Table of contents
An image focuses on two hands of a statue in shadow coming together holding a white flower.

Survival Notes

Black African women in former colonial centers such as London gesture to subversive ways of communicating with those imprisoned in archives across generations.
People walk through a long, wide museum hallway with high arched ceilings and skylights framed by tall tan columns.

Spain’s Move to Decolonize Its Museums Must Continue

In early 2024, Spain’s culture minister announced that the nation would overhaul its state museum collections, igniting a wave of anticipation—and controversy.
La gente camina por un largo y ancho pasillo del museo con altos techos arqueados y claraboyas enmarcadas por altas columnas de color canela.

El impulso de España para descolonizar sus museos debe continuar

A principios de 2024, el ministro de cultura de España anunció que el país renovaría las colecciones de sus museos estatales, desatando una ola de expectación y controversia.
A person wearing a dark blue shirt and a red umbrella hat walks through a lush field of tall green grasses.

It’s Time to Replace “Prehistory” With “Deep History”

A team of archaeologists working in Southeast Asia is pushing toward a deeper understanding of history that amplifies Indigenous and local perspectives to challenge traditional archaeological timelines.
A line of cattle travel across a dry desert landscape, kicking up dust.

An Imagined Monograph for Nongqawuse

A 19th-century prophetess reportedly bore a serious message from the ancestors to her Xhosa people amid British colonial assault. The written archives judged her—but much still remains unknown and unacknowledged.
On a quiet street at night, a small, glowing rectangular device rests on the sill of a stall window shuttered with a corrugated metal cover.

Phantom Vibrations of a Lost Smartphone

An anthropologist who studies human-computer interactions explores how and why losing one’s smartphone feels so unsettling.
A U-shaped cove encircled by rugged peaks covered in green forest opens to an ocean in varying shades of blues that extends to the horizon where colossal white clouds sit.

How and When Did Humans First Move Into the Pacific?

New archaeological research reveals insights into the first-known seafarers to brave ocean crossings from Asia to the Pacific Islands more than 50,000 years ago.
An old bucket coated in multicolored limestone sits in front of a limestone-covered wall out of which protrudes a faucet dripping water that falls into the bucket.

Her Dirge

A poet-historian reflects on women’s labor carrying memories and the past.
A gray-haired woman sits on an exam table in a light-filled doctor’s office and looks out a window.

Doctors Are Taught to Lie About Race

Decades ago, anthropologists dispelled the myth of biological race. Lagging behind in scientific understandings of human diversity, the medical profession is failing its oath to “do no harm.”
An ape-like mannequin, with protruding facial features and a body covered in fur, stands in a museum exhibition under dramatic lighting. Next to it, a text panel starts, “The human story begins.”

Lessons From Lucy

Fifty years ago, the remains of an Australopithecus afarensis ancestor, named “Lucy” by archaeologists, rewrote the story of human evolution.
A photo shows the back of a person in a dark suitcoat standing at a podium and speaking to a large, captive, seated audience. Most onlookers wear red MAGA hats and Trump T-shirts.

Five Reasons Why Trump Won Again

In an effort to address toxic polarization in the U.S., an anthropologist of the “Trumpiverse” explains MAGA supporters’ thinking in the 2024 U.S. presidential election.
A large moose stands in the shallow waters of a lake at sunset, with the water reflecting vibrant golden and orange hues.

Do Moose “Belong” in Colorado?

As moose populations multiply in the Southern Rocky Mountains, decision-makers are questioning whether the animals are endemic or invaders. Archaeology can offer answers—and potential solutions.
The ruins of a gray stone building stand below a cerulean sky with fluffy white clouds.

How Colonialism Invented Food Insecurity in West Africa

Archaeological evidence and Oral Histories show people in what is today Ghana lived sustainably for millennia—until European colonial powers and the widespread trade of enslaved people changed everything.
A black squirrel sits atop a trash can in a busy urban setting, with a crowd of people out-of-focus in the background.

