This paper presents a review of recent archaeological work in Ionia and Caria, located in southwest Anatolia. In this paper we focus on archaeological research conducted in the past decade and we present a synthesis of recent discoveries and published research. Southwest Anatolia is a region where the earliest archaeological work dates back to the 19th century. However, there are research areas that have been long neglected, and archaeological work has been stifled until recent decades. As a result, the last decade of research has seen significant transformations in approaches and methodologies, with new research agendas to report. Owing to their presentation in historical accounts, Ionia has been perceived as more embedded within the world of Greek archaeology, whereas Caria, viewed from an Atheno-centric perspective, has been regarded as peripheral and provincial. Therefore, it is interesting to present a synthesis of archaeological research for both regions together. It is promising that archaeological practice in both regions has begun to embrace a longue dureé approach and has shifted research focus from major urban centres and monuments to new research foci by making use of interdisciplinary research, including rural landscapes, domestic space, cultural identities, and daily practices.

Recent research within Mediterranean archaeology has been increasingly concerned with societal responses to past climate changes in the Holocene. In Greek archaeology, such studies have benefited from an increasing volume of palaeoclimatic proxy data that has recently been made available from the Greek mainland. The current review discusses recent debates on climate and society in the ancient Greek world and also provides an overview of proxy records from Greece that have been published in the last 10 years. The paper further presents a focused discussion on the state of the available palaeoclimatological evidence for the first millennium BC. New palaeoclimatological proxy series from lake, marine, and wetland sediments, as well as from speleothem proxy records, provide important data that has been lacking for the Greek mainland in the past. These records provide new, promising avenues for integrative interdisciplinary research focused on human–environment dynamics in different periods of Greek antiquity, but challenges persist in how we can integrate and understand past climate shifts in connection with the archaeological evidence.

This paper addresses the archaeological contexts of the clay moulds used to produce copies of Roman coins in third-century Britain. Previous research has focused primarily upon the technology and chronology of the use of moulds to produce coins with the discarded remains of the used moulds considered as ‘waste’ items from an industrial process. This paper focuses attention on the deposition of the moulds. Using the best-recorded finds, it builds upon earlier suggestions that disused moulds were regularly discarded in boundary locations (settlement boundaries, field boundaries, drainage features, shafts/wells, coastal locations and disused structures). It proposes that the magical and ritual associations of production meant that the clay moulds, in addition to the coins that were produced, required careful handling.

Uplift of the overriding plate at a subduction zone denotes interseismic strain accumulation, which is subsequently released during a megathrust earthquake. Although most interseismic strain is thought to be released elastically, observations of uplifted coastal regions at subduction zones worldwide indicate that some strain may result in permanent uplift. The Grays Harbor and Willapa Bay (Washington, USA) coastal region of the Cascadia subduction zone hosts flights of marine terraces testifying to late Pleistocene rock uplift. Our new detailed mapping of the marine terraces recognizes nine new units, including estuarine and fluvial sediments. Luminescence dating, relative age based on soil maturity and terrace elevation, and an evaluation of previous ages from fossil shells collectively constrain the probable ages of three estuarine units to sea-level high stands during Marine Isotope Stages 5a, 5c, and 5e. We estimate an average uplift rate of 0.4 ± 0.1 mm/yr for the terraced estuarine units, consistent with other Pleistocene uplift and incision rates in Cascadia. When compared with observed interseismic vertical deformation, these rates suggest that about one-tenth of interseismic strain may become permanent. The values are permissible within the uncertainties of uplift based on regional estimates of interseismic vertical strain rates and of coseismic subsidence.

