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This thesis examines the climate of the ancient Mediterranean from the second century BC to the sixth century AD, as well as major outbreaks of disease, with the principal aim of investigating potential explanations for apparent connections between climate change and the major pandemics of the Roman world. In addition, I consider the influence of the three great Roman "plagues" on society, assessing whether their effects, or lack thereof, are as apparent as scholars suggest. Incorporating paleoclimatic and paleoenvironmental research into the study of ancient history and classical archaeology has become an important addition to the sphere of classical studies; as has the history of disease through the use of archaeogenetics and phylogenetics. These are the fields of science that I utilise in this thesis to explore possible relationships between climate and environmental change and outbreaks of the Antonine Plague (AD 165-190), the Plague of Cyprian (AD 251/2-270), and the first wave of the Justinianic Plague (AD 541-544). It becomes apparent that significant climatic and environmental variability probably contributed to the diseases of the Antonine and Justinianic pandemics reaching the Empire, while climate change does not appear to be linked with the Plague of Cyprian. The debates concerning the impact of the three pestilences on Roman society continue to be vigorous. However, both exaggerated and understated interpretations of their effects dominate the histories of these pandemics, in spite of the evidence. This thesis approaches the question of impact with caution, by avoiding generalisations and focusing on case studies that depict local effects. I argue that impact should be assessed regionally, and that in many cases the consequences of the "plagues" are not at all clear. Ultimately, the thesis provides a method to synthesise evidence from a range of historical and scientific disciplines with the aim of explaining how ecological calamities affected the Roman world.

This thesis explores how the Empires of Nicaea, located in Bithynia, and Trebizond, located on the Pontic coast, formed and developed following the fall of Constantinople to the armies of the Fourth Crusade in 1204. Although the rulers of each state claimed to be the legitimate heirs of the pre-1204 Byzantine emperors, the Empire of Trebizond has often been overlooked in Byzantine scholarship, depicted as a culturally strange and insignificant state situated on the margins of the Byzantine world. Nicaea, on the other hand, has benefited significantly from detailed studies, which represent it as the legitimate continuation of Byzantine culture and political power in exile. However, this thesis provides evidence for the inclusion of Trebizond on equal footing with Nicaea. Through an extensive study of the surviving literary, architectural, numismatic and sigillographic evidence, this thesis aims to compare the development of imperial ideology in each state. In so doing, it will be made clear that although there were some differences in how the rulers of Nicaea and Trebizond approached the problems of exile, both states developed largely similar answers to the idea of Byzantine imperial power without Constantinople. Ultimately, it will be shown that the study of Trebizond is invaluable to the understanding of the thirteenth century Byzantine world, and that it must be considered an important and equal partner of Nicaea in modern scholarship.

This Ph.D. thesis aims at a novel reconstruction of the metaphysical and epistemological theories of the first two successors of Plato, Speusippus and Xenocrates. By advancing a new methodology for the selection and evaluation of the evidence and putting it to the test, this thesis will offer a picture of Speusippus' and Xenocrates' theories as grounded in the privileged testimony of Aristotle. The Early Academy has always been a riddle and a challenge for modern scholars. Indeed, for Plato's immediate successors, Speusippus and Xenocrates, the sources at our disposal do not often encourage the project of a coherent reconstruction of their thought. Any exegesis of them faces the following difficulty: on the one hand, the earliest preserved chronological sources approach their doctrines polemically; on the other hand, later testimonia are to be found in authors who appropriated and reshaped Early Academic doctrines in their own philosophical frameworks. Through an in-depth analysis of Aristotelian testimonia, this thesis will show that Speusippus' and Xenocrates' doctrines can be better understood in the context of the Academy, and, in particular, with respect to the discussions undertaken with Aristotle. By exposing a set of problems the two philosophers target in order to defend Platonic theories from the inconsistencies detected by Aristotle, Speusippus' and Xenocrates' Platonic inheritance is finally revealed.

This thesis explores perceptions of the Danubian-Pontic regions in the first two centuries AD and how Rome interacted with the communities of the regions. These areas cannot be assigned simply to an east versus west dicotomy. In Roman texts, the notions of kingship held by the different inhabitants in these regions are displayed differently, with varying degrees of centralised rule or tribes. Thus, the regions lend themselves to study comparisons between how the Roman State viewed and presented different communities, and how it interacted with them, from waging wars to friendly interactions depending on time and circumstance. Therefore, comparisons can also be made between how diplomacy and the military were used in dealing with these communities, and how this affected Rome's presentation of them, and these people's reactions to Rome. It investigates how different types of evidence could affect how the peoples of the region were presented. An examination of 'geographical literature' demonstrates how past ideas about peoples could remain, even as contact increased. However, this was often due to the agenda of individual authors and literary topoi. Consideration of how monumental artwork was experienced shows that the messages which the audiences took away about the world were not universal. Military interactions changed how the peoples on the edges of the world were presented. It will be examined how people from the Danubian-Pontic regions would interact with new surroundings to form new identities when removed from their homeland. Diplomatic contacts and how the Roman state would use the language and practices of amicitia when dealing with the peoples of this region will also be investigated. It will also ask how important Rome was to the communities of the Danubian-Pontic regions, how they reacted to the neighbouring empire, and how integrated these communities could become into the Roman world.

Unlike cranial morphology, human mandibular morphology has been found to be influenced primarily by environmental as opposed to genetic factors. Previous research has demonstrated that significant morphological changes have occurred in the mandible during the Agricultural and Industrial Revolutions when widespread dietary changes occurred, and diet became softer. During this time the size of the mandible decreased, and mandible morphology became more gracile. This research however has typically focussed on comparisons between two time periods associated with a large dietary transition. For this reason, it is not known if the reported changes in mandible morphology represent a consistent reduction in mandibular robusticity or rather fluctuation between periods associated with dietary variability. Furthermore, it is unclear how susceptible the mandible is to smaller dietary changes. The aim of this thesis is to investigate how responsive mandible morphology is to the dietary changes that have occurred in Britain from the Neolithic through to the Post-Medieval periods. It is hypothesised that mandible morphology is responsive enough to mechanical stimuli that more minor dietary changes will also result in morphological variation. Results indicated that in general mandible morphology became increasingly gracile over time, while more pronounced morphological changes are associated with major dietary transitions such as the intensification of agriculture and the Industrial Revolution. Moreover, significant increases in gracilisation occurred between the Anglo-Saxon and Medieval period, potentially indicating that the dietary changes that occurred during the Industrial Revolution were more gradual than previous research has indicated. In addition to the more prominent morphological changes, smaller morphological fluctuations occurred such as during the Roman occupation. It is concluded that the mandible is more responsive to smaller dietary changes than demonstrated by previous research and the morphological variation associated with these major dietary transitions may not have been as simple or rapid as previously assumed.

This study examines the structure of the early medieval Welsh landscape. Using a cantref (hundred) in south-west Wales as a case study, it draws on a multidisciplinary, comparative analysis to overcome the limits imposed by restricted material culture survival and limited written sources. It examines the patterns of power and habitual activity that defined spaces and structured lives, and considers the temporal relationships, both seasonal and longue durée, that shaped them. Four key findings are presented. Firstly, that key areas of early medieval life - agriculture, tribute-payment, legal processes and hunting - were structured by a longstanding seasonal patterning that is preserved in twelfth- and thirteenth-century Welsh law, church and well dedications and fair dates. Secondly it presents, at cantref level, the first systematic survey of assembly site evidence in Wales, and sets it in comparative context. Thirdly, it demonstrates that, though poor material culture preservation and limited written records have hitherto restricted identification and characterisation of key locations in the early medieval Welsh landscape, a multidisciplinary dataset allows effective identification of focal zones through indicators known from other areas of north-west Europe. Fourthly, the widely-used 'multiple estate model' is found to be an inadequate descriptor of the early medieval Welsh landscape. An alternative approach is proposed. Methodologically, it demonstrates the value of a multidisciplinary approach, especially the systematic use of place-names which is novel in a Welsh context. It also provides key resources for other researchers by geolocating pre-1700 place-names from a previously published survey; creating GIS resources (polygons and geolocated databases) from the 1840s tithe map and schedules for parishes in its detailed case study areas; and providing a geolocated database of 16th-century demesne and Welsh-law landholdings in the cantref.

This thesis explores the role played by anthropomorphic objects in how prehistoric and early historic people of Rapa Nui (Easter Island) shaped their understanding of body, person, and world. Previous studies on some of these objects based their interpretations on the use of textual (ethnographic or historic) information, offering representational - mainly mythological - understandings of them. The aim of this thesis is to evaluate from a strictly archaeological perspective objects shaped in human body form or having human body parts, focusing on the material character of the objects, their iconographic elements, and the ways in which their multiple attributes relate to each other and to other participants of the Rapanui world. By studying objects made in varied materials, scales, and with diverse iconographic elements, this thesis offers a broad understanding of the anthropomorphic objects, crossing traditional typological divisions used by ethnographers and archaeologists. This thesis is informed by different theoretical discussions on the social and cultural reality of body and personhood, as well as on the ontological frame(s) in which they exist. Anthropomorphic objects are considered as bodies made in materials other than those of the biomedical fleshand-bone body, and they are assessed as such. The research concludes that heterogeneity of the anthropomorphic objects from Rapa Nui reflect, and impacted upon, two different, and likely contemporaneous, bodyscapes: one based on partibility, compositeness, and ambiguity; the other, on homogeneity, rigidity, and repetition. These bodyscapes were also key in the development of particular modes of personhood on the island. It is argued that these bodies and persons existed in an analogical ontology, where fractality played a significant role in connecting different scales of similar practices. Anthropomorphic objects are then related with other phenomena, and especially with human bodies: this research stresses how these body-objects affected and interacted with humans and their social relations, impacting upon peoples' embodied lives.

