Anthropology's topics - tribe.net

The Virtual Campfire: An Ethnography of Online Social Networking

tunabananas — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 22:23:03 GMT

Hello All!

For anyone interested in cyberanthropology, online social networking, and new ways of doing social research in this new phase of media, I welcome you to peruse my "webnography" @ http://www.thevirtualcampfire.org. The elevator pitch:

Based on five years of participant-observation on the social networking sites MySpace, Facebook, and Tribe.net, The Virtual Campfire explores the increasingly blurred boundaries between human and machine, public and private, voyeurism and exhibitionism, the history of media and our digitized future. Woven throughout are the stories and experiences of those who engage with these sites regularly and ritualistically, the generation of "digital natives" whose tales attest to the often strange and uncomfortable ways online social networking sites have come to be embedded in the everyday lives of American youth.

I am especially interested in what you think of my portrayal of Tribe, and am open to all critiques and suggestions. Drop me a line at tunabananas@gmail.com!

Be well,
Jenny

posted in Anthropology - 0 replies

Tribe versus ethnicity

Africa_research — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 08:22:09 GMT

Hey there,

I am working on my PhD on ethnicity in Africa and some colleague of mine suggested that there is a difference between tribes and ethnicity. For example, he said that in Tanzania there are only tribes and not ethnic groups. I come from an economist/political science background (meaning I have absolutely no clue why there should be a difference), so any suggestions for literature on the difference between tribes and ethnic groups is greatly appreciated!!!!

Thanks a lot!!!

A.

posted in Anthropology - 8 replies

Hijra

Shainna — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 22:32:44 GMT

Hey everyone! I'm a junior majoring in Anthropology at UCF. I'm currently researching the hijra identity; ever since I was a young girl I was fascinated with hijra identity and now as an undergraduate, I finally have the opportunity to read, research and find answers to my questions...or so I thought. Unfortunately, a lot of the information I have found specifically dedicated to hijras, rather than intertwining hijras into another identity such as third gender or homosexual, tends to contradict one another. This has fueled me to find out my answers on my own rather than taking everyone's word for it. My worst fear is to translate such an ancient term into something derogatory or offensive (which unfortunately tends to be the tone of alot of the other works I have read thus far--minus Nanda).

I figure there many of you have been in a similar situation maybe in another area of gender studies even if not hijra identity and could give me some pointers. Thanks!

posted in Anthropology - 5 replies

What is Civilization

c. — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 19:43:07 GMT

After reading through a wonderfully entertaining thread dealing with the Mayan’s and if they deserve the title civilized. I was wondering what civilization meant to some of you.
As I have access to and OED and can find Wikipedia on my own I was hoping to hear some original thoughts.

posted in Anthropology - 21 replies

What are they doing?

Jahvan — Sun, 25 May 2008 05:34:30 GMT

Iraq's Babylon bears scars of US-led invasion:

BABYLON, Iraq (AFP) - The last outsiders to visit the ruins of the once-mighty city of Babylon in Iraq came in tanks and helicopters, leaving a blight on its historic and fragile landscape, archaeologists say.

The city, born on the banks of the Euphrates River 5,000 years ago and full of priceless archaeological treasures, was transformed into a US military camp after the 2003 invasion with a heliport built among the ruins.

The base was later passed to Polish army control and despite the soldiers' departure in 2005, the damage left behind is evident. At a meeting in Berlin next month, Iraqi and other specialists will endeavour to assess the true level of damage.

Iraqi archaeologist Hadi Mussa Qataa, who guided an AFP reporter through the fragile ruins, said helicopter take-offs and landings, along with the tremors from the heavy rumble of armoured vehicles had damaged the city's historic monuments.

Babylon is located in the famed Fertile Crescent between the Euphrates and its sister river, the Tigris, some 85 kilometres (55 miles) southeast of the Iraqi capital Baghdad.

When US-led troops invaded Iraq to topple Saddam Hussein, all that was visible of the ancient city was a collection of mud-brick buildings and debris together with new restoration projects commissioned by the Iraqi strongman.

Saddam was keen to stamp his mark on the site, also home to the Hanging Gardens, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, and commissioned a huge range of restoration projects starting in the 1980s.

Thousands of Sudanese workers were brought to the site to build monuments on top of the priceless ruins, .

"Restoration of the palace of King Nebuchadnezzar under the glorious reign of Saddam Hussein," the tributes read.

Damage done to archaeological artefacts during the restoration work was made worse when US forces set up the 150-hectare (370-acre) base at the site in April 2003, the same month Saddam was overthrown.

Military digging involving soil containing materials of archaeological significance, the construction of the heliport and the seepage of fuel into the soil, all sparked concerns over the condition of the site.

The US military do not deny that damage occurred at some archaeological sites between 2003-2004 but since then, troops have "moved facilities away from many other important archaeological sites," a military spokesman told AFP by email.

A report by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) branded described he damage caused during the military occupation of the site as "very serious."

Already the famous blue bricks that form the lions, bulls and dragons making up the decorations around the Gate of Ishtar, the Babylonian goddess of love, have been found to have been damaged.

The original gate, on display at the Pergamon Museum in Berlin, marked the entrance to the palace, temples and domestic dwellings of the city. These buildings were fashioned out of mud bricks which still bear Babylonian and Assyrian markings.

At least 32,000 items were pillaged from the 12,000 archaeological locations across Iraq during widespread looting which following the invasion. The US military denies involvement in any of the thefts of historical artefacts.

After the Poles left the camp, Babylon was handed over to the Iraqi Antiquities Authority but excavation work and restoration projects have both ground to a halt.

Today, a dirt track, several coils of barbed wire and a few sandbags are the only evidence to show that the ruins were used as a military base.

Leading archaeologists fearing for the physical safety of Babylon's remaining archaeological treasures, have launched efforts to protect the site from further damage and resume archaeological research.

They are pushing for Babylon to be included on a list of protected World Heritage sites. This would mean excavations could be relaunched and archaeologists from around the world would once more have a chance to probe Babylon's rich history.

"The Iraqi authorities must complete an enormous amount of work to achieve this objective and we must prepare a plan to accomplish it," Qataa said.

UNESCO representative in Iraq Mohamed Djelid, who is based in Amman, recognises that for the moment, Iraq is far from ready.

Recommendations made at a special meeting in November 2007 in Paris to discuss the situation in Iraq have still to be implemented, he said.

These include urging the Iraqi authorities to ratify a series of protocols on protection of archaeological sites and the battle against the illegal smuggling of art works.
From:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080523/lf_afp/iraqculturearchaeology_080523091832;_ylt=AlKa6NZZcB43ey4LIiBnRpdFeQoB

posted in Anthropology - 0 replies

Blue eyes sexual selection?

bearsky — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 15:23:03 GMT

could be more than one benefit in blue eyes - we tend to think of one while nature thinks synergistic connection of all things

posted in Anthropology - 1 reply

I'm a blue blood!

Sayari — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 11:16:00 GMT

did the research on my dad's side of the familys coat of arms, it dates back to the 1400 hundreds, & they've been naming the fist born son Charles Carmen since then, wow, that's interesting, my older brother Charles Carmen Cartia better hurry up & have a son to carry on his name!

posted in Anthropology - 0 replies

blue eyed relatives?

Sayari — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 03:26:23 GMT

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22934464/wid/11915773?GT1=10815 an article about all blue eyed people sharing a common ancestor six to ten thousand yrs ago, course I'm only interested cause I have blues eyes:)

posted in Anthropology - 9 replies

good and bad of it

patrick_spatz — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 06:31:02 GMT

THE YEAR 1907

This will boggle your mind, I know it did mine!
The year is 1907.
One hundred years ago.
What a difference a century makes!
Here are some of the U.S. Statistics for the Year 1907:
************************************

The average life expectancy in the U.S. Was 47 years old.

Only 14 percent of the homes in the U.S. Had a bathtub.

Only 8 percent of the homes had a telephone.

A three-minute call from Denver to New York City
Cost eleven dollars.

There were only 8,000 cars in the U.S. , and only 144 miles of paved roads.

The maximum speed limit in most cities was 10 mph.

Alabama, Mississippi, Iowa, and Tennessee were each more
Heavily populated than California

With a mere 1.4 million people, California was only the 21st
Most populous state in the Union

The tallest structure in the world was the Eiffel Tower !

The average wage in the U.S. Was 22 Cents per hour.

The average U.S. Worker made between $200 and $400 per year.

A competent accountant could expect to earn $2000 per year,
A dentist made $2,500 per year,
A veterinarian $1,500 per year,
And a mechanical engineer about $5,000 per year.

More than 95 percent of all births in the U.S. Took place at HOME.

Ninety percent of all U.S. Doctors had NO COLLEGE EDUCATION!
Instead, they attended so-called medical schools, many of which
Were condemned in the press AND the government as "substandard."

