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Publications

Showing 1421 – 1440 of 15962 publications

A high-resolution chronology for the archaeological deposits at Pinnacle Point 5–6, Western Cape Province, South Africa

The Emergence of Modern Human Behaviour: The Pleistocene Occupation Sites of South Africa — 2025 — WHE2794177BFB

Researchers have constructed a high-resolution chronology for the archaeological deposits at Pinnacle Point Site 5–6 (PP5-6), South Africa, spanning approximately 60,000 years from around 110,000 to 50,000 years ago. This study demonstrates that sediment deposition at PP5-6 is closely linked to global climate and sea-level changes, providing a detailed timeline for understanding human occupation and environmental modifications during the Pleistocene. The team employed optical dating methods, generating 197 individual age estimates, with 169 integrated into a Bayesian age model. This systematic approach enhances the resolution of chronologies to human timescales, enabling more precise comparisons between sites and proxy data. Additionally, the study identifies major periods of site modification and connects various causes and effects with different types of occupation, offering new insights into the interplay between humans and their environment during this critical period.

A hima traditional ecological knowledge perspective of the sustainability goals in AlUla’s journey through time masterplan

Hegra Archaeological Site (al-Hijr / Madā ͐ in Ṣāliḥ) — 2025 — WHE4610BC9CAB

Integrating traditional ecological knowledge, known as hima, into Saudi Arabia's 'Journey Through Time' Masterplan for AlUla could significantly enhance sustainability and cultural heritage preservation. This study reveals that hima practices—rooted in ancient traditions—offer sustainable solutions for water and land management, disaster mitigation, and intergenerational knowledge transmission. By analyzing interviews with elders, traditional practices, and government documents, researchers demonstrate how hima's social and ecological dimensions can bridge heritage conservation with modern urban development. The findings underscore the potential of blending indigenous wisdom with contemporary planning to foster resilient, culturally rich communities in UNESCO World Heritage Sites like Hegra.

A historical overview of Higini Arau’s proposal for calculating reverberation time (1988)

Palau de la Música Catalana and Hospital de Sant Pau, Barcelona — 2025 — WHE28B09CF843

Higini Arau’s 1988 proposal for calculating reverberation time offers a significant advancement over Sabine's classical formula by accounting for the non-uniform distribution of absorbing materials in concert halls. This innovation, developed during the acoustic renovation of Palau de la Música Catalana, introduced a three-directional (X, Y, Z) decay rate quantification that more accurately models sound behavior in real-world auditoriums. Arau’s work, initially published in Acustica and later refined in 1998, gained recognition through comparisons with other formulae and was integrated into leading international acoustic design software by the 2000s. This historical overview assesses the enduring impact of Arau’s proposal on global academic discourse.

A Holistic Approach to Vernacular Heritage Conservation

Old Walled City of Shibam — 2025 — WHE79C01D0265

Conservation of vernacular heritage, such as the Old Walled City of Shibam, requires a holistic approach that integrates tangible and intangible elements, including community values, beliefs, and development needs. This study highlights that understanding built heritage must extend beyond physical attributes to include cultural landscapes, historic urban contexts, and people-centered perspectives. By examining examples from Muslim-majority communities in Siwa (Egypt) and Shibam (Yemen), as well as transhumance settlements like Hawraman (Iran) and Khinalig (Azerbaijan), the research underscores the importance of bridging gaps between cultural and natural heritage, movable and immovable heritage, and tangible and intangible heritage. The findings recommend adopting frameworks such as cultural landscapes, historic urban landscapes, and people-centered conservation to guide future heritage preservation efforts.

A hollókői lakosság véleménye és részvételi aktivitása a helyi turizmusban

Old Village of Hollókő and its Surroundings — 2025 — WHE451C474F26

A decline in local community engagement with tourism in Hollókő, despite its status as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, has been identified. Between 2015 and 2023, while the majority of residents still view tourism as the village's primary livelihood, actual participation—particularly in local businesses and events—significantly decreased. Factors such as the COVID-19 pandemic and rising inflation exacerbated risk aversion and diminished business expectations. The study underscores the urgent need for stronger community involvement to foster sustainable local tourism. This research employs a longitudinal approach, analyzing perceptions and engagement trends over eight years using quantitative data.

