tagged w/ Anthropology
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The New York Times...
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December 26, 2011
The Hormone Surge of Middle Childhood
By NATALIE ANGIER
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PART ONE...
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VIEWED superficially, the part of youth that the psychologist Jean Piaget called middle childhood looks tame and uneventful, a quiet patch of road on the otherwise hairpin highway to adulthood.
Said to begin around 5 or 6, when toddlerhood has ended and even the most protractedly breast-fed children have been weaned, and to end when the teen years commence, middle childhood certainly lacks the physical flamboyance of the epochs fore and aft: no gotcha cuteness of babydom, no secondary sexual billboards of pubescence.
Yet as new findings from neuroscience, evolutionary biology, paleontology and anthropology make clear, middle childhood is anything but a bland placeholder. To the contrary, it is a time of great cognitive creativity and ambition, when the brain has pretty much reached its adult size and can focus on threading together its private intranet service — on forging, organizing, amplifying and annotating the tens of billions of synaptic connections that allow brain cells and brain domains to communicate.
Subsidizing the deft frenzy of brain maturation is a distinctive endocrinological event called adrenarche (a-DREN-ar-kee), when the adrenal glands that sit like tricornered hats atop the kidneys begin pumping out powerful hormones known to affect the brain, most notably the androgen dihydroepiandrosterone, or DHEA. Researchers have only begun to understand adrenarche in any detail, but they see it as a signature feature of middle childhood every bit as important as the more familiar gonadal reveille that follows a few years later.
Middle childhood is when the parts of the brain most closely associated with being human finally come online: our ability to control our impulses, to reason, to focus, to plan for the future.
Young children may know something about death and see monsters lurking under every bed, but only in middle childhood is the brain capable of practicing so-called terror management, of accepting one’s inevitable mortality or at least pushing thoughts of it aside.
Other researchers studying the fossil record suggest that a prolonged middle childhood is a fairly recent development in human evolution, a luxury of unfolding that our cousins the Neanderthals did not seem to share. Still others have analyzed attitudes toward middle childhood historically and cross-culturally. The researchers have found that virtually every group examined recognizes middle childhood as a developmental watershed, when children emerge from the shadows of dependency and start taking their place in the wider world.
Much of the new work on middle childhood was described in a recent special issue of the journal Human Nature. As a research topic, “middle childhood has been very much overlooked until recently,” said David Lancy, an anthropologist at Utah State University and a contributor to the special issue. “Which makes it all the more exciting to participate in the field today.”
The anatomy of middle childhood can be subtle. Adult teeth start growing in, allowing children to diversify their diet beyond the mashed potatoes and parentally dissected Salisbury steak stage. The growth of the skeleton, by contrast, slows from the vertiginous pace of early childhood, and though there is a mild growth spurt at age 6 or 7, as well as a bit of chubbying up during the so-called adiposity rebound of middle childhood, much of the remaining skeletal growth awaits the superspurt of puberty.
“Adulthood is defined by being skeletally as well as sexually mature,” said Jennifer Thompson of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. “A girl may have her first period at 11 or 12, but her pelvis doesn’t finish growing until about the age of 18.”
The 18-year time frame of human juvenility far exceeds that seen in any other great ape, Dr. Thompson said. Chimpanzees, for example, are fully formed by age 12. With her colleague Andrew J. Nelson of the University of Western Ontario, Dr. Thompson analyzed fossil specimens from Neanderthals, Homo erectus and other early hominids, and concluded that their growth pattern was more like that of a chimpanzee than a modern human: By age 12 or 14, they had reached adult size.
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CONTINUED...
.The New York Times...
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December 26, 2011
The Hormone Surge of Middle... more
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What is the goal of the project?
The overarching goal of the project is to support scientific research that promises to yield new evidence regarding how the structures of human minds inform and constrain religious expression. The project will conduct research on the cognitive underpinnings of religious concepts and practices – for example, ideas about gods and spirits, the afterlife, spirit possession, prayer, ritual, religious expertise, and connections between religious thought and morality and pro-social behavior. Research is not limited to any particular religious belief or tradition. Indeed, much scholarship in this area is concerned to explain broad patterns of recurrence and variation in religious concepts and practices across diverse cultural and ecological contexts, and throughout history and pre-history. The project forms part of a broader field of interdisciplinary scholarship on the cognitive foundations of cultural expression more generally
Study Paper: http://www.cam.ox.ac.uk/fileadmin/CAM/Anthropology_CRT_FAQs.pdfWhat is the goal of the project?
