Anthropology

66 articles
  • Article Recirculation Lead Image

    The Problem with the Frozen Poop Knife Study

    In an experiment designed to test whether a tool forged by the cold from human waste could be used to kill a dog, surely the frozen implements created in the lab ought to have been tested on the skin of a dog.Photograph by K.H.Trudeau / Shutterstock When, some weeks ago, I was first contacted by […]
  • Hodgkins_HERO

    Why Symbols Aren’t Forever

    The removal of cultural emblems is not the erasure of history but part of it.
  • Article Recirculation Lead Image

    Why Did Witch Hunts Go Viral?

    If it is in fact accurate to think of witch trial beliefs as viruses, maybe it would be helpful to study their spread the way scientists study the spread of viruses: using an epidemiological model.“The Witch, No. 1” (1892) by Joseph E. Baker / Wikicommons It’s hard to make sense of witch hunts. Many people […]
  • Paulson_HERO

    The Ancient Rites That Gave Birth to Religion

    Sacred beliefs likely arose out of prehistoric bonding and rituals.
  • Gallagher_HERO

    The Worth of an Angry God

    How supernatural beliefs allowed societies to bond and spread.