This article analyses the dynamics of Roman olive-oil and wine production and commerce in present-day France from the second half of the second century BC to the mid-fourth century AD, drawing on a corpus of more than 7000 amphorae recovered from Gallic and Romano-Gallic settlements across the French territory, excluding Alsace. The methodology consists of a quantitative strategy based on aoristic distribution, assessing both regional and chronological trends according to production and settlement chronologies. The results highlight a clear preponderance of Italic wine in Late Republican Gaul, followed by imports from Hispania, before local Gallic wine came to dominate the domestic market and expanded to other provincial contexts. In parallel, the study traces initial Italic olive-oil imports to southern Gaul, subsequently supplanted by the predominance of Hispanic oil and the growing presence of North African products. The article follows these dynamics up to the mid-fourth century AD, considering both the impact of the crisis of the third century and the substitution of amphorae by barrels in northern Europe. The statistical methodology applied to this large amphora assemblage allows for a reassessment of production and distribution trends and of the chronological phases of wine and olive-oil supply in Roman Gaul.
This paper investigates the economic and political transformations of the Medieval Eastern Mediterranean (late eleventh to mid-fourteenth centuries AD) through the lens of material culture and Social Network Analysis (SNA). Using the distribution of seven types of glazed pottery as archaeological indicators, the study examines changing patterns of connectivity and the structural positions of sites within regional exchange systems. By applying SNA to presence/absence datasets, the analysis reconstructs the topology of interaction networks revealing a shift from a Byzantine-centred system to one increasingly shaped by Italian maritime powers and the Crusader States, with the events of 1204 marking a critical turning point. Interpreted within a world-systems perspective, the results trace the relocation of core functions from Byzantine centres to Italian city-states, while highlighting the resilience of long-established hubs within the reconfigured system.
Literary sources provide limited information on specific developments during the civil wars of the late Roman Republic, including the Sertorian War. This study describes the attack on the Vascon settlement of Irulegi (Aranguren valley, Navarre), in northern Spain, within the context of this conflict, using the methodological and theoretical frameworks of conflict archaeology. In doing so, it seeks to demonstrate that Roman cultural influences were operating during this period and that the Vascones were involved in the conflict. Although it remains uncertain which side the defenders supported, the available evidence suggests that the attack occurred between 76 and 72 BC and that the Vascones of Irulegi may have supported Sertorius.
During the Bronze Age, a particular type of podomorphic petroglyph was produced on the outcrops by the sea in southern Scandinavia. In this text, their distribution, organization and articulation are analyzed in the M & auml;laren region of central-eastern Sweden. The study shows that the petroglyphs are organized in relation to water as well as to different minerals visible in the rock. This pattern indicates that they are not simply images or symbols but also physical 'devices', produced to do something. It is argued that one purpose was for the frequent single podomorphs to be paired with another at a later stage. Because podomorphs in a pair generally are of different sizes and form, it is suggested that each one belongs to an individual of different age and/or sex - potentially depicted in stone to show existing or desired future relations, agreements, pacts, friendship, marriages etc.
Slotted bone points likely originated in Palaeolithic traditions and evolved into efficient, reusable Mesolithic hunting weapons optimized for reliability and increased bleeding, reducing the risk of hunting failure. Such bone points were long debated as either spear tips or arrowheads, but earlier interpretations lacked reliable criteria. A newly conducted experiment show they function effectively as arrowheads when mounted on appropriate shafts and fired with bows of realistic Mesolithic draw weight. Damage patterns on bone points and insets matches archaeological finds from Motala in south-central Sweden. Microblade durability varied with the inset raw material, though penetration did not. The type of adhesive had minimal effect on performance. The design's main advantage lies in its long cutting edges, which create larger wound channels than plain bone points.
This study examines 13 stone stamp seals excavated from the Copper and Early Bronze Age levels at Ali & scedil;ar and currently housed in the Museum of Anatolian Civilisations at Ankara (T & uuml;rkiye). Through detailed documentation, typological analysis and comparison with sealing traditions in Anatolia and neighbouring regions, it explores their formal, iconographic and cultural characteristics. The seals demonstrate transcultural distribution patterns, reflecting intensified interregional interactions in the latter half of the Early Bronze Age. In particular, serpentine seals - similar in form to metal examples - are thought to have been burnished and used as alternatives to metal ones. It is also suggested that these stone seals may have been produced by local artisans. The Ali & scedil;ar seal assemblage reveals a synthesis of local and external influences and likely fulfilled both administrative and symbolic functions. By systematically presenting the typological diversity of the Ali & scedil;ar seals, this study sheds light on the cultural dynamics and interregional connections of Anatolia during the Early Bronze Age.
