Excavations at the site of Sheikh Ḥilu in Ḥadera revealed the remains of a possible manor house or farm dating from the Crusader period. The partially exposed two-phase complex is a rare example of a settlement from this period in the Sharon plain. Careful planning and relatively high construction quality attest to its significance; however, apart from its solid architecture, there is no evidence of fortification. The site underwent a non-violent abandonment at the end of the Crusader period, after which it was temporarily settled by squatters. In the late Ottoman period and the early twentieth century, this was the site of the Muslim village of Sheikh Ḥilu, the cemetery of which remains fairly intact adjacent to the site.

For millennia, southern Kazakhstan has been at the center of population movements and cultural exchange, hosting numerous tribal unions and confederations. The social structures of the societies that formed these early states have been the subject of extensive research, interpreted primarily from burial structures and funerary rites. In a landscape dominated by kurgans, catacombs, and necropoles, little is known about the disposal of the dead in natural shelters like caves. In this paper, we present the initial results from the newly excavated site of Alpysbaev Cave located in Turkestan Province, southern Kazakhstan. Test excavations yielded several intersecting pits which contained disturbed adult and nonadult human remains (MNI = 4) as well as ceramic sherds, lithics, and by-products of combustion features. We radiocarbon dated material from our five lithostratigraphic units, which come from at least three distinct use phases spanning the Neolithic to early medieval and Iron Age periods. While the earliest lithostratigraphic unit contained human cranial fragments and faunal remains, most skeletal remains come from the Iron Age. We then present an integrated bioarchaeological and genetic evaluation of these remains and show evidence for subsistence practices, physical labour and pathological lesions among our sample.

For millennia, southern Kazakhstan has been at the center of population movements and cultural exchange, hosting numerous tribal unions and confederations. The social structures of the societies that formed these early states have been the subject of extensive research, interpreted primarily from burial structures and funerary rites. In a landscape dominated by kurgans, catacombs, and necropoles, little is known about the disposal of the dead in natural shelters like caves. In this paper, we present the initial results from the newly excavated site of Alpysbaev Cave located in Turkestan Province, southern Kazakhstan. Test excavations yielded several intersecting pits which contained disturbed adult and nonadult human remains (MNI = 4) as well as ceramic sherds, lithics, and by-products of combustion features. We radiocarbon dated material from our five lithostratigraphic units, which come from at least three distinct use phases spanning the Neolithic to early medieval and Iron Age periods. While the earliest lithostratigraphic unit contained human cranial fragments and faunal remains, most skeletal remains come from the Iron Age. We then present an integrated bioarchaeological and genetic evaluation of these remains and show evidence for subsistence practices, physical labour and pathological lesions among our sample.

Summary When Rome colonized Britain, it created a transport network spanning the province. This transformed the Iron Age economy, creating large new markets which in turn supported specialized manufacturing. This article explores the impact of transportation on Roman agriculture – the core of the Romano‐British economy. It analyses a large archaeobotanical dataset (1726 assemblages from 87 excavations) covering the later Iron Age and Roman periods in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, UK. The region has a number of distinct soil types, supporting a range of plant communities – these produced both natural resources and weeds. 414 wild taxa were recorded, alongside cultivated cereals. Little change occurred in the diversity of wild plant taxa over time, but there was an association between Roman settlement size and diversity of wild taxa. This shows larger settlements were using the transport network to draw in plant resources from larger areas than smaller settlements were. There was also a strong association of large storage barns with the transport network. In Roman Cambridgeshire, maybe two‐thirds of the rural population lived in settlements receiving plant produce from outside their immediate environment, indicating significant transportation of plant produce and a high level of integration.

Abstract Westerwanna are four-sided dice first produced among the Frisii people in the northern Netherlands and Germany during the late Iron Age and Imperial Roman period. We report analyses on a set of 27 Westerwanna and 15 oblong four-sided dice from this region to examine their cultural origin. While some attributes, such as Sevens configuration, conform strongly to patterns in Roman six-sided dice, others, such as pip orientation and layout, more closely resemble Celtic and Free Germania oblong dice. We argue in this article that Westerwanna dice reflect a blending of cultural information from different ancient cultures, resulting in a new form.

