Articles to be published in 2025
Gerald D. Sack. More on Cannibalism and the Development of Early Human Society
ABSTRACT
A substantial body of archaeological research over the past 25 years supports the proposition that Paleolithic and Neolithic cannibalism was a sub-optimal survival strategy. This is because early modern man had to compete with non-human scavengers and predators for meat, and so vegetable foods became essential for survival. We now know that “man the hunter” was successful in relatively few hunts, and so probably lived on the margin until foraging skills developed sufficiently to provide nutritious supplements not available from meat. Seasonal variations in food animals caused food stress, thereby depressing women’s fertility. This probably promoted intergroup co-operation, rather than cannibalism.
Kazeem Omotola Seriki. Ethno-Cultural Associations as Shadow States: The Case of Ijebu Province in Western Nigeria, 1900–1960
ABSTRACT
Extant scholarly works on ethno-cultural associations (ECAs) in Nigeria have done little to provide a robust historical perspective on their roles in community development of British colonies in Africa. Thus, this paper is an attempt to fill the gap in the body of knowledge on ethno-cultural associations in colonial Africa with specific reference to Ijebu province in Western Nigeria. The study is aimed at providing a critical historical discourse on the social, economic and political roles of ethno-cultural associations in colonial Ijebu province of Western Nigeria.
The study utilises primary and secondary sources. While archival materials and oral interviews provide the primary data in this discourse, books, journal articles and newspaper reports are explored as secondary data. The study found out that the efforts made by the ECAs through several strategies in colonial Ijebuland brought about meaningful development at the community level. We also found out that the ECAs represented indigenous organizational structures developed by the Ijebu people and functioned as community-wide forums for problem identification and prioritization, social and financial resource mobilization and development project implementation at the community level in colonial Ijebu province of Western Nigeria. The study concludes among other things that the ECAs were more or less shadow states and that their efforts must be seen against the background of the failure of the colonial state and the Ijebu Native Administration between 1900 and 1960.
Aleksei S. Shchavelev. People Rus’ in the Ninth – Middle Eleventh Centuries: Novel Approaches to the Study of Ethnogenesis and Politogenesis
ABSTRACT
The main aim of this paper to try to make an outline of modern understanding of processes and mechanisms of formation of people named Rus’ and the polity of Rurikid linage. In a basis of the offered approach new interpretations of written sources are put. The later Old Russian narratives, first of all, “Primary Chronicle”, are recognized as sources unreliable and secondary, and the basic factual basis is formed on the basis of documents (treaties, statutes and legal codes, etc) and synchronous for 10th century narrative texts, first of all, Byzantine descriptions of Rus’ in special manuals on diplomacy and ambassadorial protocol. It is no less important now to understand the epistemological and practical limitations of the use of archaeological and linguistic data, eliminating schemes built on false interpretations of it. Following these guidelines, the paper substantiates the following provisions. Firstly, the autocatalytic process of deployment of a network of long-distance trade-routes and the emergence of urban-centres in their hubs became the basic factor in the formation of medium-scale polities on the East European Plain. Secondly, in the new settlements of the Upper and Middle Dnieper Area in the 10th century, new mixed urban communities were formed, among which groups of people who labelled themselves as Rus’ were formed. Here politogenesis and ethnogenesis both were triggered and stimulated by long-distance trade and urbanization. Thirdly, no medium-sized polity of the 9th–10th centuries had the features of an early state, because it was an ecumene without developed writing abilities. Only the complex chiefdom under the leadership of Rurikids, after joining the Byzantine Christian Church, gained access to the technology of written practices. This allowed, during the first half of the 11th century, to create a governing machine of specialized functionaries, proto-bureaucrats, who produced the first state regulatory documents. By the middle of the 11th century, the early state in Rus’ was established. In the same period elite and the population of “Rurikid empire” finally appropriated ethno-political label Rus’, as a result, a new Christian folk with such name has appeared on the map of the Western Eurasia. These processes of ethnogenesis and politogenesis on the East European Plain in the 9th–11th centuries fit into the most standard models of sociocultural and political anthropology.
