I graduated with a Ph.D. in Anthropology from the Pennsylvania State University in 2003 with a specialization in anthropological archaeology.  I have been engaged in archaeological fieldwork in Mesoamerica since 1995.  My primary research interests lie in the development and organization of ranked and state-level societies in Mesoamerica, and I have two research programs presently under way in Mexico. I have also begun a research project in South Asia. My research addresses complex society, political economy, culture ecology, exchange systems, households, and settlement patterning.

My major research focus is Mesoamerica, where I am engaged in research on Mexico’s southern Gulf coast that on one level is investigating the development and organization of the Olmec culture (1200-500 B.C.), and on another level investigating the archaeology of Olmec households. I have also begun laying the foundation for research in eastern Sri Lanka, with a focus there on Early Iron Age developments (ca. 900 B.C. – A.D. 100). In all of my research I employ a range of quantitative (e.g., statistical), spatial (GIS), technological (e.g., GC/MS analysis), and field (GPS, remote sensing, etc.) tools to aid in data management, pattern identification, and analysis.

Field Projects:

Research Interests:

Anthropological Archaeology

Complex Societies

Political Economy        

Cultural Ecology          

Formative Period Cultures

Olmec Archaeology

Ceramic Analysis

Exchange Systems                               

GIS

Mesoamerica   

Sri Lanka

Courses Taught:

ANTH 103      Introduction to Archaeology                 

ANTH 327      Origins of Civilization               

ANTH 423      The Ancient Maya

ANTH 428      Prehistoric North America

ANTH 424      Aztecs and Their Predecessors

ANTH 481      Contemporary Anthropology

ANTH 504T    Origin and Development of Social Inequality

ANTH 504T    GIS and Archaeology

ANTH 504T    Ceramic Analysis

Recent Publications:

2007    Los Olmecas: Los Primeros Petroleros. Arqueología Mexicana (septiembre-octubre de 2007) (Cultura Olmeca) 15(87):56-59.  (http://www.arqueomex.com/S2N3nPetroleros87.html)

in press “El Antiguo Procesamiento y Uso de Chapopote en las Tierras Bajas de San Lorenzo, Veracruz, Mexico.”  In Ideología, Política, y Sociedad en el Periodo Formativo, edited by Ann Cyphers and Kenneth G. Hirth. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico, Instituto de Investigaciones Antropológicas, Mexico. 

2006 “Sourcing Archaeological Bitumen in the Olmec Region” Journal of Archaeological Science 33(1):89-97. (with Shan-Tan Lu). View Article

2005 “Using Refuse Disposal Patterns to Infer Olmec Site Structure in the San Lorenzo Region, Veracruz, Mexico” Latin American Antiquity 16(4):449-466.

2005 “Excavations at El Remolino: Household Archaeology in the San Lorenzo Olmec Region.” Journal of Field Archaeology 30:163-180.

2003 Early Formative Domestic Organization and Community Patterning in the San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán Region, Veracruz, Mexico.  Unpublished PhD dissertation, Pennsylvania State University.

2003 “Buried Floodplain Deposits at Tres Zapotes: The Results from