ABSTRACTObjectivesHistologically derived deciduous molar enamel formation times hold great potential for accessing information about the prenatal and postnatal ontogeny of juvenile fossil hominins. Yet our understanding of these formation times in modern humans is limited which inhibits comparative analyses. Here we utilize histology to investigate geographic and temporal variation in prenatal, postnatal, and total enamel cusp formation times among modern humans. We examine some of the processes whereby differences in formation time can arise by considering the underlying rate at which enamel forms and the average amount of enamel that is produced.Samples and MethodsLongitudinal thin sections of n = 356 deciduous first and second deciduous molars were selected from eight populations. Present‐day samples were from the United Kingdom, North America, and Aotearoa New Zealand. Archaeological samples represented the Medieval, Roman, and Iron Age periods. Formation times were calculated from prism lengths and daily cross striations.ResultsTotal cusp formation times for present‐day populations were similar except for Pacific Island peoples whose molars formed over a relatively short period. Enamel cusps of the archaeological periods were complete on average 2.5 to 3 months ahead of those from present‐day populations. Longer formation times were due to slower growth rates and an extended period of enamel formation after birth. Enamel thickness varied only slightly between all populations.DiscussionOur results reveal few differences in formation times between present‐day populations. Enamel formation was complete relatively early in the archaeological samples, which we explore through shifts in the pace of somatic growth.

ABSTRACT Saruq al‐Hadid, located at the edge of the Rub Al‐Khali desert near Dubai's southern border with Abu Dhabi, is among the region's richest archaeological sites. Renowned for its historical role in metallurgy, trade and human habitation, the site was occupied from the Umm an‐Nar period through the post–Iron Age. Despite its significance, much of Saruq al‐Hadid remains unexplored, with only limited ground penetrating radar (GPR) surveys and excavation campaigns conducted. Therefore, GPR integrated with magnetic data was used to investigate archaeological features buried beneath the sand dunes in previously unexplored areas. The bedrock, characterized by a gypsum layer with high‐amplitude reflections, serves as a key marker for identifying periods of occupation. Interpretation of the geophysical data, supported by radiometric dating and findings from previous campaigns, revealed five distinct occupation layers, corresponding to the Umm an‐Nar, Wadi Suq, Iron Age II, Iron Age III and post–Iron Age periods, separated by strong and continuous reflection surfaces, showcasing Saruq al‐Hadid as a persistent settlement over millennia. Six potential archaeological areas (A–F) were identified within Saruq al‐Hadid, each containing significant structures and hundreds of potential archaeological artefacts. These findings highlight the potential for uncovering further insights into the archaeological and historical significance of Saruq al‐Hadid.

The Betwa River Valley in the Bundelkhand region of Uttar Pradesh is an important archaeological site that hasn't been studied enough. It can help us learn more about how people lived and developed their cultures in central India before recorded history. This study looks at the prehistoric sites along the Betwa River Valley in a systematic way, with a focus on evidence from the Mesolithic, Chalcolithic, and early Iron Age periods. The paper talks about the cultural history and material culture of these prehistoric communities. It does this by looking at excavation reports, lithic tool analyses, rock art studies, and habitation site surveys. Kotra, Churkariya, and Orchha are examples of places that show different ways of getting food, improvements in how stone tools are made, and rock art as a way of expressing ideas. The study also compares the Betwa valley cultural sequence to sites from the Narmada and Chambal basins that were around at the same time. This helps put the findings in a larger South Asian prehistoric context. In this semi-arid riverine landscape, special attention is paid to the environmental factors that affect how people adapt and settle. Lastly, the paper talks about the problems that come up with preservation and documentation right now. It suggests using a mix of archaeology, GIS mapping, and heritage management to make sure that these important cultural resources are researched and preserved in a way that will last.

This report provides an overview of results from research excavations by the author in 2024 at the Holsneset medieval boathouse site. The primary objective was to provide a chronological framework for the construction and use of what is arguably the largest archaeological boathouse structure in northern Norway. The Holsneset excavation is also a key case study within an overarching research project that explores the role of monumental boathouses along the main sailing route through northern Norway as an expression of maritime communication and power in the late Iron Age and medieval period. Although the excavations in 2024 were limited to two parallel 4.5 x 0.5 m trenches extending across the boathouse floor, the results provide significant insights into boathouse construction that include floor and inner wall profiles. Surface features reveal two construction phases. In the first phase, radiocarbon dated by two samples with a collective age range of cal AD 1163-1229, the estimated internal length of the structure was c. 20 m with a vertical stone facing up to 1 m high along the interior wall. The parallel wall mounds from the original structure were extended towards the shoreline to construct a modified boathouse with an internal length of 39 m. The second phase boathouse extension utilized bedrock outcrops as a foundation for wall construction coupled with shell sand fill to build up new wall mounds. No reliable radiocarbon age estimates were obtained from this phase. The location, monumental dimensions and construction methods of the Holsneset boathouse strongly suggest that it was built and extended specifically for the leidang maritime defense system. The initial excavation trench was placed towards the front of the original boathouse. The second trench was placed at the transition between the two structures where the entrance to the original boathouse overlaps with the extended boathouse. A stacked stone feature, c. 1 m wide and 15 cm high, was constructed at the center of the floor in the trench at the entrance to the original boathouse. This structure is interpreted as a keel support assisting the movement of large vessels in and out of the boathouse. Stone alignments were placed along both sides of this central structure. Similar alignments are also present in the trench placed further back in the original boathouse along a stone lined keel trench. The alignments in both trenches would have supported the hulls of large vessels on the poorly drained surface where the boathouse was built. Due to poor preservation conditions, the artifact assemblage was limited to highly corroded boat rivet fragments. No bone was preserved, and it was also difficult to collect sufficient charcoal for radiocarbon dating.

