Research master thesis | Archaeology (research) (MA/MSc)
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So far, very little attention has been paid to the use and exchange of amber during the Merovingian period in north-western Europe. This research studies the use and exchange of amber in the...Show moreSo far, very little attention has been paid to the use and exchange of amber during the Merovingian period in north-western Europe. This research studies the use and exchange of amber in the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and the German Provinces Nordrhein-Westfalen and Rhineland-Pfalz. To establish this, information on Merovingian amber contexts throughout the research area was collected. With the collected data, several distribution maps were created. Despite that distribution maps do not reflect all amber objects ever used in the Merovingian period, nor pinpoint exchange relations between the research area and northern Europe for a single moment in time, they still are one of the best options to analyse and represent spatial distribution of specific artefact groups. Throughout the research area amber beads have been discovered as grave goods in graves of women among assemblages of glass beads. In total, 5443 amber objects, of which most are beads, from 209 sites were mapped. Nearly ten percent of all documented beads from this period are amber beads and they were deposited in about a third of graves containing beads. The deposition of amber beads in graves occurred most often during the period 525-650 AD. The relative homogeneity of amber use throughout the research area indicates that there existed a clear idea of how amber was meant to be used. Amber was a very significant material in burial rituals performed across the research area and could be called a ‘necessity’ for the burial of many women. Before being interred, amber beads may have circulated in female (inter)generational networks, being passed on during rites of passage. Throughout the research area, people had access to amber, whether living along the coast, near major rivers or further inland. It cannot be seen as a scarce luxury product. Most amber is found along the river Rhine, along former Roman roads and near former Roman centres. Amber found in the research area may have been collected along the Dutch, Danish and Baltic coastlines. Evidence of contact between the research area, Denmark and the Baltic suggests that the import of amber from there cannot be ruled out. Exchange contact between the research area and northern Europe may have been as frequent as with the Mediterranean. Amber was probably transported in stages along the Baltic and Danish coast towards the research area and further inland via the Rhine. The widespread distribution of amber cannot be explained by an economic system of top-down elite gift-giving in return for loyalty, as has often been suggested. No economy can be based purely on gift giving or commercial transactions. Based on this study it appears more likely that the Merovingian economy was built from the bottom up.Show less
Research master thesis | Archaeology (research) (MA/MSc)
closed access
Mobility and exchange have been important concepts in Caribbean archaeology, but their potential to address the role of the domestic dog (Canis familiaris) in ancient Amerindian societies has been...Show moreMobility and exchange have been important concepts in Caribbean archaeology, but their potential to address the role of the domestic dog (Canis familiaris) in ancient Amerindian societies has been overlooked. This pilot study investigates the possibility of exploring the mobility and/or exchange of the dog by employing strontium isotope analysis (87Sr/86Sr) on archaeological dog dental elements (n=10). Here, strontium isotope analysis was successfully applied to dog teeth from two Ceramic Age sites on Grande-Terre in Guadeloupe: Anse á la Gourde (AD 900-1350) and Morel (300 BC – AD 1400). Three out of ten (30%) dog elements were determined to be non-local (one from Anse à la Gourde and two from Morel). Potential origins of these dogs are consistent with multiple localities throughout the circum-Caribbean. These mobility patterns of dogs can be caused by complex processes involving their movement and/or exchange. In this study the concepts of migration, spheres of exchange, social valuable and inalienability, have been employed to address dog mobility. Using strontium isotopic analysis it is possible to investigate these processes in ways that can complement the information derived from archaeological, ethnohistoric and ethnographic contexts. This multi-disciplinary approach allows for a comparison of the various interactions of humans with dogs across time and space in Amerindian societies of the circum-Caribbean. The obtained information on this interaction and the strontium isotopic results of the dog teeth can be compared with available (bio)archaeological evidence on patterns of human mobility and artefact exchange. This comparison leads to a more conclusive interpretation of dog mobility patterns and contributes to a better understanding of the networks of mobility and exchange present during the Ceramic Age in the Antilles. This research has highlighted the potentials of the study of human-animal interaction and the contributions that strontium isotope analysis can offer to the understanding of the complex processes of mobility and exchange at work in the circum-Caribbean.Show less
Early Medieval exchange and surplus production of animals and animal products has received little attention in the archaeological literature. In order to create a picture of exchange and surplus...Show moreEarly Medieval exchange and surplus production of animals and animal products has received little attention in the archaeological literature. In order to create a picture of exchange and surplus production of animals and animal products in the Early Medieval period, the animal remains from the Merovingian settlement of Oegstgeest were analysed to determine whether exchange and surplus production took place at this settlement. A theoretical framework was set up in order to determine how exchange and surplus production can be recognised in the archaeozoological record. A number of aspects were deemed important in establishing whether exchange and surplus production took place in the past, including age and sex distributions, metrical- and non-metrical variation, skeletal element abundance and also stable isotope and aDNA analysis. Several of these aspects of the Oegstgeest faunal assemblage were researched. Results show that there was no large scale exchange and surplus production of animals and animal products at Oegstgeest. Results do, however, indicate that pork, beef and sea fish may have been brought into the settlement from elsewhere.Show less
