AnthroArchives

Many different cultures have many different beliefs when it comes to ancestors and how they affect the lives of their decedents. Most of these beliefs stem from religion and what religions have been a part of that culture.

The Native American’s of North and South America have many varied beliefs, but some of the shared one’s are that the ancestors watch down on the living. That the ancestors are to be revered and honored.

Asian cultures such as the Chinese have a similar belief. They would pray to their ancestors and keep the family ‘honor’ which could have been received Read more

Marriage is definitely looked upon nowadays in a different light. Years ago the idea was for couples to date, get married and have children. Now, it seems as though that has been reversed. Many modern day couples choose to forego marriage altogether and instead live together, and even have children together, without ever signing a piece of paper that declares them married.

Then, there’s the topic of same-sex marriage. People seem to be torn straight down the middle when it comes to Read more

Ethnocentrism or the belief that one’s ethnic or cultural group is of paramount importance and from that stance all other ethnic and cultural groups measured. The only way to minimize and remove ethno stratification is through assimilation (or melting pot) of the minority subgroups. This is a long and arduous process, and unfortunately the minority class will experience hostility throughout it.
In order to promote assimilation we need to work to reduce the cultural differences between the dominant and minority groups. Unfortunately, this places the burden of change firmly Read more

A shaman is a person who has concrete and direct relations with the world of gods and spirits. He is able to see them face to face, he can talk to them, and he may plead with them. The communication with the above-mentioned forces is always two-sided. Shamans speak to their chosen spirits, their lords and masters, and they receive advise and support from them.

Rituals of invocation serve to attract unseen power, and the used techniques are numerous and differentiated. They, furthermore, vary in culture, religion and region. Among the means of correspondence with the spirit world are shaman Read more

Humanity when taken as a whole is incredibly diverse and many of our customs and behaviors don’t just seem to be contradictory, they are. For all their confusing and often conflicting view on what is expected of a member of society, they all spring form the same needs. Our differences by be legion, but they all derive from the same basic desires and needs.

One of the constants that cuts across all human cultures is food. Without it, life is rather challenging. Sustenance is something that we need, yet all over the world good food is a matter of pride. Read more

The question of Nature vs. Nurture is often the topic of heated debate. Do our genes or our environment determine who we are? Your genetics gave you Aunt Suzie’s nose, but are they responsible for giving you her cooking skills? Or did your ability to master the family’s secret lasagna recipe a result of spending every holiday at Aunt Suzie’s elbow helping her cook? Did you not only inherit Grandpa’s chess set, but also Read more

When asking if globalization is good or bad, the answer must be, “Yes.” There are nearly countless ways in which it has been good, but there also are many ways in which it can be seen as having been bad.

Much of the discussion of globalization’s effects centers on the exploitation of poor and uneducated citizens of developing nations. In the past, sadly, many such accusations were true. The fully-avoidable disaster at the Bhopal, India site of the former Union Carbide stands as an example Read more

Though primarily a study of humanity, in some instances, Anthropology extends itself beyond the mere parameters of Homo sapiens. Such is the case when discussion turns towards the topic of the human need for companionship. While yes, men and women are ultimately drawn towards one another, neither sex can claim the title of “Man’s Best Friend.” Reserved rather for a furrier four-legged counterpart, dogs have been on record as present among humans for more than 11,000 years.Still, while canine accompaniment is quite literally old news, human/dog history added a little more to its annals in January, when researchers at the University of Maine Department of Anthropology and Climate Change broke news of the oldest dog remains ever uncovered in the Americas, a fossil found in Texas‘ archaeologically-famed Lower Pecos area. Believed to be approximately 9,400 years old, or some 65,800 dog years, it’s unclear as to what capacity this pup served in the local community. Read more

With more and more world citizens skeptical of the Columbian “discovery” of the New World, further evidence may suggest that the Norsemen beat him to it by nearly a half millennium. Not to mention the fact that the so called New World was only new to Europe, quite old terrain to generation upon generation of Native Americans. With that said, new revelations suggest interactions between Viking explorers and the Native American population that include Native Americans making the trip back to Iceland. What does this mean?For starters, this has major implications for Icelandic ancestry. According to Frettabladid, the theory, which was suggested in a master’s thesis at University of Iceland by Sigridur Sunna Ebeneserdottir, indicates genes atypical from those of entirely European descent, as noted in previous research, align with those found in Americans around the time of year 1000 CE, when it is believed the Native American individuals were brought back to Iceland. Furthermore, evidence suggests that these particular genotypes were not found among Inuit tribes in Greenland, which could in effect debunk the theory, rather were correlated to the American mainland. Read more