The second half of the 2nd millennium BCE was a period of technological and economic transformation in Europe, marked by intensified metallurgical production and extensive exchange networks. Communities in the Po Plain (Northern Italy) played a pivotal role in bronze production and in mediating the diffusion of metallurgical knowledge between continental Europe and the Mediterranean. Despite significant advances in recent decades, research on metal artefacts has focused predominantly on typological analyses, often overlooking production evidence such as technical ceramics and secondary by-products, limiting our understanding of metallurgical processes and their socio-economic contexts. The Bronze Age settlement of Solarolo (c.1650–1200 BCE), one of the largest in the eastern Po Plain, has yielded a rich assemblage of metallurgical remains, including crucibles, by-products and finished objects, making it an ideal case study to investigate metal production in the region. Through Digital Microscopy and SEM-EDS analysis, this study examines resource acquisition, technological organization, and the site’s role within Po Plain metalworking networks. Results indicate that copper, often acquired in a partially refined state, was further purified on-site and deliberately alloyed with tin, likely using cassiterite, demonstrating specialised metallurgical knowledge and active bronze production rather than simple remelting/recycling. Technological parallels with contemporary sites suggest a complex, socially stratified system of metal production across the Po Plain, characterized by standardized practices, shared techniques, and coordinated access to raw materials. Overall, this research enhances our understanding of Middle-Late Bronze Age metalworking and the socio-economic dynamics of Po Plain communities, paving the way for extended comparative studies.
Provenance studies of ancient copper alloys typically involve a combined approach using trace element and lead (Pb) isotopic analysis. While minimum sample masses for elemental analysis have been previously discussed in literature, these have rarely been considered for isotopic analysis. In the context of increasingly small samples employed in archaeometallurgical studies, this paper evaluates the effect of low sample mass for Pb isotopic analysis of different copper alloy and Pb standards. The Pb isotope ratio results obtained using multi-collector ICP-mass spectrometry (MC-ICP-MS) show excellent long-term stability and reproducibility for standards, ensuring comparability of data over time. However, some variability is observed in Pb isotope ratios obtained for different sample aliquots taken from individual samples and standards. This observed variability, often strongly exceeding the accepted precision for MC-ICP-MS Pb isotopic analysis, relates to low sample masses and is further exacerbated for low-lead alloys. These results suggest the existence of micro-scale heterogeneity in the Pb isotope ratios of some copper alloys, which can lead to (strongly) divergent results when taking very small samples - a problem which cannot be recognized a priori nor a posteriori without fully independent replicate analyses (i.e. based on another sample aliquot). In the context of archaeological research and the analysis of museum-curated objects, however, repeated sampling of ancient copper alloys is usually impossible. Thus, these results outline the necessity for sample masses of > 20-30 mg for the Pb isotopic analysis of copper alloys to prevent incompatible datasets: smaller samples may not be representative, even if their isotopic analysis is feasible.
This paper presents the interdisciplinary approach of the Girsu Project (2016-2025), an initiative of the British Museum. The ancient Sumerian city, located in southern Iraq, was discovered and extensively excavated in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. These early campaigns left the site exposed and plundered, and tens of thousands of artefacts were dispersed worldwide. The project seeks to recontextualise this dispersed heritage and re-establish its significance in the Mesopotamian historic landscape. It is pioneering in its integration of archaeological research, conservation, and capacity building under a heritage management framework, viewing the Tello-Girsu ensemble as a living landscape.
