AnthroBiology Podcast: Recent Episodes
Gaby Lapera
The AnthroBiology Podcast sits down with biological anthropologists every other week to learn about what they do and why it's rad. Want to know more about our evolutionary past? Or what your bones say about you? Maybe chimps are more your speed? If it's anthropology and it's about humans, we'll cover it.
Learn more at anthrobiology.com
Dr. Christiane Baigent of Colorado Mesa University runs the Forensic Investigation Resource Station (FIRS), which is the highest body farm in the world. We talk about how bodies decompose at high altitude and how it can differ from decomp at lower altitude. Dr. Baigent also shares some of the behind-the-scenes of running a body farm.
Recommendations * Dr. Baigent's faculty profile at Colorado Mesa University * Forensic Investigation Resource Station (FIRS) website * American Academy of Forensic Sciences website * Baigent, C. (2024). The effect of altitude on decomposition: Toward an understanding of the postmortem interval in the Rocky Mountain region of Colorado [Doctoral dissertation, Southern Illinois University - Carbondale]. OpenSIUC. https://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/dissertations/2198/ * Hansen, E.S., Baigent, C., Reck, S.I. and Connor, M. (2018). Bioelectrical Impedance as a Technique for Estimating Postmortem Interval. J Forensic Sci, 63: 1186-1190. https://doi.org/10.1111/1556-4029.13695 * Bailey, C. A., Lennartz, A. N., Klemm, M. M., Matheson, C. A., Unger, C. A., & George, R. L. (2025). Assessing Patterns of Moisture Content in Decomposing, Desiccated, and Mummified Tissue in Western North Carolina. Forensic Sciences, 5(4), 73. https://doi.org/10.3390/forensicsci5040073 * Connor, M., Baigent, C. and Hansen, E.S. (2019), Measuring Desiccation Using Qualitative Changes: A Step Toward Determining Regional Decomposition Sequences. J Forensic Sci, 64: 1004-1011. https://doi.org/10.1111/1556-4029.14003 * Baigent C, Agan C, Connor M, Hansen ES. Autopsy as a form of evisceration: Implications for decomposition rate, pattern, and estimation of postmortem interval. Forensic Sci Int. 2020 Jan;306:110068. doi: 10.1016/j.forsciint.2019.110068. Epub 2019 Nov 19. PMID: 31816485. * Garcia, S., Smith, A., Baigent, C. and Connor, M. (2020). The Scavenging Patterns of Feral Cats on Human Remains in an Outdoor Setting. J Forensic Sci, 65: 948-952. https://doi.org/10.1111/1556-4029.14238 * Eds. Haglund, W. and Sorg, M. (1996). Forensic taphonomy: The postmortem fate of human remains. CRC Press. * Eds. Haglund, W. and Sorg, M. (2001). Advances in forensic taphonomy: Method, theory, and archaeological perspectives. CRC Press. * Eds. Ellingham, S., Adserias-Garcia, J., and Zapico, S. (2023). Burnt human remains: Recovery, analysis, and interpretation. Wiley. * Alexander, M. (2020). The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness. The New Press. * Stevenson, B. (2015). Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption. One World. * Derby, S. (2021). Sisters in Hate: American Women and White Extremism. Little, Brown.
Dr. Raquel Fleskes of Dartmouth joins the show to talk about her work using ancient DNA to uncover the past in the Tidewater and South Carolina. Most people think about ancient DNA being used for, well, ancient skeletons, but ancient DNA can also be used in more recent contexts to illuminate the near past. We also chatted about ways to make ancient DNA work more accessible to descendent communities.
Recommendations * Dr. Fleske's lab page * Dr. Fleske's staff profile at Dartmouth * Dr. Fleske's Google Scholar page * Jamestown Rediscovery website * Fleskes, R. E., H. M. Palacios, H. Budner, et al. (2025). "Archaeogenomic Analysis of Nineteenth-Century Burials at Saint Mary's Basilica: An Intersectional Analysis of Religion, Race, and Migration." Am J Biol Anthropol, 187, no. 4: e70110. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.70110. * Masur, L., Fleskes, R., Schurr, T., Brown, D., Harpole, T., Pollard, P., Alukonis, L., Horsley, T., et al. (2025). "Let Perpetual Light Shine upon Them": Forgetting and Remembering Segregated Catholic Cemeteries." American Antiquity. 91. 1-24. 10.1017/aaq.2025.10103. * Fleskes, R.E., Gilmore, J.K., Oubré, L.S., Ofunniyin, A.A., Cabana, G.S. and Schurr, T.G. (2025). "Immersive Videography of Ancient DNA Extraction for Community Engagement and Educational Initiatives by the Anson Street African Burial Ground Project." Am J Biol Anthropol, 186: e25055. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.25055 * Fleskes, R.E., Johnson, S.J., Honap, T.P. et al. (2024). "Oral microbial diversity in 18th century African individuals from South Carolina." Commun Biol 7, 1213. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-024-06893-0 * R.E. Fleskes, G.S. Cabana, J.K. Gilmore, C. Juarez, E. Karcher, L. Oubré, G. Mishoe, A.A. Ofunniyin, & T.G. Schurr. (2023). "Community-engaged ancient DNA project reveals diverse origins of 18th-century African descendants in Charleston, South Carolina." Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 120 (3) e2201620120, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2201620120. * Fleskes, R.E., Johnson, S.J., Honap, T.P. et al. (2024). "Oral microbial diversity in 18th century African individuals from South Carolina." Commun Biol 7, 1213. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-024-06893-0. * Raquel E. Fleskes, Alyssa C. Bader, Krystal S. Tsosie, Jennifer K. Wagner, Katrina G. Claw, Nanibaa' A. Garrison. (2022). "Ethical Guidance in Human Paleogenomics: New and Ongoing Perspectives." Annual Review Genomics and Human Genetics. 23:627-652. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-genom-120621-090239 * Fleskes RE, Ofunniyin AA, Gilmore JK, et al. (2021). "Ancestry, health, and lived experiences of enslaved Africans in 18th century Charleston: An osteobiographical analysis." Am J Phys Anthropol.175:3–24. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.24149 * Källén, A. (2025). The Trouble with Ancient DNA: Telling Stories of the Past with Genomic Science. University of Chicago Press. * The X-Files * Scooby-Doo
Dr. Andrew Best of the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts joined the show to talk about sweat -- what it is, when we do it, how we vary, and why it makes humans different from most other animals.
Recommendations * Dr. Best's faculty profile at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts * Dr. Best Google scholar profile * My Sport Science from Asker Jeukendrup (website) * Asker Jeukendrup (instagram) * Gatorade Sports Science Institute * Everts, S. (2021). The Joy of Sweat: The Strange Science of Perspiration. W.W. Norton & Company. * Galloway, S. (2025). Notes on Being a Man. Simon & Schuster.
Ron Romano of Spirits Alive (a non-profit dedicated to preserving Eastern Cemetery and its history) joins the show to talk about gravestone symbolism, mortuary practices, cemetery organization and social status, and the evolution of gravestone creation in Eastern Cemetery of Portland, ME.
Cemeteries reveal a lot about the people who made them -- how they think about death, life, and religion; social and economic hierarchies; changing technologies; what's important to them; what causes anxiety. Cemeteries are human-made spaces filled with our bodies and artifacts that we've created. They can't help but be reflections of who we are and what we care about in any particular moment. Historians like Ron help us unpack these layered contexts by using the cemetery as a lens for interpretation of the past.
Recommendations * Spirits Alive * Spirits Alive - Monographs about Portland's Eastern Cemetery by Ron Romano * Association for Gravestone Studies * Romano, R. (2017). Portland's Historic Eastern Cemetery: A Field of Ancient Graves. Historic Press. * Romano, R. (2016). Early Gravestones in Southern Maine: The Genius of Bartlett Adams. Historic Press. * Giguere, JM. (2024). Pleasure Grounds of Death: The Rural Cemetery in Nineteenth-Century America. University of Michigan Press. * Burnett, A. (2015). Gone to the Grave: Burial Customs of the Arkansas Ozarks, 1850-1950. University Press of Mississippi. * Blachowicz, J. (2015). From Slate to Marble: Gravestone Carving Traditions in Eastern Massachusetts, 1770-1870 (Vols. 1-2). Graver Press. * Bondeson, J. (2002). Buried Alive: The Terrifying History of Our Most Primal Fear. W.W. Norton & Company. * Hartnell, J. (2019). Medieval Bodies: Life and Death in the Middle Ages. W.W. Norton & Company. * Hartnell, J. (2019). Medieval Bodies: Life, Death and Art in the Middle Ages. Wellcome Collection. * Faust, DG. (2009). This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War. Knopf Publishing Group. * Houlbrooke, R. (1998). Death, Religion, and the Family in England, 1480-1750. Oxford University Press. * Houlbrooke, R. (Ed). (2021). Death, Ritual, and Bereavement. Routledge. * Doughty, C. (2015). Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematory. W.W. Norton & Company. * Deetz, J. (1996). In Small Things Forgotten: An Archaeology of Early American Life. Anchor Books. * Shultz, SR. (2005). Body Snatching: The Robbing of Graves for the Education of Physicians in Early Nineteenth Century America. McFarland & Company.
