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Anthropology/Questions Answered by Expert John Shea
| Subject | Date Asked |
| importance of statictis in anthropology | 1/27/2012 |
| Q: i want to know about the uses and importance of statistics in anthropology. why do we the students ... A: All sciences use statistics. In archaeology, one uses statistics to describe variation in the ... | |
| Birthplace of the human race | 12/20/2011 |
| Q: Where is the birthplace of the human race ? A: The oldest fossils of Homo sapiens come from sites in Ethiopia. African populations are more ... | |
| bone identification | 12/11/2011 |
| Q: today,we found a bone on the beach and it looks like an old human pelvic sacrum bone to us.It ... A: It's a pelvic bone (sacrum), but not human. Too short. I don't really have the expertise to tell you ... | |
| DNA bottleneck | 8/10/2011 |
| Q: I hope this is an appropriate question for your expertise. I have been hearing about the lack of ... A: It is on the periphery of my expertise, but I'll give it a try. Chimpanzees live only in the forests ... | |
| PRE-CIVILIZATION HUMANS | 8/10/2011 |
| Q: In a discussion I was having recently, a person wrote "Anthropologists have searched in vain for ... A: Anthropologists don't use the term "precivilizational" very much, but there are two options here ... | |
| evolution? | 6/10/2011 |
| Q: I am not sure if my question is your field of expertise but here goes! Compared to other animals, I ... A: There is certainly a trade-off with tools, they can lead to a situation in which our ancestors did ... | |
| evolution? | 6/9/2011 |
| Q: I am not sure if my question is your field of expertise but here goes! Compared to other animals, I ... A: I'll give this a try....If you look, sense by sense (smell, hearing, strength, etc.) there are ... | |
| Scientific Evidences | 6/6/2011 |
| Q: I’m a medical student at Alfaisal University and currently researching the field of human evolution ... A: El Chami 1. Adam is a mythological character from the origins stories of the ancient ... | |
| celts and semites | 5/24/2011 |
| Q: I have been reading about the Celts and couldn't help but notice an unusual amount of similarities ... A: Both Semitic and Celtic languages have a relatively recent common ancestor, and are grouped together ... | |
| anthropology and christians | 5/10/2011 |
| Q: I am very curious to know if anthropologists would study christians as a group over the centuries. I ... A: This sounds more like a history topic than an anthropology topic. The essence of anthropology is ... | |
| "permian footprint" | 5/7/2011 |
| Q: I heard about this many years ago, and just found it again online. Am wondering what explanations ... A: I heard about it, too, back when I was a kid. Most of these things are either dinosaur footprints ... | |
| Birthplace of early "man" | 4/15/2011 |
| Q: While I fully understand that the earliest examples of fossil man have been discovered in the ... A: The strongest theoretical argument for tropical African +/or Asian origins is that these are the ... | |
| A petrified human body | 4/14/2011 |
| Q: I found the following article posted in Ancestry.com today: "A Curious Circumstance -- A Petrified ... A: This is a hoax. It is based on a newspaper story circulated around 1916 in which finds of 7ft tall ... | |
| Paranthropus | 1/29/2011 |
| Q: When did Paranthropus die out? A: Brandon Last appearance dates for paranthropus in various parts of S and E Africa cluster around 1.5 ... | |
| sumerian | 1/25/2011 |
| Q: i have a crucifix with some old writing with a strange star shaped symbol on one side, and a ... A: Andrea This is outside my usual area of expertise, so you should definitely pursue this with an ... | |
| gender differences | 12/30/2010 |
| Q: What do you think of gender differences, is that from nature or nurture? A: This is kind of on the periphery of my expertise, but here's my $0.02 worth: It's probably both. ... | |
| evolution | 12/4/2010 |
| Q: I recently watched a documentary about the journeys of the first known homo sapiens to leave Africa ... A: There are some researchers who propose humans (Homo sapiens) evolved locally in many parts of the ... | |
| Human Evolution Video? | 10/19/2010 |
| Q: Can you recommend an exciting, accurate video suitable for middle school viewing? A: Either Alan Alda's "Human Spark" or the PBS series, "Becoming Human" are both up-to-date and pretty ... | |
| Fire invention. | 10/13/2010 |
| Q: I was talking with a friend about what could have lead our primitive prehistoric ancestors to ... A: That children play (and played in prehistoric times) there is no doubt. That such play led to ... | |
| Human reason / Evolution | 9/7/2010 |
| Q: John: First of all I'd like to thank you for offering your time to answer quetions. One of the ... A: Álvaro You're welcome. 1. Apes can reason, or at least solve problems requiring reasoning about ... | |
| Human uniqueness | 9/5/2010 |
