Browsing by Subject "Iron Age"

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Catalog and Raw Data from the Analysis of the Source of the Douix and Other Gallo-Roman Sanctuaries in Eastern France
    (2014-11-20) Erdman, Katherine M; erdma084@umn.edu; Erdman, Katherine
    Examining human behaviors in the past, particularly ritual activity, can provide insight into ritual practices and religious beliefs today. Erdman's project, under the guidance of Dr. Peter Wells, examines the role of ritual offerings as devices for communicating with the supernatural world through their deposition into sacred watery places in the Gallo-Roman Period (50 BC - AD 450). A freshwater spring, known as the Source of the Douix, in Châtillon-sur-Seine, France was used as a focus for comparison to other sites. The quantities of recovered votive offerings and the near continuous use of the site over two thousand years contain data that can help to answer the following questions: How are the objects deposited in sacred spaces, particularly those in water, used as communicative devices? Do the types of objects change over time, and if so, how can these changes be explained using archaeological evidence? Evidence from the Douix was then used for multiple levels of comparative analyses, such as comparison to other local sanctuaries, regional watery sites (other springs, rivers and lakes), and regional sanctuaries associated with mother goddesses. Detailed presence/absence analysis records the types of objects at each location, the materials or media represented, and the types of deities at each location. Through detailed comparisons of such data, it is possible to recognize patterns of offerings from place to place, and such patterns will help illuminate the purpose of the offerings.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Cattle, Food, and the Rise of Early Ireland
    (2022-08) Crowley-Champoux, Erin
    In Ireland, at the end of the Developed Iron Age, the large regional centers that had come to significance were closed and communities that had coalesced during this period, dispersed. The Late Iron Age (1-431 AD) lacks the hallmarks of a highly stratified society. In the centuries that followed (432-1179 AD), social and political relationships were mediated through cattle and dairy products in a system referred to as a ‘dairying economy’. The mechanisms for the development of this system, however, are not well understood. This project examines the role of agricultural economies in the development of social organization and political economies across the 1st millennium AD. I address these questions using zooarchaeological methods, comparing taxonomic diversity and evenness across faunal assemblages and the analysis of the faunal remains from Ninch, Co. Meath. The comparative analysis demonstrates a greater diversity of animal husbandry practices during this broad period, including beef herding, mixed strategies, and provisioning, in addition to dairy herding. The analysis of the faunal assemblage from Ninch also demonstrates the wide variety of animal species exploited during this period and how one community negotiated social and economic change. These data reveal the valorization of cattle and the development of a system of cattle wealth in the Late Iron Age and the shift to dairy wealth in the early medieval period as a wealth management strategy.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Engaging the intranatural at the source of the Douix (Côte-d'Or, France): objects, communication, and ritual in a fluid environment
    (2014-11) Erdman, Katherine M.
    How are objects used to communicate with the intranatural? The Source of the Douix, a freshwater spring in France, is an ideal site for addressing this question due to the quantities of offerings recovered. Evidence exists for ritual deposits beginning in the Hallstatt period (800-400 B.C.) with nearly continuous use into modern times. This analysis focuses on the diverse objects from the Gallo-Roman Period (50 B.C.-A.D. 450). The results of multiple levels of statistical and spatial analyses between the Douix material and other similar sites are used to address how objects were used for communication with the intranatural during the Gallo-Roman Period. Examining the entire Douix assemblage illustrates how changes through time are expressed materially and how new perceptions or use of the site corresponds to this material evidence. These differences, when examined thoroughly, can provide greater insight into the use of objects as devices for communication with the intranatural. Data accessible through: http://hdl.handle.net/11299/167932.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Rite Springs Eternal: religious confluence in the origins of Irish Holy Wells.
    (2010-12) Mallery, Silas John
    In this dissertation I explore the origins of contemporary Irish holy well veneration. There are three main theories that have been suggested to account for this religious practice. The first is the long held belief that these sacred springs represent a survival from pre- Christian, “Celtic” religious practice. This view was held fairly universally by scholars well into the twentieth century, and is today still promoted by non-academic, largely New-Age works treating holy wells. The second theory I consider is that the cult of the holy well was indeed pre-Christian, but was introduced through contact with peoples of the Roman Empire, thus representing some degree of culture change through contact with foreign practices and ideas. The third theory holds that the phenomenon is Christian in origin, although whether it is a product of ancient Christianity or a post-Reformation development is another matter. To discern which theory, or indeed combination of theories is the most accurate, I looked to documentary evidence from Classical sources, from Saints’ vitae, and from mythological narratives. I also consider the archaeological evidence for ritual deposition in watery sites across Europe, and crucially from the limited number of archaeologically excavated holy wells, as well as aerial photography and satellite imagery. To aid in interpretation of this body of evidence I use the case of sacred springs in Catholic Latin America as an ethnographic analogy of how such sites have been used to facilitate conversion of a pagan populace to Christianity. Considering all of this, I found that the holy well complex is an amalgam of different cultural strains, with much of the ritual performed deriving from Christianity, iv but with the healing shrine aspect having been introduced from Roman Britain. However, I demonstrate that the holy wells that evidence deposition in the Romano-British period are all near the “royal sites” of Iron Age and Early Medieval importance, and illustrate the many springs and ponds that exist at these sites, and that I believe will prove to have been an Iron Age precursor to the holy well.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Warfare And Practice At Maiden Castle
    (2019-04) Harkleroad, Eric
    I examine the changing place of war, peace, and chronic insecurity in the lives of Iron Age people at Maiden Castle. Using GIS software, I examine the changing location of artifacts in the daily lives of people as well as the spatial relationships between these artifacts. Using ideas from Practice Theory I demonstrate how warfare went from a communal activity which was used to promote the idea of the community over the individual to an activity connected with prestige and individuality.