The world’s first public institutions developed in Mesopotamia during the fourth millennium BCE. There is broad consensus that food, its control, and (re-)distribution played a central role in these processes, but the composition of institutional meals remains poorly understood. We integrate organic residue, compound-specific isotope, archaeobotanical, zooarchaeological, and contextual analyses of 37 vessels from Late Chalcolithic institutional contexts at Shakhi Kora (Kurdistan Region of Iraq). Lipid biomarkers and isotopic signatures reveal sustained consumption of diverse foods over several centuries, with substantial contributions from ruminant, non-ruminant, and freshwater resources, alongside plant and dairy products. This suggests that animal protein, both from domesticates and wild resources, was accessible to a wider range of persons and was likely consumed far more frequently than text-centred reconstructions of early institutional economies have tended to envisage. The widespread presence of Pinaceae-derived compounds further suggests the routine flavouring or processing of meals with tree resin.
Within the framework of joint archaeological research under the Belt and Road Initiative, the Shaanxi Academy of Archaeology and the Issyk National Historical and Cultural Museum collaborated from 2024 to 2025 to conduct a scientific investigation on a textile fragment unearthed from the Karatumma Cemetery (5th–3rd centuries BCE) in the Almaty region of Kazakhstan. The fragment, a remnant of the female tomb owner’s funerary garment, exists as an amorphous brown mass with severe mineralization, decay, and contamination. Kazakh experts identified it as a plain-weave silk artifact via microscopic observation, noting two types of seams (hidden seams and lapped seams) and evidence of repairs. Based on yarn quality and weaving technique, they hypothesized that the garment might be made of silk. However, no systematic archaeometric analysis has been carried out on this burial garment, which limits the exploration of its cultural value and restricts the implementation of its conservation and restoration. Accordingly, this paper employs an interdisciplinary approach combining stereo microscopy (OM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and proteomics to determine the textile’s material properties from morphological and compositional perspectives and provide solid material evidence and scientific support for cultural exchanges along the Prairie Silk Road.
Non-invasive geophysical methods play an increasingly important role in archaeological prospection and landscape investigations, allowing the detection and spatial characterization of buried features while preserving the integrity of archaeological contexts. This study aims to investigate the subsurface archaeological potential of three Roman villa sites in the Sabina-Tiberina area (Central Italy): the Church of San Pietro ad Muricentum (Montebuono), the villa of Collesecco (Cottanello), and the Church of S. Maria in Legarano (Casperia), through high-resolution Ground-Penetrating Radar (GPR) surveys. The objective is to identify and spatially characterize anomalies potentially associated with buried anthropogenic structures, contributing to the reconstruction of the architectural organization of the investigated sites. The integrated analysis of 2D radargrams and horizontal time/depth slices enabled the recognition of linear, rectilinear, and subcircular anomalies, allowing the reconstruction of possible architectural patterns within the investigated areas. The results suggest the presence of buried features consistent with structural elements related to Roman villa complexes, including walls, floors, and other anthropogenic remains distributed at different depths. Overall, the study highlights the value of GPR as a non-invasive tool for archaeological prospection and contributes to a better understanding of the buried archaeological landscape of the Sabina-Tiberina area, providing a scientific basis for future targeted archaeological investigations and heritage management strategies.
The Yangguanzhai Ruins within the Guanzhong Basin in the middle Yellow River, represent one of the most important archaeological sites for understanding social organization during the Miaodigou phase of the Yangshao culture (5.6–4.9 ka BP). It has twice been selected as one of China’s “Top Ten Archaeological Discoveries.” Through extensive and detailed field investigations at the ruins, two units of palaeoflood slack-water deposits were identified in the YGZ-C profile. These deposits were examined using field observations and laboratory analyses, including grain-size distribution, magnetic susceptibility, geochemical elements, micromorphological features, optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) and AMS 14C dating. The results reveal two extreme Holocene palaeoflood episodes in the Jinghe River, which are crucial for understanding regional hydrological responses to monsoonal climate change. Combined OSL and AMS 14C dating results, together with stratigraphic relationships, and archaeological ages, indicate that these two palaeoflood episodes broadly correspond to intervals of global climatic deterioration at 6.0–5.0 ka and 1.8–1.7 ka, respectively. Notably, multiple Holocene geological records in the middle Yellow River further indicate the occurrence of frequent extreme floods and droughts during 6.0–5.0 ka. In response to such climatic instability, the inhabitants during the Miaodigou phase of the Yangshao culture at the ruins likely constructed a large ditch and pond to cope with increasing environmental stress. This multifunctional hydraulic system, which combined flood control and water storage, represents a key proactive adaptation strategy to environmental change. These findings not only enrich the geological record of Holocene palaeoflood episodes in the Jinghe River, but also provide new insights into how prehistoric societies responded to abrupt climatic and environmental changes.
