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
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
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
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
In this bachelor thesis I investigate whether Neanderthals had a sexual division of labour or not. I established three hypotheses: 1) Neanderthals had a sexual division of labour where males hunt...Show moreIn this bachelor thesis I investigate whether Neanderthals had a sexual division of labour or not. I established three hypotheses: 1) Neanderthals had a sexual division of labour where males hunt and females gather plant foods and perform other activities, 2) Neanderthals had a sexual division of labour where males and females hunt but males perform the most dangerous tasks, 3) there was no sexual division of labour and males and females hunted and gathered in equal amounts. To find out if Neanderthals had a sexual division of labour, a meta-study of two osteological analyses applied to Neanderthal bones was performed. The first methods that was used was a comparison of the shape and robusticity of male and female Neanderthal limb bones compared to samples of modern human huntergatherers and sedentary populations. Secondly the distribution of trauma across the skeletons of male and female Neanderthals was compared. In both of the analyses the evidence pointed towards the first hypothesis. The evidence however was too limited. The small sample size of sexable Neanderthals was the largest issue. I concluded that according to the data gathered in this thesis hypothesis 1 is the most likely. However, none of the three hypotheses can be rejected confidently due to the limited evidence.Show less
The discovery of remains of a lion in the Gran Dolina cave (Atapuerca, Spain) with pronounced signs of butchering makes one wonder why hominids would want to hunt for a large carnivore without...Show moreThe discovery of remains of a lion in the Gran Dolina cave (Atapuerca, Spain) with pronounced signs of butchering makes one wonder why hominids would want to hunt for a large carnivore without projectile weapons. These lion remains are special, but not unique in the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic of Europe. Traces of hunting for lions and wolves are present at a limited number of sites, and procurement of brown bear and cave bear is widespread. In this paper I explore a costly signalling explanation for hunting on these large carnivores. The costly signalling theory states that animals can use signalling to show a quality that is otherwise not easily observed. If the signal is truly costly, this guarantees a level of honesty and receivers of the signal can benefit by responding to it. In our hominid case, strong men can show their hunting quality by engaging in risky hunts for large carnivores. Observing females will then preferentially mate with those males and competitors will be deterred. Anthropological studies apply costly signalling theory to explain deviations from the expected patterns of optimal foraging theory. I will discuss an anthropological case study and then return to the archaeological situation to asses the value of costly signalling for hunting for large carnivores in the European Palaeolithic. Showing the results of signalling in the archaeological record is difficult, but indirect observations can be used. The main value of costly signalling theory lies in its ability to explain economically unexpected behaviour and in introducing sexual selection to European Palaeolithic archaeology.Show less
By research of ‘occupational stress markers’ (markers on the skeleton which appear during life because of repeated acts), archaeologists have learned a lot about the lifestyle of people from the...Show moreBy research of ‘occupational stress markers’ (markers on the skeleton which appear during life because of repeated acts), archaeologists have learned a lot about the lifestyle of people from the past. Since the beginning of the last century a lot of research has been done on these markers of occupational stress. However there is also a lot of uncertainty and disagreement about the research on these markers. For example, there are several different terms in literature which are meaning approximately all the same, there are different scoringsystems in use and not every study takes the non-mechanical factors, which can play a role by the appearance of the markers, into account. This study is showing how an occupational stress marker exactly appears, which factors are necessary for this and which other factors (like body size and age) also can play a role in the appearance. I also give examples of the activities we can derive from the markers and the reliability of these results. I give a review of the different scoringsystems which are used today, as well. Herewith I come to an overview about what occupational stress markers, and related terms, exactly are. About what archaeologists can do with it. About the reliability of the results. And what the most recent opinions are, researches take today about these markers of occupational stress.Show less
In this thesis one of the most exceptional aspects of Upper-Palaeolithic art is discussed, namely the occurrence and meaning of therianthropes, human-animal hybrids. Their first undisputed...Show moreIn this thesis one of the most exceptional aspects of Upper-Palaeolithic art is discussed, namely the occurrence and meaning of therianthropes, human-animal hybrids. Their first undisputed occurrence started in the Aurignacian (40-28 ky), which happened to coincide with the arrival of AMH in Europe. After this point, therianthropes are found throughout the entire human history, in a wide variety of worldwide cultures. What makes them so appealing is not just their ambiguous visual nature, but in particular their enigmatic meaning and the different ways they are perceived. Already since the early days of therianthrope research, their meaning has aroused much debate. Interpretations of l'art pour l'art, totemism, hunting magic and means of communication have passed the review. A widely professed theory is the shamanistic interpretation, put forward by South-African scholar David Lewis-Williams. He proposed that therianthropes were hybrid creatures seen by shamans during the last stage of a trance, in which all sorts of visions would merge with each other. In recent years the neurocognitive approach has gained many followers: this theory applies cognitive neuroscience to evolutionary cognitive archaeology. This in order to interpret specific patterns of archaeological evidence, in terms of the cognition of those who produced it and the evolutionary occurrence of specific features of human cognition. According to the proponents of this model, therianthropes are a classical example of the capabilities of the modern mind, that is able to merge two or more separate abstract concepts into one. All necessary components of this ability are believed to have evolved over thousands of years and probably started in H. heidelbergensis. Both theories have some appeal, yet they remain close to impossible to prove, because it is so hard to make inferences about the state of mind of Palaeolithic people and their intentions behind the production of enigmatic creatures such as therianthropes.Show less
The aim of this thesis is to study the function of prehistoric hearths and to take the first step in creating guidelines for the excavation, sampling and analysis of prehistoric hearths. Although...Show moreThe aim of this thesis is to study the function of prehistoric hearths and to take the first step in creating guidelines for the excavation, sampling and analysis of prehistoric hearths. Although the study of hearths and their function can provide valuable information about past human behaviour there appear to be no real guidelines available for this type of research. This results in loss of valuable information and possible misinterpretation of hearths. Part 1 of this thesis gives an introduction of various aspects of hearths, such as their origins, their forms and functions, different types of fuel and some analysis methods that can be applied to study them. Part 2 consists of a case study of a hearth from the French middle Neolithic site Trinité-sur-Mer. For this study one of the 15 hearths present at the site was analysed in order to determine its function. For this purpose reflectance analysis carried out on the charcoal fragments from three different samples from the hearth in order to get an idea of the temperatures that were reached in the hearth. Some specific choices regarding the manner of sampling and processing the samples were made and phytolith analysis was carried out to determine whether these choices resulted in as little damage and loss of material as possible. It was found that the choices made within this study had the desired effect. Furthermore the reflectance analysis and fuel determination showed that the hearth from Trinité-sur-Mer probably was a domestic hearth fuelled with wood of Quercus sp. and reached temperatures of at least 400 °C.Show less
