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#anthropology

35 posts32 participants3 posts today
michael

17-Jul-2025
#Neanderthals at two nearby caves butchered the same prey in different ways, suggesting local #foodTraditions

eurekalert.org/news-releases/1 #science #anthropology #archaeology

EurekAlert!Neanderthals at two nearby caves butchered the same prey in different ways, suggesting local food traditionsA new study from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem reveals that Neanderthals living in two nearby caves in northern Israel—butchered their food in noticeably different ways. Despite using the same tools and hunting the same prey, groups in Amud and Kebara caves left behind distinct patterns of cut-marks on animal bones, suggesting that food preparation techniques may have been culturally specific and passed down through generations. These differences cannot be explained by tool type, skill, or available resources, and may reflect practices such as drying or aging meat before butchering. The findings provide rare insight into the social and cultural complexity of Neanderthal communities.
Ancient Origins

Early societies used human sacrifice to enforce hierarchy. Scholars link its rise to class systems in Austronesia. A chilling reminder: power and religion often walked hand in hand.
#history #human_sacrifice #power #class #Austronesia #anthropology#Storytelling #DidYouKnow #AncientHistory #HistoryFacts #DocumentaryShort #WeirdHistory
Read More:ancient-origins.net/news-histo

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GhostOnTheHalfShell

@DGI

53 min

As somebody with an anthropology, education his critiques are quite cogent. Since I haven’t read many of the articles, he refers to I’ll keep my own counsel, but nothing that what is politics is saying runs ground of my own education

Note: apparently he’s had education in anthropology.

What I find interesting here is that he proposes a material condition explanation for the emergence of agriculture and its dominance. Ditto hierarchy.

youtube.com/watch?v=sgOo-bS7OJ

YouTube7. The Origins of Male Dominance and Hierarchy; what David Graeber and Jordan Peterson get wrongBy WHAT IS POLITICS?
#anthropology
Frank

#Norway's national religion is Resirkulering, I think.

You will see these little roadside temples everywhere. Like spinning Buddhist prayer wheels, people pay their respects by collecting everyday objects and putting every object in the rotund temple marked with a rune of its accepted prayer objects.

Still looking for some native advice on what the local version of "Om mani padme hum" is, so we can at least perform the rituals respectfully, heathens that we are.

#travel#anthropology
Kwusaih

This is my third #introduction, as I’ve bridgy-fed my Glammr.us to Bluesky.

I am currently seeking PhD positions to begin my doctoral research and am also part of the #heritage industry, managing an #archive of #conservation reports on the architectural heritage of #Korea.

I hold an MA in Sociocultural #Anthropology and am in the process of pursuing a second MA in #HeritageStudies.

I’m looking forward to the new world this bridgy-fed experience will introduce me to. Cheers!

Aethelflaed

Human bones have been found in a cave in the Catalan Pyrenees. The bones show how hard life was living in the area. However, one of the bones proved far more interesting. The rib bone had a flint arrowhead embedded in it. It showed that the individual had been struck from behind. Interestingly the bone showed signs of healing and repair, meaning that the injury was not immediately fatal. archaeology.org/news/2025/07/1

Archaeology Magazine · News - Pierced Human Rib Bone Hints at 4,000-Year-Old Attack - Archaeology MagazineROC DE LES ORENTES, SPAIN—Millennia ago, a local community living high in the Catalan Pyrenees […]
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Archaeology News :verified:

Neanderthals operated prehistoric “fat factory” 125,000 years ago on German lakeshore

Neanderthals in central Germany 125,000 years ago employed an advanced method of food preparation, according to a recent study: systematically stripping fat from the bones of large animals using water and heat....

More information: archaeologymag.com/2025/07/nea

Follow @archaeology

#archaeology#archeology#archaeologynews
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• Polynesians steering by the stars met Native Americans long before Europeans arrived

"By about 1200 C.E., Polynesians were masters of oceanic exploration, crossing the Pacific in outrigger canoes, guided by changes of wind and waves, paths of migrating birds, light from bioluminescent plankton, and the position of the stars."

A genomic study of more than 800 modern Polynesians and Native Americans suggests they made it all the way to South America.

science.org/content/article/po

#anthropology
World of Paleoanthropology

Rock Art on Screen: 12 Free Documentaries That Bring the Painted Past to Life

By Seth Chagi for World of Paleoanthropology

“We carry the torch of ancient storytellers each time we switch on a screen.” — Stoic reflection after too many late‑night documentary binges

Rock art feels simultaneously intimate and cosmic—handprints that whisper I was here across 30,000 years. The internet, bless its algorithmic heart, is brimming with free films that let us wander those caves and escarpments without the knee‑scrapes, bat guano, or UNESCO paperwork. Below are a dozen feature‑length (20 min +) documentaries your audience can stream today. I’ve grouped them by theme and noted what each one can teach us. Pop some popcorn (or Aquafor‑coated trail mix if you’re truly hardcore) and prepare to time‑travel.