Within the last 30 years, intensive archaeological work in Upper Mesopotamia showed specific regional characteristics in terms of urbanisation, state formation and material culture. Despite the lack of ores within the region most sites show a variety of metal artefacts of partly excellent craftsmanship. This research aims to increase our understanding of the urbanisation process by exploring metal artefacts and metallurgical debris of especially the sites Tell Chuera, Tell Kharab Sayyar, Tell Mozan, Tell Bderi, Tell Beydar and Tell Raqa'i. It will also look at major similarities and differences between the metallurgy of specific sites and regions. The metallurgical inventories are examined with the help of state of the art technologies (pXRF, EPMA, SEM-EDS, LIA) to reveal their elemental compositions, the technologies employed in their production and their possible provenance. It is aimed to unfold differences and similarities in metal production and metal consumption on the studied sites with special focus on the Jezirah to understand its position among the 3rd millennium tell societies. This thesis discusses on-site metal production, access to sources, trading connections and exchange patterns. A significant aspect of this research is to examine differences in metal consumption between urban centres and smaller cities and villages. Major topics are production methods, such as the primary production of tin-bronze and the refining of black copper, and the deliberate or random production and employment of particular 'alloys', such as arsenical(- antimonial) copper and tin-bronzes. The results are compared to already studied metals from the adjacent regions within Upper Mesopotamia and the Euphrates Valley in the West.

The hypothesis that Phoenician expansion across the Mediterranean resulted in the movement of technological ideas from East to West and materials from West to East is explored through investigating ancient silver and silver extraction technologies. An approach which combines both compositional and lead isotope data is applied to identify recycled silver from the Early and Late Iron Age hoards of the southern Levant. Signatures indicate that components of this mixed silver derived from Anatolia, Iberia and Cyprus in Early Iron Age, and Greece and Iberia in the Late Iron Age. Iberian signatures from the Early Iron Age hoards are consistent with native silver and silver extracted from jarosite ores. With these hoards dating from the 11th century BC, this situates the Phoenicians in Iberia much earlier than is usually attested and suggests that smelting and cupellation technologies travelled with them. A silver ingot recovered from La Rebanadilla in south-east Iberia, exhibiting a similar signature to the hoard silver, may indicate that silver was transported in a semi-refined form. Silver from the Tel Dor hoard in the southern Levant, with signatures consistent with jarosite ores on Cyprus, indicates that technologies to exploit the silver ores of south-west Iberia may have been first practised on Cyprus. The Phoenician technological base, prior to any westward expansion, is consistent with that of silversmiths who procured and refined silver, rather than that of prospectors, miners and smelters. It is suggested that cobalt-rich silver ores in Iran were sourced to supply silver and glass colourants to the ancient world, thereby providing an explanation for the synchronicity of events regarding transitions between the types of silver ore exploited in antiquity, the almost complete disappearance of cobalt-blue glass at the end of the Late Bronze Age and Phoenician expansion across the Mediterranean in search of other silver sources in the Early Iron Age.

On the 18th of June 1933, the Roman Theatre in Mérida, once the Roman Emerita Augusta, witnessed the performance of Seneca's 'Medea' by Spain's leading theatrical company, the Xirgu-Borràs Company. This crucial event was attended by the Prime Minister of the Second Spanish Republic alongside two ministers, the Ambassador of Italy, many MPs and a great number of intellectuals. At the Roman Theatre they joined many men and women of Mérida and the surrounding region of Extremadura to witness a performance and cultural republican ritual that has remained inscribed in Spain's cultural and social memory. This production of Seneca's 'Medea' in republican Spain stood at the centre of pivotal discussions on issues such as national identity, national reconfiguration, regime building, socialist, liberal and fascist ideologies, secularism, Women's Rights and new European aesthetics of theatre making. This thesis intends to explore, analyse, clarify and understand this. It is divided into five chapters. The first reconstructs what took place in Mérida on the 18th of June 1933, the day of the performance of Seneca's 'Medea', its genesis and impact. It is the most detailed reconstruction of the performance of Seneca's 'Medea' in 1933 Spain to date. Chapter II answers the integral question of the contemporary Spanish understanding of Seneca. This is explored by assessing the previous knowledge and reception of Seneca until 1933, its shift in perception towards a reappraisal of Seneca's tragic credentials and its role within a broader discourse of republican national identity. Chapter III analyses how Seneca's 'Medea' fits into the active development of such a republican identity: the national reconfiguration in the building of the republican regime. It does this by reassessing the production of Seneca's 'Medea' within the frame of the Republic's cultural and educational agenda, its promotion of republican citizenship and the creation of a National Theatre. Chapter IV discusses the implications and responses provoked by the performance on the republican secularisation of Spain and the development of constitutional rights for women. Finally, Chapter V establishes the 1933 production of Seneca's 'Medea' in Spain as an essential example of the broader aesthetic movement of theatrical renewal that had spread throughout Europe and revolutionised the stage. This thesis demonstrates that the ancient tragedy 'Medea', by Lucius Annaeus Seneca, served as an essential tool to reassess, redress and reconfigure fundamental ideological, national, cultural, political, civic and aesthetic questions of the Second Spanish Republic.

This thesis focuses on Roman glass vessels from the mid-1st century A.D to the late 1st and very early 2nd century A.D., specifically c.A.D.40-110. These years have long been identified as representing a significant episode in the story of ancient glass and witness a particularly remarkable period of change in glass vessel production across the Roman world. The purpose of this thesis is to further our understanding of what these changes are, when they occurred and the causes behind them. The first chapter presents the background to the research and demonstrates how the thesis relates to previous work in this field. The following three chapters focus on identifying those aspects of glass vessels that changed during this period and establishing a firmer chronological framework for these developments than has previously been possible. This is achieved by the analysis of carefully selected, closely dated glass assemblages from Britain, France, the lower Rhineland and Italy. The rationale behind the choice of sites is explained and factors influencing dating and quantification are discussed. Glass vessels from the selected sites are examined in detail in Chapter 4 and information relating to changes in form, colour and decoration are analysed and discussed in chapters 5 and 6. The implications of these findings are then assessed in the context of the development of the early imperial glass industry, particularly in relation to raw glass manufacture, scales of production, relationships between glassworkers and their materials, and the impact of glass working techniques on vessel form and finishing. The final chapter discusses wider factors in the Roman world that might have played an influential role in the manufacture and consumption of glass during this period, such as patterns of production and trade, political and military events and trends in other categories of decorative media and proposes new approaches to understanding glass development during this period.

This dissertation investigates whether and in what sense the concept of folksong can be applied to the ancient Greek texts. The starting point is a new conceptualisation that clarifies that 'folksong' is not a category of form but is a category determined by occasion, use and consumption. In light of this methodological and theoretical framework, some of the texts included in the modern collection of the 'carmina popularia' ('PMG 847-883') are examined. These texts are printed together with a revised critical apparatus, translation, and comparanda. Chapter 1 provides an overview of the conceptual and cultural origins of folklore and folksong and describes the inadequacies of a romantically-inclined approach which considers folk songs according to preconceived contexts of origin and production. To rectify this scholarly bias, a new conceptualisation of folksong is delineated. This conceptualisation defines the genre of folksong not by looking at what types of texts are sung and by whom, but by establishing how certain songs are used and perceived in their performative contexts. In the chapters to follow, this approach and conceptualisation is extended to the specific analysis of some ancient Greek texts included in the 'carmina popularia'. Chapter 2 and Chapter 3 focus on the begging-song (PMG 848) and work-song (PMG 849 and 869) traditions of ancient Greece respectively. Finally, Chapter 4 examines the folkloric status of a series of cult and ritual songs (PMG 847, 851, 854, 860, 862, 864, 868, 870, 871). This dissertation challenges the view of the ancient Greek folksong tradition as a set (or subset) of texts which are to be distinguished a priori from literature and literary texts on the basis of preconceived contexts of origin and composition and absolute criteria of sophistication. On the contrary, it clarifies that the category of folksong depends on how certain texts are used and perceived in their (everyday) contexts of performance.

