Table of contents
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.
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.
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.
A historic black-and-white photograph shows a small group of workers on the floor of a pin manufacturing plant tending to rows of machines.

How Allocating Work Aided Our Evolutionary Success

Societies divide labor by gender and age. A biological anthropologist considers when and why this behavior arose.
A tawny, black-spotted lynx wearing a radio collar sprints across a rocky, beige landscape studded with tufts of green grass.

Bringing Back the World’s Most Endangered Cat

A social scientist goes behind the scenes at a breeding center in Portugal to explore the challenges and ethical dilemmas of reintroducing the Iberian lynx.
A woman’s legs and a man’s leg are shown against the backdrop of a stage where red, white, and blue colors are prominent. The man wears a black cowboy boot and black pants. The woman wears a cream-colored skirt and dark-blue high heels.

The Shortcomings of Height in Politics

Why is height a focal point for some politicians? An anthropologist explores the significance of height—explaining how cultural perceptions influence and distort political dynamics in the U.S.
Amid a rocky landscape, a grove of gnarled olive trees stands under a nearly cloudless blue sky.

Griko’s Poetic Whisper

In two poems, an anthropologist speaks to the timelessness and constant change of the minority language Griko in the Italian landscape.
An officer dressed in black, wearing a baseball-style hat and balaclava, with a machine gun slung across his chest, stands before a gray concrete building.

When a Message App Became Evidence of Terrorism

Beginning in 2016, the Turkish government accused anyone with the messaging application ByLock of terrorism. An anthropologist investigates the risks of this kind of digital evidence.
Un agente vestido de negro, con una gorra de béisbol y un pasamontañas, y una ametralladora colgada del pecho, se encuentra ante un edificio de hormigón gris.

Cuando una aplicación de mensajería se convirtió en prueba de terrorismo

A partir de 2016, el gobierno turco acusó de terrorismo a cualquiera que tuviera la aplicación de mensajería ByLock. Un antropólogo investiga los riesgos de este tipo de pruebas digitales.
Amid a political rally where red, black, and green colors are prominent, a smiling woman wearing glasses, a khaki shirt, and a black headscarf holds aloft a sketch of a person’s face that says, “Khan Is Hope.”

The Rise of Aunties in Pakistani Politics

Middle-class, conservative women in Pakistan have found a political voice as supporters of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party—putting them at odds with the secular women’s movement their own daughters support.
A dark shelf leaning against a wall covered in gold-tinted wallpaper displays the personal items of a missing loved one, including a portrait of the person dressed in a black suit and tie, a photograph, a red plastic hard hat, and books.

For Families of Missing Loved Ones, Forensic Investigations Don’t Always Bring Closure

An anthropologist working in Azerbaijan looks beyond forensic science to understand the value of culturally specific ways people navigate uncertainty in protracted conflict zones.
A young person holding a red sack stands atop an enormous heap of trash, backdropped by white smoke from burning garbage and mountains in the distance.

Albania’s Waste Collectors and the Fight for Dignity

An anthropologist shines a light on Romani and Egyptian recyclers whose work has been made illegal, calling for a new way of viewing humanity’s garbage.