What is a “normal” childhood? Childhood, child-rearing and care-giving are all areas of human development which are largely taken for granted from within a single culture. However, approaches to childhood and children vary greatly across…
This week, we have a guest contributor to eHRAF Highlights: HRAF Research Anthropologist Ian Skoggard, who shares some thoughts and findings on human cooperation. Cooperation has deep evolutionary roots. Bees do it, ants do it,…
HRAF President, Carol Ember, has contributed this post reporting on her ongoing research into natural hazards and cultural “tightness”. Some societies appear to have strong and clearly defined expectations for how to behave in many…
It’s that time of year again when the fall semester is just around the corner. But don’t worry, we’ve got you covered with a few ways that you can get classroom- and research-ready with HRAF.…
An insightful publication by Fulco Scherjon, Corrie Bakels, Katharine MacDonald, and Wil Roebroeks in the June 2015 issue of Current Anthropology sheds new light on present-day and historical fire setting practices among hunter-gatherers and foragers.…
![Fieldnotes: Traditional Basarwa (San) dancing in Botswana [Video]](https://hraf.yale.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/san-dancing-feature.png)
HRAF anthropologist Ian Skoggard visited Botswana last year. In this post, he shares his experiences along with some video footage from his trip. Last September 2016, my wife and I had the privilege to visit…
This year, HRAF welcomes new member institutions from across the world—with universities in Turkey, France, and Canada.
In our weekly scheduled webinars, you can learn more about the eHRAF databases, including how the culture collections are organized by regions, sub-regions, sample(s) and subsistence types; HRAF’s very detailed human curation of documents and…
The vernal equinox marks the beginning of Spring, representing the moment when the sun passes directly over the equator. This time of year is known for its many cultural and religious celebrations. For instance, Easter…
The Human Relations Area Files (HRAF) at Yale University is pleased to announce a one-year internship in Melvin Ember’s name. Melvin Ember was President of HRAF from 1987 until his death in 2009. The intent…