This study examines the erotic iconography carved on the wooden struts (tudāls) of temples in the Kathmandu Valley and situates these motifs within the wider South Asian artistic tradition through a comparative, archival, and interpretive approach. The research categorized erotic motifs by the type of act, posture, and architectural position, as well as the condition and history of the continuity, by means of a database of archival photographs. The results showed that paired maithuna images were the most prevalent type of carving in Nepalese temples, comprising more than 40% of the carvings in temples, and were much more common than triadic or group scenes. Placement studies found that Erotic struts were placed in the Second tier of temples with south and west direction to indicate the cosmological arrangement, which was observed in tantric semiotics of liminality and fertility. Consanguinities and dissimilarities with Khajuraho and Konark, too, could be summarized. Common systems of symbolism of fertility, auspiciousness, and cosmic harmony represent an affirmation of the pan-South Asian relevance of erotic imagery. Yet divergences were apparent in terms of materiality and ritual function: Nepalese wooden struts privileged an intimate, self-contained vignette set in a communal shrine; the Indian stone temple monumentalised erotica in sprawling narrative reliefs for dynastic and pilgrimage settings. The susceptibility of wooden images to subvert earthquakes and their discriminatory replacement in post-earthquake reconstruction drew attention to the fragility of erotic themes as part of the inheritance. With the combined use of iconographic analysis, tantric hermeneutics, and heritage studies, the present study addressed an important lacuna of scholarship. It has been shown that Nepalese erotic struts are not peripheral decorations, but are instead integrally related to the theme of temple sculptures as well as to metaphysical concepts and group ideals. The research facilitates broader dialogues regarding the intersections of sexuality, spirituality, and heritage in South Asia, highlighting the necessity of preserving the archive and maintaining the space with community awareness.

The review discusses the preservation of Jewish material heritage in Central-Eastern Europe using the exhibition (post)JEWISH… Shtetl Opatów Through the Eyes of Mayer Kirshenblatt, organized in 2024 at the Polin Museum of the History of Polish Jews, as a case study. The exhibition offers an in-depth exploration of the Jewish heritage in Opatów through Kirshenblatt’s paintings and contemporary curatorial research. The review presents the structure of the display and delves into details related to selected exhibits. It further examines the Authorized Heritage Discourse, a term used in critical heritage studies to describe the official mechanisms of heritage protection. The review argues that the exhibition highlights the significance of preserving material remnants of everyday Jewish life, which are often overlooked in official heritage practices that prioritize grand and monumental sites. It draws attention to the underrepresentation of Jewish heritage sites on the UNESCO World Heritage List and advocates for broader recognition and preservation efforts beyond the Holocaust narrative.

The atmosphere plays a pivotal role in modulating the interactions between microorganisms and their surrounding environments, influencing ecological cycles, heritage conservation, and providing opportunities for novel applications. Recent studies have highlighted the role of microbial responses to atmospheric conditions as indicators of environmental change. This study highlights the role of climate change, particularly rising temperatures, on the growth of cyanobacteria and, consequently, the impact of this on the conservation of cultural heritage, as in the case study of the rock paintings of the Majella Massif (Lama dei Peligni—Abruzzo Region, central Italy). The region’s rock art, characterized by red and black schematic motifs, is increasingly impacted by microbial colonization, driven by climate-induced temperature variations. These impacts are consistent with broader research demonstrating the link between microbial growth patterns and climatic factors. Laboratory analyses were carried out on cyanobacteria samples collected near the rock paintings at the study site in the Majella National Park. Results revealed a significant increase in growth rates at the higher temperature, demonstrating their sensitivity to climatic shifts. These findings underscore the dynamic role of atmospheric factors in shaping microbial survival and propagation. Consequently, certain atmospheric parameters appear to play a crucial role in the deterioration of fragile cultural assets. Indeed, the enhanced growth of cyanobacteria due to rising temperatures also poses a challenge: their proliferation can degrade cultural heritage sites, threatening their preservation. This research advocates for interdisciplinary approaches that integrate atmospheric sciences, microbial ecology, and heritage studies to explore the role of temperature in affecting cyanobacteria growth and the conservation of a peculiar cultural heritage in the Majella Massif. By leveraging their biological traits, cyanobacteria can provide valuable insights into climate dynamics while emphasizing the urgency for proactive strategies to mitigate environmental impacts on vulnerable ecosystems and heritage sites.

