Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

James Williams @jtdub.com · 19h

Giving a white supremacist a medal of freedom shouldn’t surprise anyone from the person who pardoned a bunch of January 6 seditionists.

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Reposted by James Williams

Kiva Journal @kivaswjournal.bsky.social · 4d

What can ceramic patterns tell us about community, identity & politics? A new study by Vivero-Miranda of Rio Sonora/Serrana ceramics styles offers fresh insights on social organization. doi.org/10.1080/0023...
#Archaeology #Sonora #Southwest #History #Ceramics

Vivero-Miranda 2025. Examples of ceramic sherds analyzed. The applied hierarchical approach allows us to deconstruct the decorative attributes in useful analytical units to understand the role and relationship between attributes. The combination of “Approach, treatment, and variants”, results in “styles”. However, this analysis targets approach and treatment, as the most communicative to address inquiries of identity at the inter-valley scale. Noteworthy, is the potential that some typological distinctions (decorative attributes) may be the result of small fragments of other styles.

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James Williams @jtdub.com · 5d

project leader Mike Collins made the critical decision to continue digging until the team reached bedrock. That decision ultimately led to the groundbreaking discovery of pre-Clovis artifacts, reshaping our understanding of the earliest human presence in North America.

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James Williams @jtdub.com · 5d

More than two million Clovis artifacts were recovered during excavations. When the archaeological team reached a layer of sterile soil, a stratigraphic layer containing no evidence of human-made artifacts,

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James Williams @jtdub.com · 5d

The site’s importance lies not only in the incredible density of Clovis culture artifacts, dating back roughly 13,000 years, but also in the discovery of artifacts from a culture that predates the Clovis period. Current estimates place these earlier materials between 16,000 and 20,000 years old.

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James Williams @jtdub.com · 5d

This new documentary explores one of the most significant archaeological sites north of Austin, Texas, near the town of Florence, and the archaeologist who risked his financial security and professional career to investigate and preserve it.

The Stones Are Speaking

Archaeologist Mike Collins risks it all to save 30 acres deep in the heart of Texas.

www.pbs.org

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Reposted by James Williams

NPR @npr.org · 11d

One of the most listened-to genres in the Americas, photographers and storytellers Karla Gachet and Ivan Kashinsky document cumbia in Colombia, Mexico, Ecuador, Peru, Argentina and the United States.

Colombia: The birthplace of cumbia

One of the most listened-to genres in the Americas, photographers and storytellers Karla Gachet and Ivan Kashinsky document cumbia in Colombia, Mexico, Ecuador, Peru, Argentina and the United States.

n.pr

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James Williams @jtdub.com · 11d

War criminal.

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James Williams @jtdub.com · 12d

A year ago, he denied even knowing what project 2025 was.

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James Williams @jtdub.com · 15d

“We love peace for our fellow citizens”. Meanwhile, the POTUS has spent months deploying the military and the Gestapo to cities in the US.

James Williams @jtdub.com · 15d

What would a jury trust more? Decades of studies that have shown no link between autism and acetaminophen or a rambling speech of a pathological liar with zero scientific credibility?

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Reposted by James Williams

Dr Susan Greaney @suegreaney.bsky.social · 15d

Fab for freelancers, self-employed, independent researchers:

Warwick History Post-Doc Club @post-doc-club.bsky.social · 15d

Great news!
JSTOR now have a free account with an Independent Researcher category. You can access 100 documents per month

www.jstor.org/action/showL...

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James Williams @jtdub.com · 15d

Let’s assume he’s not in the files. I wouldn’t put it past him to use the materials in the files as blackmail. That would be my only other explanation for the actions concerning Epstein that make him appear as if he has something to hide.

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Reposted by James Williams

Carceral Abolition @carceralabolition.bsky.social · Feb 21

New Mexico - Lasers reveal 1,000-year-old Indigenous road near Chaco Canyon that aligns with the winter solstice

Researchers think the Indigenous roads were more about cosmology than traffic. www.livescience.com/archaeology/...

