Moore, Jennifer
The Nassau Mills Complex: Presenting a Site of Local Significance to the Public of Peterborough, Ontario
The objective of this thesis is to develop and implement a heritage plan for the Nassau Mills Complex, a locally-significant Euro-Canadian historical site that operated on what is now Trent University's campus in Peterborough, Ontario. Within the framework of public archaeology and Cultural Heritage Management (CHM), emphasis is placed on the importance of protecting the site and its historic remains in order for present and future generations to appreciate and enjoy. Data was gathered by way of field and archival research, as well as through consultations with various archaeological and museological professionals. Of particular concern is evaluating how the Complex is significant to Peterborough, how it should be commemorated, public engagement and the importance of information accessibility, and the potential issues that may arise as a result of this project. In addition, recommendations regarding how the site and its collections should be preserved and presented to the collective society are also examined.
Author Keywords: Cultural Heritage Management, Nassau Mills Complex, Peterborough, Preservation, Public Archaeology, Trent University
Exploring Least Cost Path Analysis: A Case Study from the Göksu Valley, Turkey
Least cost path analysis is considered by many scholars as being a good proxy for studying movement and interactions between sites in the landscape. Although it is widely used, there are many limitations and challenges yet to be overcome concerning the reliability of the results. The examples used from the Göksu Valley during the late Roman Imperial rule emphasize the need to clearly understand how the tool works in generating least cost paths and how these can be interpreted and related to human movement. The resolution and accuracy of the elevation data used also play an important role in least cost path analysis and these depend on the topographical area being studied. New venues are constantly being sought and the success of any analysis depends on how the results are compared and tested in concert with data obtained from various sources and through more visually advanced mapping software.
Author Keywords: GIS, Göksu Valley, Turkey, Late Roman period, Least cost path, Roads, Routes, Communication, Spatial analysis
When He Reigns, It Pours: The Use of Water Rituals and Water Symbolism by the Royal Court of Bagan From the 11th to the 14th Century
This thesis examines the symbolic meaning and significance that the elite attached to water in ancient Bagan. Through the use of ethnoarchaeological, epigraphic, archaeological, and iconographic data, this study examines the role of water as part of rituals performed by the royal court and the ways in which the royalty of Bagan, in particular King Kyansittha, negotiated, appropriated and disseminated water symbolism to fulfill his interests. Data indicates that the symbolic and religious meaning of water was intricately attached to Buddhist concepts of fertility, wisdom, creativity, and protective powers. Evidence suggests that the royalty employed different techniques to appropriate and disseminate water ritualization, including the performance of water rituals that were closely attached to kingship, power, and ruler legitimacy, the promotion of an alliance with creatures capable of increasing rains and fertility, and the use of analogies that compared the properties of water with the virtues of the king.
Author Keywords: Bagan, Bagan Iconography, Jataka Tales, Royal Rituals, Theravada Buddhism, Water Rituals
Ethnoarchaeology in the Traditional Villages of Bagan, Myanmar: Some Insights for Settlement Archaeology
This thesis investigates the current composition of traditional settlements located in and around the remains of the ancient, walled and moated, regal-ritual epicenter of Bagan, Myanmar. This study also provides some suggestions as to strategies that may be employed by future settlement archaeology projects in the region. To achieve the aims of this study, an ethnoarchaeological approach was employed at ten village sites located on the Bagan plain: Thè Pyin Taw, Thè Shwe Hlaing, Zee Oo, Kon Sin Kyi, Kon Tan Gyi, Minnanthu, Hpauck Sein Pin, Thah Tay Kan, East Pwa Saw, and West Pwa Saw. The data obtained from these villages, compounds, and houses is used to generate a version of the average Bagan village, compound (i.e., house lot), and house. The model Bagan village, compound, and house are in turn used to provide the basis for suggestions to be used in future settlement archaeology projects.
Author Keywords: Ancient Tropical Societies, Bagan, Ethnoarchaeology, Myanmar, Settlement Archaeology, Southeast Asia
Lost Landscapes of the Kawarthas: Investigating Inundated Archaeological Sites Using Integrated Methods
The Kawartha Lakes region of south-central Ontario is dominated by water bodies and rivers, where humans are known to have lived since at least 10,500 years ago, only shortly after the retreat of glaciers from the region. Since this time, water levels within the region have changed dramatically as a result of various geophysical, climatological, and human-induced-phenomenon, leaving modern water levels at a maximum high-stand. While it is acknowledged within the local archaeological community that these hydrological dynamics have resulted in the inundation of much of the region's past terrestrial and culturally active landscapes, cultural research into the region's lakes and waterbodies have to date been very few and limited in scale. The subject of this thesis concerns a cultural assessment of the inundated landscapes around an island within Pigeon Lake of the Kawartha Lakes region, known as Jacob Island. Using a series of integrated methods including bathymetric modeling, shoreline and ecological reconstruction, and in-water-visual artefact survey, the goals of this research relate to illuminating the nature of the Kawartha Lakes region's underwater archaeological record and associating specific cultural occupations and land-use strategies with Jacob island's inundated landscapes.
