Slavery in the Late Islamic Gulf was commonplace and seen as a staple within Arabian societies, however this thesis will attempt to evaluate its visibility in the archaeological record. Slaves...Show moreSlavery in the Late Islamic Gulf was commonplace and seen as a staple within Arabian societies, however this thesis will attempt to evaluate its visibility in the archaeological record. Slaves throughout the Gulf and Arabia were used as domestics in the household and as markers of status, however their role within society was transformed during the Late Islamic period. The major influx and demand for slave labour in the late nineteenth to early twentieth centuries can mainly be attributed to the globalisation of Arabia and the Gulf region, through the exportation of pearls and dates during this period with slave labour being used to staff these industries and produce the commodities, at great profit for the merchants involved.The main question to be addressed, aside from determining the visibility of slaves archaeologically is determining if there is evidence for aspects of African identity within the Gulf, as the vast majority of slaves brought to the region were of African descent. This thesis will present the archaeological evidence for the existence of slaves in the way of architecture and the visibility of slavery within living quarters, using structures in Doha, Qatar as a specific example. Historical records also play a large part in demonstrating slaves within society at this time, including first-hand manumission records and censuses taken at the peak of the slave trade. Examples of African influence in the material culture of the region can also be used to show their influence on society at the time and the permeations of the culture through population onto the archaeological record, such as music and dance. This thesis will also explore new avenues of evidence to show the presence of Africans, using genetic analysis to demonstrate how ancestry can be traced back in the modern day population for the Gulf to account for an African presence in particular and its origins form the slave trade to the region. There are many limitations to this research however; unlike the trans-Atlantic slave trade and the investigation of slavery and its visibility in the Americas, which has political and social motivations for research, the Gulf does not have the same view and desire to investigate the concept of slavery, in my opinion contributing to its lack of research so far. Naturally, a further limiting factor for their visibility, is the position which slaves had in the region, one of no social standing or individualism. This thesis will discuss why there has been such a lack of research into the visibility of slavery in the Late Islamic Gulf, considering the region benefited so dramatically from it, recommending that greater efforts be dedicated to investigating the two main themes for which material culture has been a primary source of data for archaeological research into slavery: architecture and the everyday life of slaves, as well as expressions of cultural identity. Both of these areas provide huge stumbling blocks for research due to the redevelopment of the Gulf region later in history and the oppression of slaves, due to their role in society.Show less
The objective of this thesis is to assess whether there is a correlation between the intensification of dairy consumption in Neolithic Anatolia and the effects of the 8.2 ka event.
This thesis focusses on Hafit tombs (3200-2500 BC) in the Wadi Suq and Wadi al-Jizzi regions of the Sultanate of Oman. The main research question proposed is whether existing theories on the Hafit...Show moreThis thesis focusses on Hafit tombs (3200-2500 BC) in the Wadi Suq and Wadi al-Jizzi regions of the Sultanate of Oman. The main research question proposed is whether existing theories on the Hafit period can explain the distribution pattern present in the study area. In order to answer this question, four sub-questions were created exploring: the general distribution of the tombs, the orientation of the tombs and the correlation between the tombs, visibility and the dry river beds also known as wadis. Each of the sub-questions was answered by applying different tools in ArcGis on the dataset provided by the Wadi al-Jizzi Archaeological Project. Regarding the overall distribution of the tombs, it can be concluded that significant sites with large numbers of Hafit tombs are primarily located around the Wadi Suq, instead of the larger Wadi al-Jizzi and that all the Hafit cemeteries seem to have been located more closely to the area known as the Lower Batinah than towards the mountains. The analysis also revealed that the tombs at Site 43 seem to be clustered like Late Prehistoric Tombs (LTPs), which are of a post-Hafit date. The orientation of the tombs seemed initially clearly focused towards the north-east/south-west and east-west. This coincides with the variation in the azimuth of the sunrise between the months of June and September for the Sohar region. However, a site-to-site comparison displayed a more nuanced picture. The orientation of the tombs at S6 and S58 are evenly distributed, suggesting that they might have been constructed in a later phase of the Hafit period. The analyses in the current thesis also displayed that at the threshold of 1500 meters all tombs in the study area correlate to a wadi system. Interestingly, all of the tombs are clearly visible from the wadi system, despite the different distances to a wadi. This thesis concludes that current theories are unsatisfactory to explain the distribution of Hafit tombs in the study area and that more research is needed in this regard. Not only to improve existing theories or add new ones, but also to determine whether the patterns discussed in this thesis are unique for the study area or are also visible in other parts of the Oman peninsula.Show less