| Q: What exactly is/are the things that make humans unique? Is it the use of tools? Not sure about this ... A: Richard This is a huge question in anthropology and I do not have time to compose a cogent answer of ... | |
| Human evolution | 8/18/2010 |
| Q: If we evolved from apes, why didn't all apes evolve? A: Apes did evolve. We and they share a last common ancestor. We are more divergent from that ... | |
| Africa's Prehistoric Man | 8/7/2010 |
| Q: Neanderthal man was in Europe. What is the name of Africa's prehistoric man at the same time as ... A: Homo sapiens (us). Earliest Neandertals = around 200,000 years ago, basically same age as oldest ... | |
| One main race? | 7/26/2010 |
| Q: After the Toba volcanic eruption, wouldn’t the remaining 10,000 people in one geographic area mean ... A: The simple answer for a recent origin of some "racial" features is a combination of natural ... | |
| One main race? | 7/26/2010 |
| Q: After the Toba volcanic eruption, wouldn’t the remaining 10,000 people in one geographic area mean ... A: That is exactly what this Toba "bottleneck" theory implies (humans repopulate from one isolated ... | |
| anthropology | 6/19/2010 |
| Q: Aboriginal australians, are they related to any existing human group in asia or south africa? A: Genetic and fossil evidence suggests Aboriginal Australians are descended from African Homo sapiens ... | |
| possible discovery of Neanderthal USA | 6/18/2010 |
| Q: Can you give me any insite on these remains. If you would like to see more pic, please email me at A: This does not look like a neandertal fossil to me, but you would be better off showing it to a ... | |
| human bones? | 5/8/2010 |
| Q: Yesterday, while I was digging a hole for a rose bush, I came across a piece of a bone about 7 ... A: Rachel Take them to the police. They have the training to tell you definitely and in the unlikley ... | |
| Paleoanthropology | 5/5/2010 |
| Q: Im writing a paper for my working in America/hummanities class at kirkwood college in cedar rapids, ... A: Jerry, The laws vary from country to country, but there are some common themes. Permits to survey ... | |
| Clovis Points in Alaska? | 3/3/2010 |
| Q: In my Archaeological readings as a student, I am finding Clovis points to be scattered across much ... A: Claire This is a little outside my main area of expertise. As far as I know, there are no known ... | |
| who ? | 2/26/2010 |
| Q: Which anthropologist analyzed 565 societies and discovered that 80 percent have some type of ... A: This sounds like George Murdock and his research involving the Human Relations Area Files (HRAF) ... | |
| fingerprints | 2/24/2010 |
| Q: I'm not sure if you can help me out with this, but in class the other day we were watching a clip of ... A: I saw this episode, too. I doubt that blood could remain intact enough to preserve a fingerprint if ... | |
| Modern Humans | 1/27/2010 |
| Q: Was the first modern human given birth by a more primitive human? If so, where did the second modern ... A: Jeff This is why, about 10 years ago, I made a pledge to stop using the term, "modern humans". The ... | |
| lower paleolithic tools in Kansas | 1/20/2010 |
| Q: After finding a footprint with an extended hallux that appears to be wearing a stitched leather ... A: 1 million is still a lot older than the next-oldest evidence of human occupation in that part of the ... | |
| lower paleolithic tools in Kansas | 1/20/2010 |
| Q: After finding a footprint with an extended hallux that appears to be wearing a stitched leather ... A: William A series of footprints like those you describe were "discovered" in Texas. Paleontologists ... | |
| HUMAN EVOLUTION | 1/15/2010 |
| Q: THOUGH THE CROMAGNON MEN HAD A BRAIN CAPACITY OF 1650cc, WE HAVE THE CAPACITY OF 1450CC.WHY OUR ... A: It probably reflects a scaling relationship wiht body size and climate. Cro-Magnons were big, ... | |
| HUMAN EVOLUTION | 1/14/2010 |
| Q: THOUGH CROMAGNON AND NEANDERTHALS WERE IN EARTH ABOUT SAME TIME, WE ARE DEVOLVED FROM CROMAGNON- ... A: My Opinion: We and Neandertals shared a last common ancestory about a half a million years ago. ... | |
| paleolithic art | 1/5/2010 |
| Q: I've just finished reading "The Cave Painters" I found the fact that the culture that produced them ... A: This is a complex subject, but I'll give you the consensus view. One of the reasons the paintings ... | |
| missing link | 12/28/2009 |
| Q: my friends,who like to believe in alien intervention etc,are always quoting to me 'the missing ... A: Sorry, I neglected to answer the other part of your question. There is, in principle, no difference ... | |
| missing link | 12/27/2009 |
| Q: my friends,who like to believe in alien intervention etc,are always quoting to me 'the missing ... A: There is really no such thing as "a" missing link. The fossil record is discontinuous, so in the ... | |
| 4 MILLION YEAR OLD SKULL | 12/24/2009 |
| Q: I recently watched the NOVA program IN Search of Early Man: part one. I just have a shortin the ... A: Mike The skull was embedded in rock that was eroding. It was buried millions of years ago, and ... | |
| CREATIONISM AND EARLY MAN | 12/24/2009 |
