What discovery in Anthropology can you imagine that would thrill the world the most?

Question

Any Guesses?

Answer 1

if they could figure out how Dr. Phil got on TV, that would be something

Answer 2

Eternal - homo Sapian Sapians didn't evolve from Apes - we evolved from a common ancestor.

Interesting choice on the Yahoshua pick.

Bigfoot and The Abomidable - again, nice. But neither of these are my choices, of course, if they were I'd be a cheapster.

Oh, and They're finding more and more early human communities that acted as what we could call societies before and independant of any contact with any cultures or groups from Saharan Africa or SouthWest Asia ... it appears that those groups only managed to accelerate man's progress by contacting eachother ... and were not the sole reason for 'civilization'.

Anyway I think it would be most interesting to find out about the uncensored lives of people living in various societies in ancient times (from what we know, their lives may not have been as they were purported to be by authorities - cencorship appears to be nothing new). Or finding another unexpected civilization like Atlantis (or finding out which civilization we know about they thought of as Atlantis), or finding one in an unexpected place such as an Inuit civilization. I almost said: "or maybe Antartica" forgetting that that is extremely unlikely. People ehave always ventured past their own shores, but sheesh, that place would have been impossible to even live in at such a time.

Answer 3

that there are jobs for people with an anthro degree

Answer 4

Besides finding the actual body of "Yeshua of Nazareth" (Jesus), along with a precise "Missing Link", perfectly preserved, which is EXACTLY, Half-human, Half-ape, I would say, the construction of a workable "Time Machine", other than DNA studies, which are, in fact, advancing at the "Speed of Light"...

Answer 5

A bona fide discovery- something totally unknown and unexpected- could be just about anything your imagination could dream up- a new ruined city, an intact Egyptian tomb such as Tutankamen, a lost tribe (such as the Tasaday).

Something like the Lost Ark- a "holy Grail," if you will (discovering something that people have known about and have long been searching for) is more probable.  Personally, I'd be thrilled, if not downright incredulous, if a sasquatch or some indisputable evidence for them turned up.  But it won't happen.

I'm keeping my eye on the Bili Ape (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bili_Ape) to see when we finally get to meet this elusive primate.  This will be the biggest story to come out of primatology since Jane Goodall's reports of tool use.

In paleoanthropology, no doubt there will be some dramatic find of a new species or an oldest member of a known species or a mosly complete skeleton.  Just think of the amazing discoveries that have come out in the last thirtty years or so: Several new species of pliocene hominins, a complete afarensis child, Lucy herself, KNM WT 1700 (Australopithecus ethiopicus), Nariokatome boy, Sahelanthropus, the Laitoli footprints, and let's not forget H. floresiensis.  I'd say the latter is the most amazing, jaw dropping find even if it isn't the most important.  Something new is bound to come up.

The genetic testing of Neandertals will sooner or later bring to light some intriguing surprises.  Spencer Wells' genographic project, when complete, will give us a lot to chew on.  And then there's the biggest question in American Archaeology- solving the puzzle of the peopling of the Americas.

In cultural anthropology, discovering an ethnologist who can become the public face of cultural anthropology, like Margaret Mead used to be back in the seventies.  That would be quite a find.  Someone who is interesting, accessible, and popular as well as pithy and professional.  Someone who can unite the discipline instead of divide it further.

But I'd put my wager on sasquatch first.

Answer 6

Being able to calculate what society will do over time like in Isaac Asimov's 'Foundation' series.

Answer 7

The discovery of an actual living nonhuman hominid population would thrill the world. If only Bigfoot or the Abominable Snowman were proven to be a small isolated population of homo erectus or Neanderthals!  Unfortunately, it is highly improbable.

If not a hominid, certainly finding the remains of a nonhuman advanced nonEarth (alien species such as REAL Roswell-type  skeletons or spaceships) would make the headlines.

Answer 8

Finding absolute proof we hybridised with Neanderthals. That would make the front page of the Times, let alone JSTOR and national Geographic.

Answer 9

That the Shroud is the real thing.  Science hasn't been able to reproduce it.  Sometimes it is as interesting when science fails as when it has success. lol