To account for the bell- or acorn-shaped glans penis, in 1995 Baker and Bellis put forward their ‘semen-displacement hypothesis’. They argued that the existence of the glans penis is indicative of a promiscuous phase in our evolutionary p...
Forensic anthropologists have been involved in investigating genocide and crimes against humanity for many decades. Raphael Lempkin first coined the term “genocide” in 1944, and in 1946, the United Nations General Assembly codified it as...
In recent years, the question of “difference” has become a central feature of public debate and social concern, especially in the context of transnational migration. The underlying question that we attempt to answer in this article is: ho...
Forensic anthropology and, more broadly, the forensic sciences have only recently begun to acknowledge the importance of lived gender identity in the resolution of forensic cases, the epidemic of anti-transgender violence, and the need to seek practi...
Instances of racial disparities are well documented in the United States’ criminal justice system. This study reviewed the literature and conducted quantitative analyses on the role of race in forensic decision making among practitioners and ot...
Understanding the composition and diagenetic processes of the deposition environment is pivotal to understanding why bone undergoes preservation or diagenesis. This research explores the complex nexus of diagenesis at the extremes of preservation, vi...
Litter size plays an essential role in mammalian evolution and is one of the most important factors determining whether an organism is deemed to have a ‘slow’ or ‘fast’ life history strategy. Humans are distinct in being class...
Forensic anthropologists have a responsibility to appropriately relay information about a decedent in medicolegal reports and when communicating with the public. The terms ‘sex’ and ‘sex estimation’ have been applied with nume...
In this study, we propose a groundbreaking hypothesis for the evolution of reciprocal altruism, suggesting its emergence from random encounters characterized by theft rather than the traditionally accepted cooperative reciprocation and intertemporal...
This article highlights the phenomenon of marginalized populations and minorities who espouse white supremacist ideology despite their own ethnic and cultural backgrounds within the USA. This study focusses on how non-Caucasian individuals are attrac...
Girsu, the modern site of Tello (southern Iraq), represents one of the earliest known urban centres of the ancient world, along with Uruk, Eridu, and Ur. During the 3rd millennium BCE (3000–2000 BCE), Girsu was revered as the sanctuary of the S...
This study will review previously published Proto-Athabaskan (P-A) linguistic reconstructions related to weapons and ceramics technologies present on both sides of the Bering Strait. Na-Dene (N-D) is a large family of indigenous languages of North Am...
Lactation in humans is complex. Understanding the cultural and biological patterns of human breastfeeding requires a global evolutionary analysis that includes observations of other primates. Human breastfeeding may have several specificities, but so...
Occupational health and safety (OHS) is a largely technical field, still guided by a biomedical model of health that seeks to isolate factors that cause injury. Despite a growing literature on organisational and managerial factors influencing occupat...
Over the years, the field of forensic anthropology has become more diverse, bringing unique perspectives to a previously homogeneous field. This diversification has been accompanied by recognizing the need for advocacy and activism in an effort to su...
Inspired by a traditional ritual, the potlatch, Indigenous Dene communities in central-northern Alaska have developed new forms of reciprocity as a response to exogenous political threats to their autonomy. The potlatch involved the ritualized giftin...
Despite the increasing visibility of transgender and gender diverse (TGD) people in U.S. society, current linguistic practices within forensic anthropology and death investigation in general are not TGD-inclusive. This lack of consideration for TGD d...
Accepting the premise that sociocultural anthropology is colonialist and Audre Lorde’s maxim that the master’s tools cannot remake the master’s house, I consider the value of a tool from outside the master’s house to reconstru...
Violence and trauma are nestled in human rights violations worldwide. Since the 1980s, several international and domestic organizations have formed to conduct investigations following instances of political unrest and sociocultural violence. These in...
The development of transhumant livestock farming in the Iberian Peninsula from the Late Middle Ages onward is one of the most thoroughly studied aspects of economic history, as it laid the foundation for the prosperity of the Kingdom of Castile throu...
In this study, I discuss recent studies of human/wildlife mutualisms and suggest that several cases considered to represent domestication that has arisen through commensalism would be better considered as examples of mutualism between humans and vari...
Because of systemic discrimination, transgender individuals are at greater risk of being the victims of violence and of homicide. Accurate post-mortem identification from skeletonized remains of transgender individuals must be incorporated into a new...
Despite a growing focus on diversity initiatives in the field of anthropology, accessibility to advancement is growing further out of reach for many students and early career professionals. There has been a noticeable uptick in the cost of organizati...
The present study collected a larger set of three-dimensional data on human crania from the Kofun period (as well as from previous periods, i.e., the Jomon and Yayoi periods) in the Japanese archipelago (AD 250 to around 700) than previous studies. T...
Implicit and explicit barriers to building a culture of belonging persist in U.S. forensic anthropology. These barriers create and exacerbate vulnerabilities, especially among marginalized groups, that need to be addressed. The lack of diversity in U...
