Two barrel cylinders bearing a royal inscription belonging to King Nebuchadnezzar II (604-562 BC) were found by chance on the surface of Tell Al-Uhaimir, which includes the remains of the ziggurat of the ancient city of Kish. Both cylinders bear the same text, which relates to the restoration work of the ziggurat é.u6.nir.ki.tuš.maḫ, whose name means “House, temple-tower, exalted abode” and is dedicated to the god Zababa and the goddess Ishtar. This is the first foundation text documenting the construction works of King Nebuchadnezzar II to restore the ziggurat of the god Zababa in Kish.

Classic Maya burials are complex archaeological contexts, shaped by distinctive depositional and postdepositional activities. To address this complexity, mortuary archaeologists have increasingly adopted theoretical and methodological frameworks from archaeothanatology. This article applies an archaeothanatological approach to the analysis of 35 burials from Group IV, a nonroyal elite residential compound at the Classic Maya site of Palenque, Mexico. The study reveals a complex funerary sequence that includes predepositional body preparation, primary and secondary depositions, and postdepositional modifications, reflecting long-lasting relationships between the living and the dead. The results provide evidence for differential treatments. Protracted rituals were conducted around elaborate burials, although they rarely included secondary skeletal manipulation. Conversely, simpler stone graves underwent reopening and secondary manipulation, and a few individuals were buried directly into the soil. Despite their differences, these activities were materializations of beliefs, which underscored the centrality of ritual interaction with the dead in Classic Maya mortuary traditions. These patterns mirror broader ritual traditions at Palenque that involved the prolonged usage of ritual spaces and burials, as well as concerns about corpses’ decay.

Individuals have long manipulated the dimensions of architecture, vessels, and monuments. Although scaled-up objects are often conspicuous parts of communities, this article instead considers scaled-down objects, specifically Postclassic Maya small, uncarved stelae. After presenting previously documented examples of these monuments from the Maya lowlands, the article introduces two recently recorded examples from Punta Laguna in Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula: each is associated with the final deposition of hundreds of fragments of broken and unreconstructable anthropomorphic incense burners. Although the exact functions and meanings of these stelae remain elusive, understanding them as miniatures—as abstracted and compressed scaled-down versions of referents—aids in efforts to reenvision the Postclassic period and to uncouple notions of scale and complexity. More specifically, understanding small, uncarved Postclassic stelae as miniatures reframes their creation as a purposeful choice, rather than as an act of necessity; suggests they are a legitimate rather than anomalous type of monument; and encourages scholars to eschew conventional considerations of what these stelae lack—size, writing, and carved figural representations—and focus instead on what they retain: the medium of stone, their basic shape and upright nature, and their placement in nondomestic contexts and association with nondomestic artifacts.

This memoir of John Ellis Jones, best known for his contributions to the Classical archaeology of rural Attica, traces his early studies in North Wales, his first encounters with Greece in the early 1950s, his family life, and the teaching posts he held at the University of Leicester (1957–8) and at the University College of North Wales (now Bangor University) – the latter for 37 years until his formal retirement in 1995, after which he continued to support Classics in North Wales for many more years. His important contributions to the archaeology of Classical Greece, especially rural Attica, are outlined, together with an example of the distinctive artwork with which he embellished his copious publications. Also highlighted are his many contributions to the archaeology and history of North Wales. The memoir is accompanied by a complete bibliography of his publications, many in Welsh.

This article uses the assemblage of surface-survey ceramics collected in the 2021 and 2022 West Area of Samos Archaeological Project (WASAP) field seasons to discuss the landscape structure and networking patterns (internal and external to the island) of Archaic through Byzantine south-west Samos. Collected in the basin of Marathokampos with intensive field pedestrian methods, a subset of a dataset of 1303 ceramics is discussed alongside the environmental context of their findspots. Spatial analysis is used to identify 15 ‘Areas of Interest’ in the landscape, densely populated by surface ceramics. The ceramic assemblage is interpreted in the framework of the Samian pottery production, to evaluate the entanglements of south-west Samos in regional and extra-regional trade networks. The main fabric groups are discussed and the range of types compared to material from the Hera Sanctuary and other parts of Samos. This leads to the surprising picture of a mostly inwards-looking island economy. Through the ages the assemblage is by far dominated by local productions, and the very few long-distance imports reflect more indirect trade contacts than an actively maintained, extensive trade network.

