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February 26, 2010
19:36
Berger Can’t Get A Break
» ‎ Anthropology.net

It has been almost two years since Lee Berger and I shared a few words on Anthropology.net about his small people of Palau. Since then, a TKO paper, published in the summer of 2008, basically thwarting Berger’s claims. Thankfully, we haven’t heard ...
February 25, 2010
16:36
Newly Discovered Archaeological Sites In India Reveals Ancient Life Before Toba
» ‎ Anthropology.net

Toba folks, I know this is not a very credible source, in fact some of the facts they present are inconsistent and confusing. Furthermore, I’ve never heard of the Malaysian National News Agency, Bernama. But either way there’s a news ...
February 23, 2010
0:17
Göbekli Tepe Temple in Turkey Predates the Pyramids of Giza
» ‎ Anthropology.net

Just caught news of this temple from Newsweek and thought I’d share. I don’t know much about it, in fact this is the first time I read about it. But I am asking my friend and colleague in Turkey about ...
February 10, 2010
23:48
Inuk’s Ancestry: The 4,000 Year-Old Paleo-Eskimo Genome
» ‎ Anthropology.net

Hi all, this is Kambiz. I’m resurfacing to share with you a new Peopling of the America’s research that peeked my interests. The Nature paper is titled, “Ancient human genome sequence of an extinct Palaeo-Eskimo.” The preserved nuclear DNA of ...
January 29, 2010
14:09
The Great Southern Migration Theory: Some Thoughts on Y-hap T and Boating Technology – by Terry Toohill
» ‎ Anthropology.net

The Wikipedia entry for Y-chromosome haplogroup T claims: “The distribution of haplogroup T in most parts of Europe is spotty or regionalized”. As it is through much of the rest of the world. [en.wikipedia.org] However from the map at ...
January 28, 2010
21:24
Reduced Brain Size of Homo floresiensis Hints at Her Likely Ancestors
» ‎ Anthropology.net

See also: Is Homo floresiensis really that strange? – Zinjanthropus@ A Primate of Modern Aspect A new, detailed and freely accessible paper, Reconstructing the Ups and Downs of Primate Brain Evolution: Implications for Adaptive Hypotheses and Homo floresiensis (provisional PDF) ...
7:04
Four Stone Hearth #85: Cold Wind Edition at A Very Remote Period Indeed
» ‎ Anthropology.net

Julien has posted the current edition of Four Stone Hearth over at his blog, marking the 85th occasion on which this anthropology blog carnival has appeared online. There’s a distinct archaeological feel to the opening section, including mention of the ...
January 27, 2010
19:55
The Archaeology Channel – “Timeless India” by Zafar Hai
» ‎ Anthropology.net

The Archaeology Channel – Timeless India TAC have made available a 25-minute promotional film produced and directed by Zafar Hai on behalf of the Ministry of Tourism in India, and narrated by no less a luminary than Michael York. Featuring ...
15:29
Wednesday Round-up at Neuroanthropology – Videogaming/ 100th Edition
» ‎ Anthropology.net

As readers here may be aware, recent reports from the world of neuroscience with an anthropological slant are assembled every Wednesday over at Neuroanthropology, and this week’s edition includes, amongst many others: Chris Kelty et al., Outlaw Biology? Public Participation ...
14:38
Pego do Diabo (Loures, Portugal): Tracing the Final Days of Iberian Neanderthals
» ‎ Anthropology.net

Such is the frequency these days of research into Neanderthals published by Professor João Zilhão, I’m beginning to wonder whether he hasn’t created multiple copies of himself, rather in the manner of a kinder, more constructive Dr. Manhattan, in a ...
January 26, 2010
21:05
Spatial Organization of Fisher-hunter-gatherers at Gesher Benot Ya’aqov, Israel, 790 kya
» ‎ Anthropology.net

Science/AAAS Updated – please see end of this post. The archaeological site of Gesher Benot Ya’aqov has been in the news again recently, following the publication of a paper in Science, namely Spatial Organization of Hominin Activities at Gesher Benot ...
January 23, 2010
2:55
Neanderthal Notes for the Weekend
» ‎ Anthropology.net

