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Spain’s Move to Decolonize Its Museums Must Continue

Sapiens

Spain has a deep and far-reaching colonial history, particularly in Latin America. In Asia and Oceania, Spanish rule for over 300 years introduced Catholicism and centralized governance in places like present-day Guam , the Philippines, and Taiwan, deeply altering the identity and languages of these regions.

Museum 128
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How Colonialism Invented Food Insecurity in West Africa

Sapiens

Archaeological evidence and Oral Histories show people in what is today Ghana lived sustainably for millennia—until European colonial powers and the widespread trade of enslaved people changed everything. I felt compelled to share this story as an example of the power of archaeology to shift perspectives. It’s the year 2065.

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The Ancient Lifelines of Mesopotamia: How Newly Discovered Irrigation Canals Rewrite History

Anthropology.net

For centuries, our understanding of early irrigation in Mesopotamia has relied largely on indirect evidence, such as cuneiform texts and archaeological remains of later canal networks. This is a rare case where nature has preserved a vital piece of human history. Water History, 7 , 397–418. Credit: Antiquity (2025).

History 86
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The Vanishing Traces of Our Earliest Ancestors in Indonesia

Sapiens

A paleontologist journeys through Indonesias Riau Archipelago in search of Homo erectus remains, but uncovers how environmental devastation has erased much of the regions history. This site has thankfully been spared from destruction by the regional government when it was earmarked as a possible tourist attraction.

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Reflections on the “Historicity” of Child Death at Ireland’s Former Mother and Baby Homes

Anthropology News

Instead of that essay, I reflect here on the problematic my response in this anecdote highlights: balancing the patterned resonance of history and the total singularity of each life, in attempts to name and redress harm done at Mother and Baby Institutions (M&BIs) and in ethnographic work. Good material for an essay like this one.

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Digging Into an Ancient Apocalypse Controversy From a Hopi Perspective

Sapiens

In a memo sent to tribes in the region in March, government administrators expressed concern but said they were unable to deny the permit request. In fact, it is because of the ancestors of the Hopi and Zuni people, and the Pai Tribes, that archaeological sites exist in the Grand Canyon. Tribal officials objected.

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Unearthing the Origins of Plantation Slavery on São Tomé

Sapiens

To uncover this past, a team launched the country’s first archaeological research. The Praia Melão engenho and estate is the first archaeological site identified in São Tomé. São Tomé’s role in this devastating and transformational history is largely unknown—some people have never heard of the tiny nation.