Titilayo Elizabeth Anifowose, Teminijesu Isreal Oke, Olabode Ifetola Oyedele, Ayomipo Akintunde Fadeyi, Taiye Oladoyin Alagbe, and Oluwatoyin Abiodun Adebayo. Sapon Traditional Market: An Evolution of Cultural Values in the Spatial Planning of Oke-Ona, Abeokuta
ABSTRACT
Traditional markets are not merely places of trade; they play a crucial role in the cultural and economic fabric of African societies, serving as vibrant hubs for commerce, social interactions, and cultural exchange. Furthermore, they embody historical significance, community identity, and planning, especially in urban settings. In Abeokuta, towns such as Oke-Ona feature traditional markets as integral parts of their spatial planning patterns, distinguishing them from modern urban structures. This study focuses on the Sapon market in Oke-Ona, Abeokuta, with the aim of identifying the cultural values that shape its spatial patterns. This study employs an inductive qualitative approach, utilising spatial analysis and other analytical methods, to explore the relationship between the traditional market and the urban layout of Oke-Ona. Using descriptive qualitative methods and in-depth interviews, this study highlights how the spatial values of the traditional Egba-Oke-Ona space inform market morphology. The findings reveal that: (1) The Sapon market is a historical element of Abeokuta’s spatial layout and a crucial component of Oke-Ona town. (2) Oke-Ona is a traditional Yoruba town with a belief system that emphasises the harmony between the universe and human endeavours. It follows a tripod model in which the palace represents governance, the market represents economic activity, and the religious centre represents spiritual life. (3) The integration of the traditional market into the urban environment reflects the Sapon concept, illustrating its significance within both Oke-Ona and the larger Abeokuta urban areas. Despite the morphological changes since the market’s establishment, particularly regarding the palace square and city size, traditional values remain the primary drivers of these transitions.
Andrea Komlosy. What Could Happen in the Next One Hundred Years?
ABSTRACT
However, although these two trends are certainly among the most important ones, both today and in the future, there is a surprisingly small number of works that present a consistent forecast of technological development in a systematic and coherent way. The situation is even worse for global aging research. There is a serious lack of systematic research and analysis on this topic.
Olga Semenova, Aurelio José Figueredo, Rachel Zambrano, Suemi Tokumaru, Renata Pereira Defelipe, Tania Kiehl Lucci, Catherine Salmon, Emily Vogel, Marina Bytovskaya
A Cross-Cultural Analysis of Brazilian, Russian, and American Families
Inclusive fitness theory postulates that preferentially provisioning offspring that most closely resemble the parents can indirectly increase their gene-copying success, with phenotypic resemblance between (allo)parent and offspring acting as an indicator of genetic similarity. According to this prediction, the amount of alloparental effort should correlate with parent-offspring resemblance cues, and this effect should be more prominent for fathers and paternal kin, as paternity certainty is concerned predominantly with men. We tested these predictions and conducted an online survey in 2019 in Brazil (N = 605), Russia (N = 302), and the USA (N = 308).
Through an exploration of the relationship between parent-child resemblance and kin altruism, we have uncovered a widespread positive correlation between parent-child resemblance and the willingness of parents and grandparents to provide care. For example, the more a child resembles their father, the more parents and grandparents are to offer support. Similarly, the resemblance between a mother and child is positively associated with (allo)parental effort. At the same time, greater similarity between father and child can actually discourage matrilineal grandparents from providing childcare. In this respect, our data challenges the conventional viewpoint that paternity uncertainty and father-child similarity cues are the driving force behind paternal kin investments, but not maternal ones. Our result suggests that a more general kin recognition mechanism is at play, one that is shared by both matrilineal and patrilineal relatives in modern societies. One possible explanation is that in the context of the extended family, mothers and maternal relatives, as primary caregivers, may be particularly sensitive to key phenotypic traits of dependent children.