This article examines contemporary curatorial practices in France as contested sites where North African Sephardic Jewish cultural heritage intersects with broader questions of memory, transmission, and return. It is based on an ethnographic analysis of four case studies: an academic meeting in Cassis in 2019, two exhibitions at the Palais de la Porte Dorée and the Institut du Monde Arabe in 2022, the grassroots Dalâla festival in Paris in 2023, and the 2024–2025 ‘Revenir’ exhibition at the Musée des civilisations de l’Europe et de la Méditerranée in Marseille. The article explores how ‘interrupted transmission’ shapes intergenerational creative memory work among Maghrebi Jewish communities and individuals in France. The study contributes to critical heritage studies by illuminating how minority communities navigate state-sanctioned representations while creating alternative spaces for cultural transmission. Drawing on Svetlana Boym’s concept of reflective nostalgia, Marianne Hirsch’s theory of post-memory, and David Berliner’s work on heritage temporality, the analysis reveals how different curatorial modes – from institutional to grassroots – negotiate the complexities of colonial legacies, displacement trauma, and cultural reclamation. Central to the analysis is the examination of ‘return’ – both the physical journey to an ancestral homeland and the imaginative process of cultural reconnection – as an agential mode of self-affirmation for French-born Jews of Maghrebi descent. I argue that effective engagement with Maghrebi Jewish memory requires multilayered approaches that balance institutional resources with community agency, moving beyond binary frameworks of assimilation/marginalisation or a Jewish/Arab division.

ABSTRACT Over time, many murals have become heavily contaminated with soot, obscuring patterns and hindering the recognition of these significant cultural relics. This study utilises the spectral discrimination and subsurface detection capabilities of hyperspectral imaging to nondestructively reveal pattern information concealed by soot. After preprocessing the hyperspectral data, independent component analysis (ICA) is used to preliminarily separate soot from the underlying patterns. Several independent components containing the most distinct pattern information are selected for a two‐part enhancement strategy. The first part introduces a novel feature extraction method, EMP‐PCA, to highlight and extract the patterns, followed by contrast stretching to enhance the pattern–background distinction. The second part uses an inverse ICA transformation on selected components to synthesise a true colour image, which is then enhanced using a weight map–based method. Finally, the results from both parts are combined using Laplacian fusion, comprehensively revealing the patterns hidden beneath the heavy soot. The results demonstrate the method's effectiveness and provide valuable information for the archaeological study and conservation of cultural heritage.

ABSTRACT Three observations anchor the argument developed in this paper. (1) Major tech corporations increasingly act as the ‘peers’ of nation-states, as they rule their digital ‘fiefs’ through policies and codes. (2) Historically, nation-states have used heritage as one of their nation-building policies, and (3) the Critical Heritage Studies movement interprets any use of heritage as inherently political. Building on these ideas, this article analyses the online platform Google Arts & Culture – ‘GAC’ – to establish if and how the uses of heritage by Big Tech might be understood as variants of nation-building policies. Following a critical multimodal digital discourse analysis, this article finds that GAC promotes a type of easily consumable heritage that is rooted in quantified popularity, data colonisation, disneyfication and neoliberal individualism. This yields a new variant of the Authorised Heritage Discourse: the Algorithmically Authorised Heritage Discourse – ‘AAHD’. This emergent discourse transforms heritage into networked fragments of consumer culture, consequently producing a global ‘undifferentiated community’ that understands heritage as a ‘universal’ commodity that can serve individual desires. The resulting apparent apoliticalness of the AAHD is in fact deeply political, as it induces a type of political banality that discourages critical engagements with both heritage and Big Tech.

