Over the last decades, archaeology has experienced a transformative revolution in the wake of the digital that has shaped the ways in which it is researched and published. A key concept, openness, has emerged from this shift. This article explores digital approaches to data management conducted within the framework of the PERAIA project, which provides a comprehensive open database and a web application that integrate data on archaeological heritage spanning from late prehistory to antiquity, covering the Aegean area (Crete) and northeastern Libya / northwestern Egypt (Marmarica). We used a methodology that integrates legacy data with historical aerial and satellite imagery to identify archaeological features in the landscape, thereby enriching them with associated environmental and historical (meta)data. Our open data practices reflect a commitment to open science, in which digital technology and the LOUD+FAIR principles have been at the core of the project to achieve data openness, fair access to information, and enhanced data reusability potential.

In order to better characterise carbonaceous components in atmospheric aerosols and to assess the contributions of fossil carbon (FC) and non-fossil carbon (NFC) sources and their seasonality in the Eastern Mediterranean, we collected fine (PM1.3) aerosols at a remote marine background site, the Finokalia Research Station, Crete, Greece, over a period of one-year. PM1.3 samples were analysed for elemental carbon (EC), organic carbon (OC), water-soluble OC (WSOC), and stable carbon isotope ratio (δ13CTC) and radiocarbon content (14CTC) (pMC) of total carbon (TC). All the parameters, i.e., PM1.3, δ13CTC and 14CTC showed a clear temporal pattern with higher values in summer and lower values in autumn. The 14CTC ranged from 54.7 to 99.1 pMC with an average of 74.5 pMC during the entire year. The FC content in TC (FCTC) was found to be slightly lower in winter and almost stable in other seasons, whereas the NFC contents (NFCTC) showed a clear seasonality with the highest level in summer followed by spring and the lowest level in winter. Based on these results together with the seasonal distributions of organic tracers, we found that biomass burning (BB) and soil dust are two major sources of the fine aerosols in winter. Although biogenic emissions of VOCs followed by subsequent secondary oxidation processes are significant in summer followed by spring and autumn, pollen is a significant contributor to TC in spring. This study showed that emissions from fossil fuel combustion are significant (25.5%) but minor compared to NFC sources in the eastern Mediterranean.

Decades of conflict in the Gaza Strip have contributed to widely documented cultural heritage destruction, demonstrating a need to monitor vulnerable sites and enhance the empirical base. This article describes how the Gaza Maritime Archaeology Project (GAZAMAP 2022–2023) was developed to monitor coastal and near-coastal sites, collaboratively. Owing to the unprecedented destruction of heritage since October 2023, GAZAMAP's scope has fundamentally shifted.

Didemnum vexillum is an aggressive, rapidly growing colonial ascidian and regarded as a global alien invasive species in temperate waters. It has recently become established in the western Mediterranean and the vectors of its introduction were assumed to be shipping or oyster trade. A dense settlement of it was encountered on nets of the bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) cages placed at 60–65 m depths off the İzmir Peninsula (eastern Aegean Sea, eastern Mediterranean) in December 2022. It had considerably clogged net's eye openings, hindering water circulations inside cages. It had a vertical distributional pattern on 35 m long-nets, occurring solely on depths from surface down to 15 m, around where a summer thermocline develops. It has entirely replaced the native black mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis on nets. This colonial ascidian changed the routine cleaning procedure of nets in the farming. Three possible ways of its introduction to the eastern Mediterranean were proposed, but the most reasonable one is its secondary transfer via nets or ships from Malta. Mechanisms of its invasion biology and behaviour should be studied and monitored in the region.

The smallest fish of the Mediterranean Sea, pygmaean goby, Pomatoschistus nanus, and Massuti's goby, Buenia massutii, were obtained from new locations. While P. nanus specimens were collected from both the north-eastern and south-eastern Aegean Sea, B. massutii specimens were collected from two different sub-basins, Sea of Marmara and the Aegean Sea, representing the first report of this species in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. The species were identified by both morphological and molecular techniques. The present paper contributes to filling gaps in the knowledge of the limited distribution of these species in the eastern Mediterranean Sea.

Research on Palaeolithic hunter-gatherer diet has focused on the consumption of animals. Evidence for the use of plant foods is comparatively limited but is rapidly expanding. The authors present an analysis of carbonised macro-remains of processed plants from Franchthi Cave in the Aegean Basin and Shanidar Cave in the north-west Zagros Mountains. Microscopic examination of the charred food remains reveals the use of pounded pulses as a common ingredient in cooked plant foods. The results are discussed in the context of the regional archaeobotanical literature, leading the authors to argue that plants with bitter and astringent tastes were key ingredients of Palaeolithic cuisines in South-west Asia and the Eastern Mediterranean.