Sugar cost four cents a pound.

Eggs were fourteen cents a dozen.

Coffee was fifteen cents a pound.

Most women only washed their hair once a month, and used
Borax or egg yolks for shampoo.

Canada passed a law that prohibited poor people from
Entering into their country for any reason.

Five leading causes of death in the U.S. Were:
1. Pneumonia and influenza
2. Tuberculosis
3. Diarrhea
4. Heart disease
5. Stroke

The American flag had 45 stars.
Arizona, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Hawaii, and
Alaska hadn't been admitted to the Union yet.

The population of Las Vegas , Nevada , was only 30!!!!

Crossword puzzles, canned beer, and ice tea
Hadn't been invented yet.

There was no Mother's Day or Father's Day.

Two out of every 10 U.S. Adults couldn't read or write.

Only 6 percent of all Americans had graduated from high school.

Marijuana, heroin, and morphine were all available over
The counter at the local corner drugstores. Back then pharmacists
Said, "Heroin clears the complexion, gives buoyancy to the mind,
Regulates the stomach and bowels, and is, in fact, a perfect guardian
Of health."

There were about 230 reported Murders in the ENTIRE U.S.A.!

Now I sent it to you and others all over the United States ,
Possibly the world, in a matter of just Seconds !!!!!!!!!

PASS THIS ALONG!!!!!

Just Try to imagine.....
What it may be like
In another 100 years !!!!!!!

IT STAGGERS THE MIND!

posted in Anthropology - 8 replies

A Certain "Tribe" on The Travel Channel?

MacMorrighan — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 01:30:43 GMT

Hey guys, long-time member; first-time poster! I was wondering if y'all could help me with an informative quest. A few weeks ago I was watching The Travel Channel and saw a fascinating tribal rite where they men and boys gathered to carve humming birds out of wood on a specific day, for a specific festival, and then smeared and decorated them with a red dye from local fruit; at that moment these effigies were rtegarded as "alive"! Did anyone see this particular ep.; or, does anyone know who this tribe might be? I'm currently performing research for an article on cult-images, including "activation" rites for cult-images! So, I was reminded of this ep. when I decided to research for this article. Sadly, I tried searching the Travel Channel's site and came up empty-handed.

Now, they *may* have been Pacific/Oceanic, but *I* wouldn't place a bet on that because I cannot be sure.

Take Care,
Wade MacMorrighan

posted in Anthropology - 2 replies

Good anthro read

Stefaniya — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 03:52:52 GMT

I recently picked up "A natural history of Human emotions" by Stuart Walton. As an anthro major, I definately recommend it to anyone interested in the subject - the book is so incredibly diverse in its references that it's a shame not to read it.

Btw, if anyone has read it - any recommendations on what to read next? I pretty much exhausted all the books I found at Borders/B&N.

Thanks.

posted in Anthropology - 3 replies

Anthropologists and the military

Hoopes — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 13:02:59 GMT

From the Kansas City Star:

http://www.kansascity.com/105/story/296822.html

Posted on Sat, Sep. 29, 2007
Anthropologists debate ethics of working on war effort
By SCOTT CANON
The Kansas City Star
U.S. Army officers mired in the insurgencies of Iraq and Afghanistan yearn to know what makes Sunnis, Shiites, Kurds, Turkmen, Pashtuns, Tajiks, Uzbeks and Hazaras tick.

So they’ve turned to anthropologists like Felix Moos at the University of Kansas.

“An informed military that is culturally agile is a force for less conflict,” he said.

He falls with a small cadre of anthropologists insisting wars could be less violent and more successful if Americans in uniform better understood whom they’re up against, and arguing that social scientists should team up with the military.

That attitude horrifies some anthropologists, who recall past links to espionage and colonialism. They fret it will undermine the success and safety of colleagues in the study of humans. They ask: Who will talk to us once we’ve teamed up with soldiers in an unpopular war?

“These anthropologists talk about it saving lives,” said Hugh Gusterson at George Mason University. “But the military can use this knowledge to be more lethal. … You start out with one thing that evolves into quite another.”

Gusterson is part of the ad hoc Network of Concerned Anthropologists circulating a pledge — part anti-war, part purity of the profession — promising not to work with the military on counterinsurgency.

The argument involves a creed central to the profession — that only people willingly playing along should be the subjects of research.

Critics insist no truly informed people would freely share insights with a potential enemy who, after all, is still a combatant or occupier.

Those working with the military respond that no one is being tricked into talking to them and that they can speed the way toward compromise and reconciliation. Anthropologists on both sides, however, agree that the invasion of Iraq was begun with surprising ignorance about Iraqis that has made the conflict more intractable.

Cultural understanding lies at the heart of the new counterinsurgency doctrine crafted under Gen. David Petraeus during his command at Fort Leavenworth and aggressively put to battlefield tests. Commanders increasingly turn to anthropologists to navigate the pecking orders of tribes and clans, to identify local taboos and to minimize resistance to an occupying army.

“Everybody from about lieutenant colonel on down, what they’ve known in their careers has been low-intensity conflicts — Haiti, Somalia, the Balkans … Iraq and Afghanistan,” said Jim Greer, a retired Army colonel now with the Army’s Human Terrain System at Fort Leavenworth. “They see this kind of expertise as highly valuable.”

At the University of Kansas, anthropologists Moos and Bartholomew Dean regularly consult with officers studying counterinsurgency at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth. To sit out the wars, they say, misses chances to help end conflicts.

“I want to live in a stable world,” Dean said. “I’m passing on knowledge that makes the world more able to reach compromises.”

For instance, working with two soldiers, he’s finishing up a paper now that aims to reduce the threat of improvised roadside bombs. It studies “Operation Turkey Stomp,” where U.S. soldiers threatened to shut down Iraqi shopkeepers if Americans continued to get hit by blasts near their stores.

Dean said the tactic got short-term results, but its effectiveness waned over time and threatened long-term resentments.

That sort of work typifies the real-world work that contrarian anthropologist Montgomery McFate contends is too rare.

“The discipline,” she wrote in a paper provocative partly because it appeared in the Army’s Military Review, “has become hermetically sealed within its Ivory Tower.”

McFate today is the senior social science adviser to the U.S. Army Human Terrain System and says it’s a mistake for the profession to back away.

“War is always going to happen,” she said.

In its infancy, anthropology was derided as the “handmaiden of colonialism” because it so often involved intellectuals studying native inhabitants of some territory freshly acquired by an imperial power. They often unwittingly drew a road map for control of local populations.

During the world wars, anthropologists worked as spies or propagandists. Gregory Bateson, one of Margaret Mead’s husbands, worked against the Japanese with U.S. intelligence units and helped create deceptive radio broadcasts for Burmese consumption. He later regretted his partisanship and damage to the credibility of the discipline.

Similarly, the collaboration of scientists in Vietnam with the military also outraged some in the profession and fueled a movement for greater distance.

Yet anthropologists today are teaming up with commanders in Indonesia, the Philippines and elsewhere. Those with the U.S. Army, although still civilian, sometimes carry guns and regularly talk with locals before briefing military officers.

That makes other anthropologists jumpy.

“Already when I’m traveling in Latin America, in areas where there are guerrilla groups, when I introduce myself as from the United States, there is suspicion,” said Roberto Gonzalez, an anthropologist at San Jose State University. “So if I decide to send a student doing a graduate project out to somewhere where U.S. anthropologists are doing counterinsurgency work, his or her physical safety is compromised.”

Some in the profession warn that anthropology may be an oversold tool to the military — one wrote that it “risks replacing strategy with stereotypes,” that it is becoming engrained in modern war.

Patrick Porter, a lecturer at the British Joint Services Command and Staff College, writes bluntly: “To wage war, become an anthropologist.”

To reach Scott Canon, call 816-234-4754 or send e-mail to scanon@kcstar.com.
© 2007 Kansas City Star and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved. http://www.kansascity.com

posted in Anthropology - 13 replies

Reading List?

ShannonQ — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 13:44:30 GMT

Next semester, I plan to teach a class on local history, which will include oral histories. I trained in this myself about a zillion years ago, and have no idea what's current.

Could anybody recommend a couple of good texts or articles as a guide for students on oral history: why and how?

Thanks in advance!

posted in Anthropology - 4 replies

A Potion Problem...

MacMorrighan — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 04:30:50 GMT

Oy vey...! Well, as you know I really want to teach a class and write a book about potion-crafting! However, as a part of them, one fascet of my study will be as exhaustive a study of the History of potions as I can manage. However, that's where my wicket gets sticky (alright, get your minds out of the gutter...you dirty birds!)--it's more difficult than what I initially expected! After all, there's practically NO secondary academic research devoted to the topic in any way (what a pitty). Ugh... This means, of course, that I may have to engage in more of an original study than previously thought by consulting extensive source-material. However, I wouldn't normally mind this, but...there's simply so many works to consult from the ancient world that it's absolutely staggering! ;o) And, it's take perhaps years to find all of the sources I may require... I may be left having to gradually explore culture by culture, starting at one end of the globe and working my way through!