The potential of well-preserved prehistoric wetland sites for our understanding of the past has long been recognised but is currently not fully realised due to the isolation of the sub-discipline of Wetland Archaeology from mainstream Archaeology. This is mostly because wetlands and wetland people have often been studied separately from dryland(er)s in the UK. Although it is now recognised that wetlands and wetland people were in fact connected to (those in) drier areas, wetland(er)s remain somewhat isolated. It is often unclear what role they played in the wider landscape, who past 'wetlanders' were, or how they related to near-by 'drylanders'. The aim of this research is to address these issues by contextualising later prehistoric (c. 4000 BC-100 AD) wetland sites and communities in the East Anglian Fens (UK). It examines how wetland(er)s fit in the wider socio-cultural and physical landscape by considering past human-environment interaction and its social outcomes through time. It focusses on food remains in and around the former Fens to understand how the wetlands were used throughout time. It then uses social theories current in mainstream Archaeology to examine how people's identities were constructed through their interaction with the wetland environment and to assess to what extent 'wetlander' identities may have affected people's relations with others. Unlike many previous projects this study uses a large scale, broad comparative approach, which encompasses both wetland and dryland sites. A range of domestic and wild plant and animal remains from 145 selected sites in and around the former Fens were recorded in a purpose-built relational database and systematically compared to study subsistence practices and reconstruct human-environment interaction in three different environments (wetlands, drylands and the fen edge) through time (Neolithic to Iron Age, c. 4000 BC-100 AD). This analysis has identified five stages of human-wetland interaction, demonstrating that the former Fens were of greater interest in some periods, whereas there is less activity in others. Yet in all phases there are connections between the wetland, fen edge and dryland environments, through those exploiting and inhabiting these landscapes. People's changing interaction with the dynamic wetland environment led to a range of different wetland identities, some stronger and more distinct than others, but wetlanders were always part of, or interacting with, 'dryland' communities, just like various wetland environments were an integrated part of the wider landscape.

Early life has long been associated with high vulnerability to morbidity and mortality, risks which are reduced in infancy and early childhood through strategically high levels of parental or alloparental investment. More recently, theories have emerged addressing the manner in which poor health and nutritional stress during early life may impact upon the future health of those who survive this period. Thus, the significance of early life health and parental care extends far beyond the domain of childhood studies and may provide insight regarding population-level biocultural responses to environmental pressures throughout the lifecourse. Skeletal and environmental data indicate that the 5-7th century cemeteries at Littleport and Edix Hill (Barrington A), Cambridgeshire represented similar communities with contrasting environments and states of population health. High prevalence of skeletal stress markers at Littleport suggests a community coping with unusual levels of biological stress, potentially a consequence of the endemic malaria historically known to be present in the Fens. In contrast, Edix Hill was an upland site which exhibited lower skeletal stress marker prevalence comparable to wider British data for the early medieval period. Early life stress levels and nutrition at Littleport (n=30) and Edix Hill (n=29) were investigated through carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analyses from incrementally-sampled deciduous and permanent molar dentine to identify variability in patterns relating to survivorship, sex, status, and disease. Meaningful variation in isotopic values within and between populations and sub-cohorts was observed. Isotopic data for Littleport demonstrated patterns of recurrent nutritional stress and health inequality between subpopulations during childhood, which were not mirrored at Edix Hill. These patterns are interpreted as consistent with the presence of malaria in the early medieval Fens. Characterisation of such inter-individual and inter-population variability should be a focus of future interdisciplinary archaeological childhood studies.

The use of lead was ubiquitous throughout the Roman Empire, including as material for water pipes, eating vessels and as a sweetener for wine. Children are particularly susceptible to the effects of lead and it is likely that the widespread use of this deadly metal amongst Roman populations led to a range of adverse health effects. Indeed, lead poisoning has even been implicated in the downfall of the Roman Empire. This research examines the direct effect of lead poisoning on the inhabitants of the Empire, and for the first time introduces a bioarchaeological perspective to how lead exposure affected health during the Roman period. The results provide strong evidence that Roman lead pollution contributed to the high prevalence of metabolic diseases during childhood and implicates elevated lead burdens in the high prevalence of infant remains in Roman skeletal assemblages. This study has also shown the effectiveness of lead isotope analysis as a tool in archaeological migration studies. The successful establishment of baseline lead isotope ranges in previously unstudied regions of the Roman Empire has greatly enhanced our ability to identify the potential origins of isotopic outliers. Although this study has shown that anthropogenic lead isotope ratios are not country specific, the results have demonstrated that lead isotope ratios can differentiate between populations based on the orogenic age of the region in which an individual spent their childhood. This has improved our understanding of how anthropogenic lead isotope ratios in Roman individuals varies across a continent, and has demonstrated that lead isotope ratios are capable of discriminating between geographical regions of origin when other isotope system are not.

This thesis investigates the occurrence of meteorological hazards in northern Europe and their impact on society during the medieval period (AD 1000-1550). When high-magnitude meteorological hazards affected vulnerable human populations disasters were the inevitable consequence. These events resulted in highly complex repercussions over the short- and long- terms, touching a wide variety of different spheres of human activity and experience. Additionally, the occurrence of these events was usually sudden and unpredictable in an age when natural processes were poorly understood. As a result, floods, storms and other hazards were widely interpreted through a framework of religious and superstitious beliefs which is widely attested by the historical record. A range of different types of archaeological artefact are also associated with these beliefs and, particularly, in accruing personal protection from a hazardous environment. At the same time, medieval society understood disasters in a practical sense and took steps to minimise risk through constructing flood defences and reinforcing structures damaged by storms. Medieval society, therefore, interpreted disasters through a duality of understanding in which disasters could be the result of spiritual or superstitious causes but could be mitigated through established and well-understood practical solutions. This thesis evaluates this duality in reference to specific case studies and in light of the significant demographic and climatic fluctuations of the medieval period-as a result of the Black Death and the transition to the Little Ice Age.

This thesis comprises two case studies which each examine a point of Greek law in the context of the Near East. Significant work has been done in recognising that the Greeks were in a network of exchange with the Near East; but whilst progress has been made in areas such as literature, less work has been done in legal history. In part, this is because a similarity found in a law cannot point to influence in the way it can in other fields. A difference in constitutional law has also erected a barrier. In the case of private law, however, the issues facing the Greeks were the same as the ones facing their neighbours. The first case study focuses on Athenian homicide pollution; which has been influenced by studies such as that of Robert Parker who believed it to be a relic of an earlier period that had no place in Classical Athens. A comparative study with similar beliefs in the Hebrew Bible instead demonstrates that in each society it represented the concerns of the community, who could not otherwise be involved in what was legally a private offence. The second focuses on adultery law. The Greeks differed from their neighbours in subsuming adultery into the broader offence of moicheia, and a comparative study with Near Eastern adultery law demonstrates that this created an important difference in how it was punished. In the Near East, adultery was an offence committed by the wife and her lover against the husband, who was required to mete out an equal level of punishment to each. In Athens and Gortyn, the offence was by the moichos, and no punishment was imposed on the woman. Collectively, these case studies help to demonstrate the value of studying Greek legal history in a wider regional context.

The question of whether trauma has a place in studies of the ancient world deserves fresh consideration. In the past, scholars such as Tritle (2000; 2014) have argued for a universal view of trauma based on human physiology. Others (Konstan, 2014; Monoson, 2014; James, 2014) believe a universalist position is useful for understanding ancient behaviour. On the other side of the debate, scholars such as Melchior (2011) and Crowley (2014) have highlighted some of the cultural and environmental factors that could have caused different rates of traumatisation and resilience in ancient and modern populations. However, these arguments have not adequately considered the issue of how people in ancient societies understood their own experiences of extreme suffering. My thesis addresses the issue of how early Greek hexameter poetry, and the Odyssey in particular, portrays experiences of suffering after overwhelming events, paying particular attention to the impact that suffering has on identity. In Part I of my thesis, I look at the language that this poetry uses to describe overwhelming events and the language it uses to describe emotional responses to them. My discussion establishes how suffering typically affects characters in the aftermath of overwhelming events and how the language that characters use to describe their experiences shapes their responses to them. In Part II of my thesis, I narrow my focus to the Odyssey and consider how it portrays the ways in which suffering has an impact on individual, collective and multigenerational aspects of identity. I argue that the Odyssey exhibits a strong interest in charting how suffering affects characters' worldviews and identities. By combining modern trauma research with perspectives on suffering found in early Greek hexameter poetry, my thesis re-examines the concept of trauma and reformulates the lines of the debate on its place in studies of the ancient world.

Why were caves selected as places for art in the Palaeolithic? The question has not yet been explained. Previously, I attempted to answer it in part by examining cave art from the perspective of installation art whose aim is to provide us with different multisensory experiences to those of quotidian life. As a result, this theory of contemporary art led to a theory, cave art as installation art, which denotes an interactive nature between humans and a cave's physical environment. In this thesis I develop this theory through the provision of concrete observations obtained from fieldwork in decorated caves. I investigate 54 images from three caves (Covalanas, El Pendo, El Castillo) in Cantabria, Spain, focusing on the interactivities of cave art during the production and post-production (viewing) phases. The environmental factor concerned is the condition of the cave's wall, with which humans were able to interact creatively. The data collected comprises three categories, each of which testifies to a different type of interactivity: integration of natural lines with art; topographic conditions of the art area; and distortion of images due to its background topography. These categories reflect how the wall's features are incorporated into images, and how those features generated further interactivity in the post-production phase. As I am primarily concerned with the physical condition of the cave wall, I adopted digital photogrammetry to reconstruct 3D models of the 54 analysed images, which enabled me to analyse their topographic information in detail. The data were subsequently sorted statistically in terms of the three data categories. Consequently, the study suggests that Palaeolithic artists intentionally used walls' specific conditions to enhance the processes of image-making and image-viewing. A mutual relationship between an actor and an artistic medium inevitably redraws our concept of cave art to an interconnection between environment, art, and human.