A hollókői örökség fenntarthatósági dilemmái: alternatív turisztikai fejlesztés botanikai értékek mentén

Old Village of Hollókő and its Surroundings — 2025 — WHE9F580FBEB5

Hollókő's UNESCO-listed Old Village faces sustainability challenges that necessitate alternative tourism development approaches. The study identifies botanical values as potential keys to shifting towards more sustainable, low-impact tourism models while preserving the site's unique cultural heritage and landscape harmony. By focusing on the region's botanical assets, researchers propose a strategy that could balance conservation efforts with economic growth, offering a viable path for maintaining Hollókő's living village character and traditional architecture without compromising its ecological integrity.

A Hybrid Zero-Shot Profiling Framework with Generative ABSA for Tourism Marketing: Case of Gulangyu

Kulangsu, a Historic International Settlement — 2025 — WHE623A0C0E1E

Research reveals that the visitor population of Kulangsu (Gulangyu), a UNESCO-listed historic international settlement, exhibits a significant bimodal structure, primarily composed of couples and families. These groups experience distinct experiential conflicts: families balance nature interaction with physical fatigue, while couples navigate between visual gratification and commercial cost-performance. To address these challenges, the study proposes targeted strategies such as child-friendly barrier-free systems, immersive cultural spaces, and differential precision marketing, aiming to shift the destination from a volume-based traffic model to a value-driven approach. The framework underlying this insight integrates sociology-driven prompt engineering with large language models (LLMs), employing BERT-based natural language inference for zero-shot tourist profiling and Qwen-2.5-based generative aspect-based sentiment analysis (ABSA) to extract granular pain-gain points, offering a novel method for tourism market research that overcomes semantic shallowness and low timeliness.

A Late Iron Age Rock-Cut Tomb on the Western Slope of Mount Zion, Jerusalem (Pp. 1–24)

Old City of Jerusalem and its Walls — 2025 — WHE397BC63679

Archaeologists uncovered a First Temple period burial ground on the western slope of Mount Zion, Jerusalem, featuring five rock-cut tombs. Notably, Tomb A was found sealed with its original blocking stone, providing rare insight into burial practices from the seventh century BCE until the Babylonian destruction in 587/6 BCE. This 'bench-tomb' type structure, designed for multiple and simultaneous burials, contained significant artifacts that illuminated the rituals and customs of Jerusalem and Judah during this pivotal period.

A Late Pleistocene archaic human tooth from Gua Dagang (Trader’s Cave), Niah national park, Sarawak (Malaysia)

The Archaeological Heritage of Niah National Park’s Caves Complex — 2025 — WHE4A8D01AD30

A Late Pleistocene hominin tooth discovered in Trader's Cave, Niah National Park, Sarawak (Malaysia), provides evidence of an archaic human population inhabiting northern Borneo around 52-55 thousand years ago. The tooth, dated using Optically Stimulated Luminescence, exhibits morphological traits characteristic of archaic Homo species such as H. erectus and H. neanderthalensis, rather than modern H. sapiens. These features include a massive crown with pronounced labial convexity, shovelling, and unique enamel wrinking patterns. The discovery suggests that an archaic hominin population coexisted in the region during or just before the arrival of H. sapiens, contributing to our understanding of human evolutionary history in Insular Southeast Asia (ISEA).

A lithofacies-coupled palynofacies model for meandering river floodplains in the Late Cretaceous: Insights from the Dinosaur Park Formation, Alberta, Canada

Dinosaur Provincial Park — 2025 — WHED24AEEE36C

A new lithofacies-coupled palynofacies model reveals that organic matter dynamics in ancient floodplains are strongly influenced by channel proximity and topography, providing a robust proxy for reconstructing fluvial paleoenvironments. The study analyzed the Late Cretaceous Dinosaur Park Formation in Alberta, Canada, identifying six recurring lithofacies and two facies associations that distinguish between channel-belt, levee, proximal floodplain, backswamp, and distal floodplain deposits. While kerogen assemblages were heterogeneous across sub-environments, total organic carbon content effectively discriminated between them, with higher values in backswamps and distal floodplains. This model demonstrates the applicability of palynofacies analysis for understanding fluvial dynamics over geological timescales.