This study adopts an interdisciplinary approach, integrating archaeological survey and excavation, GIS-based spatial analysis, and palynological analysis to reconstruct the historical landscape, land-use strategies, and environmental adaptations of the Lankan area on the south-eastern Jos Plateau, Nigeria. Focusing on the Asa and Nangvun hills, with particular attention to the 12th through 20th-century CE sites in Lankan, the research examines how human settlement patterns, resource exploitation, and trade networks evolved in response to ecological and socio-political dynamics. Spatial analyses particularly, slope analysis, Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), heat mapping or Kernel Density Estimation (KDE), viewshed, and least-cost path analysis of settlement distribution demonstrate strategic occupation of defensible highlands near water sources, arable land, and grazing fields, which collectively supported mixed subsistence economies. Ten sediment samples from the stratified archaeological layers at Nangvun were analysed for their pollen and spore content using modified Erdtman procedure for palynomorph extraction. Complementary palynological data reveal shifting environmental conditions and increasing anthropogenic impact over time, marked by rising frequencies of aquatic plants, weeds of cultivated fields, and indicators of grazing activity. Together, these datasets suggest a gradual intensification of agricultural practices, livestock management, and participation in regional exchange systems under fluctuating climatic conditions. The integration of archaeological, spatial, and palaeoenvironmental datasets highlights the complex interplay between environment, economy, and cultural practices, contributing to broader discussions of human–environment interactions and adaptive strategies under changing climatic conditions.
The fortified area of Aruch, in central Armenia, includes a high medieval castle whose interior is designated Area 3. Stratigraphic excavations conducted there between 2022 and 2025 by ISMEO – The International Association for Mediterranean and Oriental Studies – and the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia documented more than forty Armenian vertical ovens, or tonirs, distributed across adjoining rooms and successive occupation phases. Most belong to the late medieval and early modern reuse of the castle, although the installations were not all contemporary. Their stratigraphic relationships record repeated processes of construction, maintenance, replacement, infilling, and spatial reorganization.The archaeological study examines the tonirs’ morphology, construction materials, ventilation systems, spatial distribution, internal deposits, and relationships with floors, walls, and other activity features. Associated artefactual, faunal, and archaeobotanical evidence links several installations to food preparation and fuel management, including the use of bovine dung in some early modern examples, while differences in dimensions, deposits, and high-temperature residues caution against assigning an identical function to every tonir.The ethnoarchaeological component is based on direct field observation and documentation of ceramic and cement-built tonirs still installed and used in contemporary Armenian households. Attention was given to construction, spatial setting, ventilation, maintenance, fuel, food preparation, and the incorporation of modern materials. These observations provide comparative evidence for interpreting practices that are only partially preserved archaeologically.By integrating stratigraphic and spatial analysis with direct ethnoarchaeological observation and published ethnographic and folkloric sources, this study presents the first dedicated synthesis of the Aruch tonir assemblage. It shows how tonirs contributed to the repeated reorganization of Area 3 and provides new insights into domestic, shared, and potentially productive practices, as well as the persistence and transformation of tonir-related technical knowledge in Armenia.
Interior Alaska is a key-region for studying long-distance circulation, trade and use of obsidian. Although the main raw materials in the early and late prehistoric sites from the region are various types of local cherts, basalts, rhyolites and so on, a large number of these sites include a small percentage of stone tools made of obsidian. The present article focused on the largest obsidian assemblage found in Interior Alaska at the Dry Creek site in the Nenana River valley). Our research aims at better understanding how obsidian was acquired, transported, exchanged, and used in addition to identifying geological source origins. This study discusses the technological implications of obsidian assemblages, and couples this information with the spatial data of the site and the sourcing of the obsidian artifacts. The data presented here is the largest published sample size of source obsidian from a single site in Alaska.