As we see today, and throughout history, continued unrest in a region can have a dramatic impact on the health of the conquered and conquering populations, and the subsequent generations. The aims of this study were to integrate isotopic data (showing diet and mobility) and palaeopathological (disease) analyses to understand the impact of aspects of life such as living conditions, economy and diet, and migration, in locals and non-locals, had on morbidity and mortality. The Iclod Necropolis has been associated with the Kingdom of the Gepids, one of many tribes vying for power in Transylvania during this post-Roman transition of the Migration Period. The Bögöz Church and Fenyéd cemetery were occupied during the Arpadian expansion of the Hungarian Kingdom into Transylvania during the Middle Ages. Macroscopic skeletal analyses confirmed both populations had substantial evidence (>50%) of physiological and metabolic stress. Strontium and oxygen isotope data established biosphere isotope ranges for the Transylvania Basin and were used to identify seven possible non-local individuals between the two populations. Carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis revealed both populations consumed a diet of terrestrial C3/C4 resources, with the Migration Period population consuming significantly more millet (C4) than the Middle Ages population. Significant differences were also found between the diet of males and females, with males consuming higher portions of meat, and females consuming more millet. Isotope life-history profiles revealed early-life stress during critical growth periods, as well as increased frailty and/or early death associated with limited consumption of breastmilk during childhood. These data, and the substantial evidence of physiological/metabolic stress, support research linking early-life stress with increased frailty and early death. The outcomes of this project offer original contextually driven insights regarding morbidity and mortality of Medieval Transylvanian populations and help increase knowledge about these people who lived in this region of Eastern Europe.

This dissertation focusses on the interaction between monuments and inscriptions in Republican Rome, by using a linguistic framework to demonstrate that a strong interconnection exists between them. The communicative power of Roman art was one of the most important way for ambitious men to self-present and to compete in the political arena in Rome, but only by combining the visual elements of their monuments with the language of inscriptions it was possible to make the most of its communicative power. In ancient Rome monuments had a significant role in all aspects of social and political life, but their visuality was only powerful inasmuch as its message could be understood by the audience. Inscriptions, in this sense, had an enormous role in guiding the viewers in understanding the significance of monuments' messages. Inscriptions required the active participation of their audience in completing the meaning of the monuments and thus they were heavily used by dedicators to create specific strategies for their self-presentation. This dissertation develops a model that relies on linguistic semiotics to demonstrate how the mechanics of interaction between monuments and inscriptions, and between visual and textual compositions as a unique set and their audience work. Monuments and inscriptions are discussed as part of the same syntax, in which their visual and textual elements can be combined in a unique and consistent narrative. The series of observations that this model raises have a significant impact not only on the way ancient people approached inscribed monuments, but also on the way we understand and rethink them. It is argued that monuments now considered lost are only fragmentary, and their fragments are in fact their surviving inscriptions. Inscriptions as such participated in the stylistic and iconographic evolution that Roman self-presentative and celebrative art underwent from the Republic to the Principate.

This thesis explores the impacts that academics, volunteers and career archaeologists associate with archaeological research and practice in the north-east of England primarily, between 2005 and 2015. Increasingly performance-based impact reviews are used to inform funding decisions within academia and charitable organisations. In addition, the emphasis placed upon the societal value of archaeological interventions in planning policy continues to underpin developer-funded initiatives. These drivers have created pressure to demonstrate accountability and cost-effectiveness producing new challenges and opportunities for the sector. In particular, there are increasing concerns over the ability to recognise, measure and represent the impacts associated with archaeological research and practice. This thesis provides a more nuanced and inclusive methodology for determining and assessing the impacts of archaeological initiatives experienced by those participating directly with archaeological work within the region than has previously been attempted. This has been achieved through the use of a reflexive methodology employing questionnaires, focus groups and interviews to obtain insights into participant's perceptions and experiences. These findings are contextualised by broader analyses of Historic Environment Records, publications and grey-literature to contribute to the debate on a local and national level. Archaeological practice and research in the north-east is primarily valued by practitioners for contributing to the cumulative production of knowledge. In addition, social and economic benefits of archaeology are associated with causal-mechanisms attached to initiatives such as engagement and dissemination strategies. The insights provided in this thesis raise questions about the limitations of externally produced impact assessments and the value of supporting initiatives that can produce long-term sustainable outcomes rather than immediate returns.

From the late-3rd century AD until the 6th century AD, continuous private investments fuelled a significant building programme that spread across the region of Corinthia. A period of crisis can be attested in the 4th century AD. This saw several residential and working facilities going out of use. For all the hardships, however, a significant build-up from that era argues against a general slowdown in the building activities. The latter appear to further intensify in the following period and until the first half of the 6th century AD. In urban areas, new housing units were commonly established on former public facilities and roads. Other times, new building came to revitalize deserted insulae. Notwithstanding, the resulting facilities rarely matched the earlier domestic complexes in size and wealth. In rural areas, the number of the villas likely remained stable, or even increased. A noticeable development concerned the establishment of villages on fringe areas of the countryside. These possibly signify a localized intensification of production and economic activities. Nonetheless, the image coming from those settlements speaks for struggling communities of very low level of wealth. One characteristic of the Late Roman Corinthian households is their increasing functionality. This is better articulated in the case of the working spaces, with many of the housing units reconfigured for more utilitarian purposes. A second characteristic is an attested yearn 'for the good life'. This sparked the popularity of certain architectural designs and gave rise to a significant decorative programme. The private building activities continued further into the 6th and early-7th century AD. However, the respective units only little resemble the earlier, Late Roman houses. In that regard, this 'continuity of the building programme' marks the end of an era and the beginning of a new one characterised by different priorities and aesthetics.

This doctoral thesis focuses on the dramatic festival of the Great (or City) Dionysia and its related pre-play ceremonies, for which the role of democracy has been intensely debated. Scholars have explored the socio-political value of the festival's pre-play ceremonies which took place in the theatre before the dramatic performances, in front of the audience: the libation to Dionysus poured by the ten generals, the display of the allies' tributes, the Athenian war-orphans' parade and the public proclamation of honours and crowns. The prevailing view still relates the celebration of these rituals to democratic ideology. However, this assumed situation masks a number of issues. Through four chapters, each dedicated to one pre-play ceremony, first I show that the four pre-play ceremonies did not occur simultaneously, and thus should not be understood as part of a holistic and democratically-oriented propaganda programme. As a second step, an exhaustive investigation into the historical sources and socio-political value of the ceremonies is provided: it will be shown that democracy and the ideology related to it were less involved than one might suppose. Lastly, I highlight that the Dionysia and its pre-play ceremonies were not exclusively Athenian prerogative: from a thorough examination of the available evidence, I demonstrate that many attestations of the Dionysia outside Athens occur and need to be considered. This problematises the Athenocentric interpretations of the Dionysia's pre-play ceremonies, since many cities which were not democracies (as Athens was) provide testimonies of dramatic festivals with comparable pre-play ceremonies. In light of these crucial details, the premier dramatic festival of Athens - and the academic discussion surrounding its ideological value - need to be re-examined.

This dissertation focuses on the figure of the mythical Ajax as portrayed in Sophocles' eponymous drama, in particular the suicide motif, and reworkings of that play subsequently, with a particular focus on English-language performance. A primary focus will be psychological, in the broadest sense, which encompasses the depiction of male emotional suffering, male lamentation, the suicidal state and its implications, the aesthetic of performance as related to psychological states, and their reception. After the introductory chapter on reception, Chapter Two will study the pre-Sophoclean elements of the myth in order to assess Sophocles' modifications. Chapter Three will explore contemporary research into psychological states in suicide followed by a close examination of Sophocles' own play, and the manner in which he delineates the crisis that overwhelms his eponymous hero and the dramatic re-workings of the myth that enable him to convincingly portray that iconic suicide. Chapter Four forms a bridge by providing an overview of the reception of the play in later antiquity, including the treatment of the suicide motif in Virgil, the depictions of Ajax in pantomime and the use of the play in progymnasmata, and reception up to the seventeenth Century. Chapter Five begins with a short section on the choice of the play as the inaugural Cambridge Greek play in late nineteenth-century Cambridge, followed by a detailed study of a seminal-perhaps the seminal-twentieth century production, the Ajax written by Robert Auletta and directed by Peter Sellars, with its radical and innovative staging. The next two chapters explore a series of stagings of the play which have followed in the wake of that pathbreaking production, including Timberlake Wertenbaker's Our Ajax of 2013 with its focus on post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD, as well as the popularity of this play in staged readings with military veterans. A number of other notable productions of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries will also be explored in the final chapter. The thesis is however, more than a performance history of Ajax in a particular language and epoch, since it seeks to correlate the play's searching enquiry into why a great man kills himself with shifting and evolving theatrical, psychological and aesthetic sensibilities across time.