This study introduces the concept of Water Oral History as a new approach to understanding Malaysia’s water history through the voices and memories of local communities rather than technocratic records or official statistics. In the postcolonial context, the history of water in Malaysia has been dominated by administrative and developmental narratives that silence the lived experiences behind policies and dams. This article argues that an oral approach to water history opens a path toward the decolonisation of epistemology by rejecting bureaucratic discourse and restoring the voices of communities, Public Works Department workers, villagers, fishermen, and women who serve as both users and custodians of water. Through oral historical interviews, these micro-narratives reveal how experiences of drought, flood, and water disruption shape emotional politics and local identity, dimensions long neglected in mainstream historiography. Crucially, Water Oral History is not merely a documentation method but an intellectual act of reclaiming history as a site of social struggle. It reconsiders who holds the authority to write water history, the colonial engineers and state officers or the people who endured their decisions. Within postcolonial and subaltern frameworks, oral memory functions as a living archive preserving indigenous knowledge of river management, water rituals, and communal solidarity. By positioning people’s voices as historical texts, Water Oral History reframes water as more than an economic resource, as a symbol of power, dependency, and resilience in post-1957 Malaysia. This concept expands water heritage studies and challenges conventional historiography by shifting authority from the archive to the oral.

As the practice and business of personal DNA ancestry testing continue to expand globally, understanding people’s interest in their genetic history, and how the results influence attitudes about the past, is being called for. Such insight is especially relevant to archaeologists and heritage researchers. Yet the motivations for taking direct-to-consumer DNA tests and their effects remain poorly understood in a European context. This paper presents the results of a nationwide survey carried out by The Centre for Critical Heritage Studies, University of Gothenburg, in collaboration with the Swedish Society for Genetic Genealogy. The aim was to identify social and cultural attitudes among people who decided to take a personal DNA test in Sweden. Nearly 900 individuals answered the survey. Based on the results, we identify a distinction between family genealogies and personal genetic history versus national history and collective identity. While the majority of respondents are interested in history and archaeology, their interest in family genealogies is specifically linked to individual stories and possible links to existing/unknown family members. This suggests that DNA-testing provides a new and different take on family histories compared to historically-documented genealogies. It also suggests that the link to polarizing debates on ethnonational belonging, highlighted in relation to public responses to ancient DNA studies in archaeology, remains muted as regards personal DNA tests.

Abstract Terahertz (THz) science is widely recognized as the new frontier of applied electromagnetics, bridging the gap between microwave-and photonicsbased applications. THz radiation, spanning frequencies over three orders of magnitude, namely from 0.1 THz to 10 THz, combines the advantages of a submillimetric wavelength with a centimeter scale penetration depth while featuring a non-ionizing character. This unique combination cannot be found elsewhere in the frequency spectrum, yet it exactly matches the demand of imaging applications in diverse fields such as material characterization, quality control, authentication, and cultural heritage.In this topical review, we specifically address the progress that THz imaging techniques based on timedomain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) have made in the last three decades in the abovementioned contexts. Emphasis is given in their application to i) the analysis of emerging materials (2D materials, phase-change materials, etc.), ii) industrial applications with high social impact (e.g., food safety, anticounterfeiting, etc.), iii) cultural heritage studies (e.g., image reconstruction, conservation studies, etc.). With a careful selection of works in the field, this topical review offers a bird's eye view on the state of the art of THz-TDS in diverse application-oriented contexts, while addressing the reader towards the most promising research axes in the field of THz science.

