The study of Indian Ocean archaeology has often focused on individual sites and has tended to focus primarily on connections between major port sites without the inclusion of smaller sites and the...Show moreThe study of Indian Ocean archaeology has often focused on individual sites and has tended to focus primarily on connections between major port sites without the inclusion of smaller sites and the spaces in between these major sites. Within this thesis I focus on the role of Sri Lanka within the broader context of the Indian Ocean trade networks. Sri Lanka has long been thought to have been a central point within these aforementioned trade networks due to its geographical location at the “center” of the Indian Ocean, coupled with its natural topography that made it an ideal safe port of call for ancient merchants. However, most of Sri Lanka’s prominence in this context is based off historical texts and sporadic archaeological evidence from major sites such as Mantai and Anuradhapura. This research will focus on a wider range of sites and archaeological evidence in order to see what exactly was Sri Lanka’s role within the broader Indian Ocean trade networks. In order to accomplish this I will create an overview of all the available evidence such as archaeological reports, scientific articles and publications related to this topic. Following this I will also provide suggestions for the continuation of this research so that it may benefit the wider academic community. These suggestions will include the application of digital techniques in the field such as LiDAR, in order to properly understand the spaces in between the major sites so that a more complete picture is gained rather than one that focuses mainly on famous urban sites. Alongside this I will also discuss methods to properly store and disseminate the data related to this research in a way that makes it more accessible to the wider academic community. Through the creation of an overview of all the available material as well as the aforementioned suggestions, I will provide a framework for the next steps to be taken in terms of research into Sri Lanka’s role in the Indian Ocean trade networks.Show less
This thesis explores the extent to which Middle English Romances's readers could have been familiar with the botanical matters referenced within these tales. The data has been gathered from 6...Show moreThis thesis explores the extent to which Middle English Romances's readers could have been familiar with the botanical matters referenced within these tales. The data has been gathered from 6 Middle English Romances: Lay le Freine, Sir Thopas, The Knight's Tale, Athelston, The Awntyrs off Arthur, and The Romaunt of the Rose. The research also includes explorations of non-romance texts and archaeobotanical results to discuss the presence of botanical matters in multiple facets of the lives of contemporary readers of the Middle English Romances.Show less
This paper provides a preliminary critical review of current academia as it regards contact between the Roman Empire and Han imperial China, during roughly the 3rd century B.C.E. until the 3rd...Show moreThis paper provides a preliminary critical review of current academia as it regards contact between the Roman Empire and Han imperial China, during roughly the 3rd century B.C.E. until the 3rd century C.E., with the purpose of re-evaluating currently accepted facts on the basis of archaeological case studies. Archaeological case studies on the topics of Roman glass, coins, and cloth found in or en route to Han China were examined against a background of ancient written sources and modern academic writing on the topic of the ancient Silk Road network and contact between the Roman Empire and Han China. The results show Roman glass items found together with locally produced glass from coastal sites in southeast China and the Xinjiang area. Quite a few metal pendants imitating Roman coins were found in sites along the coasts of Thailand and Vietnam, particularly the Isthmus of Khra. A genuine Roman coin used as a pendant in a similar fashion was also found in Pangkung Paruk on the island of Bali. Cloth from Xiongnu tombs displaying both Hellenic and Han Chinese style elements was also found in the Xinjiang area. These finds shed light on the nature of interaction between the Roman Empire and Han China, and the objects that made the entire journey in all likelihood more often than people did. Most importantly, they contribute to the larger framework of exchange and interaction along the Silk Road network, and fill in some blanks in an often-neglected region of this topic. The need for further (re-)examination of such finds is evident.Show less
Research master thesis | Classics and Ancient Civilizations (research) (MA)
open access
2021-09-25T00:00:00Z
The status and political organization of Cyprus during the Late Bronze Age (c. 1600-1100 BC) is a controversial topic. On the one hand the king of Alashiya ‘Cyprus’ is mentioned as an equal to the...Show moreThe status and political organization of Cyprus during the Late Bronze Age (c. 1600-1100 BC) is a controversial topic. On the one hand the king of Alashiya ‘Cyprus’ is mentioned as an equal to the Egyptian King in the Amarna Letters. Various texts from Egypt, Hatti and Ugarit reveal the increasing activity of the island in the trade networks of the eastern Mediterranean area and its dominant role as a copper supplier. On the other hand, the archaeological data inside the island display a society with simple socio-economic structures. The few signs of economic intensification, surplus manipulation and craft specialization are not enough to prove the “supremacy” of a certain elite or even a king. The current study aims to investigate these data, identify the urban and administrative centers of Late Bronze Age Alashiya and to reconstruct the networks within the island and the Eastern periphery. The results of this survey will reveal possible hierarchy among the urban sites and attempt to clarify the political organization of Late Bronze Age Cyprus. Did the 'King of Alashiya' truly exist?Show less
Classical past and its material evocations continue to play a vital role in both Greek national imagination and the collective subconscious of Greek society. At the same time, racial discrimination...Show moreClassical past and its material evocations continue to play a vital role in both Greek national imagination and the collective subconscious of Greek society. At the same time, racial discrimination and xenophobic feelings are on the rise due to recent increase in migration and refugee flows mainly from Asia and Africa. Still, the colonial undercurrents concerning the connection of Greece with classical antiquity and its more recent Ottoman past are in a considerable degree unrecognized. The analytical tools available in postcolonial archaeology and its broader theoretical framework offer a more nuanced comprehension of colonialism and its complex nature and effects. Drawing therefore upon postcolonial studies, this thesis examines the development of archaeology in Ottoman Greece in conjunction with colonialist and nationalist discourses and practices, and critiques the colonial reverberations evident in present archaeological research.Show less
