Professional Documents
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Seeing the Light London Down Under The Changing Face
From the unsophisticated to the Beneath one of Europes oldest of Saudi Women
ultrasharp, eyes have evolved to capitals lies a rich archaeological With degrees, jobs, and digital me-
see to species needs. layer cake of historic artifacts. dia, theyre living in a wider world.
By Ed Yong By Roff Smith By Cynthia Gorney
Photographs by David Liittschwager Photographs by Simon Norfolk Photographs by Lynsey Addario
134 Proof | Midnight Slalom On the Cover What history lies under Londoners feet? Excavation for
Lights, cameras, snow, and night skiing a new subway line has turned up artifacts from many erasmore than
enough to fire an artists imagination. Art by Imaginary Forces
combine in a photographers dream shoot.
By Jeremy Berlin Photographs by Oskar Enander Corrections and Clarications Go to ngm.com/more.
O F F I C I A L J O U R N A L O F T H E N AT I O N A L G E O G R A P H I C S O C I ET Y
FROM THE EDITOR
Saudi Women
Smashing Stereotypes
What is life like for women in the most profoundly gender-segregated nation
on Earth at a time of fraught change? This was the question that drew two
extraordinary journalistsphotographer Lynsey Addario and writer Cynthia
Gorneyto an in-depth reporting assignment in Saudi Arabia.
They returned with answers that show the tyranny of assumptions.
Instead of victims beneath black veils, Addario and Gorney met warm,
articulate women willing to invite them into their homes and talk about
their experiences; women who joke, complain,
express angerand smash to smithereens the stereo-
type of the silenced Saudi woman.
I found women willing to argue energetically with
me, and with each other, about almost everything,
says Gorney, including womens new expectations
in the workplace, whether gender-separating rules
ought to change in the modernizing nation, and
whether a womans dignity does or does not demand
keeping her face covered in public.
These revelations come to life in Addarios photos,
which depict professional, fashionable, tech-savvy
womenimages missing from typical coverage of
women in the Desert Kingdom.
A constricted life persists. As Gorney says, the
litany of only nation in the world rules in Saudi Arabia
is familiar by now: The only nation in the world that
prohibits women from driving cars. The only nation
Founded in 2006, that requires every adult female citizen to live under the supervision of a
Jeddah United legally recognized male guardian
The last nation, other than Vatican City, to
was the first Saudi
sports league to grant women the vote.
train and manage To Americans, pretty much everything about this picture seems wrong.
athletes of both But as the superb reporting in this issue makes clear, wed be mistaken to
genders. Above,
members of its
assume that Saudi women want precisely our lives or our version of freedom
womens basketball and empowerment.
team practice. National Geographic is known for taking readers to places they have
never seen, places they may never go. The Changing Face of Saudi Women
is that kind of piecea journey through a complex, hidden realm that yields
a deeper understanding and appreciation of the world beyond the headlines.
For more of Lynsey Addarios photos illuminating the lives of Saudi women, go to nationalgeographic.com.
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VISIONS
Poland
Seen from the
Grunwaldzki Bridge
in Krakw, a winter
scene offers a yin-yang
study in contrasts.
On the snowy banks
of the Vistula River,
a silhouetted figure
feeds white swans and
dark-plumed ducks and
coots in the frigid water.
PHOTO: MARCIN RYCZEK
ELIQUIS (apixaban) is a prescription medicine used to reduce the risk of stroke and blood clots in people
who have atrial brillation, a type of irregular heartbeat, not caused by a heart valve problem.
IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION: While taking ELIQUIS, you may bruise more easily
and it may take longer than usual for any bleeding
Do not stop taking ELIQUIS for atrial brillation to stop.
without talking to the doctor who prescribed it for
you. Stopping ELIQUIS increases your risk of having Get medical help right away if you have any of
a stroke. ELIQUIS may need to be stopped, prior these signs or symptoms of bleeding:
to surgery or a medical or dental procedure. Your - unexpected bleeding, or bleeding that lasts a
doctor will tell you when you should stop taking long time, such as unusual bleeding from the
ELIQUIS and when you may start taking it again. If gums; nosebleeds that happen often, or
you have to stop taking ELIQUIS, your doctor may menstrual or vaginal bleeding that is heavier
prescribe another medicine to help prevent a blood than normal
clot from forming. - bleeding that is severe or you cannot control
- red, pink, or brown urine; red or black stools
ELIQUIS can cause bleeding, which can be serious,
(looks like tar)
and rarely may lead to death.
- coughing up or vomiting blood or vomit that looks
You may have a higher risk of bleeding if you take like coffee grounds
ELIQUIS and take other medicines that increase your - unexpected pain, swelling, or joint pain; headaches,
risk of bleeding, such as aspirin, NSAIDs, warfarin feeling dizzy or weak
(COUMADIN), heparin, SSRIs or SNRIs, and other
ELIQUIS is not for patients with articial heart valves.
blood thinners. Tell your doctor about all medicines,
vitamins and supplements you take.
Now Im going for something better than warfarin. ELIQUIS.
Spinal or epidural blood clots (hematoma). People A reaction to ELIQUIS can cause hives, rash,
who take ELIQUIS, and have medicine injected itching, and possibly trouble breathing. Get
into their spinal and epidural area, or have a medical help right away if you have sudden chest
spinal puncture have a risk of forming a blood pain or chest tightness, have sudden swelling
clot that can cause long-term or permanent loss of of your face or tongue, have trouble breathing,
the ability to move (paralysis). This risk is higher wheezing, or feeling dizzy or faint.
if, an epidural catheter is placed in your back to
You are encouraged to report negative side effects
give you certain medicine, you take NSAIDs or
of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit www.fda.gov/
blood thinners, you have a history of difcult or
medwatch, or call 1-800-FDA-1088.
repeated epidural or spinal punctures. Tell your
doctor right away if you have tingling, numbness,
Please see additional Important Product Information
or muscle weakness, especially in your legs and
on the adjacent page.
feet.
Before you take ELIQUIS, tell your doctor if you Individual results may vary.
have: kidney or liver problems, any other medical
condition, or ever had bleeding problems. Tell Learn about savings and offers.
your doctor if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, Visit ELIQUIS.COM or call 1-855-ELIQUIS
or plan to become pregnant or breastfeed. ELIQUIS and the ELIQUIS logo are trademarks of Bristol-Myers Squibb Company.
2015 Bristol-Myers Squibb Company
Do not take ELIQUIS if you currently have certain 432US15BR01010-02-01 10/15
types of abnormal bleeding or have had a serious
allergic reaction to ELIQUIS.
IMPORTANT FACTS about ELIQUIS (apixaban) tablets
The information below does not take the place of talking with your healthcare professional.
Only your healthcare professional knows the specics of your condition and how ELIQUIS
may t into your overall therapy. Talk to your healthcare professional if you have any questions
about ELIQUIS (pronounced ELL eh kwiss).
What is the most important information I should bleeding that is severe or you cannot control
know about ELIQUIS (apixaban)? red, pink, or brown urine
For people taking ELIQUIS for atrial brillation: red or black stools (looks like tar)
Do not stop taking ELIQUIS without talking to cough up blood or blood clots
the doctor who prescribed it for you. Stopping
ELIQUIS increases your risk of having a stroke. vomit blood or your vomit looks like coffee
ELIQUIS may need to be stopped, prior to surgery or grounds
a medical or dental procedure. Your doctor will tell unexpected pain, swelling, or joint pain
you when you should stop taking ELIQUIS and when headaches, feeling dizzy or weak
you may start taking it again. If you have to stop
taking ELIQUIS, your doctor may prescribe another ELIQUIS (apixaban) is not for patients with
medicine to help prevent a blood clot from forming. articial heart valves.
ELIQUIS can cause bleeding which can be serious, Spinal or epidural blood clots (hematoma).
and rarely may lead to death. This is because People who take a blood thinner medicine
ELIQUIS is a blood thinner medicine that reduces (anticoagulant) like ELIQUIS, and have medicine
blood clotting. injected into their spinal and epidural area, or have
a spinal puncture have a risk of forming a blood clot
You may have a higher risk of bleeding if that can cause long-term or permanent loss of the
you take ELIQUIS and take other medicines ability to move (paralysis). Your risk of developing a
that increase your risk of bleeding, such as spinal or epidural blood clot is higher if:
aspirin, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs
(called NSAIDs), warfarin (COUMADIN), heparin, a thin tube called an epidural catheter is placed in
selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) your back to give you certain medicine
or serotonin norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors you take NSAIDs or a medicine to prevent blood
(SNRIs), and other medicines to help prevent or treat from clotting
blood clots. you have a history of difcult or repeated epidural
Tell your doctor if you take any of these medicines. or spinal punctures
Ask your doctor or pharmacist if you are not sure if you have a history of problems with your spine or
your medicine is one listed above. have had surgery on your spine
While taking ELIQUIS: If you take ELIQUIS and receive spinal anesthesia or
you may bruise more easily have a spinal puncture, your doctor should watch
it may take longer than usual for any bleeding you closely for symptoms of spinal or epidural
to stop blood clots or bleeding. Tell your doctor right away
if you have tingling, numbness, or muscle weakness,
Call your doctor or get medical help right away especially in your legs and feet.
if you have any of these signs or symptoms of
bleeding when taking ELIQUIS: What is ELIQUIS?
unexpected bleeding, or bleeding that lasts a long ELIQUIS is a prescription medicine used to:
time, such as: reduce the risk of stroke and blood clots in people
unusual bleeding from the gums who have atrial brillation.
nosebleeds that happen often reduce the risk of forming a blood clot in the legs
menstrual bleeding or vaginal bleeding that is and lungs of people who have just had hip or knee
heavier than normal replacement surgery.
(Continued on adjacent page)
This independent, non-prot organization provides assistance to qualifying patients with nancial hardship who
generally have no prescription insurance. Contact 1-800-736-0003 or visit www.bmspaf.org for more information.
IMPORTANT FACTS about ELIQUIS (apixaban) tablets (Continued)
treat blood clots in the veins of your legs (deep Do not run out of ELIQUIS (apixaban). Rell your
vein thrombosis) or lungs (pulmonary embolism), prescription before you run out. When leaving the
and reduce the risk of them occurring again. hospital following hip or knee replacement, be sure
that you will have ELIQUIS available to avoid missing
It is not known if ELIQUIS is safe and effective in
any doses. If you are taking ELIQUIS for atrial
children.
brillation, stopping ELIQUIS may increase your
Who should not take ELIQUIS (apixaban)? risk of having a stroke.
Do not take ELIQUIS if you: What are the possible side effects of ELIQUIS?
currently have certain types of abnormal bleeding See What is the most important information
have had a serious allergic reaction to ELIQUIS. I should know about ELIQUIS?