The overarching goal of the project is to support... more
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A team of anthropologists found a mysterious burial in the jungle near the city of Kigali Rwanda (Central Africa). The remains belong to gigantic creatures that bear little resemblance to humans. Head of research group believes that they could be visitors from another planet who died as a result of a catastrophe.
According to the scientists, they were buried at least 500 years ago. At first, researchers thought that they came across the remains of ancient settlements, but no signs of human life have been found nearby.
The 40 communal graves had approximately 200 bodies in them, all perfectly preserved. The creatures were tall - approximately 7 feet. Their heads were disproportionately large and they had no mouth, nose or eyes.
The anthropologists believe that the creatures were members of an alien landing, possibly destroyed by some terrestrial virus to which they had no immunity. However, no traces of the landing of the spacecraft or its fragments were discovered.
This is not the first such finding. In the summer of 1937 a group of Chinese scientists led by Professor Chi Putei surveyed the caves of Mount Bayan-Kara-Ula. Inside they found skeletons with excessively large heads and puny bodies. Nearby there were 176 stone plates. In the center of each plate there was a hole from which a spiral groove spread out to the perimeter with some characters on it.
In addition, the cave walls were covered with pictures of the rising sun, moon and stars, with many painted dots or small items, slowly approaching the mountains and the earth's surface.
Experts in deciphering ancient written characters have been puzzled over the disclosure of the secret spirals from the cave Bayan-Kara-Ula for two decades. Finally, the professor of Beijing University Zum Umniu deciphered several inscriptions.
The grooved letters narrated that approximately 12 thousand years ago some flying objects crashed in these mountains. Chinese archaeologists found a mention of the peoples who lived in the mountainous caves of Bayan-Kara-Ula.
A corpse of another "alien" was found by Turkish cavers. A mummy of the ice age was resting in a sarcophagus made of crystalline material. The height of the humanoid male creature did not exceed 1 meter 20 centimeters, his skin was light green, and he had large transparent wings on his sides.
According to the researchers, in spite of the unusual appearance the creature looked more like a person rather than an animal. His nose, lips, ears, hands, feet, nails, were very similar to human. Only his eyes were very different, three times bigger than those of a human, and colorless, like reptile's eyes.
Not that long ago in one of the ancient Egyptian tombs a mummy of a man 2.5 meters tall was found. It had no nose or ears, and its mouth was very wide and had no tongue.
According to archaeologist Gaston de Villars, the age of the Mummy is approximately 4 thousand years. It was buried as an Egyptian nobleman - carefully mummified and surrounded by servants, food and art objects designed for the afterlife. However, as it was discovered, not all objects around the finding belong to the Egyptian or even Earth's culture. For example, among the finds was a round polished metal disk covered with strange characters, a costume made of metal with the remnants of something resembling plastic shoes, and many stone tablets filled with images of stars, planets and strange machines. The Shrine where a strange mummy was found also looks unusual. The burial was made of the material unknown in antiquity. The stone was literally carved from the rock so that the walls were smooth, like polished marble. It looked as if it was cut by a laser. Incidentally, the stone's surface was fused. The tomb was decorated with a substance resembling lead.
However, the "alien" theory is not the only one. According to some researchers, the "giants" and "dwarfs" could be a mere side branch of humanity that once lived on Earth, but for some reason became extinct.
Margarita Troitsina
Yoki
more at link...
Nephilim? Annunaki?A team of anthropologists found a mysterious burial in the jungle near the city of... more
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TGIF again, and we're celebrating with some of our favorite posts! I'm covering some of our most popular stories this week with a few choice posts and Regina's got a chilling story on at least one dangerous additive found in cocaine (warning: gross image linked). Get your reading glasses on and settle in for our weekly review!
Regina's Pick of the Week
More Than Two Thirds Of Cocaine In America Is Contaminated With A Skin Rotting Chemical, Says The DOJ added by Misti
This post immediately grabbed my attention with a graphic image of a rotting nose. The article explains that more than 70 percent of cocaine in the United States has been cut by the chemical levamisole, which causes skin to corrode. Warnings have been issued in New York, California, Delaware, Washington, New Mexico and Canada. Bottom-line: Here's another reason to get that monkey off your back (or nose).