The source of material for Group XX stone artefacts is reassessed using extant geological and petrological information and complemented with new field and artefact pXRF analyses. Our reassessment of extant archaeological and petrological data supports earlier conclusions that a possible origin for Group XX stone tools is in the Charnwood Forest area, just north of Leicester. Based on petrographic evidence, this source is now considered to lie within the geological Bradgate Formation. This formation is exposed in a broad, U-shaped band around the eastern and southern fringes of Charnwood Forest where the Ediacaran volcanic tuff rocks form rugged exposures penetrating the overlying Triassic sandstones and mudstones. A new study of Group XX artefacts at museums in Cambridge, Leicester, Lincoln, and Sheffield revealed a number of distinct morphologies, two of which lead us to suggest that they represent axehead templates that are likely to have derived from specific design and manufacturing, rather than from ad-hoc extraction or loose material selection and random shaping. New pXRF data are used to supplement existing information and similarities in immobile large ion lithophile and high field strength element concentrations between both artefacts and exposures, presenting the possibility that the immediate area near the Windmill Hill exposure of the Bradgate Formation, at Woodhouse Eaves, is close to, or indeed contains the source of, Group XX material.

Excavations at the Agora of Amathous, Cyprus, were carried out between 1977 and 2003, initially under the auspices of the Department of Antiquities and the direction of Michael Loulloupis, and subsequently by the French School at Athens, under the direction of Jean-Paul Prête. While the plans and chronological phases of the Agora’s buildings have been successfully reconstructed, the rich assemblage of architectural decorations – exceptionally well preserved – has yet to be thoroughly studied. The remarkable state of preservation and completeness was the primary motivation for undertaking the current research, which aims to identify the fragments of architectural decoration with their respective stoas. The reconstructed decorative program significantly enhances our understanding of historical Cypriot architecture, illuminating the influence of Alexandria and other Mediterranean centers on architectural trends. It highlights how agoras were framed with colonnaded stoas that combined traditional elements with innovative designs, revitalizing the architectural landscape of Cyprus in the Hellenistic and Roman periods.

Chronic otitis and mastoiditis are inflammatory processes that can lead to deafness and disability if left untreated, especially in the pre-antibiotic era and in fishing communities with high exposure to infection. This study describes lesions on temporal bones found in Tzintzuntzan, a prehispanic city located near Lake Pátzcuaro, Michoacán, in western Mexico. A multidisciplinary team analyzed a sample (N = 96) of temporal bones using morphoscopic analysis, multidetector CT scanning, and 2D and 3D virtual reconstruction. All evaluations were double-blinded using a previously standardized process and a validated questionnaire. The combination of multiple methodologies and a multidisciplinary team of evaluators improved the likelihood of classifying lesions. Nearly one-third of the lesions (31.25%) are compatible with the diagnoses of chronic otitis and mastoiditis. The frequency of these lesions is high in fishing communities such as in the city of Tzintzuntzan, possibly leading to significant hearing impairment among the population and affecting individuals’ abilities to perform essential aquatic activities.

This paper examines the Catarinella Askos in order to explore the funerary culture and social dynamics of the elite in Hellenistic-Republican Daunia. The vessel, found in Lavello (Basilicata) but produced in the city of Canosa (Apulia) in the late 2nd/early 1st c. BCE, depicts an elaborate funerary ceremony with a procession, music, and mourning rituals. The paper contextualizes the images by linking them to material evidence of Canosan funerary practices. It aims to reconstruct the sensory experiences of those who attended and performed at funerals, including aspects of staging and movement, gesture and utterance, and sensation and emotion. By demonstrating how these multimodal spectacles served as arenas for social distinction, competitive consumption, and political consolidation among elite families during Roman hegemony, the paper argues for the resilience of Italian elite culture and social structures rooted in the pre-Roman period.

This contribution presents a tight body of evidence – hoards of medieval coins found during archaeological investigations in churches in a confined area of southern Albania in close proximity to Phoinike – whose formations and abandonments date to within a decade or so of one another in the central years of the fourteenth century. A detailed numismatic analysis of the represented coin issues, principally deniers tournois of Arta and soldini of Venice, and of the hoards themselves, allows the authors to draw monetary and historical conclusions. One of the hoards defines in a decisive manner the pattern of coin production at Arta for about a decade after 1323. The presented evidence highlights the administration and the commerce of the territory, and its geo-strategic fate in the face of serious pressures which came to bear on it from all sides during the 1330s and 1340s. The main protagonists in this story are the lords and despots in Epiros of the house of Kephallenia, Zakynthos, Leukas, and Ithaka; the Angevins of southern Italy who had important holdings in the area, especially the island of Kerkyra; and the Byzantine and Serbian empires which took control respectively in the fourth and fifth decades of the fourteenth century.

Medical prescriptions from ancient Mesopotamia occasionally provide instructions for patients to seek out the sanctuaries of deities in order to gain good fortune. Though these statements have been discussed since the 1960s, their exact function in the healing process remains unclear. The recent discovery of additional related symptom descriptions provides an opportunity to re-evaluate the function of seeking out places of worship in ancient medical therapy. This article collects and examines relevant prescriptions to contextualise and incorporate them properly into our reconstruction of medicine in the first millennium B.C.E. By analysing the terminology employed, particularly the word aširtu, referring to a place of worship, as well as the phrase dumqu/damiqtu amāru “to see good fortune”, indicating that seeking out places of worship could alter a patient’s fortune, the paper proposes that such instructions were intended to circumvent inauspicious days for healing. Alternatively, the visits may have granted the patient auspicious omens for diagnostic-prognostic purposes. Finally, the article discusses the context of the individual manuscripts to assign the practice of their contents to the two primary medical professions, namely the asû and āšipu.