Ask your doctor if you are not sure ELIQUIS can cause a skin rash or severe allergic
What should I tell my doctor before taking reaction. Call your doctor or get medical help right
ELIQUIS? away if you have any of the following symptoms:
chest pain or tightness
Before you take ELIQUIS, tell your doctor if you:
swelling of your face or tongue
have kidney or liver problems
trouble breathing or wheezing
have any other medical condition
feeling dizzy or faint
have ever had bleeding problems
Tell your doctor if you have any side effect that
are pregnant or plan to become pregnant. It is not
bothers you or that does not go away.
known if ELIQUIS will harm your unborn baby
are breastfeeding or plan to breastfeed. It is These are not all of the possible side effects of
not known if ELIQUIS passes into your breast milk. ELIQUIS. For more information, ask your doctor or
You and your doctor should decide if you will pharmacist.
take ELIQUIS or breastfeed. You should not do both Call your doctor for medical advice about side
Tell all of your doctors and dentists that you are effects. You may report side effects to FDA at
taking ELIQUIS. They should talk to the doctor 1-800-FDA-1088.
who prescribed ELIQUIS for you, before you have This is a brief summary of the most important infor-
any surgery, medical or dental procedure. Tell mation about ELIQUIS. For more information, talk
your doctor about all the medicines you take, with your doctor or pharmacist, call 1-855-ELIQUIS
including prescription and over-the-counter (1-855-354-7847), or go to www.ELIQUIS.com.
medicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements.
Some of your other medicines may affect the way
ELIQUIS works. Certain medicines may increase your Marketed by:
risk of bleeding or stroke when taken with ELIQUIS. Bristol-Myers Squibb Company
Princeton, New Jersey 08543 USA
How should I take ELIQUIS? and
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Take ELIQUIS exactly as prescribed by your
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doctor. Take ELIQUIS twice every day with or without
food, and do not change your dose or stop taking it COUMADIN is a trademark of Bristol-Myers Squibb
unless your doctor tells you to. If you miss a dose Pharma Company.
of ELIQUIS, take it as soon as you remember, and
do not take more than one dose at the same time.
EDITORS NOTE
Morgan Lee Curoopen
Bari, Italy
Great photographs show not only what something While on vacation in Mauritius,
Curoopen shared a bus ride with
looks like but also what it feels like for the subject a mother and her young son. As it
in that particular moment. thundered outside, Curoopen waited
for a bright backgrounda yellow
Stephanie Sinclair, National Geographic photographer and red storefrontto take a photo.
HOW FAR WILL YOU TAKE IT
With spacious cargo capacity* and standard All-Wheel Drive with intelligence (AWD-i).
Prototype shown with options. Production model may vary. *Cargo and load capacity limited by weight and distribution. 2015 Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc.
EXPLORE Us
TOP
BREED
PHOTO: SETH CASTEEL. GRAPHIC: MATTHEW TWOMBLY, NGM STAFF. SOURCE: AKC
EXPLORE
Science
A honeybee
pupa grows
in its hive.
In days it
will emerge
as an adult.
Immunity Vaccinations arent delivered only by doctors with syringes; they also can be
passed from mother to young. This transfer was thought to be something only
for Insects vertebrates could do, but scientists have discovered that some invertebrates,
like honeybees, have the ability too.
Dalial Freitak and Heli Salmela of the University of Helsinki and Gro Amdam
of Arizona State University found that queen bees transfer pieces of disease-
causing bacteria to offspring through vitellogenin, an egg yolk protein. The
protein travels from the queens blood to a liverlike organ and then to her eggs.
Its consumed by the developing bees, imparting immunity against local illnesses.
Knowing this could help scientists make a vaccine to protect bees against
deadly diseases like American foulbrood, Freitak says. Its a cornerstone in
discovering new functions of the immune system. Lindsay N. Smith
PHOTOS: ANAND VARMA, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CREATIVE (TOP); REBECCA HALE, NGM STAFF
BRIGHT IDEAS
CAN CHANGE
THE WORLD
SEACHARS CLEAN-BURNING
TECHNOLOGY IMPROVES LIVES
IN FARMING COMMUNITIES
In the Santos region of Costa
Rica, open cooking res con-
tributed to deforestation and
made respiratory disease severe
among the communitys coffee
bean pickers and children.
The Seattle Biochar Working
Group (SeaChar) developed
the Estufa Finca (Farm Stove) to
reduce harmful emissions. This
innovative, clean-burning stove
requires less fuel, operates on a
variety of dry organic materials,
and produces biochar that
farmers can use as fertilizer.
Planet Earth
Diamond Pamaya
Pandanus
candelabrum
5 FERTILE GROUND
Eons of erosion broke down
kimberlite to form a mineral-
rich soil. A plant known
T
ip-Off Kimberlite
0 miles
locally as pamaya seems to
thrive only there, indicating
where diamonds may lie.
In the West African nation of pipe
Liberia diamonds have been
mined from rivers and streams
for some 80 years. But the CRUST
AFRICA Mantle
1,800
LIBERIA
Study
site Core
2,200
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Get out and explore! Our trips for middle school and high school students combine adventure and
hands-on exploration in amazing parts of the world. Join us this summer to work alongside National
Geographic explorers, learn photography from the pros, get involved in community service projects,
experience life on a college campus, and more. On all of our trips, students focus on important
topicsfrom photography to wildlife conservation to archaeologyand experience new cultures and
environments in a meaningful way.
Switzerland & France Belize India Ecuador & the Galpagos Tanzania Australia Nepal Alaska and many more!
Planet Earth:
Earth Parks National Geographic visits some of the lesser known sites in the National Park Service system
Exploring a dry Texas creek bed in 1978, two young men found bones clearly too
large to have come from a cow. A museum staffer at nearby Baylor University
identified them as the remains of a Columbian mammoth, an extinct species that
grazed here during the Ice Age. Excavations have since uncovered almost two
dozen others, including a herd that died together about 65,000 years ago. The
arrangement of the bones suggests that adult females surrounded their young,
perhaps defending them from a rumbling flood that proved lethal.
To protect the site, its location was kept quiet until it opened to the public in
2009. The city of Waco, the university, and a fund-raising foundation developed
the park and petitioned the National Park Service to adopt it. It was as turnkey
as we could ever get, says NPS curator Greg McDonaldthat is, already up
and running as it entered the national system. The local groups will now help run
it, a new NPS approach to managing such treasures. The future is likely to bring
new excavations, as old bones continue to erode from the soil. A. R. Williams
Us
A Kiss Isnt Though some gestures of human affection may be timeless, kissing isnt one of
them. Showing love by passionately locking lips is a fairly recent development
Just a Kiss in human evolutionary history, says a study by researchers from the Kinsey Insti-
tute at Indiana University and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. It is hardly a
universal practiceand some cultures view it as decidedly gross.
In what its authors say is the first large study of romantic-sexual kissing,
only 46 percent of 168 cultures surveyed had a social history that included
smooching. Middle Eastern and European cultures have embraced such kissing,
for example, but sub-Saharan African and Amazonian forager cultures have not.
Study author William Jankowiak suggests that kissing may be linked to the
rise of leisure in socially stratified societies; when the elites took it up, they were
mimicked by the masses. Status trickle-down is ubiquitous in human history,
he says. And people do seem to like kissing once they discover it. Eve Conant
PHOTO: ELLIOTT ERWITT, MAGNUM PHOTOS. NGM ART. SOURCES: IAN MORGAN,
AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY; MARY FRANCES COTCH, NATIONAL EYE INSTITUTE
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CALEB HARPERUrban farmer
Prescription LYRICA is not for everyone. changes in your eyesight including blurry vision
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allergic reaction that causes swelling of the face, have a higher chance of swelling, hives or gaining
mouth, lips, gums, tongue, throat, or neck or any weight if you are also taking certain diabetes
trouble breathing, rash, hives or blisters. LYRICA or high blood pressure medicines. Do not drink
may cause suicidal thoughts or actions in a very alcohol while taking LYRICA. You may have more
small number of people. Patients, family members dizziness and sleepiness if you take LYRICA with
or caregivers should call the doctor right away if alcohol, narcotic pain medicines, or medicines for
they notice suicidal thoughts or actions, thoughts anxiety. If you have had a drug or alcohol problem,
of self harm, or any unusual changes in mood you may be more likely to misuse LYRICA. Tell
or behavior. These changes may include new your doctor if you are planning to father a child.
or worsening depression, anxiety, restlessness, Talk with your doctor before you stop taking
trouble sleeping, panic attacks, anger, irritability, LYRICA or any other prescription medication.
agitation, aggression, dangerous impulses or
Please see Important Risk Information for LYRICA on the
violence, or extreme increases in activity or following page.
talking. If you have suicidal thoughts or actions,
do not stop LYRICA without first talking to your You are encouraged to report negative side effects of
prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit www.FDA.gov/medwatch
doctor. LYRICA may cause swelling of your hands,
or call 1-800-FDA-1088.
legs and feet. Some of the most common side
effects of LYRICA are dizziness and sleepiness. Ask your doctor about LYRICA and visit LYRICA.com
Do not drive or work with machines until you or call 1-888-9-LYRICA (1-888-959-7422).
know how LYRICA affects you. Other common
side effects are blurry vision, weight gain, trouble
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pain along with feeling sick and feverish, or any
ITS SPECIFIC TREATMENT
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IMPORTANT FACTS
The National Geographic Society is a 501(c)(3) organization. Our federal tax ID number is 53-0193519. 16PGFC02B
EXPLORE
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Field Notes research and exploration, visit nationalgeographic.com/explorers.
traveled over rocks and dirt the whole time. predict volcanic eruptions, she says. But by
The 12,000-foot elevation gain gave her eld analyzing rocks collected from several sites on
assistant altitude sickness, and Grocke suffered the 22-mile-wide caldera, she can determine
from altitude-induced nightmares. where the magma is. If its close to the surface,
The rough trip, funded by National Geo- sometime in the future this supervolcano may
graphic, was worth it. When Grocke and her erupt again.Rachel Hartigan Shea
colleagues nally arrived at the caldera, they
found themselves in an utterly isolated land-
Galpagos Islands, Ecuador
scape, one of the windiest places on Earth, with
few living creatures and almost no vegetation.
I love it, says Grocke. Its an amazing place Galpagos tortoises:
to do volcanology eldwork, because all the
rocks are exposed.
Its all in the dung
The Cerro Galn supervolcano hasnt STEPHEN BLAKEConservation biologist
erupted for more than two million years, but
Grockes work is forward-looking. We cannot Blake reports:
Ive just been offered a job
on the Galpagos Islands, ECUADOR
Sichuan Province, China said my wildlife-vet wife. Galpagos S.
Islands AMER.
Sounds great, I said, en- (ECUADOR)
visioning a life as a snorkel-
ing and bird-watching dad.
Then I met a German scientist named Martin
Wikelski in a pub. He wanted to study tor-
toise migrations but couldnt nd anyone both
qualied and available. I told him Id studied
forest elephants for years in the Congo. After
a couple of pints, I had a job.
Giant tortoises arrived on the Galpagos
about three million years ago. Differences in
their sizes on different islands inspired Charles
Darwins theory of natural selection. They
dominated the archipelago until sailors started
eating them; at least two species became ex-
tinct. Hunting is rare now, but threats from
invasive species and development remain.
My job was to track migration. Secrets can
lurk in odd places, so we set about counting
seeds in piles of poo. Tortoises really are the
gardeners of the Galpagos. Unfortunately
they also like fruits of some invasive species.