In the resulting model a sufficient cross-cultural difference emerges when examining the degree of assistance provided by different (allo)parents across the studied samples. For instance, American respondents highlighted a significant level of paternal involvement in childcare, while Russian respondents noted a high level of maternal kin assistance. In contrast, the Brazilian sample exhibited relatively low kin involvement. The divergent paths of these countries raise important questions about the future of family structures and the roles that kinship plays in shaping them. The highly urbanized Brazilian sample may provide valuable insights into possible future directions in the structure of family and the role of alloparental care within it. We propose that Brazil's high social integration and family member's incorporation into expanded social networks may contribute to the development of a communal model of breeding, marked by ultra-social or eusocial childcare practices. Will the Russian and American models of family follow the same ultra-social path as the Brazilian one? Or will Russian and US families maintain a distinct approach to childcare in a world influenced by globalization. We suppose that further field work on alloparental care in the Latin American region is essential to shed light on this important topic, and to uncover the answers to these intriguing questions.
Shweta Sinha Deshpande, Atiya Fathima and Afshan Majid, Barry H. Rodrigue
An Accidental Deity: A New Religious Icon for the Modern Age
This article describes a religious belief, based on folklore but arising within Hindu culture, that has evolved over the last three decades in the Indian state of Rajasthan. It describes how this belief is spreading in North-West India and has moved closer to traditional Hindu customs. The study involves qualitative research, participant observation, and dialogue with devotees and observers who visit the Om Banna shrine. It assesses this adaptive process in a holistic way – from the intersection of anthropology, comparative religion, and folklore. With insights into how people develop new beliefs as a way to accommodate to a changing world, the paper provides a window into modernity and the spiritual-emotional needs of humanity.
Mohammad Abedi Ardakani and Mohsen Shafiee Seifabadi
The Feasibility of Matching the Taliban’s Sharia-based Order with Davis’s Theory of the Sacred Society
The Taliban, in both of its governments (1996–2001 and Post-Aug 2021), has attempted to set up an order on the basis of religious laws and principles. The main question in this regard is whether this order is based on any theoretical framework or not. Apparently, among the various existing theories, this Sharia-based order of the Taliban is more akin to Davis’s theory of the “sacred society”. Hence, by drawing on a theoretical framework the principal elements of which are proposed by Davis, this article seeks to assess the Sharia-based order of the Taliban and its social aftermaths and compare them with Davis’s sacred society. The second question to answer is whether the Taliban’s intended order accords with Davis’s sacred society. The results show that, in their second term of governance, the Taliban strive to conduct actions deemed "abnormal" by the international community with greater caution and gentleness, but they continue to pursue the same goals and methods as during their first regime. This involves opposing modern norms and values accepted by the international community. Research findings suggest that, while the characteristics described by Davis for his traditional and reactive sacred society largely match those of the society under the Taliban rule in both periods of their governance, there are notable differences in details.
Alexandr V. Pakin
The ´Little Angola´ of the Latin America: The Secondary Politogenesis in the Communities of the Fugitive Slaves
The present article raises an interesting topic, namely the secondary politogenesis and the re-creation of the traditional African forms of the social and political organization in the communities of the fugitive slaves (so-called, cimarrones) in Latin America in the first half of the 17th century.
The article is devoted to the problem of revivalism (restoration) of the traditional social and political structures in the communities of the fugitive slaves (cimarrones) in colonial Latin America. The Author studies a number of such communities of the first half of the 17th century, showing the connection of the traditional structures with the central African traditions of the Bantu people. Also he examine the close connection of this phenomena with the development of the slave trade in the period of the union of the Portugal with the Habsburg Spain (1580–1640), in particular, with the Portuguese slave wars in Angola. The connection between these events and the examples of the secondary politogenesis as well as with the Bantu type of the military leadership allow consider the examples of the such communities as unique phenomena, characteristic for this historical period only, ended with the destruction by the Portuguese colonists of the early state of Palmares in colonial Brazil (1696).
