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Unique among its kind in the Atacama Desert, the temple of Tulan-54 is a key site of the Early Formative period. Evidence of ceremonies and ritual activities, such as feasts and offerings, demonstrates that Tuldn-54 was the scene of important cultural and economic transformation, from hunter-gatherers to early pastoralist communities. Recent investigations have provided new data that enriches and challenges interpretations of the site, the association of its ceremonial architecture with its material culture, and its carved motif and inhumations. This evidence expands our understanding of the social and cultural complexity of Chilean Early Formative societies at both a local and regional scale. Keywords: Chile, Atacama, Tulan, Early Formative period, temple, Introduction Early Formative society (c. 3500-2400 BP) in the Tulan ravine is contemporaneous with the development of ceremonial and public architecture in the highlands of the Southern Andes. Sunken courts [...]

Northeast Thailand (Isan) was incorporated into the polity of Angkor around the end of the first millennium A.D. Well before this time, local communities in the Phimai region had adopted important activities such as the use of inscriptions and the construction of religious architecture in permanent materials. In 1998, the Origins of Angkor Project undertook an archaeological excavation at the most important Khmer temple in Thailand, the Prasat Hin Phimai. The excavation recovered late prehistoric ceramics and remains of an early brick structure, probably religious in nature, which had been re-used as part of the foundation of the sandstone Angkorian temple. KEYWORDS: Angkor, Phimai, Mun River, Thailand, Isan, prehistoric, architecture., ALMOST A THOUSAND YEARS AGO, the walled city of Phimai (ancient Vimayapura) (Siribhadra and Moore 1997:232) was a major center of the polity of Angkor, which dominated much of mainland [...]

Stone artifacts possibly belonging to an Egyptian temple dating from the 12th century B.C.E. have been found in Jerusalem. Little is known of the late Bronze Age penetration by Egypt in what was then called Canaan, but these objects suggest it was more extensive than previously believed.

A discussion of Hindu temples is based on the concept of world-systems analysis, and Wallerstein's theoretical approach that focuses on the centrality of the global economic network dominated by Europe as the key to building modern world history. Viewing Hindu temples in a global context their cultural grammar changes.

A study on creation and renovation of Pumapunku temple complex, a ritual space, at Tiwanaku, Bolivia is presented.

The Jehoash inscription, which describes repairs to the Solomonic Temple by King Jehoash in the ninth century B.C.E., is considered fake. However, those who argue that the Jehoash inscription is a fake raise serious linguistic issues.

Excavation at Sardis continued to focus on Late Roman and Archaic monuments. Of several Late Roman town houses, one that is now fully exposed has 12 ground-floor rooms with high-quality decoration (mosaic floors, wall painting, and stucco) and contained a variety of artifacts including a hoard of 21 glass weights related to coinage. The 200 m long segment of Archaic city wall, which has been under excavation for 20 seasons, evidently was built no earlier than the late seventh century B.C. and was remodeled in several major ways before destruction in the mid-sixth century B.C. Massive Archaic construction 700 m away may also belong to city defenses. In the Hellenistic-Roman Temple of Artemis, ancient alterations and unfinished parts were clarified, and a colossal marble head, identified as Commodus, was recovered from a Late Roman pit below the pronaos. In largely unexcavated parts of the city site a survey of Archaic and Roman buildings clarified orientations and alignments that provide evidence for systems of urban planning. Evidence for early channels of the Hermus River suggests that in antiquity it passed close to Sardis (whereas today it is distant by several kilometers). A geophysical survey, using resistivity methods, was conducted in unexcavated parts of the site that totaled 5.7 ha.