Pandas destined to live in the wild mustnt become accus- Understanding tortoises and their habitats
tomed to humans, as photojournalist AMI VITALE learned is important to ensure a healthy future for
while on assignment for National Geographic. At the Wolong Galpagos tortoises. Ive been fortunate to
National Nature Reserve, she watched keepers don scented receive two grants from National Geographic,
panda costumes before working with the animals. While a one for the tortoise seed-dispersal work, the
mother panda foraged for food, keepers took the opportunity other to delve into the secret lives of hatch-
to weigh and inspect her cub. Before pandas are released lings. Its a privilege to work toward a deeper
from the center, theyre tested to ensure they have the skills understanding of these iconic animals and
needed to survive in the wild. advance our understanding of conservation.
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Basic Instincts
A genteel disquisition on love and lust in the animal kingdom
HABITAT/RANGE
Oceans worldwide
CONSERVATION STATUS
The family Delphinidae
includes Atlantic spotted
dolphins (left) and 35 other
species. For about half of
them, scientists lack suffi-
cient data to assess whether
theyre endangered.
OTHER FACTS
In Greek mythology and art,
dolphins often appear as
companions of Aphrodite,
the goddess of love.
SEEING
THE
LIGHT
31
Retina Lens
Optic
LIGHT
nerve
Cornea
The vertebrate eyes displayed here are all variations on the same basic
design, which functions much as a camera does. The cornea and lens
focus incoming photons onto photoreceptor cells in the retina. These
cells convert the photons into electrical signals, which are sent up the
optic nerve to the brain.
Whose eyes are these? See page 57 for the answers.
PHOTOGRAPHED AT EAST BAY VIVARIUM, BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA; SAN FRANCISCO ZOO; PALO ALTO JUNIOR
MUSEUM & ZOO, PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA; SAFARI WEST, SANTA ROSA, CALIFORNIA; SENECA PARK ZOO,
ROCHESTER, NEW YORK
EYE DIAGRAMS: JASON TREAT, NGM STAFF. SOURCE: DAN-ERIC NILSSON, LUND UNIVERSITY, SWEDEN
Our eyes evolved through natural selectionb
wonders. An x-ray (left) reveals a retinal chip w
skin. Fifteen hundred pixels on the chip implante
stand in for photoreceptors lost to retinitis pigm
chip stimulate the optic nerve, enabling him to s
and white (far right). Bhm volunteered for the c
again but also to help advance science.
EBERHART ZRENNER, ALPHA-IMS TRIAL RETINA IMPLANT AG, REUTLINGEN, GERM
OPHTHALMOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF TBINGEN, GERMANY (ABOVE); ROBERT MACL
but human ingenuity can perform
wired to electronics placed under the
ed in Peter Bhms left retina (above)
entosa. Signals from electrodes in the
see the world again, at least in black
utting-edge surgery not just to see
contrast, a ys compound eye divides incom- the constancy of physics and the messiness of
ing light among thousands of separate units, biology. To understand how eyes evolved, scien-
each with its own lens and photoreceptors. Hu- tists need to do more than examine their struc-
man, y, and squid eyes are mounted in pairs tures. They need to do what Nilsson did with
on their owners heads. But scallops have rows the box jellysh: understand how animals use
of eyes along their mantles, sea stars have eyes their eyes.
on the tips of their arms, and the purple sea
urchins entire body acts as one big eye. There Around 540 million years ago, the ances-
are eyes with bifocal lenses, eyes with mirrors, tors of most modern animal groups suddenly
and eyes that look up, down, and sideways all appeared on the scene, in an outburst of specia-
at the same time. tion known as the Cambrian explosion. Many of
At one level, such diversity is puzzling. All these pioneering creatures left fossils behind.
eyes detect light, and light behaves in a pre- Some are so well preserved that scientists have
dictable manner. But it has a multitude of been able to use scanning electron microscope
uses. Light reveals the time of day, the depth images to piece together their inner anatomy,
of water, the presence of shade. It bounces off eyes included, and reconstruct their owners
enemies, mates, and shelter. The box jellysh view of the world.
uses it to nd safe pastures. You use it to sur- I was amazed, says Brigitte Schoenemann
vey landscapes, interpret facial expressions, from the University of Cologne. We can even
and read these words. The variety of tasks that calculate how many photons they would have
eyes perform is limited only by the fecundity captured.
of nature. They represent a collision between But these eyes were already complex, and
there are no traces of their simpler precursors.
The fossil record tells us nothing about how
sightless animals rst came to see the world.
Tune in Sunday, February 14, to
This mystery flustered Charles Darwin. To
National Geographic Channels Explorer suppose that the eye, with all its inimitable
series episode Eyes Wide Open. contrivances
...
could have been formed by
S e e i n g t h e l i g h t 39
LIGHT
UPPER
Eyestalk EYE
This box jellysh (Tripedalia cystophora) is only about half
an inch across, yet it possesses 24 eyes, housed in four
Simple
photo Retina Lens rhopalia. Four of the six eyes in each rhopalium (left) are
sensors simple photo sensors, but two have light-focusing lenses.
LOWER
A oating crystal weight called a statolith keeps the top
EYE lensed eye always pointing upward, scanning for mangrove
LIGHT canopies that signal food and shelter.
Statolith PHOTOGRAPHED AT OAKLEY EVOLUTION LABORATORY, UC SANTA BARBARA
GRAPHIC SOURCE: DAN-ERIC NILSSON
THE RISE OF EYES
The diversity of eyes in the animal world illustrates how natural selection
can transform simple structures that respond to light into camera-like eyes
composed of multiple parts working in tandem. Dan-Eric Nilsson at Lund
University in Sweden categorizes the development of eyes into four stages
an evolution that theoretically could occur in less than half a million years.
Cupped eye
LIGHT
Focusing
Optic lens
nerve
Photoreceptors Pigment
Compound eye
VISUAL TASKS
Organisms that sense Animals move toward Organisms that have The most advanced eyes
light but not where its or away from light to developed low-resolution help animals perform
coming from can regulate orient their bodies and eyesight can detect their complex tasks like selecting
circadian rhythms and trigger alarm responses own motion, avoid objects, mates and recognizing
respond to shadows. to predators. and find preferred habitats. predators and prey.
ADAPTATIONS
The emergence of just a Organisms that develop Cup-shaped eyes with Evolved sensory structures
few photoreceptor cells is a screening pigment, which more receptors or com- such as lenses, corneas, and
fundamental development partly shades their photo- pound eyes with additional irises focus light on photo-
that allows simple organ- receptors, can tell where cups can produce crude receptors, creating images
isms to react to light. light is coming from. images of objects. with higher resolution.
natural selection, seems, I freely confess, ab- 0.005 percent each generation, it takes just
surd in the highest possible degree, he wrote 364,000 years for the simple sheet to become
in Origin of Species. a fully functioning camera-like organ. As far as
Creationists like to end the quotation there, evolution goes, thats a blink of an eye.
with the great man doubting his own theory. But simple eyes should not be seen as just
But in the very next sentence, Darwin solves stepping-stones along a path toward greater
his own dilemma: Yet reason tells me, that if complexity. Those that exist today are tailored
numerous gradations from a perfect and com- to the needs of their users. A sea stars eyes
plex eye to one very imperfect and simple, each one on the tip of each armcant see color,
grade being useful to its possessor, can be shown ne detail, or fast-moving objects; they would
to exist
then the difficulty of believing that a send an eagle crashing into a tree. Then again,
perfect and complex eye could be formed by a sea star isnt trying to spot and snag a running
natural selection, though insuperable by our rabbit. It merely needs to spot coral reefs
imagination, can hardly be considered real. huge, immobile chunks of landscapeso it can
The gradations he spoke of can be shown to slowly amble home. Its eyes can do that; it has
exist. Living animals illustrate every possible in- no need to evolve anything better. To stick an
termediate between the primitive light-sensitive eagles eye on a sea star would be an exercise in
patches on an earthworm and the supersharp ludicrous excess.
camera eyes of eagles. Nilsson has even shown Eyes didnt evolve from poor to perfect,
that the former can evolve into the latter in a Nilsson says. They evolved from performing a
surprisingly short amount of time. few simple tasks perfectly to performing many
He created a simulation that starts with a complex tasks excellently.
small, at patch of pigmented light-sensitive A few years ago he enshrined this concept in
cells. With each yearlong generation, it becomes a model that charts eye evolution in four stages,
a little thicker. It slowly curves from a sheet each dened not by physical structures but by
into a cup. It gains a crude lens, which gradu- the things that they allow animals to do. The rst
ally improves. Even under the most pessimis- stage involves monitoring the intensity of ambi-
tic conditions, with the eye improving by just ent light, to gauge the time of day or the animals
S e e i n g t h e l i g h t 43
Cornea
Lens
Compound eyes evolved rapidly during the Cambrian
Retina period, more than 500 million years ago. A fossilized
arthropod eye from Australia with 3,000 lenses (right)
Optic
LIGHT
would have been able to see even in dim light. Its
nerve amazing how little has happened since then, says
Dan-Eric Nilsson. A modern esh y (Sarcophaga
crassipalpis, below) also sees with thousands of lenses.
COMPOSITE OF 30 STACKED IMAGES; PHOTOGRAPHED AT SCIENCE
CENTRE, SOUTH AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM, ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA (FOSSIL)
GRAPHIC SOURCE: DAN-ERIC NILSSON
Retina Lens
Not all eyes are equaleven on the same animal. The
Cornea upward-looking left eye (visible above) of the squid
Histioteuthis heteropsis is twice the size of its right eye,
Optic
nerve
LIGHT the better to spot prey in light from above. The squids
smaller eye (not seen) points down into the dark below,
detecting bioluminescent prey and predators.
PHOTOGRAPHED ABOARD THE WESTERN FLYER, MONTEREY BAY AQUARIUM RESEARCH
INSTITUTE (ABOVE); ALISON SWEENEY, UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA (INSETS)
GRAPHIC SOURCE: DAN-ERIC NILSSON
Among the tools of aquatic animals with
camera-like eyes: a lens with varying
tissue density, sharpening vision
underwater. At right, a view of Charles
Darwin as he might appear to a squid with
this correction (far right) and without it.
depth in a column of water. You dont need a true basic visual structures that exist today were
eye for this; an isolated photoreceptor will do. present during the Cambrian, but they have
Hydra, a small relative of jellysh, has no eyes, been elaborated in an extraordinary variety
but it does have photoreceptors in its body. Todd of waysagain for specialized tasks. The male
Oakley and David Plachetzki from the Univer- mayy looks like it has a huge compound eye
sity of California, Santa Barbara, showed that glued on top of another smaller one, devoted
these receptors control hydras stinging cells, so to scanning the skies for silhouettes of ying
that they re more easily in darkness. Perhaps females. The aptly named four-eyed sh has di-
this allows the creature to react to the shadows vided its two camera eyes in two, so one half sits
of passing victims or to reserve its stings for above the waters surface and examines the sky
nighttime, when its prey is more common. while the other looks out for threats and prey
In the second stage of Nilssons model, below. The human eye is reasonably fast, adept
animals can tell where light is coming from, at detecting contrast, and surpassed in resolu-
because their photoreceptors gain a shield tion only by birds of preya good all-around eye
usually a dark pigmentthat blocks light from for the most versatile animal of all.
certain directions. A receptor like this gives Far from being an obstacle to the theory of
its owner a one-pixel sense of the worldnot natural selection, the evolution of the complex
enough to qualify as true vision but enough to eye is one of its most splendid exemplars. There
move toward a source of light or swim away is grandeur in this view of life, wrote Darwin at
from it into a shadowy refuge. Thats exactly the end of his great work. It was his stage-four
what many marine larvae do. eyes that allowed him to see that splendor.
