This thesis looks at the late Linearbandkeramik site of Herxheim, southern Germany, dated to c. 5300 – 4950 BCE. At the site, 15,552 bone fragments of c. 1350 individuals have been deposited in a...Show moreThis thesis looks at the late Linearbandkeramik site of Herxheim, southern Germany, dated to c. 5300 – 4950 BCE. At the site, 15,552 bone fragments of c. 1350 individuals have been deposited in a ring enclosure of overlapping pits. The heavily fragmented bone assemblage is interpreted as the remains of multiple human cannibalism episodes in a period of less than 50 years. Some researchers have interpreted the site as a peaceful funerary ritual. However, this thesis argues for the occurrence of cannibalism based on the osteological evidence. The fracturing of the long bones and marrow-rich elements, the underrepresentation of free vertebrae, the presence of cut marks that are consistent with faunal butchering techniques and other sites associated with cannibalism, as well as the presence of chew marks on hand and foot bones are given as indicators for cannibalism. Herxheim is interpreted as a combination of exocannibalism and ritual cannibalism. A postcolonial interpretation of a “civilized” Self as opposed to a “barbarous” Other can explain why cannibalism in archaeology remains controversial.Show less
The Ukrainian famine or ‘Holodomor’ of 1932–1933 claimed the lives of an estimated 4 to 4.5 million people. General consensus has it that the famines that swept the Soviet Union were caused largely...Show moreThe Ukrainian famine or ‘Holodomor’ of 1932–1933 claimed the lives of an estimated 4 to 4.5 million people. General consensus has it that the famines that swept the Soviet Union were caused largely by the collectivisation drive of the First Five-Year Plan, after which the situation in Ukraine was exacerbated by Stalin’s policies in the winter of 1932–1933. However, the underlying motives for Stalin’s actions with regard to Ukraine remain a matter of lively debate. Combining the existing literature on the initiation of mass indiscriminate violence in general and on the causes of the Holodomor in particular with novel insights from studies on authoritarian politics, I posit that the Ukrainian famine may have been intentionally aggravated because the Ukrainian leadership was considered a liability to Stalin’s rule. Rather than facing these elites head on, I suggest that Stalin weaponised the famine as a means of mass indiscriminate violence to enable the capture of local institutions and to undermine the individual support bases of his potential rivals. In this way the Ukrainian Communist Party was purged from the bottom to the top, culminating with the executions of Stanislav Kosior and Vlas Chubar and the expulsion of Grigory Petrovsky, as well as the executions of Pavel Postyshev and Vsevolod Balytsky during the Great Purges of 1937–1939.Show less
Research master thesis | Asian Studies (research) (MA)
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This thesis examines the ways in which the history of 1965-66 is remembered and represented in contemporary Indonesia, both in national public space and among a group of high school pupils in...Show moreThis thesis examines the ways in which the history of 1965-66 is remembered and represented in contemporary Indonesia, both in national public space and among a group of high school pupils in Yogyakarta. The history of 1965-66, a history of mass killings and imprisonment of hundreds of thousands of alleged communist Indonesians, has for a long time been silenced and mystified by anti-communist myth-making that was created under Suharto’s authoritarian rule. Despite the end of Suharto’s regime in 1998 and numerous attempts to counter the state propaganda, this master-narrative that labels victims as perpetrators deserving of their fate is still widely available in contemporary Indonesian state and society. This thesis examines how and why master- and counter-narratives of “1965” continue to exist and circulate in Indonesia today. By combining a focus on contestations of the past in public space with research into the perceptions of the younger generation in particular, it explores how the politics of memory work in everyday practice. A survey conducted among 170 high school pupils in Yogyakarta provides unique insight into the highly complex and problematic ways in which the history of 1965-66 is remembered by a group of young Indonesians today. Thereby, this thesis provides further insight into the lasting legacies of mass violence in post-authoritarian Indonesia.Show less