The aim of the article is to demonstrate how archaeological research conducted on church premises in Poland becomes a social and cultural practice in which local communities – particularly parish communities – reinterpret the past and co-create their sacred heritage. It also aims to show that archaeology on church premises, when analyzed from a social perspective, performs not only a cognitive but also an identity-forming, community, and spiritual function. The article adopts the perspective of the social archaeology of sacred heritage, presenting it within the framework of contemporary approaches to the social archaeology of sacred places, including theoretical foundations and context. It presents an analysis of empirical data collected through individual in-depth interviews (IDIs) conducted with Roman Catholic clergy, in the following categories: discovering local uniqueness, building community identity, and barriers and challenges. The key findings of the study indicate that archaeology on church premises in Poland transcends the boundaries of scientific discourse, entering the sphere of religious, cultural, and community life, which makes it a significant element of identity-forming processes at the local level. The findings also highlight the necessity of developing an interdisciplinary methodology that combines social archaeology, contextual theology, and heritage studies.

Omani folk literature represents a living mirror of the cultural and historical identity of Omani society, reflecting its values, traditions, and worldview through various forms such as Nabati poetry, folktales, proverbs, chants, and performing arts. This literature serves as a repository of collective experiences and a medium for documenting the social, political, and economic transformations Oman has undergone throughout the ages. Folk literature has significantly contributed to strengthening social cohesion by embedding moral and religious values and reinforcing intergenerational bonds through the exchange of stories and proverbs that carry profound wisdom and human experiences. It has also played an educational and awareness-raising role, instilling positive principles such as courage, generosity, and solidarity. Moreover, Omani folk literature has had a notable impact on shaping national consciousness and fostering belonging, as it celebrates heritage, maritime and agricultural traditions, and Oman’s historical role in trade and navigation. With the evolution of Omani society, folk literature has remained a vital tool for preserving cultural identity in the face of globalization, as well as a key pillar in academic studies of heritage and anthropology. Therefore, studying Omani folk literature reveals its central role in nation-building, not merely as a cultural luxury but as a fundamental force in shaping the Omani character and safeguarding its cultural legacy.

This essay contributes to the 10th Anniversary Special Issue of plaNext – Next Generation Planning by offering reflections and ideas for inspiring a renewed roadmap in planning theory and practice that more systematically incorporates tools and contents from emerging critical disciplines. It emphasizes the crucial contributions that young researchers and planners can make through their work, as well as the potential of a journal led by early-career scholars—such as plaNext—to shape the field. The paper introduces the contemporary challenges facing planners within the context of the current global polycrisis, i.e., crisis of the ecosystem, society, democracy, and knowledge. Such a polycrisis will be linked to the urgent need for renewal in the field and a rethinking of how planning scholars and practitioners contribute to and engage with societal transformation and existing inequities and injustices. Drawing on emerging critical disciplines—including critical ecofeminism, critical disability studies, critical environmental justice, critical heritage studies and critical eco-museology, multispecies justice and critical animal studies, critical food studies, and urban political ecology—the essay explores how these perspectives have brought an ecosystemic understanding of the axes of power that drive inequality and injustice. It examines the extent to which these perspectives have already been incorporated into planning studies, the added value of integrating their critical tools, and the potential for planners and policymakers to engage in spatial and practical experimentation with these provocative concepts. Finally, the essay outlines some ideas for what a journal like plaNext could do for providing a space for innovative theoretical developments while supporting action- and justice-oriented work—both of which are increasingly crucial in today’s global context.

In contrast to its European counterpart, Islamic papermaking is still little researched, especially in scientific and conservation contexts. This study presents the first in-depth material analysis of a unique collection of Islamic-African amulets and talismans from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, held at the Slovene Ethnographic Museum. This research employed a multi-analytical approach that included pH measurements, analysis of fibrous materials, iodine test for the presence of starch, hyperspectral imaging (HSI), FTIR-ATR, Raman spectroscopy, laser-induced fluorescence (LIF), and laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS), as well as cultural interpretations. Twelve selected manuscripts were examined to characterize paper, inks, dyes, and calligraphic features. The results showed the use of iron gall inks, plant-based dyes, and mixed paper fibers (straw and softwood pulp), suggesting a mixture of local and imported materials from the colonial period. The calligraphic and decorative styles reflect a synthesis of orthodox Qur'an and local West African Sufi traditions, often incorporating protective texts, magic squares, and regional variants of Kufic script. The findings shed light on technological aspects of Islamic manuscript production in West Africa and support the informed conservation, display, and interpretation of these culturally and spiritually significant objects. This research sets a precedent for comparative heritage studies and enhances the understanding of Islamic material culture in African contexts.

