This paper derives from new work on Mesolithic human skeletal material from Strøby Egede, a near coastal site in eastern Sjælland, with two foci. The first confirms sex identifications from original work carried out in 1986. The second, and central focus, re-examines comments by one of us (CM) based on work in 1992, and a new statistical analysis including data from the two Strøby Egede adults. In 1998 it was suggested that the Strøby Egede sample more closely resembled Skateholm, on the coast of Skåne in southern Sweden, than Vedbæk-Bøgebakken on Sjælland, fitting lithic patterns noted earlier by Vang Petersen. We revisit the 1998 suggestion below, comparing data from Strøby Egede to those available from southern Scandinavia and Germany, and suggest that the 1998 comment was, in all probability, incorrect. The analysis below suggests overall morphological similarity between individuals in eastern Sjælland and Skåne, while noting the existence of apparent outliers.

This paper presents the results of new research on two sarsen stones, known as the Cuckoo Stone and Tor Stone, both former standing stones that lie on opposite banks of the River Avon and straddle the eastern border of the Stonehenge and Avebury World Heritage Site. Geochemical analysis indicates that both stones were probably transported to their present site from West Woods on the Marlborough Downs in north Wiltshire, a source that likely also supplied the large sarsen monoliths at Stonehenge. The paper examines the geological conditions necessary for the formation of sarsen across the site of the present-day Salisbury Plain to address the apparent absence of natural sarsen in the area. The results are integrated with those of archaeological fieldwork from nearby contemporaneous sites to suggest that the Cuckoo Stone and Tor Stone were probably introduced into the Stonehenge landscape in the early part of the Late Neolithic period, ie, contemporary with Phase 1 of Stonehenge and some 400–500 years before the construction of the principal sarsen settings at the monument. Visibility analysis indicates that the two stones were probably intervisible and likely to have formed part of a planned landscape and were positioned to create a formal portal to the Stonehenge area on either bank of the River Avon.

I find myself largely in agreement with the argument presented in Frieman's debate article (2024) on knowing and narrativity in archaeology, and I share the author's view of feminist epistemology as key to embracing the conditions of the discipline (see e.g. Pétursdóttir & Sørensen 2023; Sørensen et al. 2024). Here, I consider some of the perspectives that Frieman leaves slightly underexplored.

The article presents a previously unknown hymn in praise of Marduk, the Esagil, Babylon and the Babylonians. It contains unparalleled descriptions of the healing powers of Marduk, the splendor of Babylon, the spring borne by the Euphrates to the city’s fields and the generosity of the Babylonians themselves. The text survives in 20 manuscripts, from the 7th to the 2nd/1st centuries BCE, and it can be shown that it was a fixture in the school curriculum of the time. The author of this highly accomplished piece immortalized his devotion to his city, gods, and people in words that resonated until the final decades of cuneiform culture.

Edition with translation of a Sumerian liturgical fragment kept today in Birmingham City Museum. Three such fragments were edited in a previous article (Iraq 85). The fourth fragment tells us a dramatic story of Dumuzi in the steppe, which, thanks to the help of loving women and of the gods Utu and Nanna, finds a happy end.

Investigations of stable carbon isotope composition in α-cellulose extracted from tree rings of pines (Pinus sylvestris L.) growing in the unpolluted Suwałki region, northeastern part of Poland, are undertaken. The presented carbon isotope record covers the period of 1931–2003. Values of δ13C measured in the tree ring α-cellulose are compared to meteorological data. These δ13C values in tree ring cellulose respond to summer temperature, insolation, relative humidity, and precipitation. The best correlation is observed between relative humidity and carbon isotope data. The August relative humidity is found more influential on δ13C values than relative humidity for any other month or combination of months (r = –0.65). Relations between isotopic and meteorological data demonstrate that precipitation influences the stable carbon isotopic ratios to a lower extent than humidity. The intensity and duration of summer rainfall events can determine this effect. The temporal stability of climate-proxy connections is an important issue in paleoclimatic reconstruction. Therefore, the temporal stability of climatic signals recorded by stable carbon isotopes is analyzed in this research using the moving correlation function for moving intervals with a 25-year window. Based on those investigations the highest time stability of correlation was found for the carbon isotope and the August relative humidity. More variability is observed for the correlation of δ13C values with precipitation.

