A 3D Digital Approach to the Stylistic and Typo-Technological Study of Small Figurines from Ayia Irini, Cyprus

The thesis aims to develop a 3D digital approach to the stylistic and typo-technological study of coroplastic, focusing on small figurines. The case study to test the method is a sample of terracotta statuettes from an assemblage of approximately 2000 statues and figurines found at the beginning of the 20th century in a rural open-air sanctuary at Ayia Irini (Cyprus) by the archaeologists of the Swedish Cyprus Expedition. The excavators identified continuity of worship at the sanctuary from the Late Cypriot III (circa 1200 BC) to the end of the Cypro-Archaic II period (ca. 475 BC). They attributed the small figurines to the Cypro-Archaic I-II. Although the excavation was one of the first performed through the newly established stratigraphic method, the archaeologists studied the site and its material following a traditional, merely qualitative approach. Theanalysis of the published results identified a classification of the material with no-clear-cut criteria, and their overlap between types highlights ambiguities in creating groups and classes. Similarly, stratigraphic arguments and different opinions among archaeologists highlight the need for revising. Moreover, pastlegislation allowed the excavators to export half of the excavated antiquities, creating a dispersion of the assemblage. Today, the assemblage is still partly exhibited at the Cyprus Museum in Nicosia and in four different museums in Sweden. Such a setting prevents to study, analyse and interpret the assemblageholistically. This research proposes a 3D chaîne opératoire methodology to study the collection’s small terracotta figurines, aiming to understand the context’s function and social role as reflected by the classification obtained with the 3D digital approach. The integration proposed in this research of traditional archaeological studies, and computer-assisted investigation based on quantitative criteria, identified and defined with 3D measurements and analytical investigations, is adopted as a solution to the biases of a solely qualitative approach. The 3D geometric analysis of the figurines focuses on the objects’ shape and components, mode of manufacture, level of expertise, specialisation or skills of the craftsman and production techniques. The analysis leads to the creation of classes of artefacts which allow archaeologists to formulate hypotheses on the production process, identify a common production (e.g., same hand, same workshop) and establish a relative chronological sequence. 3D reconstruction of the excavation’s area contributes to the virtual re-unification of the assemblage for its holistic study, the relative chronological dating of the figurines and the interpretation of their social and ritual purposes. The results obtained from the selected sample prove the efficacy of the proposed 3D approach and support the expansion of the analysis to the whole assemblage, and possibly initiate quantitative and systematic studies on Cypriot coroplastic production

Archaeological investigations on St. Martin (Lesser Antilles). The sites of Norman Estate, Anse des Pères, and Hope Estate. With a contribution to the 'La Hueca problem'

Wetensch. publ. non-refereedFaculty of Archeolog

Developing models for the data-based mechanistic approach to systems analysis:Increasing objectivity and reducing assumptions

Stochastic State-Space Time-Varying Random Walk models have been developed, allowing the existing Stochastic State Space models to operate directly on irregularly sampled time-series. These TVRW models have been successfully applied to two different classes of models benefiting each class in different ways. The first class of models - State Dependent Parameter (SDP) models and used to investigate the dominant dynamic modes of nonlinear dynamic systems and the non-linearities in these models affected by arbitrary State Variables. In SDP locally linearised models it is assumed that the parameters that describe system’s behaviour changes are dependent upon some aspect of the system (it’s ‘state’). Each parameter can be dependent on one or more states. To estimate the parameters that are changing at a rate related to that of it’s states, the estimation procedure is conducted in the state-space along the potentially multivariate trajectory of the states which drive the parameters. The introduction of the newly developed TVRW models significantly improves parameter estimation, particularly in data rich neighbourhoods of the state-space when the parameter is dependent on more than one state, and the ends of the data-series when the parameter is dependent on one state with few data points. The second class of models are known as Dynamic Harmonic Regression (DHR) models and are used to identify the dominant cycles and trends of time-series. DHR models the assumption is that a signal (such as a time-series) can be broken down into four (unobserved) components occupying different parts of the spectrum: trend, seasonal cycle, other cycles, and a high frequency irregular component. DHR is confined to uniformly sampled time-series. The introduction of the TVRW models allows DHR to operate on irregularly sampled time-series, with the added benefit of forecasting origin no longer being confined to starting at the end of the time-series but can now begin at any point in the future. Additionally, the forecasting sampling rate is no longer limited to the sampling rate of the time-series. Importantly, both classes of model were designed to follow the Data-Based Mechanistic (DBM) approach to modelling environmental systems, where the model structure and parameters are to be determined by the data (Data-Based) and then the subsequent models are to be validated based on their physical interpretation (Mechanistic). The aim is to remove the researcher’s preconceptions from model development in order to eliminate any bias, and then use the researcher’s knowledge to validate the models presented to them. Both classes of model lacked model structure identification procedures and so model structure was determined by the researcher, against the DBM approach. Two different model structure identification procedures, one for SDP and the other for DHR, were developed to bring both classes of models back within the DBM framework. These developments have been presented and tested here on both simulated data and real environmental data, demonstrating their importance, benefits and role in environmental modelling and exploratory data analysis

Traditions and Transitions: Later and Roman Iron Age Communities in the North-East of England

