Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Classical archaeology'

This thesis analyzes the utility of Finite Element Analysis (FEA) in testing strength trends in Type A, Ci, Dii, F, and G swords described by the Sandars Bronze Age Aegean classification. Comparing sword composition of a variety of alloys and using three-dimensional models of each sword type, I evaluate the strength and resilience of each sword shape form in thrusting and hacking impact and shearing under a series of force intervals. The results of these tests suggest that there is performance variability between the sword types and that the sword forms generally correlate with an increase in strength over time. Furthermore, the tests suggest that the alloy and temper of the sword have a significant impact on the sword’s strength. This indicates that a sword’s form was based on more than mere prestige and had clear functional characteristics. Further testing on alloy and temper type use over time is necessary.

This paper deals with the character of Penelope, in Homer’s Odyssey, of her power and worth.Also how female power and worth were measured in Homeric society, which was a world ruled by men. Penelope is unique because she survived in a male dominated world without any magical power, but by her own strength. She protects her family and home from her enemies. This dissertation will explore Penelope’s realm of power, how much authority she had and what means she used, and also how her actions and character measures her worth as awoman. She will be both compared to other female characters and to the standards of a patriarchal society.Classical sources and modern sources will be analyzed and compared, to understand hidden meanings, popular discussions and new theories. Also lexical Greek word asοἶκος, μῆτις and κλέος will be explored and linked to Penelope’s power and worth.

The modern Swiss agricultural landscape has its roots buried deep in the ancient past. The phase of agricultural development spanning from the Iron Age, beginning with the Hallstatt in 800 B.C. (2750 BP), to the last of the Merovingian dynasty in A.D. 754 (1196 BP), was one of the most vibrant and important periods in the evolution of the landscape and agriculture of Switzerland. This phase, which begins with independent Iron Age tribes, encompasses the first large-scale conquest of the land of Switzerland, the incorporation of the region into the Roman Empire and the transition of control to the Frankish Kings which laid the foundation in the Early Middle Ages for the modern agricultural landscape. This study explores these developments in the three topographical zones of Switzerland (the Jura Massif and northwestern Switzerland, the Plateau and the Alps) through the archaeological record by combining archaeobotanical and archaeozoological remains recovered from excavations with the results of pollen studies and climatological research to acquire a holistic view of ancient agriculture and dietary preference. During the Hallstatt (800-480 B.C./2750-2430 BP), the three topographical zones had similar agricultural activities, however, beginning in the La Tène (480-13 B.C./2430-1963 BP) these show a significant divergence that further intensifies with the arrival of the Romans and persists after the transition of power to the Frankish Kings in the late 5th century A.D. (c. 1474 BP). The arrival of the Romans in the late 1st century B.C. had an immediate impact with the introduction of new crops into local cultivation alongside advanced horticulture, viticulture and animal husbandry practices, as well as a lasting presence in Swiss agriculture due to the persistence of many of these crops after the removal of Roman influence. Concurrently, the cultivation of Iron Age crops, primarily hardy hulled wheats and barley, continued throughout the Roman period, particularly at sites dominated by Celtic peoples, with Roman influence being most felt at higher status sites such as the capital at Avenches, the colony of Augst and the major military installation at Windisch. Roman influence on meat consumption is demonstrated by elevated levels of swine and chickens with a continuation of the dominance of cattle at predominately Celtic sites in the Jura and Plateau alongside elevated levels of sheep and goats at Alpine sites in the Rhône Valley. By combining archaeobotany, archaeozoology and palynology with climatological studies, this work shows that the arrival of the Romans had an immediate impact during the first centuries A.D., aided by favourable climatic conditions. After the removal of direct Roman influence and increasing climatic instability beginning in the mid-3rd century A.D., many of the crops, fruits and garden plants persisted with the arrival of Frankish and Germanic peoples into the region alongside a resurgence in the prevalence of cereal crops cultivated during the Iron Age.

