Radical Anthropology / is on Nostr

London's longest running evening class, studying What it means to be human at UCL Anthropology dept. We are FREE, on Tues eves term time. Account run by Camilla Power. Radical anthropologists include Chris Knight, Ian Watts, Jerome Lewis and Morna Finnegan
#anthropology #socialanthropology #evolutionaryanthropology #archaeology

New term starts on Sept 24,
LIVE @UCL and on ZOOM
http://radicalanthropologygroup.org/

Vimeo collection of previous talks
https://vimeo.com/user33365184

Artist: Diego Rodriguez-Robredo

Last Notes

2024-09-11 12:40:30

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as an English speaker, not sure I agree with that interpretation. It's not putting people above, it's seeing people's responsibility.

2024-09-11 06:18:30

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the paper refs rigorous studies supporting stewardship, which get sidelined by this fallacy. We like stewardship, curatorship, leadership, whatever acknowledges these lifeways and animist ontologies show the best way forward

2024-06-10 19:17:12

Hungarian #Roma photojournalist Eszter #Halasi on the #Appleby Horse Fair, the annual gathering of #Gypsies and #Travellers.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jun/09/appleby-the-celebration-of-our-cultural-heritage
https://s3.c.im/media_attachments/files/112/593/956/181/584/382/original/d9b7ff3ad815b09d.jpg

2024-06-10 17:19:44

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https://elephantvoices.org/latest-news-updates/enewsletters/like-us-elephants-have-names-too

2024-06-10 17:15:18

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Study here
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-024-02420-w

2024-06-10 17:14:59

OK, wow!
#Elephants call each other by name. Study uses AI algorithm to analyze calls in two herds of savanna 🐘 🐘 in Kenya.
The research “not only shows that elephants use specific vocalisations for each individual, but that they recognise and react to a call addressed to them while ignoring those addressed to others”, the lead study author, Michael Pardo, said.
'...when names were called out, it was often over a long distance, and when adults were addressing young elephants.
...Adults were also more likely to use names than calves, suggesting it could take years to learn this particular talent.'
#animalcommunication #vocalisation
https://www.theguardian.com/science/article/2024/jun/10/elephant-names-study-ai

2024-06-08 11:02:28

80 years ago, June 8 1944, Chris Knight, founder of Radical Anthropology, was 18 months old. His dad Denis landed on Gold Beach with the 44th Royal Tank Regiment, age 23 and already a veteran of N Africa and Sicily. As a tank 'trooper' he took part in the advance across the Rhine.
Traumatised by his experiences, Denis became an ardent pacifist through the 1950s, values he transmitted to his son (who spent much of the early 70s trying to organise trade unions with BAOR soldiers!).
We abhor any form of war glorification and above all political manipulation of the courage of ordinary people who resisted Nazism. Denis and his tank comrades would have been utterly disgusted by the cynical distortions of Biden on this occasion, knowing all too well that they depended on the Red Army to destroy the nazis.
For Denis the only valuable lessons to learn were #NEVERAGAIN
#NoWar
#NoBorders
#NoNazis
Denis Knight was a poet, and this link recalls his war poetry, and shows his tank crew at Bremen in 1945.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/stories/52/a8138252.shtml
https://s3.c.im/media_attachments/files/112/580/639/759/820/788/original/83a2fc27a7906964.jpg

2024-06-06 10:40:50

Extraordinary fine-grained timescales in this analysis of #Neanderthal #fire pits from #Spain 52,000 years ago -- the life of groups moving in and out for more than 200 years.
'To date the Neanderthals’ time at El Salt more precisely, the researchers analysed magnetic minerals recovered from several hearths found within a few metres of each other. These minerals record the orientation of Earth’s fluctuating magnetic field at the time the fire was last extinguished.'
#archaeology #MiddlePalaeolithic
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-01688-z

2024-06-03 18:10:29

Analysis of aDNA from early #Celtic princely burials is suggesting a 'mother's brother-sister's son' ie #avunculate, relationship of the men buried in two of the richest burial mounds of the Hallstatt culture, Eberdingen-Hochdorf and Asperg-Grafenbühl burial mounds. Were these early Celtic elites #matrilineal?
https://www.popsci.com/science/celtic-burial-gender/

2024-05-29 10:33:32

#ClimateDiary
#Delhi hits its highest ever recorded temperature: 49.9 degrees.
https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/south-asia/india-s-capital-records-highest-ever-temperature-at-499-deg-c

2024-05-22 12:53:57

A decent summary of the discussion over shrinkage of brain size in Homo sapiens in the past 100,000 years.
One very strong point is made by Eva #Jablonka, linking reduction of brain size to stratification and class society:
'Jablonka argues that if even if brains did shrink when complex societies emerged, it doesn't necessarily follow that smaller brains were necessarily an adaptive response.
"If 3,000 years ago much larger more complex societies emerged, this could correlate with much greater differences in social classes. If, as a consequence the majority of people were poor, then we know that poverty and malnutrition and things like that would compromise the developing brain."'
We would agree, metabolic and energetic/nutrient constraint is likely important. Marta #Lahr also suggests a link to nutrient deficiency associating to onset of agriculture.
A significant implication is that the super large brains of our ancestors came about through #egalitarianism and strong ethics of #sharing vital nutrients to mothers and children.
#brainsize #humanorigins #evolution #anthropology
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20240517-the-human-brain-has-been-shrinking-and-no-one-quite-knows-why

2024-05-16 09:34:05

Great tits, ultra reliable indicators of #climatechange
#climatediary
https://theconversation.com/the-great-tits-in-this-oxford-wood-are-adapting-their-breeding-times-as-climate-changes-heres-how-224172?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1715276269

2024-05-14 15:07:46

Got our mits on it! And chuffed to get mentions in the text!
https://s3.c.im/media_attachments/files/112/440/056/991/271/100/original/c06183c2ac846ed3.jpg

2024-05-01 07:14:20

#Kahnawake, the indigenous guardians of the land occupied by McGill University, Montreal, have given the students the right to setup their encampments on the land in fighting for a Palestine free from occupation and genocide.
https://s3.c.im/media_attachments/files/112/364/590/296/607/678/original/5236d14dd1e572c0.jpg

2024-04-12 11:18:12

'Capitalism and extreme poverty'
#DylanSullivan and #JasonHickel
'This paper assesses claims that, prior to the 19th century, around 90% of the human population lived in extreme poverty (defined as the inability to access essential goods), and that global human welfare only began to improve with the rise of capitalism....
We assess this narrative against extant data on three empirical indicators of human welfare: real wages (with respect to a subsistence basket), human height, and mortality..
three conclusions. (1) It is unlikely that 90% of the human population lived in extreme poverty prior to the 19th century. Historically, unskilled urban labourers in all regions tended to have wages high enough to support a family of four above the poverty line by working 250 days or 12 months a year...(2) The rise of capitalism caused a dramatic deterioration of human welfare. In all regions studied here, incorporation into the capitalist world-system was associated with a decline in wages to below subsistence, a deterioration in human stature, and an upturn in premature mortality. In parts of South Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, and Latin America, key welfare metrics have still not recovered(3) Where progress has occurred, significant improvements in human welfare began several centuries after the rise of capitalism..
#capitalism #poverty #baresubsistence
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305750X22002169