Dr. Wakefield (Northeast College) and Dr. Neidich (University of Missouri) joined the show to discuss their research on death in early New York mental health institutions and how it differed from the populations around them. Along the way, we talk about the history of mental health institutions in the United States and how differences in the amount and causes of death can illuminate what we care about as a society.
Dr. Walker also worked on this project, but unfortunately was unable to join. Her collaborators wanted to make sure that her contributions were noted :)
Recommendations * Dr. Wakefield's faculty profile * Dr. Niedich's faculty profile * Dr. Walker's faculty profile * Stuhler, L.S. (2011). The Inmates of Willard 1870 to 1900: A Genealogy Resource. Createspace Independent Publishing. * Penney, D. (2009). The Lives They Left Behind: Suitcases from a State Hospital Attic. Bellevue Literary Press. * Willard Suitcases photo gallery * Moreno-Garcia, S. (2020). Mexican Gothic. Del Rey Books. * Wynn-Williams, S. (2025). Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism. Flatiron Books. * Richard Osman's The Thursday Murder Club series * Brindlewood Bay role-playing game
Dr. Brian Villmoare of the University of Nevada - Las Vegas shares how his team found teeth in Ethiopia and what those teeth might mean in terms of who was around when in the evolutionary record.
Recommendations * Dr. Villmoare's University of Nevada - Las Vegas staff profile * Dr. Villmoare's Human Paleontology Lab * Villmoare, B., Delezene, L.K., Rector, A.L. et al. New discoveries of Australopithecus and Homo from Ledi-Geraru, Ethiopia. Nature (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09390-4 * Kalb, J. (2013). Adventures in the Bone Trade: The Race to Discover Human Ancestors in Ethiopia's Afar Depression. Copernicus. * Wood, B. (2019). Human Evolution: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press. [<- This is what I was talking about when I mentioned an intro to human evolution from Cambridge.] * Ian Tattersall's books + Ian Tattersall's website * Jablonka, E. & Lamb, M.J. (2014). Evolution in Four Dimensions, Revised Edition: Genetic, Epigenetic, Behavioral, and Symbolic Variation in the History of Life. Bradford Book. * Sapolsky, R.M. (2023). Determined: A Science of Life Without Free Will. Penguin Publishing Group. * Rachel Kushner's books * Reiss, T. (2006). The Orientalist: Solving the Mystery of a Strange and Dangerous Life. Random House. * Richard Osman's The Thursday Murder Club series
Keri Porter, a PhD candidate at Notre Dame University, joins the show to discuss their research on patterns of violence in a Bronze Age urban center in the Southern Levant. They focus on cranial trauma and what it can reveal about humans attempting to live together along with what it might reveal about who suffers violence. They also share some excellent recommendations for how to think about grad school, whether or not to go, and tips for applying.
Recommendations * Keri Porter's Notre Dame profile page * Martin, D.L., Harrod, R.P., & Pérez, V.R. (Eds.) (2013). The Bioarchaeology of Violence. University Press of Florida. * Regev J, De Miroschedji P, Greenberg R, Braun E, Greenhut Z, Boaretto E. Chronology of the Early Bronze Age in the Southern Levant: New Analysis for a High Chronology. Radiocarbon. 2012;54(3-4):525-566. * Greenberg, R. (2019). The Archaeology of the Bronze Age Levant: From Urban Origins to the Demise of City-States, 3700-1000 BCE. Cambridge University Press. * Krakowka K. (2017). Patterns and prevalence of violence-related skull trauma in medieval London. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 164(3), 488–504. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.23288 * Krakowka, K. (2015). Understanding violence in medieval London: an examination of the skeletal evidence. [PhD thesis]. University of Oxford. * Gorn, E. J. (1985). "Gouge and Bite, Pull Hair and Scratch": The Social Significance of Fighting in the Southern Backcountry. The American Historical Review, 90(1), 18–43. * Collins, S. (2025). Sunrise on the Reaping. Scholastic Press. * Fox, J. (2025). Down the Drain. Simon & Schuster. * Green, J. (2025). Everything Is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection. Crash Course Books. * Reinhard, A. (2018). Archaeogaming: An Introduction to Archaeology in and of Video Games, Berghan Books. * Porter, K. (2022, November 4). Digging Up the Digital Past: Archaeogaming and Archaeological Practice in the Sims™ Franchise. UMMAA Brown Bag Lecture Series, Notre Dame University, Notre Dame, IN, USA.
Dr. Maria Nieves-Cólon and Jamie Zolik join the show to discuss their ancient DNA research in San Luis de Cañete and what it can reveal about the historical population of the town specifically and the African diaspora in South America generally. They share some of the exciting ways they've forged a partnership with the community in order to carry out the work as ethically as possible.
Recommendations * Dr. Maries Nieves-Colón's faculty page at the University of Minnesota * Nieves-Colón lab * Jaime Zolik's bio * Museo Afroperuano de San Luis de Cañete * Nieves-Colón MA, Ulrich EC, Chen L, Torres Colón GA, Rivera Clemente M, Corporación Piñones se Integra (COPI), Benn Torres J. Genomic variation in Puerto Rican Afro-descendants illustrates diverse histories of African diasporic populations. American Journal of Biological Anthropology.185(3), e25059. * Arbour, L., & Cook, D. (2006). DNA on loan: issues to consider when carrying out genetic research with aboriginal families and communities. Community genetics, 9(3), 153–160. https://doi.org/10.1159/000092651 * Flewellen, A.O., Odewale, A., Dunnavant, J. et al. Creating Community and Engaging Community: The Foundations of the Estate Little Princess Archaeology Project in St. Croix, United States Virgin Islands. Int J Histor Archaeol 26, 147–176 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10761-021-00600-z * Ávila-Arcos, M. C., de la Fuente Castro, C., Nieves-Colón, M. A., & Raghavan, M. (2022). Recommendations for Sustainable Ancient DNA Research in the Global South: Voices From a New Generation of Paleogenomicists. Frontiers in genetics, 13, 880170. https://doi.org/10.3389/fgene.2022.880170 * Marciniak, S. Hunting for Pathogens: Ancient DNA and the Historical Record. (2016). In Mant, M., & Holland, A. (Eds.). Beyond the bones : engaging with disparate datasets. Elsevier Academic Press. * Harper, K. (2023). Plagues Upon the Earth: Disease and the Course of Human History. Princeton University Press. * Nieves-Colón, M.A. and Stone, A.C. (2018). Ancient DNA Analysis in Archaeological Remains. In Katzenberg, M.A. & Grauer, A.L. (Eds.). Biological Anthropology of the Human Skeleton. Wiley-Blackwell. * Kowal E, Weyrich LS, Argüelles JM, Bader AC, Colwell C, Cortez AD, Davis JL, Figueiro G, Fox K, Malhi RS, Matisoo-Smith E, Nayak A, Nelson EA, Nicholas G, Nieves-Colón MA, Russell L, Ulm S, Vergara-Silva F, Villanea FA, Wagner JK, Yracheta JM, Tsosie KM. Community partnerships are fundamental to ethical ancient DNA research. Human Genetics and Genomics Advances. 42(2): 100161. * Buffalo, V. (2015). Bioinformatics Data Skills: Reproducible and Robust Research with Open Source Tools. O'Reilly Media. * Ted Lasso (TV series) * Arcane (TV series) * Dungeons & Dragons (game) * Marques, G. G. (1967). One Hundred Years of Solitude. Harper & Row. * Wynn-Williams, S. (2025). Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism. Flatiron Books. * Osman, R. (2021). The Thursday Murder Club. Penguin Books. * Sterling, E. (2021). The Ex Hex. Avon Books. * Henry, C. (2022). Into the Forest: Tales of the Baba Yaga. Black Spot Books.
Dr. Eric Shattuck of Florida State University joins the show to discuss his research on sickness behavior. He wants to know how humans tend to act when they get sick and why they act that way.
Recommendations * Dr. Shattuck's faculty page at FSU * Dr. Shattuck's personal web page * Social Health and Immunology Research (SHIRE) Lab page * Dr. Shattuck's Google Scholar profile * Shattuck, E.C. and Muehlenbein, M.P. (2015), Human sickness behavior: Ultimate and proximate explanations. Am. J. Phys. Anthropol., 157: 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.22698 * Shattuck, EC. (2021). Networks, cultures, and institutions: Toward a social immunology. Brain Behav Immun Health. 18:100367. doi: 10.1016/j.bbih.2021.100367. PMID: 34761241; PMCID: PMC8566934. * Stockmaier S, Stroeymeyt N, Shattuck EC, Hawley DM, Meyers LA, Bolnick DI. Infectious diseases and social distancing in nature. Science. 2021 Mar 5;371(6533):eabc8881. doi: 10.1126/science.abc8881. PMID: 33674468. * Shattuck, Eric & Muehlenbein, Michael. (2020). Religiosity/Spirituality and Physiological Markers of Health. Journal of Religion and Health. 59. 10.1007/s10943-018-0663-6. * Human Relations Area Files (HRAF) * Scavenger's Reign * Common Side Effects * Primal * Weir, A. (2021). Project Hail Mary. Ballantine Books, New York.
