This monograph investigates the development of urbanism in the North-Western Roman provinces (i.e. nowadays France, Britain, Belgium, and Netherlands), the main foci being on the nature,... Show moreThis monograph investigates the development of urbanism in the North-Western Roman provinces (i.e. nowadays France, Britain, Belgium, and Netherlands), the main foci being on the nature, characteristics, and shapes that settlement systems took during the first 250 years of the imperial period. The scope of the research undertaken in this book extends beyond the study of the “official” Roman cities (i.e. centres which enjoyed some level of self-governance and which are known from ancient literary and epigraphic sources), comprising all settlements which have yielded evidence of monumental architecture and/or of extensive non-agricultural activities. Show less
Kothieringer, K.; Lambers, K.; Seregély, T.; Schäfer, A. 2014
This paper describes the results of initial archaeological and geoarchaeological fieldwork in the Northern Franconian Jura between the cities of Bayreuth and Bamberg. Our research aims at the... Show moreThis paper describes the results of initial archaeological and geoarchaeological fieldwork in the Northern Franconian Jura between the cities of Bayreuth and Bamberg. Our research aims at the reconstruction of settlement patterns and strategies of land use during the Metal Ages (Bronze Age and Iron Age) in the catchment area of the river Weismain. The project is designed as a case study for research into the settlement and landscape history of a rural region of the Central German Uplands during the last two millennia before our era. Show less
This study represents a contribution to the pre-Colonial archaeology of the Windward Islands in the Caribbean. The research aimed to determine how the Ceramic Age (400 BC – AD 1492) Amerindian... Show moreThis study represents a contribution to the pre-Colonial archaeology of the Windward Islands in the Caribbean. The research aimed to determine how the Ceramic Age (400 BC – AD 1492) Amerindian inhabitants of the region related to one another and others at various geographic scales, with a view to better understanding social interaction and organization within the Windward Islands as well the integration of this region within the macro-region. This research approached the study of intra- and inter-island interaction and social development through an island-by-island study of 640 archaeological sites and their ceramic assemblages. Besides providing insight into settlement sequences, patterns and micro-mobility through time, it also highlighted various configurations of sites spread across islands that were united by shared ceramic (decorative) traits. These configurations were more closely examined by taking recourse to graph-theory. By extending the comparative scope of this research, possible material cultural influences from more distant regions could be suggested. While Windward Island communities developed a localized material cultural identity, they remained open to influences from outside the micro-region. Windward Island communities actively and flexibly realigned themselves with several mainland South American societies in Late Ceramic Age times (AD 700-1500), forging and maintaining significant ties and exchange relationships Show less
Throughout history, climate change has been an important driving force behind human behaviour. This archaeological study seeks to understand the complex interrelations between that behaviour and... Show moreThroughout history, climate change has been an important driving force behind human behaviour. This archaeological study seeks to understand the complex interrelations between that behaviour and climatic fluctuations, focussing on how climate affected the social relations between neighbouring communities of occasionally differing nature. It is argued that developments in these relations will fall within a continuum between competition on one end and cooperation on the other. The adoption of a particular strategy depends on whether that strategy is advantageous to a community in terms of the maintenance of its well-being when faced with adverse climate change. This model will be applied to northern Mesopotamia between 3000 and 1600 BC. Local palaeoclimate proxy records demonstrate that aridity increased significantly during this period. Within this geographical, chronological, and climatic framework, this study looks at changes in settlement patterns as an indication of competition among sedentary agriculturalist communities, and the development of the Amorite ethnic identity as reflecting cooperation among sedentary and more mobile pastoralist communities. Show less
