School of Historical and Philosophical Studies - Theses

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    Botanic motifs of the Bronze Age Cycladic Islands: identity, belief, ritual and trade
    Nugent, Marcia ( 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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    Cycladic sculptures decorated with abstract painted motifs: representations of tattooing in the prehistoric Aegean
    Poelina-Hunter, Emily ( 2019)
    In historical literature pertaining to Cycladic sculptures, several writers suggest that some of the painted motifs on the surface of these marble sculptures may represent tattoos. This thesis seeks to undertake the first systematic research into answering the question: ‘Did Cycladic islanders practice tattooing and is this reflected in the abstract painted motifs on Cycladic sculptures?’. As a consequence of the Cycladic burial method of inhumation in the Early Bronze Age Aegean, the physical remains of body decoration or tattooing on preserved skin has not survived. Therefore, representations of tattooing on marble sculptures are the main sources of Cycladic evidence for the practice, along with the archaeological remains of possible tattooing instruments that demonstrate the technological ability to practice tattooing. Comparisons to the painted motifs on Egyptian potency figurines, which mimic the tattoos on the preserved skin of female mummies from Egypt and Nubia, are further supporting evidence for the hypothesis that Cycladic islanders were in contact with tattooed people that created figurines with tattoos. An overview of tattooing in ancient and traditional cultures around the globe is presented in order to shed light on the reasons why tattooing is practised and why particular motifs are chosen. Descriptions of the methods employed to create the tattoos in these cultures also present the reader with the ability to recognise comparative tattooing instruments in Cycladic material culture. A literature review of the history of the scholarly engagement with Cycladic sculptures demonstrates why this thesis is necessary to broaden research into the painted abstract motifs on these Early Bronze Age sculptures. Possible tattoo kits are also identified in the burial assemblages of several Cycladic cemeteries.
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    Public architecture, space and identity in six poleis in Asia minor: the observer through time (from the 2nd century BC to the 3rd century AD)
    Young, Simon James ( 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.
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    The prehistoric worked bone and antler assemblage at Uğurlu, Gökçeada: a local and regional perspective
    Paul, Jarrad William ( 2016)
    The Neolithic way of life spread across Anatolia bringing with it an influx of new material and subsistence strategies. The extent of this process was far-reaching, as people and material made their way to the fringes of the continent and beyond. It was also wide-ranging, incorporating many elements of material culture necessary to sustain this new, predominantly sedentary, lifestyle. The north Aegean island-site of Uğurlu, on the periphery of northwest Anatolia, became host to a migrant community around 6500 B.C.E. that carried with them animals, objects, and tools. As raw material was scarce, they had to utilise immediate resources, including clay, stone, wood, and bone, to create tools needed to build a community. Bone is an important raw material source in this regard, as its durability and manageability can be utilised to create strong and versatile items. Certain manufacturing techniques were followed to create tools for a function, symbolic, or aesthetic purpose. It is the contention of this study that investigating the worked bone at Uğurlu contributes to an understanding of local and regional development in Anatolia, and the Aegean, during the Neolithic and Chalcolithic periods. This worked bone and antler assemblage is considered stable throughout the Neolithic and Chalcolithic. But, when the collection is positioned within its regional framework, local variations and regional similarities become apparent. To investigate this claim, the Uğurlu worked bone and antler assemblage will be recorded, located, identified, and interpreted through a typological analysis. An in-depth examination of the assemblage will emphasise the important position these tools held in their prehistoric setting. Furthermore, this collection will be examined as part of a comparative analysis, which will compare and contrast it with others in the wider region. Subsequent discussion will accentuate the usefulness of typological and comparative worked bone analysis, leading to a better understanding of early agricultural societies in the region.
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    Collections at risk: an examination of archaeological collections management practices in the Near East
    Fitzpatrick, Dianne Lee ( 2015)
    The primary research objective of this doctoral thesis is to analyse current archaeological collections management practices in the Near East. The research aims to fill a noticeable gap in existing knowledge by examining the key factors which effect the long-term survival of archaeological collections. Post-colonial legacies in much of the Near East continue to influence the way in which archaeological collections are managed. Historical, political, cultural and social factors contribute to the current problems. But increasingly, local governments require archaeologists and their funding institutions to play a greater role and take more responsibility for preserving the archaeological collections they create. The research demonstrates that improved practices for managing archaeological collections are required. The thesis reviews cultural heritage legislation from Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and Turkey to determine what is legally required when managing archaeological collections at archaeological sites. It further reviews international charters, conventions, standards and guidelines to determine what constitutes ‘quality’ practice and ‘minimum’ standards when managing on-site collections. In doing so, it is possible to identify existing gaps in cultural heritage legislation for caring for archaeological collections. The research examines the processes through which archaeological collections pass by conducting a survey of some sixty archaeologists, conservators and curators who work in the Near East. It analyses data about the pre-excavation planning, excavation and post-excavation stages of archaeological projects. It identifies quality, conservation-led strategies suited to the whole archaeological process. The scope incorporates the early stages of research design to the eventual curation of archaeological collections in on-site depots, museums or repositories. The roles which influence sustainability that archaeologists, conservators and curators play in managing archaeological collections are considered. Observations from five case-study sites allow insight into how archaeological collections are created, preserved and managed. Quantitative and qualitative data help identify actual artefact accumulation rates and allow future space requirement projections. The study identifies strategies for sustainably managing archaeological collections which form the basis of an Archaeological Collections Management Plan (ACMP).
