Dr. John Ziker is a Professor with the Department of Anthropology. Since 1992 Dr. Ziker has conducted field research in Siberia, mainly on the topics of indigenous land tenure and economy. Other on-going research initiatives examine food-sharing networks and demographics in that region. In addition to extensive research activities, Dr. Ziker has published in a variety of journals including the Oxford Journal of Archaeology, Anthropology News, and Ecology of Food and Nutrition. Most recently, Dr. Ziker served as the Fulbright Visiting Chair in North American Studies at the University of Calgary.
Articles
Changing Gender Roles and Economies in Taimyr, Anthropology of East Europe Review (2010)
This article is an inquiry into the extent to which, and how, roles of men...
Markets, Religion, Community Size, and the Evolution of Fairness and Punishment (with Joseph Henrich, Jean Ensminger, Richard McElreath, Abigail Barr, Clark Barrett, Alexander Bolyanatz, Juan Camilo Cardenas, Michael Gurven, Edwins Gwako, Natalie Henrich, Carolyn Lesorogol, Frank Marlowe, and David Tracer), Science (2010)
Large-scale societies in which strangers regularly engage in mutually beneficial transactions are puzzling. The evolutionary...
Introduction to the Special Issue on Siberian Demography (with David G. Anderson), Sibirica (2010)
This special issue of Sibirica features a selection of recent research on the demography of...
Chronological Insights, Cultural Change, and Resource Exploitation on the West Coast of Sweden During the Late Palaeolithic/Early Mesolithic Transition (with Lou Schmitt, Stephan Larsson, Jan Burdukiewicz, Krister Svedhage, Jeannette Zamon, and Holger Steffen), Oxford Journal of Archaeology (2009)
In this paper, we attempt to shed light on a probable cause of cultural change...
Subsistence and Food Sharing in Northern Siberia: Social and Nutritional Ecology of the Dolgan and the Nganasan, Ecology of Food and Nutrition (2007)
Traditional foraging activities and extensive food sharing are critical to the contemporary nutritional well-being of...
Books
Histories from the North: Environments, Movements, and Narratives (with Florian Stammler), Faculty Authored Books (2012)
Polar Census of 1926/27 in Russia's European North (Arkhangelʹsk guberniia and Komi Autonomous oblastʹ), Faculty Authored Books (2010)
Contributions to Books
Epilogue: From Indigenous Demographics to an Indigenous Demography (with Per Axelsson, Peter Sköld, and David Anderson), Indigenous Populations and Demography: The Complex Relation between Identity and Statistics (2011)
There has always been a close association between enumeration, the classification of peoples and state...
Microdemographics and Indigenous Identity in the Central Taimyr Lowlands, Indigenous Peoples and Demography: The Complex Relation Between Identity and Statistics (2011)
Subsistence and Residence in the Putoran Uplands and Taimyr Lowlands, The 1926/27 Soviet Polar Census Expedition (2011)
The Spatial Demography of the 'Outer Taiga' of the Zhuia River Valley, Eastern Siberia (with David G. Anderson and Evgenii M. Ineshin), The 1926/27 Soviet Polar Census Expeditions (2011)
A census is often associated with the accounting of people; however people always live in...
Пожар-Tent' Nenetses `на западной стороне реки Enisei: Экономия пропитания, образ жизни, и социальная организация (with Tayana Arakchaa), Arkangel'sk Guberniia and Komi Autonomous Oblast (2010)
News Items and Commentaries
Moral Lessons, Down Aisle 9, The New York Times (2010)
Editorial about article 'Markets, Religion, Community Size, and the Evolution of Fairness and Punishment' published...
John Ziker’s Research Featured in Prestigious Journal Science, Boise State University Update (2010)
Presentations
Mobility and the Revival of Reindeer Herding among Evenki Hunters in Eastern Siberia, Russia (with Artur Kharinsky), 110th Annual Meeting, American Anthropological Association (2011)
Violent Death in Northern Siberia: Application of Evolutionary Hypotheses, Evolution of Human Aggression: Lessons for Today's Conflicts, The Barbara L. and Norman C. Tanner Center for Nonviolent Human Rights Advocacy (2009)
Ust-Avam is an indigenous community of 500 individuals north of the Arctic Circle on the...
“Kinship and Gender in Taimyr, Russia.” Workshop Gender Shift in Northern Communities of Russia, Planck Institute for Social Anthropology and the Wenner-Gren Foundation (2008)
This presentation explores the extent to which relations between men and women in Northern communities...
"Food Distribution Among Hunter-Gatherers in Northern Siberia: Tests of Evolutionary Hypotheses", Invited Session: New Research in the Evolutionary Ecology of Food Transfer, Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association (2007)
Empirical data on food procurement and distribution combined with socio-demographic information on givers and recipients...
Student Mentored Research
Household and Property Relations in Tuva (2009)
This thesis describes the transformation of households and property relations in one of the remote...