| Q: I know several people who are young earth creationists, who are trying to convince me that the ... A: There is no scientific evidence whatsoever to support the hypothesis that the origins of the ... | |
| non human primate aggressive behavior | 11/12/2009 |
| Q: Is appropriate to use studies of aggression in nonhuman primates as a guide to the levels of ... A: Kati, I would say yes, but only in a strategic perspective. That is, the costs and benefits of ... | |
| genetic | 11/11/2009 |
| Q: please, 1/ what is genetic similar in Homo Neandertal and Homo Sapiens ? 1/ Quel ... A: Most comparisons of Neandertal and human DNA suggest many similarities, but Neandertals are ... | |
| Can diet affect jaw size in modern people? | 11/5/2009 |
| Q: As an art student I've studied anatomy, including examining skulls of people of different ... A: Lee, You've pretty much answered your own question. The articulation between teeth and the mandible ... | |
| Human speciation | 9/23/2009 |
| Q: I am curious to know why we have only one species of humans given that we in habit every ecosystem ... A: The most likely reasons are that we are a very numerous species (hard for mutations to become fixed ... | |
| Validity of Race; Neandertals | 9/16/2009 |
| Q: are there any books you could recommend to me on the "validity of race" or on the origins of ... A: Milford Wolpoff and Rachel Caspari. The title is "Race and Human Evolution: A Fatal Attraction". ... | |
| Could you speculate for me? | 8/27/2009 |
| Q: Not to be hideously random but I thought this might be something for someone in your field: Do you ... A: This is pure speculation, rather than an answer. I don't think it would have made a difference ... | |
| Race of Ancient Egyptians | 8/26/2009 |
| Q: What race were the Ancient Egyptians and are modern day Egyptians the same people as the Ancient ... A: Martin Colleges: It isn't really a trend you see in colleges, at least not the better ones, and not ... | |
| Race of Ancient Egyptians | 8/26/2009 |
| Q: What race were the Ancient Egyptians and are modern day Egyptians the same people as the Ancient ... A: This is precisely the problem. DNA and physical anthropology show Egyptians (ancient and modern) ... | |
| Race of Ancient Egyptians | 8/26/2009 |
| Q: What race were the Ancient Egyptians and are modern day Egyptians the same people as the Ancient ... A: If by "race" you mean the categories Anglo-American culture uses, then "black" or "African", though ... | |
| Facial Features of Ethnic Africans | 6/9/2009 |
| Q: I want to state something before I begin with theI am not racist towards any ethnic group, and ... A: I suppose the answer I give has to depend on my understanding of the question. First, if by ... | |
| Society without music | 5/22/2009 |
| Q: I seem to remember, from an anthro course I took many years ago, reading of a society that didn't ... A: Steve I thought I answered this question earlier this week, but it is still on the Allexperts site. ... | |
| Naming of native tribes | 5/18/2009 |
| Q: Did the various native tribes in the Americas, Africa etc. name themselves or did the discoverers ... A: Fred In the Americas, there is a lot of variation. In some cases the discoverers recorded the local ... | |
| Palaeo websites | 5/17/2009 |
| Q: I've, along with many others, set up a website for following a raw, palaeolithic diet including ... A: I will include this in the list of Internet Resources available to students in my "Primitive ... | |
| Herbal use in Palaeolithic era | 5/1/2009 |
| Q: A zero-carber fanatic has recently claimed, on a forum, that herbal medicine wasn't used in the ... A: This is a good news/bad news answer. The good news is that your logic is impeccable -living nonhuman ... | |
| civilization | 4/22/2009 |
| Q: i have often wondered why did civilization(the process of building cities,armies,nation states,arts ... A: Justin If you look at a map of the world and think about the places civilizations have arisen, the ... | |
| Sumerian ethnicity | 4/16/2009 |
| Q: hope you can help. I've been wondering about the Sumerian civilization of ancient Mesopotamia ... A: This is on the periphery of my expertise. Sumerian language is non-Semitic (at least such of it as ... | |
| speed of evolution/stable species | 3/27/2009 |
| Q: I am a believer in the aquatic hominid theory for the emergence of H. h Sapiens. My question ... A: Isolation and genetic drift/divergence is thought to be the most common source of speciation among ... | |
| origin of the aquiline nose | 2/26/2009 |
| Q: John, Is there a known specific racial or ethnic origin of the aquiline/roman/hook nose? Thanks, ... A: Drew Not really. Such noses are found mainly in parts of the world where the climate was (or ... | |
| Anthropology | 1/21/2009 |
| Q: Why is necessity NOT the “mother of invention” in evolutionary terms? A: Margo Because variability has to be in existence before natural selection can act on it. ... | |
| Question from the TV show BONES | 12/12/2008 |
