This article examines how production histories become differently available as evidence in painted surfaces and diffusion-generated images. Drawing on Peirce’s account of the sign as a relation among sign, object, and interpretant, it develops the concept of forensic latency to describe production histories that stand in real connection to an image but can be turned into evidence only by particular interpreters, with particular means, in particular forums. In painted surfaces, such histories are lodged largely in the object and recovered mainly by examining it. In diffusion-generated images they are distributed across data, models, prompts, and platforms, and recovered, if at all, through records, re-running, or statistical inference. Generated craquelure is an icon of an index for some interpreters but itself an index of a generative system and its training images. The restoration of the Ghent Altarpiece and two disputes involving image generators show what follows for attribution, authorship, and accountability.

The siliciclastic deposits in the Narmada basin in central India bear the signature of transcontinental sediment supply and the presence of an epicontinental seaway during the Cretaceous period. This study reconstructs the palaeogeographical and palaeodrainage evolution of the Narmada basin in the context of Eastern Gondwana rift basins, using sandstone petrography, heavy mineral assemblage, mineral geochemistry and detrital zircon uranium-lead (U–Pb) ages. The modal analysis of Songir and Nimar sandstones suggests subarkose to quartz arenite, derived from magmatic and metamorphic rocks. Gneissic fragments and staurolite grains reflect contributions from medium- to high-grade metamorphic rocks. The textural and mineralogical maturity and high Zircon-Tourmaline-Rutile (ZTR) (>55) index of Songir sandstones corroborate recycling of older siliciclastics. Tourmaline geochemistry indicates its derivation from granites, pegmatites and metapelites. Dravite-type tourmaline confirms its derivation from hornfels and schist of the Champaner Group exposed in nearby areas. Zircon geochemistry corroborates its continental magmatic origin derived from granitoids. The zircon U–Pb ages (>2350, 1850–1500, 1500–1000 and 1000–650) match with rocks of the Aravalli and Bundelkhand craton, the Central Indian Tectonic Zone (CITZ) and the Vindhyan and Gondwana successions. However, the detrital zircon age population 650–460 Ma suggests possible sediment supply from Madagascar and Antarctica. The study provides possible transcontinental sediment input into the Narmada basin from Madagascar and Antarctica during the Cretaceous period.

Mesozoic siliciclastic rocks of the Kutch Basin represent a unique archive of western India’s evolution during Gondwana breakup. Previous studies revealed differences in provenance between individual sub-basins within this basin, but the understanding of sediment-supplying units remains hampered due to the absence of detailed geochronological studies. In this study, we present detrital zircon and rutile U-Pb data from sedimentary units of all sub-basins, as well as modern rivers draining potential source areas. The Late Triassic to Early Cretaceous succession deposited in these sub-basins is classified into the Kutch Mainland Group, Pachchham Island Group and Eastern Kutch Group. The zircon and rutile ages of all three groups reveal the absence of post-Devonian igneous as well as medium- to high-temperature tectono-thermal events in the source areas. The Pachchham Island Group exhibits a higher proportion of ∼1615 Ma zircon and >700 Ma rutile compared to the two other groups, confirming a different evolutionary course. While ∼1615 Ma zircon occurs in pre-Callovian samples of the Eastern Kutch Group, indicating a common source, this changes from the late Bathonian to Callovian onwards, where both the Eastern Kutch and Kutch Mainland groups show an increasing proportion of ∼540 Ma zircons. This late Bathonian to Callovian provenance change is coeval with the uplift of a basement high, known as the Median High, causing a drainage divide which diverted sediments away from the Pachchham Island sub-basin. These findings provide new constraints on sediment provenance, routing and tectonic controls during the evolution of the Kutch Basin.

This paper presents a brief history of archival provenance and its shifting role across different paradigms of archives, considering how this past work can provide insights into current trajectories of AI. It explores what archival provenance does, or can do, differently than current imaginations of data provenance in AI. It proposes three “lessons from archival provenance” that challenge the present focus of existing approaches in AI, in particular highlighting how narrowly this work structures and models evidence, authenticity and creatorship of data. These lessons can be used to identify new opportunities for applying concepts of archival provenance by presenting a roadmap for future work where AI research might align and converge with related work in archival theory. It concludes by asserting that grounding AI datasets in this perspective of archival provenance can realize a new paradigm of “data as archives,” serving to envision responsibilities to a range of data creators, determine needs for documentation of context and establish a crucial role for “data archivists.”

