The Cultural Macroevolution of Religion
Seminar
Religious systems show the key properties of evolutionary systems: heritability, variation, and change. Yet they have only recently begun to be studied from an explicitly evolutionary perspective. In this talk, I will describe research on the origins of organised religion in hunter-gatherer…
Roads, plantations and consultants: Road-building and multiple territorializations in Pomio, Papua New Guinea
Seminar
Pomio is a large, sparsely populated and remote rural district of East New Britain Province, Papua New Guinea (PNG). Large parts of the district are not connected to the provincial road network and accessible only by ships or speedboats. Roads have thus been a central concern of local politicians…
The paradox of welfare autonomy: poverty, employment, and consumer dependency in remote Australia
Seminar
This will be an in-person only seminar. In this talk, Emeritus Professor Nic Peterson will consider the paradox of welfare autonomy in remote Australia. The government believes lack of waged employment in remote Australia is the most important policy issue. This suggests that the underlying…
The role of wild food plants on the well-being of local communities in Cambodia
Seminar
Globally, there is a commitment to protect 30% of marine and terrestrial areas by 2030 (the “30×30” target), alongside the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal of ending hunger by the same year. In alignment with these commitments, Cambodia expanded its protected areas to over 40% in 2023.…
PossumLab: Tim McLellan reads King of Bangkok by Sopranzetti et al
Seminar
Presented in person and online; details below.PossumLab is a space to explore creative ethnographic work. Every semester, we read two comics and use them as a way to explore anthropological concepts. In this instalment, Tim McClellan invites you to read and discuss the anthropological graphic…
The evolution of the olive: domestication pathways and prehistoric human-environment dynamics
Seminar
Presented in person and online, Zoom details below.Olive (Olea europaea ssp. europaea L.) is a cornerstone of Mediterranean cultural and ecological history, yet the timing and nature of its earliest exploitation and domestication continue to be debated. These questions are further complicated by…
Regional Isotopic Perspectives on Diet in Metal Age Central Thailand (c. 1100 BCE–CE 500)
Seminar
Human dietary patterns provide important insights into past agricultural practices, foodways, and other human–environment interactions. This study presents stable isotope data from four Metal Age sites in central Thailand to examine diet during a formative period of regional prehistory. The results…