article thumbnail

Spain’s Move to Decolonize Its Museums Must Continue

Sapiens

In early 2024, Spain’s culture minister announced that the nation would overhaul its state museum collections, igniting a wave of anticipation—and controversy. As a multicultural Spaniard with extensive experience in the museum sector, I see the initiative as part of a long-overdue and much-needed reckoning with Spain’s colonial past.

Museum 127
article thumbnail

A Call for Respect: Rethinking How Museums Care for Animal Remains

Anthropology.net

.” Ward, a member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, has spent years working in museums, but this experience reinforced what he and many Indigenous scholars have long known—many institutions need to rethink how they handle animal remains. “We need to reframe the way we think about museums.

Museum 52
educators

Sign Up for our Newsletter

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

article thumbnail

When Did Humans Start Talking? Genomic Evidence Pushes Language Back to 135,000 Years Ago

Anthropology.net

Traditionally, scholars have debated linguistic origins based on indirect clues—symbolic artifacts, brain size, or the complexity of tool-making. Fossils do not speak, and ancient DNA does not carry recordings of conversations.

article thumbnail

Immersive 3D Technology Reshapes the Study of the Human Past

Anthropology.net

A New Way to Study Ancient Artifacts For decades, archaeologists have relied on traditional methods to analyze artifacts and architectural remains. The team matched 3D scanned pottery fragments with physical artifacts, streamlining their study of sherds located in distant museum collections. 1 Cobb, P.

article thumbnail

How To Connect Schools And Communities Using Technology

TeachThought

Share ‘school work’ Ideally authentic products and artifacts produced through new skills and knowledge useful to people and communities. Curate cultural artifacts and ‘local memory’ Today, museums do the work of ‘curating,’ but that’s a crude way to preserve the cultural artifacts that matter.

Artifacts 292
article thumbnail

A Solar Plea: The Mystery of Bornholm’s Engraved Sun Stones

Anthropology.net

Researchers led by Rune Iversen from the University of Copenhagen have pieced together evidence that connects these enigmatic artifacts to a period of climate upheaval. John Lee/National Museum of Denmark, R. This environmental catastrophe likely caused a significant cooling period, devastating crops and disrupting communities.

article thumbnail

Learning From Snapshots of Lost Fossils

Sapiens

In museum archives, researchers found photos of remains from Paleolithic children who had belonged to a group of early Homo sapiens in Eurasia. In a museum basement, we huddled over a black-and-white photograph showing pieces of a lower jawbone and its loose teeth. Not all fossil discoveries happen in the field.