Ongoing study of the pottery assemblage and its surrounding context in Area 4 at the site of Alalakh has again brought to light a phenomenon that is considered typical for the Iron Age I Levant: the construction of pits/silo installations in open areas. This phenomenon has been interpreted as a sign of ruralisation or insecure economic conditions, a possible marker for the political instability in the area during the 13th-12th centuries BCE. This article examines the similarities and differences between the examples from the Iron Age I in the ‘Amuq and contemporary sites in the Levant, and also considers later similar installations from the Iron Age II. Keeping in mind the functions usually ascribed to these structures, this study also analyses the so-called ‘Anatolian’ tradition of grain storage in the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age in order to address the role of these installations in understanding possible food control strategies and their possible impact in the Levant.

This study presents a multi-resolution and multi-temporal remote sensing approach to assess human-induced changes in cultural landscapes, with a focus on the archaeological site of Amrit (Syria) within the MapDam project. By integrating satellite archives (KH, Landsat series, NASADEM) with ancillary geospatial data (OpenStreetMap) and advanced analytical methods, four decades (1984–2024) of land-use/land-cover (LULC) change and shoreline dynamics were reconstructed. Machine learning classification (Random Forest) achieved high accuracy (Test Accuracy = 0.94; Kappa = 0.89), enabling robust LULC mapping, while predictive modelling of urban expansion, calibrated through a Gradient Boosting Machine, attained a Figure of Merit of 0.157, confirming strong predictive reliability. The results reveal path-dependent urban growth concentrated on low-slope terrains (≤5°) and consistent with proximity to infrastructure, alongside significant shoreline regression after 1974. A Business-as-Usual projection for 2024–2034 estimates 8.676 ha of new anthropisation, predominantly along accessible plains and peri-urban fringes. Beyond quantitative outcomes, this study demonstrates the replicability and scalability of open-source, data-driven workflows using Google Earth Engine and Python 3.14, making them applicable to other high-risk heritage contexts. This transparent methodology is particularly critical in conflict zones or in regions where cultural assets are neglected due to economic constraints, political agendas, or governance limitations, offering a powerful tool to document and safeguard endangered archaeological landscapes.

This paper presents the history, current situation, and ongoing projects on the collection from the National Museum of Aleppo (Syria), sketching the history of its collection and the changing role of the museums in the past century. When museums face periods of conflict and destruction, not only their primary role to preserve heritage is challenged, but also the bond to the local community is severed. The National Museum of Aleppo is a perfect example in this matter: established under the French protectorate, rearranged by the Syrian government at the end of the 60s, it experienced a flourishing period, the violent conflict, a partial reopening, and the earthquake. Its collection, that was never looted, thanks to the efforts of the museum staff and the DGAM, has been damaged by shelling, has been in great part taken out from showcases, brought to safe deposits, and still not available to the public. Given this situation intervention to the collection and to the structure needs to embed the recent events and aims at reinstalling a new bond between the community and its cultural heritage.

Excavations at the site of Kınık Höyük have brought to light over the past twelve years several occupational phases dated to the first Millennium BCE both on the acropolis and in the lower town, especially for the Middle Iron Age and the Hellenistic period. Since 2021 the University of Firenze joined the University of Pavia (Italy), NYU-ISAW (USA) and Dokuz Eylül University in Izmir (Turkey) in the excavations at the site of Kınık Höyük, and since 2022 the same university took over in the management of the project. This article is a preliminary report on recent excavations area D2-3, located in the lower town, where archaeologists could identify six phases of occupation and two large primary contexts dated to the beginning of the Middle Iron Age, that provide new insights on every-day assemblages and inventories produced locally and the architectural and archaeological context they are related to. The most interesting element in terms of urban layout and structure is related to the construction of the massive defensive fortification of the lower town, that seems to be related so far to the earliest occupation of the Iron Age lower town, i.e. possibly at the end of the Early Iron Age. A selection of the materials and a detailed report on deposits and architecture provides the reader with the archaeological data collected mainly in the campaign 2022 and 2021 in the lower town excavations, while a general overview on the urban fortification of the acropolis allows a general picture of the whole settlement defensive system and space organisation.

In recent years, the unstable political situation in countries such as Syria and Iraq has prompted numerous initiatives aimed at assessing damage to cultural heritage (Al Kassem et al. 2024; Almoha...