Summary Dr. Erin Blankenship-Sefczek of Creighton University joins the show to discuss her research examining the connection between developmental stress and accessory cusps in teeth. Her work focuses on the placement and appearance of extra cusps that occur with greater frequency among individuals who have suffered stress during key developmental periods in their lives.
Recommendations * Dr. Blankenship-Sefczek's staff profile page at Creighton University * Blankenship-Sefczek EC, Goodman AH, Hubbe M, Hunter JP, Guatelli-Steinberg D (2024) Nutritional supplementation, tooth crown size, and trait expression in individuals from Tezonteopan, Mexico. PLOS ONE 19(6): e0305123. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0305123 * Bailey SE, Hublin J-J. "What does it mean to be dentally “modern”?" [links to pdf of chapter] In: Scott GR, Irish JD, eds. Anthropological Perspectives on Tooth Morphology: Genetics, Evolution, Variation [links to site]. Cambridge Studies in Biological and Evolutionary Anthropology. Cambridge University Press; 2013:222-249. * Riga, A., Belcastro, M. G., & Moggi‐Cecchi, J. (2014). Environmental stress increases variability in the expression of dental cusps. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 153(3), 397-407. * Riga, A., Belcastro, M. G., & Moggi-Cecchi, J. (2013). Environmental influence on dental morphology. arXiv preprint arXiv:1301.7334. * Jernvall J, Thesleff I. Reiterative signaling and patterning during mammalian tooth morphogenesis. Mech Dev. 2000 Mar 15;92(1):19-29. doi: 10.1016/s0925-4773(99)00322-6. PMID: 10704885. * Jernvall, J. Linking development with generation of novelty in mammalian teeth. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 97 (6) 2641-2645, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.050586297 (2000). * Smith, T. (2023). The Tales Teeth Tell. MIT Press. * Heyer, G. (1949). Arabella. William Heinneman. * Wynn-Williams, S. (2025). Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism. Flatiron books.
Dr. Samantha Yaussy of James Madison University joins the show to discuss her research on the how sex, socioeconomic status, and developmental stress and the intersectionality therein might interact to affect health outcomes in the past via the lens of frailty in skeletal remains primarily from medieval London.
In this episode, we talked about the skeletal markers of frailty in human remains, understanding bias in research and samples, and intersectionality. As part of this, Dr. Yaussy highlighted the morbidity-mortality paradox -- women in modern contexts typically have worse health but longer lifespans than men. However, this doesn't seem to hold true in the populations she studies, which means the past may hold clues for improving health today.
Note: I feel pretty bad about dunking on The Pumpkin Spice Cafe. It was fine for what it was. I normally love "junk food" books, but this one just didn't do it for me, and that's ok. If you liked it, more power to you!
Books, articles, and media mentioned in this episode + helpful sites and articles: * Dr. Yaussy's personal website * Dr. Yaussy's staff page at James Madison University * Yaussy SL, DeWitte SN. Patterns of frailty in non-adults from medieval London. Int J Paleopathol. 2018 Sep;22:1-7. doi: 10.1016/j.ijpp.2018.03.008. Epub 2018 Apr 4. PMID: 29626661. * Yaussy SL, Marklein KE, DeWitte SN, Crews DE. Frailty or resilience? Hazard-based and cumulative phenotype approaches to discerning signals of health inequality in medieval London. Sci Adv. 2024 Nov 15;10(46):eadq5703. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.adq5703. Epub 2024 Nov 13. PMID: 39536101; PMCID: PMC11559611. * Kulminski AM, Culminskaya IV, Ukraintseva SV, Arbeev KG, Land KC, Yashin AI. Sex-specific health deterioration and mortality: the morbidity-mortality paradox over age and time. Exp Gerontol. 2008 Dec;43(12):1052-7. doi: 10.1016/j.exger.2008.09.007. Epub 2008 Sep 20. PMID: 18835429; PMCID: PMC2703431. * Yaussy SL. The intersections of industrialization: Variation in skeletal indicators of frailty by age, sex, and socioeconomic status in 18th- and 19th-century England. Am J Phys Anthropol. 2019; 170: 116-130. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.23881 * Yaussy SL. The intersectional effects of sex and socioeconomic status on risk of mortality in industrializing England. Am J Biol Anthropol. 2024 Nov;185(3):e25022. doi: 10.1002/ajpa.25022. Epub 2024 Sep 8. PMID: 39245867. * DeWitte SN, Yaussy SL. Sex differences in adult famine mortality in medieval London. Am J Phys Anthropol. 2020 Jan;171(1):164-169. doi: 10.1002/ajpa.23930. Epub 2019 Oct 6. PMID: 31587269. * Biehler-Gomez L, Yaussy S, Moro C, Morandini P, Mondellini M, Petrosino D, Mattia M, Del Bo B, Cattaneo C. Unveiling the female experience through adult mortality and survivorship in Milan over the last 2000 years. Sci Rep. 2024 Sep 12;14(1):21328. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-71607-9. Erratum in: Sci Rep. 2024 Nov 11;14(1):27553. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-78532-x. PMID: 39266601; PMCID: PMC11393343. * Yaussy, Samantha. (2022). Intersectionality and the Interpretation of Past Pandemics. Bioarchaeology International. 10.5744/bi.2020.0028. * Wood, J. W., Milner, G. R., Harpending, H. C., Weiss, K. M., Cohen, M. N., Eisenberg, L. E., ... & Wilkinson, R. G. (1992). The osteological paradox: problems of inferring prehistoric health from skeletal samples [and comments and reply]. Current anthropology, 33(4), 343-370. * Martin, D.L., Harrod, R.P, & Perez, V.R. (Eds.) (2013). Bioarchaeology: An Integrated Approach to Working with Human Remains. Springer. * Agarwal, S.C. & Glencross, B.A. (Eds.) (2011). Social Bioarchaeology. Wiley-Blackwell. * Buikstra, J.E. (Ed.) (2019). Ortner's Identification of Pathological Conditions in Human Skeletal Remains. Academic Press. * Grauer, A.L. (Ed.) (2015). A Companion to Paleopathology. Wiley-Blackwell. * Gowland RL. Entangled lives: Implications of the developmental origins of health and disease hypothesis for bioarchaeology and the life course. Am J Phys Anthropol. 2015 Dec;158(4):530-40. doi: 10.1002/ajpa.22820. Epub 2015 Aug 26. PMID: 26767348. * Temple DH. Bioarchaeological evidence for adaptive plasticity and constraint: Exploring life-history trade-offs in the human past. Evol Anthropol. 2019; 28: 34–46. https://doi.org/10.1002/evan.21754 * DeWitte SN, and Yaussy SL. 2020. Bioarchaeological applications of intersectionality. In Cheverko C, Prince-Buitenhuys J, and Hubbe M (Eds) Theoretical Approaches in Bioarchaeology. Abingdon, UK: Routledge. p. 45-58. * Ritchie, S. (2021). Science Fictions: How Frauds, Bias, Negligence, and Hype Undermine the Search for Truth. St Martins Press-3PL. * Godde K, Pasillas V, Sanchez A. Survival analysis of the Black Death: Social inequality of women and the perils of life and death in Medieval London. Am J Phys Anthropol. 2020 Sep;173(1):168-178. doi: 10.1002/ajpa.24081. Epub 2020 May 29. PMID: 32472637. * McCool WC, Anderson AS, Kennett DJ. Using a multimethod life history approach to navigate the osteological paradox: A case study from Prehispanic Nasca, Peru. Am J Phys Anthropol. 2021; 175: 816–833. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.24279 * Shannon, S. (2019). The Priory of the Orange Tree. Bloomsbury Publishing. * Adeyemi, T. (2018). Children of Blood and Bone. Henry Holt & Company. * Gilmore, L. (2023). The Pumpkin Spice Cafe. HarperCollins. * Clancy, K. (2023). Period: The Real Story of Menstruation. Princeton University Press.
Dr. Habiba Chirchir of the Ohio State University joins the show to discuss her research into the skeletal gracilization of modern humans. She's trying to understand when and why our skeletons became less robust, and whether self-domestication may have played a role.
Note: Apparently I got Dmitry Belyayev confused with Nikolai Vavilov. Both geneticists worked in the Soviet Union, but Dr. Belyayev wasn't persecuted to the same extent as Vavilov.
Vavilov, who based his work on Mendelian genetics, ultimately died in prison for daring to go against Stalin's favored genetic model created by Trofim Lysenko and based on Lamarckism.
Also worth noting: The contributions of Lyudmila Trut who worked with Dr. Belyayev and continued running the study after his death.
