This paper attempts an overview of new kind of segmented mill, examples of which have been found at Thysdrus (El Jem) and Zama in Africa Proconsularis. These grain mills are quite different morphologically and technically from other mills in the ancient Mediterranean world. These rare archaeological finds are not discussed in the ancient literature or in modern scholarship, leaving them difficult to understand. This article explores the history of segmented mills and the operation and dating of this African mill type.

The Bell Beaker site near Brodek u Prostějova (Czechia) has yielded remains of a large timber construction accompanied by four symmetrical ritual deposits with numerous artefacts, including more than fifty ceramic vessels. Their decoration consists of incised patterns, in nineteen cases with preserved white inlaid incrustations. To investigate the social relations at this extraordinary site, a multi-analytical and micro-destructive approach was employed to determine the provenance and technology of the pottery and the composition of the white incrustations. The results indicate various origins for the pottery within the region and the presence of extra-regional fabrics and graphitic temper. The main raw materials for the white inlays were calcium carbonate (calcite), hydroxyapatite (bone), and bright clay. The mixing of decorative motifs and the variation in the shape and size of the beakers suggest unique manufacturing processes. These results lend support to the monumental site of Brodek serving as a ritual place for several communities from both local and wider areas.

Marble provenance studies in archaeology have become increasingly popular in recent decades. This has resulted in a large quantity of analytical data becoming available for archaeological marbles. This article presents the results of a quantitative study of the distribution of white marble in the Mediterranean based on an analysis of the available provenance data for the Roman period. The study shows increased distribution of white marble between the late 1st c. BCE and the end of the 2nd c. CE. A decline in distribution from the 3rd c. CE was less abrupt than traditionally believed and shows object-, material-, and region-specific trajectories. The marble distribution data is finally evaluated within a wider socio-economic frame, considering factors such as the marble trade system and broader Roman economy, changes in cultural practices related to statue erection, importance of reuse and recycling, growing ruralization, and reduced interest of the elite in urban capital investment in the later Roman periods.

Crashes involving self-driving cars at least superficially resemble trolley dilemmas. This article discusses what lessons machine ethicists working on the ethics of self-driving cars can learn from trolleyology. The article proceeds by providing an account of the trolley problem as a paradox and by distinguishing two types of solutions to the trolley problem. According to an optimistic solution, our case intuitions about trolley dilemmas are responding to morally relevant differences. The pessimistic solution denies that this is the case. An optimistic solution would yield first-order moral insights for the ethics of self-driving cars, but such a solution is difficult to come by. More plausible is the pessimistic solution, and it teaches us a methodological lesson. The lesson is that machine ethicists should discount case intuitions and instead rely on intuitions and judgments at a higher level of generality.

The tomb of Marcus Venerius Secundio was discovered in July 2021 in the necropolis of Porta Sarno at Pompeii. This paper contextualizes it against the backdrop of 1st-c. CE burial customs and social history. The inscription on the pediment shows that the tomb owner was a former public slave who, after manumission, rose to the rank of the Augustales; he was a “custodian” of the temple of Venus, and he organized “Greek and Latin games/performances.” This is the first archaeological discovery providing direct evidence of Greek musical and/or theatrical performances at Pompeii. Another peculiarity is that Secundio was inhumed, not cremated, a practice so far unique among adults in Pompeii during this period. The inhumation of Secundio and his titulus sepulcralis can be read as local reflections of the Neronian zeitgeist and shed light on the modes by which cultural trends spread from the capital throughout the empire.