http://theses.ncl.ac.uk/jspui/handle/10443/62 2026-05-21T00:36:43Z 2026-05-21T00:36:43Z Montanari, Eleonora http://theses.ncl.ac.uk/jspui/handle/10443/6790 2026-05-20T11:29:17Z 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Unwinding the Beads : novel approaches to the production, use and life-histories of glass beads Authors: Montanari, Eleonora Abstract: The tangibility, mobility, and attractiveness of glass beads make highly personal objects that often bore significant meaning for those who made, wore, and used them. This thesis presents novel methodologies for the interdisciplinary archaeological and scientific study of glass beads, and new ways of approaching their meaning, object biography, and value. In particular, techniques for conducting and interpreting use-wear analysis on glass, which has been undertaken very rarely to date, are developed via a combination of laboratory-based techniques and the wearing of replica beads by voluntary participants. The replication of glass beads using traditional technologies and wood-fired, hand-made furnaces, provides insights into the relationship between making, understanding, and using glass beads. It also raises questions about past archaeological approaches to bead typology, and about the archaeological visibility (or lack thereof) of furnaces. The methods are applied to two distinct archaeological case studies. In the first, glass beads from burial contexts in Iron Age Abruzzo, Italy, are examined in terms of their colour, meaning, sensory properties, and value. In the second, glass beads from 1st millennium BCE to 1st millennium CE sites in the Wadi al-Ajal, Libyan Sahara, are examined from the perspective of use-wear analysis and chemical composition. These case studies are then examined in the broader context of the archaeological interpretation of glass beads, and new ways forward are suggested for the field. The results illustrate the intertwined relationship – and perpetual dialogue – between manufacturing technology, use, and symbolic meaning. The holistic approach employed sheds light on the need to consider this dialectic in the study of glass beads, and archaeological artefacts more widely. Description: Ph. D. Thesis.

2025-01-01T00:00:00Z Liggins, Miriam Joy http://theses.ncl.ac.uk/jspui/handle/10443/6782 2026-05-15T10:52:19Z 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Learning Quechua online during COVID-19 : transformational encounters with ‘cosmovision’, community and wellbeing Authors: Liggins, Miriam Joy Abstract: During the COVID-19 pandemic, people began to learn Quechua online in ways that were not frequently used or possible before the transition to online learning in 2020. However, literature on online learning during COVID-19 (Bissessar, 2021a; Fayed & Cummings, 2021; Zhang et al., 2022) and language learning during COVID-19 (Chen, 2021; Harsch et al., 2021; van der Velde et al., 2021) does not consider the role of adult minoritised language learning online in Latin America. This research explores how Quechua was taught and learnt online due to increased engagement during the COVID 19 pandemic, and investigates who was involved in this, and why. This study draws on ethnography collated online between June 2020 and January 2022. I attended over 600 hours of online Quechua classes, recorded over 360 hours of these, and conducted 14 semi-structured online interviews with teachers and learners of Quechua and one informal focus group. The corpus highlights three key themes: the role of the Quechua worldview in language teaching, Quechua language learners as a community, and reconnecting with heritage and Indigenous identity or connecting with this for the first time, often as a way of healing. The findings show transformation through engaging with Quechua language learning online, with participants reframing their language ideologies, communities, and sense of self. I argue that online Quechua language classes provided a virtual and temporal ‘breathing space’ (Fishman, 1991, p.58) in which participants could examine their experiences with Quechua language and culture, in an intentionally welcoming space for learning Quechua. Through these classes, participants could boost their wellbeing and encourage others to achieve their language learning goals, by reengaging with their heritage, language and culture and reimagining its role in their lives. Considering Quechua language classes as a healing space during the COVID-19 pandemic highlights the potential of the digital sphere for Indigenous language reclamation. Description: Ph. D. Thesis.

2025-01-01T00:00:00Z Langdon, Herbert "Natural" http://theses.ncl.ac.uk/jspui/handle/10443/6776 2026-05-15T08:55:13Z 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Surviving whiteness : a documentary-practice led exploration of a black PhD student experience in a predominantly white University Authors: Langdon, Herbert "Natural" Abstract: This creative-practice PhD uses documentary filmmaking to capture the journey of a Black male student from the USA undertaking a PhD at a predominantly white university in the UK. The creative practice output, a 70 min film called "Surviving Whiteness", employs mobile filmmaking to adopt an autoethnographic approach intertwining personal histories, lived experience, and sociopolitical analysis to illuminate systemic challenges for people of colour in academia, including tokenism, racism, and mental health issues. By humanizing these themes, the film, "Surviving Whiteness", aims to stimulate a critical dialogue in advocating for systemic change and greater equity within educational institutions. "Surviving Whiteness" captures the filmmaker's journey as a Black PhD student, with specific focus on accumulated personal experiences, including the challenges of relocating to a new country, the impact of COVID-19 on my study, the loss of an aunt and sister, and my own breast cancer diagnosis. The inclusion of these experiences underscores the intersection of stress, mental health, and physical illness within a systemically racially biased academic environment. My creative practice research contributes to discussions surrounding the role of autoethnography and mobile filmmaking as innovative tools for storytelling and social justice advocacy. Crucially, it highlights the empowering potential of autoethnographic filmmaking for marginalized communities to reclaim their narratives and remain resilient within oppressive systems. Keywords: Documentary, Autoethnography, Racism, Whiteness, Ethics, Blackness Description: Ph. D. Thesis.

2025-01-01T00:00:00Z Ruddick, Jerome Martin Luke http://theses.ncl.ac.uk/jspui/handle/10443/6763 2026-05-08T12:08:49Z 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Material mythologies : an examination of the relationship between Greek mythology, Identity and material culture in the Hellenistic period Authors: Ruddick, Jerome Martin Luke Abstract: Several communities across the Hellenistic Period Mediterranean provide evidence of a fascinating interplay between identity, mythology and material culture. Despite an acknowledgment that identity continually develops, researchers fail to tackle how material culture contributes to this over time, and exactly how the relationship between myth, identity, and material culture functioned in practice. These questions are tackled in this thesis through employment of case studies across Arcadia, Crete, and the Levantine region. This thesis examines the sanctuary of Lykosoura and how it used its monumental material culture to develop associations between itself and wider Arcadian mythology in the memory of its visitors; the island of Crete, and how contextual issues on the island led to pastoral elements being attached to once ‘un-pastoral’ gods and goddesses – this was facilitated with material culture that grounded these variations within communities and, through physicality, offered authority to them; and the city of Tyre in Phoenicia, where material culture aided in the synoecism of Heracles-Melqart (and through them, intercultural contact) through allowing the material culture to be ‘read in two ways’. These case studies will be framed, interrogated, and unpacked through theory, specifically that of memory and space (alongside material theory). Through this, the case studies reveal how myth, identity, and material culture interconnect; mythology was fluid yet retained core concepts deeply embedded in community consciousness. Lykosoura and Crete adapted local myths to fit their landscapes, while Tyre found parallels between Heracles and Melqart to support synoecism. Within this, physical representations of myths transform abstract concepts into tangible realities, reinforcing new mythic variants and communal identities, whilst space and built environments anchor myths in specific locations, providing stability and authenticity. Overall, material culture serves as a conduit for mythological transformation, enabling interpretation and grounding narratives within communal consciousness, thus facilitating the evolution and adaptation of Greek belief systems. Description: PhD Thesis

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