This study considers exploitation of marine molluscs at Riparo Mochi (Italy) in cultural and ecological context. Five shell assemblages from this site represent the early Upper Palaeolithic (c. 36,000 BP) through Late Epigravettian (c. 9000 BP) periods. Taphonomic analysis reveals four kinds of shell debris: ornaments, food refuse, marine sponge inclusions, and land snails. While human foraging agendas at Riparo Mochi shifted over the five Palaeolithic phases, the kinds of marine shells favoured as ornaments remained nearly constant.

AMS and other dating methods have been applied to the problem of Upper Palaeolithic occupation in Central Europe. The results from the excavations at the Rhineland site of Wiesbaden-Igstadt provide an opportunity for comparison and discussion of whether central Europe was really subject to abandonment at various times during Glacial/Pleniglacial episodes.

Spatial organization is a central issue in Palaeolithic archaeology, since it reflects the behavioural capabilities of human groups. We present an analysis of the lithic spatial distribution in a Middle Palaeolithic site, the Abric Romaní. Discussion of these data provides some insights on the variability of settlement patterns among the Neanderthals.

The earliest Upper Palaeolithic industries of the Levant, which figure prominently in discussions of the spread of anatomically modern humans and the origins of the Upper Palaeolithic, are known from a small number of localities. Two sites in the Hatay region of Turkey have yielded initial Upper Palaeolithic assemblages similar to those found in the Levant. One of the sites, Üçaǧizlı’ cave, has also provided radiometric dates and faunal remains, both relatively rare for sites of this period.

Detailed excavation and analysis of a brush hut from Ohalo II, Jordan Valley, Israel, provides an extraordinary view of camp construction 19,000 years ago. This report offers an important contribution to studies of Palaeolithic camp sites.

The tuffaceous sandstones and siltstones of the Ola Bula Formation in central Flores. east Indonesia, contain many fossil sites. Here, excavations at Boa Lesa and Dozu Dhalu and the results of regional site surveys are described. Stone artefacts indicate that hominids had arrived on the island by 840,000 years ago, post-dating a major change in the Lower Pleistocene fauna. Since water crossings were required to reach Flores from mainland Southeast Asia, this evidence has implications for the intellectual, technological and linguistic capabilities of early hominids.

The Amazon rain-forest we know today is quite a recent phenomenon. New research on climate and vegetation changes from a series of cores in Ecuador provide a chronology for early agriculture and forest clearance from early Holocene times.

Flint implements with rounded ends, excavated at several Upper Palaeolithic sites in Denmark and Holland, are interpreted as strike-a-lights used in combination with pyrites. Experimental flints employed in this way show use-wear traces similar to those on the prehistoric specimens. It is suggested that the pyrite technique for fire production pre-dates wood-on-wood techniques, at least in Europe and in Greenland.

Why were handaxes made and why was their shape symmetrical and regular? These and many other questions are considered here, in a paper tackling hominid social behaviour and sexual selection.

The earliest evidence of wheeled vehicles dates to the Funnel Beaker (TRB) culture in Europe and the Late Uruk period in the Near East. Results of excavations and 14C determinations from Poland, Germany, Iraq, Syria and Turkey suggest that the appearance of wheeled vehicles was contemporary in Europe and the Near East.

The threatened city of Venice, plauged by rising sea levels and subsiding ground, has been the subject of recent archaeological investigation. Studies of buried archaeological sites yield new evidence on trends in sea-level change for the Lagoon of Venice and provide important insight into how early habitation responded to such change.

Landscape archaeology depends greatly on the nature of the underlying physical landscape, and an understanding of its formation processes and change. We are pleased to publish this contribution on the Holocene river valleys of Britain, which provides important guidance on the integration of archaeological and geomorphological evidence, in building models for assessing potential archaeological preservation and erosion.