Research master thesis | Archaeology (research) (MA/MSc)
closed access
To understand southern Levantine funerary practices and the related cult of the dead within the territories of Israel, Palestine and Jordan, archaeology has long relied on biblical sources. This...Show moreTo understand southern Levantine funerary practices and the related cult of the dead within the territories of Israel, Palestine and Jordan, archaeology has long relied on biblical sources. This tendency has led to oversimplified comparative methodologies, in which the ancient Israelite cultural distinctiveness, between the Iron Age and the rise of the Roman power, has been stressed by opposing it to the neighbouring regions. Those elements of funerary rituals, not fitting biblical narratives have often been interpreted as ‘foreign’ and as such, neglected. However, dying is a complex social process through which the personhood of the deceased is reconstructed as a new identity, as well as its relationship with the living. Multiple overlapping factors affect this process: geographical, historical, socio-economic, ethnic and kinship components, and lastly personal attachments. This thesis aims to re-evaluate the southern Levantine old archaeological data sets and the complexity of death in terms of 'social process' by both putting aside the biblical reconstructions and introducing the methods deriving from funerary taphonomy. By combining both archaeological and osteological analyses regarding four case studies – Tell es-Saʿidiyeh, Tell Mazar, Lachish and Jerusalem – it attempts to reconstruct the progression of the funerary process through four main phases: the choice of the tomb-type, the preparation of the body, the deposition and the manipulation of the remains. The sequential process results in a multi-faceted experience embodying both deeply rooted rituals/beliefs and local variations due to groups and/or individual choices. In this context, the concept of foreign is re-defined as contamination and reflection of personal interests.Show less
This thesis aims to investigate the added value of digital reconstruction technology in archaeological museums. Recent wars and conflict zones have made the world aware again of the vulnerability...Show moreThis thesis aims to investigate the added value of digital reconstruction technology in archaeological museums. Recent wars and conflict zones have made the world aware again of the vulnerability of the archaeological record. Therefore, the reproduction and reconstruction of archaeological material become more relevant to archaeological museums. New cutting edge techniques make museums able to perform admirable results for the communication about the content of the exhibition, the objects themselves and the museum. However, these technologies, methods and devices have both advantages and disadvantages. What defines them to be of added value to the archaeological museum? The following research question has been composed for this study: How can digital reconstruction techniques and devices be of added value to the transfer of the meaning and content of archaeological objects in archaeological museums? This research question is divided into several subquestions and answered in the three chapters this study contains. The first chapter will discuss the definition and history of reconstruction in archaeological museums, the second includes the first case study (Nineveh - The Great City ) and the third chapter includes the second case study ( Etruscans. Eminent Woman, Powerful Men). The study is set up as an inductive research because no applicable theories about added value were found in this field of research. The study will analyse academic literature, reviews, official documents published by the museums, interviews and questionnaires. It can be concluded that the digital reconstruction of the Cerveteri Tomb and the digital devices in the Nineveh exhibition were of added value in three ways: to the archaeological museum and archaeological research, the archaeological material and the visitors of archaeological museums. During the process of conducting this study, critical notes and limitations appeared. Important critical notes were the undefined expectations between the technicians and the museum professionals and the difficulties with communicating about the complex framework of questions and choices behind a reconstruction. The visitor only observes the end product of the digital technology but is not part of the process behind it, while this might be valuable to understand. Moreover, no clear answers can yet be made about if the increase in the amount of digital technology is of added value per se. There is still a long way to go to answer and solve all the questions, problems and limitations that are indirectly connected to digital technology in museums. Questions that should be answered by both museums and visitors. It is identified that authenticity is a key concept that is examined as the backbone of many issues, and it should, therefore, be better understood to analyze, interpret and initiate new future projects.Show less
Dental root translucency (alsoroot transparency, apical translucencyor transparency or root dentine sclerosis) has long been used to estimate age-at-death in forensic as well as archaeological...Show moreDental root translucency (alsoroot transparency, apical translucencyor transparency or root dentine sclerosis) has long been used to estimate age-at-death in forensic as well as archaeological human remainsbut has never been tested on a Dutch archaeological collection with known sex and age-at-death individuals. This thesis testedseven already existing (sets of) formulae using dental root translucency as a parameter, that weredeveloped on samples from various geographical regions, on the known sex and age-at-death sample from the Middenbeemster Collection housed at the Laboratory of Human Osteoarchaeology at the Faculty of Archaeology in Leiden University, The Netherlands. A total of 77 individuals werestudied, resulting in age-at-death estimations for 67 of theseindividuals. To test if a more accurate formula could be developed for the Middenbeemster Collection, and even Dutch osteoarchaeological human remains, several new formulaewere trailedresulting in the following formula (T = translucency in mm):Age =19.832+7.667*T +-0.299*T2.With this formula, no statistical difference was found between males and females and seemed not to be affected by dental disease.The new formula was tested on twenty-onenew individuals from the Middenbeemster Collection and twenty individuals from Arnhem, Eusebiuskerk, allonly having an estimated osteological age category. The newly derived formula performed well in the forty-one newly studied individuals, bringing the total number of studied individuals with an age-at-death estimation to 108 individuals. The small sample size and slight underrepresentation should be addressed in future research that either has to enlarge the known age-at-death sampleand/or enlarge the estimated age-at-death sampleto test the presented formula of this thesis.Show less
