What the Anthropology of Smell Reveals About Humanity
Former first lady Michelle Obama savors the scent of a Douglas fir tree presented to the first family for Christmas in 2010. Rod Lamkey/Getty Images Vivian,* a Washington,…
Tag: Biology
What the Anthropology of Smell Reveals About Humanity
The post What the Anthropology of Smell Reveals About Humanity appeared first on SAPIENS.
Do Children Need Special Foods?
Ultraprocessed breakfast cereals, sometimes touted as “healthy” thanks to vitamin fortification, are one of the most popular foods targeted toward kids. Education Images/Getty Images In c…
Biological Science Rejects the Sex Binary, and That’s Good for Humanity
Despite myths of “pink” brains and “blue” brains, human brains are mosaics of what have stereotypically been characterized as male and female traits. CSA-Printstock/Getty Images At the re…
Busting Myths About Sex and Gender
The belief that males are aggressive while females are nurturing is a dangerous myth. Evgeny Tchebotarev/Pexels Excerpted from the second edition of Race, Monogamy, and Other Lies They…
Impossible Choices at the Crossroads of Motherhood and Fieldwork
Co-author Jamie Hodgkins holds her daughter as she co-directs the excavations at the Arma Veirana site in northwestern Italy. Fabio Negrino/University of Genoa Many women* in science who…
Reinterpreting Life and Death in Ancient Nubia
Research team members excavate a tumulus burial structure. Michele R. Buzon This article was originally published at The Conversation and has been republished with Creative Commons. Circu…
Athletics, IQ, Health: Three Myths of Race
Our recent book, Racism, Not Race, tackles a big lie: The idea that human beings have biological races. Biological races do not exist in humans. Why, then, do…
Untangling Race From Hair
Descriptions of hair have long been knotted with false notions of race, but new research points to empowering ways of viewing this emotionally charged physical trait. D3sign/Getty Images …
What Chimpanzees Know About Giving Medicine
Chimps exhibit unique behaviors in different communities, such as these who clasp hands while grooming one another. P. Gagneux/GMERC This article was originally published at The Conversat…
What’s the Appeal of Deep Voices in Men?
Deep voices, like singer Barry White’s bass-baritone, are seen as appealing across a variety of cultures and sexual identities. POP-EYE/ullstein bild/Getty Images For many people, Barry W…
Does DNA Simplify or Complicate Repatriation Claims?
University of Cape Town archaeologist Simon Hall leads a visit to the farm in Sutherland, South Africa, from which the remains of several individuals were taken a century…
The Humans We Haven’t Met Yet
At the Sima de los Huesos (“Pit of the Bones”) archaeological site in Spain, researchers recovered DNA from 417,000-year-old hominin fossils that may be the ancestors of Neanderthals.…
The Diet of the Future Is a Menu That Draws From the Ancient Past
The author wears an outfit he made using ancient tools, methods, and materials while filming the National Geographic TV show The Great Human Race in Alaska. Brent Meske/Courtesy…
How Human Are We?
Hand axes crafted by Homo erectus required skills and planning—and likely, generational knowledge. Nick Longrich This article was originally published at The Conversation and has been rep…
“Of Peccaries and People: Perception and Politics in the Texas Hill Country” RAI Anthropology and Conservation Conference Talk 2021
On October 27, I presented some of my preliminary research at the Royal Anthropological Institute’s 2021 Anthropology and Conservation conference at the “Living with Diversity in a More-t…
“Of People and Peccaries: Perception and Politics in the Texas Hill Country” Transcript (RAI Anthropology and Conservation 2021)
Presentation Slides: Of People and Peccaries PresentationDownload INTRODUCTION On my first day of fieldwork, I climbed a steep hill where my collaborator, Roger, reported a group of javelina…
Can There Be More African Paleoanthropologists?
Paleoanthropologist Isaiah Nengo, director of science for the Turkana Basin Institute (in a white shirt), oversees a dig site in Turkana County, Kenya. David Gottlieb Aoron Eipa Emmanuel,…
Five Human Species You May Not Know About
We’re so used to the idea of being the only people around that it seems outlandish to think that not so long ago in our evolutionary history, multiple…
Naming Species in Colombia’s Biodiverse Landscapes
There is a unique pair of rules on Sattins Island, in Ursula K. Le Guin’s world of Earthsea. This pair is called The Rules of Names and though…
Can Anthropology Help Heal Puerto Rico’s Diabetes Crisis?
Diabetes can present additional complications for patients in times of stress, such as during evacuations after Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico in 2017. Joe Raedle/Getty Images “Doctors do…
Did Dads Evolve?
[no-caption] Vincent van Gogh/Wikimedia Commons This article was originally published at Knowable Magazine and has been republished under Creative Commons. Lee Gettler is hard to get on t…
What Indigenous Languages Reveal About Bear Genetics
[no-caption] Alh1/Flickr This article was originally published at Hakai Magazine and has been republished with permission. Along the central coast of British Columbia, grizzly bears go by…
Qualifying Exam Essay: Javelinas in SPAAAACE and Time
I have passed my qualifying exams and so am making my essays available on my blog. The other essays can be found: Attending to Animals in Anthropology and…