Are People Projecting Racist Stereotypes Onto Squirrels?

Researchers refute a popular idea that black-furred squirrels behave more aggressively than gray ones—and suggest the myth stems from some people’s racist attitudes.
Two people crouch down to create colorful chalk art on a street. Intricate designs and language characters surround a central circular moti

Tackling the Impossibility—and Necessity—of Counting the World’s Languages

A language scientist delves into historic and current efforts to catalog the planet’s 7,000-plus languages, uncovering colorful tales and Herculean challenges.
Dos mujeres crean colorido arte con tiza en la calle para celebrar el Día Internacional de la Lengua Materna, con intrincados diseños y escritura bengalí alrededor de un motivo circular central.

La imposibilidad —y la necesidad— de contar las lenguas del mundo

Un científico del lenguaje se adentra en los esfuerzos históricos y actuales por catalogar los más de 7.000 idiomas del planeta, descubriendo historias pintorescas y retos hercúleos.
Deux personnes se penchent pour élaborer une œuvre d’art à la craie sur la chaussée d'une rue. Des dessins complexes et des caractères linguistiques entourent un motif circulaire central.

Confronter l’impossibilité – et le besoin – de compter les langues du monde

Un chercheur linguistique se penche sur les efforts historiques et contemporains visant à répertorier les quelques 7000 langues de la planète, découvrant des histoires pittoresques et des défis herculéens.
Deux personnes se penchent pour élaborer une œuvre d’art à la craie dans une rue. Des dessins complexes et des caractères linguistiques entourent un motif circulaire central.

Enfrentando a impossibilidade – e a necessidade – de contar os idiomas do mundo

Um cientista linguístico examina os esforços históricos e atuais para catalogar os mais de 7.000 idiomas do planeta, desvendando histórias empolgantes e desafios hercúleos.
A gnarled tree stands on a reddish cliff, beyond which stretches a landscape of deeply hued sandstone plateaus that an ox-bowed river cuts through.

Gathering Firewood—and Redefining Land Stewardship—at Bears Ears

At Bears Ears National Monument in Utah, a new co-management plan brings together federal agencies and a consortium of Native American tribes—revealing deep tensions over land rights and demands for environmental justice.
A black painted hand covered in red paint holds a skull figure decorated with floral patterns in shades of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple. Painted white with black accents to resemble a skull, the face—and also gray hair and flower headband—of the person holding the skull are blurry in the background.Cindy Ord/Getty Images

Harvest Song

A poet-anthropologist celebrates relatedness across difference in a poem that honors the festivals of Navratri, Durga Puja, Kali Puja, Day of the Dead, and Halloween—all of which draw on otherworldly connections and mysteries.
A stream of clear water pours into an orange bucket. Behind it, two slightly out-of-focus women and a child look on.

How Water Insecurity Impacts Women’s Health

Anthropologists and local activists in Indonesia and Peru uncover links between water scarcity and gendered violence, and work together to lessen the harms of gender inequality.
A bearded man in a vest and red scarf holds up his two hands in loose blue gloves, with a small tooth in each hand.

Unraveling a “Ghost” Neanderthal Lineage

Remains in France found by archaeologists and geneticists suggest at least two lineages—not just one—of late Neanderthals in Europe.
Two pairs of scissors, two rocks, and two slips of paper rest on a pale-yellow surface.

Playing Rock, Paper, Scissors Across the Red-Blue Divide

As toxic polarization deepens in the U.S., some global conflict prevention experts are now addressing political violence at home. An anthropologist shares three key insights from a community action program in Wisconsin.
A man in a t-shirt, jacket, and jeans sits comfortably with a leg folded, on a stage. A microphone extends in front of him.

Revisiting the Spiritual Violence of BS Jobs

Anthropologist David Graeber’s celebrated theory of “bullshit jobs” continues to provide a critical window into why modern work is often so useless, soul-sucking, and absurd.
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.