Best of SAPIENS 2022

In a year of continuing global conflagrations, anthropologists investigated a wide range of pressing and curious questions about humanity’s past,…

How Diverse Was Medieval Britain?

An archaeologist explains how studies of ancient DNA and objects reveal that expansive migrations led to much greater diversity in…

Alive in the Flapping of Infinite Orange Wings

Monarch butterflies’ epic annual migration from North America to Mexico inspires an anthropologist to reflect on this insect’s precarious life…

Confronting Xenophobia Through Food—and Comics

An anthropologist who migrated from India to the U.K. uses his research to illustrate how fellow migrants from India maintain…

Archaeology at the Borders of the Refugee Crisis

Archaeological methods, which are typically used to study the past, can also illuminate the experiences of today’s displaced people. This…

Why Do (Some) Humans Love Chili Peppers?

An anthropologist traces the origins and world travels of one of his favorite kinds of plants. ✽ As someone who…

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 164,000 years ago.

The Ukrainian Refugee Crisis’ Double Standard

The warm welcome Ukrainian refugees have received from neighboring European countries contrasts sharply with the punitive treatment of refugees and asylum-seekers from the Middle East and Africa.

Revealing an Ice Age Route for Indigenous Peoples

Hiking through swamps, cutting across thick bush, and canoeing across open waters, archaeologists have identified a corridor through Vancouver Island where Indigenous peoples may have sojourned 18,500 years ago.

A Genetic Chronicle of the First Peoples in the Americas

In a new book, an anthropological geneticist writes a 36,000-year history of how and why ancient peoples migrated into North and South America and made the continents their home.