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    Interpreting the wine-dark sea: east Mediterranean marine symbolism
    BOUCHER, AMANDA ( 2014)
    This thesis is a study of the symbolism connected with the marine themed floor-paintings from the Late Bronze Age Mycenaean palace at Pylos (ca. 1330/15-1200/1190 B.C.E.), and the stone anchor assemblages from the Late Bronze/ Early Iron Age ‘sacred area’, Area II, at Kition, Cyprus (ca. 1300-1050 B.C.E.). Both the marine themed floor-paintings and the stone anchor assemblages have been little studied since they were first published, almost 50 years ago and almost 30 years ago, respectively. Since this time, and especially throughout the last thirty years, theoretical and practical approaches to archaeology, particularly with regard to the study of land- and sea-scapes and artefact symbolism, have greatly advanced, and as a result, interpretive studies of material culture are now more abundant. In addition, archaeologists have been recently experimenting with the idea that the Mediterranean Sea was understood by ancient people as a liminal zone, i.e. an uncontrollable and mysterious space existing on the threshold between the world of the living and the world of the gods, which required specialized knowledge, rituals, and technology to navigate safely. Nevertheless, despite these theoretical developments, which have spawned a large bibliography on symbols, thus far only a small number of studies dealing with material remains from the east Mediterranean region engage with symbols in a critical way, and these studies tend to be focused on iconographic artefacts. The purpose of this thesis is to demonstrate the utility of symbolic theories in understanding both three-dimensional and iconographic material remains. Therefore, contextual analysis and the privileging of multivalent meanings are used to produce new interpretations regarding why the marine themed floor-paintings from Pylos and the stone anchor assemblages from Kition were created, and what they may have meant to the ancient people who produced and utilised them.
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    Minoan stone vessels with Linear A inscriptions
    Davis, Brent Eric ( 2011)
    Minoan stone vessels with Linear A inscriptions are ritual vessels whose stone and inscriptions denoted the permanence of the dedicants’ devotion. The vessels were dedicated to deities, and were used in a variety of Minoan rituals, some of which can be tentatively reconstructed. Most of the vessels come from peak sanctuaries, the most important of which probably doubled as observatories for marking the passage of the equinoxes and solstices; thus the concentration of inscribed vessels at these sites suggests that the vessels played a part in seasonal rituals whose timing was determined by the sun and moon. The seasonality of these rituals suggests that they were focused on aspects of the cycle of life: fertility, birth, death and renewal. However, offerings left with the vessels also suggest that people visited these sanctuaries for other, more personal reasons—for example, to give thanks for good fortune, to request healing, or to seek divine protection before a dangerous journey. Inscribed stone vessels may have played a part in any of these rituals. A smaller number of inscribed stone vessels come from Kato Syme, a very important shrine built high on a flank of Mt Dikte, on the spot where a perpetual spring issues from the mountain. This spring is an important water source for the valleys and arable lands below; thus the location of the sanctuary again suggests that the inscribed vessels found there were used in rituals focussed on the divine source(s) of fertility. Most inscribed stone vessels can be interpreted as receptacles for liquid and/or solid offerings. The so-called Minoan ‘ladles’ are a special case: I interpret them as pouring vessels meant to be held in cupped hands. Iconographic evidence suggests that ‘ladles’ may have been used in male maturation rites. Though Linear A remains undeciphered, linguistic analysis of the inscriptions on the vessels is still possible on several fronts. Clues to the phonology of Minoan can be found in the structure of Linear A itself, and in the way in which it was borrowed by the Mycenaeans to create Linear B. Mycenaean spellings of Minoan words and names also contain clues as to the sounds of Minoan, while alternating Classical spellings of some Minoan words suggest that Minoan had some sounds that were not native to Greek. The morphology of Minoan can be investigated through statistical analyses of the frequency with which the various Linear A signs occur. Inflection in human languages usually involves affixes; thus signs that appear inordinately often at the beginnings or ends of Linear A words are likely to be prefixes and suffixes. Finally: most inscribed Minoan stone vessels contain a version of the so-called ‘Libation formula’, a lengthy sequence of Minoan words; comparing these versions yields valuable clues about the nature of Minoan syntax. The results of these investigations suggest that Minoan is a non-Indo-European, non-Semitic language with a fairly standard set of phonemes, an agglutinative morphology incorporating both prefixes and suffixes, and (possibly) VSO word order.