This perspective article brings to focus the unpredictable trajectory of AI-human cognitive co-evolution. Challenging the notion of a fixed 'Stone Age brain', it emphasizes the adaptive and plastic nature of human cognition shaped by millions of years of technological engagement. Underlining the need for anticipatory thinking, it asks: What do we need to know now, to be able to recognize what people need to understand in a yet unexplored future of AI-human cognitive co-evolution? Rather than presenting empirical findings, this theoretical and exploratory piece seeks to stimulate reflection and dialog on how AI's integration into human life may transform our notions of humanness, as AI systems are reshaping human cognition, relationships, and socio-technical practices.

Poisoned weapons are a hallmark of advanced hunter-gatherer technology. Through targeted microchemical and biomolecular analyses, we identified traces of toxic plant alkaloids on backed microliths from Umhlatuzana Rock Shelter in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, excavated from a level dated to 60,000 years ago. The alkaloids buphandrine and epibuphanisine only originate from Amaryllidaceae indigenous to southern Africa. The most likely source is Boophone disticha (L.f.) Herb. bulb exudate, also associated with historically documented arrow poisons. To our knowledge, we present the first direct evidence for the application of this plant-based poison on the tips of Pleistocene hunting weapons. The discovery highlights the complexity of subsistence strategies and cognition in southern Africa since the mid-Pleistocene.

This article offers a response to Nielsen’s commentary on the authors’ earlier study Variation in the number of radiocarbon (14C) dates does not equal change in Neolithic population size over time. Clarifying some misunderstandings in Nielsen’s commentary, the authors emphasise the value in continuous critical dialogues in advancing archaeological research on prehistoric demography.

Kulturarv har traditionellt använts som en minnesinstitution snarare än en plats där vi kan skaffa oss erfarenheter som är transformativa och framtidsorienterade. Medan kulturarv ofta kopplas till något (im)materiellt som bedöms vara värt att bevara och föra vidare till kommande generationer (såsom ett monument eller traderade berättelser om det), knyts lärande traditionellt till kunskap som är värd att föra vidare till en ny generation (såsom historien om monumentet). Det är en syn på kulturarv som essentiellt och statiskt, med inbäddade och ursprungliga värden. Trots att en sådan förståelse är kunskapsförlegad, är den vanlig bland annat i skolans undervisning om kulturarv och i kulturstrategier och planer. I denna text vänder vi på perspektiven. Det gör vi genom att närma oss framtiden som kulturarvsskapande och nära knuten till olika typer av lärande. Mer specifikt presenterar vi tankar och reflektioner kopplade till ett projekt där vi lyssnat på ungdomars perspektiv på och förväntning inför framtiden i Araby, ett miljonprogramsområde i Växjö. Framtiden är ofta frånvarande när områden som Araby beskrivs i media och av politiker. Inte sällan presenteras de som platser där en framtid är omöjlig. Vi vill nyansera detta genom att belysa hur framtiden är eller kan utgöra en kreativ närvaro. Vi tittar på hur Araby laddas med hopp inför framtiden och vilka kulturarvspraktiker som används och omförhandlas i den processen. I den här texten diskuterar vi de tankar som legat till grund för projektet och som väckts under genomförandet, samt deras implikationer för kulturarvspedagogik i dagens politiska klimat. 

With this contribution we re-introduce a Middle Stone Age point assemblage from the Gauteng Grassland. Whilst the open-air site can no longer be excavated or dated, an updated interpretation of the Primrose Ridge points has the potential to shed new light on the Middle Stone Age occupation of the Witwatersrand. We apply a fine-grained approach, developed for compiling intra- and inter-assemblage comparative data, to assess how the Primrose Ridge points compare to some other Middle Stone Age point assemblages. We demonstrate that most of the points from Primrose Ridge conform to what can be expected from Still Bay point assemblages in terms of invasive bifacial retouch, lenticular cross sections and semi-circular or pointed butts as originally defined. In situ anvil boulders surrounded by fresh quartz chips recorded in the 1940s, and knapping mistakes provide reasons to think of Primrose Ridge as a workshop or production site for Still Bay-like quartz points. If our interpretation is correct, Primrose Ridge could have been used during the Still Bay phase – in terms of relative chronology – representing the first tentative record of this technocomplex on the Grassland Biome of interior South Africa. 

Migration is an established topic in archaeology, approached by researchers in multiple ways. We argue, however, that new ways of thinking are needed to understand migration in new ways in relation to new results coming from ancient DNA studies and other archaeometric analysis. We apply a transdisciplinary approach and engage with (critical) migration studies, critical heritage studies and archaeology to unwrap essential theoretical aspects of migration. Based on our results, we propose a conceptual/theoretical framework as our contribution to migration studies in archaeology.

This study investigates the relationship between radiocarbon (14C) dates and estimations of population size during the Neolithic period, approximately 5950–3650 cal BP, in the Malmö area of southwest Sweden. Utilising a dataset of 1025 radiocarbon samples, of which 732 were selected for detailed analysis, we applied the Lambda (λ) model approach to identify significant periods of change in the number of radiocarbon dates. We also address the complexities introduced by the old wood effect (OWE), which impacts the reliability of radiocarbon dating. Our findings highlight four distinct periods of increase and decrease in the amount of radiocarbon dates during the time period under study. By comparing these results with other data from over 45 years of extensive contract archaeological excavations, we demonstrate that the assumption of a correlation between the number of radiocarbon dates and population size is overly simplistic. Our analysis reveals that a high number of dates does not necessarily guarantee credible population size inferences. These findings suggest that similar conditions could hypothetically apply to other spatiotemporal contexts, thereby calling into question the reliability of radiocarbon dates as sole indicators of population dynamics.

The future is an important new topic for archaeology. Archaeologists do not only study past futures but are also concerned with future pasts and in particular with the impact of their work on future societies. Drawing on the notion of “heritage futures”, archaeological heritage is claimed to contribute to sustainable development and address challenges posed by climate change, human conflicts, and others.