Journal Description

Humans

Humans is an international, peer-reviewed, open access journal on anthropology published quarterly online by MDPI.

Open Access— free to download, share, and reuse content. Authors receive recognition for their contribution when the paper is reused.
Rapid Publication: first decisions in 15 days; acceptance to publication in 3 days (median values for MDPI journals in the second half of 2021).
Recognition of Reviewers: APC discount vouchers, optional signed peer review, and reviewer names published annually in the journal.

Imprint Information Open Access ISSN: 2673-9461

Latest Articles

Open AccessArticle

Functioning of Polish Women in Binational Relationships—An Outline of the Issue against the Background of Migration in the Interpreted Paradigm

Marcin Gierczyk

and

Dagmara Dobosz

Humans 2022, 2(2), 50-63; https://doi.org/10.3390/humans2020004 - 03 May 2022

Abstract

The aim of this study was to describe the functioning of Polish women living in Britain and the USA who have entered into formal or informal relationships with foreigners. The analysis of the literature has shown that research which helps to understand the specifics of how binational relationships work is still scarce, so researchers are encouraged to conduct more studies in this area. The analyses presented here are based on individual semi-structured in-depth interviews conducted among 21 women (N = 21). The research has shown, among other things, that the migration of Polish women is strongly correlated with living conditions and the economic situation in the country. The stories of the women interviewed about leaving Poland clearly show the changes in migration patterns developing in the 21st century. Full article

Open AccessArticle

The Leontocephaline from the Villa Albani: Material Documentation for Religious Entanglement

Sharon Khalifa-Gueta

Humans 2022, 2(2), 31-49; https://doi.org/10.3390/humans2020003 - 21 Apr 2022

Abstract

In this article, I place the Leontocephaline from the Villa Albani on the axis of time of the Mithraic Saturn/Kronos prototype. Entangled in that prototype are astrology, concepts of death, and time perceptions. As a symbolic choice, its style reflects politico-religious and cultural colonial appropriation by Rome’s elite of the Severan period and demonstrates a syncretistic complexity adapted to Roman esthetic values. By surveying these issues and identifying the iconographic changes the statue has undergone, I reveal the elements of that colonial appropriation. The movement of the serpents and the astrological reliefs on the body depict Western philosophical concepts of the movement of the soul between the constellations after death and the unbounded (circular) nature of Aionic time entangled with Eastern concepts of the procession of time and Leontocephalic divinities. Full article

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Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Newly Sedentary Lanoh and the Communal Challenge: A Critical Commentary on Anarchist Anthropology

Csilla Dallos

Humans 2022, 2(1), 15-30; https://doi.org/10.3390/humans2010002 - 11 Feb 2022

Abstract

Discussions of anarchic solidarity in relation to rainforest foragers have resulted in important insights into the sociality of such groups. However, whether anarchic solidarity prevails under the circumstances of regroupment and resettlement resulting in unprecedented communal projects has not been adequately addressed. These communal projects present new challenges to the social and community organization of previously mobile foragers. This article examines the extent to which newly sedentary Lanoh forager-traders of northern Perak, Malaysia, continue to display “cooperative autonomy”, a construct capturing both anarchist aspirations and key aspects of the sociality of egalitarian hunter-gatherers. This study suggests that though foragers such as Lanoh may superficially share attributes associated with anarchic solidarity, they profoundly differ from anarchists in their attitudes toward authority and cooperation. While ideological anarchism is clearly counter-dominant, the same cannot always be said about egalitarian foragers. We may conclude from this research that “cooperative autonomy” is still insufficiently understood and does not grant an assumptive blanket application across contexts. To promote our understanding of the sociality of small-scale societies, this construct requires further scrutiny and development. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Community Organization: Challenges and Novel Approaches)

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Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Community’s House and Symbolic Dwelling: A Perspective on Power

Santiago Mora

Humans 2022, 2(1), 1-14; https://doi.org/10.3390/humans2010001 - 28 Jan 2022

Abstract

For anthropologists and archaeologists, the study of cultural change is the greatest challenge. Initially, the subject was considered from perspectives that included too few variables, resulting in an approximation that proved to be incomplete and inadequate. Since the end of the last century, important efforts have been made to document cultural change in a broader context, revealing the variability of the processes involved. These new studies highlight social relations and their changeability as key components to understanding the dynamic of any community or cultural system. This article explorers social and spatial organization based on one such approach, Lévi-Strauss’ “house society”. This analysis results in a view where multiple dwellings may constitute one conceptual “house”. This perspective should facilitate the archaeological investigation of contexts that nurture the power relationships that structure society. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Community Organization: Challenges and Novel Approaches)

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Open AccessArticle

Women’s Trade-Offs between Fertility and Employment during Industrialisation

and

Humans 2021, 1(2), 47-56; https://doi.org/10.3390/humans1020007 - 30 Nov 2021

Abstract

Modelling fertility decline in post-industrial populations in the context of life history theory has allowed us to better understand the environmental pressures that shape reduced family size. One such pressure, which has received relatively little attention from ecologists, is the movement of women into the labour market. Analyses of effects of employment on fertility in contemporary developing or post-demographic transition populations are limited by the widespread use of modern contraceptives: while uptake of these methods may be a mechanism by which reduced fertility is enacted, their use may obscure effects of employment on fertility. Here, we investigated the impact of women’s employment on family size during a period of the movement of women into the workforce but prior to the use of modern contraceptives. We analysed the effects of women’s employment on family size using census records from 1901 for a regional-level analysis of parishes in Scotland, and for 1851–1901 for an individual-level analysis of the Scottish city of Dundee. Women in employment had fewer children than those not in employment. Income was inversely related with family size, and this was independent of the effects of women’s employment on family size. We suggest that female employment contributes to the evolution of smaller family sizes and that this takes place in the context of prevailing and emerging gender roles, and in interaction with opportunities for employment and wealth. Full article

