Drawing Animals with Margaret Mead
(psychologytoday.com)
On Saturday, April 13, 1963, the great baseball player Pete Rose, later disgraced for betting on his own team, hit the first of his record 4,256 hits; the USSR launched its Kosmos satellite from Kapustin Yar near Volgograd; the wreckage of the Dutch ship Vergulde Draeck, sunk in 1656, was discovered; chess champion Garry Kasparov was born; and I was 10 years old, drawing animals on napkins with the most famous public intellectual in America.
On Saturday, April 13, 1963, the great baseball player Pete Rose, later disgraced for betting on his own team, hit the first of his record 4,256 hits; the USSR launched its Kosmos satellite from Kapustin Yar near Volgograd; the wreckage of the Dutch ship Vergulde Draeck, sunk in 1656, was discovered; chess champion Garry Kasparov was born; and I was 10 years old, drawing animals on napkins with the most famous public intellectual in America.
Inside the hands-on lab of an experimental archaeologist
(arstechnica.com)
Back in 2019, we told you about an intriguing experiment to test a famous anthropological legend about an elderly Inuit man in the 1950s who fashioned a knife out of his own frozen feces. He used it to kill and skin a dog, using its rib cage as a makeshift sled to venture off into the Arctic.
Back in 2019, we told you about an intriguing experiment to test a famous anthropological legend about an elderly Inuit man in the 1950s who fashioned a knife out of his own frozen feces. He used it to kill and skin a dog, using its rib cage as a makeshift sled to venture off into the Arctic.
'Barbarians' May Have Been Inspired by Opium When Attacking Rome, Study Suggests
(haaretz.com)
The Romans thought the barbarian monsters on their borders should settle for alcohol, but the drug spoons the Germanic warriors carried into battle suggest they didn't agree
The Romans thought the barbarian monsters on their borders should settle for alcohol, but the drug spoons the Germanic warriors carried into battle suggest they didn't agree
How did human butts evolve to look that way?
(massivesci.com)
What makes humans different from other animals? Ask any ten people and you're likely to get ten different answers, ranging from our relatively large brains, to our incredible use of language and symbols, to our ability to dramatically modify the world around us.
What makes humans different from other animals? Ask any ten people and you're likely to get ten different answers, ranging from our relatively large brains, to our incredible use of language and symbols, to our ability to dramatically modify the world around us.
Neanderthals cold-adapted? Ribcage reconstruction may hold the answer
(phys.org)
Researchers at the Department of Paleobiology, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales in Madrid report that analysis of a Neanderthal ribcage from a cave in Iraq exhibits a "bell-shaped" thorax configuration typical of Neanderthals elsewhere, differing from that of modern humans.
Researchers at the Department of Paleobiology, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales in Madrid report that analysis of a Neanderthal ribcage from a cave in Iraq exhibits a "bell-shaped" thorax configuration typical of Neanderthals elsewhere, differing from that of modern humans.
Ancient texts reveal how Mesopotamians experienced emotions in their bodies
(phys.org)
From feeling heavy-hearted to having butterflies in your stomach, it seems inherent to the human condition that we feel emotions in our bodies, not just in our brains. But have we always felt––or at least expressed––these feelings in the same way?
From feeling heavy-hearted to having butterflies in your stomach, it seems inherent to the human condition that we feel emotions in our bodies, not just in our brains. But have we always felt––or at least expressed––these feelings in the same way?
Why do we kiss? 'I am not sure we have anything close to an explanation'
(theguardian.com)
We do it sitting in a tree, under the mistletoe, at midnight to ring in the new year. In fairytales, the act transforms frogs into princes and awakens heroines from enchanted slumber. We make up with it, seal with it, and – in Romeo Montague’s case at least – die with it.
We do it sitting in a tree, under the mistletoe, at midnight to ring in the new year. In fairytales, the act transforms frogs into princes and awakens heroines from enchanted slumber. We make up with it, seal with it, and – in Romeo Montague’s case at least – die with it.
A skeleton made from the bones of at least eight people thousands of years apart
(smithsonianmag.com)
Found in a cremation cemetery in Belgium, the skeleton includes bones dating to the Neolithic period and a Roman-era skull, according to a new study
Found in a cremation cemetery in Belgium, the skeleton includes bones dating to the Neolithic period and a Roman-era skull, according to a new study
The survival skills of Helena Valero
(woodfromeden.substack.com)
One of the most important anthropologists of the 20th century was a dirt-poor mestizo woman called Helena Valero. After having read the one and only book in English about her, I'm convinced of that. Her insights into a primitive society is worth more than that of the vast majority of anthropologists, for one simple reason: Helena was there for real, as a member of those societies. She didn't only study stone age life. She lived it.
One of the most important anthropologists of the 20th century was a dirt-poor mestizo woman called Helena Valero. After having read the one and only book in English about her, I'm convinced of that. Her insights into a primitive society is worth more than that of the vast majority of anthropologists, for one simple reason: Helena was there for real, as a member of those societies. She didn't only study stone age life. She lived it.
Franklin expedition captain who died in 1848 was cannibalized by survivors
(arstechnica.com)
Scientists at the University of Waterloo have identified one of the doomed crew members of Captain Sir John S. Franklin's 1846 Arctic expedition to cross the Northwest Passage.
Scientists at the University of Waterloo have identified one of the doomed crew members of Captain Sir John S. Franklin's 1846 Arctic expedition to cross the Northwest Passage.
The Dogma of Otherness (1986)
(davidbrin.com)
Anthropologists tell us that every culture has its core of central, commonly shared assumptions — some call them zeitgeists, others call them dogmas. These are beliefs that each individual in the tribe or community will maintain vigorously, almost like a reflex.
Anthropologists tell us that every culture has its core of central, commonly shared assumptions — some call them zeitgeists, others call them dogmas. These are beliefs that each individual in the tribe or community will maintain vigorously, almost like a reflex.
Flesh and Blood (2021)
(theanarchistlibrary.org)
In the mid-twentieth century, a British anthropologist named A. M. Hocart proposed that monarchs and institutions of government were originally derived from rituals designed to channel powers of life from the cosmos into human society.
In the mid-twentieth century, a British anthropologist named A. M. Hocart proposed that monarchs and institutions of government were originally derived from rituals designed to channel powers of life from the cosmos into human society.
Wisdom of Kandiaronk–Indigenous Critique, Myth of Progress and Birth of the Left
(theanarchistlibrary.org)
Anthropologist David Graeber has been working for seven years, with archaeologist David Wengrow, on a work devoted to a history of inequality. A first excerpt from this work was published online in 2018.
Anthropologist David Graeber has been working for seven years, with archaeologist David Wengrow, on a work devoted to a history of inequality. A first excerpt from this work was published online in 2018.