Frank Meddens
Biographic Data
| ID | 4473195 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Frank Meddens |
| GIVEN NAMES | Frank |
| FAMILY NAME | Meddens |
| SIGNATURE | MEDDENS F |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Reading |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-7210-7101 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 18 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 77 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 18 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1996 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 5 |
Where the Water Flows
The Chicha Soras valley on the boundary of Ayacucho with Apurimac in south-central Peru sees the introduction of intensive irrigated terraced agriculture in the Middle Horizon. The control over the water sources and the terracing systems fell to corporate lineage groups laying claim to common ancestors, viewed as being the founders of the local irrigation systems. The control over these systems and the rights of the respective lineages to land an…
Contested sacred ground and mistaken idioms
The cross followed the sword in the Spanish colonisation of the Americas. This Christian evangelisation went hand in hand with the conquistador’s subjugation of the Central Andeans. An evangelisation whose material correlates revolved around church architecture. In the colonial tumult of the first 80 years in the Andes, Christianity adapted swiftly to changing social and populational circumstances, and church buildings reflected this shift. We tr…
The Cloud People of Naupallacta
Archaeological, ethnographic, and rural development work over the past 50 years in the Chicha Soras area has revealed that the region was first intensively used from the Middle Horizon Epoch 2 (AD 680/700–900) onward. An introduced population here had its seven occupation sites focused on the southern part of the Chicha valley and supported agriculture and textile production, while settlement in the upper Rio Yanamayo and west of the Rio Huayllar…
Pre-Hispanic terrace agricultural practices and long-distance transfer of plant taxa in the southern-central Peruvian Andes revealed by phytolith and pollen analysis
The archaeological excavation of two abandoned prehispanic agricultural terraces (Infiernillo and Tocotoccasa) in the Chicha-Soras Valley (Apurimac) in southern-central Peru revealed the presence of palaeosols. The palaeosols represent soil that developed following construction of agricultural terraces during the Middle Horizon. The soil profiles at the current surface developed following reconstruction of the terraces during the Late Intermediat…
Wari Women as symbols of power; and a case for client states
This paper explores the characteristics of the expansion of the Wari empire. It reviews the evidence across the Andean region where the data for the relationship of the imperial elite with local ruling hierarchies is demonstrably varied. Assorted strategies pragmatically deployed by Wari served to exert its control and reflect a client state approach to its growth. The political basis for its relationship with the local elites is considered based…
Middle-Holocene environmental change and archaeology in coastal wetlands
A radiocarbon-dated multi-proxy palaeoenvironmental record from Beckton in the Lower Thames Valley, Southern England, has permitted a detailed reconstruction of human activities and environmental change during the middle-Holocene. Peat accumulation occurred over river terrace gravels from ca. 7200 to 6600 until at least 3450–3240 cal. BP, and in the later period a trackway and platform structure provide unequivocal evidence for human exploitation…
The Late Intermediate Period ceramic traditions of Ayacucho, Apurimac, and Huancavelica
This article serves to evaluate the Late Intermediate Period (LIP) and early Late Horizon Period (LH) ceramic traditions of Ayacucho, Apurimac, and Huancavelica, and provides an updated review of the pottery styles known across this area. It also provides a view of the implications of these data regarding the social, religious, and political structure of the polities active across this area. The article reviews the available ceramic data for the …
Linking Land and Navy
This paper outlines the archaeological evidence found at the demolished Royal Naval Dockyard at Woolwich for the development and construction of dockyard structures of the 18th to early-19th centuries. This is set within the framework provided by historic, documentary, map and historic-model evidence. The results of earlier excavations at the same facility are also reviewed. The themes covered include; the interplay of ‘carpentry’ versus ‘shipwri…
Inca strategies of control
The Late Horizon Inca occupations of two neighboring valleys in the south-central highlands of Peru are compared. The Chicha Valley, occupied by the Soras ethnic group, shows evidence of a marked Inca presence at all domestic sites, in aspects of architecture and cultural material. In contrast, the Inca occupation of the Sondondo Valley, occupied by the Andamarca Lucanas ethnic group, is readily apparent, but appears far less intrusive in domesti…
Inca "Stone Ancestors" in Context at a High-AltitudeUsnuPlatform
Recent investigations at mountaintop sites around the Ayacucho Basin in the central Andes have identified a distinctive category of isolated Inca stone-faced platforms. Test excavations of the three-tiered platform at one site, Incapirqa/Waminan, revealed a narrow vertical shaft penetrating from the original surface through the fills to a small basin cut into the underlying andesite bedrock. A carefully arranged deposit of three unusual stones wa…
