#anthropology roundup: “Why Face Masks Are Going Viral…”Digital Harm and Addiction: an Anthropological View…

A discount market on Penang Island, Malaysia, displays a face mask on a mannequin. Surgical masks are unregulated and provide minimal protection from pathogens. Paul Keller/Flickr

Why Face Masks Are Going Viral

A discount market on Penang Island, Malaysia, displays a face mask on a mannequin. Surgical masksare unregulated and provide minimal protection from pathogens. Paul Keller/Flickr

On the day the first case of the new coronavirus was confirmed in the Philippines, a surreal sight greeted me on the streets of Manila. Half the people were wearing face masks—from the disposable surgical variety to heavy-duty N95 respirators, which many had purchased just weeks before to protect themselves from ash erupting out of the Taal volcano.

Digital Harm and Addiction: an Anthropological View

Q&A with Doctoral Candidate Theodora Sutton In her article ““, published in Anthropology Today, OII DPhil student and

What Bacterial Cultures Reveal About Ours

Herder Dalaimyagmar and her husband, Byambaa, demonstrate how to press whey from curds in creating aaruul, a staple dairy product in Mongolia. Heirloom Microbes Project.

In the remote northern steppes of Mongolia, in 2017, anthropologist Christina Warinner and her colleagues were interviewing local herders about dairying practices. One day, a yak and cattle herder, Dalaimyagmar, demonstrated how she makes traditional yogurt and cheeses.

Were Neanderthals More Than Cousins to Homo Sapiens?

Scans compare a Neanderthal fossil (at left) to a modern human skull (right). Philipp Gunz/ Max-Planck-Gesellschaft A round
Still locked, the gate pulls open ever so slightly more. Photo: Ryan Anderson, 2020.

There’s news in the world of open access anthropology. The gates have opened, just a bit more. Maybe now, finally, is the time for a bigger shift toward more anthropologists supporting and advocating for open access scholarship. While we do have some excellent OA options in anthropology (such as Cultural Anthropology), we could use more. Well, good things are happening. A couple days ago, Berghahn Anthropology announced a new open access initiative:

The Double Life of Coca

In Andean countries such as Peru and Bolivia, locals and tourists drink mate de coca, a tea made from coca leaves, to stave off altitude sickness. Calsidyrose/Flickr

In Peru, people sip tea made of coca leaves—the source of cocaine—like people elsewhere sip Earl Grey. The drink has a bittersweet, grassy flavor similar to a green tea like matcha and is mildly stimulating, like coffee. I have seen coca as an ice cream flavor near Cuzco’s Plaza de Armas and as a candy sold in tourist spots. At Lima’s famed Central restaurant, you can savor bread with smoked coca leaves, washed down with a coca-infused pisco sour.

Team creates game-based virtual archaeology field school


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