The life led by the ancients was rude and illiterate; still, as will be readily seen, the observations they made were not less remarkable for ingenuity than are the theories of the present day. Pliny the Elder Kamoun Lab have reminded me via their Scoop It page that today is the day of the Robigalia, a [...]

We have a new special issue out on Plant Mating Systems, with a couple of free access posts. Gynodioecy to dioecy: are we there yet? by Rachel B. Spigler and Tia-Lynn Ashman is a review of the evolution of sexes and sexual strategies in plants. The natural history of pollination and mating in bird-pollinated Babiana [...]

I didn’t do modern history at school so my impression of the industrial revolution is largely a mish-mash of pop history and some misremembered Industrial Archaeology courses. What I do recall is that the emphasis in the Industrial Revolution is firmly on the Industrial side. Agriculture existed as a place for people to leave to [...]

Most international archaeological work in South America has concentrated on the Andes for various reasons. It’s more accessible, the ruins are more visible, there’s a better ethnohistorical record from the conquistadors, there’s variety over short distances because change in height makes vertical economies possible where different foods grow at different heights and they’re just the [...]

I thought this was an interesting video on hidden patterns in nature.