Archaeological Evidence Research Articles

Vibing to the furthest past: the utilisation of folklore and mythology in the prehistory exhibition at the National Museum of Finland

ABSTRACT In this article, we examine the prehistory exhibition at the National Museum of Finland. The exhibition opened to the public in 2017, closed in 2023, and will reopen in 2027. The analysis is based on an examination of the exhibition texts and the immersive, multisensory elements incorporated into the exhibition. We argue that the representation of folklore and mythology in the exhibition is somewhat vague, merely serving to reimagine and embellish the distant past. It appears that folkloric elements are employed to ‘fill the gaps’ when the archaeological record provides insufficient or noinformation to portray individuals from prehistoric times. This results in the formation of intricate temporal interpretations wherein the archaeological periodisation is obscured and intertwined with the mythological past. This intertwining of archaeological artefacts, the ‘touchable’ past, and Finnic folklore and mythology highlights the difficulty of presenting the prehistoric past in museum exhibitions.

The Vanished Fire Temple of Sarab-e Murt: A Tentative Interpretation of the Archaeological Evidence

The Vanished Fire Temple of Sarab-e Murt: A Tentative Interpretation of the Archaeological Evidence

The Skills of Handaxe Making: Quantifying and Explaining Variability in 3D Sinuosity and Bifacial Asymmetry

Observations about handaxe techno-morphology, like their symmetry, refinement, and fine edges have long been used to reconstruct the evolution of hominin cognition, skills, and technological decision making. However, these interpretations about the cognitive and technical abilities of Acheulean hominins often rely on the most ‘beautiful’ or supposedly ‘archetypical’ looking handaxes. But how often do these finely made handaxes actually occur in assemblages and how can we identify handaxes that were more skillfully made than others? Instead of seeking to estimate the skill level of individual past knappers, a trait that is oftentimes obscured in the archaeological record, we approach the question of knapping skill from the other direction. We instead ask how much skill was required to manufacture a handaxe? We explore, not the skill level of a handaxe’s maker, but how skillfully an individual handaxe was made. We put forth a suite of novel 3D methods of handaxe analysis for calculating their 3D edge sinuosity and 3D asymmetry. Using these methods, we quantify traits that are difficult to achieve during handaxe-making, providing an estimate of the requisite amount of ability, experience, attention, and effort demanded by their manufacture. Among our large sample of handaxes from the later Acheulean of the southern Levant, we find that blank size and tool-/site-use best explain the presence of more skillfully-made handaxes. Handaxes made on larger original blanks appear to afford more volume with which to enact longer and more skillfully demanding reduction sequences. Moreover, handaxes occurring at more recurrently occupied sites demanded less skill investment and appear geared towards the more expedient fulfilment of quotidian tasks. In the later Acheulean of the southern Levant there appears to be a great diversity in how skillfully handaxes were made, likely reflecting a diversity in the goals of handaxe making.

Understanding late medieval population change in English towns: an alternative approach

Abstract Understanding population change in late medieval English towns is crucial for interpreting urban development and economic shifts. Traditional estimates, based on taxation records from 1377 to the Tudor period, provide arbitrary population figures at two fixed points and fail to capture short—term fluctuations. This study proposes an alternative methodology that integrates multiple strands of evidence, including court records, tax lists, and archaeological data, offering a more nuanced understanding of demographic change. Using Nottingham as a case study, it challenges prevailing models of urban population decline. The evidence suggests that after sustained population growth into at least the 1330s, approximately 60 per cent of the townspeople died during the Black Death of 1349. However, significant migration by the early 1350s, and again in the late fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries, led to periods of population recovery. Archaeological evidence, together with documentary sources, indicates urban expansion from the second half of the fourteenth century, with substantial growth by the early sixteenth century—contradicting traditional narratives of abandonment and decline. The findings demonstrate that demographic change was far more complex than traditional methodologies suggest and that this alternative approach provides deeper insight into population trends. This approach is applicable to towns with comparable source material.