In stage three, the shielded photoreceptors
cluster into groups, each pointing in a slightly Nilssons model shines fresh light on an old
different direction. Now their owners can inte- debate: whether eyes evolved once or many
grate information about light coming in from times. The legendary German evolutionary
different directions, producing an image of their biologist Ernst Mayr claimed that eyes had be-
world. They can see scenes, blurry and grainy tween 40 and 65 independent origins, because
though they may be. This marks the point when they came in so many distinct shapes and forms.
light detection becomes vision proper and when The late Walter Gehring, a Swiss developmental
bundles of photoreceptors become bona fide biologist, argued that eyes evolved just once,
eyes. Animals with stage-three eyes can find after he discovered that the same master gene
suitable homes, as sea stars do, or avoid obsta- called Pax6controls eye development in virtu-
cles, as box jellysh do. ally every creature with eyes.
Stage four is where the evolution of eyesand Both men were right. True stage-three eyes
their ownersreally takes off. With the addi- did indeed evolve from their simpler stage-two
tion of lenses for focusing light, vision becomes precursors on several occasions; box jellysh,
sharp and detailed. When you get to stage four, for instance, developed theirs independently of
the list of tasks has no end, says Nilsson. This mollusks, vertebrates, and arthropods. But the
flexibility might have been one of the sparks eyes of all those organisms are elaborations of
that ignited the Cambrian explosion. Suddenly the same basic stage-one light detectors.
the rivalries between predators and prey, pre- We know this because all eyes are construct-
viously limited to sniffing, tasting, and feeling ed from the same building blocks. Nothing that
at close quarters, could play out over distance. sees does so without proteins called opsins
An arms race began, and animals responded by the molecular basis of all eyes. Opsins work by
ballooning in size, becoming more mobile, and embracing a chromophore, a molecule that can
evolving defensive shells, spines, and armor. absorb the energy of an incoming photon. The
As they evolved, so did their eyes. All the energy rapidly snaps the chromophore into a
different shape, forcing its opsin partner to like- change shape when they absorb light, and they
wise contort. This transformation sets off a series can easily change back. So when melatonin-
of chemical reactions that ends with an electrical binding proteins mutated, they suddenly be-
signal. Think of the chromophore as a car key and came reusable light sensors. Those were the
the opsin molecule as the ignition switch. They rst opsins. They were so efficient that evolu-
turn, and the engine of sight whirs to life. tion never came up with a better alternative; it
There are thousands of different opsins, but just created variations on a theme.
they are all related. A few years ago, Megan Por- The same cant be said for other eye com-
ter, now at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, ponents. Take lenses. Almost all of them are
compared the sequences of almost 900 genes, made from proteins called crystallins, which
coding for opsin proteins from across the animal improve their owners vision by focusing light
kingdom, and conrmed that they all share a sin- onto underlying photoreceptors. But unlike op-
gle ancestor. They arose once and then diversi- sins, with their single dynasty, crystallins are
ed into a massive family tree. Porter draws it as unified by name only. Yours are unrelated to
a circle, with branches radiating outward from a those of a squid or a y. Different animal groups
single point. It looks like a giant eye. have independently evolved their own brand of
The mother of all opsins didnt arise from crystallins by co-opting proteins that had very
nothing. Evolution jury-rigged the rst opsins different jobs, unrelated to vision: Some broke
out of proteins that functioned more as clocks down alcohol; others dealt with stress. But all
than as light sensors. These ancestral proteins were stable, easy to pack, and capable of bend-
held on to melatonin, a hormone that controls ing lightperfect for making lenses.
the 24-hour body clocks of many organisms. The weirdest lenses in nature dont have
Melatonin is destroyed by light, so its absence crystallins at all. They belong to chitonsa
can signal the rst rays of dawnbut only once. group of marine mollusks that look like ovals
Any creature that senses daybreak with mela- adorned with armored plates. These plates are
tonin has to continually make more of the stuff. dotted with hundreds of small stage-three eyes,
In contrast, the chromophores coupled to each with its own lens. The lenses are made of
opsins dont pose that problem. They merely a mineral called aragonite, which the chitons
S e e i n g t h e l i g h t 49
EYE OF THE BEHOLDER
Its not possible to perfectly simulate the vision of an animal, but our
photographer can approximate it by combining laboratory datasuch as
density of photoreceptors and reactions to lightwith his own tool kit.
Flatworm
Dugesia dorotocephala
Flatworm eyes consist of small cups
of photoreceptor cells that are able to
determine which direction light is coming
from. The worms need this cue to identify
an appropriate habitatone thats
shaded from the sun.
Box jellysh
Tripedalia cystophora
The box jellyfish has no brain to interpret sensory
data, but it can react to simple, low-resolution
images. Four lensed eyes look upward to sense
mangrove shade where food is abundant. Four
other lensed eyes look down through its own
transparent body, to help avoid obstacles below.
Cat
Felis catus
The eyes of domestic cats have more
low-light-sensitive rods than humans and slit
pupils that can open wide in the dark, making
it easy for them to hunt small animals at night.
With fewer color-sensitive cones, however, cats
cant differentiate between greens and reds.
Bald eagle
Haliaeetus leucocephalus
For eyes with exceptionally high resolution
(2.5 times that of human eyes), look to
the bald eagle. And while human retinas have
one region with a high density of receptors,
eagles have two, allowing them to see straight
ahead and to the side simultaneously.
assemble from calcium and carbonate atoms Insect eyes have a much faster temporal reso-
in seawater. lution, he says. Two ies will chase each other
Simply put, this creature has evolved a way at enormous speed and see up to 300 ashes of
to sharpen its vision by looking through rocks. light a second. Were lucky to see 50. A dragon-
And when their rock lenses erode, the chitons ys eye gives it almost complete wraparound
just fabricate some new ones. vision; our eyes do not. And the elephant hawk
moth, which Warrant has studied intensely,
Opsins, lenses, and every other compo- has eyes so sensitive that it can still see colors
nent of the eye are all testament to evolutions by starlight. In some ways were better, but in
patchwork tinkering. It constantly puts existing many ways, were worse, Warrant says. Theres
materials to new functions, and cobbles sim- no eye that does it all better. Our camera eyes
ple structures together into complex ones. But have their own problems. For example, our reti-
evolution has no foresight. Once it has trundled nas are bizarrely built back to front. The photo-
down a particular course, it cant start from receptors sit behind a tangled web of neurons,
scratch again, so its works are always blighted which is like sticking a cameras wires in front
by imperfections. Nilsson is particularly under- of its lens. The bundled nerve bers also need to
whelmed by compound eyes. Their structure, pass through a hole in the photoreceptor layer
composed of many repeating units, sets an un- to reach the brain. Thats why we have a blind
forgiving ceiling on their visual resolution. If a spot. Theres no benet to these aws; theyre
y wanted to see with the same resolution as a just quirks of our evolutionary history.
human, its eye would need to be a meter wide. We have evolved work-arounds. Our retinas
Insects and crustaceans have become so suc- contain long cells called Mller glia that act as
cessful despite their compound eyes, not because optic bers, channeling light through the morass
of them, says Nilsson. They would have done of neurons to the underlying photoreceptors.
so much better with camera-type eyes. But evo- And our brains can ll in the missing details in
lution didnt nd that. Evolution isnt clever. our blind spots. But some problems we cant
Eric Warrant, Nilssons next-door neighbor avoid. Our retinas can sometimes peel away from
at Lund University, takes a more lenient view. the underlying tissue, leading to blindness; that
S e e i n g t h e l i g h t 51
Retina
They couldnt even distinguish colors whose long. It tracks the intruding object with its eyes,
differences are patently obvious to our eyes. then lashes out. The blow is powerful enough to
So why all the receptors? Thoen suspects that make an audible crack, like a nger snapping.
they have everything to do with pugilistic prow- That little guy spent a long time thinking be-
ess. We do a lot of visual processing in our retinas, fore he whacked it. Its not a decision they make
adding and subtracting information from our like that, says Cronin, snapping his own ngers.
cones before sending it to our brains. Perhaps There remains the question: Whats it all for?
the mantis shrimp instead passes the responses Its the question that Dan-Eric Nilsson always
of all 12 of its color receptors directly up to its asks as well. Its not enough to know the struc-
brain, which compares the raw data against ture of the mantis shrimps eyes, or the genes
some kind of look-up table of different colors. that are activated within them, or the neural
While the mantis shrimp is inept at discriminat- signals that they send to the brain. Ultimately,
ing between colors, such a system might make to understand why they are the way they are, we
it superb at recognizing color, which in turn need to know how they are used. To communi-
could help it make the quick decisions needed cate with each other? To catch prey quickly? To
to launch its superlatively fast strikes. better see the riot of colors in coral reefs? This
But Cronin is unconvinced. Back in his lab, is the ultimate truth of animal eyes: We can only
he dangles a pipette in a petri dish containing a understand their evolution when we learn to see
smaller mantis shrimpjust a couple of inches the world through them.j
S e e i n g t h e l i g h t 57
DENALI
58
How can six
million acres not
be enough?
A mother grizzly and her
cubs cause a bear jam
on Denalis 92-mile-long
Park Road, open to private
vehicles only ve days
each summer. Most
visitors travel the route by
Park Service bus (follow-
ing pages), frequently
spotting wildlife but rarely
catching a cloudless
glimpse of the parks
namesake peak (preced-
ing pages).
the power of parks
a yearlong exploration
By Tom Clynes
Photographs by Aaron Huey
66
although in warm weather its slopes are often Hefting cameras and calling out in a multitude
shrouded in clouds. The mountain was a big of accents, park visitors entreat bus drivers to
stop when wildlife comes into view: moose, bears,
part of the legend and lore of the Athabaskan-
caribou, sheepand, ever more rarely, wolves.
speaking people who gave it the name Denali,
meaning Tall One. In 1896 gold prospector
William Dickey renamed it Mount McKinley Seeing the mountain, spotting a grizzly, or
in honor of Ohio politician William McKinley, catching a glimpse of a wolf are the top three
a staunch champion of the gold standard who reasons people give for coming to Denali. As
one year later would become the nations 25th recently as 2010, a visitor stood a better chance
president. For decades Ohios congressional of seeing a wolf in the wild than seeing the elu-
delegation successfully blocked attempts to sive Tall One, which is visible on just one in
rename the mountain. Then last summer the three summer days. But since 2010 the num-
Obama Administration used its executive power ber of wolf sightings has plunged. According to
to restore the original name. a study of wildlife viewing opportunities along
Denali 67
the Park Road, observers recorded wolf sight- some of the many gaps in what we know about
ings on only 6 percent of trips in 2014down the health, behavior, and genetics of one of the
from 45 percent in 2010. Park biologists report worlds most misunderstood animals.
that the number of wolves inside the park has The research is an extension of the pioneering
dropped from more than 100 a decade ago to work of ecologist Adolph Murie, one of the rst
fewer than 50 last year. I came to Denali, in part, scientists to study Denalis wolves in the wild.