Take Care,
Wade

posted in Anthropology - 0 replies

Shamanic Antecedants of Potion-Crafting?

MacMorrighan — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 06:27:30 GMT

Hey guys, I am presently culling together some research for a class and book I'd eventually like to write all about potions and potion-crafting! Anyway, part of that project is to research the history of potions and potion-making, and how it came to be associated with witches and witchraft in as many cultures as possible. So...I was wondering if anyone could recommend any secondary or primary sources worth reading that may contain such info.? Even pagans created potions, as I understand, which I want to investigate (for example, the Greels apparently used violet petals in love potions); though I always want to investigate any plausible shamanic and tribal antecedants for potion-crafting and usage or belief. So, again, anyone know of any sources that I might turn to as I begin this research?

Take Care,
Wade

posted in Anthropology - 0 replies

The Familiar as Entoptic Phenom.

MacMorrighan — Sat, 03 Nov 2007 21:37:35 GMT

Hey guys, I was wondering if anyone here could recommend any lit. re: Spirit-Animals and Familiars sharing traits with entopic phenominon? I ask, because one hypothesis I want to test is that the Familiar visionary encounters may be an entopitic phenominon as described by Lewis-Williams' three-stage model of a neurologically engrained visionary model. I came to this query when looking at a famous depiction of Matthew Hopkins with alleged witches and the Familiars which seem to often share this bizarre amalgum of various animals or species, etc. So...I am looking for trial ercord accounts from Europe and Britain, as well as Familiar encounters from Asia and elsewhere, not to mention encounters of spirit-animals that seem to blend into various species (think, perhaps, the American "jackalope", etc.! *G*). Can anyone direct me to any source-material or ethnographic studies, and second hand sources, please?

Take Care,
Wade

posted in Anthropology - 0 replies

question about anthro BA

Yosefa — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 18:55:14 GMT

hey everyone

thanks for reading this post
i am currently a junior in college studying cultural anthropology, however, i really want to drop out of college ( i never liked school) but my parents are really pressuring me to stay in school and finish my BA. I love anthropology, but i have no idea what i am going to do with a BA in it. What types of jobs can i get? My parents said that I would have to work shitty jobs for the rest of my life if i didn't finish college, which I don't agree with, but i have no idea what type of good paying job i could get with a BA in anthro. First of all, i HATE writing and once i have finished my BA, i DO NOT want to continue on with any sort of formal education. Any ideas? suggestions? thank you so much. i feel lost and school starts in 2 days and i have no motivation. whatsoever.

posted in Anthropology - 19 replies

Day of the Dead

tre — Sat, 19 May 2007 21:44:52 GMT

My best friend and I really want to go to Mexico for Day of the Dead. Does anyone have any opinion on where would be the best place to get a "real" cultural experiance instead of the tourist rought. We have done a lot of studying on the topic but can not decide where to go.
Any suggestions?

posted in Anthropology - 1 reply

hill robertson effect

Jaspreet — Tue, 15 May 2007 17:13:31 GMT

hello everyone..im new to dis comm.
do you agree that hill robertson effect is integral to evolution??i mean would evolution hv been possible in the absence of hill robertson effect?

posted in Anthropology - 1 reply

'new' tribe- food traditions and food rituals

girl mark — Sat, 19 May 2007 05:19:17 GMT

Hello,

We've got a tribe on traditional and ethnic foods that I started a few weeks back, and the subject somewhat overlaps with anthropology: the tribe is for discussing 'ethnic food' in general, and also for discussing food traditions- what people eat on traditional holidays and other special occasions, food in religious ritual, and anything else related to what the grandma's did besides cook the stuff.

www.tribes.tribe.net/foodtraditions

posted in Anthropology - 0 replies

Women may have invented weapons

SunflowerRae — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 03:15:05 GMT

Mark Henderson
24feb07

THE survival techniques of West African chimpanzees have revealed that the first human weapons may have been developed by women.

The use of spears and axes to hunt and kill is commonly thought to have been pioneered among humanity's ancestors by males, but research has indicated weapons may have been a female invention that compensated for their lesser size and strength.
Anthropologists' observations of chimpanzees in Senegal have revealed they gnaw the ends of sticks to create rudimentary spears, which they use to hunt bushbabies, a small primate.

The findings are the first evidence of the systematic use of weapons in a species other than humans - and they are intriguing because all but one of the chimps using the spears were females or immature males.

This gender imbalance has led scientists to theorise that female chimps pioneered hunting with weapons as the only way in which they could compete with the physically stronger males to add animal protein to their diets. While males can hunt with their bare hands, females need weapons to help them.

"Females have to come up with creative ways at getting at a problem, whereas males have brawn," said Jill Pruetz, of Iowa State University, who led the research.

The findings support a hypothesis that women played an integral part in the development of weapons for hunting, and other kinds of tools.

"The observation that individuals hunting with tools include females and immature chimpanzees suggests that we should rethink traditional explanations for the evolution of such behaviour in our own lineage," Dr Pruetz said.

"Learning more about the behaviours of chimpanzees in such an environment can provide important clues about the challenges facing our earliest ancestors.

"This new information has important implications for the evolution of tool use and construction for hunting in the earliest hominids, especially given our observations that females and immature chimpanzees exhibited this behaviour more frequently than adult males."

Dr Pruetz said the discovery had been unexpected. "I talked to my project manager and he told me that he saw a female hunt with tools. When he looked through original data ... we realised he had other evidence and observations of them probably doing the same thing.

"While in Senegal, I saw about 13 different hunting bouts. So it really is habitual."

In the work, published in the journal Current Biology, scientists studied chimps in the Fongoli savannah, southeast Senegal.

They observed chimps using sharpened sticks to hunt bushbabies on 22 occasions, although only one was successful.

Chimps have long been known to use tools such as stones, to crack nuts, but this is the first evidence for the systematic use of tools as weapons.

In other regions, male chimps hunt red colobus monkeys and tend to share any meat with females, often in return for sex.

The Fongoli males, however, kept bushbaby meat for themselves, because it was scarce. This may have led the females and immature males to adopt weapons as a way of obtaining meat.

There is only one other observed instance of any animal using a tool to hunt - a female chimp that used a stick to rouse a squirrel from a branch.

Dr Pruetz said the findings suggested that chimps, the closest animal relatives of humans, were more similar to humans in behaviour than previously thought.

posted in Anthropology - 9 replies

Anthropophobics

Wed, 21 Mar 2007 12:01:50 GMT

Do you hate being surrounded by people you don't know? Please discuss.....

posted in Anthropology - 10 replies

Coneheads

Wed, 21 Mar 2007 11:59:24 GMT

I loved that movie

posted in Anthropology - 1 reply

Anyone seen Apocolypto yet?

gtsteve — Sun, 10 Dec 2006 19:07:47 GMT

I know its Mel Gibson, but just due to the subject matter I kind of want to see it.

posted in Anthropology - 16 replies

Basic ethnographic study of Psy-trance population

lunastribepage — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 21:06:52 GMT

In my ethnography class we were asked to do a mock ethnographic study for our term project. I decided to study my local psy-trance region which is NYC. I wanted to show how the trance community is made of a vast majority of people migrating from other countries(especially to a big city like NYC) and how thier cultural contributions are reflected through the trance environment. I decided to focus on my observations and interview a range of people representing different countries. I'm not too sure if I've done this correctly. I recieved a good grade in the class and even have thought about doing an actual ethnographic study focusing on some aspect of psy-trance but I need some feed back. Here is my paper, I hope trancers and non-trancers alike can enjoy it. Respectful comments are welcome even if you absolutely hate it :) It's LONG so sit back and enjoy!

http://hc.bbprod.cuny.edu/courses/1/HC_ANTHC_31400_001_200609/uploads/_133799_1/Trance%20population%20of%20NYC.pdf

posted in Anthropology - 4 replies

Mysterious origins of man

chycho — Sun, 17 Dec 2006 20:30:21 GMT

Interesting documentary about Origins of mankind

http://video.google.ca/videoplay?docid=-4848668803639628771&q=Mysterious+Origins+of+Man

enjoy :-)

posted in Anthropology - 2 replies

anyone have any information about these “Megalithic Indian Sculpture”

chycho — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 16:25:19 GMT

Originally found on the ! ►The Info Bunker◄ ! tribe http://tribes.tribe.net/infobunker/thread/13d4eaa8-8ceb-4b47-a870-e5ce343156ce