This thesis aims to reintegrate the communities of later Iron Age north-east of England (from roughly 300 BC) into wider narratives of later Iron Age and Roman-era Europe. Despite the significant contributions of George Jobey, Colin Haselgrove and others, the north-eastern Iron Age has been widely considered underpopulated and materially and culturally impoverished since such a view was put forward by Mortimer Wheeler and Stuart Piggott in the 1950’s. In light of this impression of the later Iron Age, the region has been seen as a ‘blank slate’ for the establishment of a Roman military zone which has then been interpreted without fully considering an indigenous, civilian population. Recent work on later Iron Age settlements and non-military Roman era settlements in the region has called these older views more directly into question by building on the work of Jobey and Haselgrove and demonstrating that a substantial Roman and pre-Roman civilian population must have been present across the region throughout the period in question. Thus, this study has sought to bring together the available artefactual, depositional and architectural evidence for later Iron Age communities as well as those Roman-era communities who maintained connections with indigenous traditions. Though there can be no clear separation of ‘indigenous’ and ‘Roman’ settlements from the mid first century onwards, this study has focused on those settlements which continue to make use of roundhouse architecture. Given the variable state of the evidence from the long tradition of investigation in the region, only well contextualized excavated evidence is considered in order to best shed light on the practice of daily life. Alongside considering the range of material culture in use, contextual analysis of this evidence demonstrates that the noted lack of recovered material culture, particularly ceramics, can be shown to be the result of deliberate choices in acquisition, use and deposition of material culture which reflect the priorities of this decentralized society rather than the result of an inability to produce or trade. Despite this however, it is clear that northeastern communities do appear to engage in similar depositional activities to other British and European Iron Age societies, albeit on a smaller scale which reflects the smaller scale of the communities involved, and a deep connectedness to wider traditions can be shown. Considered alongside this sometimes difficult dataset is the history of Iron Age studies in the region and how this has shaped research strategies. This is an illustrative example of the mechanisms through which older, broad brush understandings can continue to dominate regional archaeologies despite newer, more nuanced evidence. As well as a case study in the relevance of the history of archaeology to contemporary study, the narrative thus constructed provides a basis for understanding the north-eastern Iron Age within the expanding web of regionalization and connections which was Iron Age Europe. Additionally it provides a narrative of indigenous communities’ interactions with and reactions to the dramatic changes related to the expansion of the Roman empire the early first millennium AD. This is ultimately key in order to better interpret the increasing evidence for non-military Roman era communities in the region and beyond

A Survey of Geometric Analysis in Cultural Heritage

We present a review of recent techniques for performing geometric analysis in cultural heritage (CH) applications. The survey is aimed at researchers in the areas of computer graphics, computer vision and CH computing, as well as to scholars and practitioners in the CH field. The problems considered include shape perception enhancement, restoration and preservation support, monitoring over time, object interpretation and collection analysis. All of these problems typically rely on an understanding of the structure of the shapes in question at both a local and global level. In this survey, we discuss the different problem forms and review the main solution methods, aided by classification criteria based on the geometric scale at which the analysis is performed and the cardinality of the relationships among object parts exploited during the analysis. We finalize the report by discussing open problems and future perspectives

The Rise of Metallurgy in Eurasia

"The Rise of Metallurgy in Eurasia is a landmark study in the origins of metallurgy. The project aimed to trace the invention and innovation of metallurgy in the Balkans. It combined targeted excavations and surveys with extensive scientific analyses at two Neolithic-Chalcolithic copper production and consumption sites, Belovode and Pločnik, in Serbia. At Belovode, the project revealed chronologically and contextually secure evidence for copper smelting in the 49th century BC. This confirms the earlier interpretation of c. 7000-year-old metallurgy at the site, making it the earliest record of fully developed metallurgical activity in the world. However, far from being a rare and elite practice, metallurgy at both Belovode and Pločnik is demonstrated to have been a common and communal craft activity. This monograph reviews the pre-existing scholarship on early metallurgy in the Balkans. It subsequently presents detailed results from the excavations, surveys and scientific analyses conducted at Belovode and Pločnik. These are followed by new and up-to-date regional syntheses by leading specialists on the Neolithic-Chalcolithic material culture, technologies, settlement and subsistence practices in the Central Balkans. Finally, the monograph places the project results in the context of major debates surrounding early metallurgy in Eurasia before proposing a new agenda for global early metallurgy studies.

Physical, biological and cultural factors influencing the formation, stabilisation and protection of archaeological deposits in U.K. coastal waters

A considerable corpus of information regarding the formation of terrestrial archaeological deposits exists which is not matched by studies of deposit formation in coastal waters. Similarly, there is a disjunction between strident calls for minimal disturbance investigation, with conservation in situ, and knowledge of how this might actually be achieved in the marine environment. The manner in which the investigation of deposit formation can complement the study of in situ conservation is considered An approach is proposed which combines selected elements of Schiffer's Transformation Theory with a method of studying changes to deposits outlined by Wildesen. It is suggested that, although sufficient regularities can be detected in the influence of formation processes to allow their influence to be recognised and inference refined accordingly, there are case specific limitations on the extent to which the precise influence of each process can be described and evaluated. A case study is presented which investigates casual depredation as a formation process. Commercial fishing activity and marine burrowing activity are the subject of detailed consideration. New insights into these processes result from this study and specific recommendations concerning in situ conservation of deposits subject to their influence are made. The need to consider fishing practice as well as the mechanical properties of fishing gear in the study of deposit formation and protection is emphasised. The excavation of a 16th century wreck in Studland Bay, Dorset, is used to demonstrate the pervasive influence of burrowing activity and the problems associated with mitigation of this process. Recommendations are made regarding future study of formation processes and the development of policy related to the management of the submerged archaeological resource