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Abstract Some areas in Western Europe indicate hiatuses in human occupations, which cannot be systematically attributed to taphonomic factors and poor site preservation. The site of la Noira in the center of France records two occupation phases with a significant time gap. The older one is dated to around 700 ka (stratum a) with an Acheulean assemblage, among the earliest in Western Europe, and the upper phase of the sequence (stratum c) is dated to ca. 450 ka. Humans left the area at around 670 ka, at the beginning of the marine isotope stage (MIS) 16 glacial stage, when cold conditions became too severe. No sites between 650 and 450 ka have yet been discovered in the center region despite systematic surveys over the past three decades. The archaeological evidence indicates that populations returned to the area, at the end of MIS 12 or the beginning of the long interglacial MIS 11. Here, we use technological behaviors common to the two levels of la Noira—strata a and c to evaluate their differences. Compared to other key European sequences, this site can be used to address the evolution of the behavioral strategies in Europe between MIS 17 and 11. We formulate two hypotheses concerning the human settlement of this area: (1) local behavioral evolution over time of populations occasionally occupying the region when the climate was favorable or (2) dispersal and arrival of new populations from other areas. The results focus on (1) changes in land-use patterns with the extension of the territory used by hominins in the upper level, (2) the introduction of new core technologies, including some evidence of early Levallois debitage, and (3) more intensive shaping of bifaces and bifacial tools. Results attest that the la Noira archaeological assemblages record similar regional behavioral evolution as observed at a larger scale in Europe.

Abstract The history of the series is described by three successive Editors. Each one reports how he has been approached, his conception of the different volumes and gives an overview of the topics which have been treated. The first period, from creation of the series in 1963 by Professor Reginald Preston to 2006, was covered by Professor James (Jim) Callow who became Editor after Professor Harold Woolhouse, in 1985. During this period, 44 volumes were published, essentially eclectic, covering most of the fields in plant biology. Under James Callow's editorship, the frequency of issues increased up to two/year and a few thematic volumes were published. When he decided to stop in 2006, Dr. Jean Claude Kader and Dr. Michel Delseny were appointed. They maintained a rate of two to three issues/year, alternating eclectic and thematic volumes. They together published 16 volumes and resigned in 2012. Finally, they were replaced by Professors Jean-Pierre Jacquot and Pierre Gadal. They published only thematic volumes and the rate increased to four–five issues/year.

Abstract Hafting adhesives play a crucial role in the study of composite objects such as hunting weapons. However, they tend to degrade rapidly and, when they exceptionally preserve, they represent only micro remains. Over the last 20 years, different techniques have been applied to study such hafting residues. These techniques include optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and gas chromatography / mass spectrometry. Hafting adhesives have also been radiocarbon dated in some cases. Here, we present a multi-analytical approach using these techniques as well as photogrammetry and FTIR spectroscopy. Our integrated approach, combining these six techniques in a strategic order, allows us to document, characterise chemically and date hafting adhesives. We applied this methodology to a set of stone tools discovered in Sart-Saint-Laurent (Belgium) without any archaeological context. This multi-analytical work revealed that several of the tools have been hafted with a heated Pinaceae resin around the 2nd-4th century CE, although some of the artefacts can be attributed to the Neolithic. More generally, this work demonstrates the complementary nature of all the techniques employed and their crucial contribution to fully elucidate hafting techniques.

AbstractThe paper presents the results of a palaeoecological study of Neolithic archaeological layers from a wetland, multilayer site, Serteya II (Western Russia). It contains, domestic structures, rich organic artefacts, skeletons, and ecofacts preserved within lacustrine deposits that are extremely important on a European scale. We employed a set of specialised palaeoecological analyses and accelerator mass spectrometry radiocarbon dating to identify the principal environmental conditions which attracted Neolithic hunter‐fisher‐gatherer communities from 4300 to 1600 cal. BC. The distinct impact of communities using a nonproductive economy on the ecology of the palaeolake shore zone was recorded. Also, palaeolake water level changes influenced the palaeoeconomic activity of local Neolithic societies, such as gathering of plants (for the medicinal use or serving as dietary components), fishing activities, and possible funeral practices. In addition, the identified phases of high‐water level changes, which were responses to climatic oscillations, were correlated with supraregional climatic events, especially ca. 6.2, 5.9, and 4.2 ka cal. BP. Thus, our results allowed for the reconstruction of environment transformations and conditions of Neolithic communities' activity, as well as for a better understanding of the relationships between local Neolithic communities' way of life and neolithisation processes in Eastern Europe.