Books, articles, and media mentioned in this episode + helpful sites and articles: * Dr. Chirchir's staff page at OSU * Dr. Chirchir's personal and lab website * Assif, L., & Chirchir, H. (2024). Trabecular bone morphology in big cats reflects the complex diversity of limb use but not home range size or daily travel distance. The Anatomical Record, 307(1), 208–222. https://doi.org/10.1002/ar.25302 * H. Chirchir, T.L. Kivell, C.B. Ruff, J. Hublin, K.J. Carlson, B. Zipfel, & B.G. Richmond, Recent origin of low trabecular bone density in modern humans, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 112 (2) 366-371, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1411696112 (2015). * Chirchir H, Ruff CB, Junno J-A, and Potts R. Low trabecular bone density in recent sedentary modern humans. Am J Phys Anthropol. 2017; 162:e23138. doi:10.1002/ajpa.23138. * Chirchir, H. (2019), Trabecular Bone Fraction Variation in Modern Humans, Fossil Hominins and Other Primates. Anat. Rec., 302: 288-305. https://doi.org/10.1002/ar.23967 * H. Chirchir, T.L. Kivell, C.B. Ruff, J. Hublin, K.J. Carlson, B. Zipfel, & B.G. Richmond, Recent origin of low trabecular bone density in modern humans, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 112 (2) 366-371, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1411696112 (2015). * Chirchir Habiba, Ruff Christopher, Helgen Kristofer M. and Potts Richard. 2022. Effects of reduced mobility on trabecular bone density in captive big catsR. Soc. Open Sci.9211345 http://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.211345. * Chirchir H. Trabecular bone in domestic dogs and wolves: Implications for understanding human self-domestication. Anat Rec. 2021; 304: 31–41. https://doi.org/10.1002/ar.24510 * Richmond, Brian & Green, David & Lague, Michael & Chirchir, Habiba & Behrensmeyer, Anna & Bobe, René & Bamford, Marion & Griffin, N & Gunz, Philipp & Mbua, Emma & Merritt, S & Pobiner, Briana & Kiura, Purity & Kibunjia, Mzalendo & Harris, J & Braun, David. (2020). The upper limb of Paranthropus boisei from Ileret, Kenya. Journal of Human Evolution. 141. 102727. 10.1016/j.jhevol.2019.102727. * Perry, T.A. and Chirchir, H. (2019), Cortical and trabecular bone density distribution in primate and felid limb epiphyses. The FASEB Journal, 33: lb150-lb150.https://doi.org/10.1096/fasebj.2019.33.1_supplement.lb150 * Cartwright C, Ragni A, Hublin JJ, Chirchir H. Trabecular bone volume fraction in Holocene and Late Pleistocene humans. J Hum Evol. 2024 May;190:103499. doi: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2024.103499. Epub 2024 Apr 3. PMID: 38569444. * Barak MM, Lieberman DE, Hublin JJ. A Wolff in sheep's clothing: trabecular bone adaptation in response to changes in joint loading orientation. Bone. 2011 Dec;49(6):1141-51. doi: 10.1016/j.bone.2011.08.020. Epub 2011 Aug 26. PMID: 21893221. * Barak, Meir & Lieberman, Daniel & Hublin, Jean-Jacques. (2012). Sheep in shoes: a new experimental test of Wolff’s Law of trabecular orientation. 10.13140/RG.2.1.3689.5123. * Barak, Meir & Hublin, Jean-Jacques & Lieberman, Daniel. (2011). Altering joint loading direction in the sheep generates trabecular orientation adjustment. * Assif, L. and ChirChir, H. (2022), Trabecular bone morphology in felids reflects diversity in locomotor strategy but not home range size. The FASEB Journal, 36:. https://doi.org/10.1096/fasebj.2022.36.S1.R3371 * Trut, Lyudmila. Early Canid Domestication: The Farm-Fox Experiment. American Scientist. 1999 Mar; 8(2): 160. * Dr. Christopher Ruff's staff profile page at Johns Hopkins * Dr. Ruff's Google Scholar profile * Dr. Brian Hare's staff profile at Duke * Dr. Hare's personal website * Dr. Hare's Google Scholar profile * Elzinga DC, Kulwicki R, Iselin S, Spence L, Capaldi A. Rapid evolution of prehistoric dogs from wolves by natural and sexual selection emerges from an agent-based model. Proc Biol Sci. 2025 Feb;292(2040):20242646. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2024.2646. Epub 2025 Feb 12. PMID: 39933588; PMCID: PMC11813586. * Grantchester on PBS
Dr. David Orton of the University of York joins the show to discuss how he uses zooarchaeology (the study of animal remains in archaeological contexts) to understand the how rat and human populations interacted and affected each other over time in Europe. He gets into the spread of rats, the plague, using ancient DNA and isotopic analysis to analyze rats, and what rats can tell us about historic events.
Books, articles, and media mentioned in this episode + helpful sites and articles: * Dr. Orton's University of York faculty profile * RATTUS project website * Eric Guiry et al., The ratting of North America: A 350-year retrospective on Rattus species compositions and competition. Scientific Advancements. 10, eadm6755(2024). DOI:10.1126/sciadv.adm6755 * Yu, H., Jamieson, A., Hulme-Beaman, A. et al. Palaeogenomic analysis of black rat (Rattus rattus) reveals multiple European introductions associated with human economic history. Nature Communications. 13, 2399 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-30009-z * Jason Munshi-South et al., The evolutionary history of wild and domestic brown rats (Rattus norvegicus). Science. 385, 1292-1297. (2024). DOI:10.1126/science.adp1166 * E. E. Puckett, D. Orton, J. Munshi-South, Commensal Rats and Humans: Integrating Rodent Phylogeography and Zooarchaeology to Highlight Connections between Human Societies. BioEssays 2020, 42, 1900160. https://doi.org/10.1002/bies.201900160 * Guiry, E.J., Gaulton, B.C. Inferring Human Behaviors from Isotopic Analyses of Rat Diet: a Critical Review and Historical Application. J Archaeol Method Theory 23, 399–426 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10816-015-9248-9 * Susat, Julian et al. A 5,000-year-old hunter-gatherer already plagued by Yersinia pestis. Cell Reports, Volume 35, Issue 13, 109278. * Hall, A. R., Kenward, H. K., and Williams, D. Environmental Evidence from Roman Deposits in Skeldergate. The Archaeology of York. Volume 14, Issue 3. (1980). * Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Owl Pellet Teaching Tips. * Beisaw, April. (2013). Identifying and Interpreting Animal Bones: A Manual. Texas A&M University Press. * O'Connor, Terry. (2008). The Archaeology of Animal Bones. Texas A&M University Press. * O'Connor, Terry. (2014). Animals as Neighbors: The Past and Present of Commensal Animals. Michigan State University Press. * MacArthur, R.H. and E.O. Wilson. (1967). The Theory of Island Biogeography. Princeton University Press. * Kalmring, Sven. (2024). Towns and Commerce in Viking-Age Scandinavia. Cambridge University Press. * Vinge, Vernor. (2010). A Fire Upon the Deep. Tor Books. * Larian Studios. (2023). Baldur's Gate 3. * Chambers, Becky. (2021). The Galaxy, and the Ground Within. Harper Voyager Books.
Dr. Henry Erlich, Researcher Emeritus at Benioff UCSF Children's Hospital, joins the show to discuss his book, Genetic Reconstruction of the Past: DNA Analysis in Forensics and Human Evolution. We chatted about what it was like to pioneer PCR tests along with how PCR testing works, its applications (including medicine, understanding human evolution, and forensics), and some of the ethical dilemmas around DNA testing more generally.
Books, articles, and media mentioned in this episode + helpful sites and articles: * Dr. Erlich's personal website * Dr. Erlich's Medium profile * Erlich, H. (2023). Genetic Reconstruction of the Past: DNA Analysis in Forensics and Human Evolution. Oxford University Press. * Ed. H Erlich, E Stover, TJ White. (2020). Silent Witness: Forensic DNA Evidence in Criminal Investigations and Humanitarian Disasters. Oxford University Press. * Wulf, A. (2016). The Invention of Nature: Alexander Von Humboldt's New World. Knopf - Vintage.
Dr. Christopher Schmitt of Boston University joins the show to talk about how he uses life history theory and epigenetics as a lens for his work with vervets and woolly monkeys. We also chatted about the highs of fieldwork, along with understanding how identity can affect an individual's experience of the field.
Books, articles, and media mentioned in this episode + helpful sites and articles: * Dr. Schmitt's personal website * Dr. Schmitt's faculty profile at Boston University * Schmitt, C., Service, S., Jasinska, A. et al. Obesity and obesogenic growth are both highly heritable and modified by diet in a nonhuman primate model, the African green monkey (Chlorocebus aethiops sabaeus). Int J Obes 42, 765–774 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/ijo.2017.301 * Carrey, N. (2011). The Epigenetics Revolution: How Modern Biology Is Rewriting Our Understanding of Genetics, Disease, and Inheritance. * Stearns, S.C. (1992). The Evolution of Life Histories. Oxford University Press. * Turner, T. R., Schmitt, C. A., & Cramer, J. D. (2019). Savanna Monkeys: The Genus Chlorocebus. Cambridge University Press.