Female (Google Maps)
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=50%C2%B0+0%2738.20%22N+110%C2%B0+6%2748.32%22W&ie=UTF8&om=1&z=15&ll=50.010083,-110.111804&spn=0.014204,0.043259&t=k&iwloc=addr

Male
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=50%C2%B0+0%2738.20%22N+110%C2%B0+6%2748.32%22W&ie=UTF8&om=1&z=16&ll=50.017888,-110.141759&spn=0.007101,0.021629&t=k&iwloc=addr

and Together on the same page
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=50%C2%B0+0%2738.20%22N+110%C2%B0+6%2748.32%22W&ie=UTF8&om=1&z=15&ll=50.013806,-110.128112&spn=0.014202,0.043259&t=k&iwloc=addr

posted in Anthropology - 6 replies

Orangutans - suggest Internet sources, please

Bo — Tue, 17 Oct 2006 20:18:44 GMT

I'm doing some orangutan observation, and my professor has asked us to find reputable internet sources as well as books and journals. I'm definitely doing my own searching, but I wanted to ask if anyone had some favorites that they know are solid.

posted in Anthropology - 1 reply

visual anthropology grad programs

gingerroot — Tue, 22 Nov 2005 18:07:43 GMT

Any suggestions???

posted in Anthropology - 3 replies

burning man anthropology references

automatthew — Sun, 09 Apr 2006 16:31:49 GMT

hello all

im planning on doing a traditional ethnographic survey at burning man this year in the hope of creating some good data to work with in the future.

i dont have much of a goal in mind other than data collection though i am particularly interested in the role that burning man plays in identity construction and the way that relates to community. and also the waysthat sexual experimentation at burning man interact with sexual identity.

anyways, just looking for some suggestions about works that might inform such a study. ive already read afterburn and am about to tackle temporary autonomous zones but any suggestions are appreciated!

posted in Anthropology - 15 replies

Want to be a dance ethnographer....Help !!..how do I start.....

maxineastorga — Sun, 26 Feb 2006 21:25:11 GMT

Hello everybody !
I new to this tribe and need help and advice urgently.
I live in Argentina, Southamerica. I`m a dancer and at a turning point in my life , I realized I have adeep vocation to ethinc, folk, tribal artistic expression , specially related to movement. Here in southamerica there are no dance ethnology career so I have to do it on my own. Can it work out...?
Do I have to study anthropology , even though the career is mostly focused on political matters here in Buenos Aires.
How do I start?
I appreciate and shall be very gratefull on any advice......
Gracias

posted in Anthropology - 5 replies

Faults Suggest a High Calling for Delphi Priestesses

katfireblade — Tue, 08 Aug 2006 04:57:09 GMT

I know I'm late to find this article, and I dont recall if there was a big deal made of this discovery or not, but I figured it couldnt hurt to post. Its kind of a mind blowing concept, that no matter how vague they could be, these prophets could also be legit. That implies that other historical "psychic" phenomena that we take for granted is either blown out of proportion or never happened might also have a solid basis in fact.

The sad part is, if we hadn't played with the water supply, this site might still be considered sacred, uncanny, or just special, but it might even now be producing prophets. Can you imagine? Taking a look at how this unique combination of gasses works on the human brain, possibly refining it for use (both good and bad, I know).

It also makes you wonder--if this had enough basis in fact for people to use and trust in these oracles for several hundred years, enough basis that years later we might be able to explain or even duplicate this, what about other legends? And if its possible if we hadnt altered the area that the "magic" would still be happening, what about other "magical" sites? How much of the wonder of the world have we destroyed through sheer clumsiness and ignorance?

Reeeeally makes you think, doesnt it?

I take no credit for anything beneath the stars.

***************************************************************************

Faults Suggest a High Calling for Delphi Priestesses
http://www.hallucinogens.com/delphi/

By Guy Gugliotta
Washington Post Staff Writer
February 4, 2002

They warned Oedipus to stay away from his mother, told Orestes to go ahead and kill his, caused Croesus to lose to the Persians, then helped Athens defeat them. So what's the story with the priestesses at Delphi? Did they really channel for Apollo, or were they just high on something?

Scientists don't know about Apollo, but evidence is growing that the priestesses, known as pythia, were ripped on hydrocarbon gases, especially ethylene, a sometime anesthetic which, taken in modest doses, can induce lively conversation of a somewhat incoherent nature.

This is because the Temple of Apollo at Delphi sits on crisscrossing geological faults, according to a team of scientists led by archaeologist John Hale of the University of Louisville and geologist Jelle Zeilinga de Boer of Wesleyan University in Connecticut.

In re-embracing the ancients' view that intoxicants emanated from water bubbling from a rock fissure beneath the temple, Hale said, the team is challenging a century of research that held "that the priests and oracle were deceiving the public and inventing stories" to boost the shrine's importance.

Instead, it appears the ancients were right. "I thought that if there is an active fault, there were most likely gases coming up through fissures," Zeilinga de Boer said. And if that were true, traces would show up in the travertine that underpins the temple. Travertine is a type of limestone.

And so it proved. Reporting recently in the journal Geology, the team said that tests on the Delphi rock and the waters of a nearby spring showed the presence of methane and ethane, which can be intoxicating, as well as ethylene, widely used as an anesthetic in the first half of the 20th century.

"It was a great gas," said toxicologist Henry Spiller, director of the Kentucky Regional Poison Center in Louisville and another member of the Delphi team. "It produces a very rapid onset of effects, and leaves the heart alone." Unfortunately, "it is also explosive [and] dangerous for the surgeon," Spiller added, which is why modern medicine eventually abandoned it.

Ethylene, Spiller explained, produces "stages" of anesthesia. Low doses induce "disembodied euphoria, with periods of excitation and amnesia," he said. But at higher doses, "you get delirium, hysteria and a combative, agitated state," he added. Further along comes unconsciousness and, if one is not careful, death.

All of this squares nicely with historical accounts. As a high priest at the temple in the 1st century A.D., the biographer Plutarch noted that the pythia delivered oracles from a tripod in a small below-ground chamber bathed in gases carried up by underground springs.

Most of the time, the priestess was conscious, clever and chatty, but on occasion she flipped out, and things got nasty. The bad trips, including a death reported by Plutarch, had led past Delphi administrators to swap out the young maidens they used to put in the seat for more levelheaded matrons.

Today the temple ruins, on the slopes of Mount Parnassus 100 miles northwest of Athens, are probably the most visited place in Greece after the Acropolis, but Hale said archaeological evidence suggests the ancient Greeks probably regarded Delphi as a holy place from its founding, about 1400 B.C.

The shrine's heyday began about 800 B.C., Hale said, when Greek colonists sought Apollo's blessing before they set sail for Italy, Sicily, Spain, the Black Sea and Africa. The oracle didn't go out of business until A.D. 393, when the Christian emperor Theodosius shut it down.

The oracle's warnings and advice figure prominently in Greek mythology. After the Trojan War, when Orestes asked whether he should seek vengeance on his mother for murdering his father, Agamemnon, the oracle gave him the green light.

Told by the oracle that he would murder his father and marry his mother, Oedipus did everything possible to avoid the inevitable, but failed.

In actual practice, however, the oracle's chief shortcoming was the ambiguity of her advice. Croesus, king of Lydia, went to war against Cyrus of Persia after the oracle told him that "a great nation would fall" if he crossed the Halys River. Unfortunately, the great nation turned out to be his own.

And in 480 B.C., after the Athenians rejected the oracle's opening prediction that the invading Persians would trash them, the priestess suggested they make use of "a wall of wood." The Athenians correctly interpreted this to mean ships, and subsequently defeated Xerxes at sea in the Battle of Salamis.

Delphi's original excavation was performed by French archaeologists, who at first found no gas emissions beneath the temple. An article published in English in 1904 suggested the fissure idea was "all a mistake," Hale said.

"This view defined the debate" for the next 90 years, and was reinforced by mid- century research suggesting that emissions of intoxicating gas were impossible without volcanic activity, Hale said.

"But this was archaeologists, mainly," said geologist Luigi Piccardi of Italy's National Research Council in Florence, whose own research in Greece reflects many of the U.S. team's conclusions. "The mechanics of active faulting are something only recently understood."

Geologists have known for years that much of Greece is in one of the world's most active seismological areas. Delphi sits in the middle of the east-west "Corinth Rift Zone," which slices the country in half.

In the mid-1990s, Zeilinga de Boer spotted an active east-west fault traveling beneath the Delphi temple and challenged Hale, a believer in the no-emissions theory, to rethink his views.

Together, the pair found a second fault running north and south beneath the temple, and discovered that the French had indeed found fissures in the bedrock but had only published their results in the 1920s, long after scientists had lost interest.

