Tag: Anthropology

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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: ‘Redundant Ergot‘, ‘Redundant Vets’, ‘Dog’s Mercury’, ‘Bird’s Foot Trefoil’ and ‘The Glastonbury Thorn’.

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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.