The Pleistocene history of the leopard (Panthera pardus) in Europe has been documented by the material obtained from 312 localities, with the last dated ∼1.1 Myr. The relatively small and gracile form of the leopard was very rare during the late Early and Middle Pleistocene. Only after the disappearance of the jaguar (Panthera gombaszoegensis) did P. pardus spread widely in Europe, increasing in size and ecologically substituting P. gombaszoegensis. The number of late Middle Pleistocene localities with leopard remains, younger than 300 kyr, increased considerably. The leopard reached the maximum extension of its geographical range in the Late Pleistocene. The Iberian Peninsula was the last European refuge for this cat. Six sites, the Naciekowa, Obok Wschodniej, Radochowska, and Wschodnia Caves from the Sudety Mountains and the Biśnik and Dziadowa Skała Caves from the Kraków-Częstochowa Upland, have documented the presence of the leopard in Poland between MIS 10/9 and MIS 3. These records are from rocky regions with rugged terrain and are located in the territory of Silesia (southern Poland). A newly obtained radiocarbon date (43–42 kyr) from the Radochowska Cave directly confirms the occurrence of P. pardus in the Sudety Mountains in the middle part of MIS 3.

Use of Patagonia's forests by hunter-gatherers remains relatively poorly understood. Regional archaeological records indicate initial forest colonization during the middle Holocene, infrequent use until late prehistory, and, even then, fairly sparse occupation, likely in conjunction with use of the adjacent steppe. Recent excavations at Río Ibáñez-6 West in Aysén, Chile, provide a new perspective for understanding the prehistoric use of Patagonian forests, particularly regarding timing of the initial occupation and the potential for development of a forest-specific adaptation. We provide chronological, lithic, archaeofaunal, and macrobotanical data that show use of the Ibáñez River valley at least a millennium earlier than previously documented. These data indicate increased dietary breadth in late prehistory, supporting the established hypothesis that the valley became a closed system at that time. From our data we develop hypotheses regarding prehistoric forest use in Aysén that have implications for the broader understanding of the suitability of the forest for prehistoric human foragers.

William Cecil’s interests in heraldry and genealogy, and his particular concern for the antiquity of his own pedigree, are well known, but it is often presented as a personal hobby. This paper explores the means by which William Cecil used printed heraldic treatises, kings of arms and even domestic decoration to make his private genealogical research public. Rather than using genealogical study as a refuge from the world, Cecil actively used print, the office of arms and architecture to publicise his pedigree far more widely than other new men who sought the legitimacy of antiquity.

El caracol terrestre Megalobulimus spp. ha sido registrado con gran frecuencia en cementerios prehispánicos de los oasis de San Pedro de Atacama, Chile, a pesar de su carácter ajeno al entorno desértico de esta región. Efectivamente, su hábitat se encuentra en el ambiente húmedo y tropical del noroeste de Argentina, por lo cual es señalado en la literatura arqueológica como indicador del intercambio de larga distancia, y que su función habría sido contener pigmentos colorantes. En este estudio multidisciplinario analizamos su presencia desde los contextos funerarios mismos, complementándolo con el análisis taxonómico de ejemplares arqueológicos y la revisión de datos biológicos-etológicos de dicho gasterópodo. Con ello presentamos datos inéditos respecto de la utilización de Megalobulimus en Atacama, brindando al mismo tiempo nueva información acerca de su vínculo con la práctica inhalatoria de sustancias sicoactivas. Concluimos que el significado simbólico del caracol podría vincularse a la renovación vital por medio del agua fertilizadora de la tierra, y que de ahí surgiría el interés por convertirlo en contenedor de sustancias pigmentarias, carbonáticas y/o alucinógenas. Así, dicho carácter simbólico permitiría explicar el rol que jugó el caracol Megalobulimus en las redes de intercambio ritual del área circumpuneña, y por extensión, en los Andes centro-sur.

