This thesis is about bone paste (also called incrustation) used in the pottery of the Dutch Funnel Beaker West Group, which could be dated between 3400 BC and 2850 BC. On the basis of the problem...Show moreThis thesis is about bone paste (also called incrustation) used in the pottery of the Dutch Funnel Beaker West Group, which could be dated between 3400 BC and 2850 BC. On the basis of the problem definition an answer is sought for the question whether the bone paste was inserted into the pottery decorations and what this bone paste is made of. This question is answered through four research parts. The first is a study of Funnel Beaker pottery to look at how frequently the phenomenon of bone paste usage occurs. The second is an experiment to try to find out what is the best way to make bone paste. The third is a taphonomical experiment to see if there are any detectable traces of the application of bone paste in the pottery. And the fourth is a DNA analysis to find out if the bone which was used for the Funnel Beaker pottery was human or animal derived. The conclusion of this thesis is that bone paste can be found in about 23% of the ancient pottery studied. Probably, more pottery contained bone paste, but this is undetectable due to taphonomic conditions and the cleaning of the pottery. White burned crushed bone was most likely rubbed into fired pottery and then a fatty substance such as melted butter was put over it. This means that the pots could not be heated or washed. The result of the taphonomical part of the research is the discovery that bone powder applied before melted butter is most resistant to all kinds of taphonomical processes. The outcome of the DNA analysis is that most likely burned human bone was used as a source for the crushed bone powder in the ancient pottery decorations.Show less
Wijk bij Duurstede is built on top of the Early Medieval settlement Dorestad. In 2008 ‘Veilingterrein’, an area adjoining the former port area, was excavated. Among the finds were 50 water wells....Show moreWijk bij Duurstede is built on top of the Early Medieval settlement Dorestad. In 2008 ‘Veilingterrein’, an area adjoining the former port area, was excavated. Among the finds were 50 water wells. For this study two of these wells were investigated at the Cultural Heritage Agency (lab Stichting RING/RCE). One water well was made of a discarded cask made of 23 oak staves and a piece of beech. Samples were taken from the staves and the tree rings measured. The staves were found to originate from one single tree. Synchronising the data from all staves created a series of 111 tree rings, including 11sapwood rings. This series did not match reliably with the reference chronologies. Cross-dating individual staves with the chronologies was not successful either. The piece of beech could not be dated dendrochronologically. The second water-well, a hollowed-out oak, was sampled, the synchronised measurements totalled 92 rings, no sapwood was present. The wood did not match with the reference chronologies.Show less
Doel van deze scriptie is de relatie tussen rock art en het landschap in de bronstijd te onderzoeken. Rock art is een geschikt medium voor een bredere studie naar de prehistorische samenleving en...Show moreDoel van deze scriptie is de relatie tussen rock art en het landschap in de bronstijd te onderzoeken. Rock art is een geschikt medium voor een bredere studie naar de prehistorische samenleving en de bewoning en het gebruik van het landschap. De regio Bohuslän in Zweden is als onderzoeksgebied gekozen daar er zich een grote concentratie rock art bevindt en er zeer gedetailleerde, recente onderzoeken beschikbaar zijn. Het rock art onderzoek in Bohuslän is van oudsher, maar zelfs tot op de dag van vandaag, geregeerd door het aardse paradigma. De laatste jaren is er een begin gemaakt met het vestigen van een nieuw maritiem kader. De meest voorkomende figuratieve motieven in Bohuslän zijn petrogliefen van boten. Het lijkt er op dat die op een betekenisvolle locatie aan de kust liggen. Ze wijken sterk af van de rock art uit de omgeving. De grootste rock art sites met de meeste afbeeldingen van boten zijn in de nabijheid van de kust gelokaliseerd, terwijl rock art sites met afbeeldingen van grote mensfiguren zich op de hoger gelegen gebieden bevinden. Zou het om een locatie kunnen gaan waar de lokale elite zijn reizen begon? De onderzoekers zijn het er over eens dat de samenleving in de bronstijd de vorm van een “chiefdom” heeft. Er zijn echter vele verschillende vormen van een “chiefdom”, van sterk hiërarchisch tot meer egalitair. De rock art kan ons een aanwijzing geven over de mate van hiërarchie binnen de “chiefdoms” en daarmee de sociale structuur van de samenleving in Bohuslän.Show less