to discover why. In 1939, when Murie made the rst of his many
expeditions to what was then Mount McKinley
I
hate to call the weatherman a liar, but National Park, wolves were considered vermin,
theres no way it was 30 below zero down there, and Park Service rangers had a history of shoot-
pilot Dennis Miller says, as our ski-plane climbs ing them on sight. Muries research showed that
away from the snowy airstrip at park headquar- wolves and other top predators play an essential
ters. Bundled in half a dozen layers and wedged role in healthy habitats, and he argued that we
behind him in the tiny cockpit, I watch Miller should manage parks to protect entire ecosys-
shake his head. Ill be surprised if it gets that tems rather than individual species.
warm all day, he says. Other influential scientists and thinkers
A few minutes later we hear the days first would follow Murie to Denali, whose wide-open
radio-collared wolf in our left headphones, as and mostly treeless mountainscapes are ideal
an antenna on the planes left side picks up its for observing wildlife. This sprawling swath of
signal. Miller turns the aircraft and the beeps still wild America would inspire and anchor
equalize, left and right. The chirping gets louder many of the lofty ideals now considered part of
as we cross the park boundary and y over the the DNA of the National Park Service and incite
Stampede corridor, a notch of state, borough, and great shifts in thinking on the role of parks and
private land also known as the Wolf Townships. their protectors. It was here that many of the
Thatll be the female in the East Fork pack, now accepted values of environmental protec-
Miller says. Back in November we counted at tion and science-based decision-making gestat-
least 15 wolves, but we found the collared male ed. The Wilderness Act has roots here, and the
dead two weeks ago, on March 6. Ive only seen seeds of some of the nations most inuential
a single set of tracks since then. environmental initiatives were planted here.
Following the signal, Miller descends and Denali has also had an outsize impact on the
zigzags through a river valley where a lone wolf hundreds of thousands of nonscientists who
track heads into the trees. He throws the plane arrive each year with dreams of a thrilling wild-
over on its left wingtip and peers down. Im life encounter and depart with a much deeper
just going to make one pass, he says, pulling the connection with the natural world. We see it
plane tighter into the turn and squinting toward all the time, says Park Superintendent Don
the ground. Some of the guys in these houses Striker. They come here to snap a few pictures
here, if they see me circling, theyll come out and get some bragging rights about being 50 feet
and try to nd what Im looking at and shoot it. from a grizzly. In the course of experiencing this
Ive spent the previous four days ying with natural drama, something clicks. They go away
Miller and National Park Service biologists, wanting to protect places like this.
whose focus turns to wolves during the snowy, Yet Denali has always been an uneasy para-
light-filled days of March. Each time theyve dise. The park was created in 1917 as a refuge
spotted a wolf inside the park that they want for Dall sheep and other game animals, and its
collared, theyve called in a helicopter team rst rangers found themselves chasing poachers
to swoop down and dart it. With the animal who supplied meat to miners and railroad build-
tranquilized, biologists t it with a collar. They ers. This tug-of-war between use and preserva-
also take blood and hair samples, hoping to ll tion would become the fundamental tension
others. Thats the difference with Denaliits peoples Denali National Park viewing experi-
not locked up. And thats what makes it so chal- ence, Wallace quips.
lenging to manage. Until a few years ago a wolf that strayed near
Wallaces turf would have been off-limits. But
Was
that you flying around the other day in a Denalis most vulnerable wolf packs are at the
red-and-white Super Cub? Coke Wallace asks center of some ugly politics. In 2000 Gordon
when we meet outside his home on Stampede Haber, the celebrated and outspoken wolf biol-
Road. We thought maybe you guys were radio ogist who continued Adolph Muries research,
tracking a wolf. I almost went over to see if there observed trappers laying snares along the parks
was anything I could shoot. boundary. He joined with others and persuaded
Wallace is a trapper, hunter, guide, and self- the Alaska Board of Game to establish a no-kill
described extreme right-wing redneck. As he buffer zone along the Stampede Trail and in
shows me his extensive collection of traps and the Nenana Canyon area. After Haber died in
snares and a very large wolf hide stretched over a plane crash in late 2009, the Park Service re-
a drying rack, he gets a call on his mobile phone. quested an expansion of the protected area. The
Its ringtone is a wolfs howl. board responded by eliminating it completely,
Contrary to popular opinion, I dont hate making wolves vulnerable to trapping and hunt-
wolves, he tells me. In fact, I think theyre cool ing all around the park boundary.
as hell. Only problem is, every ve to seven years We increased it twice, but it was never big
I catch the wrong wolf. enough, explains Sam Cotten, commissioner
In 1999 Wallace shot a collared alpha female of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.
in the Grant Creek pack, which had been high- The last proposal was for another signicant
ly visible to visitors on the Park Road. In 2005 increase, and the feeling was that the federal
he caught the East Fork packs alpha female in government created that border and thats the
a trap set just outside the park boundary. In line. So we went back to a harder boundary.
2012 he dragged a horse carcass to a site where Although the Park Service halted its predator
wolves were active and set traps and snares control decades ago, (Continued on page 82)
Denali 69
Gliding toward one of
the hundreds of untouched
mountainsides in Denalis
high backcountry, a climber
skis past sapphire pools
atop upper Ruth Glacier.
Spreading through its
broad valley in ever shifting
braids, the McKinley River
carries meltwater and silt
down from the continents
highest mountain range.
W
olf Crossing
Denali National Park is one of the few places where
people can see gray wolves in their natural habitat.
Visitors can try to spot them from the shuttle buses
Lake
along the 92-mile Park Road, but wolf numbers have Minchumina
dropped over the past decade. Contributing factors
could be lower snowfalls, which help prey evade A national preserve in HOT SLOUGH
wolves, and trappers just outside park boundaries. Alaska is administered 2 wolves
in the same manner as a
national park but allows
sport hunting, subsistence
Creek
ALASKA uses, and trapping.
CANADA
(U.S.)
Fairbanks
Birch
DENALI
NATIONAL PARK Anchorage
AND PRESERVE
Juneau
D ENAL I
Be r i n g S e a 0 mi 250 NATIONAL
0 km 250 PRES ERVE
1896 UNCOLLARED
Gold prospector William Dickey names PACK
the areas highest peak Mount McKinley. 2 wolves
1902
Geologist Alfred Brooks organizes the first mapping
expedition in the mountain area. SOMBER
4 wolves
June 7, 1913
A team led by Harry Karstens and Hudson Stuck
is the first to summit Mount McKinleys south peak. IRON
CREEK
WEST
February 26, 1917 7 wolves
Congress creates Mount McKinley National Park.
1,591,897 acres
1923-1938
The NPS constructs the 92-mile Park Road.
1960
Bradford Washburn publishes the first
topographic map of Mount McKinley.
June 1972
The NPS closes Park Road to cars and institutes A
ier
December 1, 1978
President Jimmy Carter establishes Denali National
Monument. 3,890,000 acres
S
December 2, 1980
A
Congress enlarges Denali National Park and
creates the Denali National Preserve.
L
6,075,030 acres
A
es
M t
OU For
k
NT
A IN
S
SK A
caribou and other prey out of the park
and into this strip of state, borough, and
RA
private land, which conservationists say
hna
ILR
tis should be a no-wolf-hunting zone.
OAD
Kan
BEARPAW
2 wolves E TRA
3
Ne
PED IL
na
)
Wolf movement S TA M ( ROAD
na
Sa
EAST FORK Healy
S
vage
JOHN I LL MCKINLEY Wolf Townships
Ne n
SLOUGH 14 wolves
HANSEN
H
2 wolves
Ea
ana
5 wolves
st
Denali
Fo
Can
t
en
NA
Visitor Center
rk
n
Wilderness
yon
io
em
(unrestricted)
Tok
at
Access Center
SH
ov
gr
f movement
Park
fm
lat
mi
Y a nert F o r k
To
I
ol
Headquarters
kla
K A NT
W
Kantishna region began n te
San
WYOMING
wi
as early as 1903 and RILEY CREEK
HILLS 5 wolves
d
ctu
peaked soon after. Most
an
Wol
of the claims are now MYRTLE
ar
r.
ll
yC
y
fa
ib
n) East Fork
ctio
ar
in
Kantishna se Cabin
C
ley
d
ic te GRANT
Wonder st r CREEK
Lake PARK R (re
O AD 4 wolves
G
che
Cree
West Fork G
N
r
ie l.
ac
Gl
k
row
A
AY
d
Mul
W
.
o k s Gl .
R
Gl
GH
North Peak
ika
HI
19,470 ft
Trale
S
ro
5,934 m
RK
B
PA
DENALI Eld
GE
Gl
South Peak
GE
ac
20,310 ft
u litn
ie
3
6,190 m
r
R u t h eater
Ch
Mount Foraker
A m p h it h
17,400 ft B u c k s k i n G l ac Landscape visible
5,304 m ie from Park Road
r
Mount Hunter
14,573 ft
Ru
4,442 m
lacier
th
National Park
Glac i e r
To k o s
a G
National Preserve
itn
iltn
State Park
Kah
G
l ac
ier
tn Proposed no-hunting
D E N AL I si area
Su
STAT E
PARK D Range of all Denali
A
wolf packs
RO
AIL
A R
spring 2015
3
Wolf movement
to Wolf Townships
0 mi 10
0 km 10
Talkeetna
The cull reduced the preserves wolf population who managed ve parks in the lower 48 before
by more than half and killed several collared coming to Denali. But here the relationship
wolves that had been part of a decades-long is so poisoned by the past. People dont realize
Park Service study. Although Cotten says the this was always federal landit was never the
wolf-culling programs are based on sound sci- states. Its good politics to hate the parks and to
ence, some data undermine the premise that overlook all the good theyve done for the state,
killing wolves leads to increased prey popula- especially economically.
tions, particularly in the long term.
To Wallace, the wolf culls and the removal of The debateand everything elseseems far
Denalis buffer zones were long overdue. Its away when I poke my head through the tent ap
the state standing up to an overreaching federal at a campsite near Cache Creek in mid-March.
government and libtard environmentalists, he Its the third morning of a mushing expedition
says. I liked the park much better as McKinley and also the third morning with temperatures
National Park, when it was for sheep. Then the of minus 20 degrees Fahrenheit. I think about
feds crammed that whole ANILCA thing down retreating back under the canvas, but Denali
our throats. visible most days in wintercatches my eye.
In 1980 the U.S. Congress passed the Alaska Above the valley rays of sunlight splash the Tall
National Interest Lands Conservation Act. It Ones summit and northeastern anks with a
designated 104 million acres as national parks, dazzling orange glaze.
forests, and preserves and protected 50 million When I finally muster the gumption to
more acres as wilderness. Mount McKinley Na- emerge from the tent, heads turn. Thirty or so
tional Park was renamed Denali National Park sled dogs that had been yawning in their dug-
and Preserve, and expanded from 2 million out nests of snow rise and begin to yelp and
acres to 6 million. Property rights were retained howl eagerly. Dog teams are still an integral part
throughout the preserve, as were hunting and of backcountry management here during the
trapping rights in some sections. winter, patrolling the parks boundaries, sup-
ANILCA is widely considered among the most porting wildlife research, and hauling supplies
Denali 83
Denali rangers conscate
a moose carcass from two
poachers who, according
to ofcials, crossed a
marked boundary and
shot the animal more than
a mile inside the park.
