A Partial Perspective – Dr. Dillon Mahoney and the Economic Impacts of COVID19 & Research on Refugee Resettlement

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0FkNXWJJws Dr. Dillon Mahoney and the Economic Impacts of COVID19 & Research on Refugee Resettlement Season 1 Episode 2 Recorded: 14 May 2020 In this episode, William, of the podcast A Partial Perspective, talks with Dr. Dillon Mahoney, a professor of anthropology at the University of South Florida. In this conversation, Wiliam talks about his...

A Partial Perspective – Dr. Antoinette Jackson on Anthropology, Critical Race Theory, and Being New Department Chair

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yb1ZptjYGo8 Dr. Antoinette Jackson on Anthropology, Critical Race Theory, and Being New Department Chair Season 1 Episode 1 Recorded: April 27, 2020 In this first episode of this relaunched podcast, A Partial Perspective, William talks with Dr Antoinette Jackson, the incoming Chair of the Applied Anthropology Department at the University of South Florida. He discusses...

Anthropology of Policing

Race is a social construct. We have spoken on the concept of race, here, before. Anthropology has been at the forefront of redefining race, ancestry, and ethnicity. And many anthropologists have advocated for concepts such as race to be phased out of our culture and our police. Current events have elucidated the importance of continuing...

Humans, Denisovans & Neanderthals Were Genetically Less Different Than Polar Bears & Brown Bears

A study published a couple days ago in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B shows us that ancient humans, Neanderthals and Denisovans had more genetic similarities than polar bears and brown bears do. In other words, the genetic distance between our ancient relatives and us was smaller than between pairs of species that are...

Oldest & Largest Mayan Structure Discovered in Mexico

In Mexico's Tabasco state is the ancient Maya Aquada Fenix site. Using aerial remote-sensing, also known as LIDAR, University of Arizona archaeologist Takeshi Inomata and his team, discovered the largest and oldest-known structure built by the ancient Maya civilization here - a colossal rectangular elevated platform built between 1,000 and 800 BC. The structure measures...

Rethinking Jared Diamond’s “Collapse” of Easter Island

Easter Island or Rapa Nui is famous for moai, giant monumental statues, which were built approx. 800 years ago by early inhabitants of the island. Many debate on the cultural significance of these monuments. Many also debate how a Stone Age culture managed not only carve but transport these 92 ton statues onto ahu platforms....

4,000 Years Of Conquerors Left Little Genetic Impact in Near East

Without a doubt, the Near East has been a linguistic, cultural and religious crossroad for many thousands of years. This area has had many different rulers, including the Egyptians, Babylonians, Assyrians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Christian European Crusaders, Arabs, and Ottomans. Many of these groups instilled everlasting cultural changes on the local population, including changes to...

Ancient DNA from France Outline Complex Interactions Between Mesolithic Hunter-gatherers & Neolithic Farmers

About 12,000 years ago in the Near East, the emergency of farming, animal domestication and subsequent changes to prehistoric human lifestyles emerged. This is known as the Neolithic revolution. This culture spread through Europe, along the Danube and the Mediterranean coasts by 5,000 to 4,500 years ago. Little was known about how the carriers of...

European Women with Neanderthal Progesterone Receptor Gene Are More Fertile

Hugo Zeberg, at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology and the Karolinska Institutet, published an interesting study with colleagues Janet Kelso and Svante Pääbo on Neandertal admixture and its impact on modern day fertility. Diverging from a common human lineage over 600,000 years ago, Neandertals and modern humans began an exchange of genetic material...

Oldest Evidence of Ancient Cultivated Rice in Central Asia

Rice is the main food source for about half the population of the Earth, and it is arguably one of the most important foods for human beings. The origins of rice, as well as it spread is a key point of study for many biologists and archaeologists. With advances in archaeobotany and molecular biology, we...