Cognitive archaeology focuses on the mental processes behind human material culture, exploring the human mind for patterns of behavioural strategies and their corresponding material expression in artefacts. Sharing some of the aims and perspectives of cultural anthropology, cognitive archaeology has also been called ‘Evolutionary Cognitive Archaeology’ (ECA) when it refers to hominin evolution. However, despite the abundance of publications and research projects that focus on ECA, this is a relatively new discipline, in which the earliest analyses were principally oriented to the appearance and evolution of language and symbolism. As there is no standardized method for investigating cognitive evolution, ECA researchers use multidisciplinary and wider theoretical models and methodological approaches. In this sense, partially because it is not unique to the genus Homo, stone toolmaking has been, and still is, an essential criterion for inferring hominids’ cognitive capacities. Aiming to contribute to ongoing discussions, this paper addresses and reviews some of the more relevant evolutionary cognitive approaches related to stone-tool manufacture in general and Acheulean technology in particular, aimed at building a synthesized chronological review of the discipline.

Legal reforms in California are reshaping archaeological education and professional training in ways that may soon warrant national attention. These changes challenge traditional pedagogical models, particularly in bachelor’s and master’s degree programs that have long served as entry points into cultural resource management (CRM) careers. Drawing on one of the most extensive surveys of CRM organizations in California, this article examines how employers are responding to this evolving landscape. The data reveal a demand for field experience, local familiarity, knowledge of relevant laws, and interpersonal skills. We contextualize these findings within broader efforts to reform training and research models in California and discuss tensions in this shifting terrain. We advocate for a new public archaeology that redefines training and professional pathways through collaboration, accountability, and a deeper commitment to the communities that archaeology serves.

Amidst a high-profile ecoclimate crisis, archaeology is rightly revisiting its relationship with ecology and seeking to orient its work towards pressing environmental concerns. Compelling proposals have been made for the potential of archaeological science to directly inform ecological problems and practices. We consider the strengths of and challenges for these scientific approaches here, alongside raising the prospect that archaeology can also harness less tangible analytical strengths – its expertise in human–landscape relationships (people in nature) and in landscape change (time) in attending to wider, but equally important, correlates of an ecological emergency.

A small group of late Roman ‘spoon-shaped’ objects with weapon terminals and a westerly distribution add to the growing evidence of ‘regionality’ in material culture within Roman Britain. While their function remains uncertain, the presence of weapon-shaped terminals can be seen alongside the increasing numbers of model objects recorded from the province.

The proliferation of fortification in north-western Europe during Late Antiquity marks an important shift from the first to early third centuries. The fortified cities and military installations were joined by new fortified towns and rural and hilltop defences. While these defences have been extensively studied, there has been little engagement with this transformation at a statistical level. This article provides an overview of defence in the region using data collected across northeastern Gaul and the provinces of Germania Secunda and Germania Prima. It will highlight biases, distributions and key variations in the dataset and demonstrate regional variations in defence on a large scale.

As the leading journal for studies of Roman Britain for over 50 years, Britannia has proved a successful publishing outlet for papers that have arisen from the UK developer-funded archaeology sector. This level of interest should encourage the sector to submit more papers to Britannia, but it could also encourage influential journals to improve inclusivity in the publishing traditions of the sector, which are discussed in terms of a widespread failure to acknowledge intellectual property and expertise and to encourage wider involvement in analysis and publishing. The authors use three case studies from their own areas of work to illustrate current problems surrounding authorship, leadership and gendered practice. We then propose ways in which these issues could be tackled.

This article describes the publication and evaluation of a user-driven narrative module on the public-facing 3D platform Sketchfab, which comprises dozens of interlinked 3D models relating to the archaeology of the Faynan region of Southern Jordan. Models included in the project are archaeological sites, excavation units, and artifacts related to the Iron Age and Islamic period archaeology of the region. By interlinking these models according to their spatial, conceptual, and contextual relationships, this project facilitates the nonlinear exploration of archaeological data and replicates the process of archaeological knowledge generation, in which information is produced through examination of the relationship between object and its provenience. Through the inclusion of bilingual (Arabic and English) text in this project, we aim to increase the accessibility of archaeological data and interpretation to interested parties. We also invite participation in the development of multiple narratives based on user-driven, independent exploration of artifacts and context. Through free navigation within and between models, users can develop their own understanding of the archaeology of Faynan based on research-based content published in 3D. The effectiveness of the project is evaluated here through surveying Arabic-speaking Jordanians, a key group of interested parties.