Monkeys kept as exotic pets by wealthy Romans have hitherto been determined as African species exclusively, specifically Barbary macaques, in the few documented cases of monkey skeletons. This has now been revised following the discovery of three dozen burials of Indian macaques from the first two centuries CE at the animal cemetery of the Red Sea port of Berenike. The special status of these primates among other buried companion animals, mainly cats and some dogs, is suggested by grave goods including restraining collars, apparent status markers like iridescent shells and food delicacies, and kittens and a piglet as the monkey’s own pets. The Berenike material is the most comprehensive source to date for the socio-cultural context of keeping exotic pets. It suggests a resident Roman elite, possibly associated with Roman legionary officers posted at the harbor. The monkey burials from Berenike also provide the first zooarchaeological evidence of trade in live animals from India.

We present a Late Pleistocene paleoecological record from King Island in western Bass Strait, Tasmania, and compare this to existing records from the eastern Bass Strait islands to improve our understanding of the region’s paleoecology and paleoclimatology. Vegetation change across the region followed similar trajectories during the late glacial–Middle Holocene, characterized by homogeneous warming and wetting trends. Spatial divergence occurred during the Middle Holocene when sea level rose, and different drivers began influencing western and eastern Bass Strait islands. In eastern Bass Strait, Middle Holocene sea-level rise caused replacement of woodland by coastal heathland, while in the west, a drier period accompanied by fires transformed forests to forest–scrub. The comparative analysis suggests that Westerly driven climatic anti-phasing was pronounced at higher latitudes of Tasmania during the late glacial–Early Holocene. A combination of weak Leeuwin Current, positive Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD), and El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) intensification contributed to Middle Holocene aridity across Bass Strait. Strong Westerlies and negative IOD phases led to greater regionalization of rainfall across western Bass Strait during the Late Holocene, while ENSO intensification drove rainfall declines in eastern Bass Strait. These findings provide new insights into the complexity of Late Pleistocene environmental dynamics across southeast Australia.

En este trabajo estudio el arte rupestre creado por los zapotecos a su llegada a la parte sur del Istmo de Tehuantepec en el Postclásico tardío. Analizo varios aspectos de este arte desde una aproximación a la ontología zapoteca prehispánica para exponer la singularidad de este tipo de arte dentro de la cultura zapoteca, y para demostrar que constituía una acción y una experiencia diferente de lo que se considera arte en la tradición clásica de occidente, ya que se pintaba sobre un ente vivo. Propongo dos aspectos importantes de la estética de este arte: la vinculación íntima con la tierra como ente vivo y con los seres que habitan en su interior; y el poder de poner en acción esas imágenes que desataba su proceso de creación.

This study offers a review of the artistic dimension of the Chinchorro culture, a complex hunter-gatherer society along the coast of the Atacama Desert that, around 7000 years ago, created elaborate representations of the dead. It provides archaeological background and investigates the possible reasons for the development of artificial mummification. Drawing on the art therapy model and the concepts of art and grief, the analysis interprets Chinchorro mortuary rituals as expressions of emotional and social processes. This study argues that these anthropogenically prepared mummies represent artistic expressions that reflect the intentional decision-making and emotional awareness of these ancient communities, serving as a means to process grief. Furthermore, the paper highlights the multifaceted nature of Chinchorro society, including the mining and use of pigments such as manganese—materials that, while symbolically meaningful, posed serious health risks and may have contributed to the eventual decline of their elaborate funerary practices. Finally, the study underscores the enduring cultural significance of the Chinchorro, particularly in shaping contemporary identity of Arica region, where artistic portrayal of dead links ancient and modern narratives of cultural heritage.

The recent increased attention on repatriation efforts and compliance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) has placed many institutions in the same position—needing internal policies concerning research, exhibition, duty of care, and the eventual repatriation and return of cultural items held within their respective institutions. We argue that these policies should be created and carried out in a truly consultative, transparent, and respectful manner that includes Tribal perspectives and knowledge. Repatriation policies are not one size fits all but rather should reflect the holdings of specific institutions, as well as input from Tribal Nations whose Ancestors and cultural heritage they steward. This article brings together repatriation practitioners from five different institutions who share their experiences in creating collaborative repatriation policies and extending them to non-NAGPRA collections. These practitioners highlight some important considerations for those developing policies on exhibition and research, the care of Ancestors, their cultural items, and associated materials, and eventual repatriation. Our goal is to provide useful examples for those who are currently developing policies centered on repatriation, together with care practices, curation, and collections management.