The 7.7-m loess–paleosol sequence in Trzebnica records a short (ca. 3 ka) but intense phase of loess accumulation that preceded the onset of the Weichselian Late Glacial (MIS 2). The stratigraphy contains a well-defined erosional unconformity, marking a hiatus prior to the deposition of the youngest loess unit (L1LL1). The Trzebnica loess contains numerous signals of slope redeposition, as evidenced by lithological indicators. In this paper, we present optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) and radiocarbon data for the Trzebnica site, as well as granulometric analyses and end-member modeling of grain-size data. Our findings refine the regional loess stratigraphy and challenge an earlier hypothesis regarding the age of the Trzebnica 2 archeological site, which pointed to its evolution beginning around MIS 11. Limitations of 14C dating and its comparison to OSL dates are discussed.

Low optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) sensitivity is commonly observed in quartz from tectonically active catchments, suggesting limited or short-lived conditions favorable for sensitization. We characterize the OSL sensitivity of quartz sand within a small, tectonically active catchment in Sicily using modern fluvial samples and a hillslope soil sample. We investigate how OSL sensitivity varies with bedrock lithology, weathering proxies, and topographic metrics. OSL sensitivity spans three orders of magnitude (60–2800 counts/Gy/mm3) with no clear linkage to bedrock source. The soil sample exhibits the highest OSL sensitivity, and positive relationships between OSL sensitivity, magnetic susceptibility, and weathering intensity suggest that pedogenic hillslope processes enhance quartz OSL sensitivity. In contrast, fluvial sediments show low OSL sensitivity and a modest inverse relationship to channel steepness and hypsometry. OSL sensitivity decreases downstream, suggesting that highly sensitized grains from hillslope soils are progressively diluted by low OSL sensitivity sediment likely generated by rapid bedrock erosion in the catchment. These results highlight a hierarchy of controls: bedrock lithology sets the initial OSL sensitivity, hillslope processes enhance it, rapid erosion dilutes it, and fluvial transport modulates it through mixing, explaining why tectonically active catchments rarely preserve quartz with high OSL sensitivity.

Political engagement in highland Peru has changed over the past half century along with the economic, policy, and institutional environment, as demonstrated through this case study. Allpachico, a legally recognized peasant community (comunidad campesina), participated in a national peasant association that actively defended shared livelihood interests based on small-scale farming in the 1970s. Political and economic crises in the 1980s and 1990s undermined both protests and organizations. In the current neoliberal era, the state has promoted large-scale mineral extraction and municipal government while sidelining peasant farming and the comunidad. With few local jobs and scant returns to agriculture, Allpachiqueños have migrated to Lima, but many maintain their houses in the community. Despite the increasing diversity among Allpachiqueños, they continue to unite for projects for the common good, now manifesting in lobbying the local municipal government for improvements to urban structure. A communal habitus persists even though the scope of what is possible to demand has shifted from livelihood to lifestyle concerns.

Why do governments engage in public negotiations with criminal groups, which can be politically costly? I argue that three conditions are necessary for elected authorities to support public negotiations. First, elected authorities support negotiations when the relative conditions of criminal power make it easier to portray negotiations as superior to repression (repression failure frame) or as means to support disaffected youth (marginalisation frame). Second, dialogue brokers – that is, key individuals within government and civil society with know-how about criminal groups – shape government support by inserting concrete negotiation proposals into these frames. Third, electoral security for executive authorities incentivises them to support negotiations. I substantiate this argument by comparing cases in cities with contrasting state capacity and criminal sophistication, Belize City and Medellín.

The efficacy of using luminescence dating on glacial deposits is tested for a portion of the Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 6 Laurentide Ice Sheet margin in southwestern Indiana. We assess small-aliquot quartz optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) and feldspar infrared-stimulated luminescence (IRSL) dating of glaciofluvial, glaciodeltaic, and aeolian sediments against a well-established soil stratigraphy and a cosmogenic 10Be depth profile. Results indicate that standard blue-light OSL regenerative protocols used on MIS 2 glacial sediments in the region warrant caution when duplicated for MIS 6 sediments. Quartz OSL ages underestimate age by up to 50% compared with cosmogenic and feldspar post-IR IRSL200 ages. Presence of unstable or hard-to-bleach OSL signal components that cannot be removed with modified preheat protocols yields unreliable data. While dates obtained using post-IR IRSL200 protocols on feldspar are affected by partial bleaching and anomalous fading, these factors can be accounted for. Discrimination of negligible-fading small-aliquot data allowed us to obtain post-IR IRSL200 ages between 103 ± 12 and 241 ± 28 ka. Post-IR IRSL200 ages are mostly consistent with 10Be depth-profile dating and stratigraphic constraints and represent a viable option to study glaciofluvial sedimentation during MIS 6 and older glaciations in the region.