High Altitude Ushnu Platforms in the Department of Ayacucho Peru, Structure, Ancestors and Animating Essence
Pedosedimentary, cultural and environmental significance of paleosols within pre-hispanic agricultural terraces in the southern Peruvian Andes
Testing the sustainability and sensitivity to climatic change of terrace agricultural systems in the Peruvian Andes
Rocks in the Landscape
In this paper an extensive structured system of carved stones in Peru's Chicha valley is presented in its local setting, analysed within its agricultural and social context and compared with similar landscape features elsewhere. In any agricultural society, the timing of planting, irrigation and harvesting events is crucial to maintaining crop yields. To a state system where the administration is dependent on non-written systems of record-keeping…
Pottery as plunder
The site at 43–53 Narrow Street, located in the Ratcliff area, produced unprecedented finds relating to the period of London's expansion as a mercantile centre during the 17th century. The most extensive and interesting discoveries comprised a late 15th-century brick clamp, and building remains with associated pits and ditches dating from the 16th through to the 18th centuries. The remains dating to the late 16th through to the end of the 17th ce…
Post-medieval brick clamps at New Cross in London
The remains of a brick clamp were discovered at New Cross, London Borough of Lewisham, which were dated archaeomagnetically to 1690–1730. Following the excavation of this brick clamp, the remains of a similar and earlier clamp were exposed beneath it, and archaeomagnetic dating produced the same date range for the firing of this clamp. During the redevelopment of the site a watching brief was carried out and the remains of further clamps were ide…
Mechanical Coring as an Aid to Archaeological Projects
The practicalities of a commercially available mechanical coring apparatus are discussed. Examples are shown illustrating its use as a partial alternative to test-pitting and as the only feasible technique for deep evaluation in urban conditions. Other uses include defining site edges, following features off-site, and some forms of sampling for specialists. Attention must be paid to the interpretive problems that can arise. These are primarily du…
Sites from the Thames estuary wetlands, England, and their Bronze Age use
This paper presents the recent discovery of extensive and intensive middle Bronze Age exploitation of the marshland along the northeastern bank of the River Thames and its tributaries within a wider regional context. It also develops a site location model, and explores reasons for the presence of these sites
Testing the sustainability and sensitivity to climatic change of terrace agricultural systems in the Peruvian Andes
Inca strategies of control
The Late Horizon Inca occupations of two neighboring valleys in the south-central highlands of Peru are compared. The Chicha Valley, occupied by the Soras ethnic group, shows evidence of a marked Inca presence at all domestic sites, in aspects of architecture and cultural material. In contrast, the Inca occupation of the Sondondo Valley, occupied by the Andamarca Lucanas ethnic group, is readily apparent, but appears far less intrusive in domesti…
Inca "Stone Ancestors" in Context at a High-AltitudeUsnuPlatform
Recent investigations at mountaintop sites around the Ayacucho Basin in the central Andes have identified a distinctive category of isolated Inca stone-faced platforms. Test excavations of the three-tiered platform at one site, Incapirqa/Waminan, revealed a narrow vertical shaft penetrating from the original surface through the fills to a small basin cut into the underlying andesite bedrock. A carefully arranged deposit of three unusual stones wa…
Pottery as plunder
The site at 43–53 Narrow Street, located in the Ratcliff area, produced unprecedented finds relating to the period of London's expansion as a mercantile centre during the 17th century. The most extensive and interesting discoveries comprised a late 15th-century brick clamp, and building remains with associated pits and ditches dating from the 16th through to the 18th centuries. The remains dating to the late 16th through to the end of the 17th ce…
Sites from the Thames estuary wetlands, England, and their Bronze Age use
This paper presents the recent discovery of extensive and intensive middle Bronze Age exploitation of the marshland along the northeastern bank of the River Thames and its tributaries within a wider regional context. It also develops a site location model, and explores reasons for the presence of these sites
Rocks in the Landscape
In this paper an extensive structured system of carved stones in Peru's Chicha valley is presented in its local setting, analysed within its agricultural and social context and compared with similar landscape features elsewhere. In any agricultural society, the timing of planting, irrigation and harvesting events is crucial to maintaining crop yields. To a state system where the administration is dependent on non-written systems of record-keeping…
Mechanical Coring as an Aid to Archaeological Projects
