Europe (Geographic Keyword)
1,101-1,125 (1,217 Records)
This poster presents a critical reflection on the dialectical and power-imbued relationships of archaeologists and stakeholder communities, focusing on the ongoing Stélida Naxos Archaeological Project in the Cycladic islands, Greece. While much has been written about archaeologists’ interaction with neighboring populations, Stélida provides a complex case due to the transitory and heterogeneous nature of what constitutes its "local" community. Residence is both seasonal (summer) and fluid in...
Thinking Socially: Digital Archaeology Beyond Technological Fetishism (2017)
As research momentum gathers alongside the adoption of digital technologies into everyday life, the terms ‘virtual reality’, ‘online’, and ‘cyberspace’, increasingly fail to recognize the degree to which the adoption of digital technologies, and the material objects through which the digital is accessed, have been domesticated and made normal. The entanglement of social communication networks in the variety of digital environments provided by archaeological organisations is often seen as...
Till Death Do Us Part: A Bioarchaeological Investigation of Female Kinship Ties in Early Medieval Ireland (2015)
The introduction of Christianity in the 5th century had far reaching effects in Ireland. The first few centuries of the early medieval period (c.400-1200AD) is considered as a time of dramatic cultural transformation. The documentary record that emerged in the wake of this process was created by male clergy in a rural, hierarchical, patrilineal society where the position of women was complex. This research uses archaeologically-recovered human remains from the immediate post-conversion period...
Time to Take a Rain Check? The Social and Practical Implications of Weather and Seasonality on the Cremation Rite in Early Anglo-Saxon England (2017)
Cremation was one of the primary funerary rites employed in early Anglo-Saxon England (fifth to seventh century AD). Open-air pyres were used to cremate the dead alongside an array of pyre goods, including personal objects and faunal gifts. The resultant remains were subsequently collected and interred in pottery urns. Despite the fact that this mortuary rite has been subjected to extensive research over recent years, archaeologists often overlook the challenges faced by communities that...
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier… Potter? Roman Legionary Ceramic Production and its Organization (2015)
One of the most iconic images of the Roman Empire was and is that of the Legions, citizen-warriors clad in shiny lorica segmentata and with gladius in-hand. These soldiers were however skilled not only in the art of war, but also in crafts and trades – supplying and supporting the operations of the Roman imperial military through their daily activities. One such industry about which we have relatively extensive evidence is ceramic production (of tile, brick, and pottery). While most ceramic...
To Be or Not to Be Attributed to Specific Plants? The Integration of Phytolith Analysis and Soil and Sediment Micromorphology (2024)
This is an abstract from the "Advances in Macrobotanical and Microbotanical Archaeobotany, Part II" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Despite extensive research during the last decades, phytolith botanical attribution remains a critical issue. Nevertheless, the development and expansion of reference collections confirm that some taxa produce very distinctive phytoliths at different taxonomic levels. Things become more complex when considering closely...
Too Loud a Solitude: Landfills in the Landscape (2015)
In this paper, we examine the role of landfills in the construction of landscape. Landfills represent ambiguous spaces where material remains of human action are disposed and forgotten. They tend to be hidden from the view of persons passing by and only those who gone astray might encounter these blind spots on the map. Yet, landfills are well known to the professionals who plan and manage large amounts of waste to transform it into a new kind of assemblage that shapes landscape. In contrast to...
Tool-kits, Subsistence, and Land-use Patterns: The Neanderthal Ecology Revisited across a Dense Cultural Sequence in the Alpine chain (2017)
Studies of the way Neanderthal groups used knapping technologies and organized their economy and land-use are sparse in Europe and even scantier in the Alps, so only in some regions can cyclical and seasonal residential movements be inferred from data on the exploitation of ungulates with variable levels of migratory behavior. Two of the most widespread methods used in stone knapping were the Discoidal and Levallois. However, analyses of these lithic artifacts are not yet sufficiently integrated...