If you still want to see that image, click the link, but don't say I didn't warn you.
US Army prepared for zombie invasion, this is not a drill added by alexandrek
Zombie preparation? Team America's got you covered.
This Army-created manual breaks down how to identify those flesh eating terrorists (see: shivering, vomiting – duh!?) in addition to using M4's as your weapon of choice. I agree with the aluminum baseball bat and spear option, however, if you don't happen to have those items in your purse, grab the closest pointy object and smack those brains into mush. If you've played "Dead Rising," you already know that wiffle bats just won't cut it against the walking and drooling dead.
I've bookmarked this one for future reference. Consider me prepared!
Robyn's Picks
Texas Pat Down "The Anus, Sexual Organ, Buttocks, or Breast" added by congoboy
Texas Gov. Rick Perry's TSA bill has died due to concerns of canceled flights. The bill may live on, though, because it's been placed on the upcoming special session's agenda.
Florida sold citizens’ driver’s license information for $62 million added by KB723
Florida's government sold its citizens' driver's license information to corportations, making a cool $62,968,946 in 2010. The data was not sold to telemarketers, apparently, but to companies that provide this information, including full names, driver's license numbers, dates of birth, and full addresses, to other companies for background checks and other legal services. At least one of them, ChoicePoint, experienced a well-publicized breach in 2005, resulting in at least 800 identity thefts (and a $10M civil penalty).
How safe do you feel now?
"Uncontacted" Amazon tribe found in Brazil added by punman
Fascinating story on another uncontacted tribe in an isolated area of Brazil that was recently discovered. In the video, you can see the crude dwellings as the videographers fly over the encampment. Right now, researchers are particularly concerned that deforestation and contact with outsiders may pose a threat to the tribe, as logging in much of South America remains unregulated.
Which potato would you rather eat? [video] added by sbacker
Ending on a good note, now you have something to tell all your friends who poo poo your reliance on natural products and organic foods. You were right all along, and this little kid proves it (and adorably, if I might add).
And that's it for this week. If you saw some stories you'd like to share, please do so in the comments. Of course, if you have a story that you think should be included in our weekly updates, feel free to PM either Regina or me and let us know.
TGIF again, and we're celebrating with some of our favorite posts! I'm... more
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duzins
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Males within two human ancestral species that existed roughly 2.7 to 1.7 million years ago were stay-at-home fellows, while females of these same species traveled, according to a new Nature paper.
:http://news.discovery.com/human/early-humans-dads-home-110601.htmlMales within two human ancestral species that existed roughly 2.7 to 1.7 million years... more
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suzane
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Archaeologists have unearthed the 5,000-year-old remains of what they believe may have been the world's oldest known gay caveman.
(read all about it at link)Archaeologists have unearthed the 5,000-year-old remains of what they believe may have... more
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A brain in near-perfect condition is found in a skull of a person who was decapitated over 2,600 years ago.
A human skull dated to about 2,684 years ago with an "exceptionally preserved" human brain still inside of it was recently discovered in a waterlogged U.K. pit, according to a new Journal of Archaeological Science study.
The brain is the oldest known intact human brain from Europe and Asia, according to the authors, who also believe it's one of the best-preserved ancient brains in the world.
"The early Iron Age skull belonged to a man, probably in his thirties," lead author Sonia O'Connor told Discovery News. "Cause of death is rarely possible to determine in archaeological remains, but in this case, damage to the neck vertebrae is consistent with a hanging."
(more at link)A brain in near-perfect condition is found in a skull of a person who was decapitated... more
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Is NOIDA/GREATER NOIDA, the present modern face of Uttar Pradesh in India, FACING the health hazard from the ELECTRO-MAGNETIC RADIATION EMITTED FROM the cell towers erected by the mobile operators in and around NOIDA/GREATER NOIDA?
So far no scientific study has been conducted on the real and possible adverse impact on the health of the residents of NOIDA/GREATER NOIDA from the ELECTRO-MAGNETIC RADIATION EMITTED FROM the cell towers and transponders erected atop residential buildings by the mobile operators in and around NOIDA/GREATER NOIDA.Is NOIDA/GREATER NOIDA, the present modern face of Uttar Pradesh in India, FACING the... more
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The video shows the HAPPY CO-EXISTENCE of the garbage dump just behind one of the modern shopping complexes in one of the sprawling sectors of the upcoming NOIDA/GREATER NOIDA in the present Uttar Pradesh in India…! You can see how happily the holy cows, holy oxen and buffalo are using this garbage dump as a happy resting and feeding ground…!
