In this paper, we examine cases where radiocarbon (14C) dates are incompatible with dates produced by other established archaeological methods. We present results from nine bones that we sampled from tombs in Phoenician sites in Sicily. These bones produced radiocarbon dates conflicting with established dates of finds in the associated tombs. These discrepancies, particularly in tomb dates, pose a serious problem, as they suggest that the finds may be disconnected from the buried individuals, challenging the fundamental premise of studying excavated tombs. To put our findings in a broader context, we also present other cases of discrepancies found in recent publications and note some common observations throughout these studies. Our questions and observations arise from the significant implications that radiocarbon dating has for our research on Phoenician ancient DNA, as these conflicts impact our understanding of the potential migration and movement of Phoenician people throughout the Mediterranean.

Cultural objects are sold via global, public networks, where market stakeholders rely on the services of other actors such as academics, authenticators, and restorers to facilitate and legitimate this trade. This article will build on Neil Brodie’s examination of the role scholarly facilitators play in the illicit trade in cultural objects by exploring the harmful consequences of such scholarship, using the case studies of Emma Bunker and Mary Slusser as examples. This article argues that those of us with intellectual authority and control interacting with cultural objects should reflect on the broader social context of our research and the consequences of our knowledge production—and reckon with the exploitative and colonial foundations of the knowledge we build on. Ongoing ethical awareness and reflexivity need to be integrated into our practice to support and foster social justice. The article ends with some recommendations on how to incorporate these ideas into academic practice.

We present reservoir effects on shells of species Terebralia palustris and Marcia spp. that were recovered during archaeological excavations at the multi-period site of Tell Abraq, Sharjah Emirate, UAE (This paper was presented at the combined 24th Radiocarbon and 10th Radiocarbon & Archaeology International Conference, Zurich, Switzerland, Sept. 2022.). The site was inhabited during the mid to late Holocene. It is situated in a lagoonal environment with former mangrove forests at the Arabian Gulf coast of southeast Arabia. Due to availability in the immediate proximity, shellfish played an important role for the local subsistence throughout the site’s occupation. Tell Abraq provides a well-defined and stratigraphically controlled archaeological context for investigations on the reservoir effect of the two species chosen. Crucial for the determination of the marine reservoir effect is comparison with contemporaneous terrestrial carbon samples. We discuss the data in a wider context with respect to results obtained at other sites.

This paper investigates samples of local cooking and utilitarian vessels from Roman contexts at Corinth. Based on macroscopic investigation, the vessels had been assigned to a single ware, but a recent instrumental neutron activation analysis showed that more than one fabric was present. To examine possible variations in shape and function as well as changes of shape over time, selected samples were subjected to thin section petrography, combined with refiring tests and elemental analysis (WD-XRF). The results reveal two main fabrics and one minor one with mineralogical compositions consistent with the geology of the north-eastern Peloponnese; one of them is tentatively linked to Sikyon and another has been identified as a regional product in earlier petrographic studies in the area.

This paper contributes to the understanding of Early Bronze Age sealing practices in the Cyclades, focusing on recent findings from the settlement site of Koimisis on Therasia. It discusses two seal impressions stamped on a jar handle from an Early Cycladic II context. One aligns with the broader Aegean glyptic tradition, while the second could represent the earliest evidence associated with developments tied to the broader context of script formation in the Aegean. The study analyses the context of the find, the iconography and the style of the seal impressions, and explores the associations and meaning of the signs. Additionally, the petrographic analysis of the pottery fragment provides insights into the vase’s origin and the broader interpretative context of the impressions.

Crete has long been celebrated as the cradle of Greek sculpture. This acknowledgement relies partly on the literary ‘phantom’ of Daidalos and partly on the copious finds of early, especially seventh-century BC, sculpture from the island. Although Knossos and its region are prominent in the literary tradition on the works of Daidalos and have produced numerous early sculptures, this has largely been ignored. My paper addresses the problem and argues for the significance of the evidence from Knossos for the study of early Greek sculpture. The argument is grounded on the publication of three sculptures from the site: two mid to late seventh-century BC fragments of architectural sculpture and a head of a probably free-standing work of the mid sixth century BC, the last piece falling within the alleged Archaic Gap. By integrating art-historical, archaeological and archival perspectives, I study the character, style, dating and findspot of these works, and situate them within their spatial context and their Knossian and broader Cretan and Greek artistic context. The analysis establishes that Knossos and its region boast the fullest sequence of Early Iron Age to Archaic sculpture from Crete, hence they deserve a prominent place in discussions of early Greek sculpture for reasons extending beyond the textual tradition for Daidalos.