Touching the Past in Museums: issues of authenticity and identity for crafted replicas and 3D print facsimiles of rare, perishable and iconic artefacts (2015)
Traditional museum presentations of rare or fragile archaeological artefacts are dominated by displays behind glass; vision dominates the sensory experience. The emotional connections built by more multisensory engagement with artefacts offer a better appreciation of the ancient objects and an enhanced museum visit. The research focused on icons of identity which were too precious to allow handling and items which were too fragile to touch, such as ancient perishable textiles and basketry. The...
Towards a Quantitative Analysis of Aronze Axe Metalwork Wear (2016)
Bronze axes are arguably the most important objects of study for understanding the start of metallurgy in Europe; a process of material transformation that irrevocably altered the prehistoric world. Yet we cannot accurately answer the simple question ‘what were bronze axes used for’? This paper aims to begin to establish more clearly the way that wear develops on the blades of bronze axes. Existing studies in metalwork wear analysis have relied on qualitative analysis of replicas used in a...
Towards a synchronic view of Aurignacian lithic economy (2015)
The Aurignacian is considered a product of the first modern human groups in Western Europe. Nevertheless, we have approached this important moment in Prehistory with a diachronic vision, ultimately inhibiting us from investigating the synchronic organization of this archaeological culture. By enlarging our field of vision to several sites in southwestern France we hope to characterize the variability of Aurignacian lithic industries on two scales: the inter- and the intra-site. At the intra-site...
The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse: Emergence of Pest-Host and Commensal Relationships at Aşıklı Höyük, Turkey (2016)
The objective of this poster is to present an overview of the emergence of pest-host and commensal relationships that emerged between humans and microfaunal species over the course of approximately 1,500 years at the Pre-Pottery Neolithic site of Aşıklı Höyük. My research is focused on the investigation of the frequency and taphonomic contexts of microfaunal remains in a formative village setting. Co-evolution between humans and plants and animals occurred as feedback systems developed because...
Traces of complexity: connecting model output with archaeological reality (2016)
Simulation models are explicit descriptions of the components and interactions of a system, made dynamic in software. In archaeology, they are most often used to conduct controlled experiments, in which key socio-ecological parameters are varied, and changes to system-level dynamics are observed over time. An interesting emergent property of these kinds of experiments is that they produce a range of possible outcomes for any set of initial conditions. Thus, rather than use simulations to explain...
Trade, Technology, and Identity: Current Approaches to Pottery Studies in Late Antique and Early Medieval Europe (2016)
This paper will survey some of the most interesting and innovative recent contributions of pottery studies to our knowledge of late antique and early medieval Central Europe (circa fifth to tenth centuries CE). Since an exhaustive review of the many national traditions across this culturally and linguistically diverse region is beyond the scope of this paper, the focus will remain on three broad areas of inquiry. First, what insights can pottery offer into changing patterns of exchange and...
Transdisciplinary Approaches to Norse Use of Marine Mammals: History, Archaeology and aDNA (2017)
Historical, literary and archaeological evidence suggests frequent use of marine mammals by the Norse across the medieval North Atlantic and Eastern Subarctic, circa 870 – 1500 CE. Written records indicate the importance of cetacean species in Norse economies from Norway to Newfoundland, but especially in medieval Iceland. Archaeological assemblages from Iceland reveal an abundance of worked and waste cetacean bone, most of which are morphologically undiagnostic. As such, details on the economic...
Transformations in the Palaeolithic: Searching for the social and cultural role of Neanderthal children (2016)
Early prehistory presents a particular challenge for investigating children, and consequently previous work has almost exclusively consisted of biological accounts of health and growth. However, as traditional views of Neanderthals are becoming increasingly overturned, it has become clear that the social and cultural role of children could be crucial in furthering our understanding of Neanderthal society, and in turn the interactions and differences with modern humans. Through investigating...
Transforming frontiers into heartlands: The immediate and long-term environmental impact of the crusades in NE Europe (2015)
In the 13th century, crusading armies unleashed a relentless holy war against indigenous non-Christian societies in the eastern Baltic region. Tribal territories were replaced with new Christian states run by the Teutonic Order and individual bishops, who constructed castles, encouraged colonists, developed towns and introduced Christianity. At a time of deteriorating climate, their impact on the local environment, especially plants and animals, would have been profound. Furthermore, since many...
