In the 19th century, a man living in present-day Liberia dreamed of the first script for his native Vai language. Today linguistic anthropologists are digging into the script’s evolution—and what the changes over the past two centuries reveal about human cognition and society.
In Russian, the difference between the terms “Ukraine” and “the Ukraine” is not just descriptive or geographical.
Two archaeologists offer surprising new data suggesting people in medieval Europe took items from graves as heirlooms.
In 1629, the Batavia, a ship of the Dutch East India Company, met disaster off the coast of Australia. A new analysis of the shipwreck’s tree rings uncovers how such vessels were built to advance European colonialism.
As another college football season begins, an anthropologist explores how Black athletes navigate racism by caring for one another on and off the gridiron.
In a yearly ritual, an algorithm pairs medical students with U.S. residency programs. An anthropologist explains how this technology of destiny is all too human.
