Fernández-Crespo, T., Snoeck, C., Ordoño, J., de Winter, N.J., Czermak, A., Mattielli, N., Lee-Thorp, J.A., Schulting, R.J., 2020. Multi-isotope evidence for the emergence of cultural alterity in Late Neolithic Europe. Science Advances 6, eaay2169.

http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/6/4/eaay2169.abstract The coexistence of cultural identities and their interaction is a fundamental topic of social sciences that is not easily addressed in prehistory. Differences in mortuary treatment can help approach this issue. Here, we present a multi-isotope study to track both diet and mobility through the life histories of 32 broadly coeval Late Neolithic individuals interred in caves and in megalithic graves of a restricted region of northern Iberia. The results show significant differences in infant- and child-rearing practices, in subsistence strategies, and in landscape use between burial locations. From this, we posit that the presence of communities with distinct lifestyles and cultural backgrounds is a primary reason for Late Neolithic variability in burial location in Western Europe and provides evidence of an early 'them and us' scenario. We argue that this differentiation could have played a role in the building of lasting structures of socioeconomic inequality and, occasionally, violent conflict.

Forbes, P., 2020. Atmospheric chemistry analysis: A review. Analytical Chemistry 92, 455-472.

https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.analchem.9b04623 The monitoring of our atmosphere is a vital component of analytical chemistry, on the basis of the fact that air quality has a direct impact on the environment and human health. Air pollution has been shown to be involved in numerous pathologies, typically cardiovascular and respiratory based, but also links to reproductive function have been made.(1) Many impacts of air pollution are complex and result from the chemical and physical interactions of a number of atmospheric species from a plethora of sources.(2) A recent review, for example, explored the interplay of air pollution, food production, and food security, where food production incurs air pollution which in turn negatively impacts food security.(3) It is clear that it is insufficient to merely determine the levels of air pollutants, such as particulate matter of diameter 2.5 μm or less (PM ), to estimate human 2.5 health impacts,(4) as the chemical composition thereof has a great bearing on toxicity, which varies considerably spatiotemporally. The atmosphere is a shared resource; therefore, the scale of air pollution impacts may range from local to transboundary. Many air pollutants are known to incur deleterious effects at trace concentrations, while potential effects of chronic exposure to low concentrations of some species in the atmosphere have not yet been determined. This necessitates the ongoing development of sensitive and selective analytical methods for an ever increasing range of analytes to drive the science forward and allow for a better understanding of this complex field. Studies to monitor the atmosphere differ substantially in terms of geographical and temporal coverage, which have concomitant differing requirements in terms of sampling and analytical approaches. Additional drivers that inform the choice of the analytical approach include target analytes, legislative requirements, and available resources. In this Review, developments over approximately the last two years (methodologies and applications published since 2017, with a few exceptions that deserve mentioning due to their fundamental relevance) in the field of atmospheric chemistry monitoring are explored (Figure 1), covering sampling and analytical approaches, where the latter focuses on laboratory based analyses, although pertinent applications of sensor and remote sensing technologies are described. The Review focuses on recent developments in the monitoring of gas and particle phase atmospheric species and does not include occupational or indoor air quality monitoring (refer to Farmer(5) regarding the latter topic). It should be noted that a significant number of atmospheric chemistry analyses that are published are based on 'traditional' or standardized analytical approaches and are therefore outside the ambit of this Review on developments in the field, except where there are new aspects to the methodology or in the application thereof. Recent publications dealing with the monitoring of the atmosphere have covered analytes ranging from those that are commonly regulated, such as inorganic gases (SO and NO ), to those that can be considered emerging x 2 chemical pollutants (ECPs). These are typically defined as compounds that may have an impact on human health or the environment but do not currently have regulatory status.(6) The compounds thus falling within this definition vary across countries with differing legislative frameworks. On the basis of recent publications, the