A paleotemperature reconstruction inferred from subfossil chironomid (non-biting midge) assemblages in a 13-meter, 14,500-yr lake sediment record from a montane forest in the Pacific Northwest is compared to existing quantitative temperature reconstructions from the Pacific Northwest. With updated temperatures, a regional training set was used to develop a midge-based mean July air temperature (MJAT) inference model (r2jack = 0.71, root mean square error of prediction = 1.09°C). The average inferred MJAT varied between 9.4°C and 13.2°C. During the late-glacial period, MJAT ranged between 9.4°C and 10.8°C, and the lowest MJAT (9.4°C) is inferred at ca. 12.7 ka during the Younger Dryas. The transition into the Early Holocene was marked by an increase from 11°C at 11 ka to 12°C at 9.2 ka. Following deposition of the Mazama tephra, chironomid concentration decreased rapidly, and MJAT rose to 12.3°C at ca. 7.6 ka. This change in chironomid assemblage may be due to the direct effects of the tephra on the surface energy balance. The reconstructed temperature did not track decreasing Holocene summer insolation but instead revealed Late Holocene warming, which is similar to a chironomid reconstruction in the eastern Sierra Nevada and a sea-surface temperature reconstruction from northern California.

This study explores the emergence and dispersal of grog-tempered pottery in south-eastern Europe, particularly southern Romania. During the second half of the sixth millennium bc, a dynamic zone emerged between the Danube and the Carpathians, facilitating the spread of innovations through multiple communication routes. Among these innovations, grog-tempered pottery began to appear around 5300/5000 bc and became prevalent during the fifth millennium. Despite being frequent, its origins, dispersal, and intensity remain poorly understood. This article aims to trace and explain the emergence and distribution of grog-tempered pottery in southern Romania. By integrating data from existing literature with new results from macroscopic and archaeometric analyses of twelve pottery assemblages from Middle Neolithic, Early, and Middle Chalcolithic sites, the author seeks to provide insights into the significance of the first grog-tempered pottery in a south-eastern European context.

Radiocarbon (14C) measurements play important roles in dating and tracing applications where the isotopic concentration can differ from 0.1 to 106 pMC (percent modern carbon). A liquid scintillation counter cannot provide enough sensitivity when dealing with low-concentration samples of limited amounts over a reasonable time period. Accelerator mass spectroscopy (AMS) measures low-concentrations well but must first do dilution for high-concentration samples, and suffers from high instrument and maintenance costs. Saturated absorption CAvity Ring-down spectroscopy (SCAR) has now been developed into a practical technique with performances close to AMS but at much lower costs. The dynamic range covers 1–105 pMC, and the measurement uncertainties in the range of 0.4–1 pMC can be achieved within 0.5–2.5 hr of operation time. SCAR measures CO2 gases directly without graphitization in sample preparation. The typical sample consumption is ∼1 mg of carbon mass and the time for sample preparation can be as short as 15 min. Applications of SCAR to Suess-effect evaluation, biogenic-component analysis, ancient- and modern-sample dating, food-fraud detection and medicine-metabolism study have all been demonstrated by employing a close-to-automatic sample preparation system.

River terraces serve as excellent indicators of the landform evolution of the Guizhou Plateau. This paper presents the results of terrace investigation and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating focused on five sections along the Liujiang River of the southeastern Guizhou Plateau. The OSL ages of the terraces range from 0.21 ± 0.02 to 16.0 ± 1.4 ka for the first terraces (T1) and from 3.5 ± 0.3 to 26.5 ± 3.3 ka for the second terraces (T2), which are much younger than those of other basins on the Guizhou Plateau. These ages, considered in tandem with the results of previous investigations, enhance our understanding of the fluvial landform evolution of the Guizhou Plateau since the Late Pleistocene. On the Guizhou Plateau platform, terraces are considered to be the response of river evolution to tectonic uplift, indicating a relatively slow geomorphic process. In the slope zone, climate change has had a significant impact on the fluvial landform processes, driving the formation of the younger terraces along the Liujiang River. In the platform–slope transition zone, the evolution of terraces was driven by both tectonic uplift and climate change, where the landform processes were dominated by strong headward erosion.