Writing for publication will be central to students’ future careers, so learning this skill should be integral to their graduate training. In a recent graduate seminar, we set up an assignment for which students would write a digital review (DR) and receive periodic feedback on their work through an innovative mock peer-review roundtable workshop. Each student wrote a DR intended for actual publication in the journal Advances in Archaeological Practice. Students worked closely with the instructor and the journal editor on their individual topics, outlines, and abstracts. They also peer-reviewed each other's drafts and discussed their feedback as part of the roundtable workshop, which simulated real reviewers. Finally, each student wrote cover letters and prepared images for submission to the journal. This exercise demystified the peer-review process for students who had little prior knowledge about publication, prepared students for responding to reviewer comments from varying viewpoints, and helped students understand the additional steps involved in publication. Although it was challenging to scale this exercise to a large class, we hope that others will also try and share results from these types of authentic real-world training experiments to advance graduate pedagogy in our discipline and beyond.

Accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon (14C) dating is central to the development of robust chronologies in archaeological and paleoenvironmental contexts spanning the last 50,000 years. For dates to be accurate, samples must be free of exogenous carbon contamination. At the Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit (ORAU), considerable advancements in the dating of bone collagen have been made through the development of a high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method for the dating of the amino acid hydroxyproline, which can mitigate the effects of carbon contamination. However, recent changes in ligand manufacturing methods for the mixed-mode column used in the ORAU protocol (Primesep A, SIELC Technologies; IL, USA) have resulted in unacceptably high analytical backgrounds. Prior to the manufacturing change, backgrounds of > 50k BP were achievable. Since the manufacturing change, a mean background of 32.5k BP has been measured. Due to column bleed, the Primesep A is therefore no longer suitable for 14C measurement of hydroxyproline from older material. Here, we present background data and the chromatography conditions used to isolate hydroxyproline using an alternative column, a preparative-scale Newcrom AH, which shows promising potential as an alternative for the routine isolation and AMS dating of hydroxyproline—especially approaching the age and mass limits of the method.

We present case studies on three objects of high importance for cultural heritage in southern Poland, dated in years 2018–2022 at the Gliwice 14C and Mass Spectrometry Laboratory with radiocarbon (14C) and dendrochronology methods. The first was a richly ornamented wooden cane, discovered during excavations on the market in Bytom city. The cane can be associated with medieval court proceedings. The archaeological context indicates the 13th century AD, and the 14C result corresponds perfectly with this time, confirming that it is the oldest object of this type in Poland. The second was a 4-m-tall oak column from St. Leonard Church in Lipnica Murowana, a UNESCO heritage site. The local story said it was previously devoted to Światowid, a pagan deity. Our analysis excluded the pre-Christian age, as the tree was felled no earlier than the late 15th century, which is in agreement with historical records. The third was a wooden Saint Lawrence Church in Bobrowniki. The presbytery was covered with up to five layers of polychromic paintings, some of high artistic value. We dated three samples from the original wooden board, and by wiggle-matching, the calibrated age interval was narrowed to 1731–1754 cal AD.

Speleothem fluorescence can provide insights into past vegetation dynamics and stalagmite chronology. However, its origin and especially the formation of fluorescent laminations in stalagmites are poorly understood. We conducted a year-long monthly monitoring of drip water fluorescence in La Vallina Cave (northern Iberian Peninsula) and compared the results to drip water chemistry and active speleothems from the same sites. Drip waters were analyzed using fluorescence spectroscopy and parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC). The resulting five-component model indicates contributions from vegetation, microbial activity, and bedrock. Intra-site fluorescence variability is mainly influenced by changes in overlying vegetation, water reservoir time, and respiration rates. Contrary to prevailing views, we find no systematic increase in drip water fluorescence during rainy conditions across drip sites and seasonal variations in drip water fluorescence are absent at a location where present-day speleothem layers form. Our findings challenge the notion of a higher abundance of humic-like fluorescence during the rainy season as the primary cause for layer formation and suggest additional controls on drip water fluorescence, such as bedrock interaction and microbial reprocessing. We also propose that growth rate may control the dilation of the fluorescence signal in stalagmites, indicating other potential mechanisms for fluorescent layer formation.