Roughly from the beginning of the common era and the late fourth century, the area that now makes up the Netherlands functioned as a frontier zone of the Roman Empire. Its border was the Rhine,...Show moreRoughly from the beginning of the common era and the late fourth century, the area that now makes up the Netherlands functioned as a frontier zone of the Roman Empire. Its border was the Rhine, with the South of the river the territories under Roman rule, while the area to the North was part of an area called Germania by the Romans. The current North-Western Netherlands, consisting of the provinces of Noord-Holland, Friesland and partly Groningen, was the living area of a Germanic people or tribe named the Frisii. For a long time, local peoples at the borders of the Roman Empire have been regarded as a matter of secondary importance in not only the archaeology of the Roman Period but also in the museum context. While various reasoning lay at the basis of this, a crucial factor is the early 19th century concept of romanisation, which disregarded autonomy, authority, and self-identification of those who have been ascribed to the Germanic peoples over ‘being Roman’. In this thesis, as a focused case in the context of the previously mentioned, an exploration is made of the representation of the Frisii. Two questions stand central in this: ▪ How are the Frisii represented in museums in the North-Western Netherlands? ▪ Why are the Frisii (not) represented? These main research questions are subsequently divided into a set of sub-questions, focussing on various aspects of the representations. The study was conducted by analysing three different museums: The Rijksmuseum van Oudheden (RMO) in Leiden, Huis van Hilde museum (HvH) in Castricum, and Archeologisch Museum Baduhenna (AMB) in Heiloo. As the living area of the Frisii has been ascribed to both the western and northern Netherlands and the study focuses on the western area, the Fries Museum (FM) in Leeuwarden was chosen as a comparative case study location. These locations were subjected to a thorough investigation, consisting of exhibition and (online) content analyses. Literature research on the background contexts and interviews with professionals from some of the organisations were conducted additionally. The reasoning for the latter was to better understand the motives behind (not)representing the Frisii and the here for chosen methods. As the study indicated, the representation of the Frisii at these locations varied in presentation methods and communicated narratives, underlining different approaches to Roman history, including Roman-centred, presented perspectives versus more autonomous ones. Various motives to represent the Frisii were identified, including the formation of regional identity and the substantiation of national history frames. In this, various forms of archaeological representations, didactic and non-didactic, are used to bring forth the presented narratives. In addition to these (re)presentations, a disarray of terminology was identified and discussed. This study explores all the issues previously mentioned and hopes to create a starting point for critically analysing the representation of local or ‘Germanic’ peoples in the Dutch Museum context, working towards the (re)presentation of a more inclusive Roman history of the Netherlands to the museum public.Show less
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
Roman Provincial Coinage in the Eastern provinces is an interesting phenomenon on which a specific identity is displayed. This will both look back at a (Hellenistic) past and a (Roman) present....Show moreRoman Provincial Coinage in the Eastern provinces is an interesting phenomenon on which a specific identity is displayed. This will both look back at a (Hellenistic) past and a (Roman) present. This thesis will focus on the coinage of 3 Provincial cities (Corinth, Amphipolis and Pergamom) and how this relates to their relationship with Rome.Show less
Since the very beginnings of archaeology as a science graves have fascinated archaeologists and have proven to be important sources of information. The approaches used to study graves however, have...Show moreSince the very beginnings of archaeology as a science graves have fascinated archaeologists and have proven to be important sources of information. The approaches used to study graves however, have often not included the personal, intimate aspects of death, nor the persons in the past involved. Also, funerary practices are often set apart from other aspects of society, and the interconnectedness of the individual with society neglected. The concept of personhood can be used to bridge this divide that has formed within archaeology between people and society, as it enables the investigation of the persons in the past through their relationships. This study aims to explore the relationships of the Late Neolithic inhabitants of Tell Sabi Abyad with their social, cultural, material and natural environments. The main focus lies on the grave goods, a not yet studied aspect of the Late Neolithic cemeteries at the site, as they can be regarded elements of identity and personhood of the deceased, but also of the living community. The cemeteries at Tell Sabi Abyad, dated to ca. 6400-5800 BC, hold tremendous potential to add to the emerging image of death and burial during the Late Neolithic in the Near East. Owing to the presence of secure chronological control, extensive documentation and an unusually large burial sample, we are able to investigate practices surrounding death and burial from a bottom-up approach. Within the present research, it becomes clear that the Late Neolithic cemeteries at Tell Sabi Abyad, Operation III, offer ample opportunity to go further than the mere analyses of social complexity and the creation of typologies of burial practice, and to investigate aspects of mortuary behavior related to the person. As deduced from the burial record, personhood at Tell Sabi Abyad seems to have been experienced in terms of both relational and individual identities. Within the grave good assemblages we see expressions of the wide variety of relationships held by the prehistoric inhabitants of the site. These relationships range from supra-regional, to the most intimate of relations, such as those between mother and child.Show less
