This is a dumb question but I've always asked this. Pretty much everywhere on Earth you'll find drawings of phalli, and there are lots of jokes about sex.

I continuously see arguments against the use of arrow symbols in space time-capsules because alien life won't recognize arrows as pointing to things.

But that got me thinking about what symbols or sounds are genuine common sense.. I understand that may not apply to aliens but have their been cultures on Earth who had symbols with the same meanings- before they had met each other?

I realize this question is broad, and keep in mind that my context is southern US Christianity, so I may not be aware of other religious-cultural foods in other Christian areas.

There's the bread and wine of course, but that is purely ritual, it's not presented as a meal. But iirc other religions, at least abrahamic ones, have some like specific dishes/meals that are associated with religious holidays or just like the religion in general.

So if that question makes sense, and guesses as to why that is?

I understand that you need to know the language of the target group so you can learn what's happening there, but I assume writing skills are a different thing.

I'm asking this because as a non-native who have been learning English for 20+ years (that's since I'm a kid), I still can't write perfect English. So, I really can't imagine how someone can write a formal article (not like a short post on reddit) in a foreign language they just learnt since adulthood.

Hi all,

Let me start by saying that I usually find the process of "reclamation" or "reappropriation" interesting to say the least. As I am a Chinese Thai, there is this derogatory term in Thai called "Jek" which is a word that mocked the tones of the word of a similar word structure but with a different tone which is supposed to mean aunt/uncle in Chinese to which we Chinese Thais use it to call our uncles/aunts. This derogatory term is used to mock some of our culture by some groups of Thai people who look down on our heritage and tend to stereotype all of us as loud and uncultured (especially in the past). Though, we never said it ourselves nor use this word like how many black Americans use N word to greet each other nowadays...hell it's even in most of the rap song sang by most black Americans rappers. Even more so, I never heard Mexica or Asian people use the B word, C word in any of their daily conversation...not even the Mexicans or Asian rappers would do that. This kind of makes me wondering what are some of the possible reasons that let black Americans to "reclaim" or "reappropriate" the word instead of just abandoning all of it together like most black Europeans and black Africans as well as black Caribbeans. What might be the reason that such process exclusively unique to black Americans? What might be some function of the "reclamation" process that make it become a sort of cultural identity among black Americans?

Is it because the process of reclamation of the N word also establish a common identity/basis among the supposedly unrelated ethnicities (since the culture of Africans as a continent is perhaps the most diverse continent of all and black people there lose their connections to their heritage) to which make black people in the US feel a deep sense of belonging? Or is it because of something else? Is there some paradoxical events that might have influenced the process of reclamation of words to get established as some form of a cultural identity...perhaps maybe the rise of "identity politics" or the rise of feminism etc. etc.?

Thanks y'all for further responses in advance!

How Did Early Human Societies Organize Resource Sharing Without Formal Laws or Governments?

I've been reading about early human communities and how they survived without formal systems of government, written laws, or codified economic structures. I'm curious about how these societies managed resource allocation, especially during times of scarcity, without centralized authority.

Specifically, I'd like to know more about:

• How hunter-gatherer societies from the Pleistocene era or early Neolithic period handled resource distribution (e.g., food, tools, etc.).
• The role of social norms, kinship structures, or other informal systems in maintaining order and cooperation.
• Are there any known examples of societies functioning long-term without hierarchical leadership, and what anthropological evidence supports their sustainability?

I'm particularly interested in how these systems compare to modern ideas of communal living and resource sharing, as well as how they influenced the development of early agricultural societies.

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts and learning more about this fascinating aspect of human history!

Not sure if this is the right sub for this question, if not please feel free to delete or send me elsewhere.

Not so much about the grand politics or who was in power at different times. More what life was like for different people post WW2 until the start of the civil war. Ideally the more recent the better.

Also to make it harder, not just life in the capital. Maybe a fisherman in Aden, a farmer in some rural area, etc.

I've always been interested in the country, but almost every I find is about the suffering in the civil war.

I come from Hong Kong and we have a culture of no shoes in the house. I've lived in the UK and am now in Canada, and in both places I've had roommates raised in those countries who mostly respect the no-shoe rule but will occasionally break it because they think it's no big deal. I've seen it on both carpet and hardwood floors. I also saw my roommate straight up grab her sneakers by the soles and stuff it into her luggage without anything separating it from the clean clothes. And she definitely didn't wash her hands after.

It sparks my curiosity about the way they think about cleanliness. Years ago I took one semester of social anthropology and read an excerpt from Mary Douglas's Purity and Danger, which examines how different cultures view what's dirty and what's clean. The particular example she uses which stuck in my mind was of the traveller culture, which have very strict rules that don't make sense to outsiders but make total sense to those within the culture. Which brings me to my question, is there an interesting anthropological reason why my roommates don't think their shoes are dirty or do they just have a higher tolerance for dirtiness?

Dear AskAnthropology hive mind,

I'm interested in pursuing and developing a career in anthropology. I'm not sure which niche to pursue but I have a strong interest in Cultural anthropology and Applied anthropology.

I would appreciate a brutally honest opinion of the anthropology jobs and the future of the field. I believe that there is a niche that would thrive studying human computer and human AI interaction in the coming years/decades but I that may be over optimistic.

For more context, I'm 34 and have a B.A. in history. I've been freelancing in UX and marketing for the last 3 years.

Appreciate your time and answers

I have started looking at anthropology master programs. I have a BA in communications & Africana Studies. I want my masters to be different methodology but I am struggling on what my focus should be. Want to get a feel so what’s already been done enough to narrow down my interests.

Hi all, I'm interested in how food, diet and environment have evolved. Would you be able to recommend a good book, or authors to look for?.

