ABSTRACT Amphibians from archaeological sites are used to assess palaeoenvironments but rarely investigated to answer archaeological questions other than consumption. They can, however, yield important information about site occupation, land use and the environment. We developed a sizing method to understand how and why amphibians were deposited in pit F76 under the Medieval Manor of Lower Putton Lane, England, which allowed us to answer broader questions about the site. Along with size, and, by inference, age at death, we recorded taxonomy and taphonomy of the amphibians. We demonstrated this was a breeding population which suffered catastrophic mortality in late spring. We inferred F76 was a working or refuse pit which flooded to become an amphibian breeding site, but was rapidly infilled in late spring, perhaps the cause of death, sealing the amphibians. After a brief hiatus F76 was chosen to be the site for the first Manor house. The builders did not know it was prone to winter flooding when they chose this site, suggesting they were probably from outside the area, certainly unfamiliar with it. We show that suitable recovery and analysis of amphibian remains enable them to contribute fully to discussions about how people lived in the past.

ABSTRACT Departing from recent studies on Early Islamic-period agroecosystems in sand along the Mediterranean coast of Israel, we present in this editorial introduction seven papers of a Special Issue titled Connectivity of Agrotechnologies between Late Antiquity and Early Modern Times in the Mediterranean Region. The papers focus on the evolution of agricultural practices in form, space and time, the development of agricultural earthworks and systems, ancient to traditional agroecosystems’ global catalysts and transfer mechanisms and impacts of agricultural practices on societal resilience to environmental and social change, mainly in marginal lands between Iran and Iberia. The results of these studies appear to be partly relevant and applicable to some modern agricultural practices and geo-heritage and preservation activities.

ABSTRACT The question of prehistoric fuelwood selection and use, whether they were determined by ease of collection and wood species availability in the environment or by cultural choice, has vexed anthracology from the early days of the discipline. This paper addresses this question by revisiting the ‘Principle of Least Effort’, one of the most influential research paradigms in anthracology incorporating environmental, functional, and cultural elements. Drawing on previous research alongside ethnographic, ethnohistorical, ecological and anthracological data from the Eastern Mediterranean and Southwest Asia, I propose a novel theoretical framework that explicitly addresses the plurality of cultural inputs in archaeological charcoal taphonomy, themselves reflecting the complex interdependencies of human behaviour, vegetation responses and landscape change. In its core lies the principle that prehistoric fuelwood management cannot be reconstructed and interpreted in isolation from its diverse sociocultural, ecological, and technological contexts. The importance of anthracology as a source of data on an increasingly endangered global palaeoenvironmental heritage is also emphasised. Methodologically, the paper addresses the equifinality biases that are sometimes inherent, if not always explicitly acknowledged, in anthracological studies.

ABSTRACT Archaeobotanical research in the Aegean has revealed a diversity of crops grown by prehistoric farmers. Ethnographies of recent farmers in the Mediterranean demonstrate the economic and cultural significance of which crops were chosen for cultivation. Crop choice may, therefore, provide insights into various aspects of rural life in the past. To this aim, I synthesise archaeobotanical evidence from the Aegean to reveal trends in crop choice and diversity across the Neolithic and Bronze Age. I find trends in the distribution of crops linked to new introductions, changing environmental conditions and local social and economic factors. I reveal divergence in crop spectra between regions, but convergence within regions, resulting from both top-down and bottom-up social processes. Trends in crop diversity align with evidence for cultivation intensity and indicate the continuation of more intensive farming systems between the Neolithic and Bronze Age in northern Greece and the emergence of more extensive systems around the Final Neolithic/Late Chalcolithic-Early Bronze Age in southern Greece and western Anatolia. This ‘extensification’ may be implicated in transformations in social and political organisation within these regions. Several trends also converge on the Middle Bronze Age, potentially linked to climatic changes around the end of the Early Bronze Age.

ABSTRACT This paper presents new sedimentological and faunal data obtained from two palaeoenvironmental cores extracted near the Bronze Age urban centre of Palaikastro, eastern Crete, and provides valuable insights into the coastal landscape history during the Neolithic and the Early Minoan periods, as well as snapshots into later chronological periods and landscape phases. Our combined results indicate that during the Late Neolithic (before 3822–3710 cal BCE) a low energy, oligohaline estuary occupied the study area. The estuary gave way to an open and shallow marine lagoon during the Final Neolithic (3531–3354 cal BCE). A short-lived phase of alluvial deposition resulted in sea regression and the creation of coastal marshes at the beginning of the Early Minoan period (between 2924–2872 and 2822–2629 cal BCE), whereas later in the Early Minoan period (2580-2469 and 2466–2175 cal BCE), lagoonal/shallow marine conditions were re-established. Although our data do not bear evidence of the mid-2nd mil. BCE Thera eruption (e.g. tephra or tsunami deposits), further research is clearly needed to reconstruct the coastal landscape history for the next ca. 1000 years, between the Early Minoan IIB and the Late Minoan IIIA period. Yet, evidence for important changes exists after the Theran eruption, when, presently undated, flash flood deposits of terrestrial origin impacted the coastal zone, resulting in sea regression and the creation of marshes. By the thirteenth to fourteenth century CE, thick deposits blanketed the coastal plain and the landscape started to resemble its modern morphology. Integration of sedimentological and faunal evidence with the multi-proxy Palaikastro off- and on-site dataset highlights the complex interplay of ecological, climatic, geomorphological, economic and social factors in shaping the coastal landscape in the vicinity of the Bronze Age town.