| Q: sir. My name is Jon and I'm the researcher on the Fox television show BONES. It's my job to make ... A: Jon This is outside my area of expertise, but I am answering anyway because I can point you in the ... | |
| Snowshoes | 11/25/2008 |
| Q: My daughter in grade 4 social studies has been asked by her teacher to find another name for ... A: When I was a kid, my French-speaking grandmother called these things "raquettes" (sing. la ... | |
| Radiocarbon dating of animal bones. | 11/22/2008 |
| Q: How accurate is the radiocarbon dating of early animal bones?Is plus or minus 120 years ... A: Randy I thought I answered this two days ago. Radiocarbon is the best method for those materials ... | |
| regarding moustache in chimps | 11/10/2008 |
| Q: We note that chimpanzee have hair all over the body and there is very little or no moustache. Humans ... A: It (human male mustache) probably had something to do with sexual selection -advertising male ... | |
| early human food | 10/23/2008 |
| Q: people ate and how they cooked it. Thank you A: Madison From variaiton in the Nitrogen and Carbon isotope composition of their bones, we know the ... | |
| Human Evolution | 10/20/2008 |
| Q: human Primate relatives? If yes, what would be some of the traits that would support this ... A: Chimpanzees and bonobos are our closest living relatives from both a genetic and morphological ... | |
| Evolution/Beauty | 10/17/2008 |
| Q: It is clear how humans would evolve an eye for the beauty of other humans. But how did humans ... A: My best guess on this one (for I am an archaeologist, not an evolutionary psychologist), is that ... | |
| biggest hominid? | 10/14/2008 |
| Q: I would like to know which one is the largest (non Homo sapiens) hominiN known to date. I've heard ... A: The largest hominin known to date is African Homo heidelbergensis, specifically the Bodo (Ethiopia) ... | |
| Ancient populations | 9/30/2008 |
| Q: John - Regarding ‘Out of Africa’. Can it be explained why African populations retain aspects of the ... A: Tony It may be a mistake to assume alveolar prognathism, which is pronounced among some NE Africans ... | |
| Documentary on African ancestors | 8/7/2008 |
| Q: I saw a fantastic documentary on Discovery a year or two a go. An American or British scientist went ... A: I think this is "Journey of Man". The host was Spencer Wells, author of book of same name. It is a ... | |
| language | 5/23/2008 |
| Q: Can you tell me when and where humans first developed spoken language? In particular, would there ... A: Very early Homo sapiens fossils already show the kind of basicranial flexion (sharply flexed basal ... | |
| Human Migration | 4/28/2008 |
| Q: My junior high school students are studying human evolution and we have one question. On this ... A: The African Homo erectus populations who remained in Africa eventually evolved into Homo sapiens ... | |
| European colonaism and white supremacy | 4/18/2008 |
| Q: I had a question, did european coloanism foster the notion of white supremacy. After my history ... A: The question of why Europeans did so well in colonization is discussed very clearly in Jared ... | |
| European colonaism and white supremacy | 4/17/2008 |
| Q: I had a question, did european coloanism foster the notion of white supremacy. After my history ... A: The notion that one's own group (people who share the similar genes, language, and culture) are ... | |
| When did first caucasoid man appear | 4/1/2008 |
| Q: When did first caucasoid man appear ? Was the earliest Cro-Magnon caucasoid ? What caucasoid ... A: Adam There is a lot of variability among female Upper Paleolithic European skulls. Some look ... | |
| humans | 3/13/2008 |
| Q: Could you tell me which was the biggest and/or most powerful human species in the past? I heard ... A: This is a hard one to answer because all measures of strength are based on bone morphology and we ... | |
| Human migration into North and South America | 1/29/2008 |
| Q: Can you give me your take on the initial migration into North and South America? I am mostly curious ... A: Early civilizations aren't really my main area of expertise, but I'll give this a try. It's probably ... | |
| End of evolution? | 1/25/2008 |
| Q: I recently had a debate with another girl over evolution. She gave some rude remarks and told me to ... A: Jon We are still evolving. As long as you have differences in reproduction (some people have a lot, ... | |
| bone density, robusticity | 1/15/2008 |
| Q: Tell me more. I have practiced medicine and rheumatology for 40 years plus have a real interest in ... A: I strongly urge you to take this question up with a qualified physician. I am an anthropologist and ... | |
| Diet and Evolution | 1/14/2008 |
| Q: I read somewhere that geneticists think it takes roughly a million years for a species to fully ... A: Rates of evolutionary change depend on so many variables that it is impossible to take an estimate ... | |
| ancient human interaction | 11/4/2007 |
| Q: Considering how primitive people seem to us to have been 400-500 years ago, I'm interested in your ... A: This is a relatively easy question to answer. We have written records that we can read from Egypt ... | |
