Department of Anthropology

FSU experts available to comment on Thanksgiving traditions

Published: | 9:46 am | Posted in: Expert Pitches

As millions of people across the United States prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving, Florida State University experts are available to talk with reporters working on articles about gratitude, the myth and reality of the holiday and the role turkeys have played for Indigenous peoples long before Europeans settled the U.S. Eastern Seaboard. Randolph Clarke, professor, Department […]

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FSU joins NSF-funded research hub to enhance resilience in underrepresented coastal communities

Published: | 10:16 am | Posted in: Arts & Humanities

Along the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico, communities from Texas to Florida are particularly at risk for coastal hazards, including hurricanes, tsunamis, coastal storm surges, flooding, sea-level rise and erosion. Now, a Florida State University anthropologist is part of a team of researchers from five institutions across the country that will conduct fundamental […]

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Deep dive into bioarchaeological data reveals Mediterranean migration trends over 8,000 years

Published: | 1:06 pm | Posted in: Arts & Humanities, Education & Society

A team of international researchers led by a Florida State University assistant professor has analyzed reams of data from the Neolithic to Late Roman period looking at migration patterns across the Mediterranean and found that despite evidence of cultural connections, there’s little evidence of massive migration across the region. “Because of the prevailing scholarly attitude of the […]

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FSU anthropologist to investigate possible site of Apalachee revolt

Published: | 12:47 pm | Posted in: Arts & Humanities

A Florida State University anthropologist has received a grant from the National Park Service to investigate a site that may hold clues to a 17th-century revolt by the Apalachee Indians against Spanish missionaries. Associate Professor of Anthropology Tanya Peres received $207,000 to conduct field work in Northeast Florida on a property where artifacts consistent with […]

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FSU anthropologist receives fellowship to study prehistoric violence and inequality during social transitions

Published: | 12:32 pm | Posted in: Arts & Humanities

A Florida State University faculty member has been awarded a distinguished fellowship from the Aarhus Institute of Advanced Studies at Aarhus University, Denmark, to study the relationship between interpersonal violence and the rise of wealth inequality during societal transitions in Europe, Asia and Africa. Tom Leppard, an assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology, part […]

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Researchers find apelike brain in human ancestor

Published: | 4:09 pm | Posted in: Science & Technology

New research from a team of anthropologists has found that a species widely accepted to be an ancestor to humans had a brain with characteristics of apes. The research, led by a team of scientists from Max Planck Institute in Germany that included Florida State Professor of Anthropology Dean Falk, is published in Science Advances. […]

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FSU researcher helps Louisiana students explore disappearing coastline

Published: | 10:18 am | Posted in: Arts & Humanities

With rising sea levels eroding the Louisiana coastline, valuable archaeological sites that shed light on life in the United States thousands of years ago are disappearing into murky waters. The Mississippi River Delta is losing land at an alarming rate — since the mid-1930s, Louisiana has lost about 2,000 square miles. Now, a Florida State […]

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Archaeologist unearths history in Mississippi River Valley

Published: | 11:22 am | Posted in: Arts & Humanities

In the farmlands of the Mississippi River Valley, earth is continuously cleared and leveled — a result of the region’s booming agriculture industry. But beneath the soil lies an important piece of American history, one a Florida State University anthropology professor is working to piece together. In 2007, a planned farming operation at what’s known […]

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Modern economic theory explains prehistoric Mediterranean societies

Published: | 4:36 pm | Posted in: Arts & Humanities

A Florida State University professor’s research suggests a theory by famed economist Thomas Piketty on present-day wealth inequality actually explains a lot about how smaller-scale societies in the prehistoric Mediterranean developed. Piketty’s theory says that high-growth economic conditions can slow the rate of wealth inequality and low-growth can accelerate it. In a new study, FSU […]

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Keeping the beat: Turtle shells served as symbolic musical instruments for indigenous cultures

Published: | 11:44 am | Posted in: Science & Technology

Turtles served as more than tasty treats for many Native American tribes throughout North America. In fact, turtle shells were used as rattles and other musical instruments, said FSU Associate Professor of Anthropology Tanya Peres. “Music is an important part of many cultures in ways we may not realize,” Peres said. “Musical instruments have a […]

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Archaeologists investigate history of Mission San Luis

Published: | 9:35 am | Posted in: Arts & Humanities

Back in a corner of the grounds of a 17th century Spanish mission, FSU students and their professor have been spending a lot of time digging in the dirt. The site is Mission San Luis and the students and their professor are working on the first archaeological dig in 10 years at the living history museum […]

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