Nature has a Peopling the planet issue out that is worth reading. Lots of the features are free to the public, but Chris Stringer’s comment is not. Though there is some science in the comment, a lot of it is about normative concerns. Not what is, but what should be. Or, more precisely what should be the values we hold dear, rather than the reality of the world as it is. But this bit caught my attention: “Already I’m reading blogs that speculate about whether some groups are less ‘modern’ than others, and I fear that such discussions endanger the considerable progress promised by palaeogenetic research.” Well, I know Chris drops in on this blog now and then, so I hope he’s not talking about little old me!
Though more seriously, there are two issues where I want to dissent from Chris (or at least what I think he meant). I don’t know what he meant by “discussions endanger the considerable progress promised by palaeogenetic research,” but it sounds like he’s talking about what palaeogenetic research may imply for things which are not palaeogenetic research. At this point I think we should really start being more thorough about …