In 1975 plans were made for a recreational park east of Wijchen. During the research of the area, it became clear that this place was of great archaeological interest. So it was decided that...Show moreIn 1975 plans were made for a recreational park east of Wijchen. During the research of the area, it became clear that this place was of great archaeological interest. So it was decided that excavation was necessary. The excavation commenced in spring 1976 and took several years. During the excavation two house plans were identified and great quantities of pottery collected. Unfortunately, there has been no documentation in the thirty years since the excavation with exception of site plans. Therefore there is a great shortage of information. In the past years some students did some thesis-research on the subject of Wijchen-Berendonck and they discovered that this site contained mainly Iron Age material. The houses have been dated to Early and Middle Iron Age as well. In this thesis a small part in the northwest of the site is studied. At this part of the site only two structures are evident: two small barns. The focus of this thesis is on the pottery found in four large pits. The results of this research indicate that the material is from the Iron Age also and so it is suspected that the collection also contains Early and Middle period. However this is not clear enough, which is due to the lack of information and documentation. To achieve more clearance in this project we need to wait for the research results of masterstudent Marloes Luijten, who is studying the rest of the site at the moment.Show less
From the site Seru Boca on Curaçao where archeological research was conducted by the Faculty of Archeology of the University of Leiden, the Netherlands, charcoal from a hearth place was brought to...Show moreFrom the site Seru Boca on Curaçao where archeological research was conducted by the Faculty of Archeology of the University of Leiden, the Netherlands, charcoal from a hearth place was brought to the botanical laboratory. In order to analyse the relationship of the people who lit the fire with their environment, charcoal determination is conducted in this report. The relevance of charcoal investigation is addressed and for determination, sixteen recent samples were compared with the archeological charcoal and morphological features were looked at. Several approaches towards the choice of wood are noted; not only the suitability, determined by ecophysical and mechanical properties and availibity is looked at, but also ethnographical usage of species is briefly addressed. Concerning the determination, it was established that the species found, Laguncularia racemosa, was present in the vegetation between 1415 and 1648, in which period the archeological charcoal remains were carbon dated.Show less
This paper investigates the Wartberg-Stein-Vlaardingen-complex as proposed by Louwe Kooijmans (1983) A systematic comparison was made of chronology, pottery, burial rituals, settlements, and...Show moreThis paper investigates the Wartberg-Stein-Vlaardingen-complex as proposed by Louwe Kooijmans (1983) A systematic comparison was made of chronology, pottery, burial rituals, settlements, and subsistence of these three cultural groups. Stein and Vlaardingen show many similarities in pottery which lead to the suggestion that they might have been one cultural phenomenon, with Stein being the dry component and Vlaardingen the wet component. However, this disregards the differences in other aspects of material culture. The Wartberg-culture is geographically far apart and show some important differences. The main conclusion of this paper is that there is not enough common ground for the Wartberg-Stein-Vlaardingen-complex set apart from other middle and late neolithic cultures in Western Europe. The relations of the Wartberg-culture with Stein- and Vlaardingen-group are not as close as propesed by Louwe Kooijmans (1983).Show less
This thesis presents the first compilation of almost all of the available information on dogs in the Caribbean in order to provide insight into the social role of the dog in Pre-Columbian Caribbean...Show moreThis thesis presents the first compilation of almost all of the available information on dogs in the Caribbean in order to provide insight into the social role of the dog in Pre-Columbian Caribbean societies. This compilation consists of data from the Caribbean archaeological record (with the Early Ceramic Age component of the site Morel (300 B.C. – A.D. 400), Guadeloupe, as a case study) and is supported by information from Caribbean ethnohistoric accounts and analogous South American ethnographies. From these multidisciplinary sources