Late Holocene Environmental Changes and Human Subsistence in an Alluvial Landscape: A Case Study from the Pohansko Site on the Dyje (Thaya) River in Czechia

Abstract We examined the data from the floodplain settlement at Pohansko to uncover environmental changes, vegetation development, and floodplain dynamics that influenced the settlement's history and subsistence strategies. Most of the landscape was deforested during the Middle Holocene, while woodlands primarily limited to the alluvium were not significantly affected by human occupation. Human impact gradually increased from the Late Iron Age, peaking in the Early Middle Ages. The questions examined focused on the subsistence strategy and food sources. The archaeobotanical and palynological results suggest that supplies were brought from the hinterland, where chernozem soils were better suited for agricultural production. Woodland vegetation returned after the settlement's decline in the early tenth century CE. Archaeological evidence indicates that human settlement impacted the area from prehistoric times through the Early Middle Ages but not afterward. This finding starkly contrasts with the documented High Medieval regional expansion of settlements and population growth linked to the region's deforestation of uplands and alluvial aggradation.

An Archaeological and Artistic Study of Four Tombstones from the Period of the Qāsimī State in Yemen

This study examines four tombstones associated with significant figures in Yemen's history during the period of the early Qāsimī State (1006-1054 H./1597-1644 A.D.); ʿAlī b. al-Imām al-Muʾayyad Muḥammad b. al-Qāsim (1013-1078 H./1603-1617 A.D.) and his brother al-Qāsim b. al-Imām al-Muʾayyad Muḥammad b. al-Qāsim (1024-1127 H./1632-1715 A.D.). The research sheds light on their life histories and historical roles. It documents and studies these stone artifacts from both archaeological and artistic perspectives, providing a detailed description and analyzing the inscriptions in terms of form and content. The inscriptions contain valuable historical information, religious and historical titles, and supplicatory phrases. The researcher employed a descriptive-analytical approach and an inductive method by describing the four artifacts, reading their written texts, analyzing their contents, and referencing various archaeological evidence sources and historical references. The study emphasizes the importance of preserving these artifacts due to their significant archaeological and cultural value amid the ongoing armed political conflict in Yemen.

Urban Archaeology at a Crossroads

Since the Second World War, archaeological remains in towns have come under increasing pressure: major construction works have led to considerable degradation of the archaeological record. From the 1970s onwards, there has been growing awareness of the vulnerability of archaeology in old towns, yet it was not until the introduction of the Malta legislation in 1992 that archaeological research in towns really took off. In the Netherlands, however, application of the legislation also has an obvious downside. With research being mainly documentary in character, synthesising research is lagging behind. In addition, it is not always clear where within the 19th- and 20th-century urban expansion archaeology can be expected, and what type of remains there will be. The effect of construction on the remains has also remained unclear for a long period of time. Research by the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands has provided important insight into this. As a result, this article provides an agenda to address some of the key challenges faced by the field of urban archaeology.

Disaster in Bangladesh: Revisiting the Archaeological Evidences (From Earliest Times to c. 1800 CE)

Disaster in Bangladesh: Revisiting the Archaeological Evidences (From Earliest Times to c. 1800 CE)

Archaeological evidence for persistent occupation of marginal environments in southeastern Ethiopia during the Early Holocene

Archaeological evidence for persistent occupation of marginal environments in southeastern Ethiopia during the Early Holocene

고대 인류의 이주와 정착, 디아스포라의 고고학 - 한반도와 주변 지역을 중심으로

This paper discusses the human migration and settlement of ancient populations on the Korean Peninsula and its adjacent areas in the prehistoric and early historical times and examines one of the major research trends, the diaspora archaeology. Variations and scholarly definitions of migration, settlement, and diaspora are briefly discussed and the archaeological methodology for confirming them is reviewed. Based on this, the archaeological evidence of human migration and settlement in ancient Northeast Asia is comprehensively reviewed and discussed, with focus on the Korean Peninsula and surrounding areas. Along with archaelogical data suggesting the migration of new population, the aspects of cultural conflict and integration are also examined. Important cases in which ancient Chinese records refer to the human migration on the Korean Peninsula are discussed based on archaeological evidence of the relevant period and region. In particular, archaeological feasibility of the population movement is discussed while reviewing the cases of Buyeo, Goguryeo, and Baekje, each of which has brief records of migration of founding groups in the state formation process. In regions and eras with abundant written records, it is relatively easy to comprehend the specific aspects of human migration and settlement. It is challenging, however, to discuss migration, settlement, conflict, and integration in detail using only archaeological data in the prehistoric and early historical times. The purpose of this study is to understand the various characteristics of migrating populations and their socio-cultural contributions to the cultural development of ancient societies on the Korean Peninsula and its adjacent areas. It is hoped that this study will provide an opportunity to reevaluate the complexity, multiculturalism, diversity, and flexible cultural identity of ancient society.

