When Life Imitates Art in Ukraine
Photographs from Russia’s war on Ukraine dissolve an archaeologist’s fondness for a Soviet-era sculpture. ✽ On February 24, 2022, the Russian Federation invaded Ukraine. Counter to Russian President…
Photographs from Russia’s war on Ukraine dissolve an archaeologist’s fondness for a Soviet-era sculpture. ✽ On February 24, 2022, the Russian Federation invaded Ukraine. Counter to Russian President…
New evidence is prompting researchers to rethink Homo sapiens’ origin story—and what it means to be human. ✽ As a university student in the early 2010s, I recall…
The 2020 discovery of an ancient villa in Britain uncovered the most important Roman mosaic found in the last century. An archaeologist explains how the mosaic offers an…
A contributor to a special series on decolonizing anthropology reckons with bioarchaeology’s racist past by focusing on Black women’s creativity and everyday lives in her work. This contribution…
An anthropologist considers how different the world might be if Neanderthals—and hence, their ways of navigating relationships with the environment and one another—had survived the gauntlet of evoluti…
An archaeologist fascinated by a centurieslong memorial practice in Georgia considers how these unique gravestones reflect shared values and traditions—yet are sometimes destroyed in nationalist cultu…
An archaeologist explains how new evidence stands to change what we thought about how ice age humans prepared food. This article was originally published at The Conversation and…
Two archaeologists show how investigating tactics, weaponry, and the logistics of battle helps answer questions about social conflict in the human experience. ✽ Arresting trails of light arc…
Studying zinc levels in unearthed Neanderthal skeletal remains, an archaeologist examines whether the carnivorous eating habits of Neanderthals in the Eurasian Steppe contributed to their eventual ext…
Reviewing Netflix’s Ancient Apocalypse, an anthropologist explains how its host Graham Hancock devalues both archaeology and Indigenous heritage. This article was originally published at The Conversa…
An archaeologist explains how studies of ancient DNA and objects reveal that expansive migrations led to much greater diversity in medieval Britain than most people imagine today. This…
As scholars and investigators of conspiracy theory communities have noted, people who cling to these ideas long after they have been demonstrated to be factually false tend to…
It turns out, the first complete sentence ever written by a human, at least as of what we know now, concerned hair. New archaeological evidence — discovered in…
An interview with Sada Mire dives into the difficulties and rewards of preserving history and letting local perspectives guide heritage management in Somalia and Somaliland. ✽ Somalia and…
In the Caucasus, researchers are using aerospace technology to expose the clandestine obliteration of Armenian cultural heritage. These new methods of archaeology will prove necessary in the global…
Two archaeologists reflect on how social hierarchies harm biodiversity and how to move away from conservation efforts based on colonialist values. ✽ When I (Tim) arrived in Hanalei,…
An archaeologist considers what farming simulators reveal about humanity’s ancient and evolving relationship with agriculture. ✽ “I hate when I have to harvest at night,” my husband complained…
An archaeologist explains that most people do not calculate life expectancy correctly. This leads to misunderstandings. This article was originally published at The Conversation and has been republis…
An archaeologist speculates about how to uncover evidence of depression, anxiety, and neurodiversities in ancient humans. ✽ Hi, my name is Paige, and I have generalized anxiety and…
Archaeological methods, which are typically used to study the past, can also illuminate the experiences of today’s displaced people. This article was originally published at Knowable Magazine and…
A bioarchaeologist reflects on how a team of scientists investigated various elements that contributed to the destabilization and ultimate breakdown of Mayapán. This article was originally published …
An archaeologist navigates her dad’s passing by using the methods of her discipline to preserve his office and gain insight into the mysteries of his personality. ✽ In…
Opinions about fetal personhood and abortion have fluctuated enormously throughout history and differ in surprising ways between cultures. ✽ After the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade…
An anthropologist describes the multiple ice ages of the Earth’s past and how our species survived the most recent one. This article was originally published at The Conversation…