I recently posted a brief article regarding the latest themed edition of Current Anthropology, but at the time of writing I hadn’t noticed another paper in the same issue, namely Sleeping Activity Area within the Site Structure of Archaic Human ...
January 21, 2010
17:38
MESO 2010 – The Eighth International Conference on the Mesolithic in Europe, Santander, Spain
» ‎ Anthropology.net

A quick heads-up to anyone planning to be in vicinity of Santander, Cantabria this autumn, where a very interesting conference, MESO 2010, (programme) is due to be held this coming September 13th-17th, plus post-Conference excursions the following weekend, September 18th ...
16:40
Current Anthropology – Volume 51, Number 1, Feb 2010 – Intergenerational Wealth Transmission and Inequality in Premodern Societies Edition
» ‎ Anthropology.net

The latest edition of Current Anthropology has just been published, and included within is a special section referred to in the headline above – I haven’t had time to read it yet, so for now here’s a table of contents ...
0:51
Going Agricultural – Farming Notes, Past, Present and Future
» ‎ Anthropology.net

This is a quick note to point readers in the direction of several posts that have appeared online in recent days, on the origins and spread of agriculture, and the part language may have played in the process, in Europe, ...
January 20, 2010
12:47
The Revolution That Wasn’t: A New Interpretation of the Origin of Modern Human Behavior – Mcbrearty Brooks, 1999
» ‎ Anthropology.net

I’ve recently commented on the PBS documentary series opener of The Human Spark – Becoming Us, the majority of which struck me as being out of date and out of touch, with far too much emphasis being placed on looking ...
January 19, 2010
23:58
Palaeolithic Radiocarbon Legerdemain, and Radiocarbon Dating Upgraded
» ‎ Anthropology.net

A Very Remote Period Indeed: Paleolithic radiocarbon legerdemain Science Now: Radiocarbon Daters Tune Up Their Time Machine Two articles of note on the subject of carbon dating have appeared over the past week, the first of which looks at the ...
January 14, 2010
18:06
SHARE Opens Fund for Haiti Quake – Committee for Skeptical Inquiry
» ‎ Anthropology.net

The Committee for Skeptical Inquiry have just announced the following, regarding the catastrophic earthquake that has wrought untold devastation on the population of Haiti, where tens of thousands are estimated to have died, with another 3 million people said to ...
17:35
Chimpanzee and Human Y Chromosomes Are Remarkably Divergent in Structure and Gene Content – Nature Letters
» ‎ Anthropology.net

Here’s the abstract of some news which John Hawks describes as “really, really weird”: The human Y chromosome began to evolve from an autosome hundreds of millions of years ago, acquiring a sex-determining function and undergoing a series of inversions ...
January 13, 2010
17:49
Four Stone Hearth #84 at A Primate of Modern Aspect
» ‎ Anthropology.net

Previously on 4SH… The Avatar Edition, aka number 83, was published by Eric Michael Johnson, on December 30, 2009, at 8:00 AM. Although I’ve thus far omitted to post something on this edition, I’ll add a brief word here. The ...
January 11, 2010
13:21
Significant Breakthrough in Ankylosing Spondylitis Genome-wide Research
» ‎ Anthropology.net

Science Daily report on recent and ground-breaking research announced in a letter to Nature Genetics by Drs. John D. Reveille and Matthew A. Brown et al that has identified two genes that are now believed to play a significant role ...
2:19
Mousterian Spears, Modern Projectiles and Shanidar III
» ‎ Anthropology.net

In keeping with these wintry conditions, there’s a veritable avalanche of news concerning the late lamented Neanderthals this past week, including spears, teeth and decorated marine shells, with much of the debate concentrating, as ever, on the physical and behavioural ...
January 10, 2010
23:25
Abrigo do Lagar Velho Dental Study – Neanderthal Hybrid Debate Continues
» ‎ Anthropology.net

Dental maturational sequence and dental tissue proportions in the early Upper Paleolithic child from Abrigo do Lagar Velho, Portugal — PNAS This is a paper in which the authors investigate the dentition of the Abrigo do Lagar Velho child, excavated ...
January 07, 2010
16:45
Of Tools, Calls and Balls – Three Papers to Check
» ‎ Anthropology.net

Can crows keep the score in a game, is a football a type of tool, and should we pay attention to what someone says on the questionable basis that they are older – and thus wiser – than ourselves? None ...
January 05, 2010
10:52
Care in the Community, Half a Million Years Ago at Atapuerca
» ‎ Anthropology.net

