Understanding the spatiotemporal monsoonal variability during the Holocene helps in understanding the rise and fall of many civilizations. In this study, a 2.65 m high palaeo lake sedimentary profile from the Kumaun Lesser Himalaya, Uttarakhand State, India was pollen analysed to reconstruct the variability in the monsoonal precipitation during the Middle Holocene. The study revealed that between ~7522 and 7216 cal yr BP, conifers dominated mixed broad-leaved forests occurred around the landscape of the study area, indicating a less cold and dry climate with decreased monsoon precipitation. Broad-leaved taxa during this phase show increased values considerably, indicating amelioration in climatic condition, which could be, in global perspective, broadly falling within the time-interval of the Holocene Climate Optimum (HCO; 7000–4000 BP). Between ~7216 and 6526 cal yr BP, dense conifers-dominated mixed broad-leaved forests transformed the conifers-dominated broad-leaved forests around the study area under a cold and drier climate with further reduction in monsoon precipitation. Subsequently, between ~6526 and 5987 cal yr BP, conifers-dominated broad-leaved forests continued to grow, but with lesser frequencies, around the study area under a comparatively less cold and dry climate with reduced monsoon precipitation. Finally, between ~5987 and 5817 cal yr BP, the frequencies of conifers-dominated broad-leaved forests further decreased around the landscape of the study area under a comparatively lesser cold and dry climate, probably indicating decreased monsoonal precipitation. Hence, the present study mainly showed the dominance of conifers forests around the study area between ~7522 and 7216 cal yr BP, ~7216 and 6526 cal yr BP, ~6526 and 5987 cal yr BP and between ~5987 and 5817 cal yr BP; however, broad-leaved forests also demonstrated increasing tendency between ~7522 and 7216 cal yr BP in the milieu of cold and dry climates. Moreover, the study also revealed that a lake was formed around 7522 cal yr BP along the Kulur River, a tributary of Saryu River around the study area and existed until 5817 cal yr BP.

Datarea radiocarbon prin metoda spectrometriei de masǎ cu ioni acceleraţi AMS, folositǎ din 2012 la IFIN-HH Mǎgurele, a oferit recent cadrul ştiinţific pentru un studiu interdisciplinar, atât din punct de vedere arheologic cât şi arheometric, aplicat unor materiale din lemn sau derivaţi ai lemnului. Primele rezultate radiocarbon calibrate obţinute pe şase eşantioane prelevate la Mǎguricea Branului în 2021 au plasat majoritatea probelor într-un interval în jurul secolului al XIII-lea, unele diferenţe putând fi explicate pe baza unor parametri ce sunt prezentaţi în acest articol. Cele patru probe similare suplimentare rezultate din campania 2022 au oferit date radiocarbon calibrate foarte diferite de estimǎri, dar şi faţǎ de cele anterioare. Deşi aceste probe au justificat dezvoltarea în laborator a unei metode noi de pre-tratare, pentru „lemn carbonificat”, unele rezultate nu au putut fi explicate din punct de vedere tehnic prin încadrarea în cei trei parametri: terminus post quem, time-width, apparent ages, aplicabili materialelor din lemn şi derivaţi, şi deci nu au putut oferi date relevante din punct de vedere arheologic. Lucrarea poate fi de interes pentru arheologii care folosesc probe de lemn pentru datarea AMS.

The stone Ensemble from Corbii de Piatrǎ Romania arouses a continuous scientific interest, with the final goal being to obtain an exhaustive and multidisciplinary package of results that will become the support of an extensive restoration project. The cave painting stands out as the most important and most affected by the advanced degradation among the historical monuments in Romania. This article provides for the first time a radiocarbon dating of the first forms of painting by establishing the age of the mortar/plaster used as a pictorial support. Being a very complex context from the point of view of the type of datable material and the disappearance over time through degradation of other elements that would ensure a simpler and more reliable radiocarbon dating (such as the straws used to form the material), it was necessary to use a multidisciplinary approach for the selection of samples and for supporting the radiocarbon results. The set of analyses consisted of visualization techniques through microscopy and compositional analysis, providing information on the similarities/differences between the samples, the degradation mechanisms/impurities and the quality of the calcium carbonate dated by the Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) technique. The results supported each other, ensured the selection of reliable radiocarbon data and established the most probable moment of the early interventions, namely the two phases corresponding to the 14th century.