The game of fifty-eight holes is one of the longest recognized games of antiquity, but also one of the least understood. New evidence from the Caspian littoral points to an early adoption of the game by Middle Bronze Age seasonally pastoral cattle herders in the late third millennium and early second millennium bc. Six boards bearing this game's distinct pattern were found at sites on the Abşeron Peninsula and Gobustan Reserve in Azerbaijan. Their presence there not only indicates that the region was connected to societies to the south, but also demonstrates the game's popularity across cultures and socioeconomic groups. Its supposed first appearance in Egypt is questioned in favour of a south-western Asian origin.

In many areas of the world, archaeological research relies on workers without formal training in archaeology or apparent direct input into archaeological knowledge production. While these workers may appear to have little agency within the excavation process, and no direct participation in research outcomes, their role is more complex. Examples of local and international archaeological teams working in Türkiye in the mid-twentieth century and today are used here to explore the articulation of worker roles in field archaeology, as portrayed in field reports. The author assesses the language associated with team members in acknowledgements of their presence and status and examines how relationships are developed and maintained. Awareness of knowledge accumulation among local archaeological workers was articulated in the 1960s and proved advantageous to both workers and directors. Recent reports show little acknowledgement of worker presence, showing that multivocality has had no significant impact in this area of archaeological knowledge production.