Graphite-tempered vessels are important diagnostic finds of the Late Iron Age La Tène culture of Central Europe, yet they are still enigmatic. One of the most interesting phenomena connected to them is a group of more-or-less sophisticated symbols, the so-called ‘base marks’ (Bodenzeichen in German), added before the firing to the exterior of the base of a small proportion of these vessels. The paper presents five new examples from two Late Iron Age sites, Perkáta-Nyúli-dűlő and Báta-Öreghegy (Hungary), supplementing the current assemblage of such finds from the Carpathian Basin. The description of new finds is completed by a discussion of the possible functions of these symbols and some economic-cultural and chronological conclusions based on their occurrence.

The “Syrdarya Region” or “Syr Region’s” geographical definition denotes the Syr Darya River’s lower reaches and the Aral Sea’s eastern shores. The Kazakh tribe’s regional ethnic formation is complex and formed in several historical phases. Its history dates back to ancient ages. It was the Saka-Massagetae’s political-administration center, and Kangui clans’ land during the Early Iron Age. Turkish-origin clans/tribes migrated to the Syrdarya Region and Oghuz and Kipchak states settled there during the Early Medieval Age. The Mongol-Tatar invasion was the next regional migrative movement. The regional Turkic clans/tribes joined the subsequent ethnic formation of the “Kazakh” people. The Syrdarya Region, under the Dzungar invasion, became a large migration center and the home for a complex clan/tribe union with the Greater, Middle, and Lesser tribe Kazakhs. This study covers the history of complex relations between the clan/tribe in the Syrdarya region, which has been a center of commerce since the ancient ages.

The slender bronze dagger is a key artifact of bronze assemblage from the Early Iron Age and the Proto-Three Kingdoms in the Korean Peninsula. Previous research on slender bronze daggers has attempted classification and seriation to clarify their origin and transition process. However, the slender bronze dagger has been described as undergoing only gradual changes after its basic form was established, without clear morphological shift. This study approaches the morphological variation of slender bronze daggers from the perspective that it is complexly related to not only spatio-temporal variation but also the temporal accumulation of variation and the processes of production and exchange. As these issues are difficult to resolve with a fixed criteria, this study approaches the problem through the tendencies of variation, geographical distribution and patterns of associated artifacts. Machine Learning's RFE (Recursive Feature Elimination) analysis was used to verify the significance of attributes, and Multidimensional Scaling (MDS) was employed to analyze the distribution of variation. As a result, first, it was confirmed that the significance of attributes varies depending on the spatio-temporal unit. Second, as slender bronze daggers undergo transitions and gradually become standardized, distinct regional spheres are distinguished based on morphological similarity. Finally, the morphological variation of slender bronze daggers was interpreted from the perspective of regional production organizations and their relationships. As the regional-level production systems become increasingly organized, ostentation through multiple burials and differentiation in size gradually disappear. Instead, morphological similarity becomes linked to the intensity of interaction. Accordingly, spatio-temporal changes are also confirmed in the distribution of slender bronze dagger burials, associated artifacts, and the utilization of raw material sources.

The remains of the extraction of alluvial and eluvial cassiterite by placer mining in the Ore Mountains have been identified by LIDAR data and analysed by mining archaeologists at the Archaeological Heritage Office Saxony (LfA). High-resolution digital terrain models (DTM) already provide a preliminary interpretation of these relics, which helps to strategically determine former work areas in which archaeological investigations need to be conducted. Using archaeological and scientific methods, the mining archaeologists have already proved Bronze Age mining within a streamwork near Schellerhau in the Eastern Ore Mountains in 2018. In subsequent years, we refined our approach to understanding the stratigraphic sequence of exploitation – what we call the “stratigraphy of work areas” – and used it to identify the oldest traces of extraction within a placer- mining relic (see part 1 in this issue). The method was tested and proofed successfully in the “Sauschwemme” streamwork near Johanngeorgenstadt in the Western Ore Mountains. We identified its stratigraphically oldest work area in the northern part where we began our detailed research of the terrain and discovered Bronze Age placer mining. Radiocarbon data available so far indicate prehistoric cassiterite streaming. They point to a certain continuity from the Early Bronze Age to the Hallstatt Period, when the tin deposits of the Ore Mountains played a role within the supply of tin to Europe. The access to and control of these tin placer deposits were likely of strategic relevance for the Bronze Age and Early Iron Age cultures of Europe, as was the miners’ knowledge of the most productive tin placers and the technical know-how of extraction and dressing of the tin mineral cassiterite. Tin was mined in the immediate vicinity until at least the High Middle Ages. The insights of our preliminary investigations provide the basis for the EU Interreg Saxony/Czech Republic project “ArchaeoTin. Archaeology in World Heritage – Tin Mining Landscapes,” in which German and Czech mining archaeologists have been investigating tin placer mining in cooperation with researchers from other disciplines since 2023. Many of the tin mining relicts are also part of the UNESCO World Heritage “Erzgebirge/Krušnohoří Mining Region”.

