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The craft box recovered from a 13th­century hillfort at Lõhavere, Estonia, contained a well-preserved selection of copper­alloy objects. The limited corrosion on these objects allowed a more accurate estimation of their compositions through non­destructive surface measurements. Using the resulting pXRF database, this study explored a possible correlation between the types of objects and their material composition. By comparing the most common contaminants with the alloying metals, a qualitative estimation of the material quality was conducted. The results showed that despite a considerable overlap between object types, the material composition dif fered based on the itemsâ appearance and function. A shift from brass to bronze and tinned objects coincided with a greater availability of tin at the hillfort, as well as a rise in silver smith ing. Moreover, objects with a silver appearance seemed to be more desirable in this period, apart from some high­status personal ornaments and traditional spiral tube decorations. The results possibly reflect different metalworking practices compared to earlier periods and contemporary sites. Some evidence of recycling is present among the spiral tubes, suggesting that they originated from different raw material sources, possibly removed from obsolete clothing. Alternatively, this could indicate a varying quality of imported copper­alloy, including wire, along the Hansa trade routes.

Portable X‐ ray fluorescence spectroscopy (pXRF) was used to reveal the chemical signatures of 60 obsidian artefacts from two Early Neolithic sites in the Muntenia region of southern Romania – Uliești in Dâmbovița County and Măgura – Buduiasca in Teleorman County. The results show that the Starčevo‐ Criș communities at both sites used obsidian that originated from geological sources in the Carpathians. Obsidian from the C1 and C2 source areas occurs at Măgura, while only C1 obsidian has been documented in the much smaller assemblage from Uliești. We consider the implications of these results for obsidian procurement patterns documented among the earliest farmers of the northern Balkans.

Studies of obsidian provenance have been a core component of the archaeological sciences from the mid-1960s onward. With the growing application of portable X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometers (PXRF) in obsidian research, the number of such studies, and the amount of data generated per study, is rapidly increasing. Obsidian studies are on the verge of a “big data” revolution, and archaeologists should note the issues inherent to using such large datasets, including maintaining data quality and generating appropriate theoretical models. It is argued that network models and concepts represent one such framework in which the potential of larger obsidian datasets can be effectively harnessed by archaeologists and archaeological scientists.

The site of Grumăzești – Deleni (Neamț County) was excavated by Silvia Marinescu‐ Bîlcu during the late 1960s and 1970s. The excavations unearthed the remains of an Early Neolithic (Starčevo‐ Criș) settlement, as well as traces of occupation during the Bronze Age (Komariv and Noua cultures) and the 3rd– 4th centuries AD. The excavator’s field notes mention abundant obsidian finds associated with the Early Neolithic occupational layer. However, these original obsidian finds have been mislaid and were not available for analysis. During field surveys undertaken in the general area of the site in 2011 and 2017– 2018, a further ten obsidian artefacts were recovered. Non‐ destructive Energy Dispersive X‐ ray Fluorescence (EDXRF) analysis of these new obsidian finds was undertaken using a Niton ‘ XL3t ultra’ handheld portable XRF analyzer. Based on their geochemical and macroscopic characteristics they likely all originated in the Carpathian 1 source area

Portable X‐ ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy (pXRF) was used to reveal the chemical signatures of 75 obsidian artefacts from seven sites in the Satu Mare region, ranging in age from Early Neolithic (late Starčevo‐ Criș culture) to Late Copper Age. The results reveal the origin of the obsidian to be the Carpathian 1 source area in eastern Slovakia, reinforcing the pattern documented elsewhere in Romania and in northern Bulgaria which indicates a clear preference for Carpathian 1 obsidian throughout the period from the later stages of the Early Neolithic to the Bronze Age

Strongly coloured glass vessels decorated with marvered threads of white glass are a wide-spread and popular, but rarely studied group of high-quality glassware of medieval Islamic origin. Relatively little is known about the composition and production places of these vessels, and their chronological range is not very well defined, as many of the published finds lack contextual evidence. Here, we present detailed chemical and microstructural data on a set of well-dated purple glass vessels decorated with white threads, excavated at the Mali Grad site in Braničevo, Serbia, in an archaeological context dated to the middle/second half of the 12th century AD. The set comprises at least sixteen different vessels, manufactured from two different batches of probably Levantine plant-ash glass coloured by manganese oxide. Significantly, the results demonstrate that these batches are correlated to particular vessel shapes. The base glass of the white threads is comparable to that of the purple vessel glass, but instead of being coloured by added manganese oxide, it contains considerable amounts of tin and lead oxides which provide the effect of opacity and white colour. No difference in composition can be seen between the white glass threads used to decorate the vessels from the two different manganese-coloured batches, thus indicating a likely common production origin of the whole set. [Project of the Serbian Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Grant no. 177021: Urbanization Processes and Development of Medieval Society]

Rescue excavations in 2011 on the Deva‐ Orăștie section of the A1 motorway brought to light a Turdaș‐ type Neolithic site, with two occupation horizons. The first was characterized by sunken huts, and the second by surface dwellings that were part of a continuous destruction level comprising burnt daub, hearths, fragments of clay floors with an underlay of river boulders, postholes, and a very rich archaeological assemblage (including pottery, bones and lithics). The archaeological finds from the site are quite varied, comprising coarse and fine pottery, anthropomorphic and zoomorphic figurines, lithics and worked bone. Among the lithic industry, 25.45% is represented by obsidian artefacts, making this the largest such assemblage from a Romanian Neolithic site. Artefacts were produced using simple blade, bladelet or flake technique. Tools, which are quite varied, represent 15% of the assemblage. pXRF analysis of obsidian artefacts from the site shows that the obsidian originated in the Carpathian 1 source area in southeast Slovakia