Bit of a groggy start to the new week/year/decade, so before I wish everyone “Zorionak eta urte berri on”, and while I’m trying to finish writing up a paper on what Michael Balter has described as the origins of tidiness ...
December 25, 2009
0:56
Season’s Greetings from Anthropology.net
» ‎ Anthropology.net

Saturnalia is over, and the Feast of St. Stephen is almost upon us, so before the latter rolls round, this is just a quick note to wish everyone all the best over the Christmas holidays, and even if this time ...
December 17, 2009
7:00
Public Access to Publicly Funded Research – Be Heard at the White House
» ‎ Anthropology.net

I’m cross-posting this from everyone, the community blog of PLoS ONE, who are asking all those with an interest to involve themselves in this initiative from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, (OSTP), who state the following: ...
6:11
Lithic Assemblage Dated to 1.57 Million Years Found at Lézignan-la-Cébe, Southern France
» ‎ Anthropology.net

Physorg are reporting an exciting find of what are described as 30 ‘pebble culture’ lithic tools, dating back over 1.5 million years, at a site which has been dated argon dated to 1.57 million years old, thanks to an ancient ...
1:29
Four Stone Hearth #82 @ Anthropology in Practice
» ‎ Anthropology.net

My apologies once again to yet another host of Four Stone Hearth for failing to submit something – in this case, Krystal D’Costa who is running the current edition at her blog, Anthropology in Practice – you’d think that 2 ...
December 16, 2009
23:32
More Clovis Comet Debate and a Response from Dr.Richard Firestone
» ‎ Anthropology.net

Having already posted two articles which call into question the findings of Richard Firestone et al, in their 2007 paper Evidence for an extraterrestrial impact 12,900 years ago that contributed to the megafaunal extinctions and the Younger Dryas cooling, I ...
December 15, 2009
20:27
Mayas Saving Maya Culture – The Archaeology Channel
» ‎ Anthropology.net

The latest offering from the Archaeology Channel is now online, and in this 22 minute video produced by Timothy Knowlton, which in brief is described thus: An association of Tz’utujil Maya people from Santiago Atitlán, Guatemala, struggle to establish a ...
3:23
Synchronous Extinction of North America’s Pleistocene Mammals Placed Within 2,000-Year Time Frame
» ‎ Anthropology.net

Synchronous extinction of North America’s Pleistocene mammals — PNAS Following on from my recent post regarding the apparent lack of evidence for a Clovis comet, I want to address this recent paper by J. Tyler Faith, in which he and ...
0:40
Evolution: Like any other Science it is Predictable – Simon Conway Morris
» ‎ Anthropology.net

Apologies for the sparsity of posts here in recent days, but while I’m finishing another post on Pleistocene extinctions, I hope this linked essay and the related papers will be of more than temporary interest to readers here. As part ...
December 10, 2009
3:14
The Clovis Comet That Wasn’t? Mystery Deepens
» ‎ Anthropology.net

In recent years a theory has emerged that seeks to explain three mysterious events that took place at around 13,000 years ago (kya) – the sudden cooling phase known as the Younger Dryas, at the end of the Bølling Allerød ...
December 08, 2009
17:27
A New Homo erectus (Zhoukoudian V) Brain Endocast From China – Free to Access
» ‎ Anthropology.net

As mentioned previously, the Royal Society are celebrating 350 years of publication, and in recognition of this they are offering free access to a vast number of papers, both past and present – indeed the current edition of the Proceedings ...
December 06, 2009
20:11
Four Stone Hearth #81@ SpiderMonkeyTales
» ‎ Anthropology.net

The most recent edition of the anthropology blog carnival Four Stone Hearth has been published over at SpiderMonkeyTales, with two main themes accounting for the entries – human evolution and primatology, both of which are inextricably linked, particularly in recent ...
December 01, 2009
13:07
Middle Pleistocene Bird Consumption at Level XI of Bolomor Cave (Valencia, Spain)
» ‎ Anthropology.net

Thanksgiving is now well and truly over, as are the lives of numerous birds, in this case turkeys, that were consumed as part of the tradition, whilst even larger quantities of this particular bird are slated for slaughter and consumption ...
November 25, 2009
9:36
The Australian Journal of Anthropology – Selected Free Papers
» ‎ Anthropology.net

