Anthropology.net

This is a report on two stories that have appeared over the past few days, and although they don’t refer to each other directly, there are one or two striking coincidences that are notable in themselves – but first a little background. The first report is from National Geographic, and discusses the recent discovery of skeletons belonging to people of the vanished Gallina culture, with particular reference to the shattered and disarticulated bones found buried in the ground, and the dark deeds which seem to have accompanied the deaths of their mortal owners.

Seven skeletons discovered in a remote New Mexico canyon were victims of a brutal massacre that may have been part of an ancient campaign of genocide, archaeologists say.

The victims—five adults, one child, and one infant—were members of an obscure native culture known as the Gallina, which occupied a small region of northwestern New Mexico around A.D. 1100 (see New Mexico map).

The culture suddenly vanished around 1275, as the last of its members either left the region or were “wiped out,” archaeologists say.

“Almost all of [the Gallina ever found] were murdered,” he said. “[Someone] was just killing them, case after case, every single time.”

I’ll come back to the enigmatic Gallina people later, but first, and to set their demise in context, the next stop is Chaco Canyon, erstwhile home to the Anasazi – here’s an excerpt from this NPR transcript of a recent broadcast they ran…

I’m walking across bare rock where the desert unfolds. Waves of sandstone reveal a deeply carved canyon below.

This is where the Anasazi lived. Their ruins are everywhere out here, the remains of a great Neolithic civilization. Single buildings the size of the base of the Sears Tower. Huge, round ceremonial chambers with 90-ton ceilings. This was a landscape of monuments.

The canyon opening is the size of a ballroom. Its walls are decorated with rock art: petroglyphs of animals and people and pre-Columbian symbols.

The Anasazi lived here for more than 1,000 years. Then, within a single generation, they were gone. Between 1275 and 1300 A.D., they stopped building entirely, and the land was left empty.

Looking for rain, the Anasazi headed south, leaving trails of pottery and architecture showing the way. Their descendants are the modern tribes of Tewa, Acoma, Zuni, Hopi. Others kept going into Mexico and haven’t been heard from since.

As I follow in their footsteps, I find they left the Southwest with their belongings in place, ladles left in ceramic bowls, granaries sealed full of supplies. It is as if they intended to return. But they never had a chance to come back. Read the rest of this entry »

Just a quick post to advise readers who may like to acquaint themselves with an anthropology magazine called ‘Stimulus Respond‘, which is currently available online, although they are going into print for the first time, this coming September. Here’s some comment from them regarding the identity and purpose of their publication…

Started as a respite from the mundanity of the contemporary fashion press, Stimulus is the first magazine to weave together anthropology and art with the flair of a style magazine and the attitude of street culture. Every two months, we present a combination of literature, photography, fashion, art, poetry and music in order to construct a monograph that explores the foundations of a world that we grow up to take for granted.

Like you we adore beauty in it’s simplest form. The things your friends are doing are more important than celebrities you will never meet. Stimulus is brought to you by people who write from the heart, about subjects that they are passionate about. It is a personal and cutting-edge guide to the modern, urban, world.

If you hit the ‘Back Issues’ tab on their site, you will have access to half a dozen previous editions in pdf, wherein you will find an absorbing variety of content, comprising articles, art, prose and poetry, as well as some great images, all presented within a coherent design that makes it, in my opinion, a very good read; each themed edition addresses a specific subject, ranging from Food, Self, Man/Woman and Home, through to Stories and Metropolis.

The next edition will feature Travel as its topic of choice, and is due out on July 30th, available free and online; as I mentioned earlier, the edition after that will be their first appearance in print, which judging from their online site, will be even better – pdfs have become very popular in recent years, but personally I prefer a physical artefact such as a magazine, any day of the week. They state that some material will still appear on their site, but for the print magazine, a subscription is required.

There are details at the Stimulus Respond site for readers who wish to take out a subscription to the print edition, which the editors opine will become a collector’s item – in any event, they could probably do with as much support as possible from people taking out subscriptions to help get the entire project up and running, so if you feel this is for you, feel free to head on over and sign up.

The topic if the first print edition will be Magic, and they are soliciting contributions for it, with the following suggested guidelines…

When is the everyday magical?

Is technology magic?

What is ‘the magic of the state’ and how does it manifest itself?

Is there a difference between black and white magic?

How does ‘magic’ translate cross-culturally?

The deadline for synopses and expressions of interest is 21 July, and the editorial team are listed below… Read the rest of this entry »