Nourishing the brain with conversations about food Penn archaeologist Megan Kassabaum (left) and biocultural anthropologist Morgan Hoke organized the series on food taking place at the Penn Museum on Mondays. During the fall semester, academics from nine institutions spoke on a range of topics, from food as life sustaining to how pizza and sushi gained their prominence. Spring semester, the talks have turned inward, focusing on the research happening across the University. Nourishing the brain with conversations about food A yearlong colloquium from Penn Anthropology offers a steady diet of research perspectives, delving into how this facet of culture affects modern health and practices, and broadens our historical outlook.
Battling longer, more intense fire seasons Q&A Battling longer, more intense fire seasons In a Q&A, doctoral student Clare Super describes her research into wildland firefighting, the impact on firefighters, U.S. policy around wildfires, and parallels to what’s happening in Australia.
An Inca ceremonial center, recreated in a digital landscape An Inca ceremonial center, recreated in a digital landscape Students use computer graphic technologies to bring historic sites to life as part of a summer research program and fall semester course that unites anthropology and computer science.
Side Gigs for Good Marc Schmidt, a biology professor in the School of Arts and Sciences, started Waffles for Tourette to raise money for research. (Image: Eric Sucar) Side Gigs for Good After putting in a full, impactful day at work at Penn, some faculty and staff fill their spare hours with endeavors that make a difference.
Penn Museum’s transformation revealed Penn Museum’s transformation revealed The main level reopens after a historic renovation featuring the relocated sphinx and completely reimagined Africa and Mexico/Central America galleries.
Experts question study claiming to pinpoint birthplace of all humans Science Experts question study claiming to pinpoint birthplace of all humans PIK Professor Sarah Tishkoff said mitochondrial DNA is a poor tool for tracking ancient population history in Africa, as it only traces genes passed from mothers to children over time. A quest to restore cultural heritage in Iraq, one site at a time A quest to restore cultural heritage in Iraq, one site at a time Penn archaeologists, in collaboration with colleagues from the University of Mosul and Iraq’s State Board of Antiquities and Heritage, seek to undo the terrible destruction ISIS wrought, particularly on targeted minority groups. Crowdsourcing 10,000 years of land use To predict what will happen in the future, its important to understand what happened in the past. Thats the idea behind ArchaeoGLOBE, a project that looks at land use around the world—like in the Italian Alps, seen here—during the past 10,000 years. (Photo courtesy: Lucas Stephens) Crowdsourcing 10,000 years of land use More than 250 archaeologists from around the world contributed their knowledge to ArchaeoGLOBE, an effort to better understand the prevalence of agriculture, pastoralism, and hunting and gathering at different points in human history. The mystery of ‘Skeleton Lake’ gets deeper The Atlantic The mystery of ‘Skeleton Lake’ gets deeper Kathleen Morrison of the School of Arts and Sciences weighed in on the origins of human remains found in India’s Skeleton Lake. “I suspect that they’re aggregated there, that local people put them in the lake,” she says. “When you see a lot of human skeletons, usually it’s a graveyard.” Load More
A quest to restore cultural heritage in Iraq, one site at a time A quest to restore cultural heritage in Iraq, one site at a time Penn archaeologists, in collaboration with colleagues from the University of Mosul and Iraq’s State Board of Antiquities and Heritage, seek to undo the terrible destruction ISIS wrought, particularly on targeted minority groups.
Crowdsourcing 10,000 years of land use To predict what will happen in the future, its important to understand what happened in the past. Thats the idea behind ArchaeoGLOBE, a project that looks at land use around the world—like in the Italian Alps, seen here—during the past 10,000 years. (Photo courtesy: Lucas Stephens) Crowdsourcing 10,000 years of land use More than 250 archaeologists from around the world contributed their knowledge to ArchaeoGLOBE, an effort to better understand the prevalence of agriculture, pastoralism, and hunting and gathering at different points in human history.
The mystery of ‘Skeleton Lake’ gets deeper The Atlantic The mystery of ‘Skeleton Lake’ gets deeper Kathleen Morrison of the School of Arts and Sciences weighed in on the origins of human remains found in India’s Skeleton Lake. “I suspect that they’re aggregated there, that local people put them in the lake,” she says. “When you see a lot of human skeletons, usually it’s a graveyard.”