A luta pelo clima no Comitê do Patrimônio Mundial: um estudo de caso

Wood Buffalo National Park — 2025 — WHE5569D0FC50

A study of litigation within the World Heritage Committee reveals a significant connection between heritage site disputes and climate change advocacy, exemplified by the case of Wood Buffalo National Park. The research demonstrates that strategic legal action can drive legislative, policy, and social transformations, underscoring its potential as a tool for climate justice. Employing a case-study methodology, the analysis examines key actors—plaintiffs, defendants, and decision-makers—as well as the claims' substance and outcomes. Initial hypotheses were confirmed, highlighting how litigation in this context can serve as a catalyst for broader environmental change.

A Method for Constructing Open‐Channel Velocity Field Prediction Model Based on Machine Learning and CFD

Mount Qingcheng and the Dujiangyan Irrigation System — 2025 — WHECFC3F2E331

A novel machine learning and computational fluid dynamics (CFD)-based method achieves high-precision real-time prediction of open-channel velocity fields, addressing challenges posed by rapid water-level fluctuations. Applied to the Renmin Canal of China's UNESCO-listed Dujiangyan Irrigation System, this approach integrates adaptive optimization of flow data characteristics with CFD simulations, yielding predictions that align with known hydraulic principles while offering practical value for irrigation system design and maintenance.

A methodological study of the newly discovered Sona Gaya site

Gobustan Rock Art Cultural Landscape — 2025 — WHE6A6AEF9D59

A newly discovered rock art site at Sona Gaya, Azerbaijan, has been documented as part of a broader study on the Gobustan Rock Art Cultural Landscape. The findings reveal that the site features characteristic motifs—including tamgas, signs, and cupules—that are consistent with those found across other documented petroglyph assemblages in the region. This discovery underscores the prevalence of these symbols in the cultural landscape, providing new data for comparative analysis. The study, conducted by the Gobustan National Historical-Artistic Reserve, employed methodological documentation techniques to record and analyze the images, contributing to a deeper understanding of the site's significance within the broader context of rock art traditions.

A microcontextual investigation of Later Stone Age ash deposits and associated interment of human remains at Faraoskop Rock Shelter, South Africa

The Emergence of Modern Human Behaviour: The Pleistocene Occupation Sites of South Africa — 2025 — WHE94649DEB22

A microcontextual investigation of Later Stone Age ash deposits at Faraoskop Rock Shelter, South Africa, reveals distinct patterns of human activity and environmental shifts. The study identifies a break in site occupation between Pleistocene and Holocene deposits, with Holocene ash deposits indicating continuous hearth use at a central location, marked by increasing fire intensity over time. Phytolith analysis further suggests the repeated use of plant bedding features, particularly eudicots, as living surfaces around fires. The findings also point to an environmental transition from grassland regimes during the Pleistocene to a shrubbier context in the Holocene. While the direct interment context of human remains was not available for study, the research provides valuable insights into site use patterns and paleoenvironmental conditions during this period.

A Model for Estimating the Tourism Carrying Capacity (TCC) of a Serial Cultural Heritage: The Case of the Via Appia. Regina Viarum

Via Appia. Regina Viarum — 2025 — WHEF943197E88

A new model for estimating the Tourism Carrying Capacity (TCC) of UNESCO serial sites, applied to the Via Appia. Regina Viarum, reveals that while the site's overall effective carrying capacity remains at a 'low impact' level as of 2019, significant territorial variability exists. The study found that increased infrastructure does not necessarily enhance absorption capacity in ecologically fragile areas, whereas municipalities with high ecological provision may face stress due to insufficient services and infrastructure. The model, based on Cifuentes’ carrying capacity framework and territorial indices, simulates three future scenarios (2024–2034) of rising tourist pressure across 614 municipalities and 13 gravitational areas, offering a tool for sustainable tourism planning.