This study presents a technological analysis of 18 old patinated scrapers and spalls, mostly of Quina technology, that were recycled into new scrapers of the same type at the Late Lower Palaeolithic site of Qesem Cave, Israel (420-200 kyr). Recycling scrapers into the same Quina and demi-Quina types offers a rare, controlled opportunity to investigate a technology's biographical character. Comparing the tools' pre- and post-recycling phases demonstrates that the selection of old items was highly intentional, guided by the original tool's morphology and the affordances of its pre-existing features. This process suggests an enacted perceptual experience, demonstrating a skilled recognition of the potential remaining in discarded objects. A sophisticated understanding of material properties and technological trajectories is thus revealed. This behaviour suggests a form of historically-aware material engagement, offering new insights into the cognitive and technological capabilities of Late Lower Palaeolithic humans and providing a basis for future cognitive studies.
Wadi Yutm, in southern Jordan, has served as a critical corridor for human activity across millennia due to its strategic geographical position rather than its water resources. This paper examines the interplay between human adaptation, trade and water management in this hyper-arid landscape from the Iron Age to the present. It highlights how the economic demands of travel and trade spurred the development of water control. Drawing on archaeological findings from the Wadi Yutm Archaeological Survey (WYAS) and comparative data from the nearby site of Humayma, this study explores how historical populations in a desert landscape addressed environmental challenges by utilizing and adapting water control and gathering systems. These systems supported settlements and military fortifications, developing Wadi Yutm into a valuable and sustainable asset. The valley is significant, offering insights into the relationship between humans and arid environments in antiquity.
In the Lycian city of Olympos, 365 statue fragments were unearthed from the naos and pronaos of the Roman-period temple that had been incorporated into the city's episcopal complex. These fragments derive from statues that had been deliberately dismantled and subsequently gathered together. Three-dimensional modelling was employed to determine which fragments could be assigned to the statue handled here, after which the conventional sequence of 'identification, typology and dating' could be applied. Stylistic and iconographic parallels indicate that the Olympos head corresponds to representations of Zeus. The left hand holding a sceptre and the right hand holding a thunderbolt also point to the same deity. Comparison with related material, as well as inscriptions and coins of Olympos, lead to the conclusion that the fragments belong to the cult statue of Zeus Olympios, originally standing approximately at an impressive 3.5 m high.
This study investigates recently discovered gold diadems and mouth-pieces from seven chamber tombs and one shaft tomb at the Late Bronze Age cemetery of Hala Sultan Tekke, dating from the fifteenth to the thirteenth centuries BC. The chamber tombs, all containing multi-generational burials, yielded a variety of ornaments, which are analysed in terms of typology, patterns of use, and their associations with age and sex. The results indicate local Cypriot production that integrates Minoan, Mycenaean, Egyptian, and Near Eastern influences while maintaining a distinct regional style. These findings offer new insights into craftsmanship, intercultural exchange, and mortuary practices in the eastern Mediterranean during a period marked by intense connectivity and cultural interaction.
Administration is not an area of life usually associated with sensory engagement, either in the present or in the past. As Day (2020) observes, the insights of sensory archaeologies should be applied to the mundane parts of life too, and not just to enhance our understanding of palatial and funerary realms. In this paper, I examine how we might identify and conceptualize haptic perception - the sense of touch - in the daily lives and work of Aegean Bronze Age administrators, drawing on insights from the emerging literature on the senses and sensory archaeology, together with my experimental work with students making and writing documents. The mind/body/material relationship one can build with clay in particular is foregrounded as I consider different kinds of touching and being touched.
In 2023, a remarkable assemblage of seventh-century gold and garnet pendants was discovered by two metal-detectorists near Donington-on-Bain, East Lindsey, Lincolnshire, and reported as Treasure under the Treasure Act 1996 to the Lincolnshire Portable Antiquities Scheme. The assemblage was subsequently declared Treasure and purchased by Lincoln Museum in 2025. This paper presents an analysis of the group, examining the typology, condition, and composition of the items as a coherent assemblage. While pendants are typically associated with burial contexts, this study explores alternative interpretations beyond a disturbed grave. The absence of other necklace elements typically associated with pendant arrangements, along with the presence of a brooch fragment and the condition of the objects, suggests that this group may represent a hoard, a ritual deposit, or a collection of deliberately 'killed' items. These possibilities raise important questions about the circulation, reuse, and deposition of high-status jewellery in the early medieval landscape.
When Rome colonized Britain, it created a transport network spanning the province. This transformed the Iron Age economy, creating large new markets which in turn supported specialized manufacturing. This article explores the impact of transportation on Roman agriculture - the core of the Romano-British economy. It analyses a large archaeobotanical dataset (1726 assemblages from 87 excavations) covering the later Iron Age and Roman periods in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, UK. The region has a number of distinct soil types, supporting a range of plant communities - these produced both natural resources and weeds. 414 wild taxa were recorded, alongside cultivated cereals. Little change occurred in the diversity of wild plant taxa over time, but there was an association between Roman settlement size and diversity of wild taxa. This shows larger settlements were using the transport network to draw in plant resources from larger areas than smaller settlements were. There was also a strong association of large storage barns with the transport network. In Roman Cambridgeshire, maybe two-thirds of the rural population lived in settlements receiving plant produce from outside their immediate environment, indicating significant transportation of plant produce and a high level of integration.