This contribution provides a chronological overview which is the result of a research programme carried out over the last few years in Normandy and which is based, among other things, on recent discoveries made in this region during developer-funded excavations. The overview looks phase by phase at the different characteristics of the Middle Neolithic in Normandy, and sets them against the wider context of the Neolithic transition of north-west France. The geographical area covered by this study encompasses the margin of the Armorican Massif in the west and the sedimentary basins between the Armorican Massif and the Seine Valley in the east. The chronology used in this study largely refers to the sequence established in France and is discussed on the basis of absolute dates (in cal BC) for the sake of transparency. The main objective of this publication is to connect the recent advances made on either side of the Channel, in particular with regard to the chronology of the various Neolithic groups. By presenting our British colleagues with the current state of research in our area of study we want to spark discussion and develop new collaboration.

Where are the missing long barrows of eastern England? Do they exist as the original earthwork form of cropmark long enclosures? Or do these represent a distinct tradition? To explore this, geophysical surveys were carried out on the region’s rare surviving long barrows. Comparable signals suggest that most long enclosures are indeed likely to have been long barrows. Other morphological factors, however, differ from long barrows elsewhere and, coupled with evidence from excavation, suggest different origins and histories. Ditches may have been markedly secondary rather than primary features, for example, and other elements hint at Continental connections. However it originated, the form appears to have subsequently emerged as a symbol in its own right and been expanded to cursus dimensions.

Intramural adult human remains, whether articulated or disarticulated, from Roman towns in Britain are uncommon. There is evidence for some remains to have been deliberately curated and/or treated post mortem in a particular way before final deposition. This paper focuses on the disarticulated human remains from late Iron Age and Roman Silchester (Calleva Atrebatum), noting the parts of the skeleton represented, their contexts, and whether there is evidence for curation or treatment post mortem. Twenty-one examples have been radiocarbon dated, enabling an assessment of changes in spatial patterning over time. An early and a late cluster are identified. The results from Silchester follow a review of comparable evidence from the major towns of Roman Britain. This reveals a broad similarity in patterning between Silchester and the Romano-British countryside. There are several urban parallels for Silchester’s late cluster, but only London for the early grouping.

Satellite imagery in north-west Wirral shows a cropmark, plausibly representing the partial circuit of a Roman camp. On Wirral — that peninsula flanked by the rivers Mersey and Dee — the northern coast of which provided the only seaboard of the Cornovii tribe, Roman military sites are unknown. However, a fort has been posited 7 km to the north-north-west at Meols and a camp in its hinterland would not be unreasonable. This feature is therefore potentially significant and warrants description.

This study identifies, introduces and joins up the long lives of the geographically dispersed fragments that exist of the famed and fabled Stone of Scone/Destiny, used in inauguration and coronation of Scottish, English and British monarchs since medieval times. Based on an interdisciplinary approach that combines material culture studies and ethnographic methods, it characterises the networks in which the fragments have lived and considers what work these fragments were and are doing. It asks what difference fragmentation and the existence of fragments makes to our contemporary understanding of the meaning, values and significance of the Stone. The Stone and its considerable fragmentation evoke specific procedural and curatorial issues that invite wider reflection on the nature and role of fragments, and about private collections and their afterlives. Through the life of pieces, the study suggests, we can better understand what role social value could and should be playing in our museum and heritage practices.

Recent excavations on the A14 Cambridge-to-Huntingdon Road Improvement Scheme have revealed that pottery-making was an important aspect of the economies of early Roman rural communities living in the densely settled landscape of southern Cambridgeshire, UK. This paper discusses the seven known ‘Lower Ouse Valley’ pottery-making sites as reflective of local rural economy and social interaction, highlighting the different scales at which there is evidence for social networks being in play in the constitution of this newly discovered pottery industry. It is argued that the density of rural settlement in this area helped facilitate the emergence of a coherent but informally defined ceramic tradition, embodied as a system of technical knowledge shared predominantly between neighbours and as features of non-specialised social interactions.