Anthropology Magazine
New stories
Are People Projecting Racist Stereotypes Onto Squirrels?
Researchers refute a popular idea that black-furred squirrels behave more aggressively than gray ones—and suggest the myth stems from some people’s racist attitudes.
Tackling the Impossibility—and Necessity—of Counting the World’s Languages
A language scientist delves into historic and current efforts to catalog the planet’s 7,000-plus languages, uncovering colorful tales and Herculean challenges.
Harvest Song
A poet-anthropologist celebrates relatedness across difference in a poem that honors the festivals of Navratri, Durga Puja, Kali Puja, Day of the Dead, and Halloween—all of which draw on otherworldly connections and mysteries.
How Water Insecurity Impacts Women’s Health
Anthropologists and local activists in Indonesia and Peru uncover links between water scarcity and gendered violence, and work together to lessen the harms of gender inequality.
Expanding worlds by exploring everything human.
Spotlight
SPIRITS OF THE SEASON
How Halloween Has Traveled the Globe
Whether trick-or-treating in the United States or costume play celebrations in Japan, Allhallows Eve has taken many forms as its traditions travel the world.
Confronting the Specter of Cultural Appropriation
From Halloween costumes to haute couture, ethnic foods to movies, the danger of appropriating another culture seems to be everywhere. How do we weigh the difference between celebrating and stealing someone else’s culture?
Alive in the Flapping of Infinite Orange Wings
Monarch butterflies’ epic annual migration from North America to Mexico inspires an anthropologist to reflect on this insect’s precarious life cycles through the lens of “multispecies ethnography.”
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With the support of a grant from the John Templeton Foundation, the SAPIENS Public Scholars Training Fellowship program guides anthropologists on accessible writing and podcasting for nonacademic audiences.
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Anthropological poems have the potential to transform ways of thinking and being in the world.
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EXPLORE ANTHROPOLOGY
ASK SAPIENSThe broad field of anthropology studies “everything human,” focusing on what makes different people human in their own distinctive ways.
What Is Anthropology?
The broad field of anthropology is the science of humanity that studies “everything human,” focusing on what makes different people human in their own distinctive ways.
What Is Linguistic Anthropology?
Linguistic anthropologists study language in context, revealing how people’s ways of communicating and expressing themselves interact with human culture, history, politics, identity, and much more.
What Is Cultural Anthropology?
Cultural anthropologists seek to understand the dizzyingly diverse ways people live today, including how they think, act, create, struggle, make meaning, and organize their societies.
What Do Archaeologists Do?
Archaeologists use a wide variety of methods to explore a fascinating range of topics about human history, culture, and behavior. Here’s an overview of the ways archaeologists preserve heritage and how you can work in this field.
Podcast
OpenNEW: SEASON 7
All stories
Unraveling a “Ghost” Neanderthal Lineage
Remains in France found by archaeologists and geneticists suggest at least two lineages—not just one—of late Neanderthals in Europe.
Playing Rock, Paper, Scissors Across the Red-Blue Divide
As toxic polarization deepens in the U.S., some global conflict prevention experts are now addressing political violence at home. An anthropologist shares three key insights from a community action program in Wisconsin.
Revisiting the Spiritual Violence of BS Jobs
Anthropologist David Graeber’s celebrated theory of “bullshit jobs” continues to provide a critical window into why modern work is often so useless, soul-sucking, and absurd.
The Distant Origins of a Stonehenge Stone
After two decades of research, scholars find that Stonehenge’s giant Altar Stone came from northeast Scotland.
Do You Want to Write for SAPIENS?
A free online webinar by SAPIENS Editor-in-Chief Chip Colwell to learn about how to write for the magazine and its peer publications.
People Are Not Peas—Why Genetics Education Needs an Overhaul
The decades out-of-date genetics taught in most U.S. schools stokes misconceptions about race and human diversity. A biological anthropologist calls for change.
Archived Haints
SAPIENS’ 2024 poet-in-residence conjures the voices of those imprisoned in archives.
Gaza’s Deaf Community in the Face of Genocide
An anthropologist who works with deaf communities in the Arabic-speaking Middle East argues that ending Israel’s war on Gaza and occupation of Palestine is a matter of disability justice.
Protecting Ancestral Waters Through Collaborative Stewardship
The proposed Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary, along California’s Central Coast, would be the first of its kind in the U.S. to be nominated by Native peoples.