DOES THE GARBAGE DUMP in the video not show India’s STRUGGLE WITH THE EXACTING STANDARDS OF HEALTH AND HYGIENE expected of a nation-State in the 21st century?The video shows the HAPPY CO-EXISTENCE of the garbage dump just behind one of the... more
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With never-before-seen video, primatologist Isabel Behncke Izquierdo (a TED Fellow) shows how bonobo ape society learns from constantly playing -- solo, with friends, even as a prelude to sex. Indeed, play appears to be the bonobos' key to problem-solving and avoiding conflict. If it works for our close cousins, why not for us?
TED Fellow Isabel Behncke Izquierdo studies the social behavior (and play behavior in particular) of wild bonobos in DR Congo.With never-before-seen video, primatologist Isabel Behncke Izquierdo (a TED Fellow)... more
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As most of you know I have had a love/hate relationship with the California Academy of Sciences. I love the fact that they have a super eco-friendly building with LEED Platinum certification, but what I have found with the new change is that they don’t have the science so much anymore. I grew up at the Academy and whenever I had a science project at school I would always do my research at the Academy because it was a treasure trove of information and because I was also a member of the Junior Academy I had access to even more.As most of you know I have had a love/hate relationship with the California Academy of... more
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In a dusty, ancient burial site in northern Jordan, archaeologists have made a startling discovery: a fox buried alongside human remains.
It seems some 16,000 years ago, several millennia before any animals were domesticated, humans may have been making an early attempt to keep pets. Red foxes, to be precise.
(click on the link for the full story)In a dusty, ancient burial site in northern Jordan, archaeologists have made a... more
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Latest Complete News Updates Today the Central Georgia Tech Cougars, the West Georgia Tech Golden Knights, and the Chattahoochee Technical College Golden Eagles. Mrs. Randi Moore, also known as the Wedding Planning Diva, is one of the industry’s most experienced wedding planners and a designer who strives to create organized, elegant and astonishing weddings.Latest Complete News Updates Today the Central Georgia Tech Cougars, the West Georgia... more
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Eight small teeth found in an Israeli cave raise the possibility that modern humans originated in Israel and not Africa, suggests a paper recently published in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology.
The teeth date to the Middle Pleistocene and are similar in size and shape to teeth attributed to hominids from other sites in Israel, such as Skhul and Qafzeh. Researchers excavated these latest remains from Qesem Cave in central Israel.
"The Qesem teeth come from a time period between 200,000 to 400,000 years ago when human remains from the Middle East are very scarce," co-author Rolf Quam said in a Binghamton University press release.
Slide Show: Faces of Our Ancestors
Quam, an anthropologist at the university, added, "We have numerous remains of Neanderthals and Homo sapiens from more recent times, that is around 60,00 to 150,000 years ago, but fossils from earlier time periods are rare. So these teeth are providing us with some new information about who the earlier occupants of this region were as well as their potential evolutionary relationships with the later fossils from this same region."
If the teeth can be linked directly to modern humans, the researchers say this means either one of two things: our species originated in what is now Israel, or Homo sapiens migrated from Africa far earlier than is presently accepted.
The prevailing theory now is that modern humans and Neanderthals shared a common ancestor who lived in Africa over 700,000 years ago. Some of these descendants migrated to Europe and evolved into Neanderthals. Others stayed in Africa and evolved into Homo sapiens.
What happened to the Neanderthals? Since modern humans likely mated with them, I believe Neanderthals were absorbed into our gene pool.
Neanderthals, Humans Interbred, DNA Proves
The next question is, if Homo sapiens did indeed originate in Africa, when did our species leave that continent? New evidence suggests modern humans were already settled in Arabia 125,000 years ago, but that's still a drop in the time bucket compared to the 200,000 to 400,000-year-old Israeli cave teeth, which have researchers puzzled.
"While a few of the teeth come from the same individual, most of them are isolated specimens," Quam said. "We know for sure that we're dealing with six individuals of differing ages. Two of the teeth are actually deciduous or 'milk' teeth, which means that these individuals were young children. But the problem is that all the teeth are separate so it’s been really hard to determine which species we're dealing with."