We integrate provenance, sedimentological and tectonic analyses to reconstruct sediment sources, transport pathways and hydroclimatic evolution of the Rotliegend Group in the Norwegian North Sea. The study also evaluates implications for basin development and reservoir quality in this key reservoir interval. Detrital zircon U–Pb geochronology from nine wells integrated with facies analysis, dipmeter- and image-derived palaeocurrent data and a palinspastic restoration reveals that sediment sources were closer to the basin than today and that inherited structural highs compartmentalized drainage and aeolian fields. Facies trends record a transition from arid dune fields to semi-arid mixed dune, interdune, flash-flood and playa-lake systems, reflecting increasing hydrological connectivity and base-level rise during the early Permian. Detrital zircon spectra define three main provenance domains with Caledonian-derived aeolian sand transported from the west–northwest, Sveconorwegian-sourced alluvial-fan systems along the eastern basin margin and hybrid basement-fed systems along northern and southern highs. Mixed zircon-age populations indicate substantial recycling of Devonian Old Red Sandstone basin fills and convergence of multiple sediment transport pathways within the basin interior. Converging transport pathways enabled interaction between long-distance and short-range detrital zircon input, whereas sustained pathway partitioning maintained distinct first-order provenance domains at basin scale. Provenance influences reservoir quality through its control on sediment composition, texture and depositional facies, with quartz-rich Caledonian-derived aeolian deposits retaining anomalously high porosities and feldspathic Sveconorwegian-derived alluvial-fan deposits displaying consistently lower porosity. Integrating provenance, facies, palaeocurrents and restored basin geometry therefore provides a predictive framework linking sediment transport, tectonic inheritance, and reservoir distribution in ancient continental basins.

Reconstructing the geological history of the Amazon River and its palaeo-drainage is of prime importance for understanding the control of tectonics and geodynamics processes on Amazonian landscape dynamics and the origin of Amazonian biodiversity. In this study, we report new stratigraphic, sedimentological and provenance constraints on the Neogene sedimentary rocks of the Madre de Dios Basin (South Peru). Our multidisciplinary dataset shows that the Neogene sedimentary rocks of the northern part of the Madre de Dios Basin (12.5–13° lat S) have a different provenance than those of the southern part (13–14° lat S). The sedimentary rocks of the northern part of the basin are characterized by Solimoes-like ƐNd (0) values (between −9.8 and −5.2) for fined grained sedimentary rocks, REE signatures suggestive of authigenic Fe-oxides formed from sulfide oxidation processes and U–Pb age distributions dominated by zircon ages between 0.9–1.3 Ga (Grenville/Sunsas), 0.5–0.7 Ga (Brasilian/Pampean), 290–252 Ma (Permian magmatism) and, to a lesser extent, zircon ages younger than 130 Ma (Andean Arc). We interpret the source of these sedimentary rocks to be the Altiplano and the Eastern Cordillera (EC). In contrast, the Neogene sedimentary rocks of the southern part were sourced from the EC and Sub-Andean Zone (SAZ) with secondary Fe-oxides derived from silicate rock weathering. Combined with previous studies, these contrasted geochemical signatures imply the existence of a palaeogeographic barrier within the Madre de Dios Basin between the Cretaceous and the Pliocene suggesting that the southern limit of the Amazonian palaeo-drainage basin was located within the Madre de Dios Basin.

Constraining the timing, provenance and paleogeographic relationships of Cretaceous karst bauxites in the Austroalpine realm remains challenging due to their highly weathered, polygenetic nature and the general lack of datable fossils. X-ray diffraction (XRD) data show consistent boehmite–hematite assemblages in the Alpine deposits, whereas the Transdanubian bauxites (Alsópere, Iharkút) additionally contain gibbsite. Heavy mineral spectra are dominated by the ultrastable zircon–rutile–tourmaline assemblage, with subordinate kyanite, sillimanite and Cr-spinel pointing to contributions from medium- to high-grade metamorphic and ultramafic sources. Detrital zircon U–Pb spectra record mostly Proterozoic, Cadomian, Caledonian, Variscan, and Permian age components with regional contrasts. The Northern Calcareous Alps are dominated by Variscan ages, while Permian signatures are more prominent in the Transdanubian Range. Santonian (∼85 Ma) zircons at Kufstein reflect distal aeolian input from the Banatite magmatism. Zircon (U–Th)/He data reveal distinct low-temperature histories of the sources: Russbach contains a 90–75 Ma cooling signal reflecting Eoalpine metamorphic core complexes, whereas Jurassic–Early Cretaceous ages from Iharkút indicate sourcing from Upper Austroalpine units. Statistical comparisons confirm clustering among Santonian deposits but reveal heterogeneity in Albian and Turonian sites. The data indicate that Northern Calcareous Alps and Transdanubian Range bauxites formed from geographically distinct yet lithologically similar sources, with the rising central Austroalpine nappes acting as a topographic divide. The results refine the timing of bauxitization in the Alps, showing that some deposits, such as Russbach, are younger than previously thought, and that bauxitization was diachronous and largely controlled by tectonics during the Cretaceous.

