We investigated radiocarbon dates of human bone samples from several medieval sites in Trondheim, central Norway. Stable isotope data was used to estimate marine correction for the radiocarbon dates, which is necessary to correct the radiocarbon ages and establish age models for the archaeological layers. We observed that a marine correction without ΔR does not lead to a well-defined model for all sites. Allowing a variable ΔR improves the model, which indicates that food sources and trade routes have changed over time, influencing the mobility of food resources as well as of people. However, this does not work for all sites, indicating that variation of reservoir ages could also be the result of individual preferences for the food and that fish with different ΔR, and thus different geographical origin, was consumed during the same periods. Many radiocarbon and stable isotope (δ13C, δ15N) measurements have been carried out for the project. We calculated %marine consumption from the isotope values and found that it varies greatly, between 7% and 51%, and apparently independent of period, social status, churchyard location or other factors. Based on these data, we determined average reservoir ages for the marine food consumed in Trondheim during different phases, varying between ΔR = –150 and 280 years.

Early Medieval stone building began earlier and was more widespread than previously thought. This conclusion is the result of scientific dating that challenges traditional views of the “petrification” process in architecture north of the Alps after the Roman period. Radiocarbon (14C) dating is not precise enough to answer detailed questions connected to historical contexts, but recently there have been a number of surprising dates: “Roman” city walls have now Early Medieval phases or meter-high, obscure “dark earth” strata were subdivided and dated. Results not in line with clients’ expectations can be the subject of heated debates, or worse, tend to remain unpublished. To the archaeologist, who is trying to connect scientific dates with historical events, usually is not clear, that mortar dating is a methodology still being developed, while dating organic material like charcoal from mortar is a standard procedure. But even the latter has downfalls like the possible “old-wood-effect,” if such complications are not carefully considered and avoided during the sampling process. Drawing on examples from Switzerland, Germany, Austria, and France, recent challenging results will be discussed from an archaeologist’s point of view.

Since the early 1980s, metal detector surveying conducted by amateur archaeologists has contributed significantly to archaeological research and heritage practice in Denmark. Here, metal detecting has always been legal, and official stakeholders pursue a liberal model, focusing on cooperation and inclusion rather than confrontation and criminalization. Like no other surveying method since the invention of the shovel, the metal detector has contributed to increasing enormously the amount of data and sites from metal-rich periods. Virtually all of the spectacular and ground-breaking discoveries of the past decades are owed to metal detectors in the hands of amateur archaeologists. And it is these finds and sites that today constitute one of the very foci of archaeological research. This article provides an overview of the current status of liberal metal detector archaeology in Denmark 30 years after its inception, and attempts to identify the reasons why this popular hobby never developed into the problem it has become in other parts of the world. It concludes that the success of the liberal model in Denmark is the result of a very complex interplay of legislative, historical, cultural, and social factors. On this basis, it is discussed whether the Danish experience can be used as a source of inspiration in the necessary progression towards a new legal agenda for responsible metal detector archaeology.

In this study we report changes in Indian summer monsoon (ISM) intensity during the past ~ 3500 yr inferred from proxy indices at Lake Erhai, southwestern China. Both the pollen concentrations and other proxy indices, including sediment grain size, total organic carbon contents (TOC), and elemental contents (e.g., Fe, Al), clearly indicate a long term decreasing trend in ISM intensity over the late Holocene. During the period from approximately AD 750 to AD 1200, pollen concentrations of conifer and broadleaf trees, and herbs reached the lowest levels over the past ~ 3500 yr; while the pollen percentages of both herbs and broadleaf trees increased, suggesting a significant medieval drought. The grain size, TOC, and elemental contents also support an arid climate during the medieval period. The Little Ice Age (LIA) at Lake Erhai was characterized as cold and wet. The medieval and LIA climatic patterns at Lake Erhai were similar to those over most of the ISM areas, but anti-phase with those over East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) areas. We suspect that sea surface temperature variations in the Indo-Pacific oceans and the related land-sea thermal contrasts may be responsible for such hydroclimatic differences between EASM and ISM areas.

In medieval Korea certain burials were sealed in concrete resulting in the exceptional preservation of organic materials, including, in this case, written documents. As well as studying changes in rank and ideology, archaeologists who investigate tombs are often moved to wonder about the character of the deceased, the thoughts of the mourners and their hopes and fears on the passing of a person dear to them. In this extraordinary burial from Korea, we hear these voices directly.