On-site and near-site analyses from Ploča Mičov Grad, Lake Ohrid (North Macedonia) provide complementary perspectives on the mid-5th millennium BCE pile-built lakeshore settlement and local vegetation dynamics within a sheltered bay. Through a synthesis of archaeobotanical, dendroarchaeological and palaeoecological evidence, we consider the relationship between human activity (particularly foraging, timber selection and cultivation) and local vegetation changes during the settlement phase, against the background of the longer term palynological record. The archaeobotanical dataset from the lakeshore settlement’s cultural sequence shows that the plant food system incorporated a broad spectrum of crops and collected fruits and nuts, many of which are reflected in the palynological record. The near-site palynological and on-site archaeobotanical records together suggest that human activities, including systematic foraging, encouraged the growth of rosaceous plant foods such as almond, possibly through protection and/or management of woodland edges. The complementary dendrochronological analyses of the wooden pile construction elements attest to woodland structure and timber selection practices, with a preference towards large-diameter timbers for construction. Analysis of the arable weed flora associated with archaeobotanical crop remains indicates that autumn-sowing was practiced and that cultivation was intensive and, as confirmed by the palynological data, small-scale. Arable plots and/or wheat processing activity likely occurred near to the settlement. The archaeobotanical, dendroarchaeological and palaeoecological analyses offer independent and complementary lines of evidence for the nature of plant-centred activities by the mid-5th millennium BCE community over a period of around a century.
Podere Marzuolo, a minor rural Roman settlement in northern Etruria, has yielded two distinct assemblages of terra sigillata italica (TSI), each corresponding to different chronological phases. To investigate the potential for local production of early and late TSI at Marzuolo, an integrated analytical programme was conducted on 68 TSI samples, based on elemental analysis with wavelength-dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy and complemented with thin section petrography. Results suggest probable local manufacture in the early phase, potentially with relatively low standardization, alongside evidence for imported ware. The later TSI, instead, exhibits a narrow compositional profile, fits within the general pattern reported for sigillata production elsewhere in northern Etruria, and was likely not locally produced. These findings suggest that the site changed from an initial phase of engaging with the local landscape to produce TSI, to becoming embedded in, and supplied by, regional networks of exchange.
In this reply, we respond to the comment by Pearce et al. regarding our recently proposed arithmetic method for assessing geochemical similarity between lithic artefacts and potential source outcrops. We thank the authors for their critique, which highlights three opportunities for methodological refinement. We agree that issues relating to analytical precision and numerical rounding, certified reference material selection, and the weighting of geochemical variables warrant further consideration. We note, however, that many aspects of our work have been mischaracterised. Both the title and wider narrative running through the comment imply that our study advocates the use of geochemical similarity calculations in isolation from petrographic and other geological evidence. As we demonstrate, this is incorrect. In fact, we explicitly rejected such an approach and instead presented the method as an exploratory tool to be used alongside other data. We also show how some of the criticisms made by the authors are inconsistent with practices adopted in their own studies, including source provenance interpretations based primarily on geochemical datasets. We defend the use of trace element/Zr ratios for silcrete provenancing, discuss the rationale behind element selection in our worked examples, and clarify our treatment of compatible and incompatible elements in igneous rocks. Using case studies, including investigations into the provenance of Mediterranean volcanic artefacts and the Altar Stone at Stonehenge, we illustrate problems arising from the use of bivariate plots for source determination – as recommended by Pearce et al. – and highlight the value of multivariate approaches. We also point out inconsistencies in the authors’ use of a “total petrography” approach. We conclude that our arithmetic method remains a useful and adaptable framework for provenance assessment when applied critically alongside complementary geological and archaeological evidence.
Daub, a relatively easy-to-produce universal construction material made from mostly locally available resources (sediments, organic and mineral tempers), has been an essential element of building traditions since the earliest phases of sedentism. When exposed to fire and preserved under favourable conditions, daub becomes a valuable archaeological material in which local environments, the use of agricultural by-products and architectural-dependent manufacturing techniques are recorded. Although interest in construction daub has increased significantly in recent years, it is still largely neglected at many archaeological sites due to the morphological complexity of the material (e.g. wood and plant impressions) and the considerable effort and interdisciplinary collaboration required for its detailed analysis. In a collaborative multi-method approach, we combine macroscopic and micromorphological analysis of the daub from the Bronze Age tell settlement of Borsodivánka in Hungary with the analysis of context-related wood charcoal and plant remains, as well as (micro-)stratigraphic samples from under the tell. Our results show how environmental and cultural factors were able to influence decisions in construction material selection, processing and usage of daub (walls) and daub-like elements (wall decorations and repeatedly heated fragments).