This article addresses the dispute between Greece and Turkey concerning the reach of their sovereign rights and jurisdiction in the Eastern Mediterranean, which is essentially about delimitation of the continental shelf and exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Turkey has delineated its continental shelf in the region to extend directly to the outer limits of the territorial waters of the Greek islands, specifically Crete, Rhodes, and Kastellorizo. Greece sees this as an attempt to deprive the islands of their maritime zones. The present article discusses what the two states might expect if they would request the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to determine the course of their maritime boundaries. The outcome of such a process would be difficult to foresee because international case law regarding the effect of islands on the delimitation of the continental shelf and EEZ is rather diffuse. Nevertheless, this article will explore what an equitable solution could look like. In particular, the small island of Kastellorizo, Greece’s most remote outpost in the Eastern Mediterranean, which lies just off the Turkish coast, requires special consideration. The present article discusses different options for dealing with this island in a future delimitation.

The modern Nile delta developed in the Middle and Late Holocene, and at its most northern-central point is situated at the Burullus Lagoon, which is environmentally diverse, including salt marshes, mudflats, and sand plains, and separated from a sea by a sand barrier overtopped with high sand dunes. The lagoon has been fed since the Middle Holocene by the Sebennitic branch of the Nile and marine intrusions through the Bughaz inlet. A sediment core (BO-1) was collected at the northeastern shore of the lagoon and sampled at centennial scale resolution in order to reconstruct the development of the lagoon. The results show that an initial and limited lagoon had developed at the end of the Early Holocene, but after a dry period ca. 7.2 cal ka BP it has been progressively transformed into a marshy area, with occasional inflows of sea water. Lower water level and higher salinity of the Burullus Lagoon at 6.0–5.5 and 4.8–4.2 cal ka BP reflected droughts in the Nile catchment. Thereafter, the river reactivated in the Burullus Lagoon area, and since 2.8 cal ka BP was accompanied by occasional inflows of sea water. Since ca. 0.8 cal ka BP, increased fluvial activity occurred in this part of the Nile delta, which terminated after construction of the Aswan dams in the twentieth century.

This study aimed to compare fruits and vegetables (FV), and carbonated soft drink (CSD) consumption among adolescents from seventy-four countries, according to macroeconomic indicators. This is an ecological study, developed with countries evaluated through the Global School-based Student Health Survey (2003–2014) and the National School Health Survey (PeNSE-Brazil, 2015). The percentages of students in each country who consumed CSD and FV daily and their association with the Human Development Index (HDI) and the Gross National Income per capita (GNIpc) were assessed. Scatter plots were constructed for each marker, and a multilevel model was tested to consider the effects of region in the associations. The overall prevalence of daily CSD consumption was 54·1 %. CSD consumption was positively associated with HDI and GNIpc through multilevel models, and Central and South America showed a considerable higher consumption compared with other regions. Overall, FV daily consumption was 67·9 % and 74·6 %, respectively, and no associations with macroeconomic indicators were found. The study shows concerning rates of CSD consumption among adolescents, and a trend of increased consumption with the improvement of the country’s development and GNIpc. This points for the importance of public policies that regulate food and beverage industries to reduce CSD consumption and related co-morbidities among adolescents.

Anguillid leptocephali of three Congridae species (Conger conger, Ariosoma balearicum and Gnathophis mistax) were caught as bycatch of pelagic trawls during acoustic surveys targeting small pelagic fish species in the southern Adriatic Sea, carried out under the framework of the Italian MEDIAS project (western side) and its extension in the ambit of the FAO AdriaMed project (eastern side). Results refer to the findings of Congridae leptocephali during surveys conducted in 2011, 2014, 2015 and 2016. A total of 25 specimens were caught and analysed (morphological features and pigmentation patterns). Leptocephali of Conger conger were found in the range of 8.4–13.1 cm total length (TL) (between 50 and 132 m depth), Ariosoma balearicum from 9.7–12.2 cm TL (between 50 and 128 m depth) and for Gnathophis mystax in the range from 6.4–11.7 cm TL (between 40 and 79 m depth). The results indicate that the southern Adriatic Pit could be the spawning area of these species in the Adriatic Sea. Present data represent a contribution to existing knowledge about the ecology of leptocephali from the Congridae family in the southern Adriatic Sea, and also indicate the existence of differences in morphometric parameters between different areas, that is, the possibility of the existence of new geographic lines within the genus Ariosoma in the Adriatic Sea.