AnthropoloJist

. by Chloë India Wright

[thegrumpyphotographer-blog]

Visual communication and facial expressions play an important part in maintaining friendships and social groups amongst brown capuchin monkeys. I wonder what these two conspirators are up to…

[archaeologicalnews]

Early evidence of Middle Stone Age projectiles found in South Africa's Sibudu Cave

Innovations in stone knapping technology during the South African Middle Stone Age enabled the creation of early projectile weapons, according to a study published April 26, 2017 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Veerle Rots from University of Liège, Belgium, and colleagues.

The South African Middle Stone Age (MSA) is considered a period of major technological advancement, with hunter-gatherers introducing new manipulative techniques using heat and pressure to create stone projectile weapons. However, the timing and location of these developments is a topic of much debate.

The authors of the present study examined 25 weapon point fragments excavated from the Sibudu Cave site, analyzing their technological and functional differences and comparing them with reference samples produced for the purpose by an experienced knapper. Read more.

[anthropolojist]

Instagram post by The Grumpy Photographer • Apr 30, 2017 at 9:29am UTC

34 Likes, 1 Comments - The Grumpy Photographer (@the_grumpy_photographer) on Instagram: “Vigilant samango monkey #samango #samangomonkey #monkeys #primates #primatology #fieldwork…”

[anthropolojist]

Vigilant bald-faced saki monkey (Pithecia irrorata), low in the canopy- Madre de Dios, Perú 2014. #saki #monkey #sakimonkey #primates #primatology #anthropology #fieldwork #cicra #madrededios #peru #amazon #rainforest #jungle #wildlife #nature #photography #pentax #travel #explore (at Los Amigos Biological Station)

[anthropolojist]

Brown titi monkey (Callicebus brunneus) noshing on some yellow flowers- Madre de Dios, Perú 2014. #titi #monkey #primates #amazon #rainforest #jungle #peru #anthropology #primatology #fieldwork #nature #wildlife #photography #pentax (at Los Amigos Biological Station)

[theolduvaigorge]

The Peculiarity of Homo sapiens

“Modern humans are the only surviving hominin from what was once a rich, fairly bushy family tree. But why did we alone survive? We may never have a definitive answer to that question—but we shouldn’t be too quick to underestimate the intelligence of our ancestors, says anthropologist Ian Tattersall, author of The Strange Case of the Rickety Cossack and Other Cautionary Tales From Human Evolution. (Read an excerpt.)

His book details the efforts of anthropologists to untangle our messy human lineage, based solely on the subtle differences in the skeletons of our forebears. And it documents anthropologists’ evolving theories about our human origins, as well as some of their most spectacular mistakes, such as the characterization of an early Neanderthal fossil as a Cossack horseman afflicted with rickets so severe, he furrowed his brow into a permanent expression of pain.” (Source: Science Friday)

[anthropolojist]

Do you speak monkey? Guess the meaning of a monkey call!

THANK YOU to everyone who has participated in the survey so far!

We’ve nearly reached our target but could really do with just a few more participants to get us there. Your input will contribute to a pilot study for a project on primate communication. If you have just a few minutes free and fancy spending them deciphering some cool monkey noises for our online study- click on the link below!

anthropolojist.wordpress.com/2015/05/28/do-you-speak-monkey/

We’d really like some help with one last push to reach our target number of responses so please reblog, and if you haven’t already participated- get involved! If you have- do a few more! 

Thanks!

[humansofspore]

“Sometimes when I open TV, I worry what people have done with my religion.”

[humansofnewyork]

“We met on a dating site twelve years ago. I sent her a message saying: ‘I want to let you know up front that I’m in a wheelchair, because I can’t hide it.’ And she wrote back: 'Why? Is it bright yellow?’”

[boneseygirl-deactivated20150926]

Goeldi's monkey (Callimico goeldii)

“Callimicos are small primates, outwardly similar to and reminiscent of tamarins in both size and shape (Hill 1959; Heltne et al. 1981). They are only a little larger than a squirrel (Jacobs 1984). The species can exhibit broad variation in pelage color, but only at very low levels within populations (Vasarhelyi 2000). In general, callimicos are usually various shades of black but can range from jet black to blackish brown or dark brown, to black with brown and grey, to having some reddish brown, silvery brown, or even some white on restricted areas of the body (Hill 1959; Hershkovitz 1977; Vasarhelyi 2000; Ankel-Simons 2007). Normally, when other colors or tints other than black are seen they are limited to the head, back, tail, limbs, and dorsal areas (Hershkovitz 1977). The fur is thick, soft, sleek and silky usually around 1-2 cm (0.4-0.8 in) long (Hill 1959; Heltne et al. 1981). In addition, there is a mane of longer hair around the neck which either partially or completely hides the ears and the hair on the crown of the head is plush and upright (Jacobs 1984; Defler 2004).”

Read more via Primate Info Net

[theolduvaigorge]

“In Java face to face with Homo erectus”

(Source: @drdonjohanson on Twitter)

[howstuffworks]

Do animals laugh?

Pondering if animals can laugh isn’t new; the idea traces as far back at least as 1872 and Charles Darwin’s “The Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals.” He focused on chimpanzees and other apes, which he observed emitting a laughter-like response to tickling or playing. Decades later, similar research at Germany’s University of Hannover concluded that these sounds are similar to human laughter. The research also revealed that primates have spent the past 10-16 million years evolving this ability. 

Read on…

[theolduvaigorge]

Knapping, Learning and Language: an Experimental Approach to Assessing Palaeolithic Cognition (Pilot study) 

by Cory M. Cuthbertson

“Language’s origins lie in the Palaeolithic, but no empirical method exists that charts its development archaeologically. In this poster presentation, I will share preliminary data from a pilot study evaluating the effects of social learning on the morphology of lithic material. Different learning methods require different levels of theory of mind (the ability to consider another’s mental states). To possess a theory of mind implies certain necessary linguistic features. Therefore by identifying the social learning methods of Palaeolithic communities, linguistic competence is indicated as well: for example, imitation requires second-level intentionality which implies joint attention and word reference. Teaching is argued by the author to require third-level intentionality supported by contrastive grammatical items and mental state verbs (to know, to want…). Four groups of novices (n=12) will have learned to knap handaxes using moulded porcelain blanks as raw material to aid a more scientific methodology. They will learn under different imposed social learning conditions: emulation (viewing only the end products of the manufacture sequence), imitation (watching videos of knapping), teaching (conventional pedagogy), and non-verbal teaching (silent pedagogy). The groups’ assemblages are analysed for morphological characteristics that might identify by which method the group learned. My hypothesis is that tool standardization will increase in groups where technology is transmitted using more complex levels of theory of mind. This will be the first study to empirically support specific syntactic and semantic abilities identified from lithic morphology.”

(Source: Unravelling the Palaeolithic, Oxford University 2015 via Academia.edu)

[literary-ethnography-deactivate]

Anthropology will continue to get a bad rap as long as we anthropologists think and write about the human condition in obtuse ways. When I talk about my life in anthropology and the people I have come to know and love over the years, I find people in the audience moved–not because what I had to say was particularly brilliant, but because I opened my experience–my joy and pain and that of my Nigerian friends–to them and such an opening established a connection. At my last several talks, I seen people shed a tear to two when I talk about the depth of my ethnographic experience and the depth of the humanity of my Nigerian friends. That kind of connect is usually missing in anthropological accounts. In my view of things, this connect should be the centerpiece of what we do.

Paul Stoller, this year’s recipient of the Anders Retzius gold medal (for a significant contribution to the field of anthropology)

[indiaincredible]

The rickshaws all over the streets of Vrindavan.

[theolduvaigorge]

Prehistoric paintings identified in Central Burma

“A rock formation etched with prehistoric drawings and what is believed to have been an animist worship altar has been identified deep in the forests of Pae Dwe mountain, located between Ywa Ngan Township in Shan State and Wun Dwin Township of neighboring Mandalay Division.

The prehistoric art is the first finding of its kind in more than a half century, with the last known discovery inside central Burma’s Padah-Lin caves. Amateur adventurer Win Bo stumbled upon the images on Saturday at an area known locally as Mya Kha Nauk, about eight miles southwest of the famous Padah-Lin caves A group led by veteran historian Win Maung (Tampawaddy), amateur archaeologists, historians from Mandalay, researchers and Aung Aung Kyaw, the deputy director of the Ministry of Culture’s research department, reached the rock shelter on Wednesday and carried out preliminary research at the site. 

Handprints in a fading reddish brown colour and animal figures resembling tortoises and deer were found on the ceiling of the massive mushroom-like rock, which appears to have been used in more recent times as a shelter and is partially stained by smoke from campfires. The base of the rock shelter is covered with numerous names, believed to have been etched into the stone using charcoal by more contemporary inhabitants” (read more).

(Source: Archaeology News Network)

[original-photographers]

berber nomad generations

middle atlas mountains, moroco

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