Anthropology Article Blog

 Oscar Rawson

IHSS

9/25/21

Mr. Roddy



This week, anthropologists discovered footprints at White Sands National Park in New Mexico. The anthropologists, Jeff Pigati and Kathleen Springer, used evidence from seeds found embedded in the ground around the footprint. After analyzing the seeds as well as the footprints themselves, they were found to be over 23,000 years old. These footprints are the earliest recorded evidence we have of humanity on the greater American continent.  Previously, it was believed that humans had arrived here much, much later than this. They were thought to have travelled over an ice bridge formed between what is currently Alaska and Russia. The White Sands people came during a different ice age than the Clovis people, who used to be thought of as the oldest population on the continent. The evidence from the White Sands footprints places the estimate almost 10,000 years before the previously accepted date. The footprints were found to be mostly from young children and teens. This gives us a little bit of information on what life must have been like for these people - their life expectancy was probably exceedingly low. The prints also tell us about other organisms living in the same ecosystem. The prints showed evidence of mammoths, giant sloths, wolves, and birds. The data on these animals can help us understand the things these people would’ve eaten and what roles animals would play in their society. Overall, this discovery is incredibly interesting because it defies the previously thought of norm and gives us a ton  of information on what the lives of the people of the past were like.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Marcel Mauss - blogger

  Claire Thacker  Mr. Roddy  IHSS  Date  Marcel Mauss Marcel Mauss was a sociologist and anthropologist. He was born May 10, 1972, and died February 10, 1950. One of his accomplishments is an original study of the relation between forms of exchange and social structure. Mauss’s views on the method/theory of ethnology are thought to have shaped the thoughts of many famous social scientists. His career started as a professor of primitive religion in 1902 at the École Pratique des Hautes Études in Paris. He also taught at College de France and established the ethnology institute of the University of Paris. Essai Sur le don , also known as The Gift,  is thought to be his most influential work. The Gift is an essay Mauss wrote about how human relationships are formed through the exchange of objects between groups. The Gift also talked about what part of giving a gift does it mean that you have to give something back. The answer according to Mauss in his writin...
Read more

The Tipping Point Sociology Blog

Wyatt Quillin  Mr. Roddy IHSS 27 September 2021 The Tipping Point     The tipping point is the point where something becomes immensely popular and spreads across a society. This something can be anything from a pair of shoes to a dance move to a hairstyle, and there are a couple of variables that are necessary to the success of the something. According to Malcolm Gladwell, the writer of the book The Tipping Point , the three components that determine whether something will reach its tipping point are the law of the few, the stickiness factor, and the power of context. The law of the few relies on the select people who are able to use their special social traits to help spread information and influence. Again according to Gladwell, the three types of people are the salesmen, mavens, and connectors. Salesmen are naturally very convincing and can easily persuade people. Connectors are very popular and connected to lots of different influential people. Connectors can easily s...
Read more

Sociology Reading Blog (The Culture of Fear)

 Ethan Zweig Mr. Roddy IHSS September 27, 2021 "The Culture of Fear"     "The Culture of Fear" was written in 1999 by Barry Glassner, who was a sociology professor at USC. The book explains who Americans are so engrossed with "fear of wrong things". Glassner examines and exposes the people who manipulate Americans perceptions profit from the often baseless anxieties they cultivate and encourage. Three out of four Americans say they feel more more fearful than they did a decade ago. Culture of fear is the concept that people incite fear in the general public to achieve political or workplace goals through emotional bias. Barry Glassner found out that no amount of debunking can wipeout fear. 
Read more