Publishers Wiley InterScience have made available a handful of pretty interesting papers, which concentrate on anthropological studies in Australia and neighbouring Asia, and are listed as follows: “They Always Seem to be Angry”: The Cronulla Riot and the Civilising Pleasures ...
9:11
Tool Use in Wild Orang-utans Modifies Sound Production: A Functionally Deceptive Innovation? – Proc. R.Soc B.
» ‎ Anthropology.net

Here’s the abstract of a paper which is freely available from the Royal Society, in which deceptive communication facilitated by tool use in Bornean orang-utans comes under the spotlight. The kiss-squeak may not be familiar to all, so here’s a ...
November 24, 2009
19:16
Environmental Impact of the 73 ka Toba Super-eruption in South Asia – ScienceDirect
» ‎ Anthropology.net

A new paper by Martin A.J. Williams et al, on the Mount Toba eruption 73,000 years ago, proposes that the destructive aftermath of the event caused widespread de-forestation in India, some 3,000 miles distant from Sumatra, the island on which ...
November 22, 2009
4:12
Hobbits Are Indeed A Separate Species, Said Researchers.
» ‎ Anthropology.net

Researchers from Stony Brook University Medical Center in New York confirmed that the Hobbits, or Homo floresiensis, are indeed a separate “human” species instead of a population of diseases Homo sapiens. The 7th Human Evolution Symposium, Hobbits in the Haystack: ...
November 19, 2009
18:39
Four Stone Hearth #80 @ Middle Savagery
» ‎ Anthropology.net

Although I somehow completely missed this latest Four Stone Hearth in that I didn’t even remember it was happening this week, the 80th edition is nevertheless now online at Middle Savagery, so be sure to check it out. The first ...
9:23
Into the Uncanny Valley – Seed Magazine
» ‎ Anthropology.net

This via Mind Hacks – Seed Magazine have published a piece by Joe Kloc, in which he looks at the relationship between humans and life-like robots, with regard to the so-called ‘uncanny valley’ effect, described here at Wikipedia: (Masahiro) Mori’s ...
8:06
The Astronomical Orientation of Ancient Greek Temples – by Alun Salt, PLoS ONE
» ‎ Anthropology.net

Alun Salt will doubtless be known to many readers here, not least for his interest in archaeo-astronomy, research which looks into the ways in which ancient peoples regarded the sky from the perspective of its solar, lunar and planetary components. ...
November 16, 2009
17:39
The FOXP2 Molecular Network Begins Taking Shape – Babel’s Dawn
» ‎ Anthropology.net

Here’s a link to a brief article by Edmund Blair Bolles regarding the current research into FOXP2, from which this is the introduction: A letter to the current issue of Nature has caused a stir among those interested in the ...
17:08
Michael Gazzaniga: Split brains and other heady tales – ‘All in the Mind’
» ‎ Anthropology.net

I’m still mostly offline, hence the brevity of posting in recent weeks, but nevertheless I still have time today to point readers in the direction of this week’s podcast from ‘All in the Mind’, from ABC Radio National, in which ...
November 15, 2009
16:19
Open Access – ‘Learning to Share’
» ‎ Anthropology.net

The Times Higher Education supplement, as mentioned by PLoS, has an interesting and informative article on the current state of play regarding open access, peer review, copyright and funding, amongst other items for consideration. As will be apparent, there ...
November 13, 2009
17:35
Online Papers by Wolpoff, Hawks and Caspari
» ‎ Anthropology.net

Thanks to Carl at A Hot Cup of Joe for passing this along – if you navigate to the CV page of Milford H. Wolpoff, you’ll find a number of freely accessible (PDF) papers, many or indeed all of which ...
November 12, 2009
17:27
David Eagleman: Heaven, Hell and Synaesthesia
» ‎ Anthropology.net

Following on from a recent post which linked to the Neuroanthropology website, I want to give brief mention to a neuroscientist by the name of David Eagleman, his research into synaesthesia and an excellent book he published earlier this year, ...
November 11, 2009
21:32
LightSail: A Near-Term Space Sail @ Centauri Dreams
» ‎ Anthropology.net

