Human Relations Area Files at Yale University

Ethnographic meta-analysis shows that thermoregulation activities predict needle and awl use in North America Needles and awls are common artifacts in the perishable archaeological record. To understand behavioral motivations for their use, this study examines ethnographic activities linked to needles and awl...

journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...

We're thrilled to announce the Ctrl-Z Award, a US$2,500 prize for researchers “who discover substantial errors in their published work and take meaningful steps to correct the scientific record."
Covered by @nature.com today; read more here: centerforscientificintegrity.org/2026/03/10/a...

What a Bone Needle Actually Tells You About the Past The story of needles and awls is more tangled than archaeologists assumed — and that's exactly what makes them interesting.

A new study finds that 69% of ethnographic needle & awl use had nothing to do with staying warm. Cold predicts use, but these tools also sutured wounds, tattooed skin, wove baskets, and marked ceremonies. The bone needle is more than a survival tool. #Archaeology #HumanEvolution #Paleolithic

New blog post: LLMs are going to summarize your papers whether you like it or not — and they're going to drop your limitations every time.

Here's a proposal for how to fix that (and help with the reproducibility crisis at the same time!):

paulgp.com/2026/03/10/l...

journal cover

Helios Vol. 52, No. 1,(2025) muse.jhu.edu/issue/56530 @projectmuse.bsky.social @rantyben.bsky.social @rebeccamenmuir.bsky.social

Stand Up for Science plans second rally on March 7 Public health chaos and research funding cuts are inspiring nationwide pro-science protests against the Trump administration

Happening today: public health chaos and research funding cuts are inspiring nationwide pro-science protests against the Trump administration

I wonder whether AI usage will exacerbate academic divisions, at least in social sciences - users vs non-users, which are already quite clearly overlapping with the divisions already there.

Our #SfAA2026 program has something for everyone! Here are a few highlights to add to your itinerary. We can’t wait to see you in Albuquerque!

For more info: appliedanthro.org/annual-meeti...

#SfAA #SocialScience #Anthropology #AppliedAnthropology

Looking forward to Jamie Tehrani's guest lecture in my cultural analytics course, open to everybody. If you are in Trento and want to know more about cultural evolution, that is a great opportunity! eventi.unitn.it/en/origins-s...

One of the best in our small discipline. Gently encouraging @vivek123.bsky.social to use LUP's post-print policy to share the recent interview we ran with Bob in HGR in advance of this talk.

www.liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/doi/10.3828/...

Self-interest, not spontaneous generosity, drives equality among Hadza hunter-gatherers A new study published in PNAS Nexus suggests that the famous equality seen in some hunter-gatherer societies might be driven more by self-interest and demanding a fair share than by a natural desire t...

"egalitarianism isn’t because everyone is exceptionally generous or noble... egalitarianism is real, we just often misunderstand it"

The People the Urns Left Out: Genetics, Bones, and Burial in Late Bronze Age Central Germany What rare inhumations from the Urnfield period reveal about ancestry, mobility, diet, and death in communities that refused to follow the crowd

Late Bronze Age Central Germany: Ancient DNA and isotopes reveal a community that stayed mostly local, ate millet then returned to wheat, and buried skulls in pits without any apparent family logic. New paper in Nature Communications. #AncientDNA #ArchaeologyOfDeath #BronzeAge

Current Season – 2026 TRAC would like to welcome you to our 2026 webinar series. Register for free for each speaking event on the ticketsource links below. 11/03/2026 – 17:00 GMT – The City of Purple: The In…

Theoretical Roman Archaeology 2026 Webinar series www.trac.org.uk/uncategorize... @traj-journal.bsky.social @tracconference.bsky.social @nicholasaherne.bsky.social @euuanxcvi.bsky.social

For researchers working with the IPEDS dataset (nces.ed.gov/ipeds/), which can be kind of a bear to work with, especially over time, I've constructed some code to harmonize the data into a single DuckDB database

github.com/paulgp/ipeds...

Apocalypse no: how almost everything we thought we knew about the Maya is wrong For many years the prevailing debate about the Maya centred upon why their civilisation collapsed. Now, many scholars are asking: how did the Maya survive?

www.theguardian.com/news/2026/fe...

Nice video from my department of linguistic and cultural evolution at @mpi-eva-leipzig.bsky.social and Vanuatu cultural centre on language diversity in Vanuatu

www.eva.mpg.de/fileadmin/co...

Violent Conflict in the Human Record: A Review of the Bioarchaeological Evidence This review examines the contributions of bioarchaeological research to criminological understandings of violence, focusing on the structural conditions that influence variations in violence across di...

"Overall, the evidence suggests that although states may reduce violence under certain conditions, their mere presence does not guarantee pacification—and may in some cases facilitate new forms of coercion and conflict."

How toddlers in Finland are saving an endangered Sámi language Special nurseries are helping the Sámi people in Finland to bring their almost-lost language back from the brink of extinction.

www.bbc.com/future/artic...

Scrap that! Deadline now extended to March 20th... Contact us to discuss possible HG papers please!

uispp2026.syskonf.pl/abstracts

Don’t Panic: ‘Humanity’s Last Exam’ has begun An enormous team of researchers from around the globe has designed an exam to show what AI can’t do, yet.

stories.tamu.edu/news/2026/02...

I tried to tell y'all.

Indexing text is definitely a skill that needs to be honed. Our humans have been subject-indexing ethnography for 75+ years, and you can freely add your own creative annotations to paragraphs in your notebook: ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu/help/Noteboo...

While in town for #SfAA2026, explore Albuquerque’s layered history at the #Albuquerque Museum. Exhibits trace the region’s journey from Indigenous homelands through colonial settlement to contemporary life.

Register: appliedanthro.org/annual-meeti...

#SfAA #Anthropology #AppliedAnthropology

40,000-year-old Stone Age symbols may have paved the way for writing, long before Mesopotamia Over 40,000 years ago, our early ancestors were already carving signs into tools and sculptures. According to a new analysis by linguist Christian Bentz at Saarland University and archaeologist Ewa Du...

Fascinating discovery - and a further reminder that people 40,000 years ago and more were just as smart, just as creative and innovative, as we are.

Lots to #Unlearn about the past

phys.org/news/2026-02...

My 12yo daughter read my essay in Nature. Her review:
"It’s actually pretty good - interesting enough I wouldn’t consider it torture [to have to read]. It’s informative, it had good structure, and the animal videos were pretty cool.”
Out of 10, she gives it "6-7"
www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Humans and animals can both think logically − but testing what kind of logic they’re using is tricky How researchers measure the logical reasoning of monkeys, pigeons, rats, fish and wasps shapes how they understand mental processes in animals − and in people.

"the way scientists ask their questions may shape the answer – and that has big implications for how they interpret success in animals and in people"

Why do I have to pretend that I'm going to print something in order to save it as a PDF. Why do I have to engage in a little ruse.

a black cat is walking in the snow with the words winter storm warning above it ALT: a black cat is walking in the snow with the words winter storm warning above it

From the archives:

hraf.yale.edu/surviving-wi...

Women’s mental health: current status and evolutionary perspectives | Evolutionary Human Sciences | Cambridge Core Women’s mental health: current status and evolutionary perspectives - Volume 8

Women’s mental health: current status and evolutionary perspectives by Carol Worthman | Evolutionary Human Sciences | Cambridge Core - www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

😂