The Early Bronze Age of the Southern Levant was a period of immense change and developing complexity. One of the greatest transformations of this period was the erection, maintenance and...Show moreThe Early Bronze Age of the Southern Levant was a period of immense change and developing complexity. One of the greatest transformations of this period was the erection, maintenance and modification of fortifications systems characterised by circum-settlement walls and additional elements such as towers, gates and bastions. While fortifications are almost always referred to in academic works on the period, a more focused investigation of them is needed. Also the recent focus on ascribing a non-military socio-symbolic function has resulted in confusion and varying views as to the actual function(s) of such fortification systems in the Early Bronze Age, which remains largely undefined and a matter ongoing debate. Why were they built? This paper serves to address this by investigating the primary function(s) of Early Bronze Age fortifications. This has been undertaken foremost via a contextual examination of a selected sample of Early Bronze Age fortification systems found at various sites across the Southern Levant – to ascertain whether they are indicative of (or at least consistent with), superfluous to or indeed compromising to a pattern of military architecture. This has been supplemented by other lines of evidence such as the presence of weapons, destructions, human remains and textual and artistic material. While alone these are often ambiguous correlates, their sum in combination with the specific analysis of the elements of the actual fortification systems at the selected sites supports the conclusion the primary function for Early Bronze Age fortifications in the Southern Levant was a military one. Other socio-economic functions of these fortifications have also been identified though these were secondary and did not compromise the defensive integrity of the whole system.Show less
The study presented in this thesis investigates what structures can be interpreted as type of stone markers and how and why these have been used in the Jebel Qurma region, a desert landscape that...Show moreThe study presented in this thesis investigates what structures can be interpreted as type of stone markers and how and why these have been used in the Jebel Qurma region, a desert landscape that is part of the eastern badia (or Black Desert) northeast Jordan. The use of these structures is difficult to understand since these differ in physical qualities even when they have been positioned at the same places in the landscape. Some are well-built to be seen from far and all directions but many loosely piled and only visible from close distances. During two historical occupation phases stone markers are positioned in the Jebel Qurma region by societies with a pastoralist’s lifestyle. They explored and occupied the landscape intensively during a specific period of the year in order to hunt, pasture their livestock and to perform other dwelling activities in the landscape. . The complexities of the societies and the climate conditions in the research area contributed to a different way of the use of stone markers in the landscape. A typology/classifation could be established based on the needs of the societies. The physical qualities of the stone markers are related to their topographical positioning in the landscape. The stone markers used by the Safaitic society and traditional Bedouins are the evidence of a well-organized travel system to perform subsistence strategies in the interior of the landscape with livestock. Their interaction with stone markers contributes to the understanding how they used the landscape while they were moving with livestock through the region to get from one place to another.Show less
The Kura Araxes represents an important albeit understudied cultural horizon dated to the Early Bronze Age, often defined as a single cultural group that originated in Transcaucasia and spread into...Show moreThe Kura Araxes represents an important albeit understudied cultural horizon dated to the Early Bronze Age, often defined as a single cultural group that originated in Transcaucasia and spread into the greater Near East. Many details about Kura Araxes society still remain much debated as most of the theories discussing the identity of the culture are based on the distribution of characteristic ceramics, which can mask the various levels of complexity. This study focuses on the mortuary evidence found in designated Kura Araxes cemeteries, which has the potential to highlight more cultural heterogeneity. Patterns within burial practices including burial construction types, location of cemeteries, inhumation practices, gender, rituals, grave goods, geographic dispersals and chronological transitions are examined. The divisions in mortuary traditions are interpreted as corresponding to separations in economic and ethnic identities based on mobile and sedentary lifestyle interactions, which undergo transformations throughout the Kura Araxes chronological phases.Show less
