Four Stone Hearth #43

I sought in vain for a theme.

You know, something smart and snappy, some photos that weren’t mine, some sizzling punchlines, rude innuendo, chimps in ballet dresses. But I’m afraid you people are all out of luck. Because this anthropology blog carnival is going to be clean and down the middle. No frills, no spills, no…gills?…just a list of articles and why I found them interesting.

And, to be honest, usually why I found the articles interesting is simply because somebody mailed them to me and told me that they were interesting. That doesn’t make them not interesting, you understand, it just makes the whole process sort of mechanical and soulless. Sigh.

But hey, it’s been a tough week for me, so I don’t see why you people should have it any better. So please bear with me as I mumble and mutter my way through the Four Stone Hearth Anthro Carnival, chapter 43. And who knows, I may even raise a giggle.

Still there? Alright, let’s just fling them out and see where they land:

Neuroanthropology looks at the whole situation with our old friend, the hangover. A discussion of the mechanics and genetics of our constant morning-after friend is a sure-fire way to kick off an evening of rum slammers.

Martin at Aardvarchaeology shares with us with the tale of the time he went to a neolithic golfcourse and met some bearded men in overalls. And I quote (and paraphrase): “My […] pit wasn’t very fertile”. Heh heh…

Neuroanthropology again, looks at the arse-holery behind memes and memetics, and even manages to name-drop TED in the same article. Of course, you all know who TED is, right..?

Terry at Remote Central goes on at great length about human evolution and time. And not only once but twice. But why do I get the feeling that this dude is hawking a book? Still, to be fair, it’s all vastly more interesting than what Glen waffles on about over at Paleoglot. Does anybody know what that guy is saying? Anybody?

Christina from Denmark informs us about a cool exhibition at the Nationmusuem in Copenhagen, with lots and lots of of shiny things for our viewing pleasure.

Mental Floss takes an interesting look at what we waste our cognitive surplus on. Hands up for downloading Battlestar Galactica, anyone?

And Mind Hacks discusses what our best friend, caffeine, does to the grey matter, and how it might be tricking us, in its own insidious manner.

Linguistic Anthropology considers whether the French language actually belongs to France. And I just know that the French love hearing stuff like this.

Maju at Leherensuge shows us a few maps, tracing movement of humans during paleolithic times using mitochondrial DNA. And another one showing something similar using Y-DNA. Or, at least I think he does, because I am rather out of my depth here. Nice maps though. Colours and arrows are always good.

Archeoporn tries to give away free stuff, which is always good. In this case the free stuff, a DVD, has a very tenuous anthroplogy connection so I guess we can allow it.

And, speaking of tenuous, here is my own contribution: a look at nudity in modern-day Sweden, which is an anthropology experiment in intself as the title has been designed to trap porno-surfers from Google like flies in jam, and perhaps teach them the error of their ways.

So, is anybody still out there? We can only hope. Tune in next time for chapter 44 over at Greg Laden. And if he can’t do a better job than this pathetic effort of mine, well then we are all doomed and it’s time to move to the moon. Bring a picnic blanket, it’s a bit dusty.

/ paddy