it becomes evident that while there are many problems associated with the research focused on dogs within Pre-Columbian Caribbean Archaeology, there are some general conclusions that can be made. Remains or representations of the dog have been found in almost every island of the Caribbean, with the oldest dog remains dating to the Archaic Age. The dog’s presence in the archaeological record becomes significant from the Early Ceramic Age onward, when the first burials and ceramic representations are found. Dogs might have been buried as an offering, out of personal reverence of the animal or as a guide for the souls of the dead. Similar ideas of the dog as a protector and mediator of the border between the worlds of the living and the dead exist in many cultures across the world. There are also several parallels between burials of humans and dogs in both the Caribbean and in Europe. In the Caribbean dogs were also totemic and cultural symbols, whose representations and skeletal or dental elements might have been as important as their burials. From the available evidence it can be concluded that the social role of the dog in the Caribbean probably consisted of the dog as a family member, as well as a (hunting) companion or guide (whether in life or in death). The attention commonly lavished on dogs in mortuary contexts suggests that dogs are about as close to being considered a person as a non-human animal can be.Show less
The use of style occurred very early in archaeology. It is used still today to determine specific proveniences for archaeological objects. A lot of problems tend to occur when trying to determine a...Show moreThe use of style occurred very early in archaeology. It is used still today to determine specific proveniences for archaeological objects. A lot of problems tend to occur when trying to determine a provenience for objects in a region where cultural interaction played a major role. These problems contain questions such as whether culture is recognizable through similarities and differences in small details and whether a style is really specific for a certain culture or region. These and other problems are the central theme of this thesis and these are being analysed with the help of a case study. This case study focuses on finding the place of manufacture of the ritual Mesoamerican book called Codex Borgia. The specific questions that stand central in this thesis are: which theories have been created about the origin of the Codex Borgia and how did the researchers interpret data for this research question? Furthermore, does finding a place of manufacture for the Codex Borgia give us new insights for further research in this area? Five of the many theories concerning this topic have been analysed here. It has been concluded that a couple of the researchers have been focussing on style-culture relations which tend to reveal little about a specific place of manufacture. This is due to the fact that similarities in this style, called the Mixteca-Puebla style, have been found over a large region. It is argued in this thesis that on the basis of style alone a specific region or place cannot be identified. That is why it has been argued that other sources should be used as well such as the content of the book. It has also been argued that we should not focus on trying to find a more specific place of manufacture for the Codex Borgia because it would not give us useful information on which further research can be based. We should not look for big differences in cultures as well, especially in a region where cultural interaction is dominant. Rather, we should focus on trying to understand this interaction and how it came to be.Show less
De Bandkeramische vindplaats Maastricht-Belvédère 1988 ligt op een middenplateau op de Caberg in Limburg. Alhoewel de Caberg geografisch gezien dichterbij de Heeswatercluster ligt, lijkt de...Show moreDe Bandkeramische vindplaats Maastricht-Belvédère 1988 ligt op een middenplateau op de Caberg in Limburg. Alhoewel de Caberg geografisch gezien dichterbij de Heeswatercluster ligt, lijkt de Bandkeramische bewoning van de Caberg in verschillende aspecten beter aan te sluiten bij de Bandkeramische bewoning van de Graetheidecluster. De Bandkeramische vindplaatsen van de Caberg worden gedateerd in de fasen 1C t/m 2D, waarbij de nadruk ligt op bewoning in de fasen 1C/1D. De vindplaatsen zijn daarnaast allen slechts één à twee fasen bewoond. Bovendien hebben ze een relatief lage spreiding van sporen. Deze kenmerken gelden ook voor de Bandkeramische vindplaats Maastricht-Belvédère 1988, wat het idee versterkt dat de Bandkeramische bewoning van de Caberg beter past bij de Bandkeramische bewoning van de Graetheidecluster, dan bij die van de Heeswatercluster.Show less
