Abstract This is a critical bibliographical survey of academic studies published in 2024 in the area of Russian Studies.

Abstract This is a critical bibliographical survey of academic studies published in 2024 in the area of Russian Studies.

Abstract This is a critical bibliographical survey of academic studies published in 2024 in the area of Russian Studies.

Domestic equids were central to the initial colonization of the Atlantic coast of the Americas, a process partially chronicled by historical records. While Spanish colonists brought horses to the Caribbean decades earlier, settlement of the English colony at Jamestown, Virginia, was among the first dispersals of horses to the eastern seaboard. Archaeozoological analysis of identifiable domestic equid remains from two contexts associated with the initial occupation of Jamestown demonstrates intense processing and consumption of the first Jamestown horses during the "Starving Time" winter of 1609. Osteological and biomolecular study of these equid remains demonstrates their successful reproduction at the colony and use in transport activities and identifies an adult domestic donkey with mixed European and West African ancestry, possibly supplied through undocumented exchange during a transatlantic stopover. These results reveal the challenges of equid translocation in early settlement of eastern North America and the global connectivity of early transatlantic animal exchange.

Ancient human genomic data from Oakhurst Rockshelter in South Africa push back the earliest reported ancient DNA from the continent to the start of the Holocene, revealing surprising genetic continuity and raising questions about the nature of regional cultural change.

Re-excavation of Ha Makotoko and Ntloana Tšoana rock-shelters in western Lesotho, produced abundant faunal remains (both macro and micro) from people using the Robberg technocomplex during the late Pleistocene (Ha Makotoko and Ntloana Tšoana (15.4–13.4 kcal. BP) and early Holocene (Ntloana Tšoana 11.1–10.2 kcal. BP). This faunal material allows us to identify the subsistence strategies they employed, using the unbiased Simpson's evenness index (1-D′), and Shannon's evenness index to track diet breadth. Detailed analyses of the sites' microfauna indicates that eagle owls and/or small carnivores — not humans — were responsible for introducing them into the deposits. A chi-squared test comparing diet breadth across the sites identifies hunting strategy, focused on size 2 and 3 migratory ungulates (equids, suids, and bovids), supplemented with size 1 and 4 bovids. Comparing the evenness values from Ha Makotoko and Ntloana Tšoana to published data from other Robberg-associated sites in the wider Maloti-Drakensberg region (Sehonghong, Rose Cottage Cave and Tloutle) allows variability in subsistence strategies to be addressed. A chi-squared test comparing ungulate size classes, small mammals and fish with the evenness index reveals two important statistical differences: the warm period occupation (16.5–14.3 kcal. BP) at Rose Cottage Cave presents a narrow diet heavily focused on size 3 ungulates (with a lack of fish). At the other end of the climate spectrum, cold conditions at Sehonghong immediately before the Last Glacial Maximum were associated with a narrow diet focused on intensive fishing, with lower-than-expected numbers of size 3 ungulates. The deposits at Ntloana Tšoana, Ha Makotoko, and Tloutle, along with the Younger Dryas-associated assemblage from Sehonghong, on the other hand, present broad diets. Fish and small mammals make more of a contribution to the expanding diet in the highlands. Our approach demonstrates the flexibility that makers of Robberg tools displayed in adapting to the changing climatic and ecological conditions of this high-elevation region in the interior of southern Africa during Marine Isotope Stage 2 and across the Pleistocene/Holocene transition.

We compare motifs engraved on ostrich and rhea eggshell fragments from southern Africa and southern South America respectively. These elements were part of water flasks used, transported and cached by hunter-gatherers. We define trends in the motifs engraved on eggshells, inquire about their temporal and spatial distribution, their diversity and their information content in the context of the social interactions and boundaries developed among mobile peoples. A typology of basic motifs occurring on each side of the Atlantic was built to perform a three-step analysis. The first evaluates motif composition through three periods that we name 'middle', 'initial late' and 'final late' Holocene, the second examines image circulation within each period and the third assesses the information content of the engravings. Even though the ostrich and rhea eggshells' visual repertoires are similar, motif variability and motif spatial distribution between the periods analyzed present differences related to the particular social processes that took place in each region. Ostrich eggshells' higher information content could imply that interaction networks in southern Africa were more extensive than in southern South America. However, sample bias could also be affecting the results obtained.