Julie Collins feeds her
dogs at the homestead she
shares with her twin sister,
Miki. The women have led
mostly subsistence lives
near the parks edge for
more than 50 years.
my hand, reluctant to admit that the never end-
ing race against the clock has, for much of my
adult life, gotten the best of meand that for
many years Ive dreamed of breaking free of
human-calibrated time.
I awake from a nap late that afternoon. Re-
exively, I move to check my phone, then catch
myself. Here there is no possibility of a text or
call. The clock is no longer in command. I spend
three days around the cabinhiking, reading
Muries work, and adapting, as Emerson put it,
to the pace of nature. As I hike back toward
the road, Im not looking forward to rejoining
the bustling bus scene or catching up on the
news of the world.
Even the news from inside the park isnt
good. I drop by park biologist Steve Arthurs
office to ask about the preliminary results of
the latest studies of wolf population numbers
(still low) and the ndings of a necropsy on a
bloodied wolf carcass I saw during my winter
visit. Arthurs team had dug the frozen wolfan
East Fork maleout of the snow and discovered
a snare around its neck. The animal had man-
aged to pull the snare free of its anchor, then
wandered into the park and bled to death.
In May, Arthur got a call from a hunter who
had legally shot a collared wolf near a bear-bait
station on the Stampede Trail, just outside the
park. In 2012 state game officials had expanded
the controversial practice of bear baiting (which
is banned in most states that allow bear hunt-
ing) to include grizzly bears. The spring baiting
season overlaps wolf breeding season, making conservationists calls for a permanent closure.
it more likely that pregnant or nursing females After ve weeks in Denaliwalking, skiing,
will be killed. ying, mushing, and bus riding through the ex-
When Arthur arrived, he found another dead tremes of winter and summerI have time for
wolf, this one an uncollared, pregnant female. one last venture into the wilderness. From a rear
Both wolves were members of the beleaguered seat on the backpackers bus I spot a promising
East Fork pack, and incoming GPS data from route leading over a rise, then down toward the
another wolfs collar made it clear that more Toklat River.
pack members were still in the area, drawn by I trot into the trailless landscape without a
the bear bait. Arthur expressed his concern map, half hoping to get lost among the moun-
to state wildlife officials and suggested clos- tains and tarns. Reaching the river, I spot a
ing the wolf hunting season early in the local hanging valley on the other side that looks much
area. The officials agreed to close the season closer than it actually is. What started as a half-
two weeks early on a onetime basis but rejected day hike stretches past eight hours, which is ne
Denali 89
Evening commuters descend into the Tube
station at Piccadilly Circus, in the heart of
London. Excavations for a new subway line
have yielded thousands of artifacts that tell
90national
the geographic
citys story from fe bruary
the Stone Age to today.2 0 1 6
LONDON
DOWN
UNDER
Spurred by a building boom,
archaeologists are plumbing the deep past
of one of Europes oldest capitals.
91
SECOND CENTURY Archaeologists unearthed
these Roman-era skulls near the Liverpool Street
Station. Buried around 1,900 years ago, the skulls
had washed into a river channel, where smooth
stones lodged in an eye socket (left).
MUSEUM OF LONDON ARCHAEOLOGY (MOLA); CROSSRAIL
By Roff Smith
Photographs by Simon Norfolk
I
n a brightly lit laboratory above the
Museum of London Archaeology
(MOLA), conservator Luisa Duarte is
gently cleaning a large rst-century
fresco that had been brought into
the museum a few days earlier from
a construction site on Lime Street, in
the heart of the citys nancial district. Workers
digging out the foundation for a new 38-story
office block had come upon the ruins of an early
Roman building. The museums experts dated it
to around A.D. 60, making this one of the earliest
Roman frescoes yet found in London. At nearly
ten feet long and more than six feet high, its also
one of the biggest and most complete.
Whoever commissioned this was seriously
rich, says Duarte, palette knife in hand, gently
prying away clumps of moist earth still clinging
to the frescos surface. A wealthy merchant,
perhaps, or a banker. Somebody with taste and
money and style. This bit of red, for example,
appears to be cinnabar, an expensive and rarely
used pigment. We come across it occasionally
but only on the very nest work.
Archaeologists believe the fresco adorned a Peel back the pavement of a grand old city
building that was demolished at the turn of the like London and you can find just about any-
second century A.D. to make way for a grandiose thing, from a first-century Roman fresco to a
new basilica and forum, the largest the Romans pair of medieval ice skateseven an elephants
would ever build north of the Alps, larger than tooth. As one of Europes oldest capitals, London
St. Pauls Cathedral is today. Entire neighbor- has been continuously lived in and built over
hoods were leveled, the rubble used as landll, by a succession of Romans, Saxons, Normans,
and the next generations vision built on top. It Tudors, Georgians, Regency rakes, and Victori-
was the rst of many urban renewal projects ans, each of whom added to the pile. As a result
over the next 1,900 years. the modern city sits atop a rich archaeological
under london 95
Londons rst underground railway tunnels than 14,000 artifacts were found over the course
were only ten feet wide. Later, advances
in technology led to safer, wider tunnels, of the excavation, including coins, amulets, pew-
able to hold larger trains and thus ferry ter plates, ceramic lamps, 250 leather boots and
more Londoners to and fro. sandals, and more than 900 boxes of pottery.
This was the richest haul of small finds
Crossrail ever to come out of a single excavation in the
2018
city, says archaeologist Sadie Watson, who su-
pervised the dig for MOLA. Its giving us an
unprecedented glimpse into everyday life in
City and South
London Railway Roman London.
1890 Dimensions In the trove were nearly 400 rare wooden
accurate;
design
writing tablets, some of which still displayed
not final legible letters, legal agreements, and nancial
documents. (Another site yielded shopping lists,
party invitations, and a contract for the sale of
a slave girl.) The extraordinary preservation
10 ft 20 ft is owed to a forgotten little stream called the
Walbrook, which owed through the heart of
Roman Londinium on its way to the Thames. Its
human history along the River Thamesfrom marshy banks and waterlogged soils preserved
the early Mesolithic, some 11,000 years ago, to almost anything that fell into them.
the late Victorian, at the end of the 19th century. Good old English damp, Watson says,
The discoveries also include the bones of thou- laughing. Thanks to the Thames and its tribu-
sands of rank-and-le Londoners who died and taries, London has one of the best environments
were buried in graveyards that were built over for preserving artifacts that anyone could hope
and forgotten centuries ago. to have. Leather, wood, and metal objects that
These excavations have provided us with would rot or rust away anyplace else come out of
fascinating snapshots into the lives of London- the ground here in amazingly good condition.
ers through the ages, says Don Walker, a hu-
man osteologist, or bone specialist, for MOLA. By far the biggest boon to London archaeol-
It makes you realize that we all are just small, ogy has been the $23 billion Crossrail project,
passing players in a very long-running story. the new east-west underground commuter rail
One of the earliest chapters of that story came link that is both Europes largest engineering
to light after 2010 at the three-acre building site project and its biggest archaeological dig. Since
for Bloomberg London, the soon-to-open Euro- work began in 2009, Crossrails 26 miles of tun-
pean headquarters of the Bloomberg nancial nels and more than 40 construction sites have
empire. Located in the ancient ward of Cord- turned up thousands of artifacts and fossils
wainer, where leather workers had plied their spanning the past 70,000 years.
trade since Roman times, a 40-foot-deep exca- The largest and most spectacular excavation
vation pit turned out to be one of the most sig- was launched this past spring in front of the busy
nicant early Roman sites ever found in London. Liverpool Street Station. Plans to build an un-
As the soil was removed, entire street scenes derground ticketing hall meant cutting through
were revealed, complete with timber-framed the old Bedlam burial ground, the citys rst mu-
shops, homes, fences, and yards. Dating from nicipal cemetery. The job entailed exhuming the
the early 60s A.D. onward, the site was in such an skeletons of more than 3,300 Londoners; most
astonishing state of preservation that archaeolo- died in the 16th and 17th centuries, when the
gists dubbed it the Pompeii of the north. More citys streets were often stalked by plague.
under london 97
SECOND CENTURY Digging at a new hotel site
in 2013, archaeologists uncovered one of the best
preserved sculptures from Roman Britain. It depicts
a serpent writhing in the clutches of an eagle and
may have adorned the mausoleum of an ofcial.
MOLA; ENDURANCE LAND AND ABERDEEN ASSET MANAGEMENT
14TH CENTURY Half of Londons population
died during the Black Death pandemic of
1348-1350. Victims included these individuals,
whose skeletons were uncovered near
Charterhouse Square.
MOLA; CROSSRAIL
13TH-CENTURY PERFUME BOTTLE FROM THE MIDDLE EAST (MOLA)
London 1936
PE
O
AT C
R
A London EU
L
O
EA N TI
N C
A F RI CA
HACKNEY
ISLINGTON
CAMDEN
Stratford
Centre (Site of 2012 Olympics)
Point Liverpool Stepney Green
BT Street NEWHAM
Tower Junction
Farringdon
30 St TOWER
HEADSTONE OF A 1665 PLAGUE VICTIM FROM BEDLAM BURIAL GROUND (MOLA; CROSSRAIL) Paddington Mary Axe HAMLETS
To Reading (32 mi) Big
W ES
ST O2 arena
ER
HAMMERSMITH Londinium Th Plumstead
A.D. 43410 a m es GREENWICH
AND Portal
FULHAM (Roman)
LAMBETH
LEWISHAM
WANDSWORTH
SUNKEN CITY
The new Crossrail route runs for 73 miles
(26 miles underground) through a metropolis
that has been growing for centuries.
