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Day of the locust. Yum!
Day of the locust. Yum!Continuing with the theme of eating insects ...The people of the eastern Congo plant African rice around June so that it will grow through the wettest part of the wet season, and...
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Floods: Don't go in them.
Floods: Don't go in them. As an archaeologist, my expertise in the cognate field of geology includes fluvial processes, so I know something about floods. And I've experienced plenty of floods working...
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The Best Eclipse Ever (of the moon and of the sun)
The Best Eclipse Ever (of the moon and of the sun)I remember my first solar eclipse. I was a kid, and it was the one Carlie Simon sang about, in March 1970. (The eclipse reference is just past three...
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Which works better, Acupuncture or Changa?
Which works better, Acupuncture or Changa?Acupuncture is the ancient East Asian practice of poking people with needles in specific places and in specific ways in order to produce any one of a very wide...
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No place to sit down (or, why do the Efe let some insects live?)
No place to sit down (or, why do the Efe let some insects live?)I knew a couple who had spent a lot of time in the Congo in the 1950s. He was doing primatology, and she was the wife of the...
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“We Live In Little Houses Made of Beans”
“We Live In Little Houses Made of Beans”We were discussing insects. What about eating insects? When it comes up that I've lived in the Central African Rain Forest, certain questions often come up, and...
View Article"Excuse me, there's some food in my bugs!"
"Excuse me, there's some food in my bugs!"We were talking about insects, and eating insects, and this reminded me of something funny. I was traveling in the most remote part of Central Africa, several...
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King Leopold’s Soliloquy
King Leopold’s SoliloquyI first became aware of, and read, King Leopold's Soliloquy, which is not his soliloquy but a parody of what he might say according to Samuel Clemens, while doing fieldwork in...
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What a Difference a Century Can Make
What a Difference a Century Can MakeAt the beginning of the 20th century, a traveler in Central Africa made mention of some strange people that he had come across. He was traveling among regular,...
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When Are Nomads Not Really Nomads? (Efe Pygmy Ethnoarchaeology)
When Are Nomads Not Really Nomads? (Efe Pygmy Ethnoarchaeology)“First, we’re going to collect our data,” Jack, the archaeologist, was telling me as we slogged down the narrow overgrown path. He seemed...
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