Sudarshan Seneviratne (1949-2024), a pioneer scholar in Sri Lankan history, archaeology, and heritage research, has made significant contributions through his prolific publication record and seminars in both Sri Lankan and international settings. His focus on a broad spectrum of problem-oriented and issue-related multidisciplinary topics within the fields of history, archaeology, and heritage studies have been disseminated in English, and also translated into Sinhala and Tamil. This document compiles the extensively referenced work of Seneviratne into a comprehensive bibliography.

This study is structured to trace the genesis of temple architecture in India through a detailed examination of its historical, religious, and cultural underpinnings, and to explore how these foundational elements are reflected in the heritage temples that dot the Indian landscape today. It seeks to address the following key questions: What are the roots of temple architecture in India, and how did they evolve across time and regions? How did religious texts and philosophical traditions shape the conception and construction of temples? The methodology employed in this study combines historical analysis, textual interpretation, and comparative evaluation. Primary sources such as inscriptions, temple manuals, and archaeological reports are examined alongside secondary literature from historians, archaeologists, and architectural theorists. Case studies of significant heritage temples across different regions are included to illustrate the diversity and continuity of architectural traditions. The dissertation adopts an interdisciplinary approach, integrating perspectives from history, art history, religious studies, and heritage conservation to provide a holistic understanding of the subject. As India negotiates its identity in a globalized world, the recognition and preservation of its temple heritage become crucial for sustaining cultural continuity and fostering national pride. Understanding the genesis and reflection of temple architecture offers insights into the broader narrative of Indian civilization and contributes to the ongoing dialogue between tradition and modernity. In conclusion, the heritage temples of India are not static relics of the past but dynamic embodiments of a living tradition that continues to evolve. Their genesis is rooted in a complex interplay of spiritual vision, architectural innovation, and cultural expression.

This study is structured to trace the genesis of temple architecture in India through a detailed examination of its historical, religious, and cultural underpinnings, and to explore how these foundational elements are reflected in the heritage temples that dot the Indian landscape today. It seeks to address the following key questions: What are the roots of temple architecture in India, and how did they evolve across time and regions? How did religious texts and philosophical traditions shape the conception and construction of temples? The methodology employed in this study combines historical analysis, textual interpretation, and comparative evaluation. Primary sources such as inscriptions, temple manuals, and archaeological reports are examined alongside secondary literature from historians, archaeologists, and architectural theorists. Case studies of significant heritage temples across different regions are included to illustrate the diversity and continuity of architectural traditions. The dissertation adopts an interdisciplinary approach, integrating perspectives from history, art history, religious studies, and heritage conservation to provide a holistic understanding of the subject. As India negotiates its identity in a globalized world, the recognition and preservation of its temple heritage become crucial for sustaining cultural continuity and fostering national pride. Understanding the genesis and reflection of temple architecture offers insights into the broader narrative of Indian civilization and contributes to the ongoing dialogue between tradition and modernity. In conclusion, the heritage temples of India are not static relics of the past but dynamic embodiments of a living tradition that continues to evolve. Their genesis is rooted in a complex interplay of spiritual vision, architectural innovation, and cultural expression.