Sinds de uitgave van Luttwaks boek The grand strategy of the Roman Empire in 1976 is er een historisch debat gaande, waarin de centrale vraag is of de Romeinse keizers een grand strategy, een...Show moreSinds de uitgave van Luttwaks boek The grand strategy of the Roman Empire in 1976 is er een historisch debat gaande, waarin de centrale vraag is of de Romeinse keizers een grand strategy, een bepaalde strategie, volgden. In deze scriptie wordt de verdediging van de Romeinse oostgrens ten tijde van het Principaat en de Parthen (27 v.C.-224 n.C.) onder de loep genomen, waarvoor gekeken wordt naar de keizerlijke strategieën en het functioneren van het Romeinse leger in het Romeinse oosten, om uiteindelijk een bijdrage te kunnen leveren aan het grand strategy-debat. Daaruit blijkt dat vanaf Augustus een zeker beleid te zien is, dat zich uitte in het opschuiven van de Romeinse oostgrens richting de Eufraat. Vanaf het moment dat er een redelijke rechte oostgrens gecreëerd was, die deels langs de Eufraat liep, werd deze gehandhaafd. Toen de Parthen echter agressiever werden creëerden Marcus Aurelius en Septimius Severus een Romeins bolwerk in Mesopotamië, waardoor de Romeinen een sterke strategische positie verkregen. Het Romeinse leger bleek dankzij de hulp- en bondgenotentroepen die tot zijn beschikking stonden en de aanpassingen aan de in het oosten aanwezige vijanden goed te kunnen functioneren. Aan de hand van deze conclusies kan men wel degelijk stellen dat de Romeinse keizers een grand strategy hadden. From the moment that Luttwak’s book The grand strategy of the Roman Empire was published in 1976 there has been an ongoing historical debate, in which the central question is whether Roman emperors did or did not follow a grand strategy. In this thesis the defence of the Roman eastern border in the time of the Principate and the Parthians (27 BC-224 AD) has been examined, so that in the end a position can be taken in the grand strategy-debate. To attain this end this study has been examining the imperial strategies and how the Roman army functioned in the east. The results are that from Augustus on a certain policy can be deduced: the Roman border was slowly extended to the Euphrates. From the moment that the border ran a relatively straight course from north to south, partly running along the Euphrates, it was kept that way. That changed when the Parthians got more aggressive; Marcus Aurelius and Septimius Severus created a Roman bulwark in Mesopotamia, which gave the Romans a strong strategic position. The Roman army was very efficient thanks to the many auxiliary and allied troops in it and the adaptations to its enemies. Looking at these conclusions it can be concluded that the Roman emperors did have a grand strategy.Show less
Tijdens de Vroege Bronstijd bestonden er handelsnetwerken die zich uitstrekten over het Middellandse Zeegebied, Zuidoost-Europa en West-Azie. Troje in Noordwest-Anatolie en Poliochni op Lemnos...Show moreTijdens de Vroege Bronstijd bestonden er handelsnetwerken die zich uitstrekten over het Middellandse Zeegebied, Zuidoost-Europa en West-Azie. Troje in Noordwest-Anatolie en Poliochni op Lemnos maakten deel uit van deze handelsnetwerken. In deze periode doken er voor het eerst veel fijngemaakte sieraden op, waaronder de 'basket-shaped' oorbellen. Zo zijn er een aantal zeer rijke schatten met 'basket-shaped' oorbellen zowel in Troje als Poliochni gevonden. Deze gouden oorbellen laten een vergevorderde kennis van goudbewerking zien en een beheersing van een grote diversiteit aan technieken. De oorsprong van de vele technieken gebruikt in de 'basket-shaped' oorbellen, en de parallellen die vele objecten uit hun vondst-contexten in de verre omgevingen vinden, geven aan dat de edelsmeedkunst van Troje en Poliochni invloeden van buitenaf kende. Het lijkt echter onwaarschijnlijk dat een rechtstreekse route Troje en Poliochni met Mesopotamie verbond. Hoewel vaak aangenomen wordt dat de 'basket-shaped' oorbellen dit wel suggereren, is de verspreiding van 'basket-shaped' oorbellen juist opvallend beperkt tot de omgeving van Troje, vier voorbeelden uit Eskiyapar, Noordwest-Anatolie, daargelaten. Het is aannemelijk dat Troje en Poliochni in de Vroege Bronstijd deel uitmaakten van een handelsnetwerk dat zich strekte van het Egeische gebied tot aan Mesopotamie (en mogelijk nog verder), echter niet via directe wegen maar door connecties tussen 'handelsgebieden' die elkaar overlapten en onderling aan uitwisseling deden. Zo konden ideeen, grondstoffen en objecten zich over grote afstanden verspreiden. De contacten, die waarschijnlijk al lang bestonden, werden intensiever door de zoektocht naar grondstoffen en technieken bij de intrede van de metallurgie. De locatie van Troje en Poliochni was een belangrijke factor voor het ontstaan van de schatten en de 'basket-shaped' oorbellen daarin. De twee nederzettingen, vooral Troje, hadden niet alleen een goede aansluiting op de belangrijkste handelsroutes van Centraal-Anatolie en maritieme contacten met het Egeische gebied, maar ook contacten over de Zwarte Zee en een goede beschikbaarheid van metalen. Hierdoor kon er in Troje en Poliochni een sociale elite opstaan en een rijke metaalindustrie opbloeien waarin edelsmeden, die zich onder andere door Mesopotamische sieraden lieten inspireren, hun eigen stijl in sieraden konden ontwikkelen.Show less
