Justin Allen Holcomb

A superficial geological study of Chinchihuapi Creek by Surovell et al. (2026a) suggests that the occupation at Monte Verde II (MV-II) dates to the middle Holocene and not the late Pleistocene. The...

Venus preserves the remains of landers and probes from 15 space missions concentrated between 1965 and 1985. These artifacts and sites represent the earliest material traces of direct human interaction with the surface of the planet and are therefore of considerable historical significance. However, the extent to which material left on the Venusian surface is preserved remains poorly understood. They were deposited or impacted within one of the most extreme surface environments in the Solar System, characterized by temperatures of ~460°C, atmospheric pressures of ~92 bar dominated by supercritical CO₂ and chemically reactive gases. Additionally, the Venusian environment includes active surface processes such as volcanic, seismic, and mass‐movement events. For these reasons, it is commonly assumed that Venus's surface environment would rapidly erase anthropogenic material remains. This study assesses the preservation state of Venusian space heritage by adopting the theoretical and methodological framework of planetary geoarcheology. First, we provide an archeological catalog of all known Venusian landing and impact contexts. Next, we draw from available geological and geomorphological datasets to qualitatively evaluate preservation conditions of these contexts. Finally, we provide an in‐depth case study focused on atmospheric effects on the Pioneer Venus Day Probe (1978). Our study suggests that, despite the harsh conditions and ongoing physical and chemical alterations that may indicate unfavorable preservation conditions, Venusian space heritage may exhibit a high potential for long‐term preservation favored by slow geological processes and global climatic stability. Further, as demonstrated below, while specific construction materials, such as beryllium, Kapton, and silicone‐based components, are likely to have been heavily degraded or destroyed, the majority of materials used in the main structure and in various probe subsystems, including titanium, ceramic, and aluminum, are likely to be preserved, albeit oxidized, corroded, and potentially deformed. These findings challenge prevailing assumptions about preservation conditions on Venus and establish the planet as a key case study for planetary geoarcheology, space archeology, and heritage.

Crescents are flaked stone tools found throughout western North America that are often associated with waterbodies and projectile points diagnostic of the late Pleistocene and early Holocene, such as the Western Stemmed Tradition. Archaeologists continue to debate the function of crescents and they remain poorly dated outside of the Channel Islands. Here we report a crescent from recent excavations at Connley Cave 6 in central Oregon and provide a first look at associated stratigraphy, radiocarbon ages, and tools. The crescent's age (ca. 9715-9245 cal BP) and associated projectile points are remarkably like the crescent from Little Steamboat Point-1 Rockshelter in Oregon and suggest that people who used Cascade points during the early Holocene also made crescents. This work helps refine the age of crescents and our understanding of their associated toolkits.

On November 12, 2014, 10 years after its launch as part of the European Space Agency's (ESA) Rosetta Mission, the Philae lander successfully touched down on the surface of 67P/Churyumov‐Gerasimenko (hereafter 67P/CG). This event was significant for two reasons. First, it was and remains the only successful attempt to orbit and eventually land on a comet's surface, opening up myriad possibilities for the scientific study of surface processes on this type of celestial body. Second, the landing of Philae, coupled with the eventual crash of the Rosetta spacecraft, officially initiated the formation of an archaeological record on 67P/CG. Here, we provide a review of comet surface and archaeological site formation processes and introduce the Rosetta mission as a case study for the application of planetary geoarchaeology. Our results suggest that although dynamic, the cometary environment is capable of preserving archaeological material within narrow windows of time. Specifically, this “preservation window” is dependent on several key geological factors, including local sublimation activity, fracturing, mass‐wasting events, outbursts, large‐scale splitting of parts of the nucleus, sedimentary processes, pit formation, meteoritic impacts, and rotational instability. As we continue to expand our material footprint across the solar system, we believe planetary geoarchaeology will offer crucial insights into the preservation of space heritage and the growing archaeological record of space exploration.

This article presents an interdisciplinary programme for research on historic landscapes that has emerged since 2020 in the framework of the project Terraces as Sustainable Agricultural Environments (‘TerraSAgE’). While the methodology has been tested in specific Mediterranean case studies, it is also applicable in other locations and regions. Our integrated approach provides new insights into the development of terraced agrarian landscapes and the changing dynamics in land management. It can provide knowledge of the extent to which past change has influenced present‐day landscapes and has implications for the development of sustainable landscape practices. The research framework proposed here has been tested through case studies in different landscape types across southern Europe, including small‐scale mixed farming landscapes of the Aegean islands (Naxos, Greece); terraces for vines and olives (Pelješac, Croatia); a landscape of dairy production (northern Apennines, Italy), which was until quite recently agroforestry; modern cereal cultivation (around Els Prats de Rei, Catalonia, Spain); upland irrigated landscapes on the slopes of the Sierra Nevada (Andalucia, Spain) and mixed farming in a wooded Atlantic environment (Galicia, Spain).