This research paper explores migration and dietary patterns during the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age at the Gomolava site in northern Serbia. The strontium and oxygen isotopes were used to...Show moreThis research paper explores migration and dietary patterns during the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age at the Gomolava site in northern Serbia. The strontium and oxygen isotopes were used to study mobility, while carbon isotopes offered insights into dietary habits. The study focuses on 24 individuals from Gomolava, mainly females and juveniles. Additionally, eight modern plant samples were analysed. The site itself is a mass grave primarily consisting of female and juvenile remains. Two individuals in particular, SK53 and SK18, displayed distinct strontium values, indicating different places of origin. Comparative analysis of the Carpathian Basin further suggests that SK53 may not be indigenous to the region. However, further research is necessary to accurately determine the precise origins of these individuals. On the other hand, oxygen isotopes provide limited information in differentiating between local and non-local individuals. The dietary patterns of the Gomolava individuals were also examined through stable carbon isotope analysis. It was discovered that their diet consisted of a combination of C3 and C4 plants, with millet probably playing a significant role during this period. Two outliers, SK53 and SK42, displayed distinct dietary paths, with SK53 relying more heavily on C4 plants compared to SK42, which primarily consumed C3 plants. SK18 had a mixed diet, incorporating both types of plants. The heightened levels of mobility witnessed during the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age in the Pannonian Basin can be plausibly linked to various factors, including climate fluctuations and societal upheavals. Additionally, the increased mobility observed among females may be attributed to the cultural practice of patrilocality, whereby women relocate to their husband's familial dwelling upon marriage. To attain a more comprehensive comprehension of the patterns of mobility, social dynamics, and dietary practices prevalent in ancient populations, further research incorporating a wide array of archaeological methodologies is necessary.Show less
Animal remains that were discovered in cremation- or inhumation graves dating to the prehistory are often interpreted as food offerings for the deceased. Animals are still categorized in human...Show moreAnimal remains that were discovered in cremation- or inhumation graves dating to the prehistory are often interpreted as food offerings for the deceased. Animals are still categorized in human-subject and animal-object categories that interpret animals as an addition to the live of the prehistoric people instead of living beings. Interpreting animal remains from graves with this approach limits the possibility that animals were buried other than food offerings. This traditional view has been questioned by scholars such as Russell and Hill. Their research has concluded that many prehistoric habitants perceived objects in their universe as living and dynamic agents able to make independent and deliberate decisions. Russell has made a subdivision between different animal find categories found in graves. With these categories, he rejects the pre-assumption that animals were only used for their nutritional value and always placed as a food offering in the grave. This thesis tests the approach from Russell and Hill by analyzing faunal remains that were found in the Bronze- and Iron Age graves in the Netherlands. The aim of this thesis is to research if there is a different perspective on how prehistoric people perceived and used animals. For both the faunal remains from the Bronze Age as for the remains from the Iron Age a database is constructed. The faunal assemblage is thereafter analysed and categorized in the following five categories: food offerings (bones from meaty parts of the animal), ornamental grave goods (decorated or perforated objects and hunting trophies), implements (tools), individuals (complete animal skeletons) and the last category contains other uncategorized finds. An overview of animals that were found in Bronze- and Iron Age settlements were presented in this thesis. Animals found at settlements in the Bronze- and Iron Age consist mainly of livestock animals, such as cattle, sheep/goats and pigs. In Bronze Age settlements game animals were found often, indicating that these animals were still part of the diet. In Iron Age settlements game animals were found sporadically, indicating that these were not frequently eaten. Various animal species were discovered in both Bronze- and Iron Age graves. Animals that were found in Bronze Age graves were cattle, sheep/goat, pig, horse, dog, deer, fish, bird and brown bear. Animals that were found in Iron Age graves were cattle, sheep/goat, pig, horse, deer, bird, fish and marten. The results of the comparative analysis between the Bronze- and Iron Age animal remains prove that there is a changing perception of animals demonstrated between the Bronze- and Iron Age. During the Bronze Age, animals were frequently buried as ornaments and individuals. Animals that were buried as individuals were treated as if they were humans. Food offerings to the deceased was not often observed. This could be indicating that some Bronze Age people formed an emotional bond with animals, which is in sharp contrast with the traditional view that animals were only held due to their nutritional value. In the Iron Age on the other hand animals were mainly buried offered as food and less frequently as ornamental- and implements or individuals, which can be interpreted as attempts by family members or friends to ensure that the deceased would not suffer from food shortage in the afterlife. The Dutch Bronze- and Iron Age faunal assemblage indicates a shift in the perception of animals between the Bronze- and Iron Age from a perception that allowed people to bond emotionally with animals to a perception of animals that is focused on their ritual and nutritional value.Show less
