Climate Wars
Fiji’s human history is directly linked to the ebbs and flows of climate change—particularly of sea-level rise. Throughout the Pacific Islands, fluctuating environmental conditions resulting from…
Tag: Archaeology
Did Women and Children Exist in Prehistory?
Stone tools, like Acheulean hand axes, remain well-preserved for eons because they are stones first, tools second. Fired ceramics remain well-preserved for millennia because they are, in essence,…
Gathering the Genetic Testimony of Spain’s Civil War Dead
The remains of many soldiers and citizens who died during the Spanish Civil War, which lasted from 1936 to 1939, have never been recovered. The development of genetic…
Vikings, Citizen Science, and Being Wary of Media
There are only two things of archaeological interest my friend Ralph has brought up in our daily carpool commute so far this year. The first was the discovery…
Awakening to Ruins
I’m reading through Robert Ginsberg’s The Aesthetics of Ruin (2004) again and came across this wonderful poem he wrote about the different options for a ruin (120): Awakening to ruins…
Archaeologies of Displacement and Urban Renewal in Detroit
Last week I attended the “Archaeology and Revitalization in Detroit” sessions at the Michigan Historic Preservation Network‘s annual meeting in Detroit, on the campus of Wayne State …
HH-39: Why Good Science Doesn’t Need Eureka Moments
Dendrochronology—literally the study of tree time—is a multidisciplinary science that yields accurate and precisely dated information through the detailed analysis of growth rings in trees. Today, nea…
Domesticating Water
Water is the most immediate requisite element for human survival. For most of humanity’s history (written and unwritten), where people could live was constrained by the need to…
Stone Points to a Connected World
I was sitting in the brightly lit workroom at the Pitt Rivers Museum on a frigid day in November 2010, when I opened one of the bags that…
Remains of the Day: A Native American Burial Discovered in San Francisco Is Shrouded in a Fog of Acrimony
Computer visualization of the burial arrangement as discovered, working from generic photographs of bones. Courtesy of Peter Colby. On February 25, 2014, at eight in the morning, the…
Stone Age Site Saved
A Stone Age archaeological site in South Africa has been saved from the threat of diamond mining. The site, called Canteen Kopje, is renowned for its cache of…
Urbex in Baltimore
Reporter Jessica Anderson recently interviewed me for this fascinating piece about urban exploration in Baltimore. I enjoyed talking with her about the allure of abandoned/vacant spaces and learning m…
Faded Paint and Yellowed Photos: On, Image, Inspiration, and Memory with Javier Urcid
How does a camera and a deep sense of curiosity lead to a lifetime of archaeological research on ancient peoples, their symbols, art, and writing? Ryan and Aneil…
Diamond Mine Threatens Stone Age Artifacts
Researchers are panicking as a Stone Age archaeological site in South Africa called Canteen Kopje is facing demolition by diamond mining. Miners have already started to clear the…
Exploring Boundaries: From Access to Female Sexworkers to the Question of Research
When designing a research project, a researcher’s initial plans are often interrupted by what data we actually can access. Whether negotiating political structures, cultural taboos, necessary permissi…
History Lost to Sea
On a bright and buggy day in July 2014, Max Friesen, whiskered and encased in denim and Gore-Tex, inched across a stretch of tundra overlooking the East Channel…
Making Knowledge Stick: Virtual Badges and Real Life Stickers
“Better than Digital Chocolate”—that’s what drew me in. It was the title of a post that found its way somehow across one of my social media feeds and…
Cold Enough for Ya?
Every winter, on either the first or second cold snap, I hear the question “Cold enough for ya?” as I get on the bus, exit the Metro, or…
The World’s Most Sustainable Technology
To my mind, a well-made Acheulean hand ax is one of the most beautiful and remarkable archaeological objects ever found, anywhere on the planet. I love its clean,…
Happy #WorldAnthropologyDay! Celebrate with these great episodes! #WorldAnthroDay
Happy World Anthropology Day! To celebrate #WorldAnthropologyDay we here at TaL have curated some of our favorite past episodes covering how we approach anthropology and where we see…
“Creative Connections” with J.R.R. Tolkien: Teaching Anthropology with Imaginative Literature
In Part One of an ongoing series, Leah McCurdy (University of Texas, San Antonio) shares her ideas for integrating imaginative literature into the anthropology classroom. How do J.R.R.…
Dear President Obama: Protect Bears Ears
My first backpacking trip in south-central Utah at age 14 was a defining moment. Some earth science teachers took my classmates and me to San Rafael Swell for…
Anthropology without Borders? Bringing the Study of People to the People
Join TAL as they explore the meaning and movements behind the buzz words that shape anthropology when it reaches beyond the classroom. Applied, Public, Design, and Open Anthropology.…
The Darkest Truths
In 2007, Caroline Sturdy Colls—then a 21-year-old University of Birmingham graduate student—made her first visit to the Nazi death camp at Treblinka, Poland. As a prospective forensic-archaeology scho…