The practicalities of a commercially available mechanical coring apparatus are discussed. Examples are shown illustrating its use as a partial alternative to test-pitting and as the only feasible technique for deep evaluation in urban conditions. Other uses include defining site edges, following features off-site, and some forms of sampling for specialists. Attention must be paid to the interpretive problems that can arise. These are primarily du…
The Cloud People of Naupallacta
Archaeological, ethnographic, and rural development work over the past 50 years in the Chicha Soras area has revealed that the region was first intensively used from the Middle Horizon Epoch 2 (AD 680/700–900) onward. An introduced population here had its seven occupation sites focused on the southern part of the Chicha valley and supported agriculture and textile production, while settlement in the upper Rio Yanamayo and west of the Rio Huayllar…
Pre-Hispanic terrace agricultural practices and long-distance transfer of plant taxa in the southern-central Peruvian Andes revealed by phytolith and pollen analysis
The archaeological excavation of two abandoned prehispanic agricultural terraces (Infiernillo and Tocotoccasa) in the Chicha-Soras Valley (Apurimac) in southern-central Peru revealed the presence of palaeosols. The palaeosols represent soil that developed following construction of agricultural terraces during the Middle Horizon. The soil profiles at the current surface developed following reconstruction of the terraces during the Late Intermediat…
Middle-Holocene environmental change and archaeology in coastal wetlands
A radiocarbon-dated multi-proxy palaeoenvironmental record from Beckton in the Lower Thames Valley, Southern England, has permitted a detailed reconstruction of human activities and environmental change during the middle-Holocene. Peat accumulation occurred over river terrace gravels from ca. 7200 to 6600 until at least 3450–3240 cal. BP, and in the later period a trackway and platform structure provide unequivocal evidence for human exploitation…
Linking Land and Navy
This paper outlines the archaeological evidence found at the demolished Royal Naval Dockyard at Woolwich for the development and construction of dockyard structures of the 18th to early-19th centuries. This is set within the framework provided by historic, documentary, map and historic-model evidence. The results of earlier excavations at the same facility are also reviewed. The themes covered include; the interplay of ‘carpentry’ versus ‘shipwri…
Post-medieval brick clamps at New Cross in London
The remains of a brick clamp were discovered at New Cross, London Borough of Lewisham, which were dated archaeomagnetically to 1690–1730. Following the excavation of this brick clamp, the remains of a similar and earlier clamp were exposed beneath it, and archaeomagnetic dating produced the same date range for the firing of this clamp. During the redevelopment of the site a watching brief was carried out and the remains of further clamps were ide…
Sites from the Thames estuary wetlands, England, and their Bronze Age use
This paper presents the recent discovery of extensive and intensive middle Bronze Age exploitation of the marshland along the northeastern bank of the River Thames and its tributaries within a wider regional context. It also develops a site location model, and explores reasons for the presence of these sites
Mechanical Coring as an Aid to Archaeological Projects
The practicalities of a commercially available mechanical coring apparatus are discussed. Examples are shown illustrating its use as a partial alternative to test-pitting and as the only feasible technique for deep evaluation in urban conditions. Other uses include defining site edges, following features off-site, and some forms of sampling for specialists. Attention must be paid to the interpretive problems that can arise. These are primarily du…
Post-medieval brick clamps at New Cross in London
The remains of a brick clamp were discovered at New Cross, London Borough of Lewisham, which were dated archaeomagnetically to 1690–1730. Following the excavation of this brick clamp, the remains of a similar and earlier clamp were exposed beneath it, and archaeomagnetic dating produced the same date range for the firing of this clamp. During the redevelopment of the site a watching brief was carried out and the remains of further clamps were ide…
Pottery as plunder
The site at 43–53 Narrow Street, located in the Ratcliff area, produced unprecedented finds relating to the period of London's expansion as a mercantile centre during the 17th century. The most extensive and interesting discoveries comprised a late 15th-century brick clamp, and building remains with associated pits and ditches dating from the 16th through to the 18th centuries. The remains dating to the late 16th through to the end of the 17th ce…
Pedosedimentary, cultural and environmental significance of paleosols within pre-hispanic agricultural terraces in the southern Peruvian Andes
Testing the sustainability and sensitivity to climatic change of terrace agricultural systems in the Peruvian Andes
Rocks in the Landscape
In this paper an extensive structured system of carved stones in Peru's Chicha valley is presented in its local setting, analysed within its agricultural and social context and compared with similar landscape features elsewhere. In any agricultural society, the timing of planting, irrigation and harvesting events is crucial to maintaining crop yields. To a state system where the administration is dependent on non-written systems of record-keeping…