"The geology is very young, and you have things happening before your eyes," Zeilinga de Boer said. Deep in the earth, seismic forces grind the fault edges together, building tremendous heat that causes vaporized hydrocarbons to funnel upward, joining groundwater to bubble up in springs through fissures in the ground.

Spring water near the temple still has plenty of gases in it, Zeilinga de Boer said. The only reason gas doesn't permeate the temple today is because modern Delphi is channeling most of the groundwater into reservoirs: "The gas bubbles off before the water goes to the municipal system," he said.

posted in Anthropology - 11 replies

Does the study of anthropology remove the student from active involvement against acts of harm to others?

Pequamo — Sat, 29 Jul 2006 03:39:13 GMT

Can an anthropologist remain detached from acts of cruelty or harm to another, especially those which arise from introduced values by an outside culture?

posted in Anthropology - 9 replies

looking for book on the anthropology of empirical categories

barnaby — Thu, 27 Jul 2006 03:17:30 GMT

Hey folks

I'm trying to help a friend track down a book that looks at the ways different societies posit basic empirical categories, and structure their sense of world. He's interested in learning more about the variability in how different societies construe the fundamental facts of the universe. I would direct him to Levi-Strauss's "The Raw and the Cooked", but I think it's too technical. I'm wondering if anyone can recommend something in that ballpark written more for a layperson.

Thanks!

posted in Anthropology - 9 replies

Female Orgasm?

Dominic — Wed, 18 May 2005 04:04:39 GMT

I thought the upsuck hypothesis was the theory behind the female orgasm? That females who have orgasms retain more sperm. What is everyone's take on this?

posted in Anthropology - 51 replies

Europe's First Pyramid

William — Thu, 20 Apr 2006 14:53:00 GMT

http://news.billinge.com/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_4910000/newsid_4913900/4913980.stm

http://www.rumormillnews.com/cgi-bin/forum.cgi?read=80951

A 100 meter tall pyramid in Bosnia which nobody noticed. Ain't that something?

posted in Anthropology - 11 replies

"islamic" ethnography

daniel — Mon, 08 Mar 2004 06:48:30 GMT

Can anyone recommend some good ethnographies relating to Islam?

I think I've read everything by Lila Abu-Lughod.

Did Edmund Leach ever publish more on his Kashmir(?) fieldwork other than that (excellent) monograph? I don't remember it dealing with anything particularly "Islamic", but...

Is Gellner's thing any good?

posted in Anthropology - 6 replies

Special on KV-63

Fri, 02 Jun 2006 14:17:52 GMT

The Discovery Channel is showing a special on the discovery of KV-63 Sunday, June 4 at 9pm Eastern Time. More info at www.kv63.com

...I WOULD be out of town this weekend and probably driving home when it's on.....I need to get a TiVo

posted in Anthropology - 1 reply

Going Native/Tribal

Bo — Wed, 24 May 2006 19:40:15 GMT

I posed this topic a while ago in an LJ community, but I thought it would be worth asking here, too:

I have no real concrete opinion on the subject, but I thought it would be interesting to hear what other people think of 'immersive' anthropology. I know there are examples of past work where the anthropologist would 'go native' and become a part of the culture s/he was studying, above and beyond what could be considered participant observation - think marrying into the culture, adopting children/being adopted, taking on cultural dress, religion, or other behaviors. I'm sorry that I can't recall specific examples off the top of my head, but I'm getting ready for work and my brain is another mode.

I'm also curious, as a tattooed and pierced person, if many other anthropologists have body modifications. I often see this as a minor way of 'going tribal' (not necessarily meaning tribal-style tattoos) in an urban setting, and I was wondering if it happened among the anthropology community like the 'going native' trend.

posted in Anthropology - 15 replies

Nevermind bird flu

William — Thu, 12 Jan 2006 20:17:24 GMT

Fear the birds!

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/01/12/D8F39VDOF.html

A South African anthropologist said Thursday his research into the death nearly 2 million years ago of an ape-man shows human ancestors were hunted by birds.

"These types of discoveries give us real insight into the past lives of these human ancestors, the world they lived in and the things they feared," Lee Berger, a paleo-anthropologist at Johannesburg's University of Witwatersrand, said as he presented his conclusions about a mystery that has been debated since the remains of the possible human ancestor known as the Taung child were discovered in 1924.

cont in link.

posted in Anthropology - 1 reply

Early Americas

patrick_spatz — Fri, 07 Apr 2006 18:32:27 GMT

http://www.time.com/time/archive/preview/0,10987,1169905,00.html

What do we know about them, really?

Patrick

posted in Anthropology - 1 reply

Off the subject, but relevant...Please, please read.

gary — Tue, 25 Apr 2006 03:29:18 GMT

Do yourself and others a favor and take a few moments to read this link and make your impact. Only a concerted effort will make our voices be heard!

The free speech of MoveOn and all other Internet users is at stake as Congress tries to push through a radical law that gives corporations more control over online speech.

Internet providers like AT&T and Verizon are lobbying Congress hard to abandon Network Neutrality, the First Amendment for the Internet. Network Neutrality is the idea that all speakers on the Internet must be treated equally—from the biggest corporation to the smallest blog. It prevents the censorship that would result if Internet providers like AT&T got to choose which websites open easily based on which websites paid AT&T more.

MoveOn has already seen the censorship that happens when the Internet's gatekeepers get too much control over speech. Just last week, AOL blocked any email mentioning a coalition that MoveOn is a part of, which opposes AOL's proposed "email tax."1 And last year, Canada's version of AT&T—Telus—blocked their Internet customers from visiting a website sympathetic to workers with whom Telus was negotiating.2

We need to act now to protect free speech online. Can you sign this petition to your member of Congress asking him or her not to gut Net Neutrality? Click here:

www.civic.moveon.org/save_the_internet/

Then, please forward this to 3 friends. Protecting free speech online is fundamental—it affects nearly everyone and every issue. When you sign this petition, you'll be kept informed of the next steps we can take to keep the heat on Congress. Votes begin in a House committee next week.

Politicians don't think we are paying attention to this issue. Many of them take campaign checks from big telecom companies and are on the verge of selling out to people like AT&T's CEO, who openly says, "The internet can't be free."3

Together, we can let Congress know we are paying attention. We can make sure they listen to our voices and the voices of people like Vint Serf, a father of the Internet and Google's "Chief Internet Evangelist," who recently wrote this to Congress in support of preserving Network Neutrality:

My fear is that, as written, this bill would do great damage to the Internet as we know it. Enshrining a rule that broadly permits network operators to discriminate in favor of certain kinds of services and to potentially interfere with others would place broadband operators in control of online activity...Telephone companies cannot tell consumers who they can call; network operators should not dictate what people can do online.4

The stakes for free speech online are high—can you sign this petition letting your member of Congress you support preserving Network Neutrality? Click here:

www.civic.moveon.org/save_the_internet/

Please forward to 3 others who care about this issue. Thanks for all you do.

–Eli Pariser, Adam Green, Noah T. Winer, and the MoveOn.org Civic Action team
Thursday, April 20th, 2006

P.S. If Congress abandons Network Neutrality who will be negatively affected?

Advocacy groups like MoveOn—Political organizing could be slowed by a handful of dominant Internet providers who ask advocacy groups to pay "protection money" for their websites and online features to work correctly. Those who don't pay essentially get censored.
Nonprofits—A charity's website could open at snail-speed, and online contributions could grind to a halt, if nonprofits can't pay dominant Internet providers for access to "the fast lane" of Internet service.
Google users—Another search engine could pay dominant Internet providers like AT&T to guarantee the competing search engine opens faster than Google on your computer.
Innovators with the "next big idea"—Startups and entrepreneurs will be muscled out of the marketplace by big corporations that pay Internet providers for dominant placing on the Web. The little guy will be left in the "slow lane" with inferior Internet service, unable to compete.
Ipod listeners—A company like Comcast could slow access to iTunes, steering you to a higher-priced music service that it owned.
Online purchasers—Companies could pay Internet providers to guarantee their online sales process faster than competitors with lower prices—distorting your choice as a consumer.
Small businesses and tele-commuters—When Internet companies like AT&T favor their own services, you won't be able to choose more affordable providers for online video, teleconferencing, Internet phone calls, and software that connects your home computer to your office.
Parents and retirees—Your choices as a consumer could be controlled by your Internet provider, steering you to their preferred services for online banking, health care information, sending photos, planning vacations, etc.
Bloggers—Costs will skyrocket to post and share video and audio clips—silencing citizen journalists and putting more power in the hands of a few corporate-owned media outlets.
P.P.S. This excerpt from the New Yorker really sums up this issue well.