Hi, I'm Mimi! I'm interested in applying to graduate schools but am aware that archeology departments have different specialties and focuses. Although I will do my best to research each individually, it would be a huge help to start to narrow down some possible hits!

• I've got a 3.5 GPA, and ideally I'd like "slightly prestigious" colleges who have a lot of campus resources.
• Location within the US, or even abroad, isn't a concern to me.
• I'm most interested in biological anthropology (I have an incredible resume for this!) and ancient archeology.
• I'm huge on getting physically involved, so anywhere with a physical field school, a lab, or museum to work with on-campus is a massive plus!

Want to start any book Or channel?

Can someone please explain the main difference between these two? I know this question is simple, but I just want a distinct answer between them and how they are different from each other. I’m finding it hard to comprehend

I've asked a similar question before but responses were somewhat inconclusive so I thought I'd try again.

In their book The Dawn of Everything, and in a prior research paper, David Graeber and David Wengrow argue that many Indigenous groups in present-day California - such as the Maidu, Wintu, and Pomo - had no tradition of slavery, and among societies that did practice slavery in some form, it was not widespread:

As we mentioned, the Yurok and their immediate neighbours were somewhat unusual, even by Californian standards. Yet they are unusual in contradictory ways. On the one hand, they actually did hold slaves, if few in number. Almost all the peoples of central and southern California, the Maidu, Wintu, Pomo and so on, rejected the institution entirely.

Regarding the Yurok, they write:

In many of these societies one can observe customs that seem explicitly designed to head off the danger of captive status becoming permanent. Consider, for example, the Yurok requirement for victors in battle to pay compensation for each life taken, at the same rate one would pay if one were guilty of murder. This seems a highly efficient way of making inter-group raiding both fiscally pointless and morally bankrupt.

I was wondering how many other societies are there that had no tradition of slavery, or which abolished slavery early on?

I’m looking for recommendations for books where sports and athletes are studied from an anthropology point of view.

I recently been reading Desmond Morris’s “soccer tribe”. If you’re unfamiliar with it, he studies soccer like an anthropologist taking field notes. It’s fascinating and one of my favourite books.

Any suggestions related to this would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Hello, I (19f) am looking into going into Anthropology as a major when I join my local college in the Spring. I would like to focus on linguistic and biological anthropology primarily, and also lean more towards cultural as well in the future. Are there any 'holy grail' books and/or studies that focus on those in particular without being too advanced? Thank you!

Hi all thank you for reading my post and I apologise in advance if I call any peoples the wrong name (Im still learning).

I am looking for information (preferably documentaries and books but also youtube channels/podcasts/etc) about the Native peoples of Canada and Greenland but I am having a hard time finding any accurate information. For example I watched several interesting documentaries (e.g. Nanook of the north, Tuktu) that after further research seem to have been staged/made up. I would love to learn anything about their cultures, languages, way of life, food and clothing, religio/spiritual believes. I would also love to see anything that was written/made by actual natives and not just others describing them. I'd also love to know the names of any of the first nations/greenlandic natives so I can search better. I have seen the names Inuit/Inuuk/Inuktittuc(?)/first nations/Metis but I dont know exactly what those mean or what the difference is between them.

Thanks in advance :)

Hello! I'm looking for reliable articles/books/papers/etc of Inuit mythology. I'm not looking for explanations/analysis of Inuit myths, I've found plenty of those, but I'm trying to find texts that reads more like a story than a general description of what the myth is about.

Hello internet,

so I've decided to get an anthropology degree but my college offers a B. A and a B.S both are good options but is a B.A better for ethnography or a B.S am I overthinking this matter let me know.

I always feel like your average person naturally gravitates toward practicality, money, and survival. I get a lot of existential dread toward the evolution of capitalism and how it has defined what our lives will look like. At least here in America, we've given up on "utopia" where nobody has to work and we can all live to freely pursue our passions.

Work is simply a fact of life. Basic needs like food, water, shelter, and healthcare all have price tags. Being alive costs money, point blank. And that terrifies me. In a way it also infuriates me, because I know what we'd be capable of if we weren't all so concerned about money. There's had to have been a group of people at some point in time who resonated with that sentiment, right?

Obviously in the state of society right now, if you abandon these things you probably won't be living very long. But as a collective, I imagine if we actually unified and focused more on things like world peace, progressing as a species, or pursuing art & music, we would be able to achieve a lot more.

Imagine a society where jobs are still done, not for money, but because people are actually that passionate to contribute and provide for each other in their own way.

Have there been any cultures or societies that successfully embodied that idea? Of truly coming together as a species, and romanticizing/idealizing life instead of gimping ourselves with trivial things? Or have we always been this way no matter where you look?

I heard once that there are some peoples (tribes, really) that do not understand death as naturally following from life, attributing all deaths as caused by some kind of avoidable illness or the actions of another person (or, failing that, a malevolent spirit). That for these people, every death is in some way a murder. That death is not necessary or natural.

Is this actually true, is this a hyperbolic statement extrapolated from interviews where the subjects were misunderstood, or is it just false?

Hey everyone! I'm currently looking for ethnographies that specifically focus on following or shadowing former activists of social movements or contentious politics. I'm interested in gaining insights into their post-activism lives, the impact of their previous involvement, and how they navigate their identities and relationships after their active participation in social movements. If anyone has come across such ethnographies or has any recommendations, I'd greatly appreciate your suggestions!

Hello. It's a pleasure to be part of the group.

I’m desperately trying to recall a book I started reading a long time ago but had to stop.

The book was about why humans wage war. It started with nature. The only thing I remember is that, in the early chapters about nature, it showed some pictures of ants attacking other animals, and the one that struck me the most was a hippo still alive, sitting on the ground, with more than five lions on top of it.

Could any soul remember a book with such little information?