| Eskimos/Caucasians | 9/12/2007 |
| Q: It's commonly suggested in anthropological circles that Caucasians developed much lighter skin/blond ... A: The derived features of European Caucasians are thought to have evolved over the course of tens of ... | |
| Paleo diet | 8/21/2007 |
| Q: I've recently been arguing with someone who is under the illusion that we didn't eat much meat in ... A: The short answer is that changes in human ancestors' brain size and dentition (larger brain, smaller ... | |
| Evolution of Modern Humans | 7/7/2007 |
| Q: I'm currently writing an essay discussing the development of religion within prehistoric man of the ... A: Naomi Your best scholarly reference on Upper Paleolithic human society in Europe would probably be ... | |
| Ref: evolution | 7/5/2007 |
| Q: Can you tell me what is the central factor that causes man to evolve? Also what caused the europeans ... A: This is on the borderline of a question that is too complex for me to answer in the time I allow for ... | |
| Ref: evolution | 7/4/2007 |
| Q: Can you tell me what is the central factor that causes man to evolve? Also what caused the europeans ... A: There is no single factor that causes humans to evolve. The mechanism is pretty straightforward, ... | |
| Palaeolithic Diets in Warmer Climes | 6/28/2007 |
| Q: Palaeoloithic diets for Cro-Magnon cavemen in Europe are generally described as being very high in ... A: This is really an area where archaeologists just don't have good data. We don't have any human ... | |
| artifacts | 6/13/2007 |
| Q: Five of the artifacts I am convinced can not be recreated by modern man.If you would just make the ... A: The objects on your website appear to be naturally-eroded fragments of rock that happen to resemble ... | |
| off print | 6/11/2007 |
| Q: I am interested in your recent publciation: *Amanuel Beyin* and *John J. Shea; *Reconnaissance of ... A: I will forward your request for reprints to my student, Mr. Beyin. I am not sure he has a pdf, but ... | |
| fear of public speaking | 5/31/2007 |
| Q: I've read that the fear of public speaking stems from violating evolutionary response to the primal ... A: That does not sound like a credible explanation. First off, primate group sizes vary tremendously, ... | |
| dental Health in Palaeolithic | 5/23/2007 |
| Q: Some people on my current forum claim that dental health was almost perfect during the Palaeolithic, ... A: Gerald, The think to keep in mind is that our teeth are the most labile (flexible during growth) ... | |
| Macroevolution | 5/15/2007 |
| Q: I have an assignment & I'm stuck on one question because I don't really understand what it's talking ... A: I'm not going to answer a homework question for you. That would be unethical, but, I can push you ... | |
| Was there ever a vegitarian society? | 2/21/2007 |
| Q: Has there ever been a society that could have eaten meat, but didn't? [I.e., I don't include ... A: To the best of my knowledge, no such societies are known to have ever existed in the historical or ... | |
| Neanderthals | 2/18/2007 |
| Q: I would like to know as much as possible about Homo neanderthalensis. Im not interested in technical ... A: There are literally thousands of references on this subject. The reconstructions you seem to be ... | |
| primitive beadmaking | 1/25/2007 |
| Q: I have been trying to find out how past cultures made beads out of shells so that they are so ... A: If prehistoric people did this like recent ones, they may have threaded roughed-out beads on a ... | |
| early ape | 1/10/2007 |
| Q: John. Some years ago, I saw a documentary on the early apes. The state of development I now have ... A: Dan The "apes" you are describing are called "Australopithecines". They lived in Eastern and ... | |
| Anthropology | 12/8/2006 |
| Q: How can we justify scientifically that the Homo erectus, Homo heidelberensis and Neanderthal and ... A: Barbara The main argument for treating these hominins as separate species is that each differs from ... | |
| Cultural Migrations | 11/24/2006 |
| Q: Shea, I have always been interested in how & why various ethnic groups chose to settle in certain ... A: Mike This is really outside my area, but I'm going to venture an answer because by chance I recently ... | |
| found artifact in massachusettes | 10/16/2006 |
| Q: This is a question for John Shea if it the same person who was recently on the discovery channel. I ... A: Your next best bet would be to take it to an archaeology professor at either UMass or BU. There are ... | |
| Neandertal | 9/29/2006 |
| Q: You seem to be extremely knowledgeable. I was wondering if I could ask you a question. I am ... A: Todd, I don't have time for an interview. Sorry, but this is an unusally busy time. Briefly ... | |
| Neanderthals | 9/13/2006 |
| Q: Were Neanderthals treated the same as females and males? A: Valerie If by "treated the same" you mean "did they do more or less the same kinds of things" then ... | |
| Anthropology...sort of | 9/12/2006 |