He concluded, "This is a very exciting time for archeological discovery. Our hope is that the continuing excavation at the site will result in the discovery of more complex remains which would help us pinpoint exactly which species we are dealing with."
http://news.discovery.com/human/humans-out-of-israel.htmlEight small teeth found in an Israeli cave raise the possibility that modern humans... more
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"Artifacts dating back at least 100,000 years unearthed in the Arabian desert might be evidence of the first step our lineage took in our march across the globe. These new findings suggest modern humans first left Africa by at least 40,000 years earlier than researchers had expected, which could rewrite our understanding of ancient sites elsewhere on the planet.
Anatomically modern humans first arose about 200,000 years ago in Africa. When and how our lineage then dispersed out of Africa has long proven controversial, but past evidence had suggested an exodus along the Mediterranean Sea or Arabian coast some 60,000 years ago.
Now, an ancient toolkit of stone hand axes, scrapers and perforators discovered by an international team of researchers at a site in the United Arab Emirates suggests modern humans arrived in eastern Arabia as early as 125,000 years ago.
"Our findings should stimulate a re-evaluation of the means by which we modern humans became a global species," said researcher Simon Armitage at the University of London.
Instead of exiting Africa by traveling farther north over the Sinai Peninsula, "our findings open a second way, which in my opinion is more plausible for massive movements than the northern route," Uerpmann said. Ultimately, early humans could then have wandered into the Fertile Crescent and India and into the rest of Europe and Asia."
http://www.livescience.com/history/ancient-arabian-artifacts-rewriting-history-110127.html"Artifacts dating back at least 100,000 years unearthed in the Arabian desert... more
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Anthropology, or the study of humanity, has been around for a long time dating back to the days of philosopher Immanuel Kant. The listed blogs are full of updates, the latest in research, expert opinions, and even the occasional rant. A good read for anyone from experts to those looking to learn a little more about the field.
link: http://www.mastersinteaching.com/top-50-blogs-for-anthropologists/Anthropology, or the study of humanity, has been around for a long time dating back to... more
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eva2
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Ancient Human Remains Found at Construction Site
Remains of What are Believed to be Native Americans who Lived Over 300 Years Ago Have Been Found at a Construction Site in Downtown Los Angeles. Current Tribe Members Don't Want the Remains Moved, but Their Future Resting Place is Yet to be Determined
By JULIE BRAYTON
Updated 7:45 PM PST, Wed, Jan 5, 2011
At the corner of Arcadia and Spring streets in Downtown Los Angeles construction on a new Mexican cultural center ground to a halt when human remains were found at the site.
It is believed that the remains are of Native Americans who lived in the region over 300 years ago.
The Gabrielino band of Mission Indians of San Gabriel, lays claim to the site, stating it is the location of an ancient indian village, established there long before Los Angeles even existed.
A spokesperson for the group said they are frustrated, because they only received word of the find on Tuesday, and they say the current property owners are keeping them away from the remains.
"We are mad that our ancestors on this day are being desecrated. Taken out of their ancient burials, and placed in a trailer," states Andrew Salas, Tribal Chair Person for the Gabrielino Band of Mission Indians of San Gabriel.
The tribe want's the remains to stay exactly where they are, and they say it's sad to build a center to celebrate one culture, by destroying another.Ancient Human Remains Found at Construction Site
Remains of What are Believed to... more
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Evolution's "new twist": Neanderthal-like "sister group" bred with humans like us.
Ker Than
for National Geographic News
Published December 22, 2010
A previously unknown kind of human—the Denisovans—likely roamed Asia for thousands of years, probably interbreeding occasionally with humans like you and me, according to a new genetic study.
In fact, living Pacific islanders in Papua New Guinea may be distant descendants of these prehistoric pairings, according to new analysis of DNA from a girl's 40,000-year-old pinkie bone, found in Siberian Russia's Denisova cave.
This "new twist" in human evolution adds substantial new evidence that different types of humans—so-called modern humans and Neanderthals, modern humans and Denisovans, and perhaps even Denisovans and Neanderthals—mated and bore offspring, experts say.
"We don't think the Denisovans went to Papua New Guinea," located at the northwestern edge of the Pacific region called Melanesia, explained study co-author Bence Viola, an anthropologist at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany.
(Full story at link)Evolution's "new twist": Neanderthal-like "sister group" bred... more
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kodada
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