/library/oar/handle/123456789/6021 2026-05-24T17:45:55Z /library/oar/handle/123456789/146156 Title: High-resolution 3D digitization and analysis of the Mesolithic site of Latnija (Malta) Authors: Tanasi, Davide; Fawbush, Alex; Kingsland, Kaitlyn; Calderone, Dario; Scerri, Eleanor; Vella, Nicholas C.; Groucutt, Huw S. Abstract: This paper presents the high-resolution 3D digitization of the Mesolithic archaeological site of Latnija (Għar Tuta), located in a doline in northern Malta. The study employed terrestrial laser scanning using the Faro Focus s150 scanner to generate a precise digital representation of the site's complex geological and archaeological context. The resulting point cloud data, meticulously processed in Faro Scene, was optimized, filtered, and transformed into a detailed 3D mesh model. Despite challenges such as geological instability and limited scan overlap, the digitized model achieved high accuracy and visual continuity. Furthermore, the model serves as a crucial tool for preserving this fragile archaeological context against ongoing environmental threats, enabling detailed spatial analyses, and facilitating public engagement. This research highlights the effectiveness and critical importance of integrating advanced digital methodologies into archaeological practice, ensuring long-term preservation and enhanced accessibility of significant prehistoric sites. 2025-10-01T00:00:00Z /library/oar/handle/123456789/146150 Title: Revolution, modernity, and the dispersal of Homo sapiens beyond Africa Authors: Groucutt, Huw S. Abstract: In the recent past, evolutionarily speaking, every other kind of hominin, from the Neanderthals of western Eurasia to the ‘hobbits’ of Flores, became extinct while our species prospered and spread across the world, from remote islands to high mountains. Understanding how, why, and when this global spread of Homo sapiens occurred is a major question in human evolutionary studies. While there is broad agreement on our African origin and subsequent global expansion, currently fossil, genetic, and archaeological data and perspectives on the details of this process are, if not actively contradictory, then certainly uncomfortable bedfellows. In part, this uncertainty reflects the profound spatial and temporal biases in currently available archaeological, fossil, and genetic samples. However, there are also methodological and theoretical aspects which limit understanding. Two central examples, reviewed in this paper, are the challenges of accurately dating palaeoanthropological sites and the continuing influence of the outdated concept of a ‘Human Revolution’ and the related concept of ‘modernity’, in both cultural and biological forms. 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z /library/oar/handle/123456789/146149 Title: Semi-automated detection of Holocene archaeological structures along the southern edge of the Nefud desert Authors: Hatton, Amy; Jambajantsan, Amina; Breeze, Paul S.; Guagnin, Maria; Fisher, Michael T.; al-Jibreen, Faisal; Alsharekh, Abdullah M.; Petraglia, Michael D.; Groucutt, Huw S. Abstract: Throughout the Holocene, humans covered the landscape of Arabia in hundreds of thousands of diverse dry-stone structures. These archaeological remains are predominantly funerary structures, enclosures, and camps although they also include ritualised features such as mustatils, all of which form essential components for understanding Neolithic and Bronze Age peninsular societies and their dynamic relationships with the natural environment. Archaeologists typically document these structures by either mapping them in the field or applying manual digitisation within a Geographic ¸£ÀûÔÚÏßÃâ·Ñ System (GIS) framework. Such methods are time consuming and can be expensive, especially in the case of field documentation. In order to develop a more time- and cost-effective method for identifying large numbers of stone features, we have tested three pre-trained semantic segmentation Deep Learning models (MA-Net, SegFormer, and U-Net) for semi-automatic feature detection by applying them to satellite imagery of archaeological landscapes in northwestern Saudi Arabia.; The results show that, the MA-Net model performed best on averaged metrics, however, the SegFormer model showed more stable metrics during training. We present confusion matrices to show that the SegFormer model is more consistently able to correctly identify stone structures, regardless of structure types, in contrast to the U-Net and MA-Net models. While survey and excavation of these structures is essential for producing fine-resolution data, automated workflows that incorporate remote sensing data can generate the breadth of coverage required for interpreting ancient social landscapes on a wider geographic scale. Such mapping is also critical for defining and protecting cultural heritage across the vast arid landscapes of desert regions such as Arabia and the Sahara. 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z /library/oar/handle/123456789/145926 Title: Stone deterioration at underwater archaeological sites in the Mediterranean Sea Authors: Germinario, Luigi; Moro, Isabella; Crocetta, Fabio; Tomasin, Patrizia; Cibecchini, Franca; Demesticha, Stella; Gallocchio, Enrico; Gatt, Judith; Moschin, Emanuela; Mazzoli, Claudio Abstract: The Mediterranean Sea hosts a remarkable underwater cultural heritage that reflects millennia of interaction between people and the sea, preserving evidence of ancient societies, their maritime trades, travels, economies, coastal lifestyles, and technological achievements. Its protection and preservation rely on knowledge of the properties and deterioration of historical materials and their interaction with the marine environment. This study addresses the state of conservation, decay, and vulnerability of stone structures and artifacts from underwater archaeological sites across the western, central, and eastern Mediterranean Sea: the Roman harbor of Anse des Laurons in France, the Roman residential complex of Baia in Italy, and the Hellenistic harbor of Amathus in Cyprus. Petrographic, textural, chemical, and biological-morphological investigations of archaeological stone were carried out by microscopic and microchemical techniques, along with a novel application of 3D surface modeling. These allowed identifying the materials used for structural and ornamental purposes, their biofouling, and related changes in stone surface texture and chemistry. Biodeterioration is the dominant decay form, affecting composition, aesthetics, and legibility of artifacts. The decay patterns are influenced by the diverse characteristics of historical materials and the marine environmental and archaeological context, but appear relatively uniform across the Mediterranean basin. The findings overall contribute to advancing the understanding of the risks to underwater cultural heritage and can support the development of improved conservation methods, technologies, products, and protection policies, also in light of climate change and its effects on marine biodiversity and environments. 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z