This article presents preliminary results from mountain survey in the Chatkal Range in the western Tian Shan piedmonts, eastern Uzbekistan. In 2021, several new Palaeolithic sites were discovered, including a single, multi-layered, open-air site—Kuksaray 2—located near a flint outcrop. The authors’ initial investigations have recovered a stone tool assemblage containing tools displaying both Middle Palaeolithic and Initial Upper Palaeolithic characteristics.

Human sacrifice has long been associated with the rise of hierarchical centralised societies. Recent excavation of a large cist tomb at third-millennium BC Başur Höyük, in Turkey, shows that state formation in Mesopotamia was accompanied by a fundamental change in the value of human life within local ritual economy. Osteological analysis and study of the grave goods have identified some of the dead as human sacrifices. This was indeed a retainer burial, reflecting the emergence of stratified society at a time of instability and crisis.

The recent discovery of several late Linearbandkeramik (LBK) sites in Central Europe, including Vráble in south-west Slovakia, has revealed evidence for increasing diversity in Neolithic mortuary practices, which may reflect inter-community war and socio-political crisis at the end of the LBK. Here, the authors combine osteological and radiocarbon analyses of inhumations from Vráble. Rather than a straightforward sign of inter-community conflict and war, this development reflects a culmination of internal conflict and a diversification in the ritual treatment of human bodies. The emerging variability in LBK methods of manipulating and depositing dead bodies can be interpreted as an experimental approach in how to negotiate social conflicts and community boundaries.

Remote sensing survey in southern Jordan has identified at least three Roman temporary camps that indicate a probable undocumented military campaign into what is today Saudi Arabia, and which we conjecture is linked to the Roman annexation of the Nabataean kingdom in AD 106.

The pre-Contact foraging communities of the north-west coast of North America have long been recognised as exhibiting many of the features we associate with agricultural societies, including sedentism and social inequality. Evidence from the pre-Contact plank house communities of Meier and Cathlapotle throws new light on the spatial organisation of these societies. Detailed analysis of stone tools allows the spatial division of labour to be determined within these large, multi-family households. This reveals that while some tasks were associated with particular social ranks, a hierarchical community can be identified in each plank house. Overall, the differences lie in the degree of engagement rather than the kind of activity, helping to characterise labour organisation among these unique, sedentary foragers. The results also provide insight into the potential of stone tool analysis for social reconstruction.

Ancient art is typically studied in terms of its aesthetic or historical value. This article presents an alternative approach, examining ancient Egyptian wall reliefs from a chaîne opératoire perspective. The reliefs assessed here adorn the walls of the Chapel of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahari in Thebes. The analysis reveals, for the first time, the sequence of the artists’ work, from the initial preparation of the wall surface to the master sculptor's final touches. This enables a reconstruction of the ergonomic organisation of the work, distinguishing the contributions of individual hands and revealing often intangible phenomena, such as master-apprentice interactions. A similar approach may be useful when examining carved reliefs in other parts of the world.

In the absence of written records, disease and parasite loads are often used as indicators of sanitation in past populations. Here, the authors adopt the novel approach of integrating the bioarchaeological analysis of cesspits in an area of medieval Leiden (the Netherlands) with historical property records to explore living conditions. Using light microscopy and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) they identify evidence of parasites associated with ineffective sanitation (whipworm, roundworm and the protozoan Giardia duodenalis)—at residences of all social levels—and the consumption of infected livestock and freshwater fish (Diphyllobothriidae, cf. Echinostoma sp., cf. Fasciola hepatica and Dicrocoelium sp.).

In a sculpted frieze on a lintel of the so-called Temple of Allat at Hatra (second century AD), two rows of sitting camels converge towards a possible royal portrait. The two lead animals were previously interpreted as Bactrian camels. We reconsider this interpretation in light of recent information on ancient and contemporary practices of hybridisation between Camelus bactrianus and Camelus dromedarius.