archaeologicalnews:

Archaeologists have discovered six Pagan Saxon skeletons dating back over 1,000 years on a housing development site just a few miles from Stonehenge.

The discoveries, which also include round barrows dating back to the Bronze Age 4,000 years ago, were unearthed at a redundant brownfield…

archaeologicalnews:

Move over Indiana Jones, there is a new dog in town.

Meet Migaloo the wonder-pup who can sniff out 600-year-old bones more than 2m underground with her sharp sense of smell and keen eye for adventure.

The three-year-old black labrador mix has been hailed as the first archaeology dog in the…

Give me my two “a” spelling, please & thanks. 

And in case anyone was wondering about the variation:

http://www.saa.org/ForthePublic/Resources/OtherUsefulResources/Whyaretheretwodifferentspellingsarchaeology/tabid/1078/Default.aspx

Gerald Stevens, 1967, Canadian Glass c. 1825-1925

Sarah Tarlow (1997). An Archaeology of Remembering: Death, Bereavement and the First World War. Cambridge Archaeological Journal, 7, pp 105­-121 (via violette-royale)

(via zomganthro)

skiptothebestparts:

Just had to share one of my true loves.

Good to remember the “calm” part. 

commonunity:

an anthro tumblr posted this and it causes me to consider the appropriateness of criticizing another anthropologist based upon their personal beliefs. i value increasing the diversity of perspectives in anthropology. however, i feel that there are certain opinions that are just… not up to the…

As a student of anthropology, I have learned to step outside my comfort zone, and realize that I have been raised in a community that has drastically different rules and cultural norms than other communities in my country and other societies throughout the world.

I take pride in thinking of how others may react and respond to a situation differently than me, and I constantly question if what I have learned and accepted as the “norm” actually meshes with my moral belief system.

I value when people have their own opinions. But the tumblr post that commonunity refers to above makes me cringe to know that someone who considers themselves an anthropologist could hold such close-minded ideas.

“if you are dumb enough to be having sex before the age of 18, and you are with a douche-bag, then you have this kind of stuff coming for you.”

Which anthropologist has the right to make such a judgement? Which anthropologist has the right to say that the victim in a situation is to blame? 

“Shame is the regret we feel if we do something stupid.  If you are having multiple sexual encounters with people when you are still in high school you SHOULD feel shame.  Shame usually causes people to change their behavior.”

Shame does not have a solid definition. It varies culture to culture. An anthropologist should know that and not presume to make such a statement—especially if they are trying to tie it to another subjective experience such as sexual encounter. 

“But really.  Who is stupid enough to NOT think that a young boy wouldn’t actually film them having sex or take photos of stuff and post it on the internet?   To them it is like a trophy conquest of how many girls they had.  Everyone knows that is how young guys are; because our society says that is how men should act and how women should be treated.   If women though had half the brains however to say no to sex at under 18, and no to being treated like cattle, then the men would be forced to show respect, and wait until they are adults in order to have sex.”

It is the job of the anthropologist to question society, learn from it, and promote change for the better. It is sad that this “anthropologist” takes the stereotype of young boys and allows for it, perpetuates it, without even questioning it. Instead, an anthropologist should be asking “why, this is a culturally accepted norm?” and create an informed opinion about it by looking at it through a clearer lens, rather than take it as correct and at face value.   

Again, I understand that this tumblr and everyone is entitled to their own opinions and beliefs. But anthropologists are always vocal, so, get ready for critique if you claim yourself as one! 

I haven’t posted in a long time (keepin’ busy!). 

But something has bothered me. 

The other day, my friend asked the question, ”Oh, does she look ethnic?”. 

I looked at my friend and said, “What the fuck, that doesn’t even mean anything.”

I’m ethnic, you’re ethnic, we’re all ethnic. Even if you’re “white”! Because, hey, that’s an ethnicity!

Then today, my roommate said, “He’s ethnic.”

And I just. What. 

Granted, the first traceable definition of ethnic is:

Pertaining to nations not Christian or Jewish; Gentile, heathen, pagan.              - OED

However, we have moved past that obsolete definition to:

Pertaining to race; peculiar to a race or nation; ethnological. Also, pertaining to or having common racial, cultural, religious, or linguistic characteristics, esp. designating a racial or other group within a larger system; hence (U.S.colloq.), foreign, exotic. -OED

Yes, that definition throws in the icky concept of race, but at least it doesn’t “other” everyone who isn’t “Christian or Jewish” aka “white” (at least back in the day that was associated with “white”). 

And I understand the simplicity of using “ethnic” as a descriptor, but it’s not right. It’s also SO easy to say, “Oh, what is that person’s ethnicity?” That at least acknowledges that everyone who isn’t “white” isn’t lumped into one ethnicity called “ethnic”. 

Stupid U.S. colloquialisms. 

Paul Willis, Learning to Labor: How Working Class Kids Get Working Class Jobs. 

Reading about Spanksy and the other lads is enjoyable. The beginning narration is bearable. Then Willis throws a load of repetitive, boring words at you for the rest of the book. Despite the ending mess, there are outstanding quotes such as: 

Everything fits too neatly. Ideology always pre-exists and pre-empts any authentic criticism. There are no cracks in the billiard ball smoothness of process. All specific contradictions and conflicts are smoothed away in the universal reproductive functions of ideology (175). 

Counterculture and rebellion, despite going against the grain, are actually a natural part of it. By trying to go against culture, you are adding to its fluid nature and reproducing it, maybe with a few changes. 

We created civilization and it has gotten away from us. It is our new nature. Our roles in life help maintain it. 

Could we ever successfully get away from it? Do we want to? Would that give us back our true liberty? 

So, I have to write a paper on evolution and species concepts and which is the best one yadda yadda yadda. And based on the one article I had to read by Tattersall, I would agree that the biological species concept is the best, although it’s not really practical when identifying ancient fossil records. Then with further reading I said hey, the phylogentic species concept sounds good except wait: it excludes subspecies. 

As I haven’t had any bio classes since high school I Googled subspecies just to make sure my knowledge was correct and there are so many examples online that say subspecies is equivalent to race. 

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