Lasers reveal 1,000-year-old Indigenous road near Chaco Canyon that aligns with the winter solstice

Researchers think the Indigenous roads were more about cosmology than traffic.

www.livescience.com

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Reposted by James Williams

Q @gameovermike.bsky.social · 19d

If you're in the Austin area and have kids interested in archaeology, there will be a free archaeology fair at the Bullock Texas State History Museum next weekend. 🏺

thc.texas.gov/events/texas...

Texas Archeology Fair | Texas Historical Commission

Join the Texas Historical Commission and the Bullock Texas State History Museum for the Texas Archeology Fair, a statewide celebration of history, heritage, and archeology—co-hosted as part of the mus...

thc.texas.gov

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Reposted by James Williams

MU-Peter Shimon 🀄️ @mu-peter.bsky.social · 19d

#Yunxian 🏺🧪
Discovered in Hubei Province in 1990, Yunxian 2 skull has been at the center of a taxonomic confusion for the past 35 years

Million-Year-Old Skull Pushes Back Homo Sapiens' Origins By 400,000 Years
www.iflscience.com/million-year...

With comments by @chrisbstringer.bsky.social

The Yunxian 2 reconstruction, alongside the original Yungxian 1 and 2.

Image credit: Mr. Guanghui Zhao

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Reposted by James Williams

Michelle A. Rodrigues 🐒 @marspidermonkey.bsky.social · 19d

🧪🏺

John Hawks @johnhawks.net · 19d

Could there be a connection between a squashed million-year-old skull and the Denisovans? I look at whether a provocative new study can be squared with what we already know from ancient genomes. I think there's a way.

www.johnhawks.net/p/the-proble...

The problem skulls from Yunxian

The relationships of fossils from deep time in China may help reveal ancestral connections for the Denisovans

www.johnhawks.net

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James Williams @jtdub.com · 19d

It seems like a colosal risk having the entire top military leadership in a single location.

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Reposted by James Williams

Chris Stringer @chrisbstringer.bsky.social · 19d

Million-Year-Old Skull Pushes Back Homo Sapiens Origins By 400,000 Years www.iflscience.com/million-year...

Million-Year-Old Skull Reveals Homo Sapiens Are Nearly Twice As Old As We Thought

And our ancestors may have originated outside of Africa.

www.iflscience.com

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Reposted by James Williams

Colleen Morgan @clmorgan.bsky.social · 20d

PLEASE sign up for Skype a Scientist:

www.skypeascientist.com

They need more archaeologists! It's fun, answer kids questions on zoom for an hour.

SKYPE A SCIENTIST

Skype a Scientist matches your classroom, scout troop, or library with scientists for Q&A sessions for free!

www.skypeascientist.com

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Reposted by James Williams

Kristina Killgrove @killgrove.bsky.social · 19d

This teeny marsupial is a newly described species named for the Chachapoya, who lived in the Peruvian Andes before the Inca. 🧪

Mystery creature found in 'forbidden cloud forest' of Peru is new species of marsupial

The newly described mouse opossum was discovered at a surprisingly high altitude in the Andes.

www.livescience.com

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Reposted by James Williams

SAPIENS Magazine @sapiens.org · 22d

“It matters what stories we tell about growing older. The conversations I had at Jesus Green revealed how one community is understanding what it means to live and age well.”

Read more: www.sapiens.org/culture/cold...

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James Williams @jtdub.com · 21d

open.substack.com/pub/anthrojt...

The History of Qoyllur Rit’i

Abstract

open.substack.com

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James Williams @jtdub.com · 23d

James Williams

James Williams | Substack

Tech professional exploring the intersection of anthropology, climate, and culture. Sharing field notes, research reflections, and stories from the road. Click to read James Williams, a Substack publi...

anthrojtdub.substack.com

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James Williams @jtdub.com · 24d

That’s not how a free press works.