The Northwest Complex is one of several known Syro-Anatolian elite residences on the citadel of Zincirli. Syro-Anatolian elite residences such as the Northwest Complex are generally described with the anachronistic term Hilani. The related discourse has focussed on the architectural features that can define the Hilani type. More recently, discussions have focused anew on how these complexes functioned. This paper uses assemblage theory to move the discourse away from its focus on what architecture is to what it can do. It situates the Northwest Complex in an assemblage of Syro-Anatolian elite residences that partake in a shared culture of hospitality. It argues that the distinctive feature of these residences is their externalization of hospitality through the creation of elaborate in-between spaces in the form of external porticos.

Archaeological investigations have documented an ideological and occupied frontier in the Lower Tagali Valley along the southern margins of the Highlands of Papua New Guinea. Open-area excavations document two types of house structure associated with Huli occupation of the Lower Tagali Valley landscape, a women's house (wandia) and a lodge and ceremonial complex associated with a bachelor cult (ibagiyaanda). Excavation revealed the complete floor plan of the women's house site and multiple structural elements of the ceremonial complex. Radiocarbon dating provides a chronology for both sites that accords with genealogical histories for the colonization of this landscape by Huli during the early nineteenth century, or approximately eight generations ago. These archaeological findings are consistent with the strategies still employed today by Huli in the initial ideological incorporation of new territory and anchoring of expansionary claims through subsequent settlement and cultivation.

This paper investigates transformations in the construction and expression of gender ideologies in the Basin of Mexico from the late Middle Formative through Classic periods (approx. 800 bc–ad 600). Ceramic figurines from the sites of Teotihuacan, Axotlan, Cerro Portezuelo and Huixtoco are used to explore how elements of gender were constructed and communicated in the region over the course of a millennium, and how these practices underwent a transformation during the emergence and expansion of the Teotihuacan state. During the Formative periods, the selection, combination, or omission of sexual attributes in association with decorative elements such as jewellery formed a flexible strategy for depicting a variety of social identities across the Basin of Mexico. The emergence of the Teotihuacan figurine style in the Terminal Formative period brought with it significant changes to the way figurine bodies were formed—sexual attributes disappeared and were replaced with increasingly elaborate clothing and jewellery as the figurine corpus diversified into multiple types. Although relative rates of depictions of feminine and masculine figurines shifted over time, in no period were figurines limited to a binary set of depictions, indicating diverse social identities and gender ideologies in the Basin of Mexico over time.

The article critically examines interpretations of Old World ferrous metallurgical developments with reference to their consequences for Arctic Fennoscandian iron research. The traditional paradigm of technological innovations recurrently links the emergence of iron technology to increasing social complexity and a sedentary agricultural lifestyle, typically downplaying ‘peripheral’ areas such as Arctic Fennoscandia and its hunter-gatherer communities. Even in postcolonial research of recent years, the archaeometallurgical record of Arctic Fennoscandia is interpreted and organized within the traditional frameworks on the time, course, and cultural context of the introduction of iron technology in Europe, where Arctic Fennoscandia is not considered to have any noteworthy role. However, current archaeological research with new data in Arctic Fennoscandia disputes prevailing ideas in European iron research and shows substantial evidence that iron technology was an integrated part of hunter-gatherer subsistence already during the Early Iron Age (c. 200 bc). Archaeometallurgical analyses reveal advanced knowledge in all the operational sequences of iron technology, including bloomery steel production and the mastering of advanced smithing techniques. Therefore, we urge dispensing with traditional ideas and call for an increased interest in the underlying mechanisms for the transfer of iron.

Against the Grain is an approachable book that explores the world of the earliest states, found in Mesopotamia. It is framed by the rationale that a study of the state's deep history might give us insight into contemporary concerns via an understanding of the deep causal links between sedentism, agriculture and state control.