雲南 河泊所 유적 新出封泥의 編年과 性格에 대한 일고찰 - 중국계 이주민과 연동된 樂浪 封泥 재검토를 위한 예찰

The Yunnan Hebosuo site is located in Shangsan Town, Jinning District, Kunming City, Yunnan Province, China, and is an important archaeological site where relics and structures from the Bronze Age to the Han Dynasty have been extensively unearthed. While archaeological investigations began in the 1950s, systematic excavations were carried out only after 2008. Notably, the discovery of the “Seal of the King of Dian” (滇王之印), the “Seal of Dian State” (滇國相印), and the “Seal of the Governor of Yizhou” (益州太守章) provides crucial material evidence that this region served as the administrative center of Yizhou Commandery during the Han Dynasty and was fully integrated into the central government’s administrative system. Yizhou Commandery was established in 109 BCE as a frontier administrative region (邊郡) following Emperor Wu of Han’s conquest of the southwestern tribes (西南夷). The commandery consisted of 24 subordinate counties but underwent structural changes during the Eastern Han and the Three Kingdoms period, with some counties being abolished or absorbed into other administrative divisions. Findings from the Hebosuo site affirm that this area was fully incorporated into the Han central administration. Evidence from the Hebosuo site also reveals traces of the use and disposal of seals (封泥), which are consistent with similar findings from other Han Dynasty sites, such as Linzi in Shandong and Pingyu in Henan. Seals were used not only to secure documents but also to seal specific items and possibly even facilities such as gates. A notable mystery for researchers has been the presence of seals bearing the name of the local commandery itself. It is hypothesized that these seals may be related to the drafting and storage of administrative documents under the governance system of the time. The Hebosuo site and its unearthed seals offer critical archaeological evidence for understanding how the Han central government exercised control over its local regions. The site provides concrete data on the historical context of Emperor Wu’s southwestern campaigns and the formation of Yizhou Commandery, highlighting the operational linkages between the central and local administrations. Additionally, the methods of seal disposal found at the site shed light on the administrative and document management systems of the Han Dynasty. Furthermore, these findings contribute to broader research goals, such as verifying the authenticity and characteristics of seals excavated from Lelang Commandery in Korea, in the context of Chinese migration and governance strategies.

Tracing the Source of Red Coral in Xinjiang: Evidence from the Western Han Dynasty Shengjindian Site in Turpan

This study sheds light on the origin and trade routes of early red coral artifacts found in Xinjiang, primarily dating to the Han and Jin dynasties. The red coral relics examined, excavated from the Shengjindian cemetery of the Western Han Dynasty in Turpan, offer critical insights into the material’s provenance and its introduction to this pivotal region along the ancient Silk Road. Advanced gemological, mineralogical, and geochemical analyses—utilizing computed tomography (CT), laser Raman spectroscopy, and laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS)—has revealed distinctive features. These include red coloration, a waxy luster, concentric ring structures in cross-section, and calcareous composition, identifying the coral as Sardinian (Corallium rubrum), likely originating from the western Mediterranean region. The findings carry significant archaeological implications. Red coral first appears in the archaeological record in Xinjiang during the Western Han period, facilitated by the thriving Silk Road trade and the expanding influence of Buddhist culture. This study not only confirms the Mediterranean origin of these artifacts but also highlights their integration into the cultural and economic networks of ancient Xinjiang, underscoring the significance of early long-distance trade and cultural exchange.

How Deep in Time and Far in Space: Multiproxy Geophysical, Coring and Geochemical Prospection of an (Not Only) Iron Age Village (Ebro Valley, Navarre)

ABSTRACTThe archaeological research carried out at Irulegi, a hilltop site on the namesake mountain (Aranguren Valley, Navarre, Spain), has revealed one of the most important examples of fortified protohistoric settlements in the western Pyrenees, characterized by its long evolution and the exceptional preservation of its remains. This site has been systematically explored using a range of methods, both geophysical and direct, including GPR, ERT and magnetic prospection, geoarchaeological coring, chemostratigraphic analysis and verification test pits, which have finally indicated the most suitable areas for excavations. The surveys carried out suggest that the settlement was initially established for defensive purposes and to exert control over the surrounding territory during the Middle to Late Bronze Age, approximately between the 15th and 11th centuries bc. The site remained occupied throughout the Iron Age until the first third of the 1st century bc, when it was abandoned following an assault by Roman forces in the context of the Sertorian Wars. The continuity of the archaeological record observed in the direct prospection, coupled with the remarkable quality and preservation of the architectural and archaeological evidence observed in the geophysical survey, outlines Irulegi as a key site for understanding the socioeconomic development of protohistoric populations in this region and could also offer insights applicable to other fortified Iron Age settlements in this or other regions of southwestern Europe.