The famous archaeological site of Bamiyan in present day Afghanistan, besides portraying grand achievements of culture and religion, was also the foci for trans migration around the Hindu Kush...Show moreThe famous archaeological site of Bamiyan in present day Afghanistan, besides portraying grand achievements of culture and religion, was also the foci for trans migration around the Hindu Kush region. Between the 5th and 8th centuries, Bamiyan and other adjacent archaeological sites in Central Asia, were connected by a highly developed network of trade. The visual culture of Bamiyan, aside from the two Great Buddhas, suggests there was a necessity to represent ideology and power of the social elite in symbolic ways. At Bamiyan, frescos depict many figures with different type headdresses or crowns. The depiction of these crowns is also found in other archaeological sites and on coins distributed throughout present day Central Asia and China. The details of a headdress or crown suggest characteristics of the social or political identities of the individual or group depicted. The similar type crowns found on figures in other geographical contexts may indicate a degree of interaction between Bamiyan and other religious and trade centers.Show less
The interactions among two or more cultures have always had a great importance for what concerns archaeology, since the influences these have had on material culture have often triggered intrinsic...Show moreThe interactions among two or more cultures have always had a great importance for what concerns archaeology, since the influences these have had on material culture have often triggered intrinsic processes within the society. As a consequence, a new tradition would have been created where it is not possible anymore to recognise what is a foreign element and what is an autochthonous one. In the case of the Japanese archipelago, the relations between the Kyūshū island, the Chinese Han empire and the southern part of the Korean Peninsula led to a material culture which shows the different natures these relations had. Furthermore, these relations triggered some socio-political processes which led to a political hierarchy which reflected especially on the development of the mortuary architecture of the mounded tombs typical of the Kofun Period (250-710 AD). This thesis aims to analyse the nature of the interactions between Kyūshū and the Korean Kingdom of Paekche, as well as the influences these interactions had on the mortuary architecture of the Late Kofun Period (475-710 AD). The phenomenon of the decorated tombs will be taken as specific case study of a shared element between the two cultures. The discussion of the data gathered specifically for this thesis, regarding 21 sample sites from Fukuoka and Kumamoto prefectures, attempts to show how through the decorated tombs it is possible to gain new information regarding the Late Kofun society in Kyūshū, and how interactions not always lead to a complete adoption of foreign element. Using literary analysis and Barnes’ (2007) similar research regarding the two previous phases of the Kofun Period, preliminary results show evidence that the interactions between Ky¬ūshū and southern Korea during the late Kofun Period were not as one-sided as is often believed. The Late Kofun decorated tombs appear to be neither merely a copy of Korean examples, nor a completely indigenous innovation, but rather a combination of the two. Where the differences in decoration show a distinct separate identity base on long previous traditions, the similarities in architecture show evidence of “Peer Polity Interaction”, a theory expounded by Renfrew (1986) and evidenced for the earlier two periods in Barnes’ (2007) research.Show less
This thesis is based on primary field work that has been conducted on the Island of Saba in the Lesser Antilles. The physical construction of the first modern exhibition on Saba’s history was...Show moreThis thesis is based on primary field work that has been conducted on the Island of Saba in the Lesser Antilles. The physical construction of the first modern exhibition on Saba’s history was carried out on the island in January 2013. This exhibition has been brought into fruition through co-operation between the author and a team from the Archaeology Faculty at Leiden University. The exhibition attempted to raise an awareness of the history of the island and recent archaeological research within the local community and tourists alike. The outcome of the field work has resulted in documentation of the project and the process of putting the exhibition together within this study. Further primary research took an interview-based approach in an attempt to understand the local community’s connection with the exhibition’s content, their interest in the island’s past and if they feel a need for it to be displayed on the island. It forms an initial analysis of the community’s opinion on these issues and an understanding of present community identity and their identification with the island’s history. This author’s research is supported and built upon through secondary sources that explore the concepts of identity and the community within the museum world. The aim of this study is to form an understanding of the past and present museum work on Saba, the need for further museum projects on the island and the community’s interest, involvement and identification with the history and archaeology of their island.Show less