Author Keywords: inundated landscapes, landscape archaeology, Ontario Archaeology, underwater archaeology
Ceramic Analysis of Jacob Island 2: Local Patterns and Regional Comparisons
The goal of this thesis is to develop an understanding of the history of Middle and Late Woodland settlement at Jacob Island, located in Pigeon Lake in the Trent River region, through analysis of ceramic artifacts recovered during the 2016 excavation program. Using both typological and attribute based analysis. The results indicate a form of seasonal occupation. The ceramic patterning on site is broken down and fully examined for intra-site patterning and compared to concurrent regional examples. The regional comparison is carried out through statistical testing of independence. The results demonstrate both continuity and a pattern that is different than the surrounding region, supporting the concept of different expressions of materiality. These findings place JI-2 in a broader context with contemporary research in the South Eastern areas of Ontario and, in particular, the Trent River region.
Author Keywords: Ceramic Analysis, Kawartha Lakes, Ontario Archaeology, Typology, Woodland
Merit-Making and Monuments: An Investigation into the Role of Religious Monuments and Settlement Patterning Surrounding the Classical Capital of Bagan, Myanmar
Bagan, Myanmar's capital during the country's Classical period (c. 800-1400 CE), and its surrounding landscape was once home to at least four thousand monuments. These monuments were the result of the Buddhist pursuit of merit-making, the idea that individuals could increase their socio-spiritual status by performing pious acts for the Sangha (Buddhist Order). Amongst the most meritous act was the construction of a religious monument. Using the iconographic record and historical literature, alongside entanglement theory, this thesis explores how the movement of labour, capital, and resources for the construction of these monuments influenced the settlement patterns of Bagan's broader cityscape. The findings suggest that these monuments bound settlements, their inhabitants, and the Crown, in a variety of enabling and constraining relationships. This thesis has created the foundations for understanding the settlements of Bagan and serves as a useful platform to perform comparative studies once archaeological data for settlement patterning becomes available.
Author Keywords: Bagan, Entanglement, Religious Monuments Buddhism, Settlement Patterns, Southeast Asia
The Politics of Feasting: Civic Commensality and the Rise of the Polis in the Early Iron Age to Archaic Transition on Crete, ca. 700-500 BCE
The goal of this thesis is to explore the role that civic (i.e. state-sponsored)
feasting and drinking played in early polis (pl. poleis), or city-state formation on Crete in
the Early Iron Age to Archaic transition, ca. 700-500 BCE. Using the two recently
excavated civic feasting structures at the site of Azoria as a model for both "inclusive"
and "exclusive" forms of civic feasting, this project compares and contrasts the role that it
played at a number of other sites in central and east Crete. In order to categorize the
structures as either inclusive or exclusive, all forms of published evidence were examined
including the buildings' architecture and the socially valued goods and ceramics found
within the structures. Ultimately, this project demonstrates that in the 8th century BCE,
inclusive feasting rituals and association with the past were used as means of creating and
maintaining a strong group identity, which paved the way for the use of more exclusive
practices in the 7th century BCE, where sub-group identities and alliances were formed
amongst members of the larger group. However, at the sites where there was evidence for
multiple civic feasting venues it appears that by the 7th century BCE, the interplay of both
inclusive and exclusive forms of feasting was crucial to the process of identity formation
for the citizens of these proto-poleis.
Author Keywords: Archaic Crete, Commensality, Feasting, Identity Formation, Polis formation
Archaeology, Engagement and Local Communities: The Stelida Naxos Archaeological Project and the Locals of Vivlos, Greece
This research is an ethnographic investigation into the relationships between the Stélida Naxos Archaeological Project and the local population of Vivlos, the region where the team takes their seasonal residence during their annual archaeological field season. Fieldwork in Vivlos revealed the local peoples' interest in archaeology, local legends, and Greek history. The people's cultural identity facilitated a sense of communal pride with hosting the archaeologists for their field season. The archaeologists' ethical considerations and their friendliness towards the locals during their time in Vivlos followed practices affiliated with public archaeology, laying the groundwork for maintaining positive working relations between the two groups.
Author Keywords: Archaeology, Engagement, Local Communities, Public Outreach