The Middle Dnieper region, situated within a transitional glacial–periglacial zone, preserves complex loess–palaeosol archives. This study reconstructs the environmental evolution of the Velyka Andrusivka sequence using a multiproxy approach integrating sedimentological, geochemical, mineralogical, magnetic, and palynological data supported by luminescence dating. The succession rests on Dnieper glacial till and comprises loess units from the last and penultimate glacial cycles, palaeosols, and an upper chernozem formed after loess deposition had ceased. Optically stimulated luminescence ages range from ∼22 to 187 ka, revealing hiatuses and diachronous boundaries relative to Marine Isotope Stage divisions. The older loess is more heterogeneous and enriched in Zr-Hf-REE with mixed provenance, whereas the younger loess is more homogeneous and dominated by distal dust. These contrasts demonstrate how local sediment recycling and regional dust supply jointly shaped the environmental signal. Palaeosols record phases of weathering, while the upper chernozem largely retains the parent-loess texture within a sequence overprinted by postdepositional alterations in colour, geochemistry, and magnetic properties. Comparison along the 50°N transect shows that robust interpretation of the sequence requires integration with neighbouring loess–palaeosol records, as only multi-site correlation captures shared stratigraphic patterns and site-specific deviations, enabling reconstruction of environmental processes across multiple spatial scales.

Northern Calabria forms part of the Calabrian Arc, a geologically complex region in southern Italy shaped by the convergence between the Eurasian and African plates. This convergence drove the closure of the Tethys Ocean and produced the subsequent phases of collisional and extensional tectonics. Thrusting during the Alpine orogeny produced extensive nappe stacking, followed by structural reorganization and exhumation during the Oligocene-Miocene. Tectonostratigraphically, the Apennine carbonate platform forms the lowest structural unit, overlain successively by the Liguride Oceanic Complex and the Calabride Complex, which includes the Sila nappe stack. Along Calabria’s eastern Ionian margin, forearc basins developed in response to the retreating subduction zone. To better constrain sediment routing pathways and regional uplift in northern Calabria from early to late Miocene, a multi-proxy provenance study was applied to four forearc basins: Rossano, Cirò, Crotone and Catanzaro. Quantitative heavy-mineral analysis, single-grain garnet and apatite chemistry, and apatite U–Pb chronology reveal spatial and temporal variations in sediment sources. Siliciclastic samples, spanning Aquitanian to Messinian in age, record changing contributions from a combination of low- to high-grade metamorphic and plutonic sources, including mafic Liguride units. Up-section shifts in sediment sourcing patterns indicate that Calabrian Arc exhumation and uplift, characterized by a rapid increase in the middle Miocene followed by a slow reduction in relief, played a pivotal role in controlling the timing and direction of sediment transport. This study demonstrates the benefits of multi-method provenance approaches to achieve valuable insights into relief build-up and demise, associated divide migration and sedimentary responses within a young and complex, zircon-poor orogenic arc system.

