This article argues that a relational and trust-based understanding of fides can explain its use and impact in a variety of secular and religious settings, but particularly between members of different religious communities and especially in commercial contracts. The Latin word fides can be translated in a variety of ways, from ‘faith’, ‘trust’ and ‘trustworthiness’, to ‘proof’ and ‘belief’. Within these meanings there are complex religious and legal implications. Most understandings focus on the ways in which the term defines and creates relationships within a community. Contracts from thirteenth- and fourteenth-century Barcelona and Mallorca demonstrate the meaning and significance of the use of the term between merchants and investors from different religious communities. The article provides a new understanding of the place of faith language within the creation of trusting relationships.

Archaeologists have long investigated the rise of inequality in prehistoric Europe. I argue that images of steadily increasing inequality are usually based on cherry-picking outstanding cases and selectively interpreting the results. Based on a large-scale qualitative assessment of the Central Mediterranean, I make two claims. First, a broad review of evidence suggests that social inequality was not a major organizing principle of most prehistoric societies. Instead, throughout prehistory, inequality formed part of a heterogeneous, heterarchical social order. Second, this was not simply due to historical chance or stagnation. As my outline of the “people’s history” of prehistoric Europe suggests, many of the archaeologically most visible developments in every period were actively aimed at undermining, encapsulating, or directing the potential development of hierarchy. In this sense, Europe’s long prehistory of limited and ambiguous hierarchy does not represent a failure of social evolution but rather widespread success in developing tactics for maintaining equality.

A previously unknown raptor migration hot spot has been identified in southern Greece. During the post-breeding migration of 2024, a total of 11,790 individuals were recorded in 15 days, including 11,606 European Honey Buzzards Pernis apivorus. GPS tracking data from Finnish and Hungarian populations further highlight the site’s significance, suggesting that it could become the third migration hot spot for the species in the Mediterranean, alongside the Straits of Gibraltar and Messina. Plans to develop a wind farm in the area raise concerns due to its crucial role in the beginning of the long sea crossing to Libya.

Human-induced pressures such as climate and land-use changes in the Anthropocene disproportionately threaten island ecosystems and the endemic species they host. Shedding light on the ecological needs of island species is key to the conservation of these fragile ecosystems and their unique species. Here we present the ecological needs of a bat species endemic to Sardinia, the long-eared bat Plecotus sardus, and analyse the relationship between this Critically Endangered species and the insular environment at different spatial scales to inform action for its conservation. We show that besides displaying a unique phenology and roost use, the species is closely associated with the dry broadleaf forests of native oaks Quercus ilex and Quercus suber at all scales and, in contrast, is negatively affected by coniferous stands, open pastures and urban environments. Our results not only provide key information for the conservation of P. sardus but also provide insights into the unique adaptations of insular endemic species to the fragile island ecosystems, highlighting the importance of ecological studies to informing conservation in biodiversity hotspots. We also demonstrate that protection and restoration of key habitats, particularly within 2 km of roosts, are key to protecting the few known reproductive colonies.

In recent years, the number of migrant deaths and disappearances in the Mediterranean and on the Atlantic coasts has risen steadily. The arrival of small boats with migrants on board on the Spanish and Italian coasts has received a lot of media attention, and European Governments are investing more than in the past to stop unauthorized arrivals on their shores. Certain narratives from governments and officials of international organizations attribute these deaths to “smugglers” and the dangerous routes they take. However, this article provides evidence that the higher mortality rates are the result of changes in border controls following bilateral agreements between the European Union and Morocco after 2018. By analyzing data from official statistics, microdata, and data provided by NGOs up to 2024, it shows how the increase in the mortality rate of migrants in the Western Mediterranean is the result of changes in the management of sea rescues, the militarization and externalization of the border, and the way in which migrants attempting to cross the sea are taking more dangerous routes than in the past.

