) convened for its first party conference. Two years later, the first SDAP members were elected to Parliament. Between these years and the...Show moreIn 1895, the Dutch Social Democratic Workers’ Party (SDAP) convened for its first party conference. Two years later, the first SDAP members were elected to Parliament. Between these years and the Second World War, the SDAP transitioned from a party with revolutionary aspirations to a fully normalized parliamentary entity. This thesis studies the SDAP’s assembly culture (vergadercultuur) in both the House of Representatives and their own party conferences. The first part of the thesis utilizes a combination of traditional and innovative digital methodologies to demonstrate that the normalisation of the position of the SDAP in the House of Representatives peaked in the mid-1920s. The second part of the thesis explores the development of the internal assembly culture of the SDAP, focusing on the role of the chairperson, procedures, time management, and usage of ‘persoonlijke feiten’, a phenomenon originating from Parliament. This section shows that while the internal assembly culture of the SDAP matured in many respects, this process was non-linear in many other respects, rendering the metaphor of maturation insufficient.Show less