In the first decades of the twentieth century, as a national telephone network spread across the United States, A.T. & T. adopted a policy of "tiered access" for businesses. Companies that paid an extra fee got better service: their customers' calls went through immediately, were rarely disconnected, and sounded crystal-clear. Those who didn't pony up had a harder time making calls out, and people calling them sometimes got an "all circuits busy" response. Over time, customers gravitated toward the higher-tier companies and away from the ones that were more difficult to reach. In effect, A.T. & T.'s policy turned it into a corporate kingmaker.

If you've never heard about this bit of business history, there's a good reason: it never happened. Instead, A.T. & T. had to abide by a "common carriage" rule: it provided the same quality of service to all, and could not favor one customer over another. But, while "tiered access" never influenced the spread of the telephone network, it is becoming a major issue in the evolution of the Internet.

Until recently, companies that provided Internet access followed a de-facto commoncarriage rule, usually called "network neutrality," which meant that all Web sites got equal treatment. Network neutrality was considered so fundamental to the success of the Net that Michael Powell, when he was chairman of the F.C.C., described it as one of the basic rules of "Internet freedom." In the past few months, though, companies like A.T. & T. and BellSouth have been trying to scuttle it. In the future, Web sites that pay extra to providers could receive what BellSouth recently called "special treatment," and those that don't could end up in the slow lane. One day, BellSouth customers may find that, say, NBC.com loads a lot faster than YouTube.com, and that the sites BellSouth favors just seem to run more smoothly. Tiered access will turn the providers into Internet gatekeepers.5

Sources:

1. "AOL Blocks Critics' E-Mails," Los Angeles Times, April 14, 2006
www.moveon.org/r

2. "B.C. Civil Liberties Association Denounces Blocking of Website by Telus," British Columbia Civil Liberties Association Statement, July 27, 2005
www.moveon.org/r

3. "At SBC, It's All About 'Scale and Scope," BusinessWeek, November 7, 2002
www.moveon.org/r

4. "Vint Cerf speaks out on net neutrality," Google Blog—Cerf Letter to Congress,November 8, 2005
www.moveon.org/r

5. "Net Losses," New Yorker, March 20, 2006
www.moveon.org/r

6. "Don't undercut Internet access," San Francisco Chronicle editorial, April 17, 2006
www.moveon.org/r

posted in Anthropology - 0 replies

Peking man

patrick_spatz — Tue, 18 Apr 2006 19:29:51 GMT

Who was Peking man? I’ve hear him mention, but nothing else. Was he a contemporary of Neanderthal? Did he die out about the same time, and are we blamed for his death like we were Neanderthal? Did he and Neanderthal ever meet?

Patrick

posted in Anthropology - 1 reply

is this tribe alife?

patrick_spatz — Wed, 05 Apr 2006 23:43:53 GMT

I just join this tribe, but look at the posting (last one in Jan 06) i wonder if the tribes still going?

Patrick

posted in Anthropology - 5 replies

Help please.

Mon, 03 Apr 2006 13:43:33 GMT

I came across this on Archaeology magazine's website. I'm still trying to wrap my brain around it. Can anyone shed some light on this or on it's actual scientific relevance? This guy sounds like he means zombism is a literal condition.

http://www.archaeology.org/online/interviews/zombies/

posted in Anthropology - 7 replies

olympic irritation

Sun, 19 Feb 2006 07:26:51 GMT

I love the olympics.
I'm watching the short track finals on saturday night and an amercian won. A huge deal was made that he was the "first black person to win a gold medal in olympic history".

Yes, I may be idealistic, but why can't he just be an "american gold medal winner"?

His interview was very brief. The interviewer asked the usual "How does it feel to be the first black gold medal winner in olymic history?" and he only responded as " it feels good."

The announcers then went on to say that there must be some shit going on behind the scenes. Yes, there might have been. BUT for me, I couldn't help but think how much nicer it would have been to have asked the athlete how great it was as an individual to have won a gold medal. As an Amercian. Race aside. BUt that is just me.

posted in Anthropology - 10 replies

Trying to remember the name of a film--help!

Maggie — Thu, 09 Feb 2006 21:45:13 GMT

I noticed that there's a movie being made about the missionaries who were killed in 1956 by members of Huaorani tribe in Ecuador.

I swear I remember seeing a documentary in school about how those missionaries were working on Rockefeller Oil grants and basically helping to convince the Huaorani to sell their land to oil companies and move to small mission reserves. It had one of the dead men's sisters, who's rather old now, talking about how this was ok for them to do because the Huaoarani were evil and unsaved and needed to live on the mission reserves for thier own good.

Naturally, none of this stuff has come up in any of the discussions I've seen about the new film and I can't remember the name of the documentary to save my life. Has anyone else seen this? Can you remember what it's called?

posted in Anthropology - 8 replies

Need financial aid...

lunastribepage — Tue, 14 Feb 2006 22:11:54 GMT

I 've just been accepted into a fieldwork project which Is very exciting but the problem is I have no money to pay for it. Does anyone know of any grants or even loans that might be suitable? I know deadlines are approaching and I have 1 or 2 prgrams but it's not enough....

posted in Anthropology - 1 reply

human brain evolution continues

chimping — Mon, 12 Sep 2005 01:05:25 GMT

Of course human beings are not immune to the effects of evolutionary change. But some may be surprised by these findings. --Kathy

Human Brain Still Evolving
By Alan Mozes
HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, Sept. 8 (HealthDay News) -- The evolution of the human brain is not quite a done deal, say researchers who've uncovered genetic evidence that man's mysterious gray matter is still undergoing beneficial change.

The scientists make their claim based on the recent evolutionary history of two genes -- microcephalin and abnormal spindle-like microcephaly-associated (ASPM) -- which appear to regulate brain size.

Over thousands of years, both genes seem to be generating new and improved versions of themselves -- beneficial mutations that are spreading rapidly among the human population to reshape and strengthen brain capacity.

"I think a lot of people might consider humans to be at the pinnacle of evolutionary lineage -- that we have achieved an advanced state as a species, and we have basically become the end-game," said study co-author Bruce T. Lahn, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator and assistant professor of human genetics at the University of Chicago. "But what we found indicates that the species -- particularly when it comes to the brain, which is perhaps our most defining feature -- is still evolving."

In the Sept. 9 issue of Science, Lahn and his colleagues report on the results of two genetic analyses -- the first conducted among 90 men and women and a chimpanzee, and the second among almost 1,200 men and women. The participant pools were drawn from 59 ethnic groups from all over the world.

The researchers initially focused on identifying all the variations -- or mutations -- of microcephalin and ASPM genes present among the participants. They then honed in on one particular class of each of the two genes that appeared more abundant and genetically younger than the rest.

This class of microcephalin mutations first emerged approximately 37,000 years ago, while the ASPM variant class was estimated to have arisen about 5,800 years ago.

These time frames are a blink of the eye in evolutionary terms, the researchers point out, noting that the type of Homo sapien existent in the world today emerged only about 200,000 years ago.

Both gene groupings appeared to be nearly identical among those participants in which it was identified. According to the researchers, that may be because new mutations have simply not yet had time to diversify in this relatively short time span.

Lahn and his team observed that each of the gene classes were present among a significant number of the scanned subjects -- 30 percent in the case of the ASPM mutation, and 70 percent in the case of the microcephalin mutation.

The ASPM mutation was more prevalent in European-related populations such as Iberians, Basques, Russians, North Africans, Middle-Easterners, and South Asians, and less often found among sub-Saharan Africans, East Asians, and Native American Indians.

The microcephalin variant was also found with higher frequency outside of sub-Saharan Africa.

The researchers stressed, however, that no inferences could yet be drawn about the relative genetic evolution of one ethnic group over another, since many as yet unidentified genes probably play a significant role in brain development.

Nevertheless, given the relative youth of the mutations, the Chicago team believes the widespread presence of each gene among the study group cannot be viewed as a genetic accident.

Their findings suggest that each of the two brain gene mutations thrived and spread due to an active "selection" process, with the mutations conferring an evolutionary advantage to each carrier.

"The frequency of the gene increases because people who carry these genes are more fit and they have more kids," said Lahn. "We think each gene conveys some sort of fitness advantage in brain biology. It could be an improved cognitive function or a personality trait. We're not sure. But we know whatever consequence they render is highly favored by selection."

Lahn and his colleagues believe that, over time, human behavioral and cultural developments might go hand in hand with this type of genetic selection. The microcephalin mutation's first appearance coincided with the beginnings of man's development of art, music, religious practices, and complex tool-making techniques, the researchers point out. Similarly, the launch of the ASPM mutations occurred with the spread of agriculture, urban settlements, and the first record of written language.

The researchers concluded that the overall genetic history of these two brain gene mutations is evidence that the brain is most likely still evolving in terms of size and complexity.