Vol. 24, number 2
Valentina N. Burkova, Marina L. Butovskaya, Alexey M. Ermakov, Nikolay Yu. Simakov and Julija N. Fedenok
Dynamic of Aggression and Anxiety During Disasters (on the Example of the Three Waves of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Russia)
Over two years have passed since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, and by now enough data have been accumulated on its psychological consequences and mental health disorders in different countries. In this study, we present the self-reported data from 7,450 participants collected during the three waves of the COVID-19 pandemic from May 2020 to July 2021 in Russia. These data have been compared with the pre-pandemic data on 480 participants. The study aimed to trace the dynamics of aggressive and anxious behavior during the three waves of the COVID-19 pandemic in comparison with the data on pre-pandemic period. Three questionnaires measuring behavior were used in this study, namely the Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire (BPAQ), the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7), and the State Anxiety Inventory (SAI). Sex differences in aggression and anxiety levels were demonstrated. The reduced anxiety levels during the COVID-19 waves may indicate that people had generally adapted to the stressful situation. All four scales show the highest level of aggression before the pandemic compared to any of the three waves. It is important to emphasize the discovered association of all types of aggression with anxiety given that individuals with high anxiety levels also scored higher on aggression scales, especially on the anger scale.
Pierre-Emmanuel Thomann and Konstantin Pantserev
Digital Transformation of Sub-Saharan African Countries in Historical Perspective: From First Computers to the Ai-Driven Economy
The development of breakthrough technologies occupies a special place in the national policies of both well-developed and developing countries, since they can represent an effective tool capable of ensuring sustainable socio-economic development and solving different problems. In this regard, it seems understandable why African countries have declared the development of information technology one of the highest priorities. Thus, there has been undertaken an attempt in the article to analyze the evolution of the digital transformation of the economies of Sub-Saharan African countries. Finally, this author comes to a conclusion that over the past 30 years, African countries have really managed to achieve remarkable results in this field, if we keep in mind the absolute zero, which was observed in the late 1990s and early 2000s. But the limited financial and technological resources make African countries extremely dependent on foreign aid for the need of development that threatens their technological sovereignty.
Elizabeth Tuti, Dr. Meena Kumari, Dr. Kumari Vibhuti Nayak, Dr. Shamsher Alam
Stories of Ancient Stones: A Living Tradition of Indigenous People (Mundas) in Jharkhand, India
The study explores the continued tradition of constructing megalithic monuments among the Munda community, an indigenous group in Jharkhand, India. These monumental stones serve a dual purpose: as burial sites and symbols of collective heritage and resilience. The paper examines the historical, cultural, and ritual significance of these megaliths, demonstrating their central role in the Munda's oral traditions and spiritual beliefs. These structures are not only places of ancestral memory but also key markers of the Munda's unique cultural identity. Additionally, the study highlights the growing threats to this tradition, particularly from modernization and urbanization, which risk erasing these ancient practices. By documenting these megaliths' ongoing relevance, the paper emphasizes the urgent need to preserve them, as they represent a critical link to the past and a living tradition that continues to define the Munda community today. Through this exploration, the research makes a compelling case for the protection and conservation of this invaluable cultural heritage.
Victor Adesiyan, Oluranti Ayomola, Sunday Audu and Bukola Alao
Traditional Rites, Structural Violence and Gender Injustice in Modern Yorubaland, Nigeria
Traditional rites are noble acts in African culture far before the advent of colonial era till date. Culture differs from societies, ethnics and clans, while its practice cut across gender, race and nations. However, it has been observed that the female gender are worst affected by some of these rites due to observation of certain norms, believes and superstitions. The objective of this research is to critically examine structural violence and gender injustices from traditional rites perspective amongst Yoruba people of South Western Nigeria. Thus, this study adopted secondary method of data collection, and so, examined historical believes and rites of the Yoruba race which include Agemo, Burial rite, Oro, Widowhood, and Inheritance. Hence, structural violence was adopted as its theoretical framework. Findings shows that gender injustices are alarming and prevalence during many African traditional practices, and that physical and psychological harm which brings about unjust social, political and economic systems are rooted in some of these cultural and structural believes in African societies. It was however concluded that within different cultures in Nigeria, there are practices that are discriminatory against women gender and such practices are archaic to the contemporary world. This study therefore recommends that Nigerian government should examine the structural formations, and re-orientate the practitioners against practices that induce gender discriminations. Also, all gender discriminatory laws that are still being practiced should be re-examined by the court of competent jurisdiction and the appropriate bodies should make recommendations to the appropriate legislative bodies for necessary amendment of such laws.
1) Спецсекция от Д. М. Бондаренко 40 стр