As I pass the 40-year mark of work in cultural heritage and cultural heritage law, I am grateful for the opportunity to reflect on how the field has evolved since the mid-1980s. This reflection acknowledges the contributions of those who influenced the early development of this field and the way their work continues today through the scholarship and activism of their successors. Evolution on the international level was matched with domestic legal accomplishments in the United States—the world’s largest art market—with conclusive recognition of the principle of foreign state ownership to protect archaeological heritage, US ratification of the 1954 Hague Convention, and an expansion of US implementation of the 1970 UNESCO Convention. At the same time, threats to cultural heritage from armed conflict, other forms of violence, and climate-change-induced natural disasters continue, while the field has only started to reckon with the legacies of colonialism and imperialism often embodied in the large public collections in the European former colonial powers and those who purchased cultural objects from them. This article sets out four areas of cultural heritage law in which we have not succeeded sufficiently and the questions that remain for future generations to resolve.

Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act requires US federal agencies and their applicants to consider historic properties affected by their proposed actions. Guided principally by architectural historians and archaeologists throughout the 1980s, Section 106 reviews focused on identifying discrete structures and sites and then evaluating them in terms of dominant society aesthetics, histories, and sciences. By the 1990s, Section 106 participation by consulting Tribes and other cultural resource stewards obliged federal agencies to address a broader spectrum of historic properties and values. Agencies soon began using cultural landscape studies and other research and consultation tools to “match” historic property identification and assessment processes to the scale and complexity of proposed undertakings. The Section 106 review for the SunZia interstate transmission line (2009–2024) shows that the federal government has yet to consistently meet mandates to identify and assess elements other than archaeological/architectural historic properties. Our surveys of historic preservation professionals and available cultural landscape studies underscore disconnections between practitioner preferences for and the federal agency conduct of cultural landscape studies. They also highlight standards to use in evaluating the adequacy of cultural landscape studies. We recommend six attributes as essential to all cultural landscape study designs, methods, and applications in the Section 106 process.

The use of ochre in burials at the Neolithic site of Khok Phanom Di, Thailand, was a broadly inclusive practice; however, ∼18 per cent of burials did not contain powdered ochre pigment. On closer examination it was found that the majority of those without ochre were perinates. When compared to other burials in the cemetery non-ochred perinate burials were typically shallow scoop cuts, without grave goods. However, not all perinates were buried in this manner; ∼38 per cent of perinate burials contained ochre and were more similar in type and contents to the rest of the cemetery. This paper examines the differences between perinate burials with and without ochre, considering the wider bioarchaeological context. The findings show that perinates without ochre were on average smaller skeletally than those with pigment. This along with comparisons to other sites directs the focus to ‘the point of mortality’—whether the individuals were stillborn or neonatal deaths. This is explored through comparative data and a cross-cultural discussion of perinatal personhood and social acknowledgement. The interment of non-ochred individuals within the community cemetery demonstrates community inclusion but an exclusion from ‘normal’ burial rites (ochre, grave goods, etc.), demonstrating a lack of individual acknowledgement—a grey area between inclusion and exclusion.

The prehistoric rock-art record of the Altai Mountains (western Mongolia) extends from the late Palaeolithic (c. 12,000 bp) through the end of the Bronze Age (c. 2800–800 bp) and into the early centuries of the Iron Age (late first millennium bce). Within that ancient tradition, the image of the elk (Cervus elaphus sibiricus) had the longest duration of any animal imagery; but over the millennia it underwent radical change. Beginning as an image reflecting a primitive, monumental realism, it was transformed into an expression of vital naturalism in the Bronze Age. By the end of the Bronze Age, the image began to shift into a highly stylized emblem of status, clan identity, or perhaps gender, finally degenerating into a wolf-like beast. Its transformations may be correlated with regional environmental change and resulting social adaptations. This essay presents the history of the elk image in Altai rock art and seeks to understand its transformation at the interface of north and central Asia. While focused on one pictorial tradition from one geographical region, this analysis demonstrates how materials derived from the expressive record of human culture offer critical insight into the manner in which societies evolve psychologically and not just archaeologically in response to extended environmental change.

