Tag: Anthropology

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Monkshood by Sarah Das Gupta

imposing imperial purple
deadly to man, beast and bird
Shiva’s throat turned blue

by Sarah Das Gupta
Botanical name:Aconitum napellus (over 250 species)
Popular names:Aconite, Blue helmet, Blue rocket, Leopard’s bane, Monkshood, Wolfsbane
Family:Ranunculaceae
Origin:Mountain slopes of Europe eastward to the Himalayas.
Flower:Purple-blue (white, yellow), tall floral spires, mid-late summer.
Habitat:Northern Hemisphere, mountain meadows, partial shade, east or west facing.

Monkshood, so called because its hooded flowers resemble a monk’s cowl, is a hairless perennial of the buttercup family. Several species are cultivated, often at the back of herbaceous borders. Every part of the plant is poisonous and eating even a leaf can be fatal. It is best to wear gloves when handling and keep out of the reach of children or pets. Apparently, it tastes so repulsive that accidental poisoning seems unlikely.

Several unpleasant symptoms result from rubbing the plant into the skin, including numbness. Ingesting it results in stomach pain, dizziness, and heart problems. It is still used in medicines today but in very small quantities.

From ancient times, people have been aware of the dangers of this plant. The ancient Greeks associated it with Hades and it was believed to have sprung up from the saliva of the three-headed dog, Cerberus. The goddess, Athena, is said to have sprinkled the sap on the maiden Arachne, turning her into a spider! In Hinduism the plant is sacred to Lord Shiva who saved the Earth by drinking poison, which he stored in his throat, turning it blue. In European tradition, aconite is linked to Hecate which is why it was found at crossroads and gateways which were associated with her cult. Anglo-Saxon hunters covered the tips of their arrows with aconite when hunting wolves, hence the name wolfsbane.

Further reading:

‘Pagan Portals – By Wolfsbane & Mandrake Root: The Shadow World of Plants and Their Poisons’, 2017, Draco, M., John Hunt Publishing Limited, ISBN: 1780995725.

‘Poisonous Plants in Great Britain’, 2008, Gillam, F., Wooden Books, ISBN: 1904263879.

‘Witch’s Garden: Plants in folklore, magic and traditional medicine’, 2020, Lawrence, S., Welbeck   London, ISBN: 978178739436.

Author bio:

Sarah Das Gupta is a young 81 year old. Loves writing haiku and most forms of poetry. Is learning to walk after an accident. Main outside interests include equine sports. Lives near Cambridge, UK. Read other sciku by Sarah here.

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Amaranth by Sarah Das Gupta

Ancient crimson flame
burning on lofty Olympus
a new era is calling

by Sarah Das Gupta
Botanical name:Amaranthus
Popular names:Prostrate pigweed, Love lies bleeding
Family:Amaranthaceae
Origin:Central and South America. Currently found on all continents except Antarctica
Flower:Catkin-like cymes, closely packed
Habitat:Dry conditions, drought resistant

There are over 70 species of this ancient plant and they are very diverse. In 1996 Mosyakin and Robertson divided the family into 3 subgenres. There is some argument as to where and when the first plants were cultivated. It may be that both in South America and separately in south-east Asia cultivation occurred over 8,000 years ago.

In Ancient Greece the plant had spiritual significance. Its name means ‘unfading flower’, perhaps because it has a long flowering period. It was associated with immortality and believed to grow on Mount Olympus, the home of the gods. Aesop’s Fables also refer to the flower.

The Aztecs in the 15th and 16th centuries, grew three crops, beans, maize and amaranth. In a sacrifice to the god of war, the amaranth grain and honey were used to mould the image of the god which was later broken into pieces and eaten by the people. After the Spanish conquest, the cultivation of amaranth was discouraged as it was associated with old customs and religious practices.

Fifteen of the species have edible parts: the grain from the seed-head, the root and the leaves are high in nutrients and oxalates but some of the former are lost in cooking. However, with rises in temperature and growing interest in vegetarian diets, there may well be a future for this ancient plant. The seed-head produces a high yield while the plant is very drought resistant. In parts of Asia, amaranth is largely grown for its dye and for ornamental reasons.

Further reading:  

‘RHS A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants’, Editor-in-chief Christopher Brickell, 2016, Dorling Kindersley, ISBN: 9780241239124.

‘Amaranth Tastes as Good as It Looks’, James Wong, 2020, The Guardian.

‘Amaranth – May Grain of the Month’, The Whole Grain Council, USA.

Author bio:

Sarah Das Gupta is a young 81 year old. Loves writing haiku and most forms of poetry. Is learning to walk after an accident. Main outside interests include equine sports. Lives near Cambridge, UK. Read other sciku by Sarah here.