This essay takes advantage of the current context of superdiversity to define a form of hybrid heuristics between North American anthropology and research-creation “in” the arts. In an attempt to alleviate the epistemological disaster des...
In this paper, we revisit the Mesolithic–Neolithic transition in western Scotland and the links between early European farmers and middens in light of new aDNA, radiocarbon, and stable isotopic evidence. New carbon and nitrogen stable isotopic...
Is there a qualitative difference between apes’ and humans ‘ability to estimate others’ mental states’, a.k.a. ‘Theory-of-Mind’? After opting for the idea that expectations are empty profiles that recognize a parti...
Lion transformation, among San-Bushmen, is arguably the most dramatic and spectacular instance of animal transformation. Transformation is a central component of San curing and initiation ritual and of certain San hunting practices. Moreover, it is a...
This article focuses on methods for designing heuristic models within the paradigm of systems theory and in the disciplinary context of intercultural communication. The main question arises from the striking observation that common language is insuff...
The landmark Philippine Supreme Court case Llorente vs. Llorente illuminates the complex intersections of transnational migration, inheritance law, and colonial legacies in the Philippines. The case centers on Lorenzo Llorente, a Filipino US Navy ser...
This theoretical article explores the contrasting ontologies, axiologies, and political economies of transhumanism and posthumanism. Transhumanism envisions the human as an enhanced, autonomous agent shaped by neoliberal and Enlightenment ideals. Pos...
Archaeologists deploy a variety of models and theories, often tailored to specific questions or situations, in making sense of the material record we study. The concept of the community of practice, originally developed in the context of modern work...
The transformation due to climate change of the high Alpine mountains is intensifying. A real disruption in the perception of this milieu and in the ways of interacting with it is ongoing, as evidenced by recent funeral ceremonies organised for disap...
This paper examines our collective exploratory research on Anthropology and Sociology students at Concordia University. As teaching faculty members at Concordia, we have all observed a significant shift in our student population over the past fifteen...
Segmentary lineage theory fell out of favor in cultural anthropology during the 1980s. However, the core ideas of segmentary lineage have continued to shape political mobilization as well as political analysis in Africa long after the theory’s...
Traditional models of interaction in northern Sudan have innate Egyptological, elite, and urban biases which have relegated certain areas to mere peripheries of more ‘established’ and ‘central’ sites. In order to reach a highe...
We contacted Steven Vertovec in the fall of 2023 to invite him to participate in this Special Issue on systemic approaches when adopted by researchers, particularly anthropologists, in the context of their work on migration issues in the era of super...
This study examines the impact of reproductive inequality on the long-term survival of Homo sapiens by comparing two reproductive models: the Pareto (power-law) distribution of unequal reproduction and the Gaussian (normal) distribution of equal repr...
This paper aims at documenting and reconstructing the linguistic processes generating and substantiating the use of number systems, numbers in general, elementary arithmetic, and the related concepts and notions among the Kula people from Alor Island...
Contemporary biopolitical discourse around fundamental rights and societal representations has increasingly weaponized moral-based attitudes and personal feelings, eschewing informed, factual opinions grounded in observation, data analysis, and scien...
It has been argued that the increase in the consumption of dogs in the southern Levant during the Iron Age was due to the advent of the Philistines/“Sea Peoples” into the region. In this study, we test this proposal through the presentation of new in...
This article discusses collaborative ethnography as a meaningful source for spatial research, in particular, for participatory methodologies in urban planning and placemaking processes. It investigates the experiences with co-creation and co-research...
The following work is based on the historical–anthropological analysis of 93 skeletal remains belonging to post-war casualties who died in 1946 and remained missing for years. In 2019, 93 metal boxes containing skeletal remains of Slavic origin...
Organ–skeleton relationships are understudied in biological anthropology. The torso skeleton is often used to infer the organ size and evolution in hominins; ribcage “types”, in particular, are used to infer the abdominal organ size...
This paper outlines advances in biocultural approaches to anthropology by discussing anthropological approaches to understanding stress, how anthropologists have typically measured stress, and why it matters for anthropology and beyond. We discuss th...
This research project is aimed at exploring the cognitive and emotional processes involved in perceiving Etruscan artifacts. The case study is the Sarcophagus of the Spouses at the National Etruscan Museum in Rome, one of the most important masterpie...
This essay considers the abolitionist narrative, The Life of Olaudah Equiano, through the anthropological lens of ethnography. Equiano’s account, though not without controversy, contributes to the evolution of an African cultural consciousness...
The excavation of residential areas is a growing focus of research in Andean archaeology. Studies reveal that interpreting household remains from some prehispanic societies can be complex because of the nature of abandonment ritual, which may involve...
The Late Chalcolithic period in the southern Levant saw notable changes in almost every aspect of daily life. Some of the most significant shifts during this time seem to have been anchored in the subsistence economy and involved food and its cooking...
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