Archaeological research of the Iron Age (800 - 12 BC) at the Maashorst until now has been mainly focussed on the ritual landscape. Much information has been gathered on the burial mounds and...Show moreArchaeological research of the Iron Age (800 - 12 BC) at the Maashorst until now has been mainly focussed on the ritual landscape. Much information has been gathered on the burial mounds and urnfields such as Oss-Vorstengraf, Oss-Zevenbergen and Uden-Slabroekse heide. Remarkably, these grave fields contain relatively many 'rich' graves dating from the Early Iron Age (800 – 500 BC), where people of a noteworthy status had been buried. However, there is not much information available on where these people actually lived. Theory on how the settlement system of the Iron Age functioned has been researched in the past. Based on the idea of wandering farmsteads by Schinkel in 1998 the theoretical framework of the Iron Age settlement system was extended by several scholars on which the emphasis differs, but the practical and spatial division of the settlement system remains rather similar. The Iron Age settlement system consists of dispersed ‘wandering’ farmsteads that are situated within a celtic field system and within close vicinity of the burial site. This theoretical framework is extensively used for current research on Iron Age settlement systems. Therefore, the research question is: In what way are the existing theories on Iron Age settlement systems of use when researching the possibilities of habitation at the expressively rich burials of the Maashorst? Evidence for Iron Age settlements at the Maashorst is collected and mapped by using data on actual excavated archaeological sites, data collected by using Archis (ceramic finds and other archaeological traces of Iron Age habitation) and the analysis of two sites that were excavated by amateur archaeologists but were never examined any further. The collected evidence show a clear pattern of habitation on the edges of the Maashorst and on the sandy ridge at the present-day town of Heesch. Remarkably, the burial sites with rich burials are situated relatively remotely from this evidence. Together with the evidence of palynological research on the physical landscape at all of the burial sites at the Maashorst, it becomes clear that the burial grounds were not situated within close vicinity of the settlements and were situated in an open landscape of heath surrounded by forest. Therefore, it is suggested that the settlements at the Maashorst were part of a cultural landscape that was continually and intensively occupied. This habitation existed because of the specific physical features of the landscape and was reused and reordered on the basis of what the preceding generations left behind. This while following the lines of an increasingly structured and demarcated new perception of the landscape. In this way emphasizing the Iron Age settlement system on the physical and social meaning of the landscape and in so doing creating a more useful framework for future research at the Maashorst.Show less
Studies of food and drink in archaeology are persistently focused on consumption and ingredient components (Parker Pearson 2003, 3-4). Notably, alcohol studies have often favoured identifying...Show moreStudies of food and drink in archaeology are persistently focused on consumption and ingredient components (Parker Pearson 2003, 3-4). Notably, alcohol studies have often favoured identifying ingredients as representative of a large and complex sociocultural system in producing such a visceral product (McGovern 2009, 42-46). This interpretation simplifies the technical complexities behind alcohol production, and marginalises the sociality of technology throughout. Where it has been argued this cannot be understood due to the perishable nature of alcoholic products in the archaeological record (Hayashida 2008), instead distinct ‘signatures’ on material surfaces may be observed that can infer methods, techniques, and practices involved in the dynamic process of alcohol production. The role that use-wear analysis can have in establishing the technical gestures within the alcohol production chaîne opératoire presents a promising solution to cope with such an issue when used in conjunction with other bodies of evidence. The physical impacts of fermentation upon material surfaces have been suggested as one possible signature that could be observed through use-wear analysis (Skibo 2015, 194). Due to the prominence of ceramics in the archaeological record, this has been largely taken as true in most scales and contexts based on ethnographic data (cf. Arthur 2002; 2003). In this thesis, an application of ceramic use-wear analysis for understanding technical gesture within alcohol production is explored. In order to establish this, a series of experiments was carried out modelled on the ceramic assemblage recovered from the Early Iron Age site of Heuneburg, southern Germany, to understand if such use-wear traces associated with the production of honey-wine could be plausible signatures for alcohol production. In turn, the implications of these for understanding alcohol production at the site were explored. Beyond assumptions on use and action, this methodology interprets traces as actions, motions, and technical gestures in the production of alcohol. Equally then, why technical gesture and attempts to observe it are such a vital aspect in researching the archaeology of alcohol is also discussed.Show less