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Asphodel by Sarah Das Gupta

In Autumn fields
pale ghosts of myth
search lost memories

by Sarah Das Gupta
Botanical name:Asphodelus
Popular names:Onion Weed, King’s Spear
Family:Asphodelaceae
Origin:Mediterranean, North Africa, Middle East, Indian-sub continent
Flower:Tall spike – white, yellow, pink
Habitat:Well-drained soil, abundance of light

Until 1753, Asphodel was classified as part of the lily family. Carl Linneas then reclassified the plant. It is a herbaceous plant with a tall white or yellow spike.

The Ancient Greeks associated asphodel with death and the underworld. The poet, Homer, describes the Fields of Asphodel as ‘covering the great meadow and the haunt of the dead.’ To the Greeks the underworld included: Elysium, Tartarus and The Fields of Asphodel. The last was the abode of the average person who had done nothing good nor wicked. Asphodel may have become associated with death as having ‘strange, pallid, ghostly flowers.’ It was commonly found on graves and is particularly associated with Persephone who was abducted by Hades, ruler of the underworld. She is sometimes portrayed as wearing a crown of asphodel.

Many diverse writers from Homer and Milton to Faulkner and Poe have used the symbolism associated with the plant. Although it is suggested they may well have been referring to the Narcissus rather than the asphodel. Like many plants, asphodel is reputed to have healing qualities – dealing with snakebites or used against sorcery. It even plays a part in Harry Potter.

Its leaves are used to wrap Burrata cheese. Both the leaves and the cheese are at their best for four days. So don’t buy the cheese if the leaves are withered!

Further reading:

‘An Empire of Plants: people and plants that changed the world’, Toby Musgrave & Will Musgrave, 2000, Cassell, ISBN  13 9781844030200.

‘Amaranth and Asphodel, poems from the Greek anthology’, Alfred J Butler, 1922, Oxford: B. Blackwell, ISBN 13 9781013710728

Author bio:

Sarah Das Gupta is a young 81 year old. Loves writing haiku and most forms of poetry. Is learning to walk after an accident. Main outside interests include equine sports. Lives near Cambridge, UK. Read other sciku by Sarah here.

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Mistletoe by Sarah Das Gupta

sweet Christmas kisses
beneath the white mistletoe
secret memories

By Sarah Das Gupta

Mistletoe is a semi-parasitic plant which lives off the nutrients and water from the host plant. Birds often spread the seeds from tree to tree, especially blackcaps and the mistle thrush which explains why clumps of mistletoe are found near the tops of trees.

In UK mistletoe is found most commonly in the south-west Midlands, particularly in Herefordshire. It is almost unseen in Scotland, Ireland and the rest of Wales. When picked, it will last for 2 weeks in a cool place. It would appear the plant has no connection with toes.  This seems to be a corruption of the old English ‘tan’, meaning ‘twig’.

There has been some decline in mistletoe as a result of the diminishing number of old orchards, the apple being the favourite host, together with poplar, lime and conifers.

Mistletoe played an important role in Nordic legend. Balder was killed by his blind brother, Hodr, who used the plant as a missile. The Druids also valued the plant for medicinal purposes. The association of the plant with Christmas is probably because the berries appear in December and the leaves remain green. There is some evidence that the Greek holiday, Kronia, was associated with mistletoe and kissing. Many different varieties of mistletoe exist with different coloured berries in other continents

Botanical name:Viscum album
Popular names:Mistletoe
Family:Santalaceae
Origin:Northern Europe
Flowering:February-April
Habitat:Branches of apple, conifer, hawthorn, lime, poplar etc. 

Further reading:

‘A Little Book About Mistletoe’, Jonathan Briggs, 2013, CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.

‘Mistletoe Winter’, Roy Dennis, 2021, Saraband.

‘Blood and Mistletoe, History of the Druids in Britain’, Ronald Hutton, 2011, Yale University Press.

‘Mistletoe’, Royal Horticultural Society.

Author bio:

Sarah Das Gupta is a young 81 year old. Loves writing haiku and most forms of poetry. Is learning to walk after an accident. Main outside interests include equine sports. Lives near Cambridge, UK. Read other sciku by Sarah here.

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Tobacco Road by Michael H. Brownstein

tobacco pathways
across North America
ocean to ocean

by Michael H. Brownstein

Like many others, I always thought the native people of North America smoked and/or ingested a number of different plants to expose themselves to different plains of consciousness. This botany research reveals that isn’t the case. Tobacco was the main plant for smoking–perhaps the only one in certain areas–and it is also a study of how tobacco made it across the nation to the State of Washington.

