The Caveman’s Corner

Yet again, I’m contemplating embarking forth on a research project. Who knows how far this one will go, as my last… several… have died after I got overwhelmed by the preliminary reading. I do think this project has some distinct advantages, however: A) I now have access to the UT database at home on my computer, B) I can do this project without getting approval ahead of time (like with a zoo study), C) I won’t need too much math, I hope, and D) The study might be one that is fully within my resources to carry out.

What I was thinking of is a genealogical study to test the ‘Grandmother Hypothesis.’ For those not familiar, the grandmother hypothesis holds that the long human female post-reproductive lifespan evolved because grandmothers would aid their offspring in raising their children and thus increase their own reproductive success. Was this process active in recent societies? Well, to answer that, my plan is to examine genealogical records from Sevier and surrounding counties where I live. Fortunately, Appalachian people have a taste for this sort of thing, so genealogies aren’t excessively hard to come by. There are a lot of families with very long histories here as well that can be tracked back centuries in a single county. As for the specific methodology of analysis… I’ve found one other study of this type down in a Japanese city, and I’m planning to see how much I can apply from it. Any suggestions would be most welcome.

Oh, my poor blog… I have neglected thee so. And I’ve stopped reading them too. I don’t know why exactly. I still want to blog. The desire has not left me. I just seem to be in a rut. I still haven’t started the Meet a Contemporary I should be doing, not because I’ve been particularly to busy but just because it always seems like I should have started earlier. Ahhh. Oh well. At least this is a post. Yes! The spell is broken! Blog ho!

Ah, but I have that powerpoint to do… And its not due at a soon enough date for me to be procrastinating by working much harder on something else. But actually, I have something I could blog on now. So ha! Rise like a Phoenix, dear blog!

http://www.expelledexposed.com/

This is a site created by the National Center for Science Education to debunk and disembowel the various fantasies at the heart of Ben Stein’s new docuganda piece Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed. And it does it quite nicely I must say. I rather recommend.

I got my UT account to work! Thus I now have access to all the wonderful journals and databases. I came across an interesting article searching Central Issues in Anthropology today, by a Robert B. Tincher and thought I would share.

Night Comes to the Chromosomes: Inbreeding and Population Genetics in Southern Appalachia

Good ol’ uncle brother first cousin Pappy

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This is a concept that reading Dennison’s Nash A Little Anthropology, 3rd ed has acquainted me with, and its extremely interesting. I don’t believe I’ve ever specifically considered it before.

Such a stoic.

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