In the thesis four coffin sets belonging to the Bab el-Gasus cache, discovered in 1891 in Deir el-Bahari, Egypt, and now belonging to the collection of the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden in Leiden, were...Show moreIn the thesis four coffin sets belonging to the Bab el-Gasus cache, discovered in 1891 in Deir el-Bahari, Egypt, and now belonging to the collection of the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden in Leiden, were discussed on the basis of the following research questions: - Which construction techniques have been used? - Which materials have been used? - Is it possible to recognize the signature of a workshop or an artist? - Do the coffins have a distinctive iconography and if so, what are the striking features? - Can we draw some preliminary conclusions of the social and economic status of the owners of the coffins? A general overview of coffin development in ancient Egypt and more specifically, of the Leiden Bab el-Gasus coffins was followed by the chaîne opératoire of the coffins, starting with the wood, used for the manufacture of these coffins. A small study of some wood samples proved all the coffins to be of the species F. sycomorus. In affirming this, however, it does not account for the observed differences of the wood, and only raises new questions for further investigation. Subsequently, the plaster, pigments, paint and varnish were discussed. Color and the attached symbolic meaning were very important in the decoration of the coffins (Taylor 2001b, 164). A study with a handheld XRF—a device whereby a sample is irradiated by low-energy X-rays—showed no specific outcome, only confirming the use of gold on the lid of F93.10.1a and the presence of orpiment in more than one of the samples. Both pigments had already been observed with the naked eye. It is difficult to draw conclusions about the workshops involved into the production of the coffins. The sets show various similarities, but at the same time give evidence to the practice of reuse. Some key elements of the iconography have been discussed according to the model of Panofsky. The decoration of the sets consisted primarily of symbols of resurrection, while other vignettes gave evidence to a new repertoire of religious images—some of which referred to a combination of several different mythological aspects (Quirke and Spencer 1992, 106). According to Cooney, this can be understood as a reaction and adaptation to the changing funerary traditions, scarce resources, and fear of theft of the funerary objects that took place during the period (Cooney 2011, 24). In chapter seven the owners of the coffins were discussed. The two chantresses, to whom set F93.10.1 and F93.10.3 are assigned, are probably not the original owners of their sets. The third coffin has been usurped three times. The fourth coffin is anonymous, but is associated in Daressy’s list (1907) with Siamun, a male mummy. Although reuse of some coffins is certain, mistakes made in antiquity and in the Nineteenth Century AD may have contributed to the mix up of coffin parts, resulting in the incorrect allocation of names to coffins, lids to different caskets and mummy-boards to other sets. The Bab el-Gasus coffins from the Leiden collection do not differ herein with the other sets of the entire Bab el-Gasus cache. In this thesis not every research question is fully answered. Further research will be needed to discover the whole story of the priests of Bab el-Gasus.Show less
Ground stone tools have clearly been neglected in archaeological research. The misconception that nothing interesting is to be learned from this particular material category has had a devastating...Show moreGround stone tools have clearly been neglected in archaeological research. The misconception that nothing interesting is to be learned from this particular material category has had a devastating effect on the amount of attention these objects have received in archaeological projects. They are often neglected in literature and discarded in the field. The presumption that these objects have nothing to tell is however wrong. Ground stone assemblages can tell us many things about the daily life on a site. This is why a new look into the ground stone artefacts of Tell Sabi Abyad was warranted. Research started with a look into the occurring types on the site. To facilitate this the original ground stone shape typology was revised. Via a look into ground stone types and the used stone types to produce these artefacts an overview of the Late Bronze Age ground stone assemblage of Tell Sabi Abyad was constructed. Tell Sabi Abyad also has the great advantage of having a clear stratigraphy and lots of in situ ground stone artefacts. However, perhaps even more interesting, there is also clear evidence of different crafts being practiced on site. Known crafts location include a baker, brewer and potter. By comparing their known locations on the site to concentrations of different types of ground stone a correlation between use, type and tool was researhed. A close look was taken at preferences in shape and stone type per ground stone tool category. Furthermore, both the spatial and chronological dispersal of the artefacts were examined to ascertain if any of the patterns could lend an insight into any of the preferences the inhabitants of the site had, where ground stone was concerned. Clusters of ground stone objects were found in areas of the site where certain crafts were performed. There were, for example, clusters of ground stone found inside a pottery workshop (Duistermaat 2007, 705) and the office of the brewer22. Other than some cuneiform the location of the brewer was confirmed by any other material evidence. Illustrating that ground stone archaeological research is not as insignificant as it is being generally portrayed.Show less
