An archaeologist and a Lakota genomics scientist explain how combining archaeology, DNA, and Indigenous knowledge can help revise colonial human-horse…
Unearthing Culinary Pasts—With Help From Llama PoopA food archaeologist investigates everyday eating and lean times among the ancient Moche of Peru through a remarkable discovery of…
Twitter’s Blue Tick Is a Fake SignalEvolutionary theory can help us better understand the recent debacle about social media platforms’ popular symbol as a signaling problem.…
How Gravestones Shaped as Sheep United the CaucasusAn archaeologist fascinated by a centurieslong memorial practice in Georgia considers how these unique gravestones reflect shared values and traditions—yet…
Fishing in the Shadow of OilIn the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman, fishing communities have become part of a complex “assemblage” of human and…
Do Mountains Have Souls?An anthropologist explores the resurgence of “new Animism”—interest in spiritual practices that recognize the interrelationships among animals, places, plants, and…
Alive in the Flapping of Infinite Orange WingsMonarch butterflies’ epic annual migration from North America to Mexico inspires an anthropologist to reflect on this insect’s precarious life…
Does “Monkeypox” Give Monkeys a Bad Name?The debate over naming the virus known as monkeypox says a lot about the close—but fraught—relationships between humans and our…
The Problems of Evolution as a “March of Progress”The idea that evolution is a hierarchy of complexity with humans on top lurks in everything from biology classes to…
Looking Into the World of Frog GiggingHunting rituals have long been a focus of anthropological analysis. An ethnographer explores how hunting frogs for meat using gigs, or multipronged spears, is a beloved family tradition in some parts of the U.S. (Content warning: The images and text include graphic descriptions of hunting and butchering animals.)
