Ancient megadrought may explain civilization’s ‘missing millennia’ in Southeast Asia Science Ancient megadrought may explain civilization’s ‘missing millennia’ in Southeast Asia A team led by Joyce White of the School of Arts & Sciences studied stalagmites in a Laotian cave and identified a drought that lasted for more than a millennium, one of a series of megadroughts that affected Asia and Africa between 4,000 and 5,000 years ago. Southeast Asian megadrought dating back 5,000 years discovered in Laos cave Penn archaeologist Joyce White (center) has been working in Laos since 2001 with teams like the one shown here. Discovering evidence of a 1,000-year drought in a Laos cave was unexpected, she says, but does answer some questions about the Middle Holocene, a period she’d previously described as the “missing millennia.” (Pre-pandemic image: Courtesy of Joyce White) Q&A Southeast Asian megadrought dating back 5,000 years discovered in Laos cave In a Q&A, Penn archaeologist Joyce White discusses the partnership with paleoclimatologists that led to the finding, plus possible implications of such a dramatic climate change for societies at that time. Cave discovery holds clues to earliest Homo sapiens in Europe Excavations in Initial Upper Paleolithic Layer I at Bacho Kiro Cave in Bulgaria. Four Homo sapiens bones were recovered from this layer, along with a rich stone tool assemblage, animal bones, bone tools, and pendants. (Pre-pandemic image: Tsenka Tsanova, MPI EVA Leipzig, License: CC-BY-SA 2.0) Cave discovery holds clues to earliest Homo sapiens in Europe Ancient DNA from 46,000-year-old bone fragments and a tooth reveals this group likely overlapped with Neanderthals for thousands of years. Exploring the links between jobs and health, reframed by COVID-19 COVID-19 reshaped Andi Johnson’s course on social determinants of health, inspiring a new focus on how the pandemic shaped employment and how people's jobs influenced their ability to stay safe. Exploring the links between jobs and health, reframed by COVID-19 More than half of America’s farm workers are immigrants, and most have been considered essential workers during the coronavirus pandemic. While this designation has ensured the continuity of their livelihoods, it has also increased their risk of becoming sick. Scholarship through the lens of an iconic media brand Scholarship through the lens of an iconic media brand A new Annenberg course centered around HBO offered undergrads hands-on exposure to media production and a chance to hone their analytical skills using primary source materials. Life, death, and the Amazonian litter layer Asmall farm in the Andean-Amazonian foothills. Image: Kristina Lyons. Life, death, and the Amazonian litter layer Kristina Lyons’ new book explores the Colombian world of litter layers, seeds, and soils; Amazonian farmers, narcos, and the War on Drugs Alex Chen’s lessons from Ebola Alex Chen’s lessons from Ebola Alex Chen, a doctoral candidate in anthropology, studies emerging disease preparedness, and how air and airflow is the most powerful tool against disease. ‘Disease knows no borders’ ‘Disease knows no borders’ From the history of science to medical anthropology, governance, and economics, Penn experts look at the history of global health from different perspectives to see what the future may hold. Naskapi connections: Restorative research in the Penn Museum collection Penn anthropologist Margaret Bruchac, left, speaking with visitors from the Naskapi Nation in Canada about the Penn Museum’s collection of more than 400 objects from their community acquired in the 1930s by Frank Speck, a founder of Penn’s Anthropology Department. Naskapi connections: Restorative research in the Penn Museum collection A blog post about a child’s hunting jacket made of caribou hide caught the attention of a high school students in the Naskapi Nation in Quebec. A group visited the Penn Museum to view artifacts made by their ancestors. The curious case of ancient bear bones at a Mississippi dig site Megan Kassabaum is an assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology in the School of Arts & Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania and the Weingarten Assistant Curator for North America at the Penn Museum. The curious case of ancient bear bones at a Mississippi dig site Penn and UNC Chapel Hill researchers theorize that the considerable black bear remains indicate an animal that was a food source and considered close kin to the people who lived there 1,300 years ago.
Southeast Asian megadrought dating back 5,000 years discovered in Laos cave Penn archaeologist Joyce White (center) has been working in Laos since 2001 with teams like the one shown here. Discovering evidence of a 1,000-year drought in a Laos cave was unexpected, she says, but does answer some questions about the Middle Holocene, a period she’d previously described as the “missing millennia.” (Pre-pandemic image: Courtesy of Joyce White) Q&A Southeast Asian megadrought dating back 5,000 years discovered in Laos cave In a Q&A, Penn archaeologist Joyce White discusses the partnership with paleoclimatologists that led to the finding, plus possible implications of such a dramatic climate change for societies at that time.
Cave discovery holds clues to earliest Homo sapiens in Europe Excavations in Initial Upper Paleolithic Layer I at Bacho Kiro Cave in Bulgaria. Four Homo sapiens bones were recovered from this layer, along with a rich stone tool assemblage, animal bones, bone tools, and pendants. (Pre-pandemic image: Tsenka Tsanova, MPI EVA Leipzig, License: CC-BY-SA 2.0) Cave discovery holds clues to earliest Homo sapiens in Europe Ancient DNA from 46,000-year-old bone fragments and a tooth reveals this group likely overlapped with Neanderthals for thousands of years.
Exploring the links between jobs and health, reframed by COVID-19 COVID-19 reshaped Andi Johnson’s course on social determinants of health, inspiring a new focus on how the pandemic shaped employment and how people's jobs influenced their ability to stay safe. Exploring the links between jobs and health, reframed by COVID-19 More than half of America’s farm workers are immigrants, and most have been considered essential workers during the coronavirus pandemic. While this designation has ensured the continuity of their livelihoods, it has also increased their risk of becoming sick.
Scholarship through the lens of an iconic media brand Scholarship through the lens of an iconic media brand A new Annenberg course centered around HBO offered undergrads hands-on exposure to media production and a chance to hone their analytical skills using primary source materials.
Life, death, and the Amazonian litter layer Asmall farm in the Andean-Amazonian foothills. Image: Kristina Lyons. Life, death, and the Amazonian litter layer Kristina Lyons’ new book explores the Colombian world of litter layers, seeds, and soils; Amazonian farmers, narcos, and the War on Drugs
Alex Chen’s lessons from Ebola Alex Chen’s lessons from Ebola Alex Chen, a doctoral candidate in anthropology, studies emerging disease preparedness, and how air and airflow is the most powerful tool against disease.
‘Disease knows no borders’ ‘Disease knows no borders’ From the history of science to medical anthropology, governance, and economics, Penn experts look at the history of global health from different perspectives to see what the future may hold.
Naskapi connections: Restorative research in the Penn Museum collection Penn anthropologist Margaret Bruchac, left, speaking with visitors from the Naskapi Nation in Canada about the Penn Museum’s collection of more than 400 objects from their community acquired in the 1930s by Frank Speck, a founder of Penn’s Anthropology Department. Naskapi connections: Restorative research in the Penn Museum collection A blog post about a child’s hunting jacket made of caribou hide caught the attention of a high school students in the Naskapi Nation in Quebec. A group visited the Penn Museum to view artifacts made by their ancestors.
The curious case of ancient bear bones at a Mississippi dig site Megan Kassabaum is an assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology in the School of Arts & Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania and the Weingarten Assistant Curator for North America at the Penn Museum. The curious case of ancient bear bones at a Mississippi dig site Penn and UNC Chapel Hill researchers theorize that the considerable black bear remains indicate an animal that was a food source and considered close kin to the people who lived there 1,300 years ago.