ABSTRACTThis article presents an analysis of paleopathologies in dogs from the Iron Age through the Roman period (500 bce–400 ce) in Central–Eastern Gaul. The analysis focuses on the quantification of paleopathological traces in an attempt to identify changes in human–dog relationships between these two periods. The number of paleopathologies remains marginal in dog populations during these periods. However, oral pathologies represent the most prevalent identified lesions. Nevertheless, a discernible increase in joint and traumatic diseases can be observed in urban centers from the beginning of the Roman Empire onwards, which coincided with a rise in morphological diversity and the cessation of cynophagy. The number of “multipathological” cases also increased during the same period. This upsurge of joint and traumatic pathologies raises questions about the living conditions and treatment of dogs according to their potential functions in ancient societies. Nonetheless, the majority of paleopathologies are multifactorial or of unknown etiology and therefore cannot be unequivocally linked or attributed to certain dog's functions.

In 2012, was submitted to the National Archaeological Agency several metal pieces dating from the Iron Age and Roman period, discovered in different places in the surroundings of the village Gura Bâcului (Anenii Noi, Republic of Moldova). Among them is a fibula of the late La Tène scheme, preserved fragmentarily. The exemplar is attributed to the Nauheim type, dated mainly between the end of the 2nd cent. and 1st century AD. After the presentation of the piece, the closest analogies for the Gura Bacirc;cului clasp are given, with some typological and chronological clarifications.

The Gullåkra wetland is located around 5 km south of the modern city of Lund and around 2.7 km east of the important Iron Age settlement of Uppåkra in Scania, southern Sweden. In the 1840s, a remarkable discovery was made in the wetland: a bronze lur dated to c. 1300 BCE, along with a boat and the bones of a large animal offering. As Bronze Age boats are exceedingly rare, this discovery makes the site highly significant for early Scandinavian maritime history. In 2023, excavations were carried out with the goal of relocating the boat discovered in the 19th century and assessing any additional remains within the wetland. Unfortunately, peat mining in the early 20th century drastically altered the landscape, obscuring its pre-industrial form and limiting further study. Although the boat could not be found, interdisciplinary methods, including dendrochronology, carbon dating, and sediment analysis, enabled the reconstruction of the wetland’s trans-Holocene history. Evidence of significant human and natural events was identified spanning the Stone Age, Bronze Age, Iron Age, and early modern periods. The investigation underscores the enduring importance of wetlands as sites of human activity and ritual throughout prehistory. While the boat remains elusive, the Gullåkra wetland continues to demonstrate its potential for future discoveries relevant to the early history of southern Sweden. The study also highlights the value of interdisciplinary approaches in reconstructing long-term human and environmental histories.

In March 2022, two geoarchaeological boreholes were drilled within the Avon Valley at the site of Jubilee Gardens, Ringwood, Hampshire. The works were commissioned from Connect Archaeology by VolkerFitzpatrick on behalf of their client, National Highways, as part of the A31 road widening and junction improvement works. One sequence was selected for palaeoenvironmental analysis and radiocarbon dating, aiming to provide evidence for landscape development in an area where such records are sparse. The results highlight two temporally removed phases of deposition. The early Neolithic base of the sequence illustrates the presence of alder carr and herbaceous wetland in the lower valley, with the higher land home to open grassland with copses of primarily hazel. Beyond the scheme footprint, Neolithic long barrows and Bronze Age barrow cemeteries were constructed among the higher grasslands, standing as prominent monuments overlooking the floodplain. It is possible that changing climate of the 2.8 ka event, bringing colder and wetter conditions, may have pushed people from the region as the rivers grew more powerful and eroded the ground around them. Such an event may explain the decline in regional human activity during the Iron Age period, as well as an absence of the channel's depositional sequence. By the early medieval period, conditions returned to deposition within the river channel, with herbaceous wetlands spreading through the lower valley, bringing a decline in alder carr, as agricultural field systems became prominent across the upper valley. Evidence for land reclamation and flood alleviation is shown throughout the 20th century as Ringwood grew.

