American Scientist has a fascinating podcast on the evolution of the human capacity for killing at a distance - in other words, the cultural evolution of projectile weapons.The talk is by anthropologist Steven Churchill who looks at what motivated the development of projectile weapons - initially rocks, slings and spears and - and what effect these developments had on the culture of ancient peopl
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January 7, 2010
The evolution of projectile weapons
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December 16, 2009
Understanding witchcraft
YouTube has a fantastic documentary about the work of the pioneering anthropologist E. E. Evans-Pritchard who was one of the first researchers to try and understanding the psychology of people he was studying.He is most well known for his 1937 book Witchcraft, Oracles and Magic among the Azande where he studied the role of magic and prophecy in the lives of the Sudanese Azande people from their p
12 Vote(s)
12 Vote(s)
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August 12, 2009
An anthropologist as the President’s mother
The New York Times has an interesting piece about the work of anthropologist Ann Dunham Soetoro, most famous for being the mother of President Barack Obama.The article is by Yale anthropologist Michael Dove who knew and worked with Obama's mother before she died in 1995.Dr. Soetoro's most sustained academic effort was her 1,043-page dissertation, "Peasant Blacksmithing in Indonesia: Surviving Aga
9 Vote(s)
9 Vote(s)
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May 13, 2009
You’re Not Late Until You’re Late
Submitted by Jonathan Kaplan, Ph.D.Several decades ago, the anthropologist Edward Hall noted that societies differed in their consideration of time. Put simply, some cultures place priority on what the clock says, with events assigned to specific dates and hours. Having an appointment from 9 - 10 a.m. is a typical kind of event in places like the U.S., Great Britain, and Japan. Other cultures,
8 Vote(s)
8 Vote(s)
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