NEOLITHIC HAND AX UNEARTHED AT THE SITE OF THE LONDON OLYMPICS (MUSEUM OF LONDON)
UNEARTHING LONDON 0 ft
200 ft
To Reading
BT Tower
(Buildings at half scale)
Centre
Point
Big
Ben
A BRONZE AGE (2000600 B.C.) B ROMAN PERIOD (A.D. 43410) C MEDIEVAL LONDON (10661485) D TUD
Plumstead Portal Area Liverpool Street Farringdon Station Stepn
Nomads built tracks from tree trunks across these marshes to Roman rule marked a period of growth for the settlement of The discovery of 25 skeletons provides evidence of Londons Archa
make travel and hunting easier. Crossrail teams found a stone Londinium. Remains of a large road as well as skulls from second emergency burial ground for victims of the Black Death John
hammer and wooden stakes with pointed ends. nearby Roman cemeteries were found at this construction site. (1348-1350). Half the citys population died. shelte
Settlement Wooden structure Other artifacts Second-century population 35,000 1300 population 80,000 1556
Surface Liverpool
Street Farringdon
Tunnel
Direction
of view Walbrook
London Lo
Tha m
Tha m
Tha m
Londinium 1381
A.D. 43410
es es es
Modern-day Plumstead
0 mi 2 Thames Portal
0 km 2
Ground
level below
present day 14 ft Lost River 14 ft
Walbrook
10 ft
LONDON THROUGH TIME THE BRONZE AGE 500 THE IRON AGE (CELTIC BRITAIN) 0 ROMAN
FERNANDO G. BAPTISTA AND LAUREN C. TIERNEY, NGM STAFF; SOURCES: JAY CARVER (LEAD ARCHAEO
OLOGIST), MARIT LEENSTRA, AND ANDREW DEMPSEY, CROSSRAIL; JOHN CLARK, MUSEUM OF LONDON; JON COULSTON, UNIVE
O
VICTORIA SGARRO, DAISY CHUNG THE LONDON ENCYCLOPAEDIA; ORDNAN
ANCE SURVEY; LONDON: THE ILLUSTRATED HISTORY; LONDON: THE INFORMATION CAPITAL
AN
The Shard 30 St Stepney Green To Shenfield Areas shown below New station Tunnel
B Mary Axe Junction
C E
D The O2 arena River Thames Plumstead Portal
F A
Road Farringdon Liverpool Street Whitechapel Canary Wharf Custom House Woolwich Abbey Wood
ondon London
Tha m
Tha m
Tha m
1556 1836
London
es 1676 es es Shipyard
Slipway
Keel
7 ft 8 ft
5 ft
500 ANGLO-SAXON 1000 MEDIEVAL 1500 TUDOR STUART GEORGIAN VICTORIAN 20TH CENTURY
604, St. Pauls Cathedral founded 1066, Norman invasion 1215, Magna Carta 1666, The Great Fire 1863, Worlds first underground railway
The
Changing
Face of 5
Saudi
Women
In a deeply conservative culture, women are carefully
redening the boundaries of respectable public life.
Modesty around strangers is obligatory, but some 9
women now feel comfortable using social media like
Instagram to celebrate their identities.
13
110
2 3 4
6 7 8
10 11 12
14 15 16
@eggdancer: 1, 15; @arej_photography: 2, 3, 4, 9; @hebz: 5; @77media: 6, 14; @solafabatterjee: 7; @Aisha_photo: 8; @studiolucha: 10; @aramdesigns: 11; @rozabee: 12, 16; @jazzebell: 13
POWER BRUNCH, SAUDI VERSION Aljazi Alrakan (standing), a dentist and self-described lifestyle blogger, joins
friends in a fashionable Riyadh restaurant. Medicine and teaching were careers open to Saudi women early on;
both suited a single-sex clientele. With more women than men now in universities, there are new careers,
Alrakan says. I look at girls in their early 20s, and I think, They carry themselves more condently. 113
GLAMOUR FINDS ITS OWN DISPLAY In the comfort of no-men-allowed settings, like this fashion show put on by
an Italian stylist in a Riyadh store, Saudi women of means explore different styles. Models like this one are often
foreign, as that role is still seen as risqu. A womans new party dress and eye makeup might be seen only
by her husband and female friends; for those who can afford these things, theyre enticing nonetheless. 115
By Cynthia Gorney
Photographs by Lynsey Addario
I
nside her familys sitting room, where SEPARATION IS
EVERYWHERE,
she had plumped onto a sofa to pour us EVEN IN LINE
Arabic coffee, Noof Hassan was test- Food outlets, like this
ing out the word headhunted. She caf in Riyadh, must
had never learned this in her English follow unique Saudi
classes at school, and when she heard me say laws: All lines, counters,
and eating areas are
it, she made me repeat it because she liked it so
divided to keep unrelated
much. Yes! she said. I was headhunted. Id men and women apart,
had many offers before. But this time even my although customers
boss said, We dont want you to gobut this is sometimes ignore the
a good offer.
signs. Saudi authorities
insist, to an extent
Noof is 32 and has thick brown hair, cara-
unmatched in any other
mel skin, and merry, almond-shaped eyes. The Muslim country, that
apartment she shares with her husband, Sami, Islam demands this
and their two small sons takes up one oor of a separation in public and
three-story building in a crowded neighborhood that these rules keep
society orderly, honor
of Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia. Two years
tradition, and show
ago, the rst time I met her, she was a manager respect for God.
in a food-processing factory, overseeing a doz-
en workers in an experimental all-female wing
that was part of a nationwide campaign to draw
Saudi women into paying jobs. Now, in the light- encouragements of the late King Abdullah bin
ing assembly plant that had just poached her Abdulaziz, are now debating what it means to
away, Noof was in charge of ten times that many. be both truly modern and truly Saudithis mat-
Her salary had shot up too. ter of mixing remains very controversial indeed.
They have given me a nickname there, she There are women here who wont even consider
said. The women Noof supervises work in an area a job that requires it.
off-limits to men, but this companys managerial There are women who might consider such a
offices are mixed, as the Saudis say: men and job but are overruled by their parents, or their
women, unrelated by blood or marriage, in close husbands, or worried relatives saying, no, not
proximity every day. Addressing each other with you; other Muslim countries may permit such
more than formal courtesies. Attending meet- a thing, but in Saudi Arabia this is not what
ings at the same conference table. Maybe poring decent women do. There are women at the
side by side over the same document. Saudi Ara- opposite end of the spectrum too, quite at ease
bia is the most profoundly gender-segregated with male colleaguesin the past decade, gov-
nation on Earth, and amid the fraught, fragile, ernment scholarship programs have sent tens of
extraordinary changes under way in the daily thousands of Saudi women to study abroad, and
lives of the kingdoms womenmultiple gen- theyre coming home, many impatient to push
erations, pushed by new labor policies and the the pace of change.
s au d i wo m e n 117
Saudi Arabia is the
worlds most gender-
segregated nation,
JORDAN
but amid changes now IRAQ
I CA
a
under way, multiple FR
Se
Jeddah Riyadh KUWAIT
A BAHRAIN
generations of women SAUDI QATAR
Red
U.A.E.
ARABIA
are debating how N
YE M EN OMA a
to be truly modern Arabia
n
Se
proliferate in Jeddah, the less conservative port female citizen to live under the supervision
city in the west, but in Riyadh a nonblack abaya of a legally recognized male guardian, her fa-
worn in public still invites scowls from strang- ther or husband or some other family member,
ers and possible rebuke by the street-patrolling who must grant formal permission before she
religious police. The abaya Noof pulled out had can obtain a passport, complete certain legal
gray plaid trim, with a ashy hint of red in the matters, or travel abroad. The last nation, oth-
plaidNoof had bought it in Jeddah. And pock- er than Vatican City, to grant women the vote;
ets, very convenient, a cell phone pocket sewn the inaugural registration period was just six
onto the left sleeve. Noof shrugged the abaya months ago, and women who lived more than
over her skirt and blouse, the way one might walking distance from the sign-up sites needed
don a raincoat. She snapped it down the middle, men to chauffeur them there.
recasting her outer shape as an elongated black In Saudi Arabia all restaurants serving both
triangle. She wrapped her black tarha, the long men and women have divided eating areas, one
Arabian head scarf, over her hair and under her for singles, which means men, and one for
chin and once more over her head. families, which means women, plus children
Wheres my purse? Noof asked. Sami and any men in their parties who are close rela-
brought it to her. Then, just before crossing the tives. Men and women not tied by blood or mar-
threshold of their apartment buildings front riage can pretend they are, but risk rousting by
gate, Noof draped the remaining length of tarha religious police; law and social dictates prohibit
completely over her face, which vanished, leav- them from sitting together. Inside shopping
ing visible only the skin of her ungloved hands. mall food courts, where Middle East brands
We climbed into their Toyota, Sami and Noof up compete alongside McDonalds and KFC, gen-
front, and headed out into the evening to shop. der partitions doubling as menu signs divide
each stalls ordering counter.
The litany of only nation in the world All sorts of practical matters, including the
rules in Saudi Arabia is familiar by now, partly physical layout of buildings, are arranged in
because it provides such provocative news fod- deference to mandates that Saudi women be
der for disapproving outsiders: The only nation segregated from men. When King Abdullah
in the world that prohibits women from driving declared in 2011 that he would begin appoint-
cars. The only nation that requires every adult ing women to the royal advisory council, the
s au d i wo m e n 119
CELL PHONES UPDATE A VENERABLE PASTIME In winter the Saudi tradition of weekend picnics in the
desertwith SUVs, multicourse meals, and dune buggies so the men can roar around on the sandremains
popular. Three of the ve al Basri sisters relax as their children romp on this slope outside Riyadh.
In summer, air-conditioned shopping malls are the public destination most inviting to women and families. 121
newly ush with oil money, and still a patchwork FEMALE, SAUDI,
AND FIERCE
of Arab cultures, from desert tribes with ancient
Long discouraged from
traditions to cosmopolitan cities along the coasts.
sports, especially those
Although Islam of an especially conservative and that clerics call mascu-
all-consuming form was the faith of the whole line, urban women are
country, its expression varied from place to place. drawn to clubs and
And in certain Saudi regions of that era, older home gyms where they
can exercise away from
women remember, there was nothing shocking
men. Halah Alhamrani,
about going out in a casual short abaya or wear- 39, teaches kickboxing
ing modest clothing with no outer cover at all. at her home in Jeddah;
Most of us went without veils, a retired Riyadh shes a physical trainer,
pediatrician in her 70s recalled. Sitting with a a career that women are
taking up despite some
man you are not married to, in a restaurant? No
hostile response. Not
problem, as long as you were behaving correctly. just men, says another
And thenthe change. Some twisting, I will say. Jeddah trainer. A lot of
In the mind, in the heart. closed-minded women
The change came in the 1980s, as conser- see what were doing as
a disgrace.
vative Islamist movements were burgeoning
throughout the Middle East. The Saudi govern-
ment, its legitimacy threatened by such upheav-
al, enlisted religious police in a kingdom-wide
crackdown that imposed upon all Saudis the
rigidity of its most conservative cultures. School
curriculum was revamped. Music was silenced
as un-Islamic. Couples walking or driving in
public together were forced to show police their
marriage licenses.
And central to the conservative crusade was
the castigation of women: for succumbing to
Western inuence, for appearing outside the cleavage. We veil our faces, they would tell me,
home without male guardians, for speaking in when it feels right. When our families follow
voices that might distract or seduce men, for imams who insist the face is awrah, even though
dishonoring God by failing to drape themselves other imams say it isnt. When the boys we knew
completely in black. In Arabic, Muslims use the as children would be titillated and embarrassed
word awrah to mean the more private parts of to see our adult faces exposed. When the mes-
the body, those a respectable person always cov- sage we want to give off is respect me, not look at
ers in public. Every society in the world has its me. Women debate each other about the niqab,
own versions of awrah, and the Saudi Arabia of which is the word Saudis use for the black,
the past few decades has instructed all its faith- tie-on cloth made specically for covering the
ful to regard as awrah not only a womans hair, face; I once sat through a table-pounding niqab
as is widely taught across the Muslim world, but argument among three Riyadh feminists, one
also her calves, her arms, and perhapsdepend- of whom insisted that any modern woman who
ingher face. chooses to veil her face does so only under
Saudis were amused by my efforts to grasp pressure from the oppressive society around
this depending part; it was like a newcomer her. (Its NEVER a choice! It is dehumanizing
to American culture interrogating one wom- to wear the niqab! How can you SAY that?
an after another about the rules for displaying NEVER A CHOICE!)
s au d i wo m e n 123
Educated and Entering
the Workforce
Over the past four decades Saudi Arabia has achieved substantial advances in
education for women, most recently under reforms instituted by the late King Abdullah.