South American Great Basin: Limnogeological analysis of the Salina del Bebedero Basin, Argentina (Late Pleistocene‐recent)

AbstractThe Bebedero tectonic depression in San Luis province, Argentina, is a closed drainage basin that has formed as a result of block‐faulting and rifting processes. The Bebedero lake exhibits notable similarities to the endorheic watersheds of the western United States, particularly those of Death Valley, the Saline Valley and, to a lesser extent, the Great Salt Lake. While it is currently classified as a playa lake, there is evidence of lake levels near the sill that overflowed during the Late Pleistocene. Several lines of evidence suggest that climate is the major controlling factor in the basin's fill. The Salina del Bebedero Basin is an underfilled lake basin type, particularly a discharge lake basin. This assertion is supported by recent findings, including precise topography, stratigraphy, facies associations, radiocarbon ages and palaeontology from one section and two transects. The following presentation comprises stratigraphic correlations, palaeoenvironmental reconstructions and a graphical model of lake stages based on these new results and previously published research. This paper provides a model of lake‐level fill from the Late Pleistocene to the present, identifying distinct highstands and lowstands associated with global climate events. The surface and depth of the lake were reconstructed for each stage. The maximum expansion was estimated at 1000 km2 during the Pre‐Last Glacial Maximum and 782.6 km2 during the Last Glacial Maximum, with depths ranging from 60 to 75 m. Lake Bebedero exhibited similar lake‐level responses to climate variations as Lake Bonneville, Great Salt Lake, as well as sub‐environmental similarities with Death Valley and the Saline Valley. In addition to its palaeoclimate significance, Lake Bebedero has archaeological records of an early settlement dating back ca 10 to 6 cal ka BP. The scarcity of data concerning the early human settlement in southern South America makes archaeological evidence relevant. Therefore, the inferences regarding climate and environment derived from studies of the lake provide important information about the first human groups to populate these regions.

Holocene vegetation dynamics and sedimentation processes in a small depression on a Pleistocene plain – a multi-proxy approach for the palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of a Neolithic settlement area near Leipzig, Saxony

Abstract. Since 2010, excavations by the Saxonian Archaeological Heritage Office have been conducted on a Pleistocene plain in northwest Saxony during the course of an open-cast lignite mining project. The area lies between the valleys of the Weiße Elster and the Pleiße in the Leipzig lowlands. An important multi-cultural site was discovered near the village of Kieritzsch, where archaeological remains from the early Neolithic up to the early Bronze Age were excavated. They are located in and around a former pond that was subsequently filled with organic-rich deposits. Various geo-archaeological investigations were carried out, complemented by radiocarbon dating to support and contextualize the archaeological results. In particular, archaeobotanical analyses (pollen and macro-remains) were carried out in order to reconstruct the landscape development of the depression and its surroundings. Thus, it was possible to reconstruct the Neolithic vegetation and land use history in a central German Altsiedellandschaft using a near-site pollen profile for the first time. The widespread pine forests were partially cleared for arable farming during the Linear Pottery culture period. From the Stroked Pottery culture period, there is significantly less archaeological evidence, while the palynological data account for sparse mixed-oak forests diversified by anthropogenic use. During the middle and late Neolithic, the number of settlement traces declines once more, even though the sedimentological record and the near-site pollen spectra show intensive land use. The woodlands in the vicinity of the pond continue to decrease, and Cerealia pollen is consistently present. After the Neolithic, the investigated profile shows a hiatus that comprises more than 3000 years. In the early medieval era deposition resumes, together with substantial deforestation and a general increase in human impact.