| Q: I just got interested in the field of Anthropology because I enjoy trying to examine ( try to ... A: The subfield of cultural anthropology includes comparative studies of different cultures' religions. ... | |
| Human bone Sizes | 9/12/2006 |
| Q: Is it true that all humans have the same size bones? A doctor on a reality weight loss television ... A: This doctor is dead wrong. There is tremendous variation in size and shape of human bones (some ... | |
| Earlier man | 8/20/2006 |
| Q: John. Is it possible to describe in general terms (archetype) the race that once populated Britain ... A: This is a really difficult issue to sort out. One problem, of course, is that we have neither ... | |
| Early clothing | 8/7/2006 |
| Q: I'm playing around with a writig project, and I need information concerning the clothing of early ... A: Sorry for delayed reply, I was unexpectedly off campus and away from email for a week. What prompted ... | |
| Wondering what it takes to be you.... | 8/2/2006 |
| Q: Well, I'm a sophomore at the univ or arizona, majoring in anthropology.....but i get so confused ... A: My degrees were BA double-major in Anthropology and Archaeology at Boston Univ., MA and Ph.D. in ... | |
| human evolution | 7/10/2006 |
| Q: A former soldier I was talking to last week said he collapsed when a bullet missed his head by a ... A: This is kind of peripheral to my areas of expertise, so you should try one of the psychology ... | |
| Climate adaptation | 6/21/2006 |
| Q: my question is regarding human adaptation to climate, for instance adaptation to sun exposure; as in ... A: This is a little off the mark for my area, but I think I can help you. 1. How long does it take for ... | |
| Matrism and Patrism | 6/13/2006 |
| Q: I've begun to do some light research about Matrist and Patrist societies in early history and ... A: David, This isn't really my main area, but I do touch on it in a few lectures and I know a reference ... | |
| How did the aboriginies get to Australia? | 6/13/2006 |
| Q: I am interested to know how the aboriginal people got to Australia. I am familiar with the 'out of ... A: Australia was populated by a dispersal of humans who left Northeast Africa, probably around ... | |
| Why cook our food? | 3/30/2006 |
| Q: Mr. Shea, Thank you in advance for considering my question. My question is this, when and why did ... A: The oldest generally-accepted evidence for controlled use of fire by humans dates to around ... | |
| DNA testing of homo remains | 3/25/2006 |
| Q: John, when the Homo floresiensis remains were discovered on Flores in an un-fossilised state it was ... A: I have neither heard nor read anything about this, though I am confident someone will try to recover ... | |
| Natural Selection | 3/2/2006 |
| Q: I understand that Natural Selection is a process which results in those animals and plants that are ... A: Because evolution works so slowly among larger animals, your best bet for finding examples of ... | |
| Cultural Anthropology | 3/1/2006 |
| Q: Paul asked about direct decendents. However; how doesn't migration, trade, immigration affect the ... A: You are correct that in-migration and out-migration will affect the genetic composition of any ... | |
| Cultural Anthropology | 2/21/2006 |
| Q: As the modern day Greeks are the direct descendents of ancient Greek culture, such as Homer's time; ... A: I am at a loss to provide you with references to support this, but it is my understanding that both ... | |
| Origin of the races | 1/29/2006 |
| Q: Over all the world,in which countries were people of the Negro race found to be native or ... A: Don The answer depends on how you define "Negro Race" and "native/indigenous". If you follow the ... | |
| anthropology | 11/5/2005 |
| Q: what is race, how do anthropologists define it. how did the different races arose A: Race is a way of classifying people, usually in terms of superficial physical characterstics, skin ... | |
| Eskimos | 10/3/2005 |
| Q: John, did the eskimos have fire before the europeans arrived? did they cook food? use for heat? ... A: They did indeed have fire long before Europeans arrived. Earliest traces of fire in the Arctic New ... | |
| Schooling? | 9/28/2005 |
| Q: How long did it take you to graduate from college for an anthropolgy degree? And how long did it ... A: 4 years undergrad to get my BA (archaeology -Boston Univ.) 7 years after that to get my MA & Ph.D ... | |
| Bering Straight migration | 9/23/2005 |
| Q: I'm not sure if this is why some in the archaeological community are so heated about this issue, but ... A: One reason why the archaeological debate is so heated is that it involves battles about who has the ... | |
| Bering Straight migration | 9/23/2005 |
| Q: I have a read a few articles lately regarding the Bering Straight migration. I was an ... A: Until recently the archaeological consensus was that humans migrated from Asia to the New World via ... | |
| When fire was invented | 8/14/2005 |