"In another 10,000 or 20,000 years, I think the human brain may acquire a form that is quite different than the human brain today," Lahn said. "Not necessarily in its shape, which may remain relatively the same. But the function may be different. It may be, on average, a little smarter. Or it may acquire certain skills that in its current form it isn't well-equipped to handle -- advanced cognitive abilities such as abstract reasoning. We don't really know for sure how -- but we are still evolving."

"It's really an exciting piece of work," said Paul R. Sanberg, director of the Center for Aging and Brain Repair at the University of South Florida College of Medicine, in Tampa. "And it's not surprising, because we know that the brain is very plastic. As we learn about brain sciences, we know there's recovery following brain damage, we know there are brain cells that allow the brain to repair, we know that the brain keeps growing -- and it's interesting that there's a natural selection that allows for that over a number of years."

Sanberg was also enthusiastic about the medical innovations the findings may ultimately produce.

"There are medical conditions such as microcephaly, in which children are born with reduced brain size," he noted. "And in theory you could manipulate these genes, and this could lead to therapeutic benefits. So, as they move forward to understand the genes and the mechanisms behind their development, it could lead to some more very important research."

posted in Anthropology - 9 replies

'Cuddle' Hormone Promotes Trust

georko — Fri, 30 Dec 2005 23:41:26 GMT

The final issue of Discover Magazine wrote some amazing stories. Check this out.

Quote "When economist Michael Kosfeld and his colleagues at the University of Zurich administered nasal sprays containing the hormone oxytocin to a group of test subjects, they became substantially more willing to trust strangers with their money.
....
"Many people are afraid of being betrayed, and that makes them cautious. Oxytocin may affect the extent of these negative evaluations, causing us to say, 'Oh, this won't be too bad.' ""

Evolutionary what do you think the reason for the existance of this hormone is? Is it safe to believe someone based only on their smell?
Believe me I have trusted way too much certain women in my life. At least now I know who/what to blame: my nose :-)

posted in Anthropology - 4 replies

What does an Anthropologist do?

Nichelle — Thu, 12 Jan 2006 01:01:18 GMT

I neeeed a job.................?

posted in Anthropology - 4 replies

new here. is anybody in here an anthropologist by profession?

cece — Fri, 16 Dec 2005 17:16:41 GMT

i'm interested in hearing about your experiences, etc. i'm looking into grad school programs and trying to gather some info from people about how they like it, etc. anybody? thanks.

posted in Anthropology - 6 replies

burning man

automatthew — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:01:29 GMT

what do you guys think?

a genuinely new social formation or just the same old same old?

does it make sense to talk about it as a religion? it seems to fulfill many of the same functions as a religion.

what about international networks? the formation of community?

what about identity?

what about the material of modern life? bringing all that material out onto a blank slate and reorganizing it. amalgamating it. destroying it. contesting meanings and categories.

what is up with this business?

do you think real fieldwork could be done in this context?

posted in Anthropology - 14 replies

the future

automatthew — Sat, 24 Sep 2005 00:18:23 GMT

predictions of catastrophic climate change beginning to come true.

battle robots.

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2005/09/23/MTFH10852_2005-09-23_17-20-30_WRI344795.html

missions to mars.

is it just me or is the future starting to happen?

it's about freaking time it started feeling like the 21st century.

posted in Anthropology - 14 replies

General Evolution

mollyrima — Thu, 17 Nov 2005 06:58:46 GMT

Marshall Sahlins' 1959(?) article 'Evolution: Specific and General' has been troubling me. Am I wrong to think he doesn't offer a clear description of general evolution? Honestly, I don't know what these 'criterion' are for determining stages of progress, etc. What does the anthropological community think of him in general? (heh). My cultural anth. prof. is in love with him and I'm trying to see the logic... or the science...

posted in Anthropology - 0 replies

female orgasm

Sun, 13 Nov 2005 05:23:52 GMT

A reasonable read on human sexuality is "ever since adam and eve" ..malcolm potts and roger short..whilst it will not answer all the questions there is insight there.

posted in Anthropology - 0 replies

Anthropology and religion

lunastribepage — Sun, 06 Nov 2005 23:53:14 GMT

I'm wondering if anyone knows where I can find information on any artifacts or sites indicating signs of religion or supernatural concepts in Homo Erectus, thanks for the heads up.

posted in Anthropology - 4 replies

Onion_arch.

MCW — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 00:25:36 GMT

Some halloween/anthro related comedy

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/29976

posted in Anthropology - 0 replies

Anthropologist Killed During Fieldwork in Brazil

Hoopes — Tue, 16 Aug 2005 00:25:48 GMT

Former Maine professor killed in Amazonian town
By Alan Clendenning, Associated Press Writer | August 15, 2005

SAO PAULO, Brazil --The chairman of the University of Vermont's anthropology department was killed Saturday while he was being robbed in a small rainforest town near the Amazon River, an American Embassy spokesman said Sunday.

James Petersen, 51, a former professor at the University of Maine at Farmington and the University of Maine, was in Brazil on a research trip.

Peterson, of Salisbury, Vt., died during a confrontation in a restaurant in the town of Iranduba, said the embassy spokesman, John Wilcock. Iranduba is about 1,650 miles northwest of Sao Paulo.

Three suspects were taken into custody, according to CBN radio. Wilcock said he could not confirm that information.

UVM Provost John Bramley said in a statement that Petersen, an associate professor as well as department chairman, was on a research trip with colleagues when the robbery happened. Bramley said Petersen was shot and died a short time later.

"We have no further information on the circumstances at this time, and our attention is focused on ensuring that Jim's wife and family have the help and support they need at this terrible time," Bramley said in the statement.

Federal police in the jungle city of Manaus, about 12 miles from Iranduba, could not immediately be reached to comment.

The American Embassy was monitoring the police investigation into the killing and helping Petersen's family arrange for his body to be sent home, Wilcock said.

"We expect Mr. Petersen's family to receive justice," he said.

Before joining UVM, Petersen founded the Archaeology Research Center at the University of Maine at Farmington, where he was also a professor from 1983 to 1997, according to the UVM Web site. He was also a graduate school professor at the University of Maine in Orono from 1986 to 1997.

Petersen graduated from UVM in 1979 and started doctoral studies at the University of Pittsburgh, where he developed an interest in the tropics. He then returned to the University of Vermont as a visiting professor where one of his students was Michael Heckenberger, now an assistant professor at the University of Florida.

Heckenberger, who would become one of Petersen's colleagues in the Amazon work, recalled in an article in a UVM magazine meeting Petersen in that first life-changing field course.

"Jim is an infectious person and teacher," he was quoted in the Vermont Quarterly. "He attracts so many people to anthropology. He is without a doubt one of the most powerful and influential teachers I had."

Petersen and Heckenberger worked together in partnership with the University of Sao Paulo in the Central Amazon Project.

"We formally began in 1995, not fully understanding what we were into," Petersen said in an interview with Vermont Quarterly. "It's some of the richest, most exciting archaeology anywhere on the planet."

© Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company
http://www.boston.com/news/local/maine/articles/2005/08/15/former_maine_professor_killed_in_amazonian_town/

This is a tragic loss. Here is some information about Jim's work: http://www.uvm.edu/~uvmpr/vq/vqspring05/amazon.html

posted in Anthropology - 2 replies

Pics_ethics

MCW — Thu, 28 Jul 2005 20:32:57 GMT

Does anyone else find the pics and captions in the photo album just a tad insensitive? What happened to ethics in anthro? I just joined, like the threads and don't mean this as an attack, just wanted to put it out there and am interested in what other folks think.

posted in Anthropology - 32 replies

Discovery show: Going Tribal

SiMoNe — Wed, 17 Aug 2005 06:38:15 GMT

So, one of the other things I did tonight, was watch this show called Going Tribal. It's where this non-anthropologist english guy goes to remote places and they jam a bunch of stuff in a one hour show. I dunno, I'm not a cultural anthropologist, but it rubbed me the wrong way firstly because the guy isn't even an anthropologist, hes an "adventurer". Secondly, he wasn't there for very long, and the show was only and hour!

So has anyone else seen it, and what do you think??

