Burial mounds and flat graves are the most visible aspects of burial rituals in Bronze Age West-Frisia. The burial rituals for the barrow graves and the few flat graves that are found in the region...Show moreBurial mounds and flat graves are the most visible aspects of burial rituals in Bronze Age West-Frisia. The burial rituals for the barrow graves and the few flat graves that are found in the region are furthermore to a certain extent understandable for the archaeologists. After all, many inhabitants of Western Countries also bury their dead. A third element of the West-Frisian death rituals however, includes the distribution of separate human bones through the settlement. In this thesis, research is done according to the question of how the death rituals in eastern West-Frisia looked like during the Middle and Late Bronze Age. Thereby the focus will lie on this third element of human bones in the settlement contexts. For the answering of this question, a database was made which contains all Bronze Age human remains of West-Frisia that are found so far. Of these human remains several aspects were added to the database, including sex, age, dating, etc. Then with the help of these aspects, significant patterns were looked after. Remarkable was that the majority of the human remains from this database seemed to come from the settlements more often than from the barrows and flat graves. These human bones from the settlements almost always consisted of only skull fragments or long bones. Considering this, one could ask oneself whether this should not also be considered a regular death ritual in West-Frisia.Show less
The research of archaeological textilia is important. The empower this statement, the textilia of the past have to be understood. Why did people make and use these products? To get a grasp of the...Show moreThe research of archaeological textilia is important. The empower this statement, the textilia of the past have to be understood. Why did people make and use these products? To get a grasp of the answer, the production process has to be understood. Due to its complexity, every part of the chain functions as a choice, influencing the final product. This thesis focusses on the sorting preparation of woollen fibres, comparing experimentally processed and spun threads with archaeological samples of woollen yarn from Roswinkel, Smilde-Ravensmeer and Oss. The research starts with setting up a new methodology for the experiment, because little to none has been written on the subject. Focussing on the preparation of woollen fibres, the different reactions to carding, combing and teasing techniques are captured in a handspun thread. The visible reaction of the fibres are noticeable under a microscope. Differences are use of different fibre types, different fibre lengths, the alignment, the amount of crimp and the airiness between the fibres. The feel often corresponds with the used technique. The threads spun of the teased fibres feel either carded or combed, but are much less aligned. Comparing the analysis of the experimental yarn to the archaeological samples, the fibres show much alignment and almost no crimp. The threads are also of a very fine diameter. By using a VP-SEM instead of a stereo light microscope, as had been used for the experimental samples, many details are noticeable. Much can be seen in the material excavated from the peat, but the Oss material was often too mineralized. Therefore, the seemingly fibre reaction to the preparation technique could have been due to post-depositional causes. Contradictory, it seems unlikely that the fibres align (almost) perfectly in nature, concluding some sorting technique must have been used.Show less