This thesis seeks to demonstrate the utility of the concept of 'Ritsos as reader' for furthering the understanding of Yannis Ritsos' mature poetry and poetics (from the mid- 1940s onwards). It examines the relationship between Ritsos' reading and several (sometimes neglected) modes of his writing, showing how Ritsos positions himself in relation to other poets and their work. It advances a new comprehension of the notion of poetic influence in Ritsos' career. Previous attempts to assess that influence have tended to view Ritsos' relationship with other poetry as a source of anxiety or embarrassment. It is, by contrast, here argued that Ritsos' concept of reading, which defines and limits the roles of literary criticism and translation, clarifies his work's relationship with other poets and embraces intertextual practice and creative reading. This poetic allows for a self-conscious and complex eclecticism, supporting Ritsos' own concerns to reconcile Modernism with the Left. Through examination of available sources, the thesis surveys Ritsos' reading. It shows that, at the time he was introduced to Marxist-Leninist writings (in the late 1920s), he also made his first forays into world literature. It suggests that Ritsos regards reading as an act that is both interior and attuned to external realities, reflecting the commitments of a poet who is both engagé and attracted to existential questions. The thesis examines three modes of reading: the reader-critic, the reader-translator and the reader-poet. Chapter 1 demonstrates the centrality of reading in Ritsos' autobiographical poem, Το τερατώδες αριστούργημα (1977), examining intertextual practices and alternative literary canons. Through an exploration of Μελετήματα and selected correspondence, chapter 2 examines Ritsos' concerns about how critics read poetry and his counter-proposal in favour of direct and creative reading. Chapter 3 surveys Ritsos' activities as a translator (1946-1988), assessing his views of translation, analysing two examples of his work, and showing the interplay of creativity and translation in the collection Όστραβα. Chapter 4 draws the threads together in a case study of Ritsos' creativity as a reader, analysing how he draws on Whitman and Cavafy to read the body through and against the Left's ideology. Here, as overall, the thesis argues that Ritsos' poetics is dynamic and protean, absorbing poetry eclectically and producing creative work that is at once original and rooted in his world view and experience as a reader.

This thesis offers a comprehensive critical analysis of Livy's portrayal of Roman politics in Books 21-45. Although Livy's history provides the most detailed account of politics in the 'middle' or 'classical' Republic, as yet there has been no major study devoted to this important topic specifically. Books 21-45 cover a period of Roman history usually identified in antiquity as Rome's apogee: the republic faced, and overcame, its greatest external threat in the form of Hannibal during the Second Punic War (covered in Books 21-30), then began a period of unhindered overseas conquest (the beginning of which is recounted in Books 31-45). In Roman historiography, success in these ventures was predicated on domestic stability and political harmony. As such, politics plays a relatively small part in a narrative devoted primarily to foreign affairs and warfare. This thesis is intended in part to explicate how order and cohesion - 'concordia' - is maintained in these books, but it also examines cases in which the political order is disrupted, and considers the implications of this 'discordia' for Livy's conception of the Roman polity. It concludes that these books of Livy's history illustrate Roman politics at its best, and offer lessons on how the state can function efficiently and peacefully. The era that Livy describes is not without conflict, but these conflicts are typically confronted and dealt with successfully, with the different organs of state (the senate, the consulate, and the tribunate) working together with due deference to the wisdom of worthy individuals and to the collective authority of the senatorial order. But these books represent only a fragment of Livy's narrative, and this thesis argues that they also serve to foreshadow the disorders that will beset the 'res publica' in later books.

This thesis aims at investigating how a Second Sophistic author like Aelius Aristides engaged with the multifaceted tradition of archaic and classical lyric poetry and music. Affinities and similarities between rhetorical texts and specific lyric genres have already been recognised, but the deeper implications of the relationship between ancient lyric and imperial rhetoric for Greek literature and culture under the Empire are yet to be discussed fully. This thesis attempts to fill this gap by focusing on Aristides as a prominent and paradigmatic case study. Apart from a methodological Introduction and a Conclusion, the main body of the thesis consists of five chapters. Chapter 1 provides a broad overview of the presence of lyric in Greek imperial culture by surveying a series of fields in which lyric appears to have left substantial traces: readership and education; visual representations and local traditions; contemporary lyric performances and the relation between lyric and sophistic performative practice. Chapter 2 discusses Aristides' apparent fondness for the famous lyric poet Pindar from a new perspective, arguing that, apart from direct quotations and allusions to Pindaric texts, the lyric model influenced more extensively the way in which the imperial sophist shaped his own self-presentation. Pindaric poetry is also at the core of Chapter 3, where Aristides' Isthmian Oration is read and interpreted alongside the Pindaric tradition of epinician poetry. From the fourth chapter onwards, then, the attention moves to other lyric poets and traditions referred to in Aristides' corpus. In particular, Chapter 4 deals with Aristides' uses of archaic political lyric within the context of a political exhortation to imperial Rhodes. Imperial politics is relevant also to Chapter 5, which analyses Aristides' deployment of musicolyric imagery in his representation of the cultural and political capital cities of the Empire, Athens and Rome. Finally, Chapter 6 tackles the issues of Aristides' constructions of the Greek past by studying his recourse to age-old song traditions alongside his reception of the 'modern' lyric production of late classical New Music.

This thesis deals with how Western theatre directors have tried to solve the perceived 'problem' of the chorus in tragedy revivals in the period from the late 1970s to the present day. This period is marked by an increased tendency for artistic innovation, the result of many new aesthetic movements, and a cultural turning point: the firm re-establishment of a connection between sociopolitical issues and the art of theatre. A guiding principle in the thesis is that, in order to create an aesthetic and ideological framework for the staging of the chorus, to make it necessary dramaturgically and aesthetically, we must take into account their original fifth-century function and cultural context. Thus I examine both the ancient evidence as well as significant contemporary directorial contributions in order to support the argument for the evolving nature of the choral form (and of tragedy in general) and of the importance of cultural and socio-political relevance for the success of the chorus: this is a form that inherently carries the potential to interact profoundly with cultural structures and idiosyncrasies and can, when used successfully, be theatrically and ideologically exciting in any contemporary re-contextualisation. I propose that currently, in the context of a global economic and social crisis, there is a very perceptible shift in the aesthetics and politics of the staging of Greek drama, that has had a great impact on the staging of the chorus. The evolution of tragedy revivals and the many and diverse contemporary incarnations of the chorus have consistently proven theatre's social role for now and for the future: the Greek chorus is a vital presence in the dramatization of diachronic political and humanist issues. Far from being a problem, the contemporary Greek chorus emerges as a force for aesthetic innovation and socio-political relevance.

This thesis is about the sexual and reproductive health (SRH) of women in the sixth-century Christianity. It employs World Health Organization categories of SRH because, far from being unhelpfully anachronistic, I argue, they can offer useful new angles from which we can inquire about the nuanced concept of "health" found in ancient sources. Furthermore, these categories well describe the spectrum of ancient sexuality as I mean to define it in the present study, that is, encompassing "all matters relating to the reproductive system and its functions" and looking at a woman's "state of complete physical, mental and social well-being" in relation to sexuality and reproduction (WHO definition). Therefore this thesis seeks to explore what impact the social and moral changes brought about by the arrival of Christianity had on medical approaches to female sexuality and reproduction in the Byzantine world of the sixth century by engaging in a nuanced dialogue with medical and hagiographical texts. The research applies a comparative approach by looking at late antique attitudes to women's sexuality, women's sexual wellbeing and sexual pleasure, and women's reproductive power and autonomy in relation to classical antiquity and the early Middle Ages. It aims in particular to investigate the (male-centred) conceptualisation of the female sexual and reproductive body in the sixth-century Christianity, and the medical as well as religious responses to it, which defined the social identity and agency of women as mothers, wives or chaste but subordinate to a man's authority. This research arises out of my diverse academic background in Classics (BA), History of Religions (MA) and Anatomy (MSc), informed by my WHO training in sexual and reproductive health. As a trained ancient historian and human osteologist, my aim is to put the issue of SRH into an historical perspective and shed light on the evolution of SRH from antiquity into later times. Fertility, sterility, sexual rights are all key issues found in ancient sources that resonate with modern public debates today, affecting different parts of the world and different gender categories. By using the categories of the WHO, this thesis aims to develop a new understanding of the agency of Byzantine women who were often caught amongst reproduction, social and sexual expectations.

This thesis seeks to explore how the physical fabric of Devon churches reflects changing perceptions of the role of the Church in society during the 19th century; how churchmen, architects and craftsmen of the period employed architecture and liturgical planning to reflect a revived national Church with a new sense of its connection to the past, to the great ages of Christian civilisation, and a strong sense of its duty and mission to all members of society. Nineteenth-century furnishings are not well understood as an archaeological resource: they are disappearing fast as more and more churches succumb to fashionable re-ordering schemes, yet many are of high artistic quality and even the least among these artefacts reveals much about the people and the society which created them. Church interiors of all periods are precious resources in that they clearly reflect contemporary religious and social controversies. Church furnishings can powerfully embody and reveal the character of a place and people at the time of their creation. They may survive as complete period pieces, or may have accumulated incrementally, each alteration reflecting changing trends in churchmanship and the progress of archaeological and liturgical scholarship among architects, clergy and patrons. Above all, 19th-century church furnishings reveal a clear trend away from rigid social divisions towards a more egalitarian Church, inclusive of all people. We know very little about why particular styles or layouts of furnishings were chosen, which of these are uncommon or unusual, what they signified to those who chose and used them, and which were fashionable at which period. My thesis seeks to explore the impact of Victorian 'ecclesiology' upon Anglican churches in Devon; to explore the huge variety of types and materials employed in their creation and to show how these embody a desire on the part of Victorian churchmen and women to replace a Church of clear social distinctions and privilege with a Church which embodied and showed forth a more open mission to all members of the community. Out of 711 churches in existence in Devon during the 19th and early 20th centuries, 647 have been visited and photographically recorded by the author in person. The remaining 64 demolished or inaccessible churches have been studied, as far as possible, by documentary research and in photographic archives compiled by others.

This thesis aims to determine how and why Rome undertook a series of interventions in Illyria during the period of 230 - 167 BC. The thesis is based on a detailed examination and consideration of the ancient written sources and the subsequent historiography on the subject. The Roman interventions in Illyria during this period have traditionally been treated as a component of wider studies of Roman expansion, although Rome's involvement in Illyria has recently been examined by Dzino in his 2010 work Illyricum in Roman Politics 229BC-AD68. This work examined the development and integration of Illyricum in Roman political discourse, in which the Roman interventions were a smaller component in the broader study. A study of the Roman interventions in Illyria during the period of 230 - 167 BC has never previously been treated on this scale, nor effectively with a synthesis of the various approaches and pieces of evidence that are now available. Over the past decade, marine archaeology has been conducted in the Adriatic and the initial reports have recently been published which provide greater contextual insight on the geopolitical situation in Illyria. Additional new approaches to the subject from the faculty of international relations have emerged, although these have proven as problematic as they have been insightful. This thesis shall examine the new evidence and assess the latest approaches to provide the necessary context for considering the Roman interventions in Illyria. This context shall be initially considered to enable the thesis to progress to consider and analyse each Roman intervention in turn. By effectively grounding the thesis in the geopolitical context, the disparate nature of the communities that made up Illyria can be better understood. This thesis will use the material evidence available in conjunction with the written accounts of ancient historians to consider the implications of the Roman interventions and the underlying motivations for Rome in securing the Adriatic and developing their involvement in Illyria and the Greek East beyond.

This research project investigates Roman, medieval, and post-medieval faunal material from Exeter in the South West of England. This analysis aims to examine variation over time, as well as spatial variation within the city, for example, patterns of food consumption within higher and lower status areas of Exeter, and between secular and monastic communities. To study the variation, a range of analyses were employed, in particular, butchery analysis, fracture patterns, and metrics alongside complementary techniques such as skeletal part abundances, age profiles, and taphonomy. The analyses confirm the broad patterns identified in previous studies by Mark Maltby and Bruce Levitan and achieves a better understanding of the spatial variation and which methods are best suited to differentiate social groups.

This thesis aims to investigate a sample of the place-names of medieval Cornwall within their landscape contexts, and thereby gain a better understanding of the relationship of the Cornish landscape to how its places were designated during the medieval period. To explore this issue, I have identified six research questions which relate to aspects of the landscape and selected seventeen Cornish place-name elements to analyse in depth. These include eleven lower and higher status commonly used habitative elements, as well as six widespread topographical elements denoting high points, waterways and woodland features throughout Cornwall. Selection criteria brought together categories used in time-depth landscape classification of landscape with types of place-name element considered important by scholars. A case study for each element has been developed to give further detail of typical landscape contexts. The analysis of place-name elements has looked at their respective landscape positions, relative elevation, proximity to watercourses, distribution and intensity, Historic Landscape Characterisation types, dates of first recording, and usual combinations with other types of place-name elements. These aspects of landscape have been drawn together through the medium of layers of a Geographic Information System (GIS) reflecting the interdisciplinary research of landscape archaeologists, place-name experts, historians, geographers, and local studies experts. The GIS is based on an extract from the Cornwall Historic Environment Record dataset covering early medieval and medieval settlements, enhanced with additional fields covering details of placenames, and has been used as an illustrative tool for the analysis. This study demonstrates how place-names reflected the medieval landscape in Cornwall and its dynamic settlement patterns. The distribution of Cornish placenames gives insights into the naming practices used during the medieval period in Brittonic-speaking regions in relation to their landscape contexts.

This thesis assesses the impact and legacy of the medieval monastery on the historic landscape up to the present day, examining both physical topography and how landscapes have been perceived and experienced; exploring not only what mark has been left, but also what embedded memory, recognising that the stories about landscape are as important as material evidence. A hypothesis that the topographical legacy of monasticism has remained a central element (though often hidden or unseen) underscoring the genius loci of the places looked at is explored, examining how this has influenced landscape evolution, experience and remembrance. Monastic estates have traditionally rarely received comprehensive attention from landscape archaeologists and historians, and few studies have attempted to track the subsequent evolution of these estates beyond the Dissolution within the context of their monastic antecedents. The research questions of this project are addressed through the detailed examination of landscapes associated with several monastic houses in the southern Welsh Marches and the tracing of their later progression. Adopting an interdisciplinary and multi-layered approach, a core emphasis on topographical change and continuity is supported by an examination of shifting conceptions of cultural value. Consequently, the study interweaves themes which have long dominated historical and archaeological discourse around landscape with a more recent interest in how places and landscapes are perceived, appreciated and codified in both the past and present. The tools of conventional landscape history and archaeology are deployed, combined with approaches more commonly associated with cultural geography to provide a comprehensive analysis - a deep topography - of the perceptions and realities of these complex landscapes. Presented here is a research project which can ultimately contribute to informing decisions on how such landscapes with complex pasts and presents are managed, utilised and presented to the wider public; an urgent need, now more than ever, as competing land-use pressures play out across rural and urban Britain, and the cultural and economic value of 'heritage assets' is increasingly seen to be realised on a landscape rather than a fragmented site-based level.

The fox has always been an animal species carrying both economic values and symbolic significances. It has been playing unique roles in many cultures, from past to present. It is a highly adaptable wild species can be tamed but never be domesticated. The relationship between foxes and humans is thus an interesting topic to explore. This thesis evaluates the roles of foxes played in human societies by investigating various ethnographic data and archaeological remains. It initially presents a detailed summary of how animals involved in human cultures from the social aspect, a review of related theoretical definitions, and the categorisation of the fox. Ethnographic evidence has been used to investigate fox-related symbolism, mythologies, legends, and past and present cultural practices in Europe, China, Japan, and other areas. Possible archaeological remains of both physical and conceptual activities associated with foxes are suggested, and hence examined through the outline of several archaeological examples. Whereafter, fox remains of three archaeological sites are studied, including Southwest Point, Grotta Romanelli, and Mitchell. The practical and symbolic roles that foxes fulfilled within different cultures have been discussed based on the results of zooarchaeological analysis and local ethnographic data. To sum up, this thesis has not only enriched our understanding of human-animal relationships through the investigation of human-fox interactions, but also broadened our knowledge of symbolism and ritual in zooarchaeology.

To combat environmental degradation and change, it is imperative that the rainforests are protected and sustainable land use practices are developed in Amazonia. A better understanding of the role of humans in shaping Amazonian environments and the extent to which the forests have been resilient to anthropogenic disturbance is critical to determining the current state of these ecosystems. This research provides the first reconstruction of late pre-Columbian to early post-Columbian land use and its environmental legacy in the Purus-Madeira Interfluve, Central Amazonia. Soil profile samples were collected across a transect approximately 600 km in length between Manaus and Humaitá, covering a large ecological gradient from dense canopy forests to open canopy forests, as well as dry, upland areas (terra firme) and small riverine settings. Archaeobotanical phytolith and terrestrial palaeoecological samples were analysed from four contexts: (i) primary forests; (ii) oligarchic forests dominated by economically useful trees in the terra firme rainforest on natural soils; (iii) an anthropogenic forest with Brazil nut trees on anthropogenic soil; and (iv) a previously undocumented archaeological site next to the Brazil nut stand. The outcome of this study provides evidence that the extent of the preColumbian environmental impact was larger than previously thought, and this shows that humans managed these forests in various ways to varying intensities. The data, therefore, helps to identify the long-term role of human-environment interactions in Central Amazonia and provides valuable information for future environmental and land use regulation policies.

This thesis is about the problems and the arguments presented in book Z of Aristotle's Metaphysics. In Z, Aristotle sets out an enquiry into the first genus of entities: substance. The solution is meant to contribute to the foundation of metaphysics. I suggest that metaphysics is conceived to be a demonstrative science and Z is the enquiry to establish its principle by answering what substance is. Accordingly, the most promising way to engage with Z is to establish a correspondence between substance and definition. Substance is the entity that grounds the existence of the other entities just as a definition is the statement that grounds the demonstrations conducted in a science. Chapter One and Chapter Two outline a theory of definition for my discussion of Z. In the light of the logical works, I argue that Z's enquiry is concerned with two issues about substance: primacy and unity. Chapter Three and Four are concerned with the primacy of substance. My contention is that Z.4-11 develops a formalist essentialism that is designed to ensure the primacy of substance. If substance is defined as essence and identified with form, then substance turns out to be primary. Chapter Five and Six are concerned with the unity of substance. My contention is that the difficulties raised in Z.13-14 lead to the failure of the enquiry. There is no way to ensure the unity of substance and thus to define it; consequently there is no way to establish the principle of metaphysics. This does not mean that Z fails to contribute to the foundation of the science of being. Its results enable the enquirer to give a derivative definition of some objects of metaphysics: sensible substances. In order to accomplish the project, the enquiry has to focus on some suprasensible substance, whose definition will posit the immediate principle of the totality of entities.

This thesis explores the skeletal health and socio-economic status across Exeter's medieval population. Excavation and historical sources illustrate the founding and development of Exeter as a city. However, little is known about the people who made that development possible, those who lived, worked and died there. The presence of a large collection of human skeletal remains (n=463) from Exeter is particularly important, considering that bone frequently does not survive well in the acidic soils of Devon. The analysis of this large collection of skeletal remains, from different periods and burial locations across medieval Exeter, is unparalleled. Combining the osteological analysis with archaeological and historical data, has enabled this study to form a synthesized and comprehensive picture of Exeter's medieval past, greatly increasing our knowledge of the health and status of this population. It was observed that during the Late Anglo-Saxon period, the less urbanised population of Exeter had an adequate diet supplemented with marine resources. They had few indicators of skeletal stress, but a lower age-of-death profile than the later-medieval population. The differences seen in skeletal health between Exeter's later-medieval groups were in no way marked and more marginal than expected, considering the differences in burial location and type. Although, the females buried at the Dominican friary and St Katherine's Priory do appear to have led a more genteel and less physically demanding life, whilst a more diverse population were buried at later medieval Cathedral Green. Overall, the majority of individuals studied from Exeter's medieval population had adequate to good nutrition, health, status and longevity.

The appearance of stone-tipped spear technology is a crucial milestone in human evolution. Stone-tipped spears are potentially one of the earliest composite hunting weapons to be manufactured and used by humans, involving enhancement of technological, cognitive and social skills. However, due to poor preservation conditions and a deficiency of experimental data the detection of stone-tipped spears in the archaeological record and the identification of their delivery systems are still difficult to achieve. The use of stone-tipped spears as distance throwing weapons, or conversely as close-range thrusting weapons is, therefore, an outstanding debate in Palaeolithic archaeology. Accordingly, this thesis presents an integrated experimental and archaeological investigation to distinguish hand-delivered throwing from hand-delivered thrusting stone-tipped spears, to investigate the development of stone-tipped spear technology among Neanderthal populations in the European Middle Palaeolithic. Systematic experiments extensively tested and compared (i) the performance of hand-delivered throwing and thrusting stone-tipped spears, using Levallois point replicas; and (ii) the resulting microscopic use-wear traces and breakage patterns formed on the throwing and thrusting spear projectiles. Trained and skilled human participants threw and thrust experimental stone-tipped spears into animal carcass targets. For each throw and thrust, several variables along with acceleration profiles and slow-motion video footage were recorded. Integrated results between ballistic parameters and use-wear analysis showed (i) that hand-delivered stone-tipped spears were effective hunting weapons not only as close-range thrusting weapons but also as distance throwing weapons; and (ii) that microscopic use-wear traces and patterns provide useful markers for distinguishing hand-delivered throwing from hand-delivered thrusting stone-tipped spear projectiles. The cross-comparison of the experimental dataset of this thesis with two Middle Palaeolithic stone assemblages from Abris du Maras (France) and Arma Delle Manie (Italy) assisted in establishing that Neanderthals were employing hand-delivered stone-tipped spears at least from MIS 4/beginning of MIS 3, and that throwing distance weapons and selective hunting strategies were likely widespread in the European Middle Palaeolithic.

This thesis analyses the published evidence from larnax burials of Late Bronze Age Crete focusing on contextual elements that characterise their adoption through an examination of their regional distributional patterns. Larnakes are burial receptacles made of clay and they were used in Crete and mainland Greece from the 3rd and throughout most of 2nd millennium B.C. This type of clay coffin represents one of several interment types adopted in Crete during the Late Minoan III period. Studies of larnakes have focused mainly on their origin and iconography, whereas their distribution and function as burial containers have never adequately been explored and examined. In this study, data from secure larnax burials containing larnakes (cemeteries, tombs, skeletal remains, grave goods assemblages, larnakes themselves) are considered and this evidence is examined on the basis of regional distribution. The purpose of the present thesis is to understand the degree to which the adoption of larnakes as burial receptacles represented "meaningful action" within the funerary landscape of LM III Crete. The examination of regional and chronological distribution of burials with larnakes allows us to observe where and when larnakes were adopted and to identify the general trends and variations that characterise their use in LM III tombs. The results show that, besides the idea of larnakes as common burial receptacles adopted in LM III burials, the panorama of the funerary arena of LM III Crete is more complex. The conclusion of the present study is that, even though larnax receptacles were generally widespread, the choice of a larnax as an interment method was one that was deliberately made by certain sectors of the Cretan elite and represented a medium used for status advertisement and to express distinctive identities adapted to the needs and customs of local Cretan communities.

The emergence of the Neolithic in Europe represents a key moment in human history, and the domestication of the wild boar (Sus scrofa) and the emergence of the pig (Sus domesticus) a fundamental aspect of that process. In Italy, the phenomenon of pig domestication in prehistory is still not entirely understood. The main objective of this PhD is to contribute to the understanding of the origins and development of pig domestication in prehistoric Italy, from a wide regional scale and a diachronic perspective. Some key archaeological questions addressed in this research concern how and when the process of pig domestication commenced in Italy, how it evolved thereafter, and how it compares and integrates with the wider European and Middle Eastern scenarios. The main methodology used to tackle this objective is the collection of comparable data from several Italian prehistoric sites in order to detect patterns of regional and chronological change, from the Upper Palaeolithic to the Bronze Age. The analysis relies mainly on biometrical data, but it is complemented with evidence of kill-off patterns and sex ratios, in order to achieve a comprehensive understanding of the domestication event. The results support the view that a domesticated pig occurred in Italy from the Early Neolithic, although it only became morphologically distinct from the Late Neolithic onwards. This change in pig size and shape seems to signify a shift from an earlier loose management strategy of pig keeping to a close domestic control of pigs in later times, articulating with historical changes in Italian societies. The Italian pig domestication process shares similarities and differences with other European and Middle Eastern cases, highlighting the diverse trajectories this process took in different areas, in tune with the regional particularities of the spread of the Neolithic in Europe.

Dental microwear analysis records and interprets the marks left on the enamel surface of a tooth, caused by hard abrasives in food or contaminants such as grit. The analysis provides evidence for short-term diet and has previously used Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) to photograph tooth surfaces at high magnification. In this thesis, a new low-magnification, digital method is developed, tested on modern teeth of known dietary history, and applied to archaeological sheep and goats from three Late and Final Neolithic sites in Greece: Toumba Kremastis-Koiladas (TKK), Makriyalos (MK), and Knossos (KN). The new, Digital Light Microscopy (DLM) method proved successful in recording and distinguishing microwear patterns associated with modern known-diet groups of sheep and goats, with results comparable to those produced by Ingrid Mainland using the SEM method on broadly the same samples. Research questions addressed by investigating diet of archaeological sheep and goats at the three sites focussed on: the scale of animal husbandry and its degree of integration with crop husbandry; and the extent to which livestock were fattened prior to consumption within large-scale collective and/or small-scale domestic commensal events. The results revealed that foddering was common at all three sites and within contexts attributed to both large-scale feasting and 'domestic' habitation consumption, suggesting that it was a more prevalent aspect of Late Neolithic and Final Neolithic sheep and goat husbandry than previously suspected. Given the available evidence from dental eruption and wear for ages at death, it seems that the use of fodder was not limited to either winter or summer periods of scarce pasture, but was instead more likely a short-term method for fattening animals before slaughter, with significant implications for the reliability of agricultural subsistence ('through indirect storage') and for the cohesion and dynamism of Neolithic communities (through feasting and 'social storage').

Branding Barbarians is a research project that uses decolonial theory and indigenous method to examine Archaeological Open-Air Museums (AOAMs). This thesis uses three cases in the United Kingdom and one in Sweden, each depicting either Vikings or Saxons, to test the potentials of AOAMs as renewable, resilient heritage sites which can foster decolonial options to European pasts and presents among visitors. Using visitor interviews and sentiment analysis, and autoethnographic work, I examine how the cases re-present the past and can change visitor perceptions of Vikings or Saxons. I also analyse economic factors surrounding these sites, and their capacity as resilient, renewable heritage resources. I apply a mixed-methods approach to economic analysis of the value of AOAMs by examining public records and data collected during visitor interviews. This research does not determine 'best practices', as I argue that these are antithetical to fostering decolonial options. However, it has found several challenges and opportunities. Capacity to meet pressures to be self-sustaining is an issue that affects AOAMs, as in much of the museum sector, which may be exacerbated by organizational structure and affiliations. Networks, diverse sources of revenue/funding, and risk-preparedness (e.g. maintaining insurance policies) were positive for site resilience. Visitors came to the Viking attractions with strongly formed notions of what a 'Viking' was, but sites were still able to influence changes in their perceptions. Visitors to Saxon sites held comparatively nebulous understandings of what a 'Saxon' was, descriptions of them often including keywords like History and Englishness rather than other attributes. Post-visit perceptions still involved this, but also resulted in additional positive traits such as Intelligent. Sites that thoughtfully used narrative to create learning proved the most successful in altering visitor perceptions, with the role of costumed interpreters being central to the navigation of more difficult heritages.

Representations of archaeology in media such as films and television have been historically problematic. Video-games, however, have taken these depictions of archaeology and archaeologists to the next level, not only allowing media consumers to view unethical behaviors such as looting and site destruction, but to participate in them, as willing and complicit bad actors. In 2017, the video-game industry reported a worldwide 36 billion US dollars in consumer spending, with over 6 billion of that spending occurring within the United Kingdom. In order to confront the deep and growing ethical implications for archaeology, this project turns a spotlight onto two key areas of concern: video-game players' perceptions and professional archaeological practices. In the first instance, I seek to understand whether depictions of archaeologists in video-games impact player perceptions of archaeologists as skilled professionals. This research contributes to contextualizing the relationship between representations of archaeological practices in the real and virtual worlds. From here I turn to matters of ethical practice in professional archaeology, seeking to understand how ethics are being considered (if at all) in evolving digital archaeological practice. I attempt to isolate the ways in which archaeological practitioners are, and are not, considering the ethical implications of the digital components of their work, and how those ethical issues may impact future practice. Tying these two areas together is a discussion on the nature of current and near-future archaeology as a practice existing both in the real and the virtual. As perceptions of archaeologists are being shaped by video-game representations, the perceptual line between digitally virtual representations of archaeologists and digital archaeologists blurs. Understanding the current ethical failings of both is crucial to ensuring that future conduct on the part of archaeologists is grounded in professional standards based on reflexive, conscientious, and publicly accountable practice.

