The driving forces behind language variation and change have long been a subject of debate. One prominent approach takes a functionalist perspective and posits that the need for efficient communication shapes lexical and grammatical patterns. This paper reviews five recent studies that offer further support for the plausibility of the communicative efficiency principle while also providing new insights into other factors that contribute to efficient linguistic structures. The key findings from these studies can be summarized as follows: (1) the principle of communicative efficiency offers plausible explanations for both lexical and grammatical phenomena, addressing both synchronic variations and diachronic changes in language evolution; (2) linguistic systems achieve efficiency through multiple mechanisms such as creation bias and selective pressures favoring efficient communication; (3) in addition to communicative efficiency, language evolution is also shaped by language history, with existing structures influencing subsequent ones. By synthesizing these studies, this paper underscores the efficiency account as a plausible and inclusive explanatory framework. It also stresses the need to rigorously delineate the role of communicative efficiency in language evolution, cautioning against automatically conflating the presence of efficient structures with intentional optimization for communicative goals.
Human behavioral ecology is an evolutionary framework that attempts to understand how adaptive human behavior maps on to variation in social, cultural, and ecological environments. It emerged as a coherent framework in the United States and the U.K. in the 1980s and has flourished as an explanatory framework ever since. The concentration of HBE scholarship in English-speaking countries has led to missed opportunities to engage other partners in testing and expanding human behavioral ecological models of human behavioral and life history variation. In this review, we provide a brief review of human behavioral ecology and describe opportunities for related scholarship in the Chinese context. We introduce human behavioral ecology holistically, including its history, methodological frameworks, pet topics, and recent integration with related fields, with a special emphasis on its recent integration with Chinese social, archaeological, and life sciences scholarship. We address potential criticisms of human behavioral ecology and how to ensure a robust and careful application of human behavioral ecology principles in the study of human behavior in China, past and present. We conclude with excitement as the remarkable variation in the Chinese behavioral landscape offers unparalleled opportunities for innovative and integrative studies.
The ancient Okunev culture in South Siberia is renowned for its mysterious artistic and cultural legacy and belief system. Many later, Eurasian steppe peoples are thought to have inherited elements of the Okunev culture, but its origins and evolution remain unclear. Previous research of ancient DNA (aDNA) indicated that the primary paternal lineage of the ancient Okunev people was Q-L330-YP761. In this study, we sequenced 25 modern samples from this haplogroup and analyzed them alongside 26 ancient samples and 10 modern samples from public sources. The updated, high-resolution phylogenetic tree shows paternal lineage Q-L330-YP761 expanded significantly during the Okunev culture. Its downstream subclade Y145421 was the main paternal type of the Chandman culture. Phylogeographic analysis indicates that Q-L330-YP761 largely integrated into the Xiongnu, Tiele, and Han Chinese populations after the Okunev culture. Many downstream branches of Q-L330-YP761 also migrated westward to Central Asia and Europe. In summary, Q-L330-YP761 is considered one of the genetic lineages that have migrated across the Eurasian steppe since the Bronze Age.
This study investigates the changing role of women in digital da’wah and the digital transformation of Majelis Taklim (Islamic study groups) in Indonesia. As digital platforms like YouTube, Instagram, WhatsApp, Telegram, and TikTok become more widely used, this study explores how women negotiate power, shape religious discourse, and interact with audiences online. The study employs a qualitative approach using digital ethnography and critical discourse analysis (CDA) to examine the interactions and narratives shaping women’s roles in digital da’wah. Data were collected through digital observations, in-depth interviews with female preachers (ustazah), moderators, and active participants, and content analysis of Majelis Taklim sessions on social media. The study applies Fairclough’s CDA to analyze power relations within religious discourse and Van Dijk’s Critical Discourse Studies (CDS) to examine how digital da’wah reconstructs female religious authority. The results reveal a shift in women’s roles from passive participants to active producers of religious discourse. While digitalization provides broader access and participation opportunities, female preachers still face challenges in establishing religious authority, particularly in male-dominated Islamic discourses. The study finds that key themes in women-led da’wah include Islamic parenting, hijrah (religious transformation), Islamic economy, and women’s roles in Islam. Digital platforms do provide female scholars more prominence, but they also perpetuate patriarchal interpretations of religious norms. By combining digital ethnography, critical discourse analysis, and religious studies, this work adds to the conversation on Islam, gender, and digital religious practices. It shows how digital media influences women’s involvement in da’wah by presenting opportunities and limitations. Unlike other studies concentrating on male religious authority in digital da’wah, this research offers a thorough, empirical, and theoretical examination of how women manage religious influence and legitimacy online. The findings have implications for developing inclusive, digital-based Islamic education and policymaking on religious discourse in the digital era.