Ostriches are peculiar birds and their strangeness has been recognised by southern African hunter-gatherers through multiple symbolic associations. Such qualities are likely to have been enhanced where people had access to beads made from their eggshell but did not have direct knowledge of the birds themselves. Southeastern southern Africa, encompassing the Maloti-Drakensberg Mountains, the eastern half of the Eastern Cape Province and much of KwaZulu-Natal is one such area. We review the unusual attributes and associations of ostriches and their eggshell before briefly summarising previous work that has used strontium isotope analysis to investigate past bead exchange networks in this region. Because bead size can be controlled and patently varies through time and space, we then employ it as another potential indicator of the existence and spatial extent of past social networks. Having critically considered previous efforts in this field, we report on our work to build the largest sample of such data yet obtained in southern Africa and compare our preliminary results with other signals of interaction between precolonial hunter-gatherer and (where applicable) agropastoralist communities. Les autruches sont des oiseaux particuliers et leur & eacute;tranget & eacute; a & eacute;t & eacute; reconnue par les chasseurs-cueilleurs d'Afrique australe & agrave; travers de multiples associations symboliques. Ces qualit & eacute;s ont probablement & eacute;t & eacute; renforc & eacute;es l & agrave; o & ugrave; les gens avaient acc & egrave;s & agrave; des perles fabriqu & eacute;es & agrave; partir de leur coquille d'oe uf mais n'avaient pas de connaissance directe des oiseaux ils-m & ecirc;mes. Le sud-est de l'Afrique australe, englobant les montagnes Maloti-Drakensberg, la moiti & eacute; orientale de la province du Cap oriental et une grande partie du KwaZulu-Natal, est l'une de ces r & eacute;gions. Nous passons en revue les attributs et associations inhabituels des autruches et de leur coquille d'oe uf avant de r & eacute;sumer bri & egrave;vement les travaux ant & eacute;rieurs qui ont utilis & eacute; l'analyse des isotopes du strontium pour & eacute;tudier les anciens r & eacute;seaux d'& eacute;change de perles dans cette r & eacute;gion. Puisque la taille des perles peut & ecirc;tre contr & ocirc;l & eacute;e et varie manifestement dans le temps et dans l'espace, nous l'utilisons ensuite comme un autre indicateur potentiel de l'existence et de l'& eacute;tendue spatiale des r & eacute;seaux sociaux pass & eacute;s. Apr & egrave;s avoir examin & eacute; de mani & egrave;re critique les efforts ant & eacute;rieurs dans ce domaine, nous rendons compte de nos travaux visant & agrave; constituer le plus grand & eacute;chantillon de donn & eacute;es de ce type jamais obtenu en Afrique australe et comparons nos r & eacute;sultats pr & eacute;liminaires avec d'autres signaux d'interaction entre les chasseurs-cueilleurs pr & eacute;coloniaux et (le cas & eacute;ch & eacute;ant) les communaut & eacute;s agropastorales.

Domestic horses and donkeys played a key role in the initial colonization of the Atlantic seaboard of the Americas, a process partially chronicled by historical records. While Spanish colonists brought horses to the Caribbean and southern latitudes earlier, the transport of domestic horses to the English colony at Jamestown, Virginia in 1606 was among the first dispersals to the eastern seaboard. Archaeozoological analysis, isotope analysis, and radiocarbon dating of identifiable domestic equid remains from two contexts associated with the initial occupation of Jamestown demonstrate intense processing and consumption of the first Jamestown horses during the “Starving Time” winter of 1609, while paleopathological data show evidence of their use in transport. Osteological, genetic, and isotopic study of these equid remains reveal the presence of at least one adult domestic donkey with mixed European and West African ancestry, possibly supplied through undocumented exchange during a trans-Atlantic stopover. These results reveal the importance of equids in the survival of early European settlers and the global connectivity of early trans-Atlantic exchange in horses and donkeys, showing Caribbean and African links in the founding livestock populations and pointing towards an important and ecologically-anchored role for donkeys in the early colonial lifeways along the Eastern seaboard. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest.

