Anthropology News

“The authors’ primary finding that human-like prenatal growth rates emerged less than one million years ago, in concert with major increases in brain size, is convincing,” says Anna Warrener, Assistant Professor of Anthropology. “Teeth are frequently found in the fossil record and would be a fantastic tool for such evaluations...

Associate Professor of Anthropology Jamie Hodgkins (and Jessica Thompson of Yale University) recently shared their personal experiences of being pregnant or new moms while conducting fieldwork. They call for family-friendly work cultures in an effort to increase the diversity of people engaged in field sciences. In an effort to evaluate...

Paleoarchaeologist and Associate Professor of Anthropology Jamie Hodgkins talks about what it was like to live during a time of critical change on Earth roughly 10,000 years ago. In the Arma Veirana Cave in northwestern Italy, Hodgkins is part a team of researchers who recently discovered the oldest infant burial...

Associate Professor of Anthropology and National Geographic Explorer Jamie Hodgkins is the lead author of a study gaining worldwide attention, published in the journal Scientific Reports, “ An infant burial from Arma Veirana in northwestern Italy provides insights into funerary practices and female personhood in early Mesolithic Europe .” Hodgkins...

Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that around 100,000 people died from drug overdoses in the US from March of 2020 to March of 2021. That’s the largest number of fatal drug overdoses ever recorded in a 12 month period in the US. The synthetic drug...

Footprints discovered in 1978 by paleontologist Mary Leakey and her colleagues in Laetoli, Tanzania, have been considered the oldest unambiguous evidence of upright walking in the human lineage. In 1976, another pair of strange footprints was partially unearthed at adjacent Site A, but they were disregarded as bear tracks. In...

Sarah B. Horton, Associate Professor of Anthropology, has been conducting interviews with undocumented Latinx workers in Colorado since the start of the pandemic. She constantly hears stories of unsafe conditions from vulnerable workers each week. " As the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends booster shots for 'high-risk workers',”...

Keep a straight back when jogging to help prevent knee pain, suggests Anna Warrener, Assistant Professor of Anthropology. She found that the angle of the upper torso to the legs can affect the risk of injury – the more someone leans forward, the shorter the stride, and the greater the...

In a field with a reputation for bitter feuds and rivalries, the notion of humankind’s African origins unifies human evolution researchers. “I think everybody agrees and understands that Africa was very pivotal in the evolution of our species,” says Charles Musiba, Anthropology Associate Professor. Fossils and ancient DNA paint a...

Scholars and activists across the US are now seeking to recognize and redress the deep history of violence against Black bodies. Museums and society are finally confronting how the desires of science have at times eclipsed the demands of human rights, writes co-author Chip Colwell, Associate Research Professor of Anthropology...