Ancient DNA sheds light on the genetic origins of early Iron Age Philistines
“Our analysis suggests that this genetic distinction is due to a European-related gene flow introduced in Ashkelon during either the end of the Bronze Age or the beginning of the Iron Age. This timing is in accord with estimates of the Philistines arrival to the coast of the Levant, based on archeological and textual records (2–4).”
Michal Feldman et al., Ancient DNA sheds light on the genetic origins of early Iron Age Philistines. Sci. Adv.5, eaax0061 (2019). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aax0061
Does a cave beneath Pembroke Castle hold key to fate of early Britons?
“One of the issues that scientists are seeking to resolve is the question of whether or not Neanderthals interbred with Homo sapiens in Britain, as they did in other parts of the world. For good measure, they also want to know if the two species lived alongside each other or whether they replaced each other in successive waves.”
In a fieldnote shared by Teresa Cremer on S-AND.org you can meet Salim Ali Mohamed of the Malindi Beach Management Unit in Kenya. To him, sand indexes a healthy ocean. Poetically, Salim considers the ecological work of sand as cleansing respirations. What do receding shorelines, an unwanted effect of urban development, say about ownership, access, and practices of more-than-human care?
Read the full fieldnote here: https://s-and.org/blog/sand-the-ocean-breather
The ultimate guide for the student encountering anthropology for the first time, Anthropology: The Basics explains and explores key anthropological concepts including:
what is anthropology?
how can we distinguish cultural differences from physical ones?
what is culture, anyway?
how do anthropologists study culture?
what are the key theories and approaches used today?
How has the discipline changed over time?
To live, every being must put out a line, and in life these lines tangle with one another. This book is a study of the life of lines. Following on from Tim Ingold's groundbreaking work Lines: A Brief History , it offers a wholly original series of meditations on life, ground, weather, walking, imagination and what it means to be human.
Digital Anthropology; Second edition by Haidy Geismar & Hannah Knox, 2021
Digital Anthropology, 2nd Edition explores how human and digital can be explored in relation to one another within issues as diverse as social media use, virtual worlds, hacking, quantified self, blockchain, digital environmentalism and digital representation.
Every year, researchers discover 2-3 entirely new pathogens: the viruses, bacteria and microparasites that sicken and kill people.
While some of these discoveries reflect better detection methods, genetic studies confirm that most of these pathogens are indeed new to the human species.
Even more troubling, these diseases are appearing at an increasing rate.
✍️ We continue to receive proposals from prospective applicants who wish to have the IHC as host institution for the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Postdoctoral Fellowships.
The Ancestors of Today’s Poles with the Haplogroup R1a
“Genetic studies proved the autochthonic theory of Polish origin to be true at least as by the 2nd century BCE or possibly about 2000 BCE. The Polish nobility’s myth was its Sarmatian origin, a myth that proved to be true partially culturally and partially genetically. The Scythian and Slavic peoples grow out of the same Indo-European genetic trunk, or
rather, they are branches of the same thicker limb.”
Wojciech J. Cynarski (2021). The Ancestors of Today’s Poles with the Haplogroup R1a. Sociology and Anthropology, 9(2), 19-25. DOI: https://www.doi.org/10.13189/sa.2021.090202
The Ancestors of Today’s Poles with the Haplogroup R1a
“Genetic studies proved the autochthonic theory of Polish origin to be true at least as by the 2nd century BCE or possibly about 2000 BCE. The Polish nobility’s myth was its Sarmatian origin, a myth that proved to be true partially culturally and partially genetically. The Scythian and Slavic peoples
grow out of the same Indo-European genetic trunk, or
rather, they are branches of the same thicker limb.”
Wojciech J. Cynarski (2021). The Ancestors of Today’s Poles with the Haplogroup R1a. Sociology and Anthropology, 9(2), 19-25. DOI: https://www.doi.org/10.13189/sa.2021.090202
The Ancestors of Today’s Poles with the Haplogroup R1a
“Genetic studies proved the autochthonic theory of Polish origin to be true at least as by the 2nd century BCE or possibly about 2000 BCE. The Polish nobility’s myth was its Sarmatian origin, a myth that proved to be true partially culturally and
partially genetically. The Scythian and Slavic peoples
grow out of the same Indo-European genetic trunk, or
rather, they are branches of the same thicker limb.”
Wojciech J. Cynarski (2021). The Ancestors of Today’s Poles with the Haplogroup R1a. Sociology and
Anthropology, 9(2), 19-25. DOI: https://www.doi.org/10.13189/sa.2021.090202
Evidence for dynastic succession among early Celtic elites in Central Europe
“The historical and archaeological record leave no doubt that the development of culture and population in southwestern Germany was temporarily characterized by profound discontinuities, particularly during the third to first century BCE. The definitive end of the 2,000 years of relative genetic continuity from the Bronze throughout the Iron Age in southern Germany is marked by a sudden, sharp increase of Steppe-related ancestry during the Late Antiquity and Early Middle Ages.”
Gretzinger, J., Schmitt, F., Mötsch, A. et al. Evidence for dynastic succession among early Celtic elites in Central Europe. Nat Hum Behav (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-024-01888-7
Ancient genomes revealed the complex human interactions of the ancient western Tibetans
“Outside the Tibetan Plateau, the western Tibetan Plateau populations interacted with both South and Central Asian populations at least 2,000 years ago, and the South Asian-related genetic influence, despite being very limited, was from the Indus Valley Civilization (IVC) migrants in Central Asia instead of the IVC populations from the Indus Valley.”
Sand makes up coastal bioinfrastructures in Guyana, as Sarah Vaughn shows in a recent essay, https://roadsides.net/vaughn-010/. Groynes used to prevent erosion "reinforce the shoreline’s existing sandy terrain." These groynes themselves contain sand. The essay is part of a special issue entitled "Bioinfrastructures" co-edited by Raúl Acosta and S.AND team member Lukas Ley. Check out the full open access issue here: https://roadsides.net/collection-no-010/
Through the term "bioinfrastructures," Ley and @raulaco reckon with the surge in projects to (re)create lively urban landscapes: While this shows that "infrastructure is never just a single entity or one discrete thing but rather an evolving set of multispecies and material relations," they also interrogate the ambivalent politics of bioinfrastructures.
What is the significance of bioinfrastructures "for larger political projects, emancipatory movements and Indigenous sovereignty?"
If you like economic anthropology/sociology & are interested in the work of artists, then Alison Gerber's concise & highly readable, The Work of Art: Value in Creative Careers (2017) is for you. Assessing how value is seen in (manly US) art worlds, Gerber doesn't model or use aggregated statistics, but actually asks artists & reports/reflects on what they tell her. the result is compelling & informative!
#JustFinished The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity by David Graeber and David Wengrow.
This was a great book! Graeber and Wengrow integrate new archeological discoveries with anthropology and turn common belief on its side. In the same way that we used to think that evolution was a progressive march to new and improved species, we also thought that human development was on an upward arc to better things, with capitalism and
Democracy at the apex. But we learned that evolution is a collection of paths through a forest, sometimes heading where we want to go and sometimes not. Mutuations are random and not always more beneficial. Thus, species don't always progress with change.
They posit the same for human history. We haven't been heading in a direct line to where we are, and we don't have to stay here.
'Wait, gravel isn't the same as sand.' You're right! But we thought that Franz Krause's work on gravel and solid-fluid grounds in Aklavik is still really interesting. Prof. Krause does research in the Mackenzie Delta, where grounds are more or less solid. Sometimes, they even become fluid! Follow the link to find out why #gravel matters in the lives of Inuvialuit and Ehdiitat Gwich’in people: