All stories

The photo shows a green landscape as seen from inside a cave, with a wooden structure built against the right side of the opening.

What the Discovery of Denisovan Remains in Laos Means

The new excavation of a fossil tooth places an enigmatic group of ancient humans in Southeast Asia more than 130,000 years ago.
A person stands amid rocks and tufts of grass on the flank of snow-capped mountains.

What Do Goats and Wars Have to Do With Glacier Loss?

In the Indian Himalayas, elders see a link between the erosion of community and the erosion of ice.

When the “Gift” of Immigration Comes With Strings

An anthropologist examines how refugees fleeing violence experience hospitality in Turkey—and the burdens attached.
Line of Control

i. will. cross.

In a SAPIENS contest-winning poem by a Kashmiri anthropologist, the threats posed by crossing the Line of Control, a highly militarized de facto border, are faced down by a lover of freedom.
native american boarding schools

Native American Children’s Historic Forced Assimilation

In the 19th and 20th centuries, the United States government used family separation and schools to try to erase Native American children’s traditional cultures and languages. A newly published archive of photographs visually documents some Indigenous peoples’ struggle for survival.
The Pešturina Cave, pictured here, held the Neanderthal fossil.

What One Tooth Means for Neanderthal History

A 100,000-year-old tooth found in the Pešturina Cave in Eastern Serbia bolsters evidence of Neanderthal presence in the Balkans.
sentinelese

North Sentinel Island and the Right to Be Left Alone

One political anthropologist considers whether a “no-contact” approach to remote Indigenous peoples may—in the long run—lead to unforeseen risks.

Where a River of Life Became a Border of Control

With more than 2 million people, the sister cities of El Paso and Ciudad Juárez make up the second largest binational urban center on the U.S.-Mexico border. Here, the border is far more than a line on a map.
easter island demise - The famous statues of Easter Island have long been a source of awe and wonder.

What Really Happened on Easter Island?

The story we’ve all been told about the demise of Easter Island’s culture is flat-out wrong. Here’s why.
family detention unconstitutional - Existing family detention centers can hold more than 2,000 mothers and children. In the current anti-immigration climate, the number of families detained will likely increase exponentially.

Locking Up Families Is Inhumane—and Unconstitutional

The United States is imprisoning more and more asylum-seekers from Central America—including mothers and children—in detention centers, perpetuating a culture of fear and hatred toward immigrants.
amazon gold mining

Gold Glimmers in the Amazon

Daily life in the remote gold-mining camps of the Amazonian rainforest is difficult, dirty, and sometimes treacherous. But that’s only part of the story.

The Birth Whisperers of Timor-Leste

In a country with one of Southeast Asia’s worst infant mortality rates, one clinic is striving to bring improved birthing assistance to local women.
Governments have erected numerous barriers to stem the tide of migrants and refugees flowing into Europe. These obstacles fuel an “illegality industry” that exploits migrants and puts their lives in constant danger.

The Big Business of Europe’s Migration Crisis

The EU’s migration policy has produced a lucrative “illegality industry” that is prolonging the emergency it was put in place to end.