A newly discovered Neolithic site at Al-Khashbah KHS-A (Oman) reveals local adaptations to climate change in the Holocene. Results from radiocarbon dating show repeated occupations over 1000 years and key artefacts indicate coastal connections. KHS-A served as a short-term camp, enhancing our understanding of Neolithic lifeways in Arabia.

Written accounts suggest there were major changes in agricultural practices in Anatolia as the region switched between Roman, Byzantine, Arab and Turkic control, yet archaeological evidence of these changes is offered only on a site-by-site basis. This article presents the first synthesis of archaeobotanical, palynological and zooarchaeological evidence for changes in plant and animal husbandry in Anatolia through the first and second millennia AD. Available data indicate a minimal role of climate change in agricultural shifts but offer evidence for substantial changes towards short-term-return agricultural strategies in response to declining personal security, changing patterns of military provisioning and distinct taxation regimes.

Emotional news for lovers of a dry white wine. The blissful Hippocrene was composed from wild grapes from the sixth millennium BC in the lands of its natural habitat. But, as the author shows, the cultivation, domestication and selective breeding of the grape following in the Late Neolithic to Early Bronze Age was aimed primarily at the enjoyment of its sweetness.

Gentiana cachemirica is a rare plant from northern Pakistan and northwestern India. The sectional position of this species has been a matter of considerable debate. Various authors have placed Gentiana cachemirica in one of three different sections – Gentiana sect. Isomeria, Gentiana sect. Kudoa or Gentiana sect. Pneumonanthe. The present paper assesses the taxonomic affinities of this species using a detailed study of its morphology accompanied by morphological phylogenetic and cluster analyses. Characters of the seed testa, corolla morphology and growth architecture were studied for selected species from the above-mentioned sections and closely related Gentiana sect. Cruciata. Representatives of Gentiana sect. Ciminalis were used as outgroups. Our results suggest that G. cachemirica belongs to Gentiana sect. Pneumonanthe and that its affinities are closer to the Western Asiatic group of this section.

Satellite surveys in Syria have made use of imagery recorded some 30 years apart. By comparing the earlier pictures (Corona) with the later (Ikonos), sites captured on the former can be accurately located by the latter. The comparison also reveals the stark implications for archaeology as large parts of west Asian landscape change from a state of ‘benign neglect’ to active redevelopment. Based on their experience in the Homs survey, the authors have important advice to offer in the design and costing of surveys using satellite imagery.

From their research in Jordan, the authors show that the appearance of early farming and herding communities in western Asia coincided with a large expansion in stone bead production. This reflects a new social role for personal ornament.

The significance of zebu, or humped. cattle as potential indicators of episodes of aridification in the Bronze Age of western Asia is explored through study of figurines and faunal remains from Mesopotamia, the Levant and Anatolia.