At Home: Ancient Village
Anthropological digs tend to focus on finding and verifying details of a particular culture or time period. But sometimes, the digs unearth a surprise?literally.
As The Globe and Mail reports, a team of anthropologists and students from the University of Northern British Columbia accidentally discovered the location of an ancient village ?that may be 10,000 years old.?
The dig, located on Calvert Island, B.C., is believed to be the location of the ?long-lost, ancient village? of Luxvbalis. According to First Nations tradition, the village was used as a winter home by members of the Heiltsuk First Nations tribe until ?it was abandoned after a smallpox epidemic swept the coast in the 1800s.?
The village’s remains are buried under many layers of shells beneath the forest floor, and the dig has so far only recovered a limited amount of evidence. UNBC anthropology professor Dr. Farid Rahemtulla estimates that the depth of the material ?[suggests] a very, very ancient time period,? he told reporters. He added that the deeper, still-buried part of the village site could be older than 6,000 to 10,000 years. Currently the team is waiting for carbon dating estimates to clarify a time period.
Around the World: The Right Way to Play
When the score is close, the pressure is on for soccer players to score a goal?or keep one from happening. But it doesn’t only come down to physical skills. As some fascinating new psychology research suggests, knowing how we act in certain situations can help players better their game.
As NPR reports, the study found that ?during penalty shootouts, goalies will dive to the right side 71 percent of the time when their team is down, but not when they’re tied or ahead.? In other situations, diving to the right or left is equally likely.
The study authors, psychologists at the University of Amsterdam, ?believe the bias likely extends to other sports as well that involve rapid decision-making under pressure.?
Right-handedness seems irrelevant. It’s commonly known that certain mammals, including humans, ?unconsciously move to the right when they approach something they really want.? Psychologists believe that the unconscious favouring of one side over another ?arose . . . [as] an evolutionary advantage.?
Although physical survival may no longer be on the line, the intense pressures of a high-stakes game present a similar quandary.