Understanding of Africa's long, complex human history has been enriched by the work of archaeological scientists for over a century. Since 1977 over 500 papers on African topics have been published in the Journal of Archaeological Science. This paper briefly reviews the geographical location of the research that they report along with their authorship and thematic content. Significant imbalances highlight continuing disparities in archaeological opportunities within the continent and between Africa and the rest of the world. The twenty-one papers included in this special collection nevertheless showcase the breadth of archaeological science in Africa, focusing on papers that have shaped subsequent research, explored new methodological approaches, or introduced novel areas of study. Discussion of how to capitalise upon this diversity emphasises the importance of increasing funding for archaeological science on a sustainable basis, forging co-operation between archaeologists and other scientists, playing to strengths in less expensive (but potentially highly informative) areas of archaeological science, and developing regional hubs of expertise. Collectively, these efforts can enhance capacity and ensure a future for archaeological science research by African scholars within Africa.

Archaeologists have long considered climate change a primary mechanism behind human behavioral adaptations. The Lesotho highlands’ Afromontane and climatically extreme environments offer a unique opportunity to examine proposed correlations between topography, climate, and human behavior. Previous studies suggest that warmer temperatures allowed humans to expand their diet breadth and foraging range, whereas colder temperatures restricted humans to resources in riverine corridors. These studies used faunal and floral change as proxies to track changes in forager mobility but did not consider how differential access to stone resources affected human behaviors. To account for this gap, we conducted a survey for knappable rocks around the Sehonghong rock shelter in eastern Lesotho, recording the materials present and their size and shape in the modern environment. We compared the survey results to later Pleistocene (~ 22–11 ka cal. BP) lithic assemblages at Sehonghong to better understand whether archaeological patterns match modern knappable rock availability. Contrary to previous hypotheses, we find that past peoples at Sehonghong were not limited to exclusively riverine resources during colder conditions. We then used flake-to-core and noncortical-to-cortical flake ratios to track changes in mobility and knappable rock procurement patterns. The ratios remain constant up until the Late Glacial, ca. 14 ka cal. BP, when we see an increase in both flake-to-core and noncortical-to-cortical ratios, suggesting increased movement of stone out of Sehonghong. These conclusions show that resource procurement and mobility patterns are not solely dependent on climate change but may be driven by more complicated causal mechanisms such as increased interaction and the formation of social networks across the Lesotho highlands and beyond.

We report the first large-scale palaeoproteomics research on eastern and southern African zooarchaeological samples, thereby refining our understanding of early caprine (sheep and goat) pastoralism in Africa. Assessing caprine introductions is a complicated task because of their skeletal similarity to endemic wild bovid species and the sparse and fragmentary state of relevant archaeological remains. Palaeoproteomics has previously proved effective in clarifying species attributions in African zooarchaeological materials, but few comparative protein sequences of wild bovid species have been available. Using newly generated type I collagen sequences for wild species, as well as previously published sequences, we assess species attributions for elements originally identified as caprine or ‘unidentifiable bovid’ from 17 eastern and southern African sites that span seven millennia. We identified over 70% of the archaeological remains and the direct radiocarbon dating of domesticate specimens allows refinement of the chronology of caprine presence in both African regions. These results thus confirm earlier occurrences in eastern Africa and the systematic association of domesticated caprines with wild bovids at all archaeological sites. The combined biomolecular approach highlights repeatability and accuracy of the methods for conclusive contribution in species attribution of archaeological remains in dry African environments.