A presence and absence study was undertaken in the Stonehenge World Heritage Site and around Salisbury to demonstrate the breadth of modern large-scale archaeological investigation compared to known and recovered Early Neolithic features, especially those containing human remains. This suggests that the lack of both extant Early Neolithic features and corresponding skeletal remains is genuine and that a large portion of lived populations from this period are not represented, perhaps part of the 'absent dead'. This demonstrates the paucity of Early Neolithic features and human remains outside known monumental sites which in turn highlights the selectiveness and exclusiveness of monumental burial.
Recent excavations at the Perge stadium have led to the complete exposure of its amphitheatre section, revealing a unique architectural configuration along the arena-facing fa & ccedil;ade of the southern carceres. There five adjacent doorways were uncovered. Functioning as a mechanism akin to a hypogeum, this arrangement represents a remarkably innovative solution within Roman architectural practice. The associated discovery of new base blocks, additional vaulted cells, and finds depicting scenes of Roman spectacle not only reinforces earlier interpretations but also offers important new insights into how the ideology and choreography of Roman spectacle culture were locally reimagined in the provinces of Lycia and Pamphylia. Furthermore, ongoing excavations in the stadium's running track have brought to light architectural features indicating that this area also underwent structural modifications contemporaneous with the amphitheatre's transformation.
This article focuses on personal adornments found in Chalcolithic funerary contexts from the Lower Danube. Generally, these artefacts are made from exotic raw materials originating from the Mediterranean sea, particularly Spondylus shells, along with Glycymeris or Antalis shells, and less frequently from local materials. The latter either imitate Spondylus shell pieces or are exceptional items. The first goal of this study is to determine whether these pieces show use-wear marks or if they were created solely as funerary goods, so as to understand the social behavioural patterns of these communities concerning funerary practices. The second goal is to identify whether specific inventories within each necropolis relate to gender or age categories as markers of social stratification. Third, I discuss the provenance of these adornments and the possible exchange routes they travelled to become part of burial assemblages on the Lower Danube. This is the first systematic study of funerary ornaments from the Lower Danube that combines various types of analytical data while placing the symbolism of these artefacts at the centre of the interpretation.
In 1884, one of the burials discovered at El Argar, the eponymous site of the El Argar culture, revealed the remains of a woman wearing an unusual silver bangle. This ornament appears to be the first evidence of a silver object produced by lost-wax casting in Bronze Age Iberia and, to date, in Western Europe. It demonstrates that El Argar metalworking technology was probably more complex and innovative than previously thought, opening up new perspectives on the organization of metalwork production and the degree of craft specialization in the earlier Bronze Age of south-eastern Spain.
For forty years archaeologists have avoided referring to pre-Roman Britain and its inhabitants as 'Celtic' on the grounds that contemporaries never described them as such. This is incorrect. The second-century BC astronomer Hipparchus quotes Pytheas (c. 320 BC) as having referred to Britons as 'Keltoi'. This is significant because Pytheas is the only writer before Julius Caesar known to have travelled in Britain. It does not prove that the Britons were wholly similar to Caesar's Gauls, who were called '"Celtae" in their own language'. Nevertheless, it removes a long-standing terminological obstacle to a balanced evaluation of cross-Channel similarities and differences. Since Pytheas came from Marseille, he is likely to have been well informed about Celts and their language even before he started his voyage.
Deposits of bronze objects uncovered by A.J. Evans at Knossos are commonly considered hoards and attributed to the Neopalatial period. This article presents a stratigraphical and typological study, contextualizing the deposits within Crete and beyond. Reframing previous opinions on hoarding at Knossos, these analyses provide three new insights: first, they identify unintentional and intentional depositions of bronze objects; second, they emphasize that the intentional depositions (hoards) include the same vessel types seen in LM II–IIIA funerary depositions in Crete and the mainland; third, they suggest that these hoards are not Neopalatial, but rather Final Palatial.
This paper examines the architectural design and sophisticated hydraulic infrastructure of the Royal Garden at Qasr-e Sirin, constructed during the late Sasanian period under the patronage of King Kosrow II (r. 590-628). Encompassing 147.3 hectares, the garden was organized into distinct areas intended for courtly ceremonies, religious rites, polo games, and controlled hunts, reflecting a complex and multifaceted approach to landscape design. This article posits that the garden and its associated hydraulic infrastructure were not merely displays of the engineering prowess of the empire, but also a symbolic manifestation of political authority of the Sasanian king. The juxtaposition of the palace and the Zoroastrian fire temple within the garden underscores the interconnectedness of state and religion, creating a powerful visual narrative of imperial ideology.