The Acheulean represents the longest cultural period known to human history, lasting globally for more than 1.75 million years. It may have emerged as early as 1.95 Ma in Africa, spreading throughout much of the continent and then into Eurasia and lasting up to 350-200 ka in western Europe and South Asia, and even later in eastern Asia. Originally defined in the 1870s, the term Acheulean is one of the earliest and most contested classifications in prehistoric archaeology. Almost 150 years after its first appearance, it remains a source of continuous debate. This paper summarizes roundtable discussions that took place at the Musée de l'Homme (Paris) in November 2025 that focused on the meaning of the Acheulean and the diversity of its manifestations across Eurasia. Some 20 researchers, from various institutions across Europe, Asia, and the Pacific participated in this event, during which it became clear that the Acheulean had different meanings to the participants. Among the major points raised during the meeting was the question of how different specialists differentiate the Acheulean from the older Oldowan techno-complex, with specificities emerging from each of their respective regions of study. The geographic origins and hominin species' attribution of the Acheulean toolmakers were also brought to the fore since important questions have been raised in the last decades by the growing record of hominin taxa that existed during this timeframe across Eurasia and the relatively late arrival of this techno-complex in Europe. These issues become even more important when we consider the recent evidence emanating out of Asia, which indicates that hominins were present well before their earliest appearance in Europe. The purpose of this paper is not only to make a statement regarding how to define the Acheulean, but also to illustrate its diversity across Eurasia.
Owing to the remote terrain and difficulty of logistics, archaeological investigations of the Atbai Desert of Eastern Sudan are in their infancy. As part of a larger project aimed at surveying and documenting sites at threat from modern gold mining, in 2019 the Atbai Survey Project investigated the site of Khor Rafit, a multi-period site with importance both to ancient nomadic groups and foreign urban states (Rome, the Arab-Islamic Caliphate, Nubia) that were involved in gold extraction there. Surveys and excavations at the site revealed extensive gold-mining operations and a large cemetery exhibiting the burials of local pastoralist nomads, as well as Neolithic burials and rock-art sites. The local archaeology bears witness to the as yet unexplored interactions between nomads and foreigners in the gold mines of the Atbai Desert. Moreover, Khor Rafit was a vital watering station and strategic stopping-point on the long-distance trade route known as the Korosko Road, an important desert bypath shortening the route between Lower and Upper Nubia. With ongoing destruction at such sites from unregulated gold mining, archaeological operations at Khor Rafit and other sites in the Atbai should be conducted with urgency. En raison du terrain isol & eacute; et des difficult & eacute;s logistiques, les recherches arch & eacute;ologiques dans le d & eacute;sert de l'Atbai & agrave; l'est du Soudan en sont encore & agrave; leurs tout d & eacute;buts. Dans le cadre d'un projet plus vaste visant & agrave; recenser et documenter les sites menac & eacute;s par l'exploitation mini & egrave;re moderne de l'or, le projet de prospection de l'Atbai a & eacute;tudi & eacute; en 2019 le site de Khor Rafit. Il s'agit d'un site multi-p & eacute;riode de grande importance pour les anciens groupes nomades ainsi que pour les & eacute;tats urbains & eacute;trangers (Rome, le Califat arabo-islamique, la Nubie) impliqu & eacute;s dans l'extraction de l'or. Les prospections et les fouilles men & eacute;es sur le site ont r & eacute;v & eacute;l & eacute; d'importantes op & eacute;rations mini & egrave;res aurif & egrave;res, un grand cimeti & egrave;re contenant les s & eacute;pultures de pasteurs nomades locaux, des tombes n & eacute;olithiques et des sites d'art rupestre. L'arch & eacute;ologie locale t & eacute;moigne d'interactions encore inexplor & eacute;es entre nomades et & eacute;trangers dans les mines d'or du d & eacute;sert de l'Atbai. De plus, Khor Rafit constituait un point d'eau vital et une halte strat & eacute;gique sur la route commerciale & agrave; longue distance connue sous le nom de route de Korosko, une voie d & eacute;sertique importante qui raccourcissait le trajet entre la Basse et la Haute Nubie. Compte tenu de la destruction en cours de tels sites par l'exploitation mini & egrave;re aurif & egrave;re non r & eacute;glement & eacute;e, les op & eacute;rations arch & eacute;ologiques & agrave; Khor Rafit et dans d'autres sites de l'Atbai devraient & ecirc;tre men & eacute;es de toute urgence.