As a side note, I went to the discovery channel website, to get more info and I see this in the forum..

http://community.discovery.com/groupee/forums/a/tpc/f/7861949408/m/2461959508 which leads me to this.. http://theblackwall.blackvoices.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx?nav=messages&tsn=1&tid=120398&webtag=ti-entertainmnt

interesting, eh? I suppose I shoulen't be, but I'm surprised by the total ignorance of some people..

posted in Anthropology - 7 replies

modern life: it sucks

roger — Fri, 06 May 2005 16:56:45 GMT

AFP
Borneo's ancient jungles offer new insight into modern life: it sucks

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1539&e=5&u=/afp/20050505/sc_afp/afplifestyleindonesiasociety_050505173028

posted in Anthropology - 7 replies

NSF Graduate Research Fellowships

angelina — Sat, 27 Aug 2005 17:37:27 GMT

This may be a silly question based on the fact the GRE scores are such a weighty evaluation factor when applying for and receiving fellowships, but I am curious to know if anyone has a solid understanding of how heavily GRE scores weigh in NSF GRF applications. I have received a wide spectrum of feedback from a strong package (strong research design, strong letters of recommend) is what really matters to no chance of receiving a GRF if your GRE scores are not a minimum of 1300. Anyone have one? Been rejected? In either case what were your scores like? Any additional advice on the application process? My packages is strong but my GRE scores are average. My chair receives a good deal of NSF funding and could carry some weight in terms of a good recommend. I am loathe to take the test again. Thoughts?

posted in Anthropology - 0 replies

Kennewick Man

bobs — Wed, 06 Jul 2005 07:10:43 GMT

Scientists finally study Kennewick Man
By Melissa Lee Phillips
in Seattle, Washington State

Nearly nine years after an ancient skeleton known as Kennewick Man was discovered along the shores of the Columbia River in Washington State, scientists will finally get to study it.

On Wednesday morning a team of researchers will gather at the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture in Seattle for a 10-day "measurement and observation trip".

The scientists want to figure out how chemical, biological and geological processes, as well as human actions, have altered Kennewick Man's skeleton since he died.

Estimated to be more than 9,000 years old, the Kennewick skeleton is one of the oldest, most complete specimens ever found in North America.

Eight anthropologists sued to study the bones after the US government seized them on behalf of Native American tribal groups, who claim Kennewick Man as an ancestor and want to rebury his skeleton.

Since early 2004, when the US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in the anthropologists' favour, scientists have been negotiating with government agencies on a study protocol, said Paula Barran, a lawyer for the plaintiff scientists.

"We've been chomping at the bit to get this thing done," she said.

Finally getting to it

The scientists leading this week's study met briefly at the Burke Museum in December 2004 to examine the skeleton's condition and to outline an initial study plan, explained Thomas W Stafford Jr, a Colorado-based geochemist who will participate in the investigation.

First, a group led by Smithsonian Institution anthropologist Douglas Owsley will lay out the 300-plus bones "so we can see the whole skeleton in anatomical correctness", Dr Stafford told the BBC News website.

Then, Dr Stafford's group will look for mineral stains and accumulation of sediment and calcium carbonate, which should tell them how the body was positioned in the ground.

"Was he a drowning victim, was he buried on purpose with arms folded in a certain way?" Dr Stafford said.

Scientists with other expertise will try to deduce Kennewick Man's cause of death, medical problems he had while alive and whether bone breakages happened during life or after death.

Throughout the process, Dr Stafford said, Dr Owsley's group "will do, from beginning to end, the definitive measurements and photographs".

Later analyses

Some of Dr Stafford's own work will wait until after Seattle. He will take with him a few remnants of bone that were used for radiocarbon dating several years ago.

"I don't plan on taking any samples from the skeleton itself right now," he said.

Back in his lab, Dr Stafford will analyse the bones' protein composition, to see if there is enough for further radiocarbon dating to establish firmly Kennewick Man's true age.

"I may also be able to find that there's DNA preserved that hadn't been found before," he told BBC News.

A DNA sample would reveal which ancient and modern populations are most closely related to Kennewick Man, Dr Stafford added, but "if there's no DNA, then the fallback will have to be the physical measurements".

C Loring Brace, one of the plaintiffs and an anthropologist at the University of Michigan, US, thinks that the physical measurements will show that Kennewick Man was related to prehistoric inhabitants of Japan who may have migrated to the Americas separately from the people who gave rise to today's Pacific Northwest Indians.

But "just saying it is one thing," Dr Brace added. "I want to get my callipers on it, get the set of measurements, and run them through our database to see what they tell me."

The tribes who claimed Kennewick Man as an ancestor still do not want the remains studied, though.

"Our goal, our position has never changed," said Debra Croswell, a spokeswoman for the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, one of the four tribes involved in the final court decision.

"We still want this individual reburied as soon as possible."

Dr Stafford does not agree: "If somebody else wants to look at it next week, next year, they should be able to come in just like we came in. This thing should be open. There should be no final opinion for maybe even years."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4651831.stm

posted in Anthropology - 33 replies

Have you read Jared Diamond's books

georko — Sun, 17 Apr 2005 04:52:08 GMT

I found them fascinating. I've been interested in history for a long time, but he puts everything in perspective so well...
The worst part is that I am finished with all of his. Any suggestions from all of you bright people on good reading?
I am really looking for ancient history/Anthropology kind of thing.
Thanks

posted in Anthropology - 15 replies

Guns, Germs and Steel on PBS

Dominic — Wed, 06 Jul 2005 07:52:17 GMT

Correct me if I am wrong but I think its airing on the west coast on 7/11
Maybe its a rerun, I dont know. It would be fun to see wether Jared Diamond would be re-enacted or in person.

posted in Anthropology - 5 replies

Which one is Our World's worst mistake? (Warning: Trick Question)

georko — Fri, 10 Jun 2005 01:53:30 GMT

Hi
I found this article from Jared Diamond.
http://www.awok.org/Essays/DiamondWorstMistake
I first read something similar in his book "The Third Chimp".
Since then I begun to re-consider my ideas about what civilization is and its worth. I have been accepting pretty much as given that we have been developing for the better. Now I am not that sure.
What are your thoughts about that?
You should read this and some other article first though :-)

posted in Anthropology - 34 replies

New Tribe/Anthropology of Religion Tribe

Sun, 19 Jun 2005 17:46:25 GMT

I just created a new tribe, that some of you may be interested in. One of my main fields of interest in school, if anthropology of religion. I noticed that there wasn't a tribe for that. If any of you enjoy that field as well, I started a tribe specifically for that. Rather then send out massive invitations, just thought I would tell people about it on this list and invite whoever wanted to join.

http://tribes.tribe.net/anthropologyofreligion?_click_path=Application%5Btribe%5D.Tribe%5Bb4291016-83b7-432e-8ed1-45731133f28e%5D&r=10024

posted in Anthropology - 3 replies

anyone a paleo-ornithologist?

Chili_Bonbons — Fri, 10 Jun 2005 23:01:15 GMT

I have a question for you...

please contact me on Tribe
thanks!

posted in Anthropology - 0 replies

Bog Bodies coming to PA

Ankhara — Fri, 29 Apr 2005 16:55:57 GMT

I just found out that the Carnegie Museum in Philadelphia willl be the only U.S. museum to host "The Mysterious Bog People" exhibit, starting in July this year.

Here's the link, although it doesn't say much about it yet:

http://www.carnegiemnh.org/exhibits/index.html#up

posted in Anthropology - 2 replies

Geneography

eiburamu — Thu, 14 Apr 2005 20:05:59 GMT

Anyone heard about IBM/Nat'l Geographic's plan to sample the DNA of thousands worldwide?

On its face it seems really good; the problem that I see though is that each subject needs to contribute 100.00. So the data will skew rich/european (some places in the world consider 100.00 several months' or a year's wages). Discuss.

posted in Anthropology - 2 replies

Darwinian Fitness

Hoopes — Thu, 17 Mar 2005 00:53:29 GMT

The following question popped up in a thread on another tribe and I thought that some fellow anthropologists might have the answer.

Are there any human demographic groups in the world that are likely to have a higher fertility rate than male professional atheletes in the U.S.? I'm guessing that the perks of playing well from high school through college recruitment through professional stardom provide especially rich opportunities for producing offspring (intended or otherwise...) and that those offspring may also tend to have high fertility rates.

Some international rock musicians may sow their wild oats widely, but probably not as consistently as atheletes. I'm prepared to learn that this is a myth and a stereotype (for which I apologize). If it is, are there other kinds of individuals who do especially well when it comes to human r-strategy reproduction? Are there any studies that have measured this?

I guess my question is this: Who are the alpha males of the 21st century when it comes to Darwinian fitness (i.e. surviving to reproduce prolifically and producing offspring who do likewise)?

Do these patterns have any implications for microevolution of the human species?

posted in Anthropology - 10 replies

schools

angelina — Wed, 12 Jan 2005 16:36:39 GMT

any grad students in the tribe?

I'm interested in discussing schools, graduate politics, funding hoops, etc.

I'm currently awaiting word back from U Pitt and U Florida on acceptance into their respective PhD progs. I'm into the ethnoarchaeological approach and my area of focus is the amazon basin (both the Upper Xingu and Ilha de Marajo). I currently work part time as an archaeologist and part time as an instructional designer for an environmental firm.

posted in Anthropology - 25 replies