Abstract Excavations at the Iron Age site of Worlebury hillfort during the mid-late 19th century revealed a large number of human skeletal remains, interpreted as victims of a ‘massacre’. Reanalysis of these remains, combining AMS dating, osteological, aDNA, histotaphonomy, and isotope analysis, has enabled a re-evaluation of this hypothesis. AMS dating lends support to the notion that many of these individuals may have died during a single episode, while osteological analysis has identified significant evidence for perimortem trauma, and the histology supports a short period between death and deposition. The genetic data suggest that the human remains represent a group with biological links through the maternal line and connections to another nearby site, while the isotope values are consistent with a local population, consuming animals raised in a salt-marsh environment like the Severn Estuary. Our results demonstrate the value of returning to often unpromising antiquarian collections using an integrated suite of modern analytical approaches.

ABSTRACT Contrary to several recent publications, this paper will argue that the case against Burnswark being a genuine siege is strongly supported by detailed analysis of the Roman use of artillery, specifically the position and interpretation of the Three Brethren as artillery mounds, the close position of the South Camp in relation to the Iron Age hillfort, the numbers and different types of missiles striking the collapsed/slighted stone face of the hillfort’s rampart, and the non-use of a Vespasian-style catapult blitzkrieg.

High mobility and extensive trade and military interactions are well recognized throughout the Late Iron Age Europe. The extremely rich archaeological record for the Masłomęcz group - a Goth-associated assemblage flourishing between 2nd and 4th century CE in what is now eastern Poland - has long been providing evidence for their wide cross-cultural contacts. However, the extent to which these were ephemeral or involved long-term immigration and interbreeding, remained unresolved. Here, by obtaining archaeogenomic data from 37 burials and reanalysing published data, we provide evidence that, while the Masłomęcz group was built mostly on Scandinavian-derived ancestry it extensively assimilated individuals from diverse directions and distances, including the Baltics, the Balkans and even further into the Mediterranean, creating a highly genetically heterogenous population. Additionally, we shed more light on the burial customs of this community by finding no close kin relations within multiperson burials. Our findings provide evidence for long-range mobility far outside the borders of the Roman Empire. The Masłomęcz group was a highly open community embracing external contacts and immigration, perhaps contradicting popular presumptions about the so-called barbarians.

Abstract Ban Non Wat is the most extensively excavated later prehistoric site in mainland Southeast Asia. The cultural sequence under review began in ca. 1700 BCE with occupation and associated human burials representing hunter gatherers and incoming Neolithic farmers. Thereafter, there was a second Neolithic phase followed by six ascribed to the Bronze Age and one to the initial Iron Age. Each has yielded human burials with a total nearing 700. This paper applies a novel analysis based on the area of each grave set against the number of ceramic vessels that each contained. In presenting the results based on these data, the sex and age of each individual interred are reviewed, together with other potentially significant mortuary offerings and rituals. It is found that there was a marked rise in social elites during the early Bronze Age, followed by a lack of social distinctions represented in the rituals of death, other than the occasional individual, in all later 2018phases.

The ability of urban centres to grow and persist through crises is often assessed qualitatively in archaeology but quantitative assessment is more elusive. Here, the authors explore urban resilience in ancient Mesopotamia by applying an adaptive cycle framework to the settlement dynamics of the Bronze and Iron Age Khabur Valley ( c . 3000–600 BC). Using an integrated dataset of settlements and hollow ways, they identify patterns of growth, conservation, release and reorganisation across six periods, demonstrating the value of coupling archaeological data with resilience theory and network analysis to understand the adaptive capacities of complex archaeological societies.

