Tamil is one of the oldest languages of India, rivalled only by Sanskrit. Even though it is quite old, there are many Tamil people who will misguidedly tell you that Tamil is the oldest language in the world, or that Tamil is the mother of all languages, or even that all humans came from anContinue reading “Tamil: Mother of all languages?”
Category Archives: Anthropology
Sanskrit Influence in South and Southeast Asia + Rise of the Chola Dynasty
Most of India was heavily Sanskritized by the 5th century BCE; even South India, where Dravidian language and culture held sway; Sanskrit words and rituals found themselves seeping into the local culture. As maritime trade flourished in Tamilakam, the lands of the Tamil people (modern day Tamil Nadu and Kerala), this sort of Sanskritization becameContinue reading “Sanskrit Influence in South and Southeast Asia + Rise of the Chola Dynasty”
Origins of Sanskrit + The Aryan Invasion Theory: Fact or Fiction?
Sanskrit is one of the oldest languages of the world, comparable to Ancient Egyptian and Chinese. Sanskrit also gave rise to most of the languages in Northern India, and it heavily influenced the languages and scripts of most of South and Southeast Asia. Sanskrit is the sacred language of Hinduism, India’s predominant religion, and wasContinue reading “Origins of Sanskrit + The Aryan Invasion Theory: Fact or Fiction?”
Did the Ancient Greeks see Blue?
Many linguists and Youtubers will tell you something that may seem a bit out of the world. They will tell you that Ancient Greeks, and other ancient civilizations, could not see the color blue. or that they saw it as a shade of green or black. Parts of this is true, but it’s complicated. PeopleContinue reading “Did the Ancient Greeks see Blue?”
Alcohol: Why humans and chimps love the liquid courage
Alcohol is a definite feature of the human race. We simply drink too much of it, we have huge industries producing bottles by the minute, we have so many different varieties of alcohol that it is just ingrained into our culture. Something most people don’t know about alcohol, though, is that our closest cousins, theContinue reading “Alcohol: Why humans and chimps love the liquid courage”
History of Bread
Bread, like cheese, is a fundamental food and is more common than cheese, with form of bread found all over the Old World, including Europe, Ethiopia, India, the Levant, and Central Asia. Bread is very versatile and can go with just about anything, so let’s look at how bread became a thing. 12,000 years agoContinue reading “History of Bread”
A concise history of cheese – part I
Cheddar, Mozzarella, Gruyere, Blue, Feta, Gorgonzola, cheese is a fundemental ingredient in many cuisines. Cheese is very versatile (almost a bit too versatile, in the case of Easy Cheese or Cheez Whiz) and one of the oldest fermented foods ever. So today, we’re going to take a look at this overlooked food item and seeContinue reading “A concise history of cheese – part I”
Ethnic Groups: Indo-Iranians
So this series is going to cover major ethno-linguistic (connected by shared languages and cultural similarities) groups, and I thought, why not start with a group that has done a big part in written history and whose languages and culture are among the most widely-spoken and followed even today? To start with a basic history,Continue reading “Ethnic Groups: Indo-Iranians”
A timeline of human cuisine
Australopithecus afarensis ‘Lucy’
Lucy is one of the most complete and famous early human skeletons that we have ever found, from a species called Australopithecus afarensis, or the Southern Ape of Afar, which is a region in Ethiopia. Lucy was discovered by anthropologist Donald Johanson in 1974, as part of an otherwise unsuccessful mission. Lucy was a hugeContinue reading “Australopithecus afarensis ‘Lucy’”
Anay Ganesh 