Science Recommendations: Anthropology

PZ has a post up asking for good science books. I though I would narrow the field and ask for good books on anthropology – any of the four subfields and numerous sub-disciplines. I don’t have a list of my own, yet, so let me know which anthropology books you thought were great and frequently recommend…they can be pop science or more narrowly focussed.

The Weather Outside is Frightful, but the Comedy at UD is so Delightful

With apologies to Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne for the parody.
Over at UD, William Dembski starts a thread with:

“You measure a democracy by the freedom it gives its dissidents, not the freedom it gives its assimilated conformists.” — Who said it and how does it apply to the ID-evolution controversy?

Ten comments into the thread he says:

PWE is no longer with us. -WmAD

So much for the democratic nature of UD…

Winter Has Finally Come to St. Louis

After a warm November – I was still wearing shorts as of yesterday – winter has finally hit. It started raining late yesterday, then the temp started dropping. Today we have freezing rain and sleet – already people are starting to drive like maniacs – and the temp is 30 (it was in the upper 60’s yesterday before the rains came). Snow is predicted to be moving in sometime within the next 24 hours. Sigh. I wonder if I can convert my roller blades to ice skates…

Archaeology of Oceania: Australia and the Pacific Islands

Archaeologists studying the culture history of the United States have it relatively easy – for the most part. Here in Missouri, for example, the culture history is fairly well mapped out from the Archaic to the Historic. Which is not to say that we know everything there is to know Missouri archaeology. The situation is somewhat different in Oceania (which includes Australia, New Guinea and Polynesia). I mention this because I recently read Archaeology of Oceania: Australia and the Pacific Islands edited by Ian Lilley. The book is number eight in the Blackwell Studies in Global Archaeology series.

Interesting Anthropology News

there are a couple of interesting anthropology stories in the news. First, National Geographic has an interesting article on a major find of Pre-Incan tombs:

Did John Hawks Call Me Uncool

In a discussion of whether to us “T” or “TH” in spelling Neanderthal Hawks says:

…all the cool kids write it with a “T”.

Afarensis used to be quite the cutting edge cool anthro guy, apparently though, the cutting edge of cool has passed me by. As you can see, I use the “TH”. I guess I will turn into to one of those grumpy old archaeologists (“trowels, we don’t need no stinkin trowels, back in my day all we had were toothpicks, and we were damn glad to have them”)…
On the other hand, since the dominant culture uses “T” perhaps I can present “TH” as counterculture. Kind of a rebellion against the old fogeys kind of thing…

Capt. Picard Goes Video

Via Plucky Punk’s Happy Land comes these amusing videos…

More Rotten Creationist Arguments

PZ linked to this 25 page pamphlet on creationism. I hadn’t really planned on saying anything about it until I read the – small – section on paleoanthropology. Most of it consists of standard creationist nonsense. But there was one new argument that I will get to in a moment.

Police Taser Epileptic Having Seizure

I do not have epilepsy myself, but I know someone who does so I have educated myself about the condition. One of the things I have found out is that people with epilepsy have a tough way to go. Leaving aside the debilitating effects of epilepsy – especially for those with seizures that are hard to control – there is also a cultural stigmata associated with the condition. There is also a lot of ignorance about the condition. This appalling story on ABC News is a case in point. Here are the relevant parts of the article:

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!