Industry is the process by which natural raw materials are processed to manufacture goods required by a population. Mining industries widely practiced in past populations include digging for flint and construction stone in the Neolithic (Bostyn 2023; Teather et al. 2019), as well as mining salt, copper, tin, and iron ore in the Bronze and Iron Ages (Aslihan 2021; Harding 2013; Pare 2025). Other industries included preparing animal skins, weaving, metalworking, manufacturing ceramics, and fishing (Ferro et al. 2009; Knapp 2018; Randsborg 2011; Wood 1990). Archaeological evidence for such activity includes waste from flint knapping, slag from metalworking, and fish bones in middens. However, finding evidence for industrial accidents sustained by those people engaging in these activities is often challenging. Many different activities might lead to the same changes to bone during life, and fractures or other injuries can have plenty of different causes. This means working backwards from changes to skeletal remains to what caused them generally needs a well-defined, plausible context. One context where industrial accidents commonly occur today is the process of mining (Ismail et al. 2021). If not properly supported, the roofs of mine tunnels can collapse, crushing those below or trapping those further down the tunnel until they suffocate. On other occasions, flammable gases can seep out from seams of coal, and if ignited by a spark, then an explosion can ensue (Cheng 2018). Ancient examples where miners have been found trapped in collapsed tunnels include the Iron Age mines of Dürrnberg-bei-Hallein in Austria (Stöllner et al. 2003), the Chehrabad salt mines in Iran, which were in use from 500 ce (Nasab et al. 2019), and the copper mine of Chuquicamata in Chile, dating from around 600 ce (Bird 1979). Working animals too might be involved in mining accidents, as known from recent direct records (Moore 1931) and also suggested by osteoarchaeological findings (Diedrich 2017). In this issue of the International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, Morales and Garrido present their study of a naturally mummified body interred around 900–1000 ce. It was recovered from the immediate proximity of a turquoise mine in the Indio Muerto mountain in the Atacama Desert in Chile (Morales and Garrido 2026). Turquoise is a hydrous phosphate of copper and aluminum admired for its vivid blue color and was used for ritual and religious purposes and ornaments such as jewelry (Harbottle and Weigland 1992; López et al. 2018). The man's skeleton shows evidence for multiple perimortem fractures to the ribs, clavicles, scapulae, an open fracture to the tibia, and multilevel fractures to the thoracic region of the spine. This pattern of injuries would indicate high energy trauma, and the most plausible cause at that time would have been the nearby mine. As most of his injuries were to the left side of the body, it is likely this side bore the brunt of the impact. The fact that he was buried in a cemetery just outside the mine would suggest that after the mine collapse his body was dug out by others and taken to the local burial ground. As turquoise seems to have been primarily used for jewelry and religious artifacts in the ancient Americas, this miner paid a high price for the human passion for this shiny stone. The authors declare no conflicts of interest. Data sharing not applicable to this article as no datasets were generated or analyzed during the current study.

ABSTRACT This study focuses on two terracotta incense burners discovered in the Daba Al‐Bayah necropolis in the Musandam Peninsula (Oman), associated with an Iron Age collective tomb (LCG‐2). Through gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC‐MS), the organic residues preserved within these artifacts were analyzed to investigate their use and environmental context. The unveiling results revealed a combination of fatty acids and plant‐derived sugars, confirming the use of these vessels for burning aromatic substances, likely derived from resins or plant materials present in the area at the time. These findings shed light on ritual practices in the Iron Age Arabian Peninsula and provide new insights on the paleoenvironmental context and ancient trade networks.

ABSTRACT New radiocarbon determinations from rice grains and bamboo have been obtained from Non Ban Jak, Northeast Thailand. These, along with charcoal, date a late Iron Age building sequence. The results come from short‐lived species and charcoal with potential inbuilt age. We built a series of Bayesian models to obtain a reliable chronology. A model including a Charcoal_Plus Outlier detection approach can allow us to include charcoal dates, which are almost certainly affected by inbuilt age and quantify the effect. The results demonstrate that the site accumulated very rapidly within the 5th century ce , a chronological framework with important cultural implications.