| Q: I've come across a website which states that, while there is very little reliable scientific info on ... A: The problem of when humans first developed the capacity to make fire vs. "capturing" natural fires ... | |
| Exercise habits of Stone-Age humans | 8/12/2005 |
| Q: I'm having a bit of a (mild!) argument with someone on a Yahoo! list archive where I've stated that ... A: (You caught me in a break between crunching numbers on an archaeology report, -I usually don't reply ... | |
| Major arguments in Anthropological circles | 4/4/2005 |
| Q: In your qaulified opinion, what are some of the most important debates pertaining to the ... A: The first question "Major Debates" -is far too broad for me to answer in this forum. If you want to ... | |
| Human Evolution. | 3/25/2005 |
| Q: I have several questions: 1) Where and when did the Homo sapiens (archaic) evolve, and where had he ... A: All three are complicated questions, so I'll do my best with a quick answer to each. Should you ... | |
| big bones and muscle | 3/16/2005 |
| Q: Knowing that the Neandertals had super human strength just by observing the robustness of their ... A: Bone grows in part in response to strain, so, the more active a person is, the larger and more ... | |
| ice ages! | 3/6/2005 |
| Q: * What are Iceages * When was the last Iceage * Does an iceagen kill many people * Will there be ... A: Ice ages are periods when there are extensive glaciers stretching away from the North and South pole ... | |
| Homo erectus and Homo ergaster | 2/23/2005 |
| Q: Followup To Question - Do you think, in spite of no evidence, that it is conceivable that hominids ... A: Multi-Regional Continuity. This model still has vigorous proponents. The crux of the argument ... | |
| Homo erectus and Homo ergaster | 2/23/2005 |
| Q: Do you think, in spite of no evidence, that it is conceivable that hominids had crossed into what is ... A: The "Ice Free Corridor"between the Laurentian and Cordilleran Ice Sheets would only be relevant if ... | |
| Homo erectus and Homo ergaster | 2/22/2005 |
| Q: Do you think, in spite of no evidence, that it is conceivable that hominids had crossed into what is ... A: I think it is improbable. Cold seems to have been a limiting factor in this hominin's ability to ... | |
| stone tool | 12/29/2004 |
| Q: i've collected few stones, i wish to know if they are man-made, for what purpose and when. is it ... A: You can email me the photos, and I'll have a look, but it is really difficult to make an ... | |
| Evolution of human | 11/29/2004 |
| Q: My name is Meredith Passaro and I'm a sophmore in high school. Within the last month we were given a ... A: Meredith, This is a very complex issue. The best I can do is point you towards some good ... | |
| Evolution and Creationism | 10/27/2004 |
| Q: What is the most credible explanation of how dinasaur evidence (evolution) and biblical belief ... A: Phillip To me, biblical belief and science are fundamentally different ways of thinking about ... | |
| Human relations question | 9/13/2004 |
| Q: I read in the book "White Racism: The Basics" that everyone is at least 1/50th of a cousin to each ... A: I'm not sure about the 1/50th estimate, but all humans are very closely related. We are escended ... | |
| neanderthal religion | 8/25/2004 |
| Q: Is there any evidence that neandertal man held any sort of religious beliefs? A: The evidence on Neandertal religion is equivocal. A lot of what was once considered evidence for ... | |
| human aging | 7/23/2004 |
| Q: From a scientic standpoint is it possible for a human being to live or have lived 200 - 500 years as ... A: To the best of my knowledge, such longevity is impossible. I am not an expert of potential ... | |
| phaistos disk | 6/24/2004 |
| Q: What is the signifance of the phaistos disk? Has anyone translated it? A: This is a little outside my main area of expertise, but here's what I know. The disk features ... | |
| Deities | 6/21/2004 |
| Q: Do you know of any cultures today or in recorded history that did not have some type of deity that ... A: Don, To the best of my knowledge, belief in supernatural entities of one sort or another is a human ... | |
| A question about Neanderthals and Homo Erectus | 5/27/2004 |
| Q: I have seen tons of theories on the evolutionary hominid family tree. Yet I am wondering if there ... A: The Atapuerca Sima de los Huesos fossils pretty clearly show morphologies that anticipate ... | |
| Anthopology, Homo habilis, Homo rudolfensis, Homo erectus, and Homo ergaster | 5/16/2004 |
| Q: I would like to know a litte about each one of the species I mentiond in the subject line. What ... A: Bernadette This is a huge and involved question, one beyond the scope of what I can answer via ... | |
| extinction | 5/6/2004 |
| Q: how many masss extictions have been completed: 5 1 6 too many too count 10 A: Answer depends on whether you count the one going on right now. Most paleontologists recognize five ... | |
| Marxist | 4/10/2004 |
| Q: Regarding question 2, you said that most studies indicates that the greatest degree of human genetic ... A: It gets complicated when you try to narrow down genetic variability within Africa. Mitochondrial ... | |