Although he encouraged women to study and work, the nation still lags behind many
other Muslim countries when it comes to employment opportunities for women.
1979 2014
Three out of ten school-age Dramatic growth in oil revenue in the 1970s and 80s enabled the
girls were enrolled. country to build more schools. Today 99 percent of girls attend.
127
Men
4,384,137
104 78%
93 103
U.S. 78 Women
72 412,709
Men
15%
581,136
Middle
East / 49 Men
North 2,411,006
Africa 85%
Women
Saudi
15 68,959
Arabia
Men
89,448
MONICA SERRANO, NGM STAFF; KELSEY NOWAKOWSKI. SOURCES: WORLD BANK; SAUDI ARABIA
CENTRAL DEPARTMENT OF STATISTICS AND INFORMATION AND MINISTRY OF EDUCATION
Women at Work
Despite their education, women seeking jobs face many
obstacles, including the lack of day care, the inability to
drive themselves to work, complex segregation rules,
and scarce opportunities in fields such as manufacturing.
Women Men
54 %
of women over
AGE
60-64 60%
of men over
15 years old are 15 years old
homemakers. 55-59 are employed.
50-54
45-49
35-39
30-34
20-24
1,000,000 800,000 600,000 400,000 200,000 0 0 200,000 400,000 600,000 800,000 1,000,000
Number of Saudi citizens
s au d i wo m e n 125
this guy, hes a Muslim, but he doesnt follow car windows things were dimmer and grayer,
Islam in the right way, he said finally. This but visible. A few blocks ahead, a lighted mall
man thinks, She doesnt cover her face because hove into view.
she likes people to look at her face. They think
like this. I needed a new abaya because a female Saudi
I said that in many societies it was not un- acquaintance with a mordant wit had suggest-
common for a man, when troubled by the way ed that the fraying abaya Id been wearing for
another man was contemplating his wife, to weeks might best be retired by burning it. Emer-
threaten to punch his lights out. gency shopping help pls, I texted Noof, and Noof
Sami nodded. He was smiling. If I ght with had texted back, sure my dear. Now we left Sami
the guy, he said, that means I ght every day. to stash the car alongside the other husbands
Noof chuckled. Too much effort, she said, and chauffeurs while Noof led me briskly to the
from behind the black of her scarf. Look, you abaya wing, where seven shops stood side by
can see everything. Try it. I was wearing a tar- side, a plate-glass-fronted lineup of uttering,
ha and tried to rewrap like Noof: twice around shimmering shades of black.
tightly, with the remaining scarf length pulled Whoa, I said. Noof winked at me. She had
over my face. The cloth was sheer, evidently wo- rearranged her tarha to half veilmen dont
ven with this purpose in mind, and outside the hang around abaya shops much. I think this
s au d i wo m e n 127
SOMEDAY IT WILL BE JUST A CAR, NOT A FLASH POINT The kingdoms refusal to license women drivers
has received so much international press by now that despite ongoing pro-driving campaigns, many women
have soured on the issue. Eventually, they sayon a Saudi timetablewomen will be allowed to drive.
At a Riyadh luxury goods fair, these women pretend to drive while they pose for photos of themselves. 129
This obligation often operate alongside national police and are
authorized to advise, berate, and arrest) is called
to hide the female the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and
form from men the Prevention of Vice.
The conviction that a societys virtue and vice
who are not family, can be managed by keeping men and women
so perplexing and apartthat by nature men are lustful and wom-
en seductive, so that being a good Muslim re-
unsettling to quires constant attention to the perils of close
outsiders, can be contactis so foundational in daily life that it
reappears, for the mystied visitor, in one ex-
complicated for planation after another. The reason hotel swim-
Saudis too. ming pools wont admit women or set aside a
ladies-only hour: Men might glimpse womens
moving shapes in the water. The reason most
Saudi clothing stores have no dressing rooms:
Women wont take their clothes off with male
women to accept the prospect of voting and clerks on the other side of the door. The reason
running for office themselves. Hostility from Saudi Arabia has only one movie theater, a new
traditionalists has been part of their challenge, science museum IMAX: The government shut
but so has indifference, even from ambitious all cinemas during the conservative surge in the
women: The rst time in nearly a half centu- 1980s. Besides screening problematic Western
ry that Saudi men voted was in 2005, and the movies, dark movie theaters make it easier for
only elected offices are municipal council seats, men and women to mix.
positions of no authority. The Kingdom of Saudi And the famous prohibition against wom-
Arabia is not a constitutional monarchy. Theres en drivers? Raising this with Saudi girls and
no separate prime minister, no parliament. Ab- women, I found, elicits an interesting set of
solute control remains in the hands of the Al reactions, often in the same sequence. First,
Sauds, the now enormous family for whom the they say, it is a certainty that Saudi women will
nation was named. be driving sooner or later, despite the thriving
Sometimes were in the 21st century, and subeconomytaxis, private drivers, the recruit-
sometimes were in the 19th, a professional ing industry that brings in those drivers from
Riyadh woman who has lived abroad told me, abroadthat feeds off the men-only rules. Some
sounding both aggrieved and resigned. And women drive already, in the desert or other ar-
imagine yourself in the European Middle Ages, eas where no one pays attention; a causeway
with the Catholic Church. She meant that in connects eastern Saudi Arabia to Bahrain, and
Saudi Arabia, dogmatic religious leaders and its not unusual for Saudi husbands or chauf-
a royal dynasty still officially share power, to feurs to exit the drivers seat at the border so the
an extent almost unfathomable to people from madam can take over.
more secular countries. Insults to Islam or The second reaction is a sober consideration
threats to national securityboth expedient- of the anti-women-driving arguments. The
ly elastic categories, encompassing blogging, proposition that women would prove unt be-
social media, and open defense of the already hind the wheel and cause accidentspreposter-
accusedare among the crimes punishable by ous; the traffic death rate on Saudi highways is a
imprisonment, ogging, or death. Executions source of national despair. The proposition that
are carried out by public beheading. The or- women would have affairs and abandon their
ganization that runs the religious police (who families if they could leave home whenever
Photojournalist Lynsey Addario What makes these pho- We typically see pictures
has covered conflicts around the tographs so signicant? of women in abayas and
globe, most especially in the Middle It is extremely difficult to niqabs, shopping at up-
East and Africa. Her recent work photograph women in scale malls. I wanted to
has focused on Syrian refugees and Saudi Arabia. A majority show a nuanced picture
maternal mortality in Sierra Leone. refused to appear in print. of these womens lives.
KURSAT BAYHAN
s au d i wo m e n 131
many women, and somebody comes up to me in for special vitriol too. Officially, a woman is
and says, Do you think we care that we drive? supposed to be able to work, receive medical
This is not our main goal.
treatment, or enroll in university without her
Ask women from any country what the Main guardians permission. But in Saudi Arabia the
Goal is, and answers will y at you from many official law often yields to tradition, individual
directions. So it is in Saudi Arabia, where Ive interpretations of religious obligation, or fear
listened and read as women assail the high di- of repercussions from a womans family. (Some
vorce rate and the divorce system itself (fathers employers wont hire a woman, for example,
gain custody of all but very young children); the without her guardians approval.) And there are
double-standard citizenship rules (gaining cit- men who use their guardianships, many women
izenship is straightforward for foreign women say, to punish, control, manipulate.
who marry Saudi men, but almost impossible These are brutal but discrete challenges,
for foreign men who marry Saudi women); and women kept telling me, to be taken on one by
the treatment of some of the kingdoms new one, and requiring delicate maneuvering in a
working women (long hours, low pay). place where religious faith, family honor, and
The requirement that every woman live un- state power remain so tightly intertwined. Any
der the guardianship of a designated male comes outsider urging her countrywomen to ing off
s au d i wo m e n 133
Midnight
Slalom
PROOF A PHOTOGRAPHERS JOURNAL | proof.nationalgeographic.com
ALASKA
(U.S.)
Anchorage
B.C.
Golden
CANADA
U.S.
By JEREMY BERLIN
Photographs by OSKAR ENANDER
H
ow do you illuminate a mountain, dazzle the snow with
colored light, and take nocturnal skiing to vivid new heights?
First, nd pristine slopes in the craggy, sylvan backcoun-
try of British Columbia and Alaska. Then, gure out how
to get 10,000 pounds of equipment4,000-watt lights the
size of washing machines, generators to power them, scaffolding, wire and
cableup peaks higher than 7,000 feet. Spend months calculating wattage
and beam diameters, weights and fuel consumption, distances and topogra-
phy. Hire skilled gaffers and grips. Enlist a cadre of elite athletes. Put battery
packs in their pockets, zip them into light suits, and strap LED-spangled
packs on their backs. Turn the camera on. Hope for the best.
Thats what Nick Waggoner and his partners at Sweetgrass Productions
did in spring 2014, when a commercial shoot gave them the resources they
needed to realize a longtime dream: lming night-skiing segments on a big
mountain. With Swedish ski photographer Oskar Enander on hand to shoot
still photos as they lmed, they set about bringing the dream to life.
I cant overstate how intense it was to do all this stuff, says Waggoner.
So much of it had never been done before. And we were working in places
with incredibly dynamic terrain, some of the deepest snow on Earth, and
ever changing weather patterns. Many, many things could go wrong.
Some of them did. Eleven days into the Alaska shoot, with everything
nally in place, a critical extension cord went missing. Waggoner had to per-
suade a helicopter pilot to y 20 miles, in the gathering dark, to fetch a new
one. There were times, he says, when I put my head in my hands and said,
Im defeated. Im lost. How were we this dumb to think this was possible?
Enander had his own challenges. For one thing, he couldnt use a ash;
even a fraction of a second would have disturbed the video shoot. That
A snowshoed gaffer adjusts lights made it hard to get crisp images. The biggest hurdle for me, he says, was
near Golden, British Columbia. shutting out my daylight thinking and focusing on shooting the night.
Each shot took hours to set up, But in the end, Waggoner says, the dream was realized. This project is a
says photographer Oskar Enander, metaphor for thinking big and doing things you didnt think were possible.
so we had to get it right. We want to give people new eyes to reimagine the world.j
Over the
Rainbow
Long before a party of white
explorers laid eyes on it in
1909, the red stone formation
in what is now Utah was a
sacred site for Navajo, Hopi,
Zuni, Paiute, and other native
peoples. They came to pray
and make offerings under the
290-foot-tall bridge, carved
eons ago by coursing water.
In 1910 the U.S. govern-
ment established the Rainbow
Bridge National Monument,
with the aim of preserving the
natural marvel. For decades
tourists could clamber on and
around the span, as seen in
this 1927 photo by one Hugh
Stevens Bell. Someone is
demonstrating that it is perfect-
ly safe to wax acrobatic atop
the bridge, says Bells caption.
Whether or not it was safe,
or good for the landmark, signs
posted by the National Park
Service since 1995 have asked
tourists not to walk under or
onto the bridge, out of respect
for the cultural traditions of
associated tribes. And the
NPS website urges visitors to
approach it as you would a
church. Patricia Edmonds
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