The Late European prehistory is a fascinating age. Indeed, the continent incurred in a series of incredible changes, both technological and social, with the introduction of new metallurgic...Show moreThe Late European prehistory is a fascinating age. Indeed, the continent incurred in a series of incredible changes, both technological and social, with the introduction of new metallurgic activities and productions and the rise of new dominant and macro-regional cultures. Within this frame, there are two, highly different situations in Central Europe: on the one hand, the last chapter of the European prehistory which corresponded to the Late Iron Age, was characterised by a cultural fragmentation between the European regions; whereas, on the other hand, few centuries earlier the Urnfield System unified the Central Europe under a common cultural phenomenon. Therefore, in a short period of time, Europe underwent an incredible regional differentiation, which constituted the latest image of Europe towards the beginning of the current era. Therefore, the aim of this thesis is to understand what happened between these two chronological poles, i.e. what happened to Central Europe before the Late Iron Age: the objective is hence to explore the existence and the evolution of the roots of the cultural fragmentation in the previous periods, which are the Urnfield age and the Early Iron Age. The analytic means will be the bronze weapons, since they constituted one of the most important cultural indicators of regional identities during the Late Bronze Age. Indeed, the Urnfield System featured a martial society, therefore the weapons were important symbols and, thus, they might have followed important cultural developments. Because the technological aspect was quite homogeneous in the Urnfield period, the weapons are analysed through their typological aspect, i.e. their fashions and decorations. In this thesis, the cultural regionalisation will be analysed through three important territories, due to their cultural role in the Late Iron Age: they are the Villanovan area, the Hallstatt region, and the Lusatian territory. Each one of them is explored over the two periods taken in considerations, in order to outline its evolution over time and its relationship with the other two regions. The logical assumption that one might think about, is that, as the majority of the historical and cultural phenomena, the cultural fragmentation witnessed by the Late Iron Age, has to have been a gradual process that took several centuries to acquire the final shape that characterises Central Europe at the end of its prehistory. Therefore, one might think that the Urnfield System featured an elevated degree of inner homogeneity, whereas the following Early Iron Age was characterised by a higher cultural regionalisation, if not total fragmentation already. However, this thesis seems to point toward an interesting and unexpected discovery: the regional differentiation, between the Urnfield period and the Late Iron Age, was not a gradual process. Indeed, surprisingly and contrary to the belief of many authors, the Urnfield System has been revealed less homogeneous than one might have thought, whereas the following period, i.e. that Early Iron Age which is so close to the fragmented Europe of the Late Iron Age, is much more homogeneous, not only than the expectation, but also than the unitarian Urnfield System itself. This means that, after the collapse of the latter, the post-Urnfield cultures, following the typologies of their predecessors, continued to develop new weapons, which clearly resembled the Urnfield models: therefore, the Early Iron Age Central Europe was an evolution and thus a continuation of the Urnfield System. Such new cultures, despite the end of the previous unitarian cultural phenomenon, became even more homogeneous, leading to the conclusion that, the cultural fragmentation witnessed in the following period, must have abruptly taken place at the beginning of the Late Iron Age, and that it hadn't roots in the Urnfield period, nor especially in the Early Iron Age.Show less
The argument presented in this thesis is that constructivist theory offers a useful tool to interpret the effect that CW use has on the international community. It is the social identities and the...Show moreThe argument presented in this thesis is that constructivist theory offers a useful tool to interpret the effect that CW use has on the international community. It is the social identities and the strong prohibitive norm when it comes to the use of CW that construes a reality in which narratives of justification are produced when it comes to the use of force. This moral reality cannot be explained solely rationally, but has roots in decades of social interaction, which makes that violations of norms concerning CWs are put higher on the international agenda than other violations. The relevance of this study lies in the reflection on constructivism as a theoretical tool, but also in its aim to contribute to a broader understanding of how certain types of harm raise more attention in international politics: what causes the international community to be concerned about norm violation? As obvious as the answer of ‘inhumane practices’ seems, it is just a small percentage of suffering that becomes an international concern. The following puzzle has led to the research question: how can we explain the international community’s particular concern about violations of the norm on the prohibition of chemical weapons by using constructivist theory?Show less
Weapons from Albaniana: useful stock or useless waste?' Research into possible interpretations of weaponry from the early Roman fort in Alphen a/d Rijn, the Netherlands, based on the analysis of...Show moreWeapons from Albaniana: useful stock or useless waste?' Research into possible interpretations of weaponry from the early Roman fort in Alphen a/d Rijn, the Netherlands, based on the analysis of finds, context and distribution. A large part of these weapons was found in the wet context of the former river zone, but why? Was it originally meant for recycling, was is dumped as useless waste, was it dumped in haste, while the enemy approached, or was there a ritual component in the dump? Was Roman waste ever value-free, or was discarded material only dumped after a ritual?Show less
In the north-east of Jordan lies the badia, a harsh and barren landscape that can be divided in the basalt uplands of the harra and the gravel plains of the hamad. Although the area seems...Show moreIn the north-east of Jordan lies the badia, a harsh and barren landscape that can be divided in the basalt uplands of the harra and the gravel plains of the hamad. Although the area seems uninviting, it holds a wealth of archaeological remains. The Landscapes of Survival project is one of the several research projects that studies these remains, and focusses on the pastoralist archaeology of the Safaitic time period in the Jebel Qurma region. A large part of the archaeological record at Jebel Qurma is made up of rock engravings. Part of these rock engravings contains depictions of weaponry. This thesis aims to shed light on the relationship between these weapons and the people that once carved them using iconographic research, literary sources, ethnographic accounts and epigraphic evidence. The broad main question “what can the depictions of weapons on the rock art of Jebel Qurma tell about the people that once lived here?” will be answered using sub-questions that aim to classify weapon types, look at weapon trade networks, identify patterns in weapon usage, and place data acquired at Jebel Qurma in a regional and ethnographic framework.Show less
Determining the difference in military or political function of castles is a topic heavily debated between scholars. Traditionally the military function has been studied through the use of...Show moreDetermining the difference in military or political function of castles is a topic heavily debated between scholars. Traditionally the military function has been studied through the use of historical documents or archaeological research into the outer and tower wall thickness of a castles. However, there is another source of material that enables to study a facet of the military functions of castles; military material to study the defence of the castle of against a siege. To examine the possibilities of military material as a source, a case-study has been performed on the military material excavated at eight castles in the county of Holland dating between 1250-1450. The eighth studied castles were grouped into three morphological types of castles. The castle types used in the thesis, from large to small: square castles, keep towers, and moated sites. To determine if castle was besieged using military material a theoretical framework is proposed for the deposition of military material during various events with a heightened deposition probability. The expected deposition of military objects during peace is low compared to the deposition of military objects during a siege. There is no expected pattern for the assembly of military objects deposited during peace. While, the expected loss of military objects during a siege would show a higher amount of projectiles, hand arms and polearms, depending on the siege method employed. However, during the destruction of the castle as part of the scorched earth tactic or as punishment high amount of military material is expected as well. Examining the military material at the eight castle, it can be concluded that during sieges and the destruction of castles large amounts of military material were deposited as proposed in the theoretical framework. Moreover, it is possible to determine the siege method deployed. However, only if there can be differentiated between the destruction of a castle and a siege. Furthermore, it can be concluded that there is a differentiation in military role of the three castle types. However, this differentiation is not induced by the difference in morphological features, but by the wealth of the castle lord owning the castle and his willingness to defend the castle.Show less