A Morphological Analysis of Purwa Kriya in the Sigiriya Graffiti

Ancient City of Sigiriya — 2025 — WHEEA296C6060

A morphological analysis of Sinhala pūrwa kriyā (past participles) in the Sigiriya graffiti reveals distinctive verb structures from the 8th to 10th centuries AD, offering new insights into the historical development of Sinhala grammar. The study, based on qualitative analysis of Sigiri Graffiti by Senarath Paranavithana and linguistic sources, identifies unique features in these medieval texts that preserve linguistic characteristics of the period. By applying morphological frameworks, researchers uncovered patterns in past tense verb forms, contributing to a deeper understanding of Sinhala language evolution during this era.

A Multi-factor analysis for evaluating habitat suitability of traditional settlements in Huizhou

Ancient Villages in Southern Anhui – Xidi and Hongcun — 2025 — WHEE7FD19B9C7

A comprehensive evaluation of habitat suitability for traditional villages in the Huizhou region of southern Anhui, China, reveals distinct spatial patterns influenced by multiple environmental and geographical factors. The study, using the GeoDetector method, found that precipitation, vegetation, geomorphology, ancient pathways, and land use significantly impact village distribution, with interactions between these factors having a stronger effect than any single factor alone. The analysis identified a high-suitability zone in the northern region, characterized by basin topography, gentle terrain, and favorable climate, while the southern area shows low suitability due to mountainous terrain, frequent rainfall, geological hazards, and limited transportation. Notably, 83% of traditional villages are located in moderate-to-high suitability zones, validating the model's reliability. This research provides a scientific foundation for the conservation of traditional settlements and offers insights into human habitats in mountainous regions globally.

A multi-species corridor between the Andean Amazonian and Amazon floodplain landscapes: prioritizing ecological connectivity areas for jaguar and threatened ungulates in the north-eastern of South America

Chiribiquete National Park – “The Maloca of the Jaguar” — 2025 — WHEAA05492BCC

Researchers have identified a critical multi-species corridor spanning the Andean Amazonian and Amazon floodplain landscapes, essential for maintaining ecological connectivity for jaguars and threatened ungulates like the lowland tapir and collared peccary. This corridor, primarily associated with the hydric network of the upper and middle Caquetá River basin, connects key protected areas such as Alto Fragua Indi Wasi, La Paya, and Serranía del Chiribiquete National Natural Parks, as well as several regional parks. The study utilized potential distribution models, spatial morphological analysis, and resistance matrix modeling to pinpoint low-cost dispersal routes and prioritize connectivity nodes using the randomized shortest path algorithm. These findings highlight the importance of preserving these corridors to safeguard biodiversity in the face of accelerating habitat degradation due to deforestation, cattle ranching, and infrastructure development.

A new bridge for the historic city centre of Lübeck

Hanseatic City of Lübeck — 2025 — WHE974E28F4D6

A new footbridge, the Stadtgrabenbrücke, has been designed to address congestion at key entrances to Lübeck's historic city center while adhering to strict preservation and accessibility standards. The bridge, commissioned in 2021, ensures a minimum 5-meter clearance above water and a 3% gradient toward the old town island, balancing functionality with historical integrity. Located in the moat’s nature conservation area, it symbolizes a connection between past and future, serving both tourists and residents. The study highlights the challenges of integrating modern infrastructure within UNESCO-protected sites while preserving visual and ecological sensitivity.

A New Database on Carthaginian Coin Finds

Archaeological Site of Carthage — 2025 — WHE6297257527

A groundbreaking online database of pre-Imperial Carthaginian coin finds, geolocalized and standardized with contextual archaeological information, has been developed to address the long-standing gap in understanding Phoenician-Punic numismatics. This initiative aims to enhance visibility and accessibility of coin discoveries from Carthage, providing researchers with a comprehensive tool for studying this ancient currency phenomenon. The database integrates spatial data with detailed archaeological context, offering unprecedented insights into the economic and cultural dynamics of Carthaginian society. Presented at the XVI International Numismatic Congress, this resource promises to revolutionize numismatic research by bridging gaps in historical documentation.