Anthropology | UC Davis College of Letters and Science

Humans Migrated to Mongolia Much Earlier Than Previously Believed

Stone tools uncovered in Mongolia by an international team of archaeologists indicate that modern humans traveled across the Eurasian steppe about 45,000 years ago, according to a new University of California, Davis, study. The date is about 10,000 years earlier than archaeologists previously believed.

Society and Culture

In Difficult Times, Having Multiple Husbands Can Be an Advantage

It is well known that men benefit reproductively from having multiple spouses, but the reasons why women might benefit from multiple marriages are not as clear. Women, as a result of pregnancy and lactation, can’t reproduce as fast as males. But new research by UC Davis challenges evolutionary-derived sexual stereotypes about men and women, finding that multiple spouses can be good for women too.

Society and Culture

Aggie Hero: Valencia Scott

The first days at UC Davis were full of self-doubt for Valencia Scott. As a transfer student from American River College in Sacramento, this double major in anthropology and international relations questioned if she truly belonged and if she could handle the rigors of university life. But after finding support networks on campus and joining advisory boards, Scott emerged as a role model for serving fellow students and the wider community.

Undergraduate Pursues Research Across Disciplines

Students from any major on campus can engage in undergraduate research in the UC Davis College of Letters and Science. As a senior, Cole Williams pursued his interests in genetics with a project in the lab of Brenna Henn, associate professor of anthropology. Williams, a genetics and genomics major in the College of Biological Sciences, designed an algorithm capable of handling diverse population and complex family genealogies in human genomic datasets.

Student News

1997 - Rene Olivas

Rene Olivas (B.A., anthropology, '97) is a special agent with the fraud detection office in the U.S. Office of Inspector General, Department of Justice. Last year, Olivas won the Inspector General’s Award for Fraud Prevention and completed an investigation of a former Department of Justice trial attorney accused of stealing and attempting to sell sensitive, sealed court documents. In November he received a Law Enforcement Award from the U.S.

Alumni News

Meet Claudio Monteza-Moreno: Graduate Student Melds Biology and Anthropology

The story of how Claudio Monteza-Moreno came to UC Davis illustrates how research today often crosses boundaries — reaching across disciplines and around the globe to explore complex problems. Monteza-Moreno is a graduate student working in the lab of evolutionary anthropologist Meg Crofoot, studying how wildlife in Panama navigate landscapes transformed by humans. However, his background is in biology.

Science

Rapid Genetic Evolution Linked to Lighter Skin Pigmentation in a Southern African Population

Study finds that a gene for lighter skin spread rapidly among people in southern Africa in the last 2,000 years. University of California, Davis, researchers and colleagues report that the gene was introduced from eastern Africa to southern African populations. Strong positive selection caused this gene to rise in frequency among some KhoeSan populations.

Society and Culture

UC Davis Anthropologist Named President-elect of the American Society of Primatologists

UC Davis anthropologist Lynne Isbell, who studies the behavior, ecology and evolutionary history of primates, is the new president-elect of the American Society of Primatologists (ASP).

Isbell, professor and chair of the Department of Anthropology in the College of Letters and Science, assumed the elected position during the society’s Aug. 8-11 meeting in San Antonio, Texas. After serving a two-year term, she will become ASP president in August 2020.

Science

Christyann Darwent: Archaeology Adventures in the Arctic

Christyann Darwent, an associate professor of anthropology at UC Davis, studies how humans adapt to arid, arctic environments and coastal ecosystems. As a zooarchaeologist, Darwent studies animal skeletal remains to better understand what past human economies and environments were like. UC Davis College of Letters and Science writing intern James Sommer ’18 sat down with Darwent in spring 2018 to learn about the Arctic locations she has traveled to, as well as the discoveries she’s made throughout her journey.

Smith Reveals Limits of "Conflict Minerals" Concept

The proliferation of smartphones and other personal electronics has led to a booming demand for rare earth minerals. Yet recent legal and corporate interventions designed to eliminate “conflict minerals” from high-tech supply chains have proven equally violent and destructive to people on the ground.