Palaeoproteomics is a relatively new field of research in archaeological science, but has great potential for phylogenetic analysis of fossil taxa, particularly beyond the preservation limit of ancient DNA. This PhD collects proteomic data from a wide variety of fossils (e.g. bone, eggshell, soft tissue), from a range of localities (e.g. Pleistocene tar seeps, Antarctica) and ages (Holocene-Eocene). The resulting data is used to evaluate different proteomic methods for the successful retrieval of palaeo-proteins, and what these proteins can inform us about protein preservation mechanisms and use in phylogenetic reconstructions. Testing protein endogeneity is also considered, as this is a key area of research in palaeoproteomics. Different methods of screening samples for further proteomic analysis was assessed, and the use of enzymes other than trypsin, as well as gel-based extraction methods was investigated to maximise protein recovery. Protein survival is dependent on a number of factors, including environment, age and the substrate in which the proteomic information is preserved. The age of the fossil was found to be more of an influencing factor than the environment. A number of considerations are presented for investigating the endogeneity of fossil peptides. The data obtained from fossil collagen sequences were successfully used to reconstruct the relationships between extinct sloths and their extant relatives (Choloepus sp. and Bradypus sp.), with the results suggesting a new placement of both extant taxa in relation to their ancestors. The use of non-collagenous proteins in phylogenetic reconstruction was also considered, but low sequence coverage prevents successful phylogenetic resolution. This thesis provides recommendations for sample screening and testing peptide endogeneity as well as showcasing the use of proteomics in palaeontology.

Cultural heritage and associated discourses of preservation have become forces of global concern through international agencies such as UNESCO. This is especially true in Anglophone West Africa particularly Nigeria, where discourses of heritage are negotiated locally in relation to existing belief and value systems. This thesis explores this negotiation in the context of the Igbo village arena (or square) found at the heart of all Igbo villages. It examines the ontologies and epistemologies of 'Authorised Heritage Discuss' (AHD) and indigenous heritage conservation models in Nigeria focusing on inclusion and exclusion. The thesis further interrogates the interface between such indigenous models and global heritage discourses and practices. It uses ethnographic method that allowed a bottom-up enquiry with power-sharing possibilities. The thesis found that other than having binaries in heritage conservation and management methods in Nigeria, there are conflicts around the knowledge domain. It shows that the divisions are products of power and discourse which are philosophical and political; philosophical because of the conceptual differences, and political because of the spatial representations and national ideology. Further to the findings is the fact that AHD uses the 'static perfection' approach to conservation against the people's psychological make up that favour unbroken continuity. The thesis also found a new way of seeing the indigenous/local community as a constituent of human and nonhuman 'beings'. Consequently, it recognises that heritage has a 'life' and lives in the same community with humans and other 'beings'. Acknowledging the announcement of a new geological epoch, the Anthropocene and the new quests for finding alternative heritage conservation design that aligns with the ethical requirements of the time, the thesis suggests the in-use conservation paradigm. Arguments put forward to support in-use method emanates from what was found among the Igbo, the fact that heritage passes through the same life cycle of birth, living, death (that includes decay and decomposition) and re-birth, which AHD either denies or delays. The principles of in-use conservation approach encourage intensive and effective care for heritage in their living community to elongate and sustain the 'utilitarian values' of heritage envisioned in its 'birthing or production mission'. By so doing, the thesis concludes that heritage would make its contributions towards solving problems of the Anthropocene, one of which is climate change that threatens the lives of all 'beings' in the universe. It strongly argues that thinking about heritage in this sense would help us make informed decisions for the future of heritage in the Anthropocene.

Growth is a heavily studied field in juvenile bioarchaeological studies. The question of shape or developmental trajectories, however, has only recently been investigated as methodological advances such as geometric morphometrics (GM) have become more available. This thesis applied GM to archaeological juveniles and explored how biological processes affect bone shape during ontogeny to answer ‘what is bone shape and what do shape trajectories tell us?’ The application of GM allows for a novel analysis of developmental trajectories as whole bone morphology is analysed and visualised in a three-dimensional space. To determine if long bone plasticity is influenced by archaeological site and time period, 178 juveniles of Anglo-Saxon to Post-Medieval foetal to 12 year old long bones were examined; they formed a comprehensive dataset to integrate GM with traditional bioarchaeological methodologies of growth and development. The objective of this thesis was to develop a reproducible methodology that captures the torsion, curvature, and whole bone growth and development of the juvenile femora, tibiae, and humeri. This was accomplished through two validation studies; the first aimed to determine if GM can be used on cylindrically shaped long bones. Here, the methodological applicability of 3D GM on juvenile long bones examined linear measurements, 3D GM with landmark and semi-landmarks, and automated 3D GM. The second aimed to assess if different scanning methods, inducing laser, photogrammetry, and structured light scanning affect geometric morphometric analyses of bone shape. This thesis contributes new insights on the applicability and importance of geometric morphometric approaches to the study of human juvenile long bones. The principal findings were that long bone shape is statistically significant by site and period from foetal to 5 years old and that shape is not a linear progression of increasingly larger shapes but rather fluctuations in the changes of shape. It was also found that the developmental trajectories had different potential in the extent of shape that could be achieved for each age group, and that trajectories could change as a result of developmental pathways such as nutritional or environmental stress that occurred during growth.

The aim of this work is to study the commercial activity of Mediterranean ports during the first three centuries of the Roman Empire. There has been an increase in the last years in the amount of ancient port studies, increasingly showing that ports cannot be viewed in isolation, or simply in relation to the sea (Keay: 2012). That conception has been the impetus for the development of interdisciplinary studies carried out on several ports (e.g. Portus, Baelo Claudia, Narbonne). Archaeologists have recovered many Roman-era port structures revealing the multiple functions of these constructions (e.g. administrative, legal). However, regarding the available evidence of these structures, almost nothing is found in recent publications that tells us how a port worked, what its output was, how wholesale and retail sales were transacted, or what sort of accounting and registration of the transactions took place at ports. These gaps in the research are partly due to the lack of consideration of the legal framework in relation to commerce and distribution, and especially concerning the merchandise that was distributed between ports. In order to try to answer questions such as these, this study seeks to understand the commercial procedures taking place across the interconnected port-systems from the Mediterranean in the period from 1st through the 3rd cent. AD. This research focuses on the commercial inscriptions, which I have labelled as scripta commercii. These inscriptions recorded essential data (e.g. owner, weight) from the contracts agreed by the parties, the diverse controlling procedures carried out, and the itinerary traced by the container from the departure until the arrival to destination, among other things. My work evidences a model concerning the commercial cycle in which artefacts moved from the point of manufacture and purchase (e.g. kilns) until their arrival at a specific destination (e.g. port, market). This model will be applied to three main case studies concerning the functions of sale, transport and control performed on the distribution of merchandise from port to port. These three case studies will reveal different features of the contracts used for the distribution of goods for both retail and state supply, and of the roles played by the different actors involved in distribution. Every legal decision made by anyone engaged in maritime trade would have been driven by one overarching agenda, namely to reduce the risk of the venture failing. The iv study of the contracts of sale and lease & hire through material and textual evidence will highlight the flexibility of these contractual schemes, which can be adapted to different situations depending on the agreements established by the parties. In addition, these three case studies, and especially the one concerning control, will question the relation between private and public in the Roman Empire, reassessing the roles of private subjects for the Annona distribution. Finally, the three case studies bridge the gap between the legal schemes provided by Roman jurists and the daily commercial practices performed by merchants.

The Channel Plain Region, now largely submerged by high sea-level, incorporates the UK Crown dependencies of the Channel Islands, Northern France (specifically Brittany and Normandy), and southern Britain. La Cotte de St Brelade sits within this landscape, and is pivotal in understanding the Early Middle Palaeolithic Neanderthal occupations of the area. This research presents a series of new palaeogeographic models, new analysis of the lithic assemblages of the lower, Saalian deposits at La Cotte, and chronostratigraphic and technological relationship(s) across the region. This includes sites such as Piégu, Menez-Dregan, Grainfollet and Les Gastines. Overall, this provides an up-to-date synthesis of Neanderthal behaviour between c. 220 – 160 kya within North Western Europe. Specifically, continuities and changes in behaviour over the period in question are highlighted, including changes in lithic acquisition practices related to climate and landscape changes. Finally, this research adds to the recent re-analysis of the upper “bone heap” assemblages (Pope et al. 2012; Scott et al. 2014; Smith 2015; Shaw et al. 2016), within the later Saalian (>160 kya), and the upper Weichselian deposits (Wragg Sykes 2011; Bates et al. 2013; Scott et al. 2014; Shaw et al. 2016), at La Cotte de St. Brelade.