1. Deep Time Immersion

TitleRuntimePlatformWhy Watch“Cave of Forgotten Dreams”89 minWatchDocumentaries.comWerner Herzog’s 3‑D glide through Chauvet (32 kya) is as close as most of us will get to those charcoal lions. Perfect for discussing preservation ethics, pigment chemistry, and the phenomenology of darkness.“Inside France’s Chauvet Cave” (DW Documentary)52 minYouTubeA more traditional science‑journalist tour that balances visuals with up‑to‑date uranium‑thorium dating and virtual‑reality replication work. Great classroom fodder on 3‑D scanning.

2. Rock Art & Global Narratives

TitleRuntimePlatformWhy Watch“Les secrets des fresques d’Amazonie”88 minARTE.tvTakes viewers into Colombia’s Serranía de la Lindosa cliff murals—tens of thousands of figures dated ≥12 kya—while foregrounding Indigenous perspectives and environmental stakes.“Oldest Cave Art Found in Sulawesi”24 minYouTube (Griffith Univ.)Concise but rich breakdown of the 45 kya pig panel & new 51 kya hunting scene; use it to spark debates on symbolic cognition outside Europe.“KIMBERLEY ROCK ART: A World Treasure”45 minYouTubeExplores Australia’s Gwion Gwion & Wandjina iconography, weaving in modern Aboriginal custodianship and cutting‑edge optically stimulated luminescence dating.“The Rock Art of Arnhem Land” (Part I)26 minYouTubeVeteran archaeologist Paul Taçon walks viewers through x‑ray kangaroos and Lightning Man motifs; ideal primer on superimposition sequences.

3. Mediterranean & Atlantic Europe

TitleRuntimePlatformWhy Watch“Rock‑Art Sites of Tadrart Acacus” (UNESCO/NHK)28 minUNESCO.orgSahara pastoralism in motion—perfect for stressing how climate shifts shaped iconographic changes.“Rock Art of the Mediterranean Basin”28 minYouTube (UNESCO)Surveys 758 Iberian sites; includes rare footage of Levantine‑style hunters in eastern Spain. Good segue into discussions of pigment sourcing.“Prehistoric Rock Art of the Côa Valley & Siega Verde”30 minUNESCO.orgNight‑shot filming of open‑air engravings (≈25 kya onward) highlights why Foz Côa is a conservation victory.“Exploring the Ancient Art of Altamira”24 minYouTubeA guided VR‑style tour of Spain’s “Sistine Chapel of the Palaeolithic,” complete with replica cave construction details—great for public‑engagement case studies.

4. Decoding Symbolic Systems

TitleRuntimePlatformWhy Watch“How Art Made the World – Ep 2: The Day Pictures Were Born”59 minYouTube (BBC series)Frames cave art within a cognitive‑evolution story: why image‑making matters for social cohesion.**“Paleo Cave Art Mysteries” (Episode 1 of 3)22 minYouTube**Paleoanthropologist Neil Bockoven dives into dot‑and‑line signs (à la von Petzinger) and therianthropes; a bite‑sized springboard for symbol taxonomy exercises.

How to Use This Playlist – (of course, you could just be like me and want to watch them, but here are some fun activities for those of you who may be teachers, professors, and the like for your students to better engage with the content):

  1. Chronological Viewing Party: Start with Acacus for Holocene climate context, swing through European Upper Palaeolithic masterpieces, then finish in the Amazon to spotlight New World debates.
  2. Data‑Extraction Exercise: Have students log motifs, substrates, and dating techniques in a shared Zotero group to spot regional patterns.
  3. Compare Custodianship Models: Contrast Indigenous‑led management in Australia with state oversight in France and Spain—fertile ground for ethical discussions.
  4. DIY Experimental Archaeology: After watching the Altamira VR segment, try recreating blowing techniques with ochre and charcoal on butcher paper (outdoors, trust me).

Remember: every dash of ochre, every engraved aurochs, is a dialogue across millennia. Hit play, listen closely, and pass the story on.

Feel free to embed this post—just credit World of Paleoanthropology and link readers back to the documentary sources. Happy cave‑surfing!

#Altamira#AncientArt#Anthropology
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