Anthropology

Fire at the National Museum of Brazil, in Rio de Janeiro, on September 2, 2018. Photo by Felipe Milanez

Collective grief over loss from Brazil’s National Museum fire

Members of the Penn Museum’s archeological community discuss the devastation felt over the destruction of an invaluable piece of world history.

Michele W. Berger ・ September 6, 2018

Fiona Jensen-Hitch is a member of the class of 2019, and a double major in Anthropology and English. She's also working toward a minor from the Center for the Analysis of Archaeological Materials.

Piecing together an ancient biblical site, bone by bone

In the lab of Penn Museum’s Janet Monge, rising senior Fiona Jensen-Hitch is sorting and photographing ancient human remains to shed light on the people of ancient city of Gibeon.

Michele W. Berger ・ July 27, 2018

Philly as a lab, classroom, and collaborator

Philadelphia’s rich history and forward momentum make it ripe for scientific inquiry for a number of Penn schools and departments, from urban and population studies to medicine and anthropology.

Michele W. Berger ・ July 10, 2018

See you later, sphinx

The Penn Museum's 3,000-year-old sphinx of Egyptian Pharaoh Ramses II will be stored under wraps and out of public view for several years for gallery renovations, starting July 9th.

Louisa Shepard ・ June 21, 2018

A virtual world for an ancient society

Anthropologist Clark Erickson has made a career of studying humans’ effect on their physical landscapes—past and present.

Susan Ahlborn ・ May 22, 2018

Revealing Penn Museum’s Middle East treasures

Objects that trace the path of human history—from the era of hunting and gathering to the creation of cities—are on display in the Museum’s new Middle East Galleries.

Louisa Shepard ・ April 16, 2018

When ancient technology and high-tech robots intersect

In one Penn lab, a stone-sculpting machine is helping archaeologists solve long-held mysteries of very old tools.

Michele W. Berger ・ April 5, 2018

Opening the Teach-in by breaking down barriers

The first full day of the Penn Teach-in engaged participants with expert panels on vaccine denial and firearm violence, an "evolutionary walk through time," and a dialogue on the production and dissemination of knowledge.

Katherine Unger Baillie, Michele W. Berger ・ March 19, 2018

Media Contact

Michele W. Berger Science News Officer
mwberger@upenn.edu

In the News

National Geographic

There’s No Scientific Basis for Race—It's a Made-Up Label

Paul Wolff Mitchell of the School of Arts and Sciences, PIK Professor Sarah Tishkoff and Yana Kamberov of the Perelman School of Medicine discussed race and genetics. Skulls from Samuel Morton collection in the Penn Museum are also featured.

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Smithsonian Magazine

Zora Neale Hurston’s ‘Barracoon’ Tells the Story of the Slave Trade’s Last Survivor

Deborah Thomas of the School of Arts and Sciences discussed novelist Zora Neale Hurston’s lesser-known work “debunking scientific racism” in the field of anthropology.