Pregnancy encompasses core socio-political issues: kinship, demography, religion, gender and more. In any society, the ontology of the pregnant body and the embryo-fetus holds core existential concerns. Is a pregnant body one or two beings? When does personhood begin? Yet pregnancy is still a marginal topic in archaeology and its onto-political consequences have scarcely been raised. It would be ludicrous to claim that pregnancy or childbirth is part of the grand narratives of prehistory. Also in scholarship centring theoretical perspectives on the body and personhood the pregnant body is absent. This article poses fundamental questions of the body-politics of pregnancy. We develop concepts from material feminism, medical ethics and philosophy to interrogate pregnancy and provide a case study to demonstrate how these concepts can work in practice from the Viking Age. The questions posed, however, are not limited to the Viking period. Our overall objective is to centre pregnancy as a philosophical and political concern in archaeology writ large. We develop new thinking and language to this end, which can be used to examine the politics of pregnancy in other periods and regions. Ultimately, we discuss the absence-making of pregnant bodies from our sources as well as from archaeological discourse.

The application of a tube combustion system (pyrolyzer) for the batch combustion of low carbon content environmental matrices, such as soil and sediment, for determining 14C specific activity is examined. The samples were combusted at 600°C, and the CO2 species produced were trapped in 3N NaOH, precipitated as BaCO3 by adding BaCl2, and subjected to acid-hydrolysis to transfer the CO2 species to the absorber-scintillator mixture for liquid scintillation counting (LSC). The method was validated by analyzing the samples by accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) method. The minimum detectable activity (MDA) for the method, at 2σ confidence level, was 10 Bq kg–1C (4 pMC) for a counting time of 500 min and 7 Bq kg–1C (3 pMC) for 1000 min. The capability of the method to quantify a small excess of 14C specific activity (a few Bq kg–1C or pMC) in the environment of a nuclear facility, when compared to the ambient natural background level, was demonstrated by analyzing a total of 23 soil and 7 sediment samples from the vicinity of a pressurized heavy water reactor (PHWR) nuclear power plant (NPP) at Kaiga, India. The maximum excess 14C specific activity values recorded for soil and sediment matrices were 37 ± 7 Bq kg–1C and 11 ± 7 Bq kg–1C, respectively, confirming minimal radioecological impact of the operation of the NPP on the environment. The 14C specific activity ratio for the recently fallen leaf litter and the soil underneath at most of the sampling points in the vicinity of the NPP had a mean value of 1.03 with an associated standard deviation of 0.07. Statistical tests confirm that the mean values of the data set of 14C specific activity of leaf litter and underlying soil are not significantly different.

The Parthenon’s structure suggests a thought-out design particularly attentive to light. This includes the orientation of the building towards the rising sun, the placement of windows, the use of barriers and grilles, the translucent marble ceilings, the skylights, and even ‘reflective’ pools of various liquid. These are all devices that, alongside bright materials, may have been used to enhance the experience of visitors to the temple and their encounter with the colossal gold and ivory statue of the goddess Athena. To test the validity and the effect that each of these purported design strategies produced, this article proposes an experiment using advanced 3D digital technologies, along with physically based lighting simulations, to recreate the ambient and architectural conditions that existed in the original temple design. The results suggest that this temple, contrary to long-standing beliefs that imagined the interior as a ‘bright marble space’, was generally quite dark and dim. The subsequent discussion and concluding remarks suggest that the illumination of the chryselephantine statue’s materials through the glow of a lamp, and on rare occasions from the sun, probably represented the pinnacle of the viewing encounters.

Biber Deresi is an open-air site located on the Assos/Behram, Çanakkale coast, associated with river systems and raw material sources. The site’s particular importance is owed to the discovery of the most extensive Lower and Middle Palaeolithic assemblage yet identified on the Aegean coast of Türkiye. The lithic assemblage is characterized by a significant number of large cutting tools, including handaxes, cleavers, and trihedral picks, as well as pebble core tools, which are predominantly chopping tools. Flakes produced from both unprepared and prepared cores predominate. It is evident that, during the Pleistocene low sea level period, the region had a continuous connection with Lesvos and, via the eastern Aegean islands, with mainland Greece. Biber Deresi is identified as a key site, facilitating hominin movement and communication between Asia and Europe, and providing a novel contribution to the Palaeolithic map of the Aegean.

This essay makes the case that law in most of Africa has, since colonial times, been used as a framework of domination and imperialism. This has always been through repugnancy/supremacy clauses, which were predicated on the highly problematic assumption that European ways of knowing were superior to the African ones. This essay also demonstrates that, sadly, these clauses are still on the statute books of many African countries and continue to haunt the protection through law of Africa’s precious and unique tangible and intangible cultural heritage. The essay also shows that another way through whichthe development of African heritage was arrested through law was by criminalizing traditional Indigenous practices, which European imperial powers did not fully understand in terms of ontology. It is also argued that the same problems bedeviling the legal protection of African cultural heritage at the domestic level haunt this protection, even at the regional level(s). African regional courts continue to sadly apply alien notions of law to the exclusion of majority Africans. International law, being state-centric, has not been applied in the African context to revolutionarily protect African heritage. Where it has done so, it has been failed by the states or has been generally limited by its problematic colonial foundations. Finally, it is agued that African states need to de-elitesize, de-Westernize and decolonize the law if it is to effectively protect cultural heritage and property and make meaning to the ordinary African. This is urgent and imperative from a cultural, security and geopolitical vantagepoint.