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
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
On the 8th of December 2018 the Ephesos Museum reopened its exhibition spaces of the permanent collection in the Viennese Hofburg after being closed for a year. This research aims to compare this...Show moreOn the 8th of December 2018 the Ephesos Museum reopened its exhibition spaces of the permanent collection in the Viennese Hofburg after being closed for a year. This research aims to compare this new exhibition with the original exhibition of the museum four decades ago and investigate the influence archaeological research, political intentions, and national identity had on the composition of the collection, the opening, and display of the museum in 1978 as well as the reopened exhibition in 2018.Show less