Aim. To examine and analyze the horse burials from the excavations of the Ladozhskij burial ground on Kolodeznaya Street, conducted by the Krasnodar Museum of Local History in 1945–1946. One of the burials, with six horses at a stable, is an unusual feature for Mаeotian ground burial grounds. Since no finds from the horse burials were found in the museum's collections, an attempt was made to analyze the burial rite and inventory using archival materials, including the personal archive of the excavation author. Methodology. The analysis of archival materials and documents of the Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Krasnodar Historical and Archaeological Museum-Reserve named after E. D. Felitsyn. The comparative-typological method and the method of dating by analogy were used in the study. Results. The article contains materials and documents on the horse burials from the Ladozhskij burial ground excavated in 1945–1946, which have not been fully published before. The findings are described, and analogies are provided from well-dated complexes. Previously unpublished archival materials are introduced into scientific circulation for the first time. Research implications. The results of the study contribute to the archaeology of the Kuban region. This work is of undoubted interest to researchers of the Maeotian culture, as it is the first publication of excavation materials from one of the well-known archaeological sites. The materials presented in the article can be used in archaeology courses, as well as in the study of specific aspects of the archaeology of the Early Iron Age in the North-Western Caucasus.

ABSTRACT Archaeology often adheres to established periodisations, sometimes overlooking long-term societal transformations. One such shift in Northern Britain during the first millennium AD was the emergence of naturalistic stone carving. Traditionally seen as an ‘early medieval’ phenomenon, recent dating suggests this tradition began in the Roman Iron Age. However, the deeper cognitive and material changes driving this transformation remain underexplored. Why did stone carvers, after millennia of generally abstract mark-making, begin carving naturalistic forms? This article argues that this shift was underpinned by a fundamental change in religious cognition, enacted after a period of contact with the Roman world. In this important horizon of change the materiality of stone was harnessed to enhance the efficacy of a new canon of images produced during a period where new social hierarchies were consolidated at the northern frontier.

This study examines cremation graves in Västra Götaland, focusing on the chaîne opératoire of actions that both preceded and followed the deposition of burnt human remains, and on how these practices were materialized through ritual performance over time. A substantial number of graves with well-preserved contexts have been analysed, and their chronology established through 14C dating of bones, cereals, or charcoal. The burial record has been divided into two analytical categories: graves in which cremated remains have been deposited together with pyre debris, and graves lacking said debris. This distinction, when considered alongside the quantity of bone recovered, is crucial for understanding post-cremation practices and transformations in mortuary ritual strategies. In contrast to comparable material from Funen, Denmark, the West Swedish evidence does not indicate abrupt shifts between these burial categories. Instead, the Pre- Roman Iron Age emerges as the period of greatest variability in funerary traditions, pointing towards a more permissive and less hierarchical configuration of ritual norms. Such variation can be approached through ritual performance theory, where funerary practice is seen as a dynamic negotiation of meaning, identity, and authority. The evidence suggests that cremation rites functioned as arenas of ritual agency in which participants enacted and reconfigured social memory, cosmological order, and relational identities. The analysis further highlights the significance of the size of bone assemblages, the spatial and symbolic role of the pyre site, and the dramaturgy of cremation. These elements are discussed in relation to the ritualization of mortuary practice. From the perspective of materiality and relational ontology, the cremation process is understood as an entanglement of human and non-human actors – bodies, fire, substances, and places – that co-produced meaning within mortuary practice.

Tooth blackening, the deliberate modification of teeth to achieve a lustrous black appearance, is well documented in modern Vietnam, but its ancient practice remains elusive. This study applies chemical analyses to Iron Age human teeth from the Dong Xa site in northern Vietnam, dated to approximately 2000 years ago. By integrating compositional results with ethnographic parallels and experimental controls, we identify a diagnostic signature of tooth blackening in ancient samples, pointing to iron salts, likely combined with tannin-rich substances, as the primary active components responsible for the coloring process. This research clarifies both the antiquity and the distinctive techniques of tooth blackening in Vietnam, establishing a non-destructive methodological framework for archaeologically identifying such practices. From its emergence at sites associated with the renowned Dong Son bronze culture, through its continuity in later historical accounts and recent memories, tooth blackening underscores a culturally embedded expression of identity within wider networks of interregional interaction and exchange.