| Biological validity of race | 4/10/2004 |
| Q: i have another question,what is the "biological validity of race" is all about?i mean,is there any ... A: The term "race" as it is used in social sciences is a social construct with only a tenuous link to ... | |
| Marxist | 4/10/2004 |
| Q: i have 2 questions.first,does the Marxist regimes supports the cultures of the tribal peoples living ... A: This isn't really my area of expertise, but here goes: Marxist regimes are probably no better or ... | |
| fire and food | 4/7/2004 |
| Q: When did humans first use fire? Was the primary use of fire to cook food or something else? Also, ... A: There is possible evidence from about 1.4 Million years ago in Sterkfontein Cave in South Africa. ... | |
| creationist claim | 4/4/2004 |
| Q: Hey John, 1) You Experts are really great! 2) I have followed the creation-evolution "debate" ... A: Sorry for the delay, I thought I answered this one already, and just now noticed it in the "pending" ... | |
| Human origins | 4/2/2004 |
| Q: John - there is no Genetics expert yet so here I am again. In the Nova programme 'Children of Eve' ... A: All that I have read on this lately suggests all living humans are about equally distantly related ... | |
| rome,eygpt,greece | 3/11/2004 |
| Q: i have a few more queries which your answer brings up. such as were the darker eygptians not the ... A: Bei, Egyptians. Like I said, there probably was a lot of variation in the skin pigmentation of ... | |
| rome,eygpt,greece | 3/11/2004 |
| Q: there seems to be different opinions as to the ethnicity of ancient egyptians and romans, i know ... A: The ancient Egyptians were Africans. Judging from the way they depicted themselves in their art and ... | |
| Life expectancy | 2/17/2004 |
| Q: John, What was the life expectancy of Homo Habilis, Homo Erectus, and early Homo Sapiens? Is 18 to ... A: Tom Your figures is about right for maximum life expectancies. Individuals in their 40s are ... | |
| no little toe adaptive? | 2/13/2004 |
| Q: I'm assuming that if a genetic trait helps an organism have reproductive success it will be selected ... A: If a genetically-programmed trait is neither advantageous nor maladaptive, i.e., if it is "neutral" ... | |
| Methods of Research | 2/5/2004 |
| Q: I noticed on previously asked questions, the response given was not completely accurate. For ... A: The Neandertal vs. Neanderthal spelling question is, as you note, complicated. It resulted from a ... | |
| evolution | 1/31/2004 |
| Q: I am doing a school project on evolution and I am trying to figure out what humans might evolve ... A: This is a very complex and complicated issue. I'll give you a brief explanation, but if it sounds ... | |
| What do archaeologists think... | 11/29/2003 |
| Q: What do archaeologists think happened to cause the transition between hunting and gathering ... A: Many archaeologists believe that the ecological "trigger" for horticulture among hunter-gatherers ... | |
| Carved face on small stone | 7/20/2003 |
| Q: My uncle found a carved face on a stone that is about one inch. He found this stone somewhere in ... A: I'm not going to be able to answer your question myself, but rather than just checking off the "not ... | |
| brain size | 6/19/2003 |
| Q: Shea, I just stumbled onto this website and I think its fantastic that people like you help to make ... A: Within Homo sapiens, there is no proven strong relationship between brain size and intelligence. ... | |
| Grains as a food source for men | 5/12/2003 |
| Q: Please allow me to thank you for your generosity. Mysince when did men start (organized/planned) ... A: The earliest evidence of cereal agriculture (organized planting of cereal grains) dates to around ... | |
| non-caucasian whites? | 12/22/2002 |
| Q: I have read from various anthopolocial texts that tend to describe both the Ainu and Polynesians as ... A: The Ainu of Hokkaido do indeed look different from the Japanese populations to the south (paler ... | |
| anthropology terms | 12/13/2002 |
| Q: I was wandering if you can help me with couple of anthropology terms and their meaning in relation ... A: Mario, I'm answering as an archaeologist. Other anthropologists who work with living humans may ... | |
John Shea
Top Expert on this page
Expertise
Questions about Old World prehistoric archaeology (especially Stone Age) of Europe, Africa, and Western Asia, prehistoric human and hominid behavior, primitive technology, origin of modern humans, extinction of the Neandertals.
Experience
Publications
Journal of Field Archaeology, Journal of Archaeological Science, Lithic Technology, Evolutionary Anthropology, Current Anthropology, Mitekufat HaEven (Journal of the Israel Prehistoric Society), Paléorient, Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan, American Anthropologist, Geoarchaeology.
Education/Credentials
Ph.D (Anthropology) Harvard University, 1991.
BA (Archaeology) Boston University, 1982.
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