Anthrographic

04/15/2018

Intentional skull shaping was a sign of prestige and social status among ancient Mesoamericans and elsewhere, including the Pacific Northwest coast of the United States.

A rare circular burial found at the site of Tlalpan in southern Mexico City holds the remains of 10 males and females ranging in age from infancy to adulthood. The burial dates to approximately 2,400 years ago, a period when state-level societies were beginning to take shape in the Valley of Mexico....

02/13/2018

Yes, your tattoos will still look fierce when you are old. 1,000 years old.

Some of the most spectacular tattoos in the ancient world have been found adorning Iron Age mummies unearthed in the Altay Mountains of Siberia. There, a series of tombs dug into permafrost preserved the remains of nobles from a nomadic people today known as the Pazyryk Culture. On the skins of thes...

02/13/2018

"Thinking like an anthropologist is a great way to question your taken-for-granted assumptions. We all have 'common sense,' of course, but what anthropology teaches you is how varied this can be, in different places and times. Anthropology is about 'the other,' but it's also about 'the self.'"

In step with Matthew Engelke's book published Tuesday, Barbara J. King says thinking anthropologically has never been more critical than in today's world, where assumptions are made and shared widely.

02/09/2018

Massive mammoth remains with clear signs of human butchering unearthed in Michigan.

From the Archives: The remains of a mammoth butchered by humans were unearthed in Michigan.

archaeology.org/issues/202-1601/trenches/3934-trenches-michigan-mammoth

(Daryl Marshke, Michigan Photography)

12/21/2017

Archaeo-astronomy and winter solstice: watch the sun rise through a narrow, perfectly aligned passage to flood the inner chamber of 5,000 year old Newgrange mound.

The Winter Solstice at Newgrange in Co Meath can now be enjoyed by people all over the world as it is being streamed live online.

12/20/2017

Eating archaeology! Holiday food archaeology and nutritional anthropology all in one!

Speaking of eating archaeology, did you know the informal test for identifying bone fragments in an excavation screen (if you can’t determine if it’s plant matter or bone by visual inspection) is to touch the fragment to the tip of your tongue? If it sticks, it’s bone.

The uncovering of a 106-year-old, nearly edible fruitcake in Antarctica is one of ARCHAEOLOGY’s Top 10 Discoveries of 2017.

archaeology.org/issues/281-1801/features/6167-antarctica-cape-adare-fruitcake

(© Antarctic Heritage Trust)

12/19/2017

For your holiday baking pleasure.

Because sometimes a plain old biscuit calls for some ancient Assyrian script.

11/14/2017

An anthropology degree qualifies you for a wide range of jobs and career trajectories. Check out this non-exhaustive list of current job openings for anthro majors of all stripes:

Find or post regular positions, freelance gigs, or internships on the EPIC Job Board!

10/07/2017

/// peaceful protests are as american as apple pie

10/06/2017

/// prickly field
we cannot overstate the importance of having the right gear for the job at hand. thank you for these amazing gaiters that: a) fit over thick calves; and b) don’t even register pricks and scratches from a particularly nasty field of invasive yellow starthistle (centaurea solstitialis).

10/06/2017

/// the early bird gets the light
one of the great things about doing archaeology is all of the amazing things we get to see. they don’t need to be rare to be special, like the cheatgrass (bromus tectorum) of northern california shimmering in the early light.

10/05/2017

/// site sighting
one of the great things about doing archaeology is all of the amazing things we get to see. they don’t need to be rare to be special.