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I'm a PhD student researching the role of the archaeological dead in contemporary British society. Think of this as a scrapbook of all the interesting links, snippets of information and random bits and bobs I come across pertaining to death, dying and the dead. Enjoy?!

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    oldowan: anthrolover79: oldowan: we-are-star-stuff: ‘Adventurous’ Woman Needed as Surrogate for Neanderthal Baby Are you an adventurous human woman? Adventurous enough to be a surrogate mother for the first Neanderthal baby to be born in 30,000 years? Harvard geneticist George Church recently told Der Spiegel he’s close to developing the necessary technology to clone a Neanderthal, at which point all he’d need is an “adventurous human woman” — einen abenteuerlustigen weiblichen Menschen — to act as a surrogate mother. It’s not out of the question at all. As MIT Technology Review’s Susan Young points out, scientists cloned an extinct subspecies of ibex in 2009. It died immediately, sure. But they still cloned it. What would that entail? According to a 2008 study of a Neanderthal infant skeleton (from which the above image is taken), “the head of the Neanderthal newborn was somewhat longer than that of a human newborn because of its relatively robust face,” and Neanderthal women generally had a wider birth canal than human women. Neanderthal birth was simpler than human birth, because Neanderthal infants didn’t have to rotate to get to the birth canal, but otherwise the processes were very similar. (Even so, I imagine all but the most adventurous of human women would opt for a C-section in this case.) Once the baby’s out, though, you’re in good shape — Neanderthal babies are thought to have grown much more quickly than their human counterparts. And Church seems to think that there’ll be a Neanderthal craze, as he told Bloomberg Businessweek last year: “We have lots of Neanderthal parts around the lab. We are creating Neanderthal cells. Let’s say someone has a healthy, normal Neanderthal baby. Well, then, everyone will want to have a Neanderthal kid. Were they superstrong or supersmart? Who knows? But there’s one way to find out.” [Der Spiegel via MIT Technology Review] This already has a shed load of notes, but I cannot ignore it. Ok I just spent an hour trying to access the original source for it and failed. We don’t know if Church really said this, and if that were to be the case in what context. Is concerning these are the type of post that gather more attention, over others with more important information. Fellow anthropologists, please let’s blog critically! Reblogging for his/her astute commentary and time spent searching for the primary source. Dedication such as this I do not have. But I’ll always reblog anything as ridiculous as this. I learnt the hard way and sadly accept that there’s little chance of bringing science to tumblr anthro. There’s no audience for it. It will take a better blogger than I. ( ;

    oldowan:

    anthrolover79:

    oldowan:

    we-are-star-stuff:

    ‘Adventurous’ Woman Needed as Surrogate for Neanderthal Baby

    Are you an adventurous human woman? Adventurous enough to be a surrogate mother for the first Neanderthal baby to be born in 30,000 years?

    Harvard geneticist George Church recently told Der Spiegel he’s close to developing the necessary technology to clone a Neanderthal, at which point all he’d need is an “adventurous human woman” — einen abenteuerlustigen weiblichen Menschen — to act as a surrogate mother.

    It’s not out of the question at all. As MIT Technology Review’s Susan Young points out, scientists cloned an extinct subspecies of ibex in 2009. It died immediately, sure. But they still cloned it.

    What would that entail? According to a 2008 study of a Neanderthal infant skeleton (from which the above image is taken), “the head of the Neanderthal newborn was somewhat longer than that of a human newborn because of its relatively robust face,” and Neanderthal women generally had a wider birth canal than human women. Neanderthal birth was simpler than human birth, because Neanderthal infants didn’t have to rotate to get to the birth canal, but otherwise the processes were very similar. (Even so, I imagine all but the most adventurous of human women would opt for a C-section in this case.)

    Once the baby’s out, though, you’re in good shape — Neanderthal babies are thought to have grown much more quickly than their human counterparts. And Church seems to think that there’ll be a Neanderthal craze, as he told Bloomberg Businessweek last year:

    “We have lots of Neanderthal parts around the lab. We are creating Neanderthal cells. Let’s say someone has a healthy, normal Neanderthal baby. Well, then, everyone will want to have a Neanderthal kid. Were they superstrong or supersmart? Who knows? But there’s one way to find out.”

    [Der Spiegel via MIT Technology Review]

    This already has a shed load of notes, but I cannot ignore it.

    Ok I just spent an hour trying to access the original source for it and failed. We don’t know if Church really said this, and if that were to be the case in what context. Is concerning these are the type of post that gather more attention, over others with more important information. Fellow anthropologists, please let’s blog critically!

    Reblogging for his/her astute commentary and time spent searching for the primary source. Dedication such as this I do not have. But I’ll always reblog anything as ridiculous as this. I learnt the hard way and sadly accept that there’s little chance of bringing science to tumblr anthro. There’s no audience for it. It will take a better blogger than I. ( ;

    (via theolduvaigorge)

    The Belly of the South: Bumpy reception in seaside town for Hirst’s ‘disgusting’ 65ft pregnant woman Some call it the Angel of the West; others deride it as the Belly of the South. But, whether they like it or loathe it, the people of Ilfracombe are now the custodians of this giant Damien Hirst sculpture – and they’ll be looking at it for the next two decades. The 25-ton bronze statue of a heavily pregnant woman holding a sword, arrived in the Devon seaside resort yesterday on a flatbed trailer. Hundreds of residents came out to catch their first glimpse of the work, which will take more than a week to assemble and install.  Fans call it a ‘modern allegory of truth and justice’, but many townsfolk say it is ‘obscene and disgusting’. Well, I think she is really beautiful - if Ilfracombe don’t want it, I’ll take it! You can read the rest of the article here and if you’re interested in Verity’s fabrication and installation, then you can read about that here!

    The Belly of the South: Bumpy reception in seaside town for Hirst’s ‘disgusting’ 65ft pregnant woman

    Some call it the Angel of the West; others deride it as the Belly of the South.

    But, whether they like it or loathe it, the people of Ilfracombe are now the custodians of this giant Damien Hirst sculpture – and they’ll be looking at it for the next two decades.

    The 25-ton bronze statue of a heavily pregnant woman holding a sword, arrived in the Devon seaside resort yesterday on a flatbed trailer.

    Hundreds of residents came out to catch their first glimpse of the work, which will take more than a week to assemble and install. 

    Fans call it a ‘modern allegory of truth and justice’, but many townsfolk say it is ‘obscene and disgusting’.

    Well, I think she is really beautiful - if Ilfracombe don’t want it, I’ll take it! You can read the rest of the article here and if you’re interested in Verity’s fabrication and installation, then you can read about that here!