Social organisation in the Upper and Middle Thames Valley from the Late Bronze Age to the Middle Iron Age
This thesis is an account of social organisation in the Upper and Middle Thames Valley from the Late Bronze Age to the end of the Middle Iron Age, c.1150-100 BC. This is approached through the integration and synthesis of various different types of evidence, including houses and settlements; metalwork; pottery; depositional practices; human and animal remains; 'special deposits'; monuments; and landscape boundaries. Patterns have been found within each period that cross different types of evidence. These patterns relate to underlying internal social and conceptual logical systems. Qualitative and quantitative methods are used, and comparison between periods is an important feature of the analysis. This demonstrates the 'non-functional', culturally specific nature of many aspects of material under study and how it was treated in the past. The thesis begins with an exploration of the role that material culture plays in ways that people create identities and community relationships. The following four chapters each discuss the archaeology and interpret the social organisation of a different period. Much of the Late Bronze Age archaeology is characterised by two features: the repeated destruction and abandonment
Davies, Alexander John
CC Archaeology
Social organisation in the Upper and Middle Thames Valley from the Late Bronze Age to the Middle Iron Age. This thesis is an account of social organisation in the Upper and Middle Thames Valley from the Late Bronze Age to the end of the Middle Iron Age, c.1150-100 BC. This is approached through the integration and synthesis of various different types of evidence, including houses and settlements; metalwork; pottery; depositional practices; human and animal remains; 'special deposits'; monuments; and landscape boundaries. Patterns have been found within each period that cross different types of evidence. These patterns relate to underlying internal social and conceptual logical systems. Qualitative and quantitative methods are used, and comparison between periods is an important feature of the analysis. This demonstrates the 'non-functional', culturally specific nature of many aspects of material under study and how it was treated in the past. The thesis begins with an exploration of the role that material culture plays in ways that people create identities and community relationships. The following four chapters each discuss the archaeology and interpret the social organisation of a different period. Much of the Late Bronze Age archaeology is characterised by two features: the repeated destruction and abandonment
social_organisation upper middle thames_valley middle_iron_age account social_organisation upper middle thames_valley end middle_iron_age approach integration synthesis various different_type evidence include house settlement metalwork pottery depositional_practice human_animal remain special deposit monument landscape boundary patterns find_within period cross different_type evidence pattern relate underlying internal social conceptual logical system qualitative_quantitative method_use comparison period important_feature analysis demonstrate non functional culturally_specific nature many_aspect material study treat past begin_exploration role material_culture play way_people create identity community relationship follow_four discuss archaeology interpret social_organisation different_period much archaeology characterise feature repeat destruction abandonment