Ancient genomes reveal trans-Eurasian connections between the European Huns and the Xiongnu Empire

The Huns appeared in Europe in the 370s, establishing an Empire that reshaped West Eurasian history. Yet until today their origins remain a matter of extensive debate. Traditional theories link them to the Xiongnu, the founders of the first nomadic empire of the Mongolian steppe. The Xiongnu empire dissolved, however, ~300 y before the Huns appeared in Europe, and there is little archaeological and historical evidence of Huns in the steppe during this time gap. Furthermore, despite the rich 5th to 6th centuries current era (CE) archaeological record of the Carpathian Basin, the cultural elements of connections with the steppe are limited to few findings and even fewer solitary eastern-type burials. In this study, we coanalyze archaeological evidence with 35 newly sequenced and published genomic data for a total of 370 individuals-from 5th to 6th century CE contexts in the Carpathian Basin including 10 Hun-period eastern-type burials, 2nd to 5th century sites across Central Asia and 2nd c. before current era (BCE) to 1st c. CE Xiongnu period sites across the Mongolian steppe. We find no evidence for the presence of a large eastern/steppe descent community among the Hun- and post-Hun-period Carpathian Basin population. We also observe a high genetic diversity among the eastern-type burials that recapitulates the variability observed across the Eurasian Steppe. This suggests a mixed origin of the incoming steppe conquerors. Nevertheless, long-shared genomic tracts provide compelling evidence of genetic lineages directly connecting some individuals of the highest Xiongnu-period elite with 5th to 6th century CE Carpathian Basin individuals, showing that some European Huns descended from them.

Indecipherable Signs on the Rock

Abstract A noteworthy aspect of South Caucasian Protohistoric archaeology is the presence of limited archaeological evidence concerning a series of engraved and painted signs associated with funerary contexts. These signs cannot be categorized strictly as decorations nor as true forms of proto writing. Given the paucity of research on this topic, this paper compiles the primary evidence of engravings and paintings from the Middle and Late Bronze Age periods, for which the term ‘enigmatic’ is proposed due to the current inability to provide definitive interpretations. It is suggested that these engravings and paintings may have functioned as communication systems, potentially prefiguring the writing forms of subsequent periods.

Early weight systems, markets and trade

The dominance of economics in shaping the modern world has encouraged scholars from diverse intellectual backgrounds to explore and interpret the evidence for exchange, merchants and markets in the distant past. Urban, state and pan-continental trade systems and networks were developed and in use for thousands of years before the emergence of coins in the early first millennium BC in Anatolia, India and China. In the absence of coins, there is at least some reassuring evidence—especially for historians and economists—when written records detailing goods and transactions are discovered and translated. However, while these sources are invaluable, the majority of the early trade and exchange between individuals and groups across the world is visible only in the archaeological record. The sheer scale, complexity and distances revealed, even for some small village-based agricultural groups, highlights that there was widespread co-operation, but also raises the question of how such exchanges could have occurred. It is in this space that the frequently neglected—and sometimes maligned—study of early metrological systems and weight use can be best appreciated.

Waste Around Longhouses: Taphonomy on LBK Settlement in Hlízov

Abstract The research investigates the waste management and taphonomy of a Linear Pottery Culture (c. 5600–4900 BC) settlements. Waste deposition significantly shaped the archaeological record of the Early Neolithic in Central Europe and its reconstruction fundamentally influences our perception of the settlement space and the daily life of Neolithic people. Traditionally, it has been assumed that individual households discarded waste near their longhouses. However, findings from the site Hlízov (Czech Republic) reveal a more complex waste management system, with designated disposal areas and differential treatment of various waste types. Additionally, two overlapping waste distribution networks were identified, indicating distinct models of production and waste management organisation. These settlement-wide networks were discovered due to the abandonment of the rigidly used house unit model, which appears to be inadequate for this site.

Etched in Stone: The Kevermes Stone Stela From the Great Hungarian Plain

Abstract The origin and authenticity of artifacts unearthed outside controlled archaeological excavations pose challenges for archaeologists, especially when they do not fit established patterns in the archaeological record. This article presents a detailed analysis of a stone stela discovered in non-professional circumstances on the Great Hungarian Plain. The stela’s engraved design, previously unknown in the regional archaeological record, closely resembles that of a slab in the Gavrinis passage grave in Bretagne, France. In addition to the provenance of the rock, our investigations specifically focused on the identification of the find context and the authenticity of the engravings. The results thus far support the engravings’ authenticity and suggest that the stela was removed from a Yamnaya kurgan and repurposed several millennia later. We argue that the Kevermes stela testifies to complex dynamics of long-distance mobility and cultural exchange in Europe during the late fourth and the first half of the third millennium BC.