Never fear! We've put our theses aside for a few hours and have braved the cold and snow to bring you this last update before the new year. Issue 12 is still putting us though our paces but is nevertheless right on track. So, if we're lucky, we'll be seeing the fruits of our labour in 2012.

For now, we're bringing you a smorgasbord of features to tide you over for the festive season. We have a double State of the Arch update with two pieces on a similar theme. Patrick Hadley discusses the issues surrounding setting up Mesolithic Miscellany and the world of open access journals, while Doug Rocks-Macqueen questions whether commercial journals are really value for money at a time when so many organisations are willing to offer content to their readers for free.

We've also got two reviews for you: a book review of Kennet and Winterhalder's Behavioral Ecology and the Transition to Agriculture, as well as a review of the exhibition held at the University of Nottingham this year on Roman Sexuality: Images, Myths, and Meanings.

Last but by no means least, we've cornered another assemblage friend and got them to answer our ever-famous 20 Questions. Don't pretend it's not your favourite feature.

And with that, we're all off to get a bit merry at the archaeology department's Christmas party. See you next year!

With Issue 11 finally done and dusted, we here at Assemblage are shaking off the summer writing-up fug and are moving on to greater things. With behind the scenes preparations for Issue 12 swiftly coming together and looking increasingly promising, we've also been working on providing additional content in the mean time.

State of the Arch is back with a vengeance, this time providing two perspectives on the issue of the impact that next year's tuition fee rises will have on archaeology as a whole and those who wish to pursue a career in the field. While Rachel Sites provides us with a blog post considering the implications of the use of satellites and other high-tech advances in archaeology that have been hitting the headlines in recent months.

This update also sees the return of the old fan-favourite 20 Questions, but with a slight difference. Having seemingly run out of staff members to grill, we've decided to turn to those archaeologists who work out in the field, as well as other areas. Our first participant in this new setup is commercial archaeologist Julian Thorley.

Hello!

The new academic year starts with a new editorial team. Us oldies are still kicking around but it's very much over the new crew from now on.

If you missed it over the summer, we finally managed to publish the long-awaited Issue 11.  There are four papers for you to check out over on our dedicated issue pages, as well as an editorial piece from the out-going team. We also published a number of book reviews over the summer, including one this week by Ellie Collies, who reivews 'From Trackways to Motorways' by H. Davies.

Finally, if you're a new postgrad and want to join the team, send us an email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , or keep an eye out for invitations to one of our open meetings.