The radiocarbon (14C) specific activity was measured in vegetation and atmosphere in Ramnicu Valcea, Romania. On the sampling location operates a nuclear installation, namely “Experimental Pilot for Separation of Tritium and Deuterium” (PESTD), a semi-industrial installation designed for the detritiation of heavy water moderator of CANDU reactors and a 315 MW coal-fired thermoelectric power plant. Because one of the important releases of PESTD is gaseous radioactive effluent, the baseline of radiocarbon was a must for the environmental program. On the other hand, due to the Suess effect, a relative decrease of the radiocarbon-specific activity on a local scale is expected as a result of the dilution of the carbon isotopic mixture by fossil carbon. All the measurements were done by liquid scintillation counting and direct absorption method. It can be observed that the specific activity of 14C was similar for both types of samples investigated. The variations encountered are generally within the limit of uncertainty associated with the 14C. The average radiocarbon-specific activity recorded has the following values: 0.226 ± 0.016 Bq/gC for the vegetation and 0.228 ± 0.016 Bq/gC for the atmosphere. The results have a clear decreasing trend, but due to local influence caused by the continuous production of fossil CO2, cannot be observed 14C seasonal variations. A strong correlation between radiocarbon activity in air and vegetation was highlighted.

This article concerns the practice of bed burial, a rare funerary custom found in some sixth- to early tenth-century ad graves ranging from southern Germany to Scandinavia and England. Existing research has often overlooked the diversity of bed burials, focusing mainly on the reconstruction of the beds, their style, the status of the deceased, and the objects associated with them, without examining the broader implications of the ritual. Here, the author explores the variations in bed burials, their relationship to the deceased, the artefacts linked with them, and the surrounding contexts. Her study is based on a new assessment of every aspect of the ritual, including the location of the graves, the biological and social identity of the deceased, the burial assemblage, and whether the beds were complete. This approach aims to demonstrate that the practice of bed burial should be addressed in the plural.

The recovery of nearly 250 burials at the El Olivar site provided the opportunity to address questions regarding the groups inhabited coastal settings of the semiarid north of Chile between the 800 and 1540 AD. Stable isotopes of carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen were analyzed from 60 human samples. Radiocarbon (14C) analyses were conducted in 20 samples from camelids and 42 human samples. Subsequently, a sample of 25 individuals exhibiting diagnostic cultural features of the Las Ánimas Cultural Complex (LACC) and the Chilean Diaguita Culture (CDC) was selected for the purpose of assessing differences in their diet and mobility and clarifying their chronology. The δ13C and δ15N values obtained revealed the existence of a small group of individuals (n=6) with a diet based on C3 plants and terrestrial protein, and another major group (n=33) with values compatible with the consumption of C4 plants and marine resources. Four of the six individuals of the small group presented Ánimas diagnostic features, and in the major group were identified both Ánimas and Diaguita individuals. The δ18O values exhibited a similarity between the Ánimas and Diaguita individuals, suggesting coastal-to-inland mobility in both groups. Calibrated 14C dates indicate that El Olivar was occupied for a period of nearly 380 years, spanning between 1150 and 1536 AD, and that between the 1300 and 1400 AD, Ánimas and Diaguita individuals coexisted at El Olivar. These findings call into question the current thought that the CDC emerged from the LACC around 1000 AD, and that both represent different archaeological entities.

This study concerns prehistoric amber networks in north-eastern Iberia, emphasizing its distinct exchange dynamics compared to other regions of the Iberian Peninsula. Baltic amber dominated assemblages in this area from the Late Neolithic to the Bronze Age, contrasting with the prevalence of Sicilian amber in southern Iberia, or Cretaceous Iberian amber in the northern region. The findings underscore the region’s connection to southern France, with the Pyrenees serving as a cultural conduit, unlike the river Ebro, which acted as a boundary. Here the authors present the results of a Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FTIR) analysis of twenty-one amber beads, primarily from collective burials. Eighteen were made of Baltic succinite. Baltic amber may have begun to arrive as early as 3634–3363 cal bc, and continued to be used until the Late Bronze Age. Exceptions included a unique spacer-bead made of gum and two bolus pigments misidentified as amber. The results highlight Iberia’s regional diversity in raw material sourcing and exchange, reflecting distinct sociocultural dynamics and challenging linear narratives of Iberian prehistory.

This article explores the ancient city of Terracina, its strategic location, and its significant Roman sanctuary dedicated to Iuppiter Anxur. This youthful Jupiter, known for his beardless depiction, oversaw a sanctuary on Monte Sant’Angelo, which remains an important archaeological site. The location of the temple of Iuppiter Anxur, however, despite extensive study over 150 years, has not been precisely identified. The site includes three terraces with structures such as the Great Temple and Terrace A, which features notable architectural and functional elements. Ongoing research since 2021 has aimed to uncover more about the site’s development and its cultural importance. The article examines various hypotheses about the temple’s location and the role of Iuppiter Anxur within the sacred landscape of Terracina. For the first time, a comprehensive architectural reconstruction of the sanctuary has been proposed, offering new insights into its design and cultural significance. This reconstruction suggests a sophisticated architectural complex with important religious and cultural roles in ancient Terracina.