Table of contents

All stories

Massive vertical and horizontal stones stand in a field at night, with the sliver of a silver moon above.

The Distant Origins of a Stonehenge Stone

After two decades of research, scholars find that Stonehenge’s giant Altar Stone came from northeast Scotland.

Do You Want to Write for SAPIENS?

A free online webinar by SAPIENS Editor-in-Chief Chip Colwell to learn about how to write for the magazine and its peer publications.
A person wearing a black robe crouches beside a white building to tend to a bed of pea plants.

People Are Not Peas—Why Genetics Education Needs an Overhaul

The decades out-of-date genetics taught in most U.S. schools stokes misconceptions about race and human diversity. A biological anthropologist calls for change.
Dozens of papers with text on them are punctured and strung horizontally on wires.

Archived Haints

SAPIENS’ 2024 poet-in-residence conjures the voices of those imprisoned in archives.
Two people sit face-to-face on a bench and sign with each other. Behind them, a mural shows the outline of a human ear with Arabic writing inside it.

Gaza’s Deaf Community in the Face of Genocide

An anthropologist who works with deaf communities in the Arabic-speaking Middle East argues that ending Israel’s war on Gaza and occupation of Palestine is a matter of disability justice.
A whale’s tail appears above the water, creating white foam as it splashes on the ocean’s surface. A small bird flies in the background.

Protecting Ancestral Waters Through Collaborative Stewardship

The proposed Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary, along California’s Central Coast, would be the first of its kind in the U.S. to be nominated by Native peoples.
An ancient circular stone structure lies exposed under the ground surface. In the distance, light-red and tan mesas and flat desert expanses lie under a piercing blue sky with scattered fluffy white clouds.

Digging Into an Ancient Apocalypse Controversy From a Hopi Perspective

When producers for a popular Netflix series sought a permit to film on public lands in the U.S. Southwest, many Native leaders objected. A Hopi tribal official, Stewart B. Koyiyumptewa, shares his views.
A close-up image features two stained-orange hands holding a cluster of objects that look like small, orange strands.

The Land of Dreams

In a dystopian short story, an anthropologist imagines an alternate world in which Kashmiris are forbidden to dream.
A man with long, dark hair tied in a braid holds up a small child to a mirror, which reflects the child’s pensive face.

Finding Our Way Forward—by Remembering

In a personal essay, a mixed-race and Native anthropologist draws strength from his ancestors.
A white cartoon speech bubble on a red background is wrapped in barbed wire.

Speaking Truth to Israel Requires More Than Academic Freedom

Educators and students critical of Israel’s war on Gaza face censorship, harassment, and dismissal. An anthropologist who researches coexistence between Israelis and Palestinians argues such critics need more than free speech protections.
A person wearing a gray T-shirt and tan baseball cap pushes buttons on a camera that is attached to a tree in the forest.

Payangko, or Echidna (Zaglossus attenboroughi)

After a 60-year haitus, an Attenborough’s long-beaked echidna was seen in Indonesia’s Cyclops Mountains. A poet-anthropologist reflects on the echidna’s message through the storied lens of the people of Yongsu Sapari.
A person wearing a rust-colored hooded coat and a black face mask stands in front of a large facility while holding a red sign that reads: “It’s Been a Long Time Coming but I Know a Change Is Coming!”

Inside Amazon’s Union-Busting Tactics

An anthropologist reports on the impediments to labor organizing—and why it’s still worth trying.
A close-up view features an art exhibit composed of multiple photographs arranged side by side. The photos show people riding a horse, receiving medical care, and speaking at a women’s event.

Fighting for Reproductive Rights in Retirement

An anthropologist conducts research in an Arizona retirement community, where older women share hard-won insights about how limitations on sexual and reproductive freedom impacted their lives.
A large group of people walks down a tree-lined street, with some holding colorful flags.

Can Ancient DNA Support Indigenous Histories?

A biological anthropologist reflects on how scientific research can be used to reaffirm or undermine Indigenous land ties in Argentina.
A person in a dark-blue velvet coat stands face to face with a replica of an ancient dark-colored statue of a man and places their hands on its chest.

Can Embracing Copies Help With Museum Restitution Cases?

Many museums are wrestling with returning looted or unethically obtained ancient objects. An archaeologist considers how a shift in public attitudes toward plaster and 3D copies could make a difference.
A large metal sign with the letters S.O.S. carved through it stands in a shallow lake in front of a blue sky with pink clouds.

Can Art Save the “Post-Apocalyptic” Salton Sea?

In this Mad Max–like California landscape, artists and activists are inventing renewable alternatives to the capitalist system that’s developing but also destroying the region.