As the previous posts of today have looked variously at the recent and distant past, here’s a link to an article at Centauri Dreams, from which this is an excerpt: What we now know is that we cannot, in economic ...
21:22
Second Annual National Expedition Week @ National Geographic Channel
» ‎ Anthropology.net

Airing this Sunday, November 15th at 9pm ET/PT in the US, on the National Geographic Channel is a documentary called ‘Search for the Amazon Headshrinkers’, for which this is the description: Terrifying legends from the Amazon tell of Indian headshrinkers ...
19:34
Biomechanics of Running Indicates Endothermy in Bipedal Dinosaurs – PLoS ONE
» ‎ Anthropology.net

Although the linked paper doesn’t specifically address issues of anthropology, it’s nevertheless worth checking this to see how the researchers reached the conclusion that the amount of energy required for running meant that the two-legged dinosaurs studied would have required ...
18:50
Thinking through Claude Lévi-Strauss @ Neuroanthropology
» ‎ Anthropology.net

Here’s a link to a post at Neuroanthropology which should really have been included in the recent and 79th edition of Four Stone Hearth, which was somehow overlooked by me at the time. The linked essay was constructed by Greg ...
November 07, 2009
16:01
Archaeology in the Taguatinga Valley – The Archaeology Channel
» ‎ Anthropology.net

Although I haven’t been able to catch this latest offering from TAC, this video and the previous two, first aired a few weeks back should definitely be worth setting aside some time for over this (or any other) weekend – ...
November 06, 2009
11:30
Current Anthropology – New Edition, First 50 Years Issue
» ‎ Anthropology.net

Current Anthropology, December 2009, Volume 50 number 6 is now out, which as will be apparent from the headline, marks no less than 50 years in the field, and there are a number of essays contained therein which reflect on ...
November 04, 2009
13:23
Long Toes Short Ankles Help Sprinters Accelerate Faster
» ‎ Anthropology.net

The Journal of Experimental Biology has published an interesting paper about some unique features in sprinters: longer toes and shorter ankle joints. The only one flaw is that their sample size is limited, they only compared 12 collegiate sprinters with ...
11:45
Four Stone Hearth 79 @ Anthropology.net
» ‎ Anthropology.net

As by necessity this edition is being put together quite hurriedly, let’s get straight to the posts – I received a grand total of 3 submissions, and two of those were from one contributor, namely Eric at The Primate Diaries, ...
November 03, 2009
21:00
Claude Lévi-Strauss Has Died
» ‎ Anthropology.net

Claude Lévi-Strauss died two days ago. He was 100 years old. I shouldn’t have to write about his impact to the field of anthropology, in summary it was profound. He authored many texts. He set forth structuralism, a mode of ...
November 01, 2009
23:07
Four Stone Hearth 79 – Call for Submissions
» ‎ Anthropology.net

Despite an ongoing bout of intermittent Interweblessness, I’m hoping to get the next Four Stone Hearth up and running as normal; Martin R seems to be away from his desk at the moment, so if anyone would like to submit ...
14:33
Robin McKie Of The Observer Reviews 3 Books On Human Evolution
» ‎ Anthropology.net

Ciarán Brewster, a.k.a. adhominin, just tweeted about three book reviews. The reviews, written by Robin McKie of The Observer, cover recent books on cooking and human evolution which were written by some pretty big names in anthropology: Catching Fire: How ...
October 30, 2009
18:28
A Cave Shut by Closed Minds? La Carihuela Neanderthals vs. the Junta
» ‎ Anthropology.net

Back in August of this year, two words I frequently encountered when trying to visit sites of interest in Andalucía, southern Spain, were“Cerrado” (closed) and “No”, which as a tourist you take in your stride, leg it to the ...
October 29, 2009
14:19
Grandma Plays Favourites: X-Chromosome Relatedness and Sex-specific Childhood Mortality – Proceedings of the Royal Society B
» ‎ Anthropology.net

As this paper is freely accessible for the next 7 days, I’m posting it here in the hope that as many readers as possible will have time to read it through. Molly Fox et al turn their thoughts to the ...
October 28, 2009
21:28
Four Stone Hearth Volume #78 @ _Paddy K_
» ‎ Anthropology.net

Today marks the half-way point between the most recent edition of Four Stone Hearth and the next, so here’s a quick recap on the 78th edition, as hosted by Paddy K – if by some chance you haven’t been able ...
0:15
Sex and the Single Neanderthal: Inter-Species Breeding in the Upper Palaeolithic?
» ‎ Anthropology.net