The purpose of this study is to analyze the trade networks of carnelian beads during the Early Iron Age and Proto-Three Kingdoms period. In the paper, the types of carnelian beads were classified, the distribution patterns of each period and region were reviewed, and it was confirmed that there were differences in the origin and distribution by type. The carnelian beads excavated in Korea were assumed to be imported from the northern region(Mongolia/Russian Far East/Northeast China) and the southern region(South Asia/Southeast Asia) based on the geological sources, production sites, regional shapes, manufacturing techniques, distribution patterns, and historical records. And the multi-faceted beads in the southeastern region of the Korean peninsula seems to be reprocessed products of the spherical beads from South Asia/Southeast Asia. The distribution of carnelian beads in the Korean Peninsula reflects the historical situation of the time. In the Early Iron Age, northern carnelian beads flowed from northeastern China, mainly to the southwestern region. But after the establishment of Lelang(樂浪) by Han(漢), a large amount of southern carnelian beads began to flow through the trade network of China. In the late Proto-Three Kingdoms period, Lelang had been weakened, and Three Han(三韓) grew to become major consumers of the southern carnelian beads. On the other hand, in the central region of the Korean Peninsula, it seems that there was the northern carnelian bead network.

This paper reviews stone (agate and carnelian) and glass bead assemblages from three sites in northwest Cambodia: Lovea, Prei Khmeng, and Sophy. Beads from all three sites were largely found in burial contexts dating to the Iron Age or protohistoric period (500 BCE-500 CE). While stone and glass beads are frequently markers of contact with South Asia, they are also informative for understanding intra-regional exchange networks within Southeast Asia. An analysis of the glass beads identifies that most beads were made from a high-alumina mineral soda glass. Compositional and morphological analysis of the stone beads suggests that beads were likely produced from an Indian raw material source and using South Asian production techniques. Overall, the bead assemblages from all three sites show connections to other sites in Cambodia and Thailand and especially seem to be part of the broader Mekong Interaction Sphere exchange network.

Abstract First reported in 2014, a fortified site atop a small mountain adjacent to the village of al-Nejd shows another facet of the settlements of the little-known Samad Late Iron Age (SLIA). Until recently, few settlements of the Early Iron Age and late pre-Islamic period are recorded and published in the land between the Oman Peninsula (U.A.E.) and Oman’s southern province, Dhofar. While analyzing graves with skeletons and finds of the latter period yields information about their owners, settlements lag far behind. With this background, al-Nejd offers new insight into the settlement, in addition to the first coin to be found in Oman. The authors attempt graphic documentation to contextualize the architecture and answer two questions. First, is there a typical kind of SLIA fortification separate from other periods? Second, how closely is the SLIA related to its neighbors and the preceding period in terms of material culture and architecture?

A large pottery assemblage dating from the late Iron Age to the Byzantine period was uncovered on Ben Gamli’el Street. Most of the pottery vessels and oil lamps date to the Persian and Hellenistic periods, including a terracotta figurine of the Hellenistic period. Among the finds are many imported vessels from various workshops, reflecting the role of Yafo as one of the major port cities in the region during the Persian and Hellenistic periods.

A small-scale excavation carried out next to the Franciscan Church of the Annunciation compound in Nazareth exposed the remains of three building strata: Stratum III, from Iron IIA–B (tenth–early eighth centuries BCE); Stratum II, from the late Hellenistic to the Early Roman period (late second century BCE–first third of the second century CE); and Stratum I, from the Crusader to Mamluk periods (twelfth–fifteenth centuries CE). The late Hellenistic to Early Roman-period dwelling incorporated a three-level complex of subterranean pits or silos. Within the pits, many potsherds were discarded, perhaps attesting to the Jewish practice of ritual defilement of ceramic vessels that were rendered impure. Similar findings were documented at other Jewish villages of the Early Roman period in Galilee.

Some five kilometers west of ancient Jerusalem lies a large Iron Age tumulus. At the base of this tumulus, rock-cut installations were uncovered, including winepresses, caves and cisterns. The winepresses were first executed during the Iron Age, resembling the type that prevailed in the region west of Jerusalem during that time. The pottery and small finds from the Iron Age/Persian period included mainly storage jars, with a relative abundance of stamped jar handles, alluding to the economical activity at the site. Following the site's abandonment at the end of the Persian period, a rural settlement was established during the Early Roman period; its inhabitants had engaged in industrial activity, reusing the ancient facilities. Later, sporadic activity at the site occurred during the Early Islamic period.

A farmhouse, equipped with agricultural installations, was uncovered; it was surrounded by an ancient road and agricultural terraces. Two main occupation periods were observed within the farmhouse: the Late Iron Age (Stratum 2) and the Second Temple period (Stratum 1). The Late Iron Age building was built in accordance with the four-room house plan. It was part of an agricultural/industrial complex comprising a vineyard, a winery and a cellar. The pottery indicated that it was built during the eighth century BCE and was used until the end of the Iron Age. The Second Temple-period building reused the earlier one, with some alterations. A new installation, typical of the Second Temple period, was cut in bedrock, and probably served for dyeing. This stratum was dated by Herodian artifacts, which were found sealed beneath a floor, to the first century CE.