School of Historical and Philosophical Studies - Theses
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ItemBotanic motifs of the Bronze Age Cycladic Islands: identity, belief, ritual and trade( 2019)Botanic motifs of the Bronze Age Cycladic Islands: Identity, Belief, Ritual and Trade Marcia Nugent, University of Melbourne This thesis argues the motifs with which we surround ourselves signify something – about us, our identities, our values and our understanding of the world. Frequently and infrequently represented motifs tell us something about the culture from which they come. Assemblages of motifs from different peoples and places tell us something about the people who created and viewed them – their preferences and their sense of place in their environment. In short, motifs have meaning. Although in many cases the original viewer may have assigned non-intrinsic meaning to motifs, patterns of representation and placement and the context of motifs can allow the uninitiated to recognise meaning. Motifs can communicate feelings, ideas, beliefs, practice and uses of the items represented to observers far removed from the original intended viewers. Since prehistoric times, the natural world has been a focus of human artistic endeavour. From before people first settled and started practicing agriculture, plants have been important sources of shelter, nourishment and clothing materials. It is perhaps not surprising, then, that plants feature in early artistic representations. The artistic record reflects our early and continuing inextricable link to our natural environment. Our reliance on plant products makes botanic motifs an important subset of the iconographic record. The temporal and geographical focus of this study is the Bronze Age period (approx. 3000 – 1200 BC) of three sites from the Cycladic Islands, a group of islands in the Aegean Sea north of Crete – Akrotiri (Thera), Ayia Irini (Kea) and Phylakopi (Melos). Motifs are frequently from the Late Bronze Age period (1600 – 1200 BC), but some motifs are first seen and traced from the Early and Middle Bronze Age periods. The thesis seeks to answer two broad research questions: 1. Which plants were represented at the Bronze Age Cycladic Islands of Melos, Thera and Kea and how were they represented? 2. What can the context, form and associations of the botanic motifs tell us about the identity, beliefs, rituals and trade of the people that created and viewed them? Although a number of scholars have undertaken broad iconographic studies and other research has considered a limited assemblage of plant motifs, none have focused only on the three Cycladic Island sites featured in this study. This thesis also uniquely applies a quantitative and contextual analysis to over 500 botanic motifs to understand broader qualitative archaeological problems. The newly developed analytical methodology of this thesis intends to extend a replicable, scientific approach reaching from a quantitative, numbers based analysis to qualitative analysis utilising theoretical frameworks, enabling a post-processual, post-structuralist, contextualised study of the botanic motifs. The study ultimately reveals botanic motifs and the plants they represent have an entangled relationship with humanity, built on dependency and co-dependency, which support and enhance the economic, health and spiritual lives of the people of the Bronze Age Cycladic Islands.
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ItemPublic architecture, space and identity in six poleis in Asia minor: the observer through time (from the 2nd century BC to the 3rd century AD)( 2017)Research on public architecture and its development in the poleis of Asia Minor from the Hellenistic to Roman imperial period has often tended to focus on individual building types and to regard them as a series. This approach overlooks a building's role in the overall cityscape and its intended effect on the observer. Yet studies which examine the notion of the cityscape for ancient observers often make only a passing reference to the archaeological record. The identity of this observer has also tended to be ill defined. The observer, who was either a resident or visitor to these cities, experienced public architecture as well as other objects on public display, and derived meaning from their placement, decoration and overall connection to the cityscape. This thesis will consider the social and historical context as well as the archaeological record in regard to the development of different types of public architecture and other displays in specific poleis in Asia Minor. The placement and motivations for these elements' construction, their role in the cityscape and their reception by those who experienced them will be discussed. The period discussed begins with the increased diffusion of Classical-style poleis in the 2nd century BC, and ends at the beginning of the 3rd century AD. This study will employ a number of carefully chosen case studies: Balboura, Lyrbe/Seleukia, Pessinus, Ephesus, Pisidian Antioch and Kremna; and thus will apply a specific rather than general approach. The discussion will consider the evolution and character of these poleis' cityscapes and the effect they had on ancient observers. By doing so, a greater understanding of the overall cityscapes' contemporary meaning and the impact of these public displays will be gained.