Retailing in ancient Rome remains a neglected area of study on account of the traditional view among economic historians that the retail trades of pre-industrial societies were primitive and unsophisticated. In addition to addressing a lacuna in the scholarship of the ancient economy and challenging traditional models of retail history, this study offers a novel diachronic analysis of the development of the fixed-point retailing trade in the city of Rome between the late 3rd c BCE and the 2nd/3rd c CE. An interdisciplinary approach to the research is employed, combining the textual sources, epigraphic texts, archaeological data, art historical evidence, and comparative historical materials in order to arrive at a more holistic understanding of ancient Roman retailing. This study also introduces new approaches to the ancient evidence, adapting models from marketing and retailing such as retail change theory and retail atmospherics, as well as from social network analysis to advance our understanding of the Roman economy and urban culture.

Economic growth in the mid-Republic triggered a major shift in the structure of distribution at Rome as permanent shops surpassed temporary markets as the dominant form of urban retailing. The establishment of a shop economy at Rome improved the social and economic status of shopkeepers, who emerged in the late Republic as a socially defined, politically active group capable of affecting grassroots change in the political system. By linking shops to Augustan ideology, Augustan urban reforms improved the social position of shopkeepers and increased the visibility of their shops in the commercial landscape. Shopkeepers capitalized on this by focusing their marketing strategies on the shop design, which became the primary method of advertising. For the everyday Roman, the fashions and information advertised in the design of Roman shops would have been highly visible and extremely pervasive, as shops formed the backdrop to the lived experience of urban inhabitants. On account of the development of the fixed-point retailing trade, the Roman shop became not only an essential unit in the urban distributive system and an important locus for sociability, but also a physical reflection of a local urban identity, emblematic of the power and prosperity of the Roman empire more generally. Consequently, Roman shopkeepers were as active in shaping the urban character of Rome from below through shop architecture as the emperors and elite with their more monumental building projects.

The Early Helladic II–III (EH II–III) transition was a period of dramatic cultural change in the Argolid, and one of the most prominent shifts which occurred at this time was in the pottery, which changed from forms with few handles, simple decoration, and homogeneous appearances to ones with an abundance of handles, prominent decoration, and wide variation in appearances. While this shift has been explained to some extent by writers such as Rutter (1993) and Spencer (2007), the nature of this change has not yet been fully explored. This thesis explores this problem by examining the organization of pottery production in Early Helladic Lerna, a type site for the region. This is done by examining indirect evidence from Lerna in EH II and EH III, largely through the use of standardization analysis, which is then used to evaluate the organization of pottery production in each phase by using Costin’s parameters of craft production, namely intensity, concentration, scale, and context (1991). These are then compared, ultimately concluding that production was at the level of very low-intensity household production for domestic use and limited non-economic trade in both periods. The single change observed is in the context of production, which is found to move from a midpoint between independent and attached production in EH II to embedded production in EH III, a form of attached production. This occurred as the result of a change from a seemingly uncontested political sphere in EH II to one characterized by competition between individuals or groups in EH III, which caused the political powers to draw nearer to their otherwise unchanged pottery production groups in order to compete for power.

This thesis contributes to current scholarship in several ways. It first of all provides new evidence for the organization of pottery production in the Argolid during EH II and III, which has received little scholarly attention. It also contributes to research into the nature of the political changes which occurred across the EH II–III transition, such as Weiberg and Lindblom’s suggestion of differential adoption of foreign elements in the Argolid in EH III (2014), which I propose is due to varied approaches to competition for political authority. Finally, it provides a useful instance of shifting political power and an associated change in production context that problematizes typical narratives regarding the development of attached craft production (Costin 1991: 12).

This dissertation focuses on religious processions in Athens in the late 6^th and 5^th centuries BCE, when the evidence for processions and festivals first becomes abundant enough to study fruitfully. The built sacred landscape of Athens was beginning to take shape, and Athenian identity was being reshaped under the influence of the Persian Wars, Athens’ imperial ambitions, and the new popularity of Theseus. Processions traced defined routes in this landscape, forming physical links between center and periphery, displaying numerous symbols which possessed special significance for Athenians and which were part of Athenians’ cultural memory and collective identity.

