All stories

Against a black background, two faces in profile look in opposite directions. The one on the left has straight brown hair with pale skin, and the one on the right has slightly darker skin and disheveled orange hair.

Excavating the Coexistence of Neanderthals and Modern Humans

An archaeologist explains how remains recently recovered from a cave in present-day Germany suggest that Neanderthals and modern humans populated Europe together for at least 10,000 years.
A zoomed-out photograph shows a large green, grassy field with several football pitches in front of a line of trees. The trees separate the field from a large cityscape in the background.

Tackling the Wreckage of War

An archaeologist traces how rubble from World War II bombings helped turn London marshlands into a footballing utopia.
In a brick-covered public square surrounded by buildings, a metal statue features two people with flattened fronts and their hands extended sideways facing each other. They stand on opposite sides of a gap in the rounded brick hill they are built on.

Dismantling the Walls in Our Heads

The Berlin Wall fell more than three decades ago—but political, social, and economic divides between East and West Germany continue to reverberate, even among those born after Reunification.
Dark gray clouds hang in a pale blue sky. With orange light shining from behind them, these clouds seem to touch dark rolling hills scattered with trees and buildings.

Speaking in Tongues

A scholar from Nagaland in India offers visceral, familial insights on language and culture loss in her Indigenous tribal community.
Four people, one wearing a red baseball cap and another a blue shirt, ride a boat on a khaki-colored river surrounded by dense forest.

Writing Indigenous Oral Tradition to Fight a Dam

In the northern Philippines, the Isnag are documenting their Traditional Stories to sustain their culture and fight a legal battle against dams that would inundate their homelands.
Public wall art depicts a woman with facial wrinkles and gray hair smoking a cigarette while surrounded by green leafy plants as well as red, blue, and yellow mushrooms.

The Psychedelics Industry Is Booming—but Who’s Being Left Out?

Three researchers discuss the possibilities and problems arising as psychedelic plant medicines, held sacred by many Indigenous communities, move into the global mental health and tourism industries.
An older man sits with a younger man inside on teal patterned rugs, both with their hands cupped before them in prayer.

Nurturing Autism Acceptance in Indonesia

Two new films based on ethnographic research follow autistic Indonesian youth and their families as they seek and create new networks of care and support.
A woman wearing a red sweater and a skirt looks at a group of goats inside a large rock-walled pen.

Adapt or Abandon? Hard Choices in the Himalayas

Anthropologists are documenting how global warming is transforming Asia’s water tower and threatening the livelihoods of farmers and herders.
A person in a bright green jacket stands on logs and writes on a clipboard in a muddy field.

Will Bog Archaeology Fade Away?

Climate change and other human activities are transforming bogs in ways that may destroy the famously well-preserved artifacts and human remains many contain.
An aerial shot of six people standing in a circle in South Africa on top of a floor mural of swirling water and fish.

What Will It Take to Stop Swimming in the Waters of Racism?

The Southern African concept of ubuntu offers a crucial lesson for the U.S.: By recognizing our interconnections and actively undoing systemic racism, we can all become more fully human.
Arctic sea ice is breaking up and melting as the world’s atmosphere and waters warm.

Partnering With Nonhumans for Climate Action

Geoengineering plans to save Arctic ice tend to treat technology as a means for asserting human control over the environment. Instead, we should develop human-nonhuman partnerships to tackle climate change.
world poetry day

The Fish Trap

SAPIENS celebrates World Poetry Day with a poem by an anthropologist-poet who works with Indigenous peoples in Latin America.
For millennia, humans have been altering the Earth—for example, through agricultural adaptations such as these rice terraces near Pokhara, Nepal.

How Long Have We Been in the Anthropocene?

A global survey of scientists shines a light on the time depth of human impacts on Earth.

Does Art Have a Homeland?

An anthropologist reflects on contemporary repatriation demands for African art taken during the colonial period.
Bees clean branches of lemon balm that the author and her sister, Azra Jasarevic, placed in one of their bee boxes. The citrusy perfume from the herb coats the cleaning bees' bodies, and they spread it throughout the hive.

Can Honeybees Teach Us How to Live?

A different way of thinking and working with bees may help us survive on a damaged planet.
Globalization downfall - Industrialization’s footprint has heavily impacted Gladstone, a city on the east coast of Australia.

How Globalization Has Broken the Chain of Responsibility

In today’s accelerating and overheating world, the gap between the people affected by change in local environments and the people in charge is growing ever wider.