Table of contents
Announcement

After ten years of exploring humanity in all its diversity, SAPIENS has concluded its publishing chapter.

While the magazine has closed, its living archive endures—open to all and preserving the many ideas, voices, and discoveries that deepen our understanding of what it means to be human.

An Imagined Monograph for Nongqawuse

A 19th-century prophetess reportedly bore a serious message from the ancestors to her Xhosa people amid British colonial assault. The…

How and When Did Humans First Move Into the Pacific?

New archaeological research reveals insights into the first-known seafarers to brave ocean crossings from Asia to the Pacific Islands more…

Her Dirge

A poet-historian reflects on women’s labor carrying memories and the past. ✽ memory is a washerwoman who knows that when…

Do Moose “Belong” in Colorado?

As moose populations multiply in the Southern Rocky Mountains, decision-makers are questioning whether the animals are endemic or invaders. Archaeology…

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…

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. This…

The Distant Origins of a Stonehenge Stone

After two decades of research, scholars find that Stonehenge’s giant Altar Stone came from northeast Scotland. This article was originally…

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…

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…

On the Tracks to Translating Indigenous Knowledge

A team of researchers will journey by railway to Lac Seul First Nation in Canada to better understand alternative ways…