High Altitude Ushnu Platforms in the Department of Ayacucho Peru, Structure, Ancestors and Animating Essence
Inca strategies of control
The Late Horizon Inca occupations of two neighboring valleys in the south-central highlands of Peru are compared. The Chicha Valley, occupied by the Soras ethnic group, shows evidence of a marked Inca presence at all domestic sites, in aspects of architecture and cultural material. In contrast, the Inca occupation of the Sondondo Valley, occupied by the Andamarca Lucanas ethnic group, is readily apparent, but appears far less intrusive in domesti…
Inca "Stone Ancestors" in Context at a High-AltitudeUsnuPlatform
Recent investigations at mountaintop sites around the Ayacucho Basin in the central Andes have identified a distinctive category of isolated Inca stone-faced platforms. Test excavations of the three-tiered platform at one site, Incapirqa/Waminan, revealed a narrow vertical shaft penetrating from the original surface through the fills to a small basin cut into the underlying andesite bedrock. A carefully arranged deposit of three unusual stones wa…
Linking Land and Navy
This paper outlines the archaeological evidence found at the demolished Royal Naval Dockyard at Woolwich for the development and construction of dockyard structures of the 18th to early-19th centuries. This is set within the framework provided by historic, documentary, map and historic-model evidence. The results of earlier excavations at the same facility are also reviewed. The themes covered include; the interplay of ‘carpentry’ versus ‘shipwri…
The Late Intermediate Period ceramic traditions of Ayacucho, Apurimac, and Huancavelica
This article serves to evaluate the Late Intermediate Period (LIP) and early Late Horizon Period (LH) ceramic traditions of Ayacucho, Apurimac, and Huancavelica, and provides an updated review of the pottery styles known across this area. It also provides a view of the implications of these data regarding the social, religious, and political structure of the polities active across this area. The article reviews the available ceramic data for the …
Middle-Holocene environmental change and archaeology in coastal wetlands
A radiocarbon-dated multi-proxy palaeoenvironmental record from Beckton in the Lower Thames Valley, Southern England, has permitted a detailed reconstruction of human activities and environmental change during the middle-Holocene. Peat accumulation occurred over river terrace gravels from ca. 7200 to 6600 until at least 3450–3240 cal. BP, and in the later period a trackway and platform structure provide unequivocal evidence for human exploitation…
Wari Women as symbols of power; and a case for client states
This paper explores the characteristics of the expansion of the Wari empire. It reviews the evidence across the Andean region where the data for the relationship of the imperial elite with local ruling hierarchies is demonstrably varied. Assorted strategies pragmatically deployed by Wari served to exert its control and reflect a client state approach to its growth. The political basis for its relationship with the local elites is considered based…
Pre-Hispanic terrace agricultural practices and long-distance transfer of plant taxa in the southern-central Peruvian Andes revealed by phytolith and pollen analysis
The archaeological excavation of two abandoned prehispanic agricultural terraces (Infiernillo and Tocotoccasa) in the Chicha-Soras Valley (Apurimac) in southern-central Peru revealed the presence of palaeosols. The palaeosols represent soil that developed following construction of agricultural terraces during the Middle Horizon. The soil profiles at the current surface developed following reconstruction of the terraces during the Late Intermediat…
The Cloud People of Naupallacta
Archaeological, ethnographic, and rural development work over the past 50 years in the Chicha Soras area has revealed that the region was first intensively used from the Middle Horizon Epoch 2 (AD 680/700–900) onward. An introduced population here had its seven occupation sites focused on the southern part of the Chicha valley and supported agriculture and textile production, while settlement in the upper Rio Yanamayo and west of the Rio Huayllar…
Contested sacred ground and mistaken idioms
The cross followed the sword in the Spanish colonisation of the Americas. This Christian evangelisation went hand in hand with the conquistador’s subjugation of the Central Andeans. An evangelisation whose material correlates revolved around church architecture. In the colonial tumult of the first 80 years in the Andes, Christianity adapted swiftly to changing social and populational circumstances, and church buildings reflected this shift. We tr…
Where the Water Flows
The Chicha Soras valley on the boundary of Ayacucho with Apurimac in south-central Peru sees the introduction of intensive irrigated terraced agriculture in the Middle Horizon. The control over the water sources and the terracing systems fell to corporate lineage groups laying claim to common ancestors, viewed as being the founders of the local irrigation systems. The control over these systems and the rights of the respective lineages to land an…
Archaeology (15 works) · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies (13 works) · Geography (13 works) · History (9 works) · History (7 works) · Latin American history and culture (7 works) · Geology (6 works) · Ancient history (5 works) · Computer Science (4 works) · Ecology (4 works)