Best of SAPIENS 2023

In another year of exceptional challenges and hardships, anthropologists tackled a range of issues and questions about what it means…

Treasure Hunters Pose Problems for Archaeologists

Two scholars discuss the challenges of accurately studying underwater archaeological heritage—among them, unauthorized acquisitions. This article was originally published at The…

Dismantling the Walls in Our Heads

The Berlin Wall fell more than three decades ago—but political, social, and economic divides between East and West Germany continue…

Past and Present Approaches to the Management of Red Deer

An archaeologist weighs the pros and cons driving debates around the rising population of Scotland’s renowned animal and explains what…

Collaborating So a 200-Year-Old Pipe Can Continue Its Work

A museum curator and a First Nations leader explain how a treaty pipe, sold at auction, exemplifies a new path…

Ancient DNA Supports Swahili Oral Traditions

Two researchers explain how ancient DNA research is helping to restore the origin story of the Swahili people along the…

The Rebellion Recorded on the Rosetta Stone

An archaeologist explains how recent archaeological finds in Egypt expand our knowledge of a violent revolt discussed on the now-famous…

What It Means to be Human in an Asylum

A sociocultural anthropologist from Pakistan speaks to how women in asylums in a patriarchal culture are in a battle between…

Aného’s Disappearing Coast

How do people adapt when the ground beneath their feet starts to wash away? All over the world, coastal communities…

The Conversion of Julio Tiwiram

What is shamanic power? And how does it affect modern politics in Indigenous Amazonia? In this episode, we follow the…