Open AccessViewpoint

TINA Is Dead: Reflecting on Postcapitalist Futures

Loris Serafino

and

Fabrizia Ghezzo

Humans 2021, 1(2), 44-46; https://doi.org/10.3390/humans1020006 - 23 Nov 2021

Abstract

Social sciences in recent years have clearly proven that TINA—There Is No Alternative (to capitalism)—is no longer tenable. Today, alterity to capitalism comes in many forms and blossoms from inside its borders. Ethnographies of experimentations that span from ecovillages and community economies to alternative forms of work, production, and consumption are now countless. One common denominator of these experiences is that communal forms of social relation take over market relations. The main theoretical issue raised by this empirical work is whether this ferment of scattered, small scale alternative ways of organizing economy and society can coalesce into a fully fledged postcapitalist future or whether it is doomed to be stay marginal and transient at best. Anthropology can be at the forefront of this theoretical challenge. We close this brief commentary by addressing the importance of a future-oriented thinking in Anthropology and for the social science in general. Full article

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Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Preliminary Report on Golden Langur (Trachypithecus geei) Winter Sleep Sites

and

Humans 2021, 1(2), 29-43; https://doi.org/10.3390/humans1020005 - 28 Oct 2021

Abstract

Golden langurs (Trachypithecus geei) in Bhutan have received little research attention in the anthropic environments where most of the population lives. We recorded group sizes and compositions and documented sleep sites for 24 golden langur groups living in a biological corridor (N = 9) and near a human settlement (N = 15) in central Bhutan. We used scan sampling to document behaviors and direct observation and camera traps to record potential predators, and we recorded occurrences of mortality, including two cases of electrocution, one case of roadkill, and one langur skull recovered from a possible leopard prey cache. Golden langur groups were on average significantly larger near human settlements (13.73 individuals) than in the biological corridor (9.55 individuals), and the adult sex ratio was greater near human settlements. The golden langurs usually slept in more than one tree, and our preliminary results indicated rare re-use of the same sleep site. Golden langurs in our study area most often slept in Sapium insigne trees. Sleep trees’ mean DBH was 51.58 cm and the mean height was 19.37 m. We intend for our preliminary data to establish the foundation for future research on the behavior and ecology of golden langurs in Bhutan. Full article

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Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Small WORLD: Ancient Egyptian Architectural Replicas from the Tomb of Meketre

Arlette David

Humans 2021, 1(1), 18-28; https://doi.org/10.3390/humans1010004 - 15 Sep 2021

Abstract

The paper presents a study of the context, functions, and rationale behind architectural replicas sealed off in ancient Egyptian tombs, the finest exemplars of which having been excavated in the Theban tomb of Meketre (ca. 2000 B.C.). The analysis is preceded by clarifications regarding the terminology used, the point of view from which they have to be considered, and the developments that led to their presence in the funerary assemblage. It is suggested that in the sealed ‘replicas chamber’ or burial chamber in which they were deposited, it was mainly the winged ba, a connective agent between the worlds of life, death, and eternity, that was meant to enter the imaginary realm of the replicas and feed the deceased in order to revivify him. Full article

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Open AccessCommunication

The Austronesian Advantage: Natural Selection and Linguistic Diversity

Michael St. Clair

Humans 2021, 1(1), 11-17; https://doi.org/10.3390/humans1010003 - 15 Sep 2021

Abstract

The “Austronesian advantage” suggests that Austronesian-speaking populations in Melanesia are resistant to tropical splenomegaly syndrome, a medical condition linked to chronic exposure to malaria. This hypothesis was proposed by Kevin M. Kelly in his 1988 dissertation, a subsequent 1990 paper, and a 1993 paper co-published with Jeffrey Clark. I now update the Austronesian advantage hypothesis with additional linguistic, anthropological, and genetic data. I find that cultural adaptations cannot fully explain the Austronesian expansion. Rather, the Austronesian advantage, a classic example of natural selection, completes the picture by connecting the Austronesian expansion with greater reproductive success. I also strengthen the Austronesian advantage hypothesis with data from Tibet. The correlation between language expansion and natural selection extends well beyond the Austronesian world. Full article

Open AccessEditorial

With Lofty Goals and Familiar Perspectives, Humans Begins

Kevin M. Kelly

Humans 2021, 1(1), 10; https://doi.org/10.3390/humans1010002 - 30 Jul 2021

Abstract

The world is confronted by problems that are multi- and interdisciplinary, global, and complex [...] Full article

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Legal yet Illegitimate Governance in Italy

Italo Pardo

Humans 2021, 1(1), 1-9; https://doi.org/10.3390/humans1010001 - 19 May 2021

Abstract

For several decades Naples has exemplified the deficit of legitimacy that now outstandingly mars public life in Italy and across many democracies. Drawing on ethnographic evidence from extended anthropological field research, this article examines the increasing gap between rulers and the ruled, which jeopardizes the authority, therefore legitimacy, of governance. With a focus on this major Italian city, the discussion leads to the conclusion that this gap and its ramifications are a substantial threat to democracy that urgently needs to be understood in depth and comprehensively, eschewing both conceptual superimposition and ideological bias organic to vested interests. Full article