Further reading:

‘An Ancient Residue Metabolomics-Based Method to Distinguish Use of Closely Related Plant Species in Ancient Pipes’, K.J. Brownstein, S. Tushingham, W.J. Damitio, T. Nguyen and D.R. Gang, 2020, https://doi.org/10.3389%2Ffmolb.2020.00133

‘Biomolecular archaeology reveals ancient origins of indigenous tobacco smoking in North American Plateau’, S. Tushingham, C.M. Snyder, K.J. Brownstein and D.R. Gang, 2018, https://doi.org/10.10bioche73/pnas.1813796115

Author bio:

Michael H. Brownstein’s latest volumes of poetry, A Slipknot to Somewhere Else (2018) and How Do We Create Love (2019) were both published by Cholla Needles Press. In addition, he has appeared in Last Stanza, Café Review, American Letters and Commentary, Skidrow Penthouse, Xavier Review, Hotel Amerika, Meridian Anthology of Contemporary Poetry, The Pacific Review, Poetrysuperhighway.com and others. He has nine poetry chapbooks including A Period of Trees (Snark Press, 2004), Firestorm: A Rendering of Torah (Camel Saloon Press, 2012), The Possibility of Sky and Hell: From My Suicide Book (White Knuckle Press, 2013) and The Katy Trail, Mid-Missouri, 100 Degrees Outside and Other Poems (Kind of Hurricane Press, 2013). He is the editor of First Poems from Viet Nam (2011). Michael recommends Project Agent Orange.

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Ancient Crayon

Ancient crayon of

Mesolithic origin.

What might you have drawn?

 

It can be easy to attribute modern interpretations to objects found in ancient archaeological sites. Objects found in North Yorkshire, UK, were tested by Needham et al (2018) using microscopy and spectroscopy and were revealed to contain ochre – an important mineral pigment used by prehistoric hunter-gathers across the world.

One piece in particular was shaped a little like a modern crayon, a long cylindrical object with a pointed end, four edges and elongate grooves running in parallel down its the length. Both the wear and the shape of the item are not consistent with the natural crystal habits of haematite, suggesting the shape is a result of anthropogenic working and could have been a drawing tool.

Original research: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2017.12.002

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A safety zone

Personal space size:

A safety zone to protect

you from aggression?

 

It’s a widely recognised stereotype that different people and cultures can have varied concepts of ideal interpersonal space. Yet it seems that personal space can vary within individuals as well.

Research by Vagnoni et al (2018) has found that interpersonal space size increases following listening to a conversation with aggressive content. This suggests that interpersonal space might be a way of protecting yourself from an aggressive confrontation.

Original research: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0192753

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Native American Dugout Canoe in Central New York By Donald A. Windsor

Our dugout canoe

Dendrochronology shows

Three hundred years old

 

In central New York State a dugout canoe was found buried in mud on the bank of a pond. It was removed, washed, slowly dried, and preserved in the Chenango County Historical Society Museum. It was determined by both dendrochronological methods and carbon-14 dating to have been produced around 1720 AD from a black ash tree trunk.

I used to paddle in our local rivers with my elegant aluminum canoe. But this dugout canoe does not look seaworthy. It would easily tip over. Perhaps it was not for riders, but for use as a floating basket for harvesting wild rice or clams or other aquatic provisions.

Original research:

Moyer, David ; Windsor, Donald A. ; Noble, Daniel B. ; Griggs, Carol B. The history and dendrochronological dating of the Dave Walker dugout canoe: a progress report. The Bulletin. Journal of the New York State Archaeological Association 2015 Number 129: 49-56.

Windsor, Donald A. Dave Walker’s dugout canoe. Chenango Archaeologist 2009-2010 Winter; 2(7): 1-2. http://chenangoarchaeologists.blogspot.co.uk/2011/08/dave-walkers-dugout-canoe.html

Windsor, Donald A. Wild rice in Chenango County.   Chenango Archaeologist 2009-2010 Winter; 2(7): 3.

Donald A. Windsor, a biologist with a multidisciplinary background, is a former president of the Chenango Chapter of the New York State Archaeological Association. He retired from industrial pharmaceutical research and development 23 years ago. He is currently affiliated with the Ronin Institute for Independent Scholarship. His blog is http://www.chenangoarchaeologists.blogspot.com/

Enjoyed this sciku? Check out Donald’s other sciku: Equal rights for parasites.

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Ancient female dynasty

DNA reveals

ancient female dynasty

of Chaco Canyon.

 

Hereditary leadership is often an indicator of early political complexity and governance. Kennett et al (2017) used mitochondrial and nuclear DNA to identify an elite matriline that persisted between 800 and 1130 AD in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico.