Research master thesis | Archaeology (research) (MA/MSc)
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While methodological examinations and evaluations on post-depositional processes, sampling, surface collection, the definition of ‘site’ and other phenomena in intensive and extensive surveys...Show moreWhile methodological examinations and evaluations on post-depositional processes, sampling, surface collection, the definition of ‘site’ and other phenomena in intensive and extensive surveys already came to the fore in the 1980s, less theoretical and methodological attention seems to be given to the archaeological process that takes place from the collection of the finds on the surface to the modes of archaeological interpretation. Although ceramological analyses often play a large role in reconstructing the past, especially in survey archaeology, the capabilities of the ceramologist in the ascription of chronology, function and provenance are often limited, resulting in a dataset that consists of data on various resolutions. In this light, a certain tension between our aim, providing a detailed reconstruction of the past, and our actual capabilities has to be acknowledged. These data, however, are the data we have to work with. This thesis explores the limits of our capabilities and dataset by applying a wide range of distributive and quantitative methods from a chronological and functional point of view. Although the survey data appear to be often biased to some extent, each of the applied methods is also fundamentally biased and is giving its own character to the dataset under examination. In this light, it should be stressed that the ‘source criticism’, which is often argued for in research, should be accompanied by a certain ‘instrumental criticism’. What seems to be apparent on the basis of the methodological exercises that are carried out in this thesis is a clear need to examine the archaeological record on the surface in its own right and context, as some of the methods applied clearly gave a different character to our own dataset when compared to the datasets of, for instance, the Eastern Korinthia Archaeological Survey and Sagalassos. In this light, the complexity of the formation of the archaeological record and even our own datasets should be acknowledged and a wide range of quantitative and distributive methods should be carried out in further research to comparatively examine and evaluate the complexity we encounter from the ‘raw’ data revealed by archaeology.Show less
Een van de klassen aardewerk die veelvuldig bij archeologisch onderzoek in het Middellandse Zeegied wordt aangetroffen is African Red Slip Ware (ARSW). Dit wijdsverspreide Tunesische tafelwaar kan...Show moreEen van de klassen aardewerk die veelvuldig bij archeologisch onderzoek in het Middellandse Zeegied wordt aangetroffen is African Red Slip Ware (ARSW). Dit wijdsverspreide Tunesische tafelwaar kan belangrijke inzichten verschaffen in de lokale(Laat-)Romeinse economie, terwijl juist deze laatste fase van distributie vrijwel niet wordt onderzocht. Deze studie naar de distributie van ARSW in Boeotië laat het potentieel zien van onderzoek naar de verspreiding van dit aardewerk op een lokale en regionale schaal. Naast een indicatie voor status en economische activiteit blijkt het aardewerk ook te kunnen worden gebruikt om het karakter van verschillende sites aan te duiden. De relatief strikte dateringen van verschillende vormen uit Hayes zijn typo-chronologie maken het mogelijk om naast de ruimtelijke distributie ook de chronologische ontwikkeling van de distributie van het aardewerk in verschillende regio's te onderzoeken. Dit resulteert in een aantal parallelle (chronologische/ruimtelijke) ontwikkeling, maar vooral in regionale verschillen die kenmerkend zijn voor de Laat-Romeinse periode in Griekenland.Show less