There’s been some coverage of a recent announcement by Svante Pääbo of the Max Planck Institute, who opines that Neanderthals and anatomically modern humans had sexual encounters as they co-habited in Upper Palaeolithic Eurasia from around 42,000 bp to 24,500 ...
October 25, 2009
13:31
Understanding Ancient Hominin Dispersals Using Artefactual Data: A Phylogeographic Analysis of Acheulean Handaxes – PLoS ONE
» ‎ Anthropology.net

Interesting paper by Dr. Stephen Lycett, of the University of Kent, UK, from which the following extract is taken: In recent years it has been increasingly recognized that the manufacture of artefacts such as handaxes results from the process of ...
1:44
Modern Humans Are Still Evolving But Will Modern Men Get Wimpier?
» ‎ Anthropology.net

Two interesting articles that went into my inbox today: Modern man a wimp says anthropologist and Darwin Lives! Modern Humans Are Still Evolving. A cover illustration from Australian anthropologist Peter McAllister’s new book entitled “Manthropology” and sub-titled “The Science of ...
October 15, 2009
4:35
Cooperative Hunting and Meat Sharing 400–200 kya at Qesem Cave, Israel – PNAS
» ‎ Anthropology.net

Brief details of research from Israel which has led authors Mary Stiner et al to ruminate upon the possibility that differing cut-marks from ancient kills may offer insights into how meat-sharing behaviours amongst archaic humans may have evolved through the ...
October 08, 2009
21:12
Evidence That Two Main Bottleneck Events Shaped Modern Human Genetic Diversity – Proc R Soc B FirstCite
» ‎ Anthropology.net

The subject of bottlenecks in ancient human populations is visited once again, as Amos and Hoffman propose to have found evidence for two such events, one as humans migrated out of Africa and later when a migration event into Pleistocene ...
20:19
Four Stone Hearth 77 @ A Place Odyssey
» ‎ Anthropology.net

Just a quick note to point readers in the direction of the latest edition of the anthropology blog carnival which is hosted for the first time over at A Place Odyssey, a team of bloggers who describe themselves thus: Known ...
October 07, 2009
9:05
Variability of Mortuary Practice in MPPNB – Two Papers @ Current Anthropology
» ‎ Anthropology.net

Although I haven’t as yet been able to write up the latest origins of agriculture papers in the October 2009 edition of Current Anthropology, there are a couple of papers in earlier editions of the same publication that I want ...
October 02, 2009
2:00
Science Publishes 11 Papers On Ardipithecus ramidus
» ‎ Anthropology.net

There’s more than 11 citations here, but the others are associated news and media covered by Science. They’ve even dedicated a special issue to it. Very impressive thorough volume of information. Now you have a some understanding why it took ...
October 01, 2009
16:54
The 4.4-Million-Year-Old Ardipithecus ramidus
» ‎ Anthropology.net

I want to be the first to break news to you that Science has published White’s contentious 4.4-million-year-old Ardipithecus ramidus! I caught news of the release on the internet. The link is not live yet, but when it is I’ll ...
September 30, 2009
23:47
A Mammalian Lost World in Southwest Europe During the Late Pliocene – PLoS ONE
» ‎ Anthropology.net

There’s a very interesting new paper, through which prospective readers are free to roam and explore at will, by Alfonso Arribas et al, in which the site of Fonelas, Granada in southern Spain is described, where excavations have revealed that ...
4:26
Hobbits Might Not Be A Homo After All
» ‎ Anthropology.net

The controversies over the hobbits or Homo floresiensis just refuse to end. It seems that the hobbits might not be a Homo after all. I guess they found the index and ring fingers of the hobbits (Sorry, inside joke. Read ...
September 25, 2009
8:10
Can I See Your Fingers Please?
» ‎ Anthropology.net

That is what University of Liverpool’s Emma Nelson probably would have said if she were to meet our hominan ancestors in person. Known to hold true in anthropoids (humans, apes and monkeys), the index (second digit) to ring (fourth digit) ...
September 24, 2009
23:59
Four Stone Hearth 76 @ Afarensis
» ‎ Anthropology.net