Ever since the first discovery of urn burials in eastern Serbia during the 1980s, their dating has been uncertain and based on distant analogies and typological parallels. In this paper, we present radiocarbon dates from five urn cemeteries and three associated settlement sites, showing that the initial dating (Late Bronze Age; 14th–11th BCE) is highly questionable. Instead, radiocarbon dating and modeling presented here connect the urn cemeteries—characterized by a specific grave architecture and associated with settlements that display evidence of copper production—to a period between the 20th and 16th centuries BC. The fact that many of our dates come from cremated bones requires a discussion with regard to the circumstances of carbon exchange during cremation. The absolute dates thus far available for most urn cemeteries from the neighboring regions of the Balkans are all markedly younger (15th–11th century BC) than the data presented here and fall in the frame of the overall expansion of cremation in Europe during the Urnfield period. The new absolute dates from eastern Serbia provide a possibility to change our understanding of the Bronze Age dynamics of the 2nd millennium in the broader area of southeastern Europe and indicate a much earlier acceptance of cremation among certain groups than previously thought.

In 2021, the 44th session of the World Heritage Committee Meeting voted to list the Kaeng Krachan Forest Complex as a Natural World Heritage Site, seven years after it was first nominated for consideration by Thailand. A central point to the debate was concerns raised over human rights abuses relating to the Indigenous Karen people living inside the park boundaries. This paper undertakes an analysis of the World Heritage Committee discussion, unpacking key themes of Outstanding Universal Value, human rights, and the role of local communities to illustrate the impact that World Heritage – and the subsequent Authorized Heritage Discourse (AHD) it creates – can have on Indigenous communities.

Presentamos la caracterización tecnológica y composicional de cerámica de estilo Molinos hallada en la localidad de Punta de la Peña en Antofagasta de la Sierra (puna meridional argentina) y en sitios de la cuenca del río Molinos, valle Calchaquí Medio (Salta). Desde una perspectiva arqueométrica y un acercamiento comparativo aportamos a la interacción entre sus habitantes para una cronología entre 800 y 1200 dC. Concluimos que los ejemplares recuperados en este sector puneño fueron elaborados con las mismas materias primas y elecciones técnicas que los del valle Calchaquí medio. Además, los antiplásticos presentes en la alfarería coinciden con los afloramientos del entorno de la cuenca de Molinos. A partir de ello, proponemos que los recipientes circularon desde el valle, posiblemente como parte de vínculos establecidos con familias que habitaron en Punta de la Peña.

This article is a preliminary discussion of the scientific value of archival lithics kept in museum collections and storage based on a small sample of Late Mesolithic flint artefacts from the site of Tomaszów II in south-eastern Poland, which was subjected to organic residue analysis. The aim of the trial study was to investigate and assess the preservation potential of organic residues on stone tools from sites located in areas not favourable to the survival of organic material and subsequently handled during post-excavation (especially those kept in museum collections). While the authors initially assumed that the chances of discovering residues indicating human use were slight and expected a general absence of organic material, the analysis of the lithics from Tomaszów II indicated that a small amount of ancient plant residues can survive on archival flint artefacts even in such unfavourable circumstances.

Exploring and using remote segments of complex karst systems represents the incorporation of one of the wildest and most demanding natural environments into the cultural fabric of Neolithic-Chalcolithic village-based communities in the Levant. The unique preservation of an early fifth-millennium bce activity phase in Har Sifsof Cave in northern Israel allows for a detailed investigation of an early case of human interaction with the deep underground in this region. The study of archaeological assemblages, environmental and speleological data and spatial distribution of cultural remains form the basis for interpreting the activity inside the cave in the context of fertility cults. The rituals conducted in Har Sifsof Cave revolve around the agricultural cycle of cereal grains and include the interment of multiple individuals, some of whom were buried in remote cul-de-sac passages. The emergence of complex caves as favourable off-settlement arenas dedicated to ritual activity during the later stages of Neolithization marks a conscious effort of ‘domestication’ of these unique wildscapes, while sowing the seeds for the enduring connection observed in later Levantine societies between mortuary rituals, fertility and the underground.