Digging Into an Ancient Apocalypse Controversy From a Hopi Perspective
When producers for a popular Netflix series sought a permit to film on public lands in the U.S. Southwest, many Native leaders objected. A Hopi tribal official, Stewart B. Koyiyumptewa, shares his views.
The Land of Dreams
In a dystopian short story, an anthropologist imagines an alternate world in which Kashmiris are forbidden to dream.
Finding Our Way Forward—by Remembering
In a personal essay, a mixed-race and Native anthropologist draws strength from his ancestors.
Speaking Truth to Israel Requires More Than Academic Freedom
Educators and students critical of Israel’s war on Gaza face censorship, harassment, and dismissal. An anthropologist who researches coexistence between Israelis and Palestinians argues such critics need more than free speech protections.
Payangko, or Echidna (Zaglossus attenboroughi)
After a 60-year haitus, an Attenborough’s long-beaked echidna was seen in Indonesia’s Cyclops Mountains. A poet-anthropologist reflects on the echidna’s message through the storied lens of the people of Yongsu Sapari.
Inside Amazon’s Union-Busting Tactics
An anthropologist reports on the impediments to labor organizing—and why it’s still worth trying.
Fighting for Reproductive Rights in Retirement
An anthropologist conducts research in an Arizona retirement community, where older women share hard-won insights about how limitations on sexual and reproductive freedom impacted their lives.
Can Ancient DNA Support Indigenous Histories?
A biological anthropologist reflects on how scientific research can be used to reaffirm or undermine Indigenous land ties in Argentina.
Can Embracing Copies Help With Museum Restitution Cases?
Many museums are wrestling with returning looted or unethically obtained ancient objects. An archaeologist considers how a shift in public attitudes toward plaster and 3D copies could make a difference.
Can Art Save the “Post-Apocalyptic” Salton Sea?
In this Mad Max–like California landscape, artists and activists are inventing renewable alternatives to the capitalist system that’s developing but also destroying the region.
How Allocating Work Aided Our Evolutionary Success
Societies divide labor by gender and age. A biological anthropologist considers when and why this behavior arose.
Bringing Back the World’s Most Endangered Cat
A social scientist goes behind the scenes at a breeding center in Portugal to explore the challenges and ethical dilemmas of reintroducing the Iberian lynx.
The Shortcomings of Height in Politics
Why is height a focal point for some politicians? An anthropologist explores the significance of height—explaining how cultural perceptions influence and distort political dynamics in the U.S.
Griko’s Poetic Whisper
In two poems, an anthropologist speaks to the timelessness and constant change of the minority language Griko in the Italian landscape.
When a Message App Became Evidence of Terrorism
Beginning in 2016, the Turkish government accused anyone with the messaging application ByLock of terrorism. An anthropologist investigates the risks of this kind of digital evidence.
Cuando una aplicación de mensajería se convirtió en prueba de terrorismo
A partir de 2016, el gobierno turco acusó de terrorismo a cualquiera que tuviera la aplicación de mensajería ByLock. Un antropólogo investiga los riesgos de este tipo de pruebas digitales.
The Rise of Aunties in Pakistani Politics
Middle-class, conservative women in Pakistan have found a political voice as supporters of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party—putting them at odds with the secular women’s movement their own daughters support.
For Families of Missing Loved Ones, Forensic Investigations Don’t Always Bring Closure
An anthropologist working in Azerbaijan looks beyond forensic science to understand the value of culturally specific ways people navigate uncertainty in protracted conflict zones.
Albania’s Waste Collectors and the Fight for Dignity
An anthropologist shines a light on Romani and Egyptian recyclers whose work has been made illegal, calling for a new way of viewing humanity’s garbage.
Grappling With Guilt Inside a System of Structural Violence
Criminals and Gangmembers Anonymous, a 12-step recovery program, has proliferated in California’s carceral system. An anthropologist investigates the program, which sees criminality as a chronic addiction that can be treated through intervention.
Inside Russia’s Campaign to Steal and Indoctrinate Ukrainian Children
An anthropologist investigates an insidious side of Russia’s genocide against Ukrainians meant to shatter families: snatching children and occupying their minds.
Coastal Eden
A poet interrogates the garden of Eden origin story by reimagining it against the backdrop of East Africa’s coastal environment.
On the Tracks to Translating Indigenous Knowledge
A team of researchers will journey by railway to Lac Seul First Nation in Canada to better understand alternative ways of seeing the world.