Transmission of Architectural Knowledge through Agricultural Practice (2016)
This paper explores an example of cultural transmission from Neolithic to modern times in central and southern Italy: the passing on of architectural knowledge through agricultural practice. Excavation and analysis of wattle and daub buildings from the Stentinello period (6th and 5th millennia B.C.) of Calabria and observation of their 20th-century counterparts prompted study of the continuation of this architectural tradition. Several constructional components have multiple utility in rural...
Transport jars at the Mycenaean Citadel of Tiryns, Greece: new evidence from petrographic analysis of trade in the Late Bronze Age Eastern Mediterranean (2015)
The analysis of Transport Stirrup Jars in the Aegean world has been seen as a test-case for the relative effectiveness and reliability of chemical and petrographic analysis in terms of provenance. These jars are important as they moved in large quantities between the ‘Minoan’ and ‘Mycenaean’ worlds and because they sometimes feature inscriptions in Linear B, reflecting elite control of production and consumption in Crete, as well as in a variety of mainland ‘palaces’. This makes the vessels key...
Transport Stirrup Jars in Context: Post-palatial Politics and Social Resilience in Late Bronze Age Greece (2017)
Entanglement theory highlights the dynamic relationship between actors and the objects they create. Recent application of entanglement theory within the framework of post-collapse societies holds much promise for highlighting the role of human actors as agents of resilience. Following the collapse of the palace system in Late Bronze Age Greece (c. 1200 BCE), there were shifts in the overall settlement pattern as a result of increased mobility and innovative technologies (e.g., iron). Within...
The Treasure of an Ottoman House: A Rare Piece of Chinese Porcelain in Ottoman Hungary (2023)
This is an abstract from the session entitled "Globalisation of Sino-foreign Maritime Exchange: Ocean Cultures", at the 2023 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. The proposed presentation examines the possible ways of reconstructing maritime trading connections between China and the Ottoman Empire in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, on the basis of interpreting a unique Chinese porcelain plate unearthed in Ottoman Hungary. The blue and white plate features a qilin...
The Trip of a Lifetime: Archaeology, Tourism, and Irish-American Identity (2015)
In America, millions of people claim Irish ancestry and celebrate their heritage in myriad ways. Many actively embrace the identity of Irish-American generations after their family members became U.S. citizens in the aftermath of the famine and socio-political turmoil of the mid-19th to early 20th century. Over the past two decades, the tourism industry in Ireland has flourished with Americans among the most numerous visitors each year. Several of the top destinations are those connected to...
Trollesgave: Hunter-Gatherer Social Organisation during the Late Glacial in Northwest Europe (2015)
Microwear analysis in combination with refitting and lithic reduction is applied to reconstruct the function and social organisation at the Late Glacial site of Trollesgave, Denmark. Analyses of the flint knapping and the spatial distribution of its products reveal the traces of at least three individuals: expert, medium competent, and inexperienced. Based on the quality of craftsmanship and the aberrant habits of disposing their products of the latter, there is evidence for one and possibly two...
Troía's Three Roman Ladies: The Analysis of Three Cases of Trepanation at Necrópolis de Calderia (Setúbal, Portugal) (2016)
The Necrópolis de Calderia contains nearly two-hundred burials spanning from the first through fifth centuries A.D. The cemetery is located on the western edge of the ancient Roman site of Troía, which is considered the largest fish salting, garum production and distribution center in the Roman world. Among the inhumations three cases of trepanation have been identified. The three individuals are adult women. Trepanation, also known as trephination or craniectomy, is the surgical practice in...
TThe Use of Shells as Personal Ornaments in Liguria during the Upper Paleolithic: A Review (2023)
This is an abstract from the "Hunter-Gatherer Archaeology of Liguria: Recent Research and Insights" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Personal ornaments are commonly attributed to a modern human dispersal in western Asia and Europe, representing a veritable key tool for understanding the human dispersal out of Africa. Objects loaded with symbolic meaning such as beads made from modified marine shells were largely used during the Upper Paleolithic in...