Processions were intense, subjective sensory experiences, full of symbols with deep religious and cultural significance. They were also public performances, opportunities for participants to show off both their piety and their wealth, to perform their membership in the Athenian community, and perhaps to gain social capital or prominence. Not least, processions were movements through a landscape embedded with myths, history, cultural associations, and the connotations of daily lived experience. Previous studies of processions have focused on one of these three aspects—symbols, participants, or route—without fully taking account of the others, failing to provide a comprehensive theoretical framework or analysis of these ritual movements. All of these elements—symbols, participants, and route—were deliberately chosen, designed to impart particular experiences and meanings to participants and spectators. This dissertation will thus ask why particular symbols, participants, and routes were chosen and explore as many of their potential meanings as possible, considering the myths, cultural associations, and areas of daily life where these elements appeared.

The repetition of processions is vital to understanding their cultural resonance. Spectators could see the processions multiple times over the course of their lives, and draw new conclusions or interpretations as they gained life experience, learned new stories or myths, and as the collective discourse around Athenian religion created new meanings—for example, in the aftermath of the Persian Wars. This repetition also reinforced the meanings that these symbols already possessed for Athenians.

François de Polignac’s bipolar polis theory, which inspired many aspects of this dissertation, characterized processions as ritual ‘links’ in the landscape connecting center and periphery. This is essentially correct, but in Classical Athens, there were multiple peripheries and a whole calendar full of processions and sacred travel to festivals, the performance of which constructed and maintained the idea of Athens as a spatially and culturally unified territory. Therefore I propose instead the multipolar polis model, which provides a richer and more comprehensive view of the web of connections which linked Athens to her peripheries. These connections included the state-run festivals put on at the major extraurban sanctuaries; the monumental temples and other facilities constructed with state money; the fortifications constructed at or near the sanctuaries, protecting the strategic interests of the state; and the mythical, historical, and ideological significance of these sacred places and their deities. Whether participants traveled to these sanctuaries in a formal procession or via less-organized sacred travel, their movement through the landscape reinforced their associations with it and with the destination sanctuary.

Processions were complex rituals with many functions. They displayed culturally-significant symbols to participants and spectators, reinforcing their meaning. They provided a stage for participants to perform their status and wealth. They traced a defined route through the landscape of Attica, linking center and periphery, taking participants past a series of meaningful places, buildings, and art. All of these elements—symbols, people, and places—drew their meanings from shared myths, rituals, history, and the experience of daily life. The repetition of processions reinforced these meanings in the minds of Athenians, and allowed them to change as Athenian identity changed (and vice versa). It is these threads of common cultural memory, myths and associations that an Athenian could depend on his or her fellow Athenians to remember and understand, and which Athenians wove together in their writings, speeches, plays, and rituals to form their common identity.

This paper deals with ancient Greek music, and in particular the relation of people to music during the fifth century BC in Athens. Music is believed to exercise great power over the human character and behavior, and at the same time is a means of emotional communication. For the first time during the fifth century, the power of music leaves the realm of the myths and becomes a subject of philosophical investigation. Two different types of sources are examined in order to study the relation of people to music: on the one hand the literary sources of this period,  and on the other the vase paintings. This method reveals various attitudes towards music by using two different perspectives. Possible explanations are given for the differing information, the purpose of each source being a decisive factor.

The paper suggests that although the information from the two types of sources varies and can even be contradictive, the recognition of the power music exercises is obvious in both cases .

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This thesis examines the Neolithic settlements in Durankulak, Danube, north of Bulgaria and Sitagroi in Greek Macedonia at the time when human life went from nomadic and hunting to well organized, agriculture and settled. As a background I present facts about the chronology, I will look for similarities and differences in the climate and the environment of the settlements and then I make a comparison based on the material findings. The facts, analyses and artefacts give a base for understanding the daily life in Durankulak and Sitagroi. By comparing the settlements I will investigate if the Neolithization was a homogenous process on Balkan or if there are differences that indicate external inputs from several directions.