Using examples from indigenous art in Brazil, this paper demonstrates that these works contain “hidden mathematics” (such as symmetry, striped ornaments, rows, etc.), which challenges the traditional notion of “primitive art”.
The article examines how smartphones and social media are transforming human interactions, challenging traditional concepts of friendship, intimacy, and belonging. Phenomena such as “phubbing” and constant connectivity are explored, highlighting the negative impacts of hyperconnectivity on the quality of face-to-face interactions and emotional well-being. While these technologies expand the reach of connections, they often lead to more superficial relationships, altering family, educational, and professional dynamics. Anthropological analysis is emphasized as essential for understanding these changes, revealing how digital practices vary across different cultural and social contexts. Ethnographic studies and innovative methodologies are suggested to investigate how digital technologies reshape identities, communities, and social hierarchies. The importance of an interdisciplinary approach, combining anthropology, psychology, and data science, is underscored to address the emerging challenges of the digital era and foster more authentic and healthy human relationships.
The emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) in the creative arts has ignited a global discourse on the intersection of technology, human creativity, and artistic expression. This paper examines the rise of “AI artists” within the broader context of neuropsychology, the metacrisis, and theories of art and creativity. Drawing on Ian McGilchrist’s hemispheric theory, it explores how AI, often associated with left-hemisphere analytical dominance, can paradoxically contribute to right-hemisphere creative processes. The study evaluates the role of AI in expanding artistic boundaries, democratizing creative expression, and redefining authorship, while addressing concerns about originality, cultural significance, and the potential devaluation of human-made art. Through an anthropological and philosophical lens, the paper argues that AI does not replace human creativity but rather augments it, offering novel tools for artistic exploration. By integrating insights from cognitive science, aesthetics, and digital humanities, this article positions AI as a collaborator in artistic evolution rather than a competitor. Ultimately, there is an assertion that the human capacity for meaning-making and emotional resonance remains irreplaceable, ensuring that human creativity persists and thrives alongside AI-generated art.
The Shennong’s Herbal Canon lays the foundation for the basic theory of herbal combination in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). However, after the Tang dynasty, the text of this book was nearly entirely lost, with only a short preface and a catalogue of 365 herbs remaining. In Interpretation of Shennong’s Herb Canon and Catalogue of Herbal Foods, molecular anthropologist Hui Li systematically elaborated on the philosophical basis and practical application by starting from the TCM perspective and integrating multi-disciplinary scientific evidence. This book provides scholars with numerous empirical and logically-based scientific hypotheses and offers insights for daily health maintenance.
We have recently found that a megalithic basaltic rock lunisolar calendar in Lanzarote, Canary Islands (“Quesera or Cheeseboard” of Zonzamas) has almost a twin monument in Jerusalem (Al Quds in Arab). These two unique monuments are on the West and East sides of the Sahara Desert and support the hypothesis of a common “Green” Saharan culture and a later migration of people towards the Atlantic, Mediterranean, Middle East and other areas when desiccation started after 10,000 years BC, thus spreading culture and genes. Traces of this culture can still be found in Iberian rock inscriptions on the Canary Islands and in the Sahara Desert, particularly at Tim-Missaou in Algeria.This is concordant with Usko-Mediterranean languages (Basque and Berber are related and also with Iberian and Etruscan), genetics and other common anthropological traits. In this paper, we analyse the Al Quds-Jerusalem megalithic monument as representing a solar calendar of Egyptian-type (365 days in 1 year) and show how it could be identical to the Lanzarote megalithic calendar (“Quesera or Cheeseboard” of Zonzamas). Both monuments,each crest/channel, are coincidental in each solar month assignment in both Lanzarote and Jerusalem rock calendars representation. Jerusalem’s megalithic calendar was built at least 900 years BC, when it fell out of use. Therefore, it can be assumed that the Lanzarote megalithic calendar was constructed around a similar time, meaning an undetermined period over 2800 years ago.
