What Ancient Stone “Swiss Army Knives” Mean
This article was originally published in The Conversation and has been republished under Creative Commons. Humans are the only species to live in every environmental niche in the…
Tag: history
Stop Projecting Nationalism Onto Stonehenge
English Heritage beamed eight portraits of Queen Elizabeth II onto Stonehenge, sparking controversy among archaeologists and the general public. Raj Valley/Alamy In late May, eight images…
Stop Projecting Nationalism Onto Stonehenge
In late May, eight images of the United Kingdom’s Queen Elizabeth II were projected onto the megaliths of Stonehenge to celebrate the monarch’s 70 years on the throne.…
Did Margaret Mead Think a Healed Femur Was the Earliest Sign of Civilization?
According to a commonly shared story, the anthropologist Margaret Mead was supposedly asked by a student what she thought was the earliest sign of a civilized society. There…
Did Margaret Mead Think a Healed Femur Was the Earliest Sign of Civilization?
An anthropologist digs into the origins of a popular story attributed to Margaret Mead about the original sign of civilization. ✽ According to a commonly shared story, the…
Is Donated Blood a Gift or a Commodity?
In 1950, human blood was stored for patient use at a U.S. Mobile Army Surgical Hospital in Korea. U.S. National Archives and Records Administration/Wikimedia Commons In the spring…
Is Donated Blood a Gift or a Commodity?
An anthropologist dives into the morally fraught blood and plasma industry and what it reveals about human societies—the good, the bad, and the gory. ✽ In the spring…
Can Machine Learning Translate Ancient Egyptian Texts?
A new program aims to use AI to help academics and the public decipher hieroglyphs. Here’s an inside look at how—and whether—it works. ✽ I have long been…
Can Machine Learning Translate Ancient Egyptian Texts?
Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs adorn the Temple of Ramesses III at Medinet Habu near Luxor. Vyacheslav Argenberg/Wikimedia Commons I have long been intrigued by archaeogaming—an academic di…
Maize and Okra
I saw big momma once, seated in a wooden chair with hair braided all the way like if you look downriver, you could imagine the chillin’ playing— after…
A Memory of History or History of Memory? – A War Memorial ‘Simpson and His Donkey’
I remember when I was a little girl, I was fascinated with war memorials. Stone colossi towering over people, gravely staring into the infinite as if seeing something…
Tree Rings Are Evidence of the Megadrought—and Our Doom
I love trees. I also love dendrochronology—literally, “the study of tree time.” This science, which uses data derived from tree growth rings, provides scientists with a wealth of…
Crystal Worl’s Countermural Tells a Different History of Alaska
Her dark gray eyes scan the horizon. An iridescent golden sun and stars encircle her head, flanked on one side by a cobalt sockeye salmon and the other…
Five Turning Points in the Evolution of Wine
Archaeologists have investigated Greek wine containers shipwrecked in the Mediterranean. Cristian Umili/Mondadori Portfolio/Getty Images Contrary to popular belief, the evolution of wine …
Cooking Debris in an Australian Cave Tells a Story of Resilience
Starting around 4,000 years ago, Bininj (Aboriginal people in Australia) adapted their diets to include more freshwater plants from wetlands, such as those in the Kakadu region (shown…
The Deep Human Story of Collecting Fossils
The Greek myth of Odysseus and the one-eyed Cyclops may have been inspired by ancient mammoth and mastodon skulls, on which the opening for the trunk looks like…
Here’s How to Make Olive Oil Like an Ancient Egyptian
“Hand Clutching an Olive Branch,” 1353–1323 B.C., New Kingdom, Amarna Period. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of Norbert Schimmel, 1981 This article was originally published at The…
Moments in Places in Time
Growing up in the middle of Alaska, there was a window to another world on the wall of my living room. It was like no place I’d ever…
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…
The Amazing Archive of First Nations Stories Written on Stone
This rock art in Australia features four of Josie Maralngurra’s hand stencils. The Pathway Project This article was originally published at The Conversation and has been republished under…
SAPIENS Podcast Season 4 Reflections and Celebrations
In this live event, a panel of archaeologists and podcasters celebrates the completion of SAPIENS Podcast Season 4 and RadioCIAMS’ SAPIENS Talk Back series. Meet the amazing people…
The Yaghan Rise Again
Archaeologist Atilio Francisco Zangrando, foreground, has excavated along the Beagle Channel, or Onashaga in the Yaghan language, since 1998. Katrina Pyne This article was originally publ…
Repatriation Is Our Future
The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990, or NAGPRA, is supposed to curb the illegal possession of ancestral Native American remains and cultural items. But…
Was the Acropolis a Harem? A Myth of Orientalism
The Acropolis of Athens has birthed countless tales, some of which appear to be more based on fiction than fact. Oleksandr Troitskyi/Wikimedia Commons This article was originally publishe…