Archaeologists and epigraphers have long worked in concert across methodological and theoretical differences to study past writing. Ongoing integration of digital technologies into both fields is extending this collaboration’s scope by facilitating rapid information exchange, integration of multiple datasets in digital formats, and accumulation and analysis of large datasets. Recent research by the

In the original publication it was erroneously stated that the Y-chromosome haplogroup Q1a2 was found in Yamnaya burials, and that R1a was found in Majkop graves. The respective haplogroups were not found in either set of interments.

While agricultural origins have been recently revised in light of new genetic and archaeological evidence, parallel synthesis of subsequent developments in agricultural economies has lagged. This review summarizes recent advances in archaeological theory and method that contribute to an enhanced understanding of agricultural economies. Such advances address topics of persistent interest, including

Growing interest in bioarchaeology and its ability to address complex questions tied to social and biological identities in the past has led to the development of nuanced methods for evaluating mobility and migration using human skeletal remains. Improving our ability to identify both short- and long-term migration through observations of body modification, analyses of biological distance, and applications

Recent research is shedding light on the long and precocious urban tradition of the Pacific coastal rim of southeastern Mesoamerica, from eastern Soconusco, Mexico, to Escuintla, Guatemala. The available data provide a basis to discuss variations in urban shape and functions, and to a lesser extent, urban life and meaning at Formative and Classic cities, plus brief mention of Late Postclassic cities

This paper summarizes the current archaeological, physiographic, demographic, molecular, and bioarchaeological understanding of the initial peopling and subsequent population dynamics of South America. Well-dated sites point to a colonization by relatively few broad-spectrum foragers from northeastern Asia between ~13,000 and 12,000 cal BC via the Panamanian Peninsula. By ~11,500–11,000 cal BC, a number

Migration was embraced as a general phenomenon by cultural historical archaeologists in the Eastern Woodlands, subsequently rejected by processualists, and recently invoked again with greater frequency due to advances in both method and theory. However, challenges remain in regard to establishing temporal correlations between source and host regions and identifying the specific mechanisms of migration

The Late Neolithic and Copper Age were a time of change in most of Europe. Technological innovations including animal traction, the wheel, and plow agriculture transformed the prehistoric economy. The discovery of copper metallurgy expanded the spectrum of socially significant materials and realigned exchange networks away from Neolithic “greenstone,” obsidian, and Spondylus shells. New funerary practices

Cities generate challenges as well as confer advantages on their inhabitants. Recent excavations and surveys in northern Mesopotamia have revealed extensive settlements with diverse populations, institutions, extended hinterlands, and mass production by the early fourth millennium BC, comparable to well-known evidence for cities in their traditional homeland of southern Iraq. However, early northern

How will archaeology contribute to agricultural sustainability? To address that question, this overview reflects on the diverse and complementary ways that archaeology has advanced our understanding of sustainable agriculture. Here, I assess recent archaeological research through the lens of the five principles of sustainable agriculture used by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

While it is tempting to assume that empirical advancements inexorably lead to incremental improvement in our understanding of the past, the impact of ideas—even empirically untenable positions—often impede disciplinary progress. This paper examines the intellectual history of changing views of Classic Maya political organization, from the formulation of the “traditional synthesis” to contemporary debates

This paper applies the interdisciplinary approaches of commodity chain, commodity circuit, and commodity network analyses—common in sociology, anthropology, and geography—to cotton cloth in the Aztec economy to demonstrate how these techniques can enrich archaeological understandings of ancient economies. Commodity chain analysis draws attention to social and economic dependencies that link people