Sedentary occupation of the southern Levantine coast spans from the Pre-Pottery Neolithic C to the Early Bronze Age Ib phase (c. 7000–3100 BC). Sites dating to the Early Pottery Neolithic (c. 6400–5500 BC) are scarce, however, potentially reflecting the effects of the 8.2ka climatic event. Here, the authors present the investigations at the submerged site of Habonim North off the Carmel Coast. Typological and radiocarbon dating indicate an Early Pottery Neolithic occupation and evidence for continuity of subsistence and economic strategies with both earlier and later Neolithic cultures. The results indicate the resilience of coastal communities in the face of significant climatic uncertainty and contribute to understanding human responses to environmental change.

Recent excavations in the historic centre of ancient Jerusalem have revealed evidence of an Abbasid (eighth- to tenth-century AD) marketplace. Refuse pits and cesspits have yielded an exceptionally well-preserved archaeobotanical assemblage—the first to be recovered from a Levantine marketplace, and the first in the region to be almost entirely preserved by mineralisation. Among several rare species identified is the earliest discovery of aubergine in the Levant. The assemblage includes staple and luxury food plants, medicinal herbs and plants used for industrial production, illuminating patterns of consumption, production, trade and the socioeconomic structure of Abbasid Jerusalem.

Lessons from history on sustainability, collapse and resilience are the ultimate goal of the Byzantine Bio-Archaeology Research Program of the Negev (BYBAN) (Tepper et al. 2015). Addressing the unprecedented flourishing and collapse of the Byzantine Negev agricultural settlements (fourth–seventh centuries AD), the BYBAN project offers a unique and original approach. It focuses on ancient middens and domestic contexts, which provide an exceptional focus on the materiality of daily life. Archaeobotanical research is central to this project because the copious plant remains retrieved are a reflection of the region's agricultural economy and its environmental sustainability. This approach will enable us to answer important research questions about the Byzantine–Islamic transition in the Negev: what were the major cash and subsistence crops? Which were grown locally, and which, if any, were imported? How, if at all, did the agricultural economy change during the Byzantine–Islamic transition? Were there any major changes in climatic conditions, and, if so, can they be implicated as a cause for agricultural collapse?

Traces of starch found on a large flat stone discovered in the hunter-fisher-gatherer site of Ohalo II famously represent the first identification of Upper Palaeolithic grinding of grasses. Given the importance of this discovery for the use of edible grain, further analyses have now been undertaken. Meticulous sampling combined with good preservation allow the authors to demonstrate that the Ohalo II stone was certainly used for the routine processing of wild cereals, wheat, barley and now oats among them, around 23 000 years ago.

Hg1−xCdxTe crystals with x˜0.2 were grown by the traveling heater method (THM), in either the [111]A or [111]B directions, using oriented CdTe seeds. Twins are sometimes formed during the growth of these crystals. In crystals grown in the [111]A direction the twins, of orientation [511]B, are constantly growing at the expense of the original [111]A oriented grain. Growth in the [111]B direction, on the other hand, suppresses the growth of the twin domain. Photodiodes and capacitors realized on the (111)A plane are markedly superior to those on the twin plane, [511]B. The difference is due to higher fixed charge and larger fast surface state densities in the case of the [511]B plane. These effects are explained by the lattice structures in the {111} and {511} planes and their possible influence on surface reactivity.

Hg1−xCdxTe crystals with x∼0.2 were grown by the traveling heater method (THM), in either the [111]A or [111]B directions, using oriented CdTe seeds. Twins are sometimes formed during the growth of these crystals. In crystals grown in the [11]A direction the twins, of orientation [511]B, are constantly growing at the expense of the original [111]A oriented grain. Growth in the [111]B direction, on the other hand, suppresses the growth of the twin domain. Photodiodes and capacitors realized on the (111)A plane are markedly superior to those on the twin plane, (511)B. The difference is due to higher fixed charge and larger fast surface state densities in the case of the (511)B plane. These effects are explained by the lattice structures in the {111} and {511} planes and their possible influence on surface reactivity.

For an ergodic transformation T, necessary and sufficient conditions are given for a set A and an integer n so that the existence of a set B with pairwise disjoint and is ensured.