Grand solar minima are periods spanning from decades to more than a century during which solar activity is unusually low. A cluster of such minima occurred during the last millennium, as evidenced by reductions in the numbers of sunspots observed and coeval increases in cosmogenic isotope production. Prior to the period of instrumental records, natural archives of such isotopes are the only resources available for detecting grand solar minima. Here, we examine the period 433–315 BCE, which saw a sustained increase in the production of the cosmogenic isotope, radiocarbon. Our new time series of radiocarbon data (Δ14C), obtained on cellulose extracted from known-age oak tree rings from Germany, reveal that the rise in production that occurred at this time was commensurate with patterns observed over recent grand solar minima. Our data also enhance, and to a degree challenge, the accuracy of the international atmospheric radiocarbon record over this period.

Behavioural studies suggest that awareness of one's mortality, known as mortality salience, enhances the inclination to respond positively to prevailing societal values, fostering an adherence to social practices, for example, the treatment of the dead. Nevertheless, when acceptance of these societal values wanes, there is an increased motivation for their modification. This results in a series of subtle changes that eventually reshape the entire set of practices that define a community's social identity. This paper delves into the impact of mortality salience on the emergence, maintenance, and evolution of mortuary practices in south and west Messenia during the Middle Helladic and Late Helladic periods (c. 2050/2000 bce to 1200/1190 bce). This analysis explores how individuals addressed their mortality salience by adjusting their proximal (e.g. practices) and distal (e.g. ideology) defences. Moreover, it incorporates the notion of the ‘taming of the terror’, suggesting that individuals may adopt new practices as a strategy to manage or alleviate the fear associated with mortality. The analysis explores the introduction of new practices, providing valuable insights into how people navigate and comprehend the existential challenges brought about by the recognition of their mortality.

The central European loess-paleosol sequence (Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage (MIS) 6–2) at three sites located in northwestern Ukraine, in the transitional area between the oceanic and continental climates, has been studied using micromorphological, grain-size, pollen, and magnetic methods. The sequence is characterized by a well-developed pedocomplex S1 (correlative of MIS 5), comprising four soils, and three interstadial soils within loess L1 (MIS 4–2). The soils of S1 are synsedimentary, indicating a dynamic depositional environment with pulses of aeolian sand sedimentation from late MIS 6 to MIS 5a. From various cryogenic features, the permafrost aggradation for MIS 6, 4, and 2, and deep seasonal freezing for MIS 5d and 5b were reconstructed. Distinct redoximorphic features of the loess units, widespread solifluction, well-developed periglacial phenomena, and very low magnetic susceptibility values for the loess-paleosol sequence of northwestern Ukraine reveal its similarity to those of the central European loess subdomain of the northern European loess belt. The low concentration of ferrimagnetic minerals in the parent material and intensive processes of physical and chemical weathering are reflected in the specific model of magnetic enhancement of the studied sequence, which is transitional between the “Chinese” (pedogenic) and “Alaskan” (reducing-pedogenic) models.

This article articulates a regional, diachronic approach to precontact central Andean tombs by interpreting differences in materiality and function as evidence for distinct religious traditions. I analyze a sample of 788 tombs from 30 sites in the Sacred Valley and adjacent tributary valleys (Cusco, Peru), built and used during the Late Intermediate and Inka periods (ca. AD 1000–1532). Combining primary and published datasets, this sample includes a wide variety of tombs that variably facilitated or impeded certain interactions and relationships between the living, the dead, and the environment. To understand this diversity, I develop a typology comprising six tomb types based on morphological traits, which exhibit overlapping distribution patterns at local and regional scales. In contrast to studies that emphasized commonality and timelessness in central Andean mortuary practices, these data attest to considerable diversity in belief and value systems during half a millennium. As such, this study challenges existing models and presents new interpretations of late precontact tombs, considering that central Andeans across time and space held divergent beliefs about life and death. Recognizing diversity in past and present Indigenous societies is required for an empirical and decolonial archaeology that rejects stereotypes of cultural homogeneity.

Ulakhan Sular provides one of the largest natural stratigraphic sections through ancient permafrost deposits in the Batagay–Betenkes region of the Yana Uplands of western Beringia, but their depositional environment, age, and paleoenvironmental significance are uncertain. To address these uncertainties, we report the results of reconnaissance observations of the stratigraphy, sedimentology, paleosols and soil-like bodies, plant and insect macrofossils, and geochronology of the permafrost deposits at the stratotype section of the Ulakhan Sular Formation. Sedimentologically, this formation is dominated by well-sorted, fine to very fine sand that contains fluvial, aeolian, and permafrost sedimentary structures consistent with deposition near the paleo-Adycha River. The fluvio-aeolian deposits have similarities and differences to periglacial fluvio-aeolian and aeolian deposits in modern arctic regions of Canada and Greenland, and Pleistocene deposits in Alaska, China, and northwest Europe. The remarkable thickness of aeolian deposits (~50 m) at Ulakhan Sular is attributed to abundant local sand sources, ample accommodation space, and intensive aeolian transport and deposition. Optically stimulated luminescence dating of quartz sand and post-infrared–infrared dating of K-feldspar sand suggests deposition of the Ulakhan Sular Formation during late Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage (MIS) 6 or MIS 5. The aeolian sand-sheet deposits are correlated with other cold-climate aeolian sand and silt (loess) deposits in Beringia and southern Siberia, indicating a regional episode of aeolian sand transport and deposition at a similar time to glaciation by the Eastern Siberian Ice Sheet.

In 2017, the authors supervised the recovery of a pre-Hispanic stone sculpture near the community of La Victoria, in the Sierra de los Tuxtlas, southern Veracruz, Mexico. The fortuitous discovery of this monument afforded a rare research opportunity to conduct a controlled, systematic archaeological investigation of a known, but poorly documented, Early Classic–period (a.d. 300–450) sculptural tradition. Moreover, this archaeological salvage project facilitated a crucial dialogue with local stakeholders regarding the recovery and final disposition of the monument. This collaborative effort enabled researchers to wed governmental oversight and academic interests with the concerns of local stakeholders, thereby furthering the investigation, conservation, and public appreciation of Classic-period archaeology along Mexico's southern Gulf Lowlands.