It is important to know how much of the increased atmospheric CO2 is derived from fossil fuel emissions. Here, we review the progress in atmospheric fossil fuel CO2 (CO2ff) tracing over recent years by measurement of Δ14C in Chinese cities. In this paper we make progress by expanding the analysis from some locations to more regional views, by combining observations with modeling, and by making a preliminary comparison of observation-derived CO2ff with inventory-derived CO2ff. We have obtained a general picture of Chinese urban CO2ff and characteristics of its spatio-temporal variations at different scale, and identified the corresponding influencing factors. Interestingly, we found that the weekend effect of CO2ff was less evident in Chinese cities. In addition, we observed simultaneous variations in CO2ff and PM2.5 in a winter haze event in Beijing and a simultaneous decrease in annual averages of CO2ff and PM2.5 in Xi’an based on multi-year (2011–2016) Δ14CO2 monitoring. We found that local coal combustion was the main source of CO2ff in Xi’an, which is located in the Guanzhong basin, by applying a WRF-Chem model and looking at δ13C signatures. Thus, reduction of coal consumption is a crucial target for carbon emissions reduction in China.

La Villa de Salamanca de Bacalar (siglos diecisiete al diecinueve) fue un asentamiento de frontera entre México y Belice. El objetivo del artículo es recrear la vida cotidiana por la que atravesaron tres personajes adultos (dos masculinos y uno femenino) que vivieron alrededor de los primeros 60 años del siglo diecinueve en la Villa y que fueron inhumados en la Iglesia de San Joaquín. Metodológicamente he empleado el marco analítico de la osteobiografía bajo un recurso de narrativa ficticia recreada con información historiográfica primaria y secundaria, ambientando la sociedad antes de y durante la Guerra de Castas de la Península de Yucatán, México. Con ello, describo las condiciones físicas y patológicas —óseas y dentales— de los tres individuos, analizadas mediante el marco de indicadores de estrés esquelético. El resultado es la recreación de las condiciones de vida y de la vida cotidiana de un segmento de la población, quien estuvo sujeta a condiciones higiénicas precarias, enfermedades infecciosas recurrentes y cargas de trabajo. Las huellas de estos problemas son valoradas mediante sus huesos y dientes. La vida y muerte de estos individuos fue puesta en contexto de comportamientos, costumbres y formas de vida individual y colectiva de un poblado periférico del México novohispano.

Recent research at Jaketown, a Late Archaic earthwork site in the Lower Mississippi Valley, suggests that the culture-historical framework used to interpret Jaketown and contemporary sites in the region obscures differences in practices across sites. As an alternative, we propose a framework focused on variation in material culture, architecture, and foodways between Jaketown and Poverty Point, the regional type site. Our analysis indicates that people used Poverty Point Objects and imported lithics at Jaketown by 4525–4100 cal BP—earlier than elsewhere in the region. By 3450–3350 cal BP, people intensively occupied Jaketown, harvesting a consistent suite of wild plants. Between 3445 and 3270 cal BP, prior to the apex of earthwork construction at Poverty Point, the community at Jaketown built at least two earthworks and multiple post structures before catastrophic flooding sometime after 3300 cal BP buried the Late Archaic landscape under alluvium. These new data lead us to conclude that the archaeological record of the Late Archaic Lower Mississippi Valley does not reflect a uniform regional culture. Rather, relationships between Jaketown and Poverty Point indicate a multipolar history in which communities selectively participated in larger social phenomena—such as exchange networks and architectural traditions—while maintaining diverse, localized practices.

Robert Heizer excavated Leonard Rockshelter (26Pe14) in western Nevada more than 70 years ago. He described stratified cultural deposits spanning the Holocene. He also reported obsidian flakes purportedly associated with late Pleistocene sediments, suggesting that human use extended even farther back in time. Because Heizer never produced a final report, Leonard Rockshelter faded into obscurity despite the possibility that it might contain a Clovis Era or older occupation. That possibility prompted our team of researchers from the University of Nevada, Reno and Desert Research Institute to return to the site in 2018 and 2019. We relocated the excavation block from which Heizer both recovered the flakes and obtained a late Pleistocene date on nearby sediments. We minimally excavated undisturbed deposits to rerecord and redate the strata. As an independent means of evaluating Heizer's findings, we also directly dated 12 organic artifacts housed at the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology. Our work demonstrates that people did not visit Leonard Rockshelter during the late Pleistocene. Rather, they first visited the site immediately following the Younger Dryas (12,900–11,700 cal BP) and sporadically used the shelter, mostly to store gear, throughout the Holocene.