Anthropology.Net: Go for a Visit!

Anthropology.Net is one of the old, big anthro blogs, with archives going back to September 2005 and visits rapidly closing in on 500,000. They cover a wide range of materials, a lot of it related to biological anthropology, human evolution, and archaeology, but with cultural and linguistic anthropology thrown in at times.

Recently they posted two things which might prove quite useful to readers and researchers everywhere. First, they give a detailed account of “Applying Google Earth in paleontological and archaeological research.” While seemingly specific, the guidelines they develop are useful to any research involving a geographic component. They also outline the pros and cons of Google Earth. (For another review article on Google Earth, see this one from the Associated Press.)

Second, Anthropology.Net covers the World Atlas of Language Structures, which looks to be a new and terrific online resource for linguists and linguistic anthropologists everywhere. As they write, “It is an awesome resource, executed really well, and under a creative commons license.” (If you are interested in ethnographic data, you can also check out the Human Relations Area Files. These are comprehensive data bases on ethnographic descriptions of different anthropological groups dating back many decades now. However, HRAF requires a membership license, though the website does say you can get a 30-day trial shot.)

Finally, for general interest, Anthropology.Net has a recent piece on pragmatic language use by autistic individuals, news that Paranthropus boisei, hominids with super-teeth, were not necessarily the nut and fibrous plant eaters we long suspected, and some bipedal considerations about our cousins the Flores hobbits.