This thesis endeavoured to investigate whether ardmarks could be used as a proxy for field systems in prehistoric archaeology. It considered the assumption that the crystallization of field...Show moreThis thesis endeavoured to investigate whether ardmarks could be used as a proxy for field systems in prehistoric archaeology. It considered the assumption that the crystallization of field structure occurred in the Middle Bronze Age. To discover whether this was the case, this thesis tried to investigate whether social organization was also evident in the earlier field systems. The main question was how did social organization change from the Middle Neolithic to the Early Iron Age? To answer this, this thesis used ardmarks as a proxy for field systems. One of the main uses of ardmarks in current archaeological debate is to provide evidence for intensification. This thesis instead looked at the demarcations, organization of ardmarks, field systems, and how the ardmarks are currently documented to try to discover changes in field systems in prehistory. This study included 28 case studies ranging from the Middle Neolithic to the Early Iron Age. Two types of evidence were found that describe a change in social organization and therefore tenural function of fields in different phases of the prehistory. The first was the layout of the fields in the landscape and the second was the intensification of these fields. The Late Neolithic and the Early Bronze Age fields were set on the perimeters of landscape features; slope and tops of dunes were important focal points for the organization of these fields. The ardmarks show a pattern of parallel and perpendicular furrows to the slope. This emphasizes the natural landscape as a focal point for these fields and non-demarcated fields. Due to the local changes in natural landscape features, one could argue that these fields were set for the organization of the local settlement rather than a larger inter-organizational structure. However, in the Middle Bronze Age a shift of the layout of fields towards the lower places within the local landscape can be seen. Moreover, an increasing amount of enclosures in the form of ditch systems marks that this shift towards the lower lying areas was deliberate. However, in many case studies it is evident that the natural landscape was still influenced the layout of these fields. It is only in the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age that the local relief of the landscape is disregarded for the structure of field systems. This is evident in the more dominant structuring of fields systems for inter-organizational purposes. However, this indicates that tenure was practiced in the Late Neolithic in a more local settlement scale, and that from the Middle Bronze Age it changed towards a larger organization than that of a single settlement organizational perspective. Therefore, we see a clear change in the use of fields in social organization on different landscape levels. In the end, this thesis showed that the organization of field systems changes considerably in chronology but also regionally. However, one should question if these field systems are a direct relation to tenure and chiefdoms, or rather changes in techniques and social organizational views of the land.Show less
Research master thesis | Archaeology (research) (MA/MSc)
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Archaeologists still have a lot to learn about the mortuary rituals of cremated human remains from the Bronze and Iron Age. Even though a large sample of burials from these periods contain cremated...Show moreArchaeologists still have a lot to learn about the mortuary rituals of cremated human remains from the Bronze and Iron Age. Even though a large sample of burials from these periods contain cremated remains, the main research focus has been on inhumated remains. Only recently, the importance of cremated remains became clear and the possibilities of investigating cremated human remains started to be explored. Yet, a lot of information might still be derived from these remains. With this thesis, the importance of careful and detailed excavation is studied through an examination of a human cremation burial from the Uddeler Heegde, Apeldoorn. This is done with the aim to study the funerary practices of the burial to its most extent. First, the concept of mortuary rituals is prospected through a modern (European) perspective. The excavation and determination of the case study burial are described in detail, providing a transparent study. By using concepts as personhood, social persona and the dramatis personae theory of Hertz, the relational identities of the deceased are studied. Hypotheses are used to define what mortuary practices could have been possible and which are rather implausible. Overall, this study demonstrates the additional possibilities acquired by high quality excavation of human cremation burials.Show less
The engraved Tridacna shell in the collection of the National Museum of Antiquities, Leiden the Netherlands fits into a corpus of engraved Tridacna shells, engraved Tridacna shell and Lambis shell...Show moreThe engraved Tridacna shell in the collection of the National Museum of Antiquities, Leiden the Netherlands fits into a corpus of engraved Tridacna shells, engraved Tridacna shell and Lambis shell discs and cosmetic palette’s. These object have been interpreted as luxury items and cosmetic containers produced by Phoenicians, in the past. However, the use and meaning of the Tridacna shells is complex and differs by region, such this study shows. Their meaning is layered and defined by the context of use. Some were evidently connected to the ritual sphere as in the case of votive offerings, some however were of more personal utilitarian character These objects are representative ‘s of the omnidirectional connections in the Iron Age Mediterranean world. They show the connections to be active deep in-land, in the East Mediterranean. They also show that the boundaries scholars set between cultural regions for decades are fluid or not existing at all. The stylistic features observed in the iconography of depictions on the engraved Tridanca’s, palette’s and engraved shell discs are not illustrative of several cultural influences converging in Phoenician artistic expression, but of an interregional koinè. A language of visual expression spoken throughout the Mediterranean and Near Eastern regions. It consists of ‘styles’ and motives not bounded by any ‘culture’. No longer attached to ‘a’ single meaning within a region. Thus stylistic features that have been guiding the origin debate about these objects should not be leading. Evaluation of the archaeological context, set in the framework as postulated by Horden and Purcell of interconnected regions in the Mediterranean, gives reason to revise. New objects have come to light that lead to a production among the semi-settled pastoral and nomadic tribes in the region of Edom situated in the South of present day Jordan. The engraved Tridacna shells could have been traded toward the West by Phoenician sailing merchants but this is not the only possible means of distribution.Show less