Investigation of Homo sapiens ’ palaeogeographic expansion into African mountain environments are changing the understanding of our species’ adaptions to various extreme Pleistocene climates and habitats. Here, we present a vegetation and precipitation record from the Ha Makotoko rockshelter in western Lesotho, which extends from ~60,000 to 1,000 years ago. Stable carbon isotope ratios from plant wax biomarkers indicate a constant C 3 -dominated ecosystem up to about 5,000 years ago, followed by C 4 grassland expansion due to increasing Holocene temperatures. Hydrogen isotope ratios indicate a drier, yet stable, Pleistocene and Early Holocene compared to a relatively wet Late Holocene. Although relatively cool and dry, the Pleistocene was ecologically reliable due to generally uniform precipitation amounts, which incentivized persistent habitation because of dependable freshwater reserves that supported rich terrestrial foods and provided prime locations for catching fish.

Island archaeology is a well-established field within the wider discipline, but African contributions to it remain scarce. The Canary Islands are unusual in the broader African context for their relatively long history of occupation (~2000 years) and the intensity with which archaeological research has been, and is, undertaken there. Much of that research, however, has focused on specifically Canarian issues, including efforts to demonstrate connections between the islands’ initial settlement and the Classical Mediterranean world. Relatively little of it has been conducted within the broader comparative framework that an island archaeology perspective provides. Additionally, much of the Canarian literature is not directly accessible to non-Hispanophones. In response, I synthesize what is currently known about the archaeology of the Canary Islands, focusing on determining when, how, and by whom they were first settled; the impacts of human settlement on their environments; inter-island variability in precolonial subsistence, social, and political trajectories; and the record left by European contact and subsequent colonization, which began in the 14th century AD. As well as pointing to further opportunities for research within the archipelago, I simultaneously map out several areas where archaeological work there could contribute to wider debates in island archaeology as a whole.

There is longstanding evidence in the archaeological record of southern Africa for the application of hafting adhesives in the production of composite tool technology. Despite the limitations in the preservation of organics in archaeological contexts, the preservation of these materials can inform us about aspects of technological production and function, including hafting arrangements, adhesive production and resource acquisition. In some instances where we see the prevalence of organic materials that are at odds with the ecological landscape, these same materials can also elucidate social interactions between cultural groups. This paper presents the results of the analysis by microscopy and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) of hafting residues from stone tools from the ceramic final Later Stone Age assemblages at Sehonghong, Lesotho. It argues that an adoption of novel resources including Pinus sp. resin, castor oil and paraffin by nineteenth-century San facilitated the continued existence of hunter-gatherer lifeways in increasingly marginalised circumstances amid tense relationships between the last hunter-gatherers of the Maloti-Drakensberg, newly arriving Basotho communities and European colonists.

This paper provides the most comprehensive assessment yet of publication trends in the South African Archaeological Bulletin and discusses them with respect to archaeology's broader history in southern Africa. Peer-reviewed articles published in the Bulletin over the four decades from 1980 to 2019 are analysed with respect to both authorship (by gender, 'race', geographical location, and institutional affiliation) and content (primary research theme and culture-historical association). While the representation of women has increased significantly, that of South African authors of African, coloured, and Indian descent, though improving, still falls far short of the country's demographic reality. Notable changes are evident in the last two decades with respect to increased publications by authors based outside Africa and those operating out of universities (as opposed to museums) in both South and southern Africa. Overall, proportions of publications discussing work in South Africa compared to the rest of the region or other parts of Africa have changed little, but significant imbalances exist between South Africa's provinces. Thematically, papers addressing heritage management and the archaeological records of the Earlier and Middle Stone Ages show particularly marked increases since 2000 compared to preceding decades.

Professional archaeology in Lesotho was initiated 50 years ago when Pat Carter, working with Patricia Vinnicombe, excavated the site of Moshebi's Shelter in the Sehlabathebe Basin. His excavations there identified a sequence of both Middle and Later Stone Age (LSA) industries, the latter falling within the last 2200 years. However, the site was never fully published and Carter's use of 10-cm-thick spits to excavate its deposits raises questions about the precise stratigraphic provenance of the finds made. As part of renewed investigations into hunter-gatherer/farmer interactions in highland Lesotho, Moshebi's LSA deposits were re-excavated in 2009. This paper summarizes the results of the archaeological sequence recovered, their dating using both radiocarbon and OSL techniques, and their implications for past human use of the site and the wider Maloti-Drakensberg landscape.