The destruction of many of the great Near Eastern and Aegean states at the hands of the sea peoples during the 12th century B.C.E. has long been a contentious topic subject to controversy and...Show moreThe destruction of many of the great Near Eastern and Aegean states at the hands of the sea peoples during the 12th century B.C.E. has long been a contentious topic subject to controversy and speculation. Due to the absence of decisive archaeological evidence as to the identity of the sea peoples, countless researcher has speculated about the sea peoples’ identity on the basis of the archaeological and historical evidence that was thus far available. These sources of evidence are, however, far from decisive as evidenced from the countless competing theories regarding the identity of the sea peoples and the part they played in the destruction of the great states that defined the Near East and the Aegean during the 12th century B.C.E. In this thesis, I will investigate how the application of ancient DNA studies may help us to broaden our insight into the sea peoples’ identity and origin. The limitations and opportunities of ancient DNA analysis will be outlined and the prospects it provides will be highlighted. The available DNA studies of interest will be examined and studied to shed new light on the identity of the sea peoples the role thy played in the wide dynamics of the 12th century Aegean.Show less
To test whether a proposed interference experiment with parametric amplifiers to test spontaneous wave function collapse is feasible we measured the spectra of Traveling Wave Parametric Amplifiers ...Show moreTo test whether a proposed interference experiment with parametric amplifiers to test spontaneous wave function collapse is feasible we measured the spectra of Traveling Wave Parametric Amplifiers (TWPAs) and came to the conclusion that that non-tested TWPAs were shorted and had major losses. TWPAs that were measured before also showed major losses. However, we did measure some effects of the expected nonlinear behavior of the Josephson junctions and the creation of idler photons. We have improved a calorimeter and reduced its equilibrium temperatures from 63.2 and 72.1 mK to 40.8 and 44.0 mK by reducing the thermal contact resistances. The calorimeter should be improved further before we can make use of it and measure the dissipation in samples such as the TWPAs. Furthermore, we did simulations on the signal and idler visibilities of the interferometer for a parametric gain up to 13.4 dB and losses in the TWPA up to 6 dB. We found that for large parametric gain the signal and idler visibility converged to a single value dependent of the losses in the TWPA. For all losses we tested, the visibilities were always greater than 0. If a collapse has happened the visibility would be 0. This means that as long as the losses in the TWPA are less than 6 dB and both TWPAs are exactly the same, we can always see from the measured visibilities if a collapse has happened.Show less
The aim of this thesis is to suggest the reasons for the collapse of the Romano British polity in the fifth to sixth centuries CE in south-western England via complexity theory. This thesis focused...Show moreThe aim of this thesis is to suggest the reasons for the collapse of the Romano British polity in the fifth to sixth centuries CE in south-western England via complexity theory. This thesis focused on hillforts as a complex network in order to interpret archaeological aspects and material evidence. In Iron Age pre-Roman Britain, a variety of small civitates of Celtic tribes were located in Britain. Julius Caesar witnessed that the Britons were competing to conquer each other when he landed on Kent in 55 BCE. There was not a unified or integrated authority until the Roman troops invaded Britain in the first century CE. In Iron Age Roman Britain, the Roman army started military campaigns to conquer the territory of Britons. The Romans occupied the lowland zone in Britain and built fortresses in Chester, Caerleon, and legion headquarters in York. Even though there were several revolts against the Roman authorities such as that led by Queen Boudicca, the Roman army successfully suppressed them. However, Celtic guerrillas continuously attacked the Roman legions. The Roman authorities ordered to construct defence walls such as Hadrian’s Wall and the Antonine Wall so as to defend their military bases and occupying territory. Unceasing guerrilla attacks caused to increase social entropy. The occupation of Roman troops influenced the culture and customs to Celtic tribes in Britain. It might be a small phenomenon to Roman authorities, but its impact was so huge that changed lowland Roman Britain culturally. It can be defined as the first butterfly effect on culture. As the Western Roman Empire began to decline constantly from the fourth century CE, the migration of the Saxons started. The Roman authorities ordered to withdraw troops from Britain to Gaul in the first half of the fifth century CE. It led whole Britain to small independent communities. When the Roman army withdrew to Gaul, the power balance has been altered. It is identified as the second butterfly effect on culture. In post-Roman Britain after the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, there was civil war between warlords such as Votigern and Ambrosius Aurelianus. Votigern brought the Saxon mercenaries to Britain. The Saxons conquered the realm of Romano-British swiftly. The Saxons started attacking Romano-British hillforts. I presented the distribution of hillforts as a scale-free network in complex networks. There are three components in a scale-free network: hubs, linkers, and edges. The collapse of complex network relies on the number of hubs. Besides, the restoration of a complex network depends on the number of subsisting hubs. The huge hillforts such as Maiden Castle in Dorset, South Cadbury Castle in Somerset, and Tintagel Castle in Cornwall show that they were abandoned between the sixth and seventh centuries CE. As the Saxons expanded their realms westwards, the Romano-British polity collapsed first. They seemed to keep their territory partially. However, they did not succeed to restore their whole areas. Its collapse pattern is semi-nomadic which is classified between that of the nomadic and the sedentary. The reasons for the collapse of Romano-British polity in south-western England in the fifth to sixth centuries CE can be divided into internal and external factors. The former would have been the loss of charismatic military leader, social instability of polity and division of network systems. The latter would have been stated scatterings of continental military league groups in Armorica (Brittany), disconnecting with continental network systems and shift of religious paradigm.Show less
