The kiln site of Los Matagallares (Salobreña, Granada, Spain) is one of the most important pottery production sites of the Roman period in southern Iberia, particularly for the third century AD. The workshop produced a wide variety of ceramics, but focused on the manufacture of amphorae for the long-distance trade of local/regional fish products, wine, and other foodstuffs, and...
The timing of the earliest peopling of Sicily and, to a wider level, of human mobility in the Mediterranean basin after the Last Glacial Maximum is enriched by the recent discovery of an archaeological record dated back to 16,5 ka cal BP from San Teodoro cave (Acquedolci, Messina). We present the results of a new archaeological campaign inside the grotto, where we were able to...
The purpose of this work was a comprehensive overview of the development of cranial morphology in prehistoric Europe, spanning the period from the Upper Paleolithic to the genetic turnovers associated with the Indo-European migrations from the East European steppes (~ 2000 cal. BC). A total of 103 prehistoric samples with > 3900 male skulls were divided into six periods and...
Discussions of the Levallois method typically focus on the preparation of the core surface geometry as the primary factor in determining the characteristics of Levallois products. While some studies have acknowledged the role of knapping gestures, there is still limited empirical investigation into how different force application parameters influence the formation of these flakes...
In contrast to predominant narratives of abortion and infanticide with medieval sex workers, this case study testifies to the potential care given to prostitutes’ children. It does so through ancient DNA and dietary stable isotope analyses of an infant buried in a 14th-century brothel in Aalst, Belgium. While no pathogens were identified, elevated δ15N values suggest...
Understanding taphonomic processes is essential for reconstructing past environmental dynamics and interpreting mixed sites, where successive occupations by different biological agents have occurred and, in many cases, have been modified by post-depositional processes. Such is the case in the western part of Buena Pinta Cave (Pinilla del Valle, Madrid). In this study, three Units...
The osteological analysis of human skeletal assemblages offers crucial osteobiographical insights into ancient populations, yet remains largely unexplored in past Tunisia. This paper presents the first archaeological investigation of Tunisian medieval burials, unearthed during excavations between 2016–2017 and 2021–2022. This interdisciplinary study, combining archaeology...
The Maltese Temples, built between 3800 and 2400 BC, are unique structures among the prehistoric monuments of Europe. Their consistent architectural style is characterised by straight entrance corridors leading to open courtyards. This led scholars to ask whether there may have been some intention to orientate their entrances in specific, meaningful ways. Previous attempts to...
Ghar-e Boof represents an exceptional Paleolithic site in the southern Zagros Mountains. Due to its long Late Pleistocene sequence that spans from ca. 81 ka until the Epipaleolithic, the site offers a unique opportunity to investigate long-term hominin behavioral patterns on a local scale. In this paper, we examine diachronic trends in prey choice and site occupation intensity...
The types of reindeer hunting, keeping, and herding in Fennoscandia have seen different periods of transformations and have found unique side by side expressions through time. To refine zooarchaeological analysis and scrutinize reindeer domestication and other past ancient human-reindeer relationships in the North, we propose methods for identifying sex, castration status, and...
Sex estimation based on amelogenin peptides in dental enamel has opened up possibilities to study prehistoric demography in a new light. The application of this technique is of particular importance for the analysis of prehistoric collective burials, where the commingled and disarticulated nature of human remains makes sex estimations challenging. This paper presents data on the...
The topography of alluvial plains in Europe has been strongly affected and overprinted by different diachronic human activities, and modern land use has reworked geomorphological and archaeological traces, often hindering the reconstruction of past landscapes and the assessment of ancient environmental impacts. In this work, set in the distal Venetian-Friulian Plain, in...
The long Middle Palaeolithic sequence of Tabun Cave covers a vital time of human dispersal across the Levant, both from Africa and from Europe. The sequence contains two of the human morphotypes found in the Levant during this period, most usually assigned to Neanderthals and anatomically modern humans, providing a unique opportunity to investigate whether there are behavioural...
Levallois technology, a hallmark of Middle Palaeolithic stone tool manufacture, involves sophisticated core reduction strategies that have major implications for understanding human cognitive and technological evolution. However, traditional methods of analysing Levallois cores often fail to capture the nuanced variability in their morphology. This study introduces a novel...
The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of chronic sinusitis in an osteoarchaeological sample from the Kostolec cemetery in the Ducové village (Slovakia) dated from the Late Bronze Age (1250–1000 BC) to the Modern Age (mid 16th–mid 19th century AD). The skeletons of 1,746 individuals were examined: 13 from the Late Bronze Age (LBA), 28 from the Great Moravian Period...
This work analyzes the evidence of Neanderthal frequentation at Moscerini cave (central Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy) based on the quantity and on the typology of tools produced on marine shells of Callista chione in comparison with the varying environmental and climatic context linked with the glacial/deglacial phases and the associated sea level oscillations during MIS 5. Thanks to...
Located in the upper valley of the Lozoya River, Cueva del Camino (Madrid, Spain) is one of the richest Early Pleistocene paleontological sites in the Iberian Peninsula. The results of the work carried out over the last three decades have led to the interpretation of the site as a hyena den with intermittent human presence. The faunal assemblage of layer 05 of Cueva del Camino...
Newly reanalyzed samples from the bronze statue of the Lupa Capitolina have provided lead isotope and trace element data. The lead isotope results coincide with those previously reported in the literature, but are approximately 20 times more precise. The high-resolution lead isotope analyses and the compositional data, especially lead concentrations higher than those found in...
The Bohemian Massif and the Alps are regions that are generally known for their rock crystal artefacts and the study thereof. The most important archaeological findspots in the Czech Republic are the Palaeolithic sites at Nová Dědina (East Moravia) and in Žitný Cave (Moravian Karst), which yielded numerous rock crystal artefacts. The study of fluid inclusions as sensitive objects...
It has become increasingly apparent that the origins of agriculture in Southwest Asia were an emergent and extended process that resulted from local evolutionary processes and social networks of interaction and exchange that extended across the region. Although the end of the process of domestication and economic transformation shows general regional similarities, sub-regional...
Multidisciplinary research has examined prehistoric human adaptation and survival in the Tibetan Plateau’s alpine and hypoxic environment. As an important prehistoric human hand and footprint site for studying prehistoric human activities, Quesang, on the central Tibetan Plateau, has witnessed prehistoric human arrivals at least twice: in the Middle Pleistocene and early-middle...
Quaternary hominin-carnivore interactions is taphonomically reconstructed best through the use of bone surface modifications (BSM). This study examines redundancy in an experimental dataset of potentially similar BSM created by crocodile tooth-marking, sedimentary trampling and stone tool cut marking (Domínguez-Rodrigo and Baquedano in Sci Rep 8:5786, 2018). The original analysis...
This research presents an historical background and an analytical and study of a bell dating back to the 20th century, currently located at Al Salam Modern School, an ancient school, formerly known as the American College in Asyut, Egypt, which was established during the period between 1901 and 1909. The bell consists of metal parts (Bowl, Yoke, Standards, Clapper, Clevis Bolt...
The identification of the duration of Neanderthal occupations is a tricky topic by the palimpsest nature of archaeological assemblages. This study explores the challenges associated with distinguishing between long and short-term occupations, using qualitative and quantitative data from relevant archaeological sites in the Late Middle Palaeolithic in Spain and south-eastern...