The North Caesarea 1 shipwreck, briefly explored in the 1980s, is one of the few hulls of the Hellenistic and early Imperial periods excavated in the Eastern Mediterranean. This investigation relies on the meticulous re-examination of primary excavation data to help answer some questions regarding this hull that probably belonged to a large vessel.

The European shores of the Mediterranean are characterised by well-known sociocultural and economic dynamics during the Bronze and Early Iron Ages (2200–550 BC), but our understanding of the African shores is comparatively vague. Here, the authors present results from excavations at Kach Kouch, Morocco, revealing an occupation phase from 2200–2000 cal BC, followed by a stable settlement from c. 1300–600 BC characterised by wattle and daub architecture, a farming economy, distinctive cultural practices and extensive connections. Kach Kouch underscores the agency of local communities, challenging the notion of north-western Africa as terra nullius prior to Phoenician arrival.

This work focuses on the study of three pelagic fish species of the same genus, caught from the south-western coasts of the Mediterranean. It concerns lipid content, fatty acid profile and nutritional quality (atherogenic index, thrombogenicity index, ratio between hypocholesterolemic and hypercholesterolemic fatty acids and n6-to-n3 ratio) of Trachurus trachurus, Trachurus mediterraneus and Trachurus picturatus. Lipid extraction and esterification were carried out on the flesh of each species, and fatty acid methyl esters were analysed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The obtained results show that lipid content mean values vary between 2.87 and 5.06%, saturated fatty acids contents range from 37.51 to 53.23%, monounsaturated fatty acids content range from 29.24 to 37.65% and polyunsaturated fatty acids content range from 9.11 to 33.24% according to species. Also, the different mean values of indexes describing the nutritional quality vary significantly depending on species. That confirms the good quality of studied species and their importance for human nutrition and health, hence the urgent need to preserve their stocks.

This report presents the first in-depth publication of preliminary data from Oued Beht, northwest Morocco, a remarkable site initially identified in the 1930s and now newly investigated. It is based on fieldwork undertaken in 2021–2022 (photogrammetry, survey and excavation), and associated study and analyses. Oued Beht is shown to be a large site of ca. 9–10 hectares in main extent, with many deep pits and convincing evidence for a full package of domesticated crops and animals. Its material culture is abundant and dense, comprising ceramics (including a local painted tradition hitherto barely attested in northwest Africa but comparable to finds in Iberia), numerous polished stone axes, grinding stones and other macrolithics, and a chipped-stone industry. Radiocarbon dates so far cluster at ca. 3400–2900 BC, but there are also indications of earlier and later prehistoric activity. What social activities Oued Beht reflects remains open to interpretation, but it emerges as a phenomenon of strong comparative interest for understanding the wider dynamics of north Africa and the Mediterranean during the fourth and third millennia BC.

The Maghreb (north-west Africa) played an important role during the Palaeolithic and later in connecting the western Mediterranean from the Phoenician to Islamic periods. Yet, knowledge of its later prehistory is limited, particularly between c. 4000 and 1000 BC. Here, the authors present the first results of investigations at Oued Beht, Morocco, revealing a hitherto unknown farming society dated to c. 3400–2900 BC. This is currently the earliest and largest agricultural complex in Africa beyond the Nile corridor. Pottery and lithics, together with numerous pits, point to a community that brings the Maghreb into dialogue with contemporaneous wider western Mediterranean developments.

The brachiopod Argyrotheca cuneata (Brachiopoda: Megathyrididae) is reported for the first time from the southern coast of Türkiye. Twenty-three complete specimens were found in samples of shell grit taken from depths less than 5 m. The findings suggest that A. cuneata may be a common brachiopod species in shallow nearshore habitats along the southern coasts of the country. Widths of the largest and the smallest specimens were 3.7 mm and 0.71 mm, respectively. A comparison of shell dimensions of all specimens indicate an allometric change in the shape of A. cuneata during growth from being longer than wide to wider than long. The protegula preserved on the smallest specimens are described and illustrated possibly for the first time for this species.