Despite almost a century and a half of excavation, the dynamic landscape into which the temple complex of Karnak was embedded is not well understood. Presenting the results of the first comprehensive geoarchaeological survey of the area, the authors show that Karnak was built upon a fluvial terrace segment surrounded by river channels in an island configuration potentially recalling the ‘primeval mound’ of Egyptian creation myths. Permanent occupation of the site became possible after 2520 BC ±420 years, likely during the Old Kingdom. Subsequent landscape changes were dramatic, with the occupants of the island responding both opportunistically and proactively.

The temple in Luxor is one of Egypt's most famous archaeological sites.

New excavations at Qianzhongzitou reveal that the roots of China’s unification lay not in imperial conquest, but in the politics of shared ritual and belonging.

Representations of the human body are ubiquitous in cultures across the world. Beyond the aesthetic, figurines transmit deeper meanings that were readily decodable by their intended audience and may still offer sociocultural insights despite the loss of this coding through time. The discovery of a rare tableau of ‘Bolinas’-type clay figurines dating to 410–380 BC at San Isidro, El Salvador, now permits the theoretical reconstruction of a less stratified Preclassic society in south-east Mesoamerica and the exploration of its spheres of interaction, which may have stretched along the coast from Guatemala to Costa Rica.

Atop the tallest pyramid at the site of San Isidro in western El Salvador, archaeologists have unearthed five ceramic figurines dating to around 400 BC