There’s water on the Moon, and even at lower than expected latitudes on Mars, not to mention a monstrous lightning storm on Saturn that has been on the go since mid-January. But none of that concerns us here, as we ...
September 23, 2009
16:16
Free Out of Africa: Modern Human Origins Special Feature In PNAS
» ‎ Anthropology.net

The latest issue of the Proceedings from the National Academy of Science journal hosts a Out of Africa: Modern Human Origins special feature for free online. I recommend you check it out. Here’s a line up of the content: Editorial ...
September 17, 2009
6:13
Neanderthal Hearths at El Salt Reveal Plant And Fish Remains
» ‎ Anthropology.net

Julien at A Very Remote Period Indeed has posted a brief note on what looks to be a very important discovery from southern Spain, where archaeologists investigating Neanderthal occupation levels at a Mousterian site called El Salt, dating back at ...
September 15, 2009
13:55
Current Anthropology – ‘Rethinking the Origins of Agriculture’ October 2009 Edition
» ‎ Anthropology.net

Volume 50, Number 5 of Current Anthropology takes as its theme the continuing debate surrounding one of the most important cultural and technological innovations of modern humans, the mass production and storage of plant foods beginning in earnest after the ...
September 13, 2009
13:43
Four Stone Hearth 75 at Ad Hominin
» ‎ Anthropology.net

The 75th edition of the anthropology blog carnival named above is now online at Ad Hominin, and as is customary for 4SH, a wide variety of topics are covered by various bloggers, whose recent posts and essays have been compiled ...
September 12, 2009
2:53
Flax Fibres Dated to 34,000 Years BP Found at Dzudzuana Cave, Georgia
» ‎ Anthropology.net

News of an exciting and illuminating discovery in Georgia, which has revealed that people living 34,000 years ago had mastered the art of making materials from processed wild flax, prompting speculation that such items as ropes, containers and even clothes ...
September 11, 2009
22:21
The Evolutionary Origin of Man Can Be Traced in the Layers of Defunct Ancestral Alpha Satellites Flanking the Active Centromeres of Human Chromosomes – PLoS Genetics
» ‎ Anthropology.net

Here’s a link to a newly published paper at PLoS Genetics, and although my knowledge of centromeres is scant, it seems clear that the authors are confident that their research can effectively demonstrate the timing of past waves of primate ...
September 10, 2009
20:27
Ancient Leishmaniasis From Coyo Oriente Cemetery In Chile
» ‎ Anthropology.net

I recently completed a medical parasitology course as part of my medical education. One of the diseases we discussed was leishmaniasis. Leishmaniasis is a zoonotic disease that is transferred to humans from reservoir hosts via the sand fly vector. The ...
September 01, 2009
13:18
Genetic Diversity and the Emergence of Ethnic Groups in Central Asia – BMC Genetics
» ‎ Anthropology.net

Although this is as yet only a provisional paper, and I don’t know what, if any revisions will be made, it nevertheless makes several notable observations. It’s free to access, and begins as follows: Abstract (provisional) Background In this study, ...
1:32
Craniometric Data Supports Demic Diffusion Model for the Spread of Agriculture into Europe – PLoS ONE
» ‎ Anthropology.net

Greg Laden points to a paper by Ron Pinhasi and Noreen von Cramon-Taubadel, courtesy of PLoS ONE and which is free to access – here’s the abstract: Background The spread of agriculture into Europe and the ancestry of the first ...
August 29, 2009
15:47
KIAA0319 – A New Candidate Gene For Language
» ‎ Anthropology.net

The current issue of the Journal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders has published an open access paper announcing the discovery of a new candidate gene linked to language, KIAA0319. The paper is titled, “Convergent genetic linkage and associations to language, speech and ...
August 28, 2009
17:04
Four Stone Hearth 74 @ natures/cultures
» ‎ Anthropology.net

The latest edition of the anthropology blog carnival is hosted this time round at a blog with which I was previously unfamiliar, namely natures/cultures (getting with the nature fetish), and I can confidently assert that once again we have a ...
August 27, 2009
16:53
Hobbit in the Haystack: Homo floresiensis and Human Evolution – Watch it Online!
» ‎ Anthropology.net