Research master thesis | Developmental Psychopathology in Education and Child Studies (research) (MSc)
open access
2015-01-01T00:00:00Z
This study explored the relation between chronotype and cognitive and behavioral problems in 333 school-aged children (mean age 9.97 years, 55% girls), with an important focus on a potential...Show moreThis study explored the relation between chronotype and cognitive and behavioral problems in 333 school-aged children (mean age 9.97 years, 55% girls), with an important focus on a potential mediating role of sleep duration and sleep quality. Participants completed short-form WISC-IIINL and several tasks on the Amsterdam Neuropsychological Tasks (ANT), which assesses important domains of attention. Their parents filled out a sleep log and several questionnaires regarding chronotype (CCTQ), sleep habits (CSHQ), and behavioral problems (CBCL). Results showed that indeed eveningness was associated with behavioral problems. No direct associations with cognitive functioning were found. Sleep duration was not associated with cognitive-behavioral functioning. Sleep quality, specifically feeling rested in the morning during weekdays, was associated with cognitive and behavioral functioning. Several mediating relations were identified. The findings highlight that sleep quality partially mediates the relation between chronotype and cognitive-behavioral problems. Evening types show behavioral problems when they do not feel rested in the morning. These findings have significant clinical implications.Show less
It is exactly 100 years ago (1911) that hundreds of Chinese migrants set foot in the Netherlands. They were seamen employed by Dutch shipping companies and came originally from Guangdong province...Show moreIt is exactly 100 years ago (1911) that hundreds of Chinese migrants set foot in the Netherlands. They were seamen employed by Dutch shipping companies and came originally from Guangdong province in China. The Chinese community has now grown into a highly diverse community of 100,000 people. It is highly diverse in terms of their place of birth, socio-economic status and immigration history. Among the Chinese immigrants originating from the New Territories in Hong Kong who re-migrated from Britain to the Netherlands in the 1950s, there was a significant lineage, i.e. the Man lineage. Currently, this lineage in the Netherlands is made up of approximately 2000 – 2500 members and in Britain over 4000 members who share the same surname ‘Man’. This thesis has sought to find out what were the causes of migration that contributed to the exodus of the Man lineage to Europe from two particular villages – namely San Tin and Chau Tau – in the New Territories in Hong Kong. The thesis has conducted a comprehensive analysis that consists of a three-level examination, namely that of the macro, meso and micro levels. As a matter of fact, the rationale behind such decisions demonstrates the interaction between structure and agency, culminating in chain migration. In other words, factors such as colonialism, the economic situation, national immigration policies and established social networks all played a role in the decision-making process, making transnational migration possible. It has also demonstrated that family structure has a strong correlation with the pattern of migration. This thesis has also identified certain major changes in relation to the Man lineage in Europe as a result of migration. First of all, there has been an upward social mobility. Second, there has been a conversion in consciousness, notably, from a diasporic consciousness to a transcultural consciousness. Finally, there has been a change in social relationship among the second and the third generation Man lineage members since, according to the survey, they do not have close ties with their their agnates established in Europe and in the New Territories or the villages of their ancestors.Show less
