Analysis of seven newly discovered engraved La Tène beads from the Mathay-Mandeure sanctuary in Doubs, France, has refined the chronology for the manufacture of such rare artefacts, and increases our understanding of Late Iron Age ritual deposition practices.

The site of Tappeh Asiab in Iran is one of only a handful of Early Neolithic sites known from the Zagros Mountains. Discovered during Robert Braidwood's ‘Iranian Prehistory’ project, the site has seen limited publication of its early excavations. Here, the authors challenge some of the initial assumptions made about the site by discussing the first findings of renewed excavations, in the hope of substantially improving our currently limited knowledge of the Early Neolithic in this region.

This paper presents the results of a non-photorealistic rendering approach to analysing Roman inscriptions, which uses line drawings to highlight the text of two epigraphs from Galicia in north-west Spain.

Analysis of oil lamps and clay figurines recovered from a Late Roman ceramics workshop at Beit Nattif in Israel has revealed numerous fragments with evidence of the manufacturer's fingerprints preserved on some of the ceramic surfaces. Further study of these fingerprints has provided a unique insight into the production history of the workshop, even showing how particular innovations in technique may be associated with particular individuals.

Ongoing excavations at San Giuliano in central Italy are providing detailed evidence for testing explanatory models of cyclical shifts in settlements and socio-economic organisation from the Etruscan to medieval periods (c. 800 BC–AD 1300).

Coastal erosion of archaeological sites has long been a problem for archaeologists seeking to understand maritime interactions in the past. A new model, using ArcGIS to collate various sources of data relating to processes of erosion over time along the south coast of Cyprus, is showcased here, with the hope that it can be expanded and adapted for use elsewhere in prioritising sites according to rates of destruction.

And so to my next NBC, the difficult second album, the sophomore slump. As an antidote to any jitters on my part, in this issue we tackle a range of books investigating creativity and innovation in the past. Innovation is enjoying something of a ‘moment’ in archaeological thought at present, with several large, multi-disciplinary projects underway in Europe and sessions devoted to the topic at major US and European conferences over the last few years. As with the current concentration on inequality, this interest can be traced to the social and political climate of the present and concerns over rapid technological change, economic growth and productivity. Innovation can be both productive and profoundly disruptive, and as such, it is of central concern in understanding social change in the past and predicting its effects in the future. The first four volumes discussed below deal directly with innovation, creativity and learning. The fifth, written by political scientist James C. Scott, invites us to consider the negative consequences of certain kinds of innovation and the implications for the sorts of complex societies that we live in today.

A previously unknown painting of Christ’s face, recently discovered at the Byzantine site of Shivta in the Negev Desert of southern Israel, represents the first pre-iconoclastic baptism-of-Christ scene to be found in the Holy Land.

Archaeological investigations at Monte Bernorio (northern Spain) and its surroundings are yielding exciting new evidence for the destruction of the Iron Age oppidum by the Roman military and the subsequent Roman occupation of the area.

A response to the recent debate piece in Antiquity by González-Ruibal et al., examining the role of epistemic popularism in critical heritage studies and public archaeology.

The Bam Archaeological Mission aims to investigate ancient settlement in the Bam-Narmashir region of Iran. Preliminary survey has identified over 200 new archaeological sites, with renewed excavation at the key site of Tell-e Atashi revealing structural evidence of Neolithic occupation.