Speaking of the Johansons and fossils … Earlier this year, I’ve blogged about the 2009 Human Evolution Leakey Symposium at Stony Brook that I went to. For more about that blog post, click here. The symposium, entitled “Hobbit in the ...
August 26, 2009
19:58
Climate Shaped the Worldwide Distribution of Human Mitochondrial DNA Sequence Variation – Proc. R. Soc. B
» ‎ Anthropology.net

Here’s the abstract to a newly published paper, the contents of which are free to access: There is an ongoing discussion in the literature on whether human mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) evolves neutrally. There have been previous claims for natural selection ...
9:01
Science Suffers From The Idiots At Scientific American
» ‎ Anthropology.net

Scientific American recently published a spineless attack on the state of access to paleoanthropological specimens. They titled it, “Fossils for All: Science Suffers by Hoarding,” and John Hawks lend it credibility with a nod in his post. Aside from being ...
August 24, 2009
20:00
Coastal Exploitation of Ancient Foragers
» ‎ Anthropology.net

Here’s the abstract of a recent paper by Torben C. Rick and Jon M. Erlandson: The development and spread of agriculture and pastoralism during the past 10,000 years is often seen as the tipping point when humans fundamentally changed our ...
19:48
Earliest Known Human Figurine in Scotland Found at Westray, Orkney
» ‎ Anthropology.net

News from Orkneyjar, which reports on a remarkable find by archaeologist Jakob Kainz, who recently discovered a carved sandstone representation of a round human face atop a lozenge-shaped body, as depicted here. Measuring 3 cm by 3.5 cm, this tiny ...
18:59
Isotopic Evidence for the Diets of European Neanderthals and Early Modern Humans – PNAS
» ‎ Anthropology.net

Here’s a link to a recent paper published by Michael Richards and Erik Trinkaus, in which they propose that isotopic analyses of early modern human remains indicate a broader dietary range than Neanderthals, with the specific suggestion that European EMH ...
August 22, 2009
18:04
The Human Family Tree – National Geographic Channel
» ‎ Anthropology.net

Link I’ll be away from my desk for another week or so yet, but in the meantime here’s a quick heads-up to a programme airing in the US on the National Geographic Channel, on Sunday August 30th at 9 pm ...
August 21, 2009
13:17
Homo floresiensis Walked Out of Africa
» ‎ Anthropology.net

Skull of LB1 (Homo floresiensis, or the hobbit) Photo from Science Museum New analysis by a team led by Australian National University doctoral student Debbie Argue showed that Homo floresiensis, nicknamed hobbits, were early hominin and walked out of Africa ...
August 03, 2009
6:31
Redheads Can’t Handle The Pain
» ‎ Anthropology.net

Kambiz here. I’m about to start my second term of medical school, which is both exciting and nerve racking. In my summer readings, I came across a medical and anthropological tidbit today that caught my attention: redheads have a lower tolerance for pain. ...
July 30, 2009
12:53
Possible Brucellosis in an Early Hominin Skeleton from Sterkfontein, South Africa – PLoS ONE
» ‎ Anthropology.net

In this paper by Ruggero D’Anastasi and his colleagues, they show how lesions in the fossilised lumbar vertebrae of Australopithecus africanus Stw 431 from Sterkfontein, South Africa may have been caused by the individual’s consumption of meat during its lifetime, ...
11:49
Four Stone Hearth 72 is up at A Hot Cup of Joe
» ‎ Anthropology.net

Carl Feagans is hosting a birthday edition of the carnival over at his blog A Hot Cup of Joe, number 72 to be precise, so grab a party hat and head on over to check out the latest compilation of ...
July 29, 2009
16:41
Autosomal Resequence Data Reveal Late Stone Age Signals of Population Expansion in Sub-Saharan African Foraging and Farming Populations – PLoS ONE
» ‎ Anthropology.net

Here’s the introduction to a paper which seeks to determine when and for what reasons modern human populations began to undergo rapid growth spurts at various times during the Late Pleistocene and on into the Neolithic: Reconstructing the timing and ...
July 27, 2009
7:00
Heidelbergensis Skull Fragments Are Latest Finds From Atapuerca
» ‎ Anthropology.net

Just a very brief news item from Atapuerca in northern Spain, where recent excavations by team leaders Juan Luis Arsuaga and Ignacio Martínez working in Sima de los Huesos, have turned up some pretty impressive cranial material from H.heidelbergensis, dating ...

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