In today's world, I feel that archaeologists often overlook the influence they have on society and identity through the popular representations of their findings. As these representations are often...Show moreIn today's world, I feel that archaeologists often overlook the influence they have on society and identity through the popular representations of their findings. As these representations are often beyond the control of archaeologists, they run the risk of giving the people an image of the past that is simplified and/or full of speculation. This in turn can lead to (and has led to, both in past and present) political misuse of archaeology. Through a lesser studied case-study in the field of Japanese archaeology, the protohistoric Kofun era and its haniwa clay figurines, this paper aims to create an awareness of how the way we represent our finds influences the identity of a society, both on a small scale and on a national scale, and how we can gauge this influence by looking at a nation's popular culture and art. In this I will focus specifically on the popular representations in archaeological parks and festivals and on how to find the influence of these representations in popular culture and art. As I find out during my research it is certainly possible to see an influence of archaeology in popular culture. Unfortunately the question remains if this is really an influence of the way archaeology is represented, or merely a matter of taste and interest of the artist. One might argue though that if a lot of artists like using these archaeological images this in itself could be a visible influence of the impact of archaeological representations. Either way it appears that more research is needed in this field.Show less
Deze masterthesis wil een verbinding leggen tussen de kerkelijke rite van het afleggen van belijdenis en de feminisering van religie. De femiseringsthese die geldt voor de negentiende eeuw, steunt...Show moreDeze masterthesis wil een verbinding leggen tussen de kerkelijke rite van het afleggen van belijdenis en de feminisering van religie. De femiseringsthese die geldt voor de negentiende eeuw, steunt op vier variabelen: een feminisering van de geestelijke stand, van gelovigen en hun rituelen, van de aard van religie en van religieuze spiritualiteit of vroomheid. Het afleggen van belijdenis biedt de mogelijkheid om de reikwijdte van de feminiseringsthese voor de protestantse context te onderzoeken. De belijdenisrite daarvoor geschikt: veel mensen deden belijdenis en de bronnen vermelden een verantwoording om belijdenis te doen. De feminiseringsthese en de belijdenisrite zijn voor de Nederlandse context nog nauwelijks gebruikt. In deze thesis wordt het onderzoek beperkt tot het grootste protestantse kerkgenootschap in Nederland, de Nederlandse Hervormde Kerk, in de periode 1816-1900. Een van de conclusies is dat de belijdenisrite in de tweede helft van de negentiende eeuw wordt versterkt door de invoering van kerkelijke rituelen en familierituelen. Het gebruik van emoties bij de belijdenis werd in de tweede helft van de eeuw toegejuichd, maar slechts zolang de belijdenis duurde. Daarna werd repressie door predikanten belangrijker geacht. Vrouwen in de negentiende eeuw schreven verder het meest over de belijdenis. Het beschrijven van vroomheid door vrouwen was geaccepteerd. Mannen (predikanten en gemeenteleden) gaven een negatieve betekenis aan deze vroomheid door die te vergelijken met uiterst piëtistische vrouwen. Zij vonden dat zowel mannen als vrouwen met mate over vroomheid moesten spreken. Redelijkheid en bescheidenheid achtte men van meer belang. Verschillen tussen bronnen van predikanten en gemeenteleden lichten met name op in de maatschappelijke betekenis die ze aan de belijdenisrite meegeven. This thesis makes a connection between the rite of confirmation and the feminisation of religion. Both confirmation and the theory of feminisation are hardly studied in the Dutch context. In this thesis research is limited to the largest protestant denomination in the Netherlands, the Dutch Reformed Church, in the period 1816-1900.Show less
This thesis is about the opinion of developers about archaeological research and the archaeological law and regulatory. The changes started after the signature of the Pact of Valletta, which should...Show moreThis thesis is about the opinion of developers about archaeological research and the archaeological law and regulatory. The changes started after the signature of the Pact of Valletta, which should protect the archaeological soil archive in Europe and encourage spreading the knowledge about archaeology to the public. Since 1999 it was possible for commercial archaeological enterprises to obtain a digging license and in 2007 the new monument regulation was implemented in The Netherlands. This was the beginning of a new era for the archaeologists. It