The Scythians, often described as mounted horse-back warriors of the Iron Age steppe with lavish burial goods, have attracted increasing scientific interest over the past years. Recent genetic and multi-isotopic studies have uncovered that the ‘Scythians’ were neither a homogenous political nor a cultural group, but rather diverse populations of heterogeneous origins with intricate socio-political systems. Although populational differences in agro-pastoral subsistence regimes of Northern Black Sea Region groups have previously been identified through stable isotope analysis, it remains unclear which animal products were consumed. Here we investigate the dietary systems of two Scythian-era populations in present-day Ukraine using protein analysis of ancient dental calculus. Various dietary proteins and their taxonomic origin were identified revealing the consumption of milk from ruminant and equine species. This study supplements previous findings that Scythians engaged in complex, agro-pastoralist subsistence strategies in forest-steppe and steppe environments.

The Early Iron Age cemetery at Store Frigård, Bornholm, is currently under study in preparation for a forthcoming publication of the so far largely unpublished material. As part of this work, a series of ICP analyses has been carried out to investigate the provenance of the pottery and to explore the wider potential of such analyses. The results show that most vessels were locally produced, but a few indicate connections to other regions around the southern Baltic Sea. Notable examples include a vessel from western Scania dating to the Late Bronze Age, one from Schleswig-Holstein from the Early Roman Iron Age, and another from Blekinge from the Late Roman Iron Age. These finds provide evidence of contacts and exchanges extending beyond Bornholm. The analyses also shed light on how some of the vessels were made and used. In several cases, it appears that pots were specifically produced for funerary purposes, or that newly made vessels were selected for deposition. This observation, combined with information on wear and use, highlights the importance of ICP analyses in addressing questions of production, choice, and ritual practice. Such approaches contribute to a deeper understanding of social and cultural aspects surrounding burial customs.

Recent surveys of textile tools in Southern Portuguese Iron Age contexts have shown that they can be found in a variety of functional contexts. However, and while the significance of such tools in domestic and religious contexts has already been discussed, the meaning of their presence in funerary settings remains to be fully explored. Ten funerary sites, ranging in date from the mid-7th to the late 3rd/ early 2nd century BCE have nonetheless yielded textile tools, with a preponderance of spindle whorls over loom weights. A critical assessment of the data from those sites shows some revealing trends regarding the functional parameters of the tools and their position in the tombs but, most importantly, the gender and status of the deceased which they accompanied. Despite the low resolution of data, a tendential association with female burials can be posited, and at least some instances of textile tools in relatively high-status tombs can be noted. However, these funerary assemblages offer little to no evidence of craft specialization. These trends can usefully be compared to the available explanatory hypotheses put forward to explain the deposition of textile tools in tombs. Such an exercise suggests a complex, multi-layered meaning for these objects, which sum-up ideas about gender norms, gendered practices, status, and most likely also religious beliefs.

Multidisciplinary evidence indicates that the Austroasiatic (AA) language family is the earliest knownlanguage in Mainland Southeast Asia (MSEA), dating back to the Neolithic. Yet, the genomic formation and structure of MSEA AA groups remain understudied. Here, we generate genome-wide data for seven AA-speaking and two Sino-Tibetan-speaking populations from Thailand/Laos/Myanmar, which together with published data comprises the largest AA genome-wide dataset to date. We find substantial genetic heterogeneity across both geographic regions and linguistic branches, with the greatest observed in Northern Mon-Khmer highland groups. Analyses with ancient DNA data indicate that northern AA groups exhibit higher East Asian ancestry linking to Iron Age northern Thailand/Cambodia, whereas southern AA groups display additional South Asian ancestry and affinities with Neolithic Laos/Vietnam. Notably, the South Asian-related ancestry is detectable in Neolithic MSEA. Overall, both isolation and contact have together shaped the pronounced genetic heterogeneity observed across linguistic branches of MSEA AA groups.