Elk Ridge was the largest pueblo in the northern Mimbres River Valley during the Classic Mimbres period. Data from the pueblo and surrounding sites indicate that it was the economic and ritual center of a larger community. Here, we use multiple lines of evidence—including survey data, ceramics, architecture, and faunal remains—to reconstruct the extent and structure of the Elk Ridge community. We see social interaction as the basis for community development, with (1) community members interacting to negotiate access to land, resources, and labor; and (2) communal rituals serving to reinforce cooperation and cohesion. The Elk Ridge community produced ceramics and raised turkeys that were traded to other Classic Mimbres communities, and these exchange networks created social ties between communities. Data from Elk Ridge also document interaction with non-Mimbres communities to the north, revealing a network of cultural interaction across the region. This study illustrates how landscape, location, kin relations, exchange networks, and ritual activities translate into a social community, similar to those we see throughout the US Southwest and elsewhere in the Neolithic world.

La espelunca La Espiral, en la provincia Artemisa, presenta varias pinturas de las que sobresalen círculos concéntricos y una espiral. Para conocer la composición química de sus pinturas y obtener la fracción orgánica, que resulta la más difícil de estudiar a causa del comprensible proceso de degradación en el tiempo, se emplearon la microscopía electrónica de barrido y microanálisis de energía dispersiva por rayos-X, la microespectroscopía Raman y la cromatografía de gases acoplada a espectrometría de masas. El estudio nos muestra una comunidad de bajos niveles productivos con la capacidad técnica de crear una mezcla compleja con huevo, leche, ácido elágico y, como colorante principal, guano de murciélago. El hallazgo de residuos de aminoácidos de triptófano de huevo y leche en la mezcla pictórica resulta la primera evidencia arqueológica concreta del empleo de ambos productos en Cuba y las Antillas. Se propone la propuesta de la posible cadena operativa vinculada a la preparación de la pintura, a una aproximación a la inversión laboral y al número de miembros implicados en la ejecución de los gestos técnicos. Se teoriza sobre la relevante presencia femenina en su manufactura.

The study provides a radiocarbon sequence for the Iron Age occupation in the elevated areas of the Phoenician settlement of Lisbon, located in the Tagus estuary (Portugal). The dataset is based in ten animal and human samples recovered during archaeological excavations at Largo de Santa Cruz do Castelo. These samples are associated with distinct phases of the Iron Age, dated by the ceramic findings between the 7th and 5th century BCE, as well as a latter sample from the Roman Republican Period (2nd half of the 2nd century BCE). Despite the challenges posed by the 1st millennium BCE radiocarbon calibration, this dataset proves valuable for establishing a more detailed chronological framework. It represents a significant contribution to refining the timeline of Lisbon’s Iron Age settlement and provides a stronger basis for interpreting local developments within the broader regional context.

This article explores the logistics networks of the Qin state during its war of unification between 230 and 221 bce. First, the article investigates the Qin’s “assigned transfer” logistics system, which was comprised of two forms: the horizontal transfer of resources among regional administrative units, and the vertical transfer between the central and regional governments. Second, it examines the infrastructures and institutions underpinning this logistics system during the Qin conquest, exploring how the emergence of long-distance, empire-wide logistics networks contributed to the reforms to the Qin’s financial administration. Overall, this article analyzes not only the institutional reforms stimulated by the Qin’s war of unification but also the impact of war on economic developments.

On 24 May 2024, member states of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) adopted the Treaty on Intellectual Property, Genetic Resources and Associated Traditional Knowledge. Mandating that contracting parties require that patent applicants disclose any genetic resources or associated traditional knowledge that their invention is based on, the treaty has been hailed as historic triumph. In this article, we analyze whether the treaty is so remarkable in relation to Aotearoa New Zealand’s existing law and practice. Finding that it is not, and that the treaty could place limits on the law, we argue that Aotearoa New Zealand should not sign the Treaty but could learn from it. We conclude that, while Aotearoa New Zealand must continue to partake in any ongoing international negotiations, it should continue to find ways to address the domestic situation.