An Excavation of the COVID-19 Pandemic
Contemplating Pompeii’s sudden demise in A.D. 79, an anthropologist asks what future generations will uncover when they sift through the pandemic’s remains.
Essays
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A Letter From COVID-19
An anthropologist imagines COVID-19 as a wise representative of Earth who is sharing a vital message with humans.
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What Makes Injections Hard to Swallow?
An anthropological assessment of the differences between pills and injections may shed some light on vaccine hesitancy.
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Reimagining Rock Art in Southern Africa
With the help of key contemporary ethnographic texts about modern San peoples, archaeologists are reconsidering the meaning of cave paintings created by ancient San in a new—and sacred—light.
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Anti-Asian Racism’s Deep Roots in the United States
SAPIENS talks with anthropologist Kyeyoung Park about anti-Asian violence and Asian Americans’ fraught sense of belonging in the U.S.
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An Archaeologist on the Railroad of Death
The 1950s Hollywood movie The Bridge on the River Kwai, about a Japanese POW camp during World War II, nearly contained a fascinating side story about a dedicated archaeologist prisoner. Hendrik Robert van Heekeren deserves the spotlight.