Tag Anthropology
Homo naledi had a tiny brain but it looked a lot like ours
Scientists and nonscientists alike have often associated larger brains with greater intelligence, but a new study may challenge that notion. “Maybe brain size isn’t all it’s cracked up to be,” says John Hawks, one of the study’s corresponding authors.
‘Origins’ scientists to take your questions Thursday during Reddit AMA
Ever wondered what it’s like to unearth a long-buried human ancestor? Or to peer into the night sky to discover the mysteries of galaxy evolution? Find out Thursday.
In ‘Origins,’ UW–Madison and South African scientists tackle mysteries of our shared beginnings
The quest to understand our beginnings — of our universe, of life on Earth, of our species — inspires people all over the world. At UW–Madison, researchers have forged partnerships with colleagues in South Africa and are uncovering answers and opening new scientific frontiers.
UW search team recovers remains of airman missing since WWII
It has been more than 70 years since 1st Lt. Frank Fazekas’ P-47 Thunderbolt crashed in northern France, just over a week before the D-Day invasion in 1944.
Violence a matter of scale, not quantity, researchers show
New research shows that the size of a society’s population is what drives the size of its “war group,” or number of people of fighting age who defend it.
South African cave yields yet more fossils of a newfound relative
The discovery of the new Homo naledi fossils, representing the remains of at least three juvenile and adult specimens, includes a “wonderfully complete skull,” says UW–Madison anthropologist John Hawks.
Yellow fever killing thousands of monkeys in Brazil
In a vulnerable forest in southeastern Brazil, where the air was once thick with the guttural chatter of brown howler monkeys, there now exists silence. Yellow fever, a virus carried by mosquitoes and endemic to Africa and South America, has killed thousands of monkeys since late 2016.
Karen Strier is elected president of International Primatological Society
For the first time in its 52-year history, the International Primatological Society has elected a University of Wisconsin–Madison scientist as its president: Karen Strier, Vilas Research Professor and Irven DeVore Professor of Anthropology.
Old technology provides modern lessons to archaeology students
Students in anthropology Professor Mark Kenoyer's Ancient Technology and Invention course were working recently under a beating hot sun at the outdoor UW–Madison Experimental Archaeology Lab near Picnic Point.
Explorations at Aztalan yield enthusiasm and excitement for visitors, students
Excavations are underway to better understand the daily lives of the ancient peoples who called Aztalan home a millennium ago.
UW-Madison graduate named Gates Cambridge Scholar
Joanna Lawrence received her bachelor’s degree in anthropology from UW–Madison and completed her master’s degree in archaeology at Cambridge last year.
Moving moments: Our 10 favorite video stories of 2015
University Communications created these stories about the UW–Madison people, research and discoveries that made for a memorable year.
As the river rises: Cahokia’s emergence and decline linked to Mississippi River flooding
As with rivers, civilizations across the world rise and fall. Sometimes, the rise and fall of rivers has something to do with it. At Cahokia, the largest prehistoric settlement in the Americas north of Mexico, new evidence suggests that major flood events in the Mississippi River valley are tied to the cultural center’s emergence and ultimately, to its decline.
Town meets gown to explore Wisconsin’s Trempealeau mounds
Why did migrants from Cahokia, the large mound city near St. Louis, move to the present-day village of Trempealeau in western Wisconsin to build flat-topped mounds about 1,000 years ago? That question has intrigued Danielle Benden, senior curator in the University of Wisconsin–Madison Department of Anthropology, for more than a decade.
‘Human Evolution: Past and Future’ pilot MOOC launches
John Hawks has traveled the world. And now he's bringing what he's learned to more than 30,000 learners from across the globe with "Human Evolution: Past and Future."
Anthropologist, ‘underground astronaut’ strike fossil gold in South Africa dig
Squeezing through a gap called the International Postbox and climbing the jagged Dragon's Back were not in Alia Gurtov's plans for the fall semester, but she made an exception in order to participate in a wildly successful archaeological expedition into a South African cave.
Hitchhiking virus confirms saga of ancient human migration
A study of the full genetic code of a common human virus offers a dramatic confirmation of the "out-of-Africa" pattern of human migration, which had previously been documented by anthropologists and studies of the human genome.
UW repository stores anthropological artifacts from around the world
Like Hercules assigned to clean the Augean stables, curator Danielle Benden was hired by the University of Wisconsin–Madison anthropology department in 2007 to sort and systematize the final resting place for the department's collection of pots, bones, baskets, spear points, clothing, musical instruments, kayaks and effigies.
Archaeologists on front lines of protecting ancient culture in turbulent regions
J. Mark Kenoyer stands on a windswept peak in Logar Province in eastern Afghanistan, his head wrapped in a traditional scarf against the harsh sun. As he chats in a mixture of Urdu and Pashto with an Afghan archaeologist, it’s easy to see why documentarian Brent Huffman wanted the University of Wisconsin–Madison professor of anthropology to appear in his upcoming film about Mes Aynak, a 2,600-year-old Buddhist monastery.