Time, place, and the rhythm of the seasons, essential constituents of ancient ritual, collaboratively shaped and channeled the experience of religious performance. Focusing on agricultural and civic time reckoning, this article investigates the orientations of the monuments at the extra-mural Sanctuary of the Thirteen Altars at Lavinium and their coordination with viticultural activities amid the shifting social and religious circumstances of the 6th and 5th c. BCE. The article will argue that the 6th- and 5th-c. altars were aligned in such a way as to face sunrise at a particular location on the horizon on two very particular days in the seasonal year. The altars at Lavinium, playing an important role in the emerging urban community's economic life, will be shown to be themselves a form of agentic seasonal timekeeping that closely determined the integration of local agricultural, religious, and economic practices.

The article reconstructs lines 75–80 of Tablet V of the Standard Babylonian version of the Epic of Gilgameš. It offers a re-edition of all the extant sources and uses as a recourse verses 9–12 in Chapter 4 of the Book of Qohelet (Ecclesiastes). It then demonstrates how close the passage in the Epic of Gilgameš and the verses of the Book of Qohelet are. The article concludes with a brief discussion about the relationship between the Epic of Gilgameš and the Book of Qohelet.

This publication presents the results of the excavation in 1960 of a group of Minoan tombs on the lower slopes of Ailias, on the east side of the River Kairatos, in an area almost opposite the Temple Tomb at Knossos. One or two of these tombs were built in Middle Minoan times. Tomb I was used again for four burials in Late Minoan II–IIIA, the period when the other three tombs (II–IV) appear to have been exclusively used. The publication presents the excavation's ceramic and other small finds and offers a detailed study of the skeletal remains. Of special interest are the following aspects: (1) the excavation's careful documentation – particularly by the standards of the time – with considerable attention paid to stratigraphy and the production of section drawings; (2) the tombs’ architecture; (3) the use of wooden coffins; (4) the lack – to a large extent – of finds in association with the bodies buried in these tombs; and (5) the funerary sequence in one of the few locations in the Knossos valley where both Neopalatial as well as Final Palatial use is attested. The proximity to and (re)use of Neopalatial tombs during the Late Minoan II–IIIA period and the need of some members of the local society to associate themselves with pre-existing burial structures are discussed. This publication contributes to ongoing discussions on bone and object manipulation, plus the numbers of burials per tomb, while revisiting the ‘richness’ levels of the Knossian tombs. It also places emphasis on taphonomy, the transition from Late Minoan I to II, and the funeral experience. It is argued that burying the dead in a purposefully formed space (i.e., in a rock-cut tomb) may have constituted an action of particular social and/or religious importance even in burials lacking any significant quantities and/or a diverse range of objects. The most important ramifications stemming from this study are assessed at the end of the paper.

The writings of George Finlay are usually viewed through the lenses of philhellenism and the Greek Revolution. This work seeks instead to locate them in the transnational intellectual canvas of the nineteenth century, principally in relation to the writings of George Bancroft, in whose History of the United States Finlay left extensive marginalia. Finlay's comments on Bancroft's work exemplify two disparate styles of historiography in the period. This study attributes such a divide to Finlay's and Bancroft's divergent worldviews, conflicting methodologies and contrasting motivations as historians working on either side of the Atlantic in the Age of Revolutions. The analysis of the dialogical exchange between the two scholars has much to contribute towards a global history of historical thought during a liminal period for history as a discipline. Finlay's annotations offer much for our understanding of Bancroft's reception outside of the United States, especially in ‘peripheral’ regions like the Eastern Mediterranean that are often overlooked when studying intellectual exchanges between Europe and America. Further, owing to the connection that he draws between national institutions and the writing of history, Finlay's marginalia give a clear indication of his vision for the optimal socio-political organisation of post-revolutionary states like the United States and the Kingdom of Greece. In this article, I suggest that Finlay's work was thus essentially didactic in contrast to Bancroft's teleological method of historical enquiry, giving greater insight into the different methods and purposes of historical writing in the nineteenth century.

Recent archaeological and remote sensing research in the Maya Lowlands has demonstrated evidence for extensive modification of the landscape in the forms of channeled fields and upland terraces. Scholars often assume these measures were taken primarily to intensify maize production; however, paleoethnobotany highlights a greater diversity of crops grown by the precolonial Maya. This study combines the growth requirements of 18 crops cultivated by ancient Maya farmers with lidar and other geospatial data in a suitability model that maps optimal areas for growth. These 18 crops cluster into five groups of crops with similar growth requirements. Across the study region, different groupings of crops had different suitability in and around different ancient Maya centers and agricultural features. This spatial variation in suitability reflects the heterogeneity of land resources and adaptations and contributes to existing conversations about economic and settlement organization in the study area. The results of this study serve as a foundation for future field studies and more complex spatial models.