Located in the Trapani Mountains of North-West Sicily, the hilltop site of Pizzo Monaco hasformed the focus of systematic excavation and an innovative, integrated study of the totalceramic assemblage, as part of the MEMOLA FP7 project. The date, provenance and productiontechnology of the varied types of pottery are investigated by macroscopic, morphological anddecorative analysis, in combination with petrography and scanning electron microscopy in orderto assess social, technological and economic ties of this rural site and its environs with the earlyIslamic capital of Sicily at Palermo, the wider island and North Africa. Local production of cookingvessels is compared with glazed and plain storage pottery, serving and consumption vesselsfrom Palermo, in a region where the new relationship between coastal centre and nearby mountaineconomies was being forged. Correlation of the properties of the pottery assemblage withthe unusual architecture suggests the storage of a repeated ceramic set, perhaps on a householdbasis, in a site which may be a fortified storage facility, rather than sustaining more permanentoccupation. The typological study provides new information on the range of ceramics circulatingin Sicily during the mid-11th century CE, revealing the full spectrum of ceramics consumedat this time. This approach contrasts with work that privileges a view of simple transmissionof glazing technologies across the Islamic Mediterranean. Indeed a comparison of productionsequences in the crafting of similar glazed bowls at Palermo demonstrates the co-existence ofdifferent communities of practice and cautions against over-simplified reconstructions of thetransmission of glazing technologies in the early medieval Mediterranean. The range of potteryavailable from a variety of sources highlights the consumption choices made by these communitiesin the medieval period.

International audience

In a tweet posted on 29 March 2018, a bidūn activist—who was later jailed from July 2019 to January 2020 for peacefully protesting against the inhumane conditions under which the bidūn are living—shared a video. The brief video zooms in closely on an ID card, recognizable as one of those issued to the bidūn, or long-term residents of Kuwait who are in contention with the state regarding their legal status. More precisely, the mobile phone camera focuses on the back of the ID card, on one line with a special mention added by the Central System (al-jihāz al-markazī), the administration in charge of bidūn affairs. Other magnetic strip cards hide the personal data written above and below it. A male voice can be heard saying that he will read this additional remark, but before even doing so he bursts into laughter. The faceless voice goes on to read out the label in an unrestrained laugh: “ladayh qarīb … ladayh qarīna … dālla ʿalā al-jinsiyya al-ʿIrāqiyya” (he has a relative … who has presumptive evidence … suggesting an Iraqi nationality). The video shakes as the result of a contagious laugh that grows in intensity. In the Kuwaiti dialect, the voice continues commenting: “Uqsim bil-Allāh, gaʿadt sāʿa ufakkir shinū maʿanāt hal-ḥatchī” (I swear by God, it took me an hour to figure out the meaning of this nonsense), before reading the sentence again, stopping and guffawing, and asking if he should “repeat it a third time,” expressing amazement at its absurdity. The tweet, addressed to the head of the Central System (mentioned in the hashtag #faḍīḥat Sāliḥ al-Faḍāla, or #scandal Salih al-Fadala), reads: In lam tastaḥī fa-'ktub mā shaʾt (Don't bother, write what you want).

International audience; Once considered rare, archaeological examples of violence in prehistoric Europe have accumulated over recent decades, with new discoveries providing evidence of large-scale, organised warfare among pre- and protohistoric populations. One example is La Hoya in north-central Iberia. Between the mid fourth and late third centuries BC, the site was subjected to a violent attack, its inhabitants killed and the settlement burned. Here the authors present osteological analyses for a massacre: decapitations, amputations and other sharp-force injuries affecting a wide cross section of the community. They interpret the massacre as an instance of conflict between rival local communities, contributing to a growing picture of the scale and nature of violence in Iron Age Europe.