Column / Curiosities

Human beings often infuse objects with deep, substantial meaning. In each post, “Curiosities” explores the nature, importance, use, and changing interpretation of artifacts people have created. The investigation of these curiosities—often tied to current events and holidays—will inspire us to think more deeply about our humanity and the significance of the countless things that surround us.

Curiosities

$Natural history museum - This is a tiny fraction of the National Museum of Natural History’s anthropology collection, which in turn comprises less than 2 percent of the institution’s astounding array of objects—some 126 million artifacts and specimens in all.$
The Skeletons in the Museum Closet

29 Oct 2018

Can natural history museums justify their collections of human remains?
Curiosities

How Do We Know Which Historical Accounts Are True?

21 Sep 2018

For many years, scholars believed oral history was no more accurate than mythology. It turns out they were wrong.
Curiosities

Why Are Some Caves Full of Shoes?

1 Aug 2018

An archaeologist explores how shoes have embodied our identities through the ages.
Curiosities

Is Cyclical Time the Cure to Technology’s Ills?

11 May 2018

We can continue our obsessive, harried pursuit of new technology, or we can relax and enjoy life more—but we can’t do both.
Curiosities

What Did Ancient Romans Do Without Toilet Paper?

3 Apr 2018

Hint: It involved a long stick, sea sponge, and bucket of vinegar.
Curiosities

The Weird, Wild World of Mortuary Customs

8 Mar 2018

Embalming is just one among the world’s wide variety of funeral practices, and in a sense it’s as ordinary as any other. Then again, it’s pretty strange.