After cataloging well over 120 active anthropology blogs in 2011, a reader survey in December 2011 asked for favorite anthropology blogs. Anthropology blog readers mentioned 99 different blogs as a favorite, demonstrating a wide and varied field. The top dozen:
John Hawks Weblog: paleoanthropology, genetics and evolution
Somatosphere: Science, Medicine and Anthropology
Context and Variation: Human behavior, evolutionary medicine… and ladybusiness.
Bones Don’t Lie: News and comment on mortuary and bio-archaeology
Anthropology in Practice: Understanding the human experience
Zero Anthropology
There were 75 valid votes out of approximately 150 total. I specified readers should name at least three blogs, and there were a number of people voting for only one, which led me to disqualify them as ballot-stuffing: it was important to include people who had a broader knowledge of anthropology blogs rather than simply people voting for one favorite.
I list a top dozen based on two counts–the first is by points, with 10 points for a first-place mention, 9 points for second, and so forth. However, I also considered by total mentions, as this seemed to indicate a broader readership, and so added two blogs to the list.
Savage Minds, Neuroanthropology, and John Hawks Weblog were clear #1, #2, and #3, by points and mentions. The middle tier of Somatosphere, Context and Variation and Powered by Osteons had both lots of points and broadly distributed mentions. Hominid Hunting and Bones Don’t Lie had more votes at the top but thinned out in total mentions. Anthropology in Practice, antropologi.info, Zero Anthropology, and Living Anthropologically had fewer top votes but broader mentions for people selecting more blogs.
Congratulations to the favorites and thank you for participating!
To cite: Antrosio, Jason. 2011. “Best Anthropology Blogs 2011: Reader Survey.” Living Anthropologically website, https://www.livinganthropologically.com/best-anthropology-blogs-2011/. Originally posted 22 December 2011 on the Anthropology Report website, http://anthropologyreport.com/survey-10-best-anthropology-blogs/. Revised 3 December 2017.