HRAF News Vol. 2024-04
HRAF to Exhibit at SAA Annual Meeting in New Orleans
HRAF staff members Matthew Longcore and Leon Doyon are heading to New Orleans this week for the Society for American Archaeology (SAA) Annual Meeting. If you are attending the meeting, stop by Booth 315 in the Exhibit Hall. The first installment of the HRAF Academic Quarterly of 2024 by Dr. Francine Barone features 16 publications since the start of the year. Earlier this month, HRAF staff members were among the millions who watched a total solar eclipse. An article from Professor John Hawks titled Eclipses for the ancestors features ethnographic information about eclipses which can be found in eHRAF World Cultures. Finally, we are excited about our upcoming 75th anniversary, which will be celebrated on May 7, 2024. Please join the Friends of HRAF campaign to receive a tote bag.
The Human Relations Area Files at Yale University is excited to celebrate our 75th anniversary. The original idea for the finely subject-indexed collection of ethnography came from a pilot project called the Cross-Cultural Survey that began at Yale's Institute of Human Relations. 

HRAF was founded May 7, 1949 as an independent non-profit membership organization. We began with a small group of universities and have expanded to over 500 members around the world. While much has changed, including the transition to digital format and the production of an archaeological collection, our core mission remains the same: to promote understanding of cultural diversity and commonality in the past and present.

In the year ahead, we will be featuring 5-minute video recordings from the broader HRAF community, including those who have used our resources for research and teaching. We have also launched a new Friends of HRAF fundraising campaign.

The 89th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology (SAA), the largest gathering of archaeologists in the Americas, will take place from April 17–21 in New Orleans, Louisiana. HRAF staff members Matthew Longcore and Leon Doyon will attend the conference representing HRAF in the Exhibit Hall at Booth 315.

The SAA Annual Meeting has a wide audience that ranges from anyone who has an interest in archaeology to experts in the field. Attendees come from all over the United States and from over 45 countries. With a wide variety of presentations and events, attendees are able to reconnect with old friends and make new contacts.

HRAF will demonstrate the eHRAF Archaeology database and related teaching materials, including the eHRAF Workbooks for teaching and learning. Attendees are welcome to inquire about special discount offers for conference attendees and free 60-day institution-wide trials.
On April 8, 2024, a total solar eclipse moved across North America, passing over Mexico, the United States, and Canada. HRAF staffers were among the millions who enjoyed this phenomenon. The next eclipse visible in the United States won't be until 2044.

John Hawks, Professor of Anthropology at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, published a blog post titled Eclipses for the ancestors on April 6, 2024. Hawks describes how culture shapes our experience of these astronomical events, and would have done so for Neanderthals and other ancestral hominins.

All of the quotes in text are from ethnographies which are available from the eHRAF World Cultures database. Hawks describes eHRAF World Cultures as "a great resource for ethnographic information about groups around the world." The documents referenced in the article include:

Megan Biesele, on the Kalahari Ju/’hoan (1993) in San (FX10)

Baldwin Spencer, on the Aranda people of Australia in Aranda (OI08)

Anne Chapman, on the Selk'nam people of South America in Ona (SH04)

John Honigmann, on the Kaska of western Canada in Kaska (ND12)

According to Hawks, "The awe and wonder" of eclipses "did not just arise yesterday; they are deep parts of our evolutionary story."
The first HRAF Academic Quarterly of 2024 by Dr. Francine Barone features 16 publications since the start of the year. New research in cultural evolution this quarter covers a fascinating mix of topics including punishment; the effect of alcohol on political complexity; mythical monsters; the control of women’s sexuality; and indigenous ethnobotany. Two studies on hunter-gatherers look at foragers’ relationships to animals and to trees.

From medicine, a systematic review of the cultural significance of exfoliated teeth brings eHRAF insights to pediatric dental care, and a review of nutritional anthropology explores critiques of the “Paleo Diet”, which was originally a product of analyses of HRAF data. In education, there is a new volume on child development and education in indigenous communities as well as a UNICEF study on child rights.

eHRAF is once again front and center in discussions of ethnographic, comparative and cross-cultural databases and methodologies. In addition, a case study of building a collaborative community dictionary in the Philippines highlights how HRAF’s subject thesaurus, the Outline of Cultural Materials (OCM), has important applications in linguistics, lexicography and community engagement.

HRAF staff members Ian Skoggard and Samantha King presented their research at the 84th Annual Meeting of the Society for Applied Anthropology in Santa Fe, Arizona.
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