ABSTRACT This paper delves into the utilisation of stable isotope analysis as a tool for understanding ancient human adaptations to diverse marine environments, with a specific geographical focus on Southeast Asia and the Pacific. It analyzes stable isotope data from modern fish bones and tooth enamel, focusing on δ13C, δ15N, and δ18O values. The data confirm the reliability of δ13C as a proxy for marine consumption in archaeological contexts and emphasises the potential of combining δ13C and δ15N measurements to reconstruct marine food consumption and trophic level. This, in turn, helps us gain insights into ancient marine consumption and ecosystems in Southeast Asia. While distinctions between marine niches are not clear, δ15N shows potential for distinguishing feeding behaviours among fish species. The data also suggest geographical and ecological variations in stable isotope values, highlighting the need for locally-based baseline datasets in archaeological studies of marine subsistence strategies.

ABSTRACT Two key gaps exist that constrain the ability of strontium isotope analysis to reveal the life histories of the animals and people that lived in and moved around ancient southern Mesopotamia: (1) the aridity and salinity of the Iraqi alluvium pose concerns for the preservation of biogenic strontium in bioarchaeological remains, and (2) the range of 87Sr/86Sr variation associated with specific locations is as yet poorly understood, complicating interpretation of bioarchaeological values. This paper reports the successful recovery of biogenic strontium isotope values in faunal bone excavated at Tell al-Muqayyar (the ancient city of Ur), establishing that bone is a material appropriate for 87Sr/86Sr analysis in at least some southern Mesopotamian contexts. Our data also reveal intraurban variability in soil 87Sr/86Sr values (0.70799–0.70821). This variation may reflect some combination of differential proximity to ancient watercourses, diachronic variation in the sediments deposited within the city, anthropogenic activity, and modern influences from the water table, for example. These results address the aforementioned gaps in strontium isotope analysis in the region. Future work is needed to clarify the roles of fluvial geology and diachronic change in establishing strontium baselines and local bioavailable strontium signals across Ur.

ABSTRACT Many models have been proposed to explain the disintegration of Classic Maya polities including those based on climate change, inter-site competition, warfare, and environmental degradation. It is now clear, however, that multiple simultaneous factors were involved, and the combination of factors varied from one region of the Maya Lowlands to another during the Late to Terminal Classic periods (AD 750-900/1000). As such, each region must be examined individually to understand the processes that contributed to depopulation to explain why some regions were more resilient than others. In the upper Belize River Valley in the eastern Maya Lowlands, a series of droughts during the Terminal Classic has been attributed as one factor underlying the abandonment of centers. Using Hill diversity metrics (richness, Shannon diversity, and Simpson diversity) as measurements of diet diversity, our study analyzes Preclassic (1100/1000 BC-AD 300) and Late/Terminal Classic fauna from the sites of Baking Pot, Cahal Pech, Lower Dover, and Xunantunich to test models of environmental degradation and the adaptive cycle. The results show that the ancient Maya of the region responded to climate stresses through environmental resource management. Any rigidity in dietary preferences was mitigated by exploiting a broad spectrum of animal and plant resources.

ABSTRACT Stable isotope analyses of archaeological plant material have increased in the last few decades with questions arising about climate, environment, and subsistence strategies. While the available studies are of great interest in the field, they are still a minority compared to other types of organic material, especially from African contexts. Desiccated plant material in particular has only sporadically been investigated, partly because archaeological contexts suitable for its conservation are extremely rare and potentially diagenetically altered. Here we provide stable carbon and nitrogen isotope data from prehistoric C4 wild desiccated cereals from Takarkori (central Sahara, southwestern Libya). To our knowledge, this is the first study on uncharred African archaeological seeds and one of the few examples of stable isotope analysis applied to desiccated cereals. Results show that the stable nitrogen isotope values are likely diagenetically altered. The stable carbon isotope values are uniform across the different species analysed except for Panicum, likely linked to its photosynthetic sub-pathway. Although the response to environmental constraints is difficult to assess using stable isotope analysis applied to C4 plants, the multidisciplinary studies available from Takarkori suggest some kind of adaptation/resilience of the wild cereal species alongside human exploitation over several millennia.