means that when developers disturb the archaeological soil archive, they are obligated to pay for the archaeological research. This regulation provided a lot jobs and security for the conservation of the archaeological information and there are several enterprises that are specialized in public archaeology. All benefits, but what does the developer who pays all this feels about it? Five developers were interviewed on the subject and they all say it is a good thing this regulation is implemented and archaeological research has become a part of the process of development. The negative side of archaeological research is that it is unpredictable in terms of money and time. Besides this risk the product of archaeological research is not very useful for the developers. They would like to see more in return for their investment, for example through the media attention. When an archaeological find is published in a paper, they could mention the name of the developers if he cooperates well with the archaeologists. This would provide archaeology with an extra value for the developer.Show less
On the Syrian archaeological site Tell Sabi Abyad extensive traces of reed phytoliths and imprints have been found during the excavation seasons 2008 and 2009. These silica imprints can be...Show moreOn the Syrian archaeological site Tell Sabi Abyad extensive traces of reed phytoliths and imprints have been found during the excavation seasons 2008 and 2009. These silica imprints can be allocated stratigraphically to either one of the Early Ceramic Neolithic levels A-4A and A-4B, dating to approximately 6400 calBC. The reed phytoliths and imprints are often accompanied with impressions of branches or beams. The role and function of the reed and beam impressions is unclear, forming for instance either a roof of the level A-4B buildings, or a foundation layer of the level A-4B structures. Both allocations are problematic, as the roofs would have covered buildings with an average height of approximately 80 centimetres, while the occurrence of beams in foundation layers - as opposed to the use of reed - seems without ethnographic parallels. When confronting an assessment of the excavation data regarding reed silica imprints and beam impressions with architectural and ethnographical hypotheses, the possible role and function of the reed and beams is clarified. Through a process of eliminating non-viable hypotheses a clear picture emerges: the reed and beams can only be interpreted as being a part of the foundation layer of level A-4A, constructed after the levelling of the remains of the previous level A-4B.Show less
The analysis of the Ptolemaic and Greco-Bactrian coins has showed that the symbols on the coins are partly Hellenistic, but partly typical of Ptolemaic Egypt as well. There are some similarities...Show moreThe analysis of the Ptolemaic and Greco-Bactrian coins has showed that the symbols on the coins are partly Hellenistic, but partly typical of Ptolemaic Egypt as well. There are some similarities between the Ptolemaic and Bactrian coins. The coins usually show a prince or princess on the obverse side with several royal or divine attributes, and a god or goddess on the reverse side. Although there are similarities, there are many discontinuities as well with regard to the iconography. Discontinuities are found between the coins of the ruling princes themselves, but also between the coins of the two Hellenistic kingdoms, Ptolemaic Egypt and Bactria, in general. Depending on the popularity of the prince or his power, on ruler is portrayed with certain symbols and the other with other or less symbols. Thus, not every prince is depicted with the aegis of Zeus or with the trident of Poseidon. It seems that certain symbols had to be earned and that’s why there isn’t a standard applied to all Ptolemaic coins. The Bactrian coins confirmed this theory. When the Ptolemaic coins are analyzed and compared with the Bactrian coins there are differences and similarities to be discovered as well. The iconography of a coin seems to have been influenced by the local culture and the degree of integration between different cultures. Bactrian coins showed similar symbols as the Ptolemaic coins. For that reason there can be argued that there is a standard for the iconography applied to both the Hellenistic kingdoms. When you compare the Ptolemaic coins with our currency, the euro, you can see that the euro is a Dutch currency, but a European currency as well. This is how the Dutch look at the euro, as a Dutch coin and as a European coin. The Ptolemaic coin is a typical Ptolemaic coin with typical culture defined symbols, but also a Hellenistic coin, with symbols similar to the Bactrian coins.Show less