Abstract Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) was employed to analyze the elemental composition of historical mosaic samples retrieved during the restoration of the main lobby in the Palace of Antoniadis Gardens, Alexandria, Egypt, dating back to the 1870s. A Q-switched Nd: YAG laser operating at 1064 nm with a pulse energy of 45 mJ was focused onto the surface of each sample, generating plasma under ambient atmospheric conditions. This approach enabled rapid, quasi-nondestructive analysis of the mosaic materials. Three distinct mosaic samples (red, black, and white) were examined. The LIBS spectra revealed the presence of key elements, including iron (Fe), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), aluminum (Al), and silicon (Si), which are commonly associated with natural stones and ceramic materials. To validate the LIBS findings, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) was utilized as a complementary analytical technique. The comparison confirmed a pronounced correlation between the results of both methods, reinforcing the reliability of LIBS for cultural heritage studies. Additionally, comparative spectral analysis was conducted to identify the likely geological origins of the mosaic components. Spectrally, the black mosaic closely resembles basalt, the white mosaic resembles dolomite, and the red mosaic resembles pottery shards. These correlations suggest that locally sourced natural materials were employed in the production of the mosaics. This study highlights LIBS as a powerful tool for rapid, in situ archeological analysis, allowing for the efficient characterization and screening of cultural heritage objects without the need for prior sample preparation. Graphical abstract

Abstract Earlier this year a Swedish archaeologist based at Gothenburg University’s Centre for Critical Heritage Studies published an unfounded ad hominem attack on me in the pages of the International Journal of Cultural Property. I am grateful to the editors for this right to reply to Staffan Lundén’s wholly spurious claims, and order to correct the record. Despite its provocative, “clickbait” title, not one substantive mistake or incorrect fact was identified in Lundén’s article in my book “The Brutish Museums”. The motivation for Lundén’s serial accusations against colleagues with whose scholarship on the history of the Benin Expedition he disagrees - from curators at the British Museum to members of the Royal Court of Benin - is discussed. In conclusion, the allegation that my book The Brutish Museums is “part of a trend away from pro-British perspectives” is contextualised and refuted. On the contrary, this reply argues, openness and transparency about the colonial past and present is a key element of the reclamation and reimagining of Britishness that is unfolding in the 2020s – this unfinished period that the book calls “the decade of returns”.

Abstract The Late Cretaceous (Campanian–Maastrichtian) vertebrate ichnotaxa Patagonichornis venetiorum Casamiquela 1996 and Tridigitichnus inopinatus Casamiquela 1996 were established based on material preserved on a sandstone slab from the Angostura Colorada Formation, Montón Iló quarry, Río Negro Province, Patagonia, Argentina. This slab, along with others from the same locality, was used for constructions near Ingeniero Jacobacci town. The holotype-bearing slab is currently housed at the Museo di Storia Naturale di Venezia Giancarlo Ligabue (Venice, Italy). This study aims to reconstruct the circumstances surrounding these holotypes. Through visits to the Museo Antropológico e Histórico Jorge H. Gerhold (Ingeniero Jacobacci, Argentina), the original sidewalk from which the slab was removed, was identified. Moreover, nine track-bearing slabs with avian footprints and invertebrate traces were identified on the same sidewalk. Due to limited accessibility of the original descriptions, these ichnotaxa have received little scientific attention. Although P . venetiorum and T . inopinatus remain available names under ICZN regulations, their ichnotaxonomical validity requires further assessment. To highlight their importance as movable paleontological heritage, a detailed report —including descriptions, photographs, and 3D model— was prepared for the Ingeniero Jacobacci and Venice museums. The compiled data serve as a crucial reference for future research and conservation initiatives, promoting their patrimonial, educational, and touristic value. This work underscores the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration for the study and preservation of paleontological heritage.

The article is devoted to the analysis of the social aspects and characteristic features of oral folklore in shaping the youth’s national immunity against mass culture in the context of the globalization of information technologies. In New Uzbekistan, the study of spiritual and cultural heritage, the strengthening of commitment to traditions and values, as well as the exploration of folklore and oral creativity as a medium of moral, aesthetic, ideological, and socio-philosophical heritage, play an important role in fostering the national identity of the population. The author interprets oral creativity as a historically formed expression of the people's historical memory and as a source of social consciousness.