Author Archives: Benjamin Schaefer

Ben is a queer nonbinary bioarchaeological anthropologist that conducts research in the ancient Andes. Specifically, they reconstruct patterns the socially embodied lived experience in the months leading up to ritual execution using mummified tissues.

Detangling Molecular Hauntings: Hair as a Site of Preserving Lived Experience

Hair is a dynamic biological structure and retains great social significance for humans. Hair can grow on most external areas of the body except for the palmar and plantar surfaces of the hands and the soles of the feet. The number of areas where hair is most noticeable is also the most commonly coiffed, trimmed, shaved, or plucked. These areas include the face, ears, head, eyebrows, legs, underarm, stomach, and pubic regions. As humans develop in utero into fully formed adults, hair growth signals hormone production such as pubertal development where secondary sex characteristics become more visible. Specifically for hair, it can be an indication that intertwines social identity, status, religion, economics, and politics. (read more...)