The Ordovician Puna retroarc foreland basin in northwestern Argentina accommodated the c. 3500 m thick Puna Turbidite Complex, consisting of the Lower and Upper Turbidite systems. The turbidites accumulated in the Middle Ordovician over 15 Myr. 744 new detrital zircon U-Pb ages obtained from seven medium and fine-sand turbidite layers of the Puna Turbidite Complex reflect a South American provenance from the Terra Amazonica and the early Terra Australis orogens between 2000 Ma and 440 Ma. The most abundant detrital zircon age group consists of Ordovician ages representing the Famatinian orogenic cycle (520–410 Ma), followed by those of the preceding Olmos-Pampean orogenic cycle (650–520 Ma), the Neoproterozoic rifting phase connected to Rodinia dispersal (1000–650 Ma) and the Sunsás orogenic cycle (1200–1000 Ma). The age distributions of fine and medium sand turbidite layers are statistically almost identical and do not display significant effects of sorting. Subchondritic ϵHf(t) values of Ordovician zircon emphasise crustal recycling and reworking as the most significant processes during the Famatinian Orogenic cycle. Hf(TDM2) indicates that crustal material mostly formed as juvenile crust in Mesoproterozoic time, during the Rȏndonia-San Ignacio and Sunsás orogenic cycles. Detrital zircon δ18O data obtained from syndepositional Ordovician zircon are elevated and range between 6.5 and 8.8 ‰. Combined with similar data from the literature on intrusive and orthometamorphic rocks of the Famatinian magmatic arc, these data indicate that crustal recycling and reworking of supracrustal rocks played a major role in the evolution of the Famatinian arc in the southern central Andes.

Wang Yuanlu 王圓籙—the individual who accidentally stumbled upon the ‘library cave’ or Cave 17 at the Mogao Caves near Dunhuang in June 1900—is behind one of the world’s most significant discoveries. Yet, in the years that followed, he was also responsible for the scattering of the cave’s contents and selling large chunks to Marc Aurel Stein in 1907 and to Paul Pelliot in 1908. How could the self-appointed guardian of this major Buddhist complex part with one of what is often described as its crowning jewels? This article delves into Wang Yuanlu’s motivations and highlights his agency, demonstrating that he was instrumental in shaping the now so-called Stein collection. One of the key sources for this investigation are the published writings of Marc Aurel Stein, which provide the most detailed descriptions of Wang and his activities during the period of the dispersal of the contents of Cave 17. These are supplemented by information drawn from the relevant parts of Stein’s diaries, Paul Pelliot’s writings, and primary sources and recent scholarship in Chinese that shed a different light on Wang’s doings. The article starts by studying Wang’s relationship with the Mogao Caves and their wider ecosystem. It then looks at the subsequent dispersal of the newly found hoard through his transactions with Stein in 1907 and 1914, which are contrasted with his dealings with Pelliot.

This study examines detrital garnet compositions from five samples spanning a Late Miocene–Pliocene section of Himalayan sedimentary rocks (Surai Khola, Siwalik Group and central Nepal) to assess provenance and tectonic implications. A total of 100 detrital garnets were analysed for edge-to-edge compositional zoning, revealing distinct groups linked to specific hinterland regions. Manual classification identified garnet Groups 1 and 2 as grossular, Group 3 as spessartine, and Groups 4 through 7 as almandine, varying in XCa, XMg and XMn. Most garnets exhibit low XMg and flat zoning, with Groups 6* and 7* containing slightly higher XMg. Statistical clustering aligns broadly with manual groupings, which strengthens provenance interpretations. Comparisons with hinterland garnet compositions expand provenance options to magmatic garnets and rocks outside the Himalayan core units. Eight Siwalik Group garnets were modelled for pressure–temperature conditions and paths. Group 4 and 6 garnets, potentially linked to blueschist/eclogites or metamorphosed arc/Himalayan core rocks, record conditions of 510–538°C and 4.6–6.8 kbar, with isothermal burial over 0.5–2 kbar. Group 2 garnet, resembling compositions from North Himalayan granitic enclaves, yields core conditions of 480°C and 6 kbar and an N-shaped pressure–temperature path. Two Group 5 garnets with zoning like those in the High Himalayan leucogranites yield 520–528°C at 3.2–3.6 kbar. These findings provide insights into Himalayan erosion dynamics, hinterland exhumation and sediment transport pathways. Integrating garnet compositional zoning with statistical clustering and thermodynamic modelling is valuable for provenance studies of garnet-bearing sedimentary sections.