Archaeological materials from the Mediterranean world in Southeast Asia are scarce and their social context and cultural implications are rarely considered, while objects in Mediterranean style are often misinterpreted or overlooked. Concomitant to the increasing implementation of laboratory analysis, the range of new evidence, especially coming from recently excavated sites in Thailand and Myanmar, along with the reinterpretation of earlier data now brings the potential to compare different regions, and to discuss possible variations in terms both of the diversity and density of Roman materials. This study includes Mediterranean imports produced between the last centuries bce and first centuries ce, as well as Asia-produced inspired objects that integrate Mediterranean elements to varying degrees, combining new data and re-analysed materials. The paper not only contributes to building the sequence of cultural exchanges, but also interprets in cultural terms the varying Mediterranean elements present.

This work aims to apply the theories of new materialities to the study of the material culture of the Formoso stilt village, a pre-colonial settlement from the ninth–tenth centuries ad, located in the Baixada Maranhense. Appliqués of the pottery bowls at this archaeological site present cosmological information regarding the transformation or metamorphosis of bodies, aspects that are fertile for the discussion of shamanism in the lowlands of South America, especially the Amazon. Classic concepts of anthropological ethnography applied to archaeology are used, contributing to the discussion on the diversity of ways to manufacture the body in the Amazon in its easternmost portion, such as that of the Master of Animals, a supernatural entity metamorphosed by the shaman and who could also have been part of the cosmology of the lake peoples of Maranhão, Brazil. Two artifacts depicting beings that have their feet turned backwards may be associated with the Curupira, thus evidencing a long-lasting history of this supernatural being that was recorded both in colonial documentation and in indigenous ethnography.

This article explores the use of gold in the elite tombs of Han dynasty China, the popular use of which originated outside the Chinese cultural milieu, and its integration into the Han portfolio of materials representing people's expectations for the afterlife, such as immortality and well-being. In contrast to jade, which had a long history of use in China, gold was in itself a ‘new’ element of Chinese culture. This article outlines the introduction of gold objects from Europe and Central Asia via the Eurasian Steppe and borderland of China from around the eighth century bce. The unprecedented use of gold in the Han-specific jade suits, and the process by which foreign types of zoomorphic motifs were adopted and connected with local motifs, are explored. In light of the political change from multiple competing states before the first unification in Chinese history in the third century bce, and the development in ideology and concept of an ideal and eternal afterlife, this article explains the reasons and meanings of the new use of gold in Han dynasty China and the composite system of motifs, materials and objects.

Evidence for working rock crystal, a rare form of water-clear type of quartz, is occasionally recovered from prehistoric sites in Britain and Ireland, however, very little has been written on the specific methods of working this material, and its potential significance in the past. This paper presents the first synthesis of rock crystal evidence from Britain and Ireland, before examining a new assemblage from the Early Neolithic site of Dorstone Hill, Herefordshire. This outlines a methodology for analysing and interpreting this unusual material, and, through comparison with the flint assemblage, examines the specific uses and treatments of this material. Far from being used to make tools, we argue the distinctive and exotic rock crystal was being used to create distinctive and memorable moments, binding individuals together, forging local identities, and connecting the living and the dead.

The production and use of Loro ceramics in the Middle Horizon (c. ad 650–1000) south coast of Peru persisted during a period of cultural conflict as the highland Wari empire annexed this region. Primarily residing in the Las Trancas valley, just beyond the locus of Wari control, the Loro developed tight ethnic bonds and seem to have maintained autonomy for the duration of the empire's presence. Loro ceramics embody the culture's development of a local identity, particularly evident in face-neck jars, one-handled vessels consisting of a modelled human head atop a globular body. With standardized facial features, a range of reductive motifs and a tendency toward female representation, Loro face-neck jars contrast markedly with similar Wari vessels depicting individuals dressed in elite male costume and bearing symbols of Wari state religion. A significant percentage of Loro face-neck jars are sexed or gendered female, an unusual occurrence in Andean visual culture. This article frames these objects within Andean constructs of gender complementarity, arguing that Loro female face-neck jars visually declared their gendered opposition to Wari, protecting their autonomy through the implicit acquiescence and complementarity of femininity.