New Anthropology Forum

Update: I'm out of this project.

I got out of there only a couple of days after: among other things, someone had the great idea of appointing certain Zionist maniac, who I know is very bad person and can't moderate (and whom I personally hate to death, btw) , as mod and even to place him in the same forum that was assigned to me. See here and here for background.

This was a cruel joke, a manipulative trick that certainly says nothing good about the new space. Also it seems these issues can't be even discussed in the mods' room. I feel clearly scammed. and used.

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Old post follows

Today is a day of change for my links. On one side today is the day that Yahoo! kills the free website service Geocities and hence I lose my old site (not that I paid it too much attention, admittedly, but was handy) .

On the other hand a new Anthropology Forum is born. Today Anthrocivitas begins its life, apparently after gathering the best people you might have found in old and ill-fated anthropology forums, whose names I prefer not to recall.

At the moment, with just a few hours of existence, the site is rather empty but I am sure that this won't be the case anymore in just a few days. My expectations for this new site are very high: hopefully the sad prevalence of racist trolls in such kind of forums will be addressed properly and the quality of discussion and information shared should be very good.

But of course it all depends on who participates, so here I want to invite all among my readers who have a genuine interest for anthropology, genetics, prehistory and history, to join the site and make it fructify.

Enjoy.
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Around the web (summertime fill in)

Guess it's summertime boredom: lack of news or maybe just lack of interest on my side. But I really hate to leave the blog idle for so many days - while on the other hand I'd hate to post just for the sake of it, without real interest. This post is sort of a compromise because I have been reading some really interesting stuff around, and in some cases discussing it actively. Most has been appearing in the blogroll but not all and it's maybe worth a review anyhow.

Like almost always, Dienekes has remained very active, posting on different anthropological issues. The most controversial was (is) surely that on the sarcastic version of New Scientist on the open letter of several geneticists against abusive racialism in this field. Take a look at the many and sometimes maybe heated comments of this post because there is where the substance really is. I already posted on that but the discussion here was very limited.

Other interesting posts at Dienekes' blog deal with the genetics of Daghestan, of Cuba, of ancient Thracians (haplogroups unknown) and of Transylvanian Saxons.

Anthropolgy.net also comments on Caribbean DNA, and ponders if our understanding of biological and cultural evolution can converge somehow.

In relation with this last issue, there is the last and quite original anthropological blog I have discovered: Music000001. It is more of an e-book than a blog, so maybe it's best to begin by the oldest post rather than by the last one, as happens with most blogs. Its author, Victor, thinks he's found musical remains, survivals, that are directly rooted in the OOA migration and ulterior expansion. Even if I am not good at music myself, I admit that I am partly persuaded by his research, though we could not agree on the mechanism underlying the process. It is a very interesting read in any case.

Tim, at Remote Central, comments on the Neolithic green beads found in Palestine and their possible symbolism.

Further back in time, the excellent blog Mundo Neanderthal deals in Spanish with the possibility that aridity and changing climate may have caused or at least helped with the extinction of Neanderthals, nevertheless he also announces that Neanderthal tools have been found in Asturias (northern Spain) and dated as late as 29,000 BP. Martín also reviews the last campaign at the famous site of Atapuerca, with many findings, among which are specially relevant the remains of two Homo antecessor.

In the realm of modern anthropology (or is it biochemistry?), Psychedelic Research shows that magic mushrooms (Psylocibe sp.) are the best trip, beating all competitors, including LSD, in the fields of sacredness, intuitive knowledge, trascendence of time and space, deeply felt positive mood and ineffability. The tiny mushrooms (or more precisely their active component, psylocibine) get at least a 7 in all categories.