Miocene lacustrine clay deposits formed in the Şile region of Türkiye rest unconformably on Cretaceous andesite, basaltic andesite, basalts and rare dacites. Factors controlling the genesis of this sequence include: (1) sediment provenance, (2) tectonic uplift and climatic regimes during syn- and post-depositional times, (3) burial diagenesis and (4) changes from surface weathering alterations (i.e. oxidation and hydrolysis reactions) in the critical zone. Clay minerals are dominated by kaolinite and illite, with their relative abundances varying in relation to the proximity of coal seams, stratigraphic sequence and in an overlying sand-rich fluvial deposit. Variations in the mineral abundances reveals cyclothem-like sequences with patterns of fining upwards (i.e. increasing clay mineral abundance) capped by thin coal seams. The Clay Mineral Alteration Index values for the Şile clay sequence indicate a slight trend of decreasing chemical weathering intensity up-section, which is consistent with regional geological data for terrain uplifting and a drying climate during the Miocene. Critical zone processes have modified the mineral and chemical assemblages, as evidenced by the appearance of iron oxides putatively formed from recent oxidation of the ferrous minerals siderite and pyrite, which are not found in the upper sections. Taken together, the evidence indicates that the clay minerals are derived from a combination of prior weathering of basement rocks, diagenesis after deposition and modern critical-zone weathering. The degree of each process is dependent on depositional history, stratigraphic position and depth below the land surface, all under the changing influences of tectonic uplift and regional climate. The Şile deposits provide an economical clay resource that could be important to the ceramics industry of Türkiye.

Alisha Sijapati and Erin Thompson’s article “Making a market for ‘The Art of Nepal’: Tracing the flow of Nepali cultural property into the United States” makes a series of unsubstantiated claims about the nature and scope of the Nepali antiquities market in the 1950s and 1960s based on the authors’ research of a single 1964 exhibition of Nepali antiquities in the United States. This critical response will contest these claims by examining the broader Nepali antiquities market as it existed prior to 1970, particularly within Nepal and in South Asia, while also locating the authors and their claims in the context of the recent repatriation campaign by Nepali activists. Finally, the response will conclude that if there is to be an ethical turn in voluntary repatriation, there must be greater consideration of contexts beyond the West and a refocusing of provenance research beyond Western collectors and institutions.

Multidisciplinary methods permit the first archaeometallurgical study of artefacts from five key first-millennium BC settlements in Poland: Grzybiany, Wicina, Kamieniec, Tarławki and Mołtajny. This project fills a lacuna in our understanding of technical ceramics, metal provenance and the role of settlements in the cultural landscape.

This study concerns prehistoric amber networks in north-eastern Iberia, emphasizing its distinct exchange dynamics compared to other regions of the Iberian Peninsula. Baltic amber dominated assemblages in this area from the Late Neolithic to the Bronze Age, contrasting with the prevalence of Sicilian amber in southern Iberia, or Cretaceous Iberian amber in the northern region. The findings underscore the region’s connection to southern France, with the Pyrenees serving as a cultural conduit, unlike the river Ebro, which acted as a boundary. Here the authors present the results of a Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FTIR) analysis of twenty-one amber beads, primarily from collective burials. Eighteen were made of Baltic succinite. Baltic amber may have begun to arrive as early as 3634–3363 cal bc, and continued to be used until the Late Bronze Age. Exceptions included a unique spacer-bead made of gum and two bolus pigments misidentified as amber. The results highlight Iberia’s regional diversity in raw material sourcing and exchange, reflecting distinct sociocultural dynamics and challenging linear narratives of Iberian prehistory.

Old collections, real or fake, are a basic part of the collection history of an antiquity or artwork. This article is a starting point for a study of the concept: how old collections are employed, what functions they have, and how fictitious old collections are chosen and constructed. To explore these concepts, the article considers the example of Cumberland Clark, an early 20th-century collector who serves as the putative origin of cuneiform tablets in a handful of present-day collections, most notably the Schøyen Collection. This article looks at the life and collections of Cumberland Clark, then argues that the Clark provenance for current collections is a fabrication, and concludes by looking at Clark in the context of other old collections in order to draw some lessons about fabricated provenance.

The earliest pottery vessels in the Arabian Gulf, appearing in the mid-sixth millennium BC, belong to two distinct traditions: Ubaid Ware was imported from Mesopotamia, but the origins of the Coarse Red Ware have remained obscure. Geochemical examination of pottery from Bahra 1, in modern-day Kuwait, and geological samples from the surrounding area reveal a regional origin for the clay. Further exploration of the Bahra 1 assemblage indicates that Coarse Red Ware was probably made at the site by low-skilled potters. This research provides insights into the organisation of pottery production and distribution in the Arabian Neolithic.