Dr. Kate Clancy of Illinois State University Urbana-Champaign joins the show to talk about her book, Period: The Real Story of Menstruation. We touch on what periods are, why humans might menstruate, factors that affect menstruation, the study of women's health in general, and a few things to keep in when doing research.
Books, articles, and media mentioned in this episode + helpful sites and articles: * Clancy, K. (2023). Period: The Real Story of Menstruation. Princeton University Press. (Audiobook version) * Dr. Clancy's website * Dr. Clancy's faculty profile at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign * Dr. Clancy's Bluesky profile * Dr. Clancy's Buttondown profile * Ellison, P.T. (2003). On Fertile Ground: A Natural History of Human Reproduction. Harvard University Press. * Van Der Sijpt, E. (2018). Wasted Wombs: Navigating Reproductive Interruptions in Cameroon. Vanderbilt University Press. * Nguyen, M. (2024). The Promise of Beauty. Duke University Press. * Gladstone, M. (2012). Three Parts Dead. Tor Books.
Dr. Rebecca Gilmour of Mount Royal University talks about bones, their mechanics, and how we can use both to understand humans' lives in the past -- especially around her main focus of disability and care in ancient Rome.
Books, articles, and media mentioned in this episode + helpful sites and articles: * Ed. CS Hirst, RJ Gilmour, FA Cardoso, KA Plomp. (2023). Behaviour in our Bones: How Human Behaviour Influences Skeletal Morphology. Elsevier. * Gilmour, Rebecca & Plomp, Kimberly. (2022). The Changing Shape of Palaeopathology: The Contribution of Skeletal Shape Analyses to Investigations of Pathological Conditions. (OPEN ACCESS). Yearbook of Physical Anthropology. 10.1002/ajpa.24475.. * Battles, Heather & Gilmour, Rebecca. (2022). Beyond Mortality: Survivors of Epidemic Infections and the Bioarchaeology of Impairment and Disability. (OPEN ACCESS). 6. 23–40. 10.5744/bi.2021.0003. * Gilmour, Rebecca & Brickley, Megan & Jurriaans, Erik & Prowse, Tracy. (2018). Maintaining mobility after fracture: A biomechanical analysis of fracture consequences at the Roman Sites of Ancaster (UK) and Vagnari (Italy). International Journal of Paleopathology. 24. 10.1016/j.ijpp.2018.09.002.. * Gilmour, Rebecca & Prowse, Tracy & Jurriaans, Erik & Brickley, Megan. (2017). Well-Trodden Roads: Skeletal Evidence for Sex-Related Mobility at the Roman Site of Vagnari, Italy. Conference presentation: American Association of Physical Anthropologists. * Gilmour, Rebecca. (2017). Resilient Romans: Cross-Sectional Evidence for Long-Term Functional Consequences of Extremity Trauma. PhD thesis completed at McMaster University. * Cunningham, C., Scheuer, L., Black, S. (2016). Developmental Juvenile Osteology. Academic Press. * White, T. & Folken, P. (2005). The Human Bone Manual. Academic Press. * Eds. Hirst, C.S., Gilmour, R.J., Cardoso, F.A. (2023). Behaviour in Our Bones: How Human Behaviour Influences Skeletal Morphology. Elsevier Science Publishing. * Canci, Alessandro & Marchi, Damiano & Caramella, Davide & Sparacello, Vitale. (2024). A severe case of bilateral humerus varus deformity from the Middle Bronze age necropolis of Olmo di Nogara, Northeast Italy: The contribution of biomechanical analysis to paleopathological study. International journal of paleopathology. 47. 12-20. 10.1016/j.ijpp.2024.07.005. * Ed. Laes, C. (2024). A Cultural History of Disability in Antiquity. Bloomsbury Acadamic. * Van Pelt, S. (2022). Remarkably Bright Creatures. Ecco Press. * Holmes, R. (2024). Murder Your Employer: The McMasters Guide to Homicide. Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster. * Blum, D. (2011). The Poisoner's Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York. Penguin Books.
Dr. Jesse Goliath of Mississippi State University joins the show to talk about forensic anthropology, including how he ended up in forensic anthropology and how he developed the Mississippi Repository for Missing and Unidentified Persons. We also talk about the complicated relationship between race and forensic anthropology, along with the importance of bringing diverse perspectives to the field.
Books, articles, and media mentioned in this episode + helpful sites and articles: * Dr. Goliath's personal website * Dr. Goliath's faculty profile page at MS State * Dr. Goliath's ResearchGate profile * The Mississippi Repository for Missing and Unidentified Persons * Forensic Pioneers of Color * Goliath, J.R., Yim, A., & Juarez, J.K. (Eds). (2024). Contemporary Concerns and Considations in Forensic Anthropology. [Special issue]. Humans, 4(1). * Hagerman, M.A. (2024). Children of a Troubled Time: Growing Up with Racism in Trump's America. New York University Press. * Barber, W.J & Wilson-Hartgrove, J. (2024). White Poverty: How Exposing Myths about Race and Class Can Reconstruct American Democracy. Liveright Publishing Corporation.
Dr. Christine Drea of Duke University joined the show to talk about mechanisms of female dominance, which is when females of a species are more dominant in groups than males. Dr. Drea looks at how genetics, hormones, and social dynamics interact with each other to result in female dominance in hyenas, meerkats, and lemurs.
Content warning: We talk about animal genitalia and hyenas' traumatic birthing process.
Books, articles, and media mentioned in this episode + helpful sites and articles: * Dr. Drea’s faculty page at Duke University * Dr. Drea’s website * Dr. Drea’s ResearchGate profile * Dixons, A. (2012). Primate Sexuality: Comparative Studies of the Prosimians, Monkeys, Apes, and Humans. Oxford University Press. * Ellison, P. (2003). On Fertile Ground: A Natural History of Human Reproduction. Harvard University Press. * Grebe, Nicholas & Sheikh, Alizeh & Ohannessian, Laury & Drea, Christine. (2023). Effects of Oxytocin Receptor Blockade on Dyadic Social Behavior in Monogamous and Non-Monogamous Eulemur. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 150. 106044. 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2023.106044. * Bornbusch, Sally & Clarke, Tara & Hobilalaina, Sylvia & Reseva, Honore & LaFleur, Marni & Drea, Christine. (2022). Microbial rewilding in the gut microbiomes of captive ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta) in Madagascar. Scientific Reports. 12. 10.1038/s41598-022-26861-0. * Drea, Christine & Grebe, Nicholas. (2022). Intraspecific Aggression and Social Dominance. (chapter in The Routledge International Handbook of Comparative Psychology, ed. by Freeberg, Ridley, and d'Ettorre) * Bornbusch, Sally & Greene, Lydia & Rahobilalaina, Sylvia & Calkins, Samantha & Rothman, Ryan & Clarke, Tara & LaFleur, Marni & Drea, Christine. (2022). Gut microbiota of ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta) vary across natural and captive populations and correlate with environmental microbiota. Animal Microbiome. 4. 10.1186/s42523-022-00176-x. * Grebe, Nicholas & Sheikh, Alizeh & Drea, Christine. (2022). Integrating the female masculinization and challenge hypotheses: Female dominance, male deference, and seasonal hormone fluctuations in adult blue-eyed black lemurs (Eulemur flavifrons). Hormones and Behavior. 139. 105108. 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2022.105108. * Drea, Christine & Davies, Charli & Greene, Lydia & Mitchell, Jessica & Blondel, Dimitri & Shearer, Caroline & Feldblum, Joseph & Dimac-Stohl, Kristin & Smyth-Kabay, Kendra & Clutton-Brock, Tim. (2021). An intergenerational androgenic mechanism of female intrasexual competition in the cooperatively breeding meerkat. Nature Communications. 12. 10.1038/s41467-021-27496-x. * Conley, Alan & Place, Ned & Legacki, Erin & Hammond, Geoffrey & Cunha, Gerald & Drea, Christine & Weldele, Mary & Glickman, Stephen. (2020). Spotted hyaenas and the sexual spectrum: reproductive endocrinology and development. Journal of Endocrinology. 247. 10.1530/JOE-20-0252. * Smyth, Kendra & Caruso, Nicholas & Davies, Charli & Clutton-Brock, Tim & Drea, Christine. (2018). Social and endocrine correlates of immune function in meerkats: Implications for the immunocompetence handicap hypothesis. Royal Society Open Science. 5. 180435. 10.1098/rsos.180435. * Drea, Christine & Coscia, Elizabeth & Glickman, Stephen. (2018). Hyenas. (chapter in The Encyclopedia of Reproduction from Academic Press, ed. Michael Skinner)
Dr. Lauren Butaric of University of Florida joined the show to talk about sinuses - what they are, why we have them, how they can be used in forensic contexts, and what they can tell us about people.
I personally love these anatomy-based discussions. It's just so exciting to do a deep dive into these dark cavities.
Here are some of the articles I found helpful while prepping for this episode:
- Campbell, Jessica & Butaric, Lauren. (2022). Technical Modifications for the Application of the Total Difference Method for Frontal Sinus Comparison. Biology. 11. 1075. 10.3390/biology11071075.
- Butaric, Lauren & Campbell, Jessica & Fischer, Kristine & Garvin, Heather. (2022). Ontogenetic patterns in human frontal sinus shape: A longitudinal study using elliptical Fourier analysis. Journal of Anatomy. 241. 10.1111/joa.13687.
- Butaric, Lauren & Richman, Allison & Garvin, Heather. (2022). The Effects of Cranial Orientation on Forensic Frontal Sinus Identification as Assessed by Outline Analyses. Biology. 11. 62. 10.3390/biology11010062.
- Butaric, Lauren & Nicholas, Christina & Kravchuk, Katherine & Maddux, Scott. (2021). Ontogenetic variation in human nasal morphology. The Anatomical Record. 305. 10.1002/ar.24760.
- Kim, Suhhyun & Ward, Lyndee & Butaric, Lauren & Maddux, Scott. (2021). Ancestry‐based variation in maxillary sinus anatomy: Implications for health disparities in sinonasal disease. The Anatomical Record. 305. 10.1002/ar.24644.
Books, articles, and media mentioned in this episode + helpful sites:
- Dr. Lauren Butaric's faculty page at University of Florida
- Dr. Butaric's website
- Dr. Butaric's ResearchGate profile
- Nestor, J. (2020). Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art. Riverhead Books.
- Lieberman, D. (2011). The Evolution of the Human Head. Harvard University Press.
- Jemisin, NK. (2015). The Broken Earth Trilogy. Orbit.
- Jordan, R. (1990-2007). The Wheel of Time series.
- Stephen King
- Gaby's fantasy rec: Anything by Ilona Andrews
Dr. Gwen Robbins Schug from the University of North Carolina - Greebsboro discusses some of the projects her lab is working on, including skeletal and dental pathology in past populations and istopic analysis of human remains. She also touches on the importance of integrating biological anthropology into climate change and global health policies.
These two articles are great examples of how bio anthro could inform policymaking:
- G. Robbins Schug, S. E. Halcrow, Building a bioarchaeology of pandemic, epidemic, and syndemic diseases: Lessons for understanding COVID-19. Bioarchaeol. Int. 6, 179–200 (2022).
- G. Robbins Schug et al., Climate change, human health, and resilience in the Holocene. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 120 (2023).
Honestly, we probably could have done an entire show on just one article. And I might do that in the future. For now, I encourage you to read the articles. They illustrate how answering questions about our past can help us build a better future.
Books, articles, and media mentioned in this episode:
- Dr. Robbins Schug's faculty page at UNCG
- Robbins Schug Human Diversity Lab Website
- G. Robbins Schug, S. E. Halcrow, Building a bioarchaeology of pandemic, epidemic, and syndemic diseases: Lessons for understanding COVID-19. Bioarchaeol. Int. 6, 179–200 (2022).
- G. Robbins Schug et al., Climate change, human health, and resilience in the Holocene. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 120 (2023).
- Grauer, A. (Ed.) (2015). A Companion to Paleopathology. Wiley-Blackwell.
- Buiktra, J. (Ed.) (2019). Ortner's Identification of Pathological Conditions in Human Skeletal Remains (3rd edition). Academic Press.
- Resnick, D. (2001). Diagnosis of Bone and Joint Disorders: 5-Volume Set. Saunders.
- Planetary Health Alliance
- Sholts, S. (2024). The Human Disease: How We Create Pandemics, from our Bodies to Our Beliefs. MIT Press.
Dr. Sholts of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History joins the show to discuss her new book, The Human Disease: How We Create Pandemics, from Our Bodies to Our Beliefs. Dr. Sholts uses an anthropological lens to understand epidemics. She touches on One Health, historical and current epidemics, the role misinformation plays in the spread of disease, and science communication.
Books, articles, and media mentioned in this episode:
- Sholts, S. (2024). The Human Disease: How We Create Pandemics, from our Bodies to Our Beliefs. MIT Press.
- Dr. Sholt's Google Scholar profile
- Dr. Sholt's NMNH profile
- Lieberman. D. (2014). The Story of the Human Body: Evolution, Health, and Disease. Vintage Books.
- Garrett, L. (2020). The Coming Plague: Newly Emerging Diseases in a World Out of Balance. Picador USA.
- Villarosa, L. (2023). Under the Skin: The Hidden Toll of Racism on American Lives. Anchor Books.
- Hatzfeld, J. (2006). Machete Season: The Killers in Rwanda Speak. Picador USA.
- Hatzfeld, J. (2007). Life Laid Bare: The Survivors in Rwanda Speak. Other Press.
- Hatzfeld, J. (2008). Into the Quick of Life: The Rwandan Genocide - The Survivors Speak. Serpent’s Tail.
- Hatzfeld, J. (2010). The Antelope’s Strategy: Living in Rwanda After the Genocide. St. Martin’s Press-3PL.
- Lachenal, G. & Thomas, G. (2023). Atlas historique des épidémies. Autrement.
- St John-Mandel, E. (2015). Station Eleven. Vintage Books.
Dr. Griffin of San Francisco State University joins the show to discuss dental caries and toothwear in pre-contact Native American groups.
Books, articles, and media mentioned in this episode:
- Griffin, MC. (2014). Biocultural implication of oral pathology in an ancient central California population. Am J Phys Anthropol, 154(2), 171-188.
- Griffin, MC. (2018). The End of Prehistory in the Land of Coosa: Oral Health in a Late Mississippian Village. In S Chappell Hodge & KA Shuler Bioarchaeology of the American Southeast: Approaches to Bridging Health and Identity in the Past (1st ed., pp 69-91). University of Alabama Press.
- Ed Yong. (2016). I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life. Ecco.
- Kathleen McAuliffe. (2016). This Is Your Brain on Parasites: How Tiny Creatures Manipulate Our Behavior and Shape Society. Mariner Books.
- Clinical literature on auditory exostoses
- Cardinal (detective drama, currently on Hulu as of June 2024)
- MC Beaton, Agatha Raisin series (Books + TV series -- I've only read the books, but I hear the show is great)
- cozy-mystery.com [My bad, y’all. I said the wrong URL on the show. There are like 5 sites that also do this, but this is the one I was thinking of. The clip art is perfect.]
- Sister Boniface Mysteries (Nun solves crimes in British countryside, currently on BritBox as of June 2024)
- Father Brown (Priest solves crimes in British countryside, currently on BritBox as of June 2024)
- Cadfael (Medieval monk solves crimes. Books + TV series)
- Grantchester (Anglican vicar solves crimes. Short stories + TV series)
Dr. Wescott of Texas State University joins the show to discuss the Texas State body farm (Forensic Anthropology Center at Texas State - FACTS) and the forensic research carried out there.
Books, articles, and selected people mentioned in this episode:
- Dr. Wescott's ResearchGate profile
- Haglund & Sorg, Advances in Forensic Taphonomy: Method, Theory, and Archeological Perspectives
- DO Carter, D Yellowlees, M Tibbett “Cadaver decomposition in terrestrial ecology”, Science of Nature 94(1), 2007
- Lee Lyman, Vertebrate Taphonomy
- PS Barton, D Lindenmeyer, AD Manning, SA Cunningham, “The role of carrion in maintaining biodiversity and ecological processes in terrestrial ecosystems”, Oecologia 171(4), 2012
- John Currey, Bones: Structure and Mechanics
- David Burr, Basic and Applied Bone Biology
- C Ruff, B Holt, E Trinkaus, “Who’s afraid of the big bad Wolff?: Wolff’s Law and bone functional adaptation”, Am J Phys Anthropol, 129(4), 2006
- P Capodaglio, et al. “Effect of obesity on knee and ankle biomechanics while walking,” Sensors (Basel), 21(21), 2021
- BA Sanford, et al. “Hip, knee, and ankle joint forces in healthy weight, overweight, and obese individuals during walking” 2014
- Neil Shubin, Your Inner Fish: A Journey into the 3.5 Billion-Year History of the Human Body
- Ed Yong, An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us
Dr. Goodson (Cambridge University) and Dr. Trombley (Augustana University) join forces on the show to discuss their bioarchaeological-historical collaboration to understand the Medieval mouth. Learn about what
Books, articles, and selected people mentioned in this episode:
- Medieval Mouths in Context: Biocultural and MultiScalar Considerations of the Mouth and the Case of Late-Medieval Villamagna, Italy
- Dr. Roberta Gilchrist, Medieval Life: Archaeology and the Life Course
- Dr. Virginia Burruss, Earthquakes and Gardens: Saint Hilarion’s Cyprus
- Dr. Karl Jacoby, The Strange Career of William Ellis: The Texas Slave Who Became a Mexican Millionaire
- Dr. Roberta Gilchrist, University of Reading
- Dr. Shannon Novak, Syracuse University
- Dr. Lauren Hosek, University of Colorado - Boulder
- Dr. Stephen Brookfield, Discussion as a Way of Teaching
- Adrian Miller, Black Smoke: African Americans and the United States of Barbecue
- Jim Auchmutey, Smoke Lore: A Short History of Barbecue in America
Dr. Trent Trombley of Augustana University joins the show to talk about his research at Villamagna, a medieval settlement outside of Rome. He uses macroscopic analysis of teeth along with a few other methods to understand life in the past.
Links mentioned in the show:
- Dr. Trombley's ResearchGate profile
- Making Sense of Medieval Mouths: Investigating Sex Differences of Dental Pathological Lesions in a Late Medieval Italian Community
- Growing up at Villamagna: Sex, Gender, and Stress During Growth and Development in a Medieval Italian Community
Dr. Clark Spencer Larsen of Ohio State joins the show to discuss his history in the field, bioarchaeology, and how we can use biological anthropology to understand human health in the past.
Links mentioned in the show:
- Dr. Larsen's faculty page
- The past 12,000 years of behavior, adaptation, population and evolution shaped who we are today (2023 PNAS article - opens as a website)
- Paleosyndemics: A bioarchaeological and biosocial approach to study infectious diseases in the past (2022 Centaurus article - PDF)
- Bioarchaeology: Interpreting Behavior from the Human Skeleton (2015 Cambridge University Press book - link to Alibris)
Find links to articles, books, and pics at AnthroBiology.com. Find the show on Instagram and Twitter @AnthroBiology. Email the host at gaby.lapera@anthrobiology.com.
Dr. Daniel Benyshek of UNLV joins the show to discuss plancentophagy. Check out his lab page for more info on placentophagy.
Note: There is a special addition at the end of this episode.
Find links to articles, books, and pics at AnthroBiology.com. Find the show on Instagram and Twitter @AnthroBiology. Email the host at gaby.lapera@anthrobiology.com.
Dr. Jeremy DeSilva of Dartmouth joins the show to discuss bipedalism -- why anthropologists are obsessed with it and how it might have come to be.
Find links to articles, books, and pics at AnthroBiology.com. Find the show on Instagram and Twitter @AnthroBiology. Email the host at gaby.lapera@anthrobiology.com.
Rhianna Drummond-Clarke, PhD candidate at the Max Planck Institute (Dept. of Human Origins), joins the show to discuss her most recent article examining how environments affect chimp locomotion. She also chat about her time in the field.
See her article here: https://www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1126/sciadv.add9752
Find links to articles, books, and pics at AnthroBiology.com. Find the show on Instagram and Twitter @AnthroBiology. Email the host at gaby.lapera@anthrobiology.com.
Dr. Kirsty Graham from the University of St. Andrews discusses how bonobos use gestures to communicate, which winds into a chat about what that means for ape communication generally -- especially humans. They also have some insights into field research.
Listener discretion advised: Bonobo behavior is discussed in this episode, which includes sexual habits.
Find links to articles, books, and pics at AnthroBiology.com. Find the show on Instagram and Twitter @AnthroBiology. Email the host at gaby.lapera@anthrobiology.com.
Dr. James Cole from the University of Brighton joins the show to talk about how studying stone tools can reveal insights about the evolution of cognition in humans. Along the way, we touch on brain size, theory of mind, and social groups.
Find links to articles, books, and pics at AnthroBiology.com. Find the show on Instagram and Twitter @AnthroBiology. Email the host at gaby.lapera@anthrobiology.com.
Rick Coste, host of the Evolution Talk podcast, talks about his new book (Evolution Talk) and how he became interested in science.
Find links to articles, books, and pics at AnthroBiology.com. Find the show on Instagram and Twitter @AnthroBiology.
Dr. Agustin Fuentes of Princeton and Dr. Barbara King joined the show to discuss the scientific community's responsibility for animals used in research. Should it be done? Is it possible to carry out ethical research involving animals?
Want to learn more? Read the article the episode is based on: "Towards an Anti-Maleficent Research Agenda"
Find links to articles, books, and pics at AnthroBiology.com. Find the show on Instagram and Twitter @AnthroBiology.
Dr. Christian Crowder from the Dallas County Medical Examiner's Office joins the show to talk about his experiences in forensic anthropology, using histology for forensic cases, and how anthropologists are a crucial component of the response team for mass fatality events. Dr. Crowder also talks about his work on the editorial boards of peer-reviewed publications like the Journal of Forensic Anthropology.
Find links to articles, books, and pics at AnthroBiology.com. Find the show on Instagram and Twitter @AnthroBiology. Email the host at gaby.lapera@anthrobiology.com.
Dr. Christian Crowder from the Dallas County Medical Examiner's Office joins the show to talk about his experiences in forensic anthropology, using histology for forensic cases, and how anthropologists are a crucial component of the response team for mass fatality events. Dr. Crowder also talks about his work on the editorial boards of peer-reviewed publications like the Journal of Forensic Anthropology.
Find links to articles, books, and pics at AnthroBiology.com. Find the show on Instagram and Twitter @AnthroBiology. Email the host at gaby.lapera@anthrobiology.com.
Dr. John Lindo of Emory talks about ancient DNA -- how it works, what you can understand from it, and why it's important. He explains how he's using ancient DNA to understand the biological diversity of pre-contact indigenous groups in the Americas.
Find links to articles, books, and pics at AnthroBiology.com. Find the show on Instagram and Twitter @AnthroBiology. Email the host at gaby.lapera@anthrobiology.com.
Dr. Nicole Iturriaga of UC - Irvine joined the show to talk about her book: Exhuming Violent Histories: Forensics, Memory, and Rewriting Spain’s Past.In this episode, we discuss the history of the Spanish Civil War, how forensics can help change perceptions and heal communities, and how the general public perceives forensic anthropology.
Find links to articles, books, and pics at AnthroBiology.com. Find the show on Instagram and Twitter @AnthroBiology. Email the host at gaby.lapera@anthrobiology.com.
Dr. Julia Boughner of the University of Saskatchewan talks about the evolution of human teeth. Why do adults have ~32 teeth? Are our jaws shrinking? What's the deal with wisdom teeth? Does modern dentistry change our evolutionary path?
Find links to articles, books, and pics at AnthroBiology.com. Find the show on Instagram and Twitter @AnthroBiology. Email the host at gaby.lapera@anthrobiology.com.
Ms. Selina Carlhoff, PhD candidate at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, talks about the basics of DNA, what you should know about ancient DNA, and some of the ethical complexities that come with studying prehistoric populations. She also fills us in on her article in Nature, "Genome of a middle Holocene hunter-gatherer from Wallacea." Find links to articles, books, and pics at AnthroBiology.com. Find the show on Instagram and Twitter @AnthroBiology. Email the host at gaby.lapera@anthrobiology.com.
Dr. David Braun of George Washington University's Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology in the Anthropology Department chats about the cycles of tool use and niche construction. We talk about how one affects the other and vice versa in cycles, plus the interplay of greater environmental and climate change. Dr. Braun also discusses howwe can look into the near and deep past to figure out environmental change.
Find links to articles, books, and pics at AnthroBiology.com. Find the show on Instagram and Twitter @AnthroBiology. Email the host at gaby.lapera@anthrobiology.com.
Dr. Jonathan Marks of the University of North Carolina - Charlotte joins the show to talk about his book, Why Are There Still Creationists? Human Evolution and the Ancestors. We chat about one of the toughest conversations everyone who deals with evolution faces: Speaking with creationists. In the episode, Marks talks about theology and the surprising history between scientists and creationists. Check out the book here.
Jon Marks' website is here.
Find links to articles, books, and pics at AnthroBiology.com. Find the show on Instagram and Twitter @AnthroBiology. Email the host at gaby.lapera@anthrobiology.com.
Dr. Bill Schutt, zoologist and author, joins the show to talk about his latest book, Pump: A Natural History of the Heart. We chat about the evolution of hearts, how people learned about how hearts work, and science writing. Check out his book here.
Find links to articles, books, and pics at AnthroBiology.com. Find the show on Instagram and Twitter @AnthroBiology.
Dr. Robert Anemone of the University of North Carolina - Greensboro joins the show to talk about how advances in geospatial tech can help paleoanthropologists find productive sites, along with how he's used it in his real life field work in the Great Divide Basin of Wyoming. Helpful background: Fossil GPS, Scientific American, May 2014, Anemone & Emerson
Dr. Anemone's webpage
Find links to articles, books, and pics at AnthroBiology.com. Find the show on Instagram and Twitter @AnthroBiology.
Dr. Sarah Kindschuh of the DPAA discusses what it's like to work for federal government to recover and identify members of the U.S. armed services. We also chatted about advice for undergraduates interested in pursuing work as anthropologists. Find links to articles, books, and pics at AnthroBiology.com. Find the show on Instagram and Twitter @AnthroBiology.
Dr. Christopher D. Lynn of the University of Alabama joins the show to talk about tattoos and what they can tell us about immune function, health signaling, and cultural meanings. Plus, we talk about sci comm! Find links to articles, books, and pics at AnthroBiology.com. Find the show on Instagram and Twitter @AnthroBiology. Check out Dr. Lynn's website here: https://cdlynn.people.ua.edu/
Stine Carlsson is a PhD candidate at Queens University Belfast in Northern Ireland. We discuss strategies for finding a good grad program, dealing with toxic academic environments, choosing a path, and skeletal stress indicators.
Find links to articles, books, and pics at AnthroBiology.com. Find the show on Instagram and Twitter @AnthroBiology.
Dr. Robert Mann of the University of Hawaii talks about his winding path in biological anthropology. Find links to articles, books, and pics at AnthroBiology.com. Find the show on Instagram and Twitter @AnthroBiology.
Dr. DiGangi from SUNY-Binghamton and Dr. Bethard from the University of South Florida joined the show to discuss their position papers on the use of ancestry in forensic sciences and in the justice system. Find links to articles, books, and pics at AnthroBiology.com. Find the show on Instagram and Twitter @AnthroBiology.
Dr. Tara Cepon-Robins of the University of Colorado - Colorado Springs joined me to talk about worms. She talks about humans' evolutionary arms race with parasites, measuring disgust, and her work among the Shuar people and in the rural southern United States. Check out Dr. Cepon-Robins' site. Find links to articles, books, and pics at AnthroBiology.com. Find the show on Instagram and Twitter @AnthroBiology.
Dr. Herman Pontzer of Duke is on the show this week to talk about human metabolism and his new book, Burn. He helps answer questions like: How much energy can a person burn in one day? Does exercise help you lose weight? Do people with different subsistence strategies have different metabolisms? We also talk about his work with the Hadza. Find links to articles, books, and pics at AnthroBiology.com. Find the show on Instagram and Twitter @AnthroBiology.
Dr. Cara Ocobock of Notre Dame joins the show to discuss human energetics in high-latitude populations, and the potential downstream health consequences of a changing environment. (Learn why reindeer herders are rad!) She also shares insights on science communication and how we can do it better. (Learn how to talk to your science-averse relatives today!) If you want to find out more, visit Dr. Ocobock's website at sites.nd.edu/cara-ocobock/.
Dr. Janna Andronowski of Memorial University of Newfoundland talks about bone histology. We're bringing it back to basics with how bones grow, how they "know" what shape they should be, and how bones regulate themselves. Also, we discuss what a cellular examination of bone can tell you about a person. Visit the Andronowski Lab to learn more about her work. Find links to articles, books, and pics at AnthroBiology.com. Find the show on Instagram and Twitter @AnthroBiology.
Dr. Nathan Young of UCSF discuss evolutionary developmental biology using the limb as a model to understand the perspective. We talk about the importance of marrying all three disciplines to discover insights that otherwise wouldn't be within the purview of a single field. Find links to articles, books, and pics at AnthroBiology.com. Find the show on Instagram and Twitter @AnthroBiology.
Dr. Eric Bartelink of CSU - Chico guides us through an intro to stable isotope analysis, and how it can be used in forensic and historic or ancient contexts to understand how people migrated and what their diets were like. Dr. Bartelink highlights the importance of embracing a multi-disciplinary approach to advancing anthropology. Find links to articles, books, and pics at AnthroBiology.com. Find the show on Instagram and Twitter @AnthroBiology.
Dr. Sean Tallman talks about crafting new sex estimation methods for modern populations and the importance of DEI in forensics and anthropology. How can diversity shift how research is done? What are some ways to make the field more inclusive? Listen to Dr. Tallman's take on all of it in this episode. Find links to articles, books, and pics at AnthroBiology.com. Find the show on Instagram and Twitter @AnthroBiology.
Dr. Barbara J. King joins us in this week's episode to discuss animal cognition and emotion. Along the way, we hear about her start in biological anthropology studying baboons and how her career shifted several times to focus on animal cognition more broadly, followed by a turn towards advocacy and science communication. Find links to articles, books, and pics at AnthroBiology.com. Find the show on Instagram and Twitter @AnthroBiology.
Chris Aris is a PhD candidate at the University of Kent in the UK. In this week's episode, we discuss grad school survival strategies, mental health, the differences between the US and UK grad school systems, choosing the right path for you, and some of the things we wish we'd known before we went to grad school. Plus, teeth! Find links to articles, books, and pics at AnthroBiology.com. Find the show on Instagram and Twitter @AnthroBiology.
Jill McCormick is a historic preservation officer working for the Quechan Tribe near Yuma, Arizona. This week, she joins the show to discuss what it's like to be an archaeologist trying to preserve Tribal history, Tribal perspectives on working with CRM archaeology firms, and how folks can get involved if they're interested. Find links to articles, books, and pics at AnthroBiology.com. Find the show on Instagram and Twitter @AnthroBiology.
Meet Chris Webster, a CRM archaeologist, anthropology podcast mogul, and all-around hustler. He joins the show to give a different perspective on making a career out of anthropology and what it's like to work in commercial settings as a cultural resource management archaeologist. Webster also discusses what it's like working with biological anthropologists and tribal monitors. Find links to articles, books, and pics at AnthroBiology.com. Find the show on Instagram and Twitter @AnthroBiology.
Dr. Tanya Smith of Griffith University talks about teeth -- everything from individual development to using teeth to understand past environments and lifestyles. She also discusses some of the cultural practices surrounding teeth.
Find links to articles, books, and pics at AnthroBiology.com. Find the show on Instagram and Twitter @AnthroBiology
Dr. Daniel Lieberman of Harvard talks about considering human evolution through adaptations to run. He also explains mismatch diseases and the types of preventative care we can take to keep ourselves healthy. We also chat about diversity and the importance of including your study population in your work.
Find links to articles, books, and pics at AnthroBiology.com. Find the show on Instagram and Twitter @AnthroBiology
Dr. David Raichlen of USC talks about using evolutionary biology to understand modern health consequences. For example, can aerobic exercise paired with mental stimulation result in the formation of neurons? If so, why? And how can we apply that information to helping modern humans live healthier lives?
Find links to articles, books, and pics at AnthroBiology.com. Find the show on Instagram and Twitter @AnthroBiology!
I couldn't get up the gumption to edit an interview this week. Instead, I put together a list of things that we can do right now to help. I'm also making a commitment to ensure more diversity and more active discussion of race on the show. You can find links to learn more about Black Lives Matter on the website at AnthroBiology.com.
Dr. John Verano of Tulane University wades into forensic anthropology and bioarchaeology. He discusses some of the realities of working with the recently deceased before switching gears to talk about a giant sacrifice site that he's been working on in Peru. Plus, find out what mummies smell like. Find links to articles, books, and pics at AnthroBiology.com. Find the show on Instagram and Twitter @AnthroBiology!
Dr. Sara Becker of UC - Riverside studies the Tiwanaku culture of Lake Titicaca. She specializes in understanding hierarchy and labor patterns via physical activity markers on the bone. She also has some sound advice for acclimating to high elevations. Find links to articles, books, and pics at AnthroBiology.com. Find the show on Instagram and Twitter @AnthroBiology!
Dr. Bill Billeck is the program manager for the National Museum of Natural History repatriation office at the Smithsonian. Dr. Billeck explains how repatriation works and what it's like working with tribes. Find links to articles, books, and pics at AnthroBiology.com. Find the show on Instagram and Twitter @AnthroBiology!
Dr. Katharine Jack of Tulane University talks about non-human primates, reproductive strategies, and what to do if you run into a capuchin in the wild. Find links to articles, books, and pics at AnthroBiology.com. Find the show on Instagram and Twitter @AnthroBiology!
Dr. Carlina de la Cova of the University of South Carolina discusses forensic anthropology, historical bioarchaeology focusing on marginalized groups, and the overlap between the two. Find links to articles, books, and pics at AnthroBiology.com. Find the show on Instagram and Twitter @AnthroBiology!
Dr. Scott Williams of NYU talks about transitional fossils, the evolution of different forms of locomotion, old books, and new ideas. Find links to articles, books, and pics at AnthroBiology.com. Find the show on Instagram and Twitter @AnthroBiology!
Dr. Sara Juengst of UNC - Charlotte talks about bioarchaeology, trepanation, pre-Columbian Titicacans, power structures detected via human remains, field work, and potatoes. Find links to articles and books at AnthroBiology.com. Find the show on Instagram and Twitter @AnthroBiology!
Dr. Rachel Watkins of American University talks about the current state of race in biological anthropology. We discuss the importance of diversity and problems the field is currently facing. Find a link to her article at AnthroBiology.com.
Dr. Levy talks about cold adaption in ancient and modern populations. She explains the three-part system that helps keep us warm: cultural adaptions, short-term changes in the body, and evolutionary changes to the body's structures. Along the way, we discuss Bergmann's Rule and Allen's Rule. Both help to explain why groups living in certain climates have the proportions they do. Dr. Levy also shares her innovative methodology to help measure brown fat deposits that aid in non-shivering thermogenesis.
Some anthropologists try to reconstruct activities during life by using changes to the skeleton. Dr. Wilczak talks about occupational stress markers in this episode, along with providing advice for folks thinking about majoring in anthropology.
What can we actually know about the evolutionary past? Dr. Wood grapples with this question and others about the nature of science. The professor also gives some valuable advice for students along the way.
Visit anthrobiology.com for show notes and book recs.
A quick intro to the AnthroBiology Podcast, a show about biological anthropologists and what makes us, us. You can expect new episodes every other week, starting on 8 January 2020.
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