Judging someone’s personality is no easy task, especially when all you can see is an avatar and not the real person. However, new research suggests that people can make some accurate personality judgements after seeing customized avatars, at least for some people. The researchers found that outgoing and sociable individuals typically create avatars that communicate […]
Tag: anthropology
Music can transcend culture
Montreal hipsters’ and Congolese pygmy tribe members react to some elements of music in the same way, according to a new study. Forty Pygmies and 40 Canadians listened in pairs to 19 music excerpts (eight Pygmy and 11 Western instrumental excerpts) and were asked to rate the songs (arousing or calming, positive or negative.) Researchers found […]
Does ecology influence religion?
A new study suggests that environmental factors, alongside social and cultural factors, may play a strong role in determining the type of religion associated with a particular society. Researchers analysed 583 societies around the world to determine the role played by linguistic, historical, cultural and environmental factors in the dominant religion. In particular, they found […]
Early mountain-dwellers offer insight on adaptation
Evidence of the highest and oldest human settlements in the Peruvian andes offers insight on how quickly humans can adapt to extreme environments. Researchers found tools, animal bones and plant remains that suggest a human habitation in three locations: the Pucuncho workshop site (4355 metres above sea level), the Cunchaicha workshop (4445 metres above sea […]
Genome of a 45,000-year-old modern human
Researchers have found that the genome of a 45,000-year-old human from Siberia is quite similar to the genome of modern Native Americans and East Asians and carries similar amount of Neanderthal ancestry. The remains of the Siberian male are believed by the authors to represent the oldest directly radiocarbon-dated modern human outside Africa and the […]
Rock art of ages – cave paintings from Indonesia
Cave paintings on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi date back nearly 40,000 years, on par with the oldest known human artwork from caves in Europe. The paintings include stencils of hands that date back as far as 39,900 years ago, making them the oldest known hand stencils. The paintings also include representations of a babirusa, […]
Genetic studies trace shifting populations in Canada’s Arctic
A new genetic study has clarified the relationships between the ancient and modern cultures in Canada’s Arctic. The results confirm that a single group – known as Paleo-Eskimo – arrived around 3000 BCE and disappeared around 1300 CE when a new group arrived from northern Alaska, the ancestors of today’s Inuit. Genetic information shows that […]
‘Hobbit’ Homo floriensis may not be a new species
The newly discovered ‘hobbit’-sized Homo floriensis found in Indonesia may only have been regular individual with Down syndrome, a new study suggests. A team of researchers shows in a first paper that the asymmetry of the skull and its small brain can be explained by some genetic disorder, and that it doesn’t provide enough evidence […]
Site of artefacts under threat
A new paper documents the rich density of artifacts found in the Kathu Townlands site in the Northern Cape province of South Africa. The site is dominated by a type of rock called chert that is ideal for making hand axes, small blades and other stone tools, and shows abundant evidence of having been […]
Dental plaque reveals ancient human diets
Dental plaque from ancient human burial sites in Sudan has provided clues as to what humans ate nearly 10,000 years ago. Chemical analysis of the plaque found specific substances – called terpenoids – that are unique to a plant called purple nut sedge. While considered a weed today, the analysis indicates it was an important […]
Bass beats in the brain
A new study helps explain why, in musical cultures from around the world, rhythm is usually played on low-voiced instruments while pitch is played on high-voiced ones. It turns out that when two sounds are played together, the human brain perceives timing differences in low-pitched sounds more easily than those in high-pitched sounds. In the […]
