Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: Zachary Sorensen

  • The Cardiff Giant: Archaeology’s biggest hoax

    Zachary SorensenChicago, Illinois, United States On the morning of October 16, 1869, two laborers, Gideon Emmons and Henry Nicols, began the back-breaking work of digging a new well at the farm of William “Stub” Newell in Cardiff, New York.1 After removing several feet of earth, the two struck something hard with their tools. Within a…

  • Cultural taboos, Marvin Harris, and The Abominable Pig

    Zachary SorensenChicago, Illinois, United States Many ancient cultural traditions persist through religious practice to this day. They are particularly evident in the taboos surrounding food. In The Sacred Cow and the Abominable Pig, anthropologist Marvin Harris explores the food taboos of the ancient world, particularly focusing on the prohibition of pork in Judaism and Islam.…

  • Louis Leakey: Pioneering the study of human evolution in Africa

    Zachary SorensenChicago, Illinois, United States Louis Seymour Bazet Leakey was a paleoanthropologist and archaeologist renowned for his fieldwork in East Africa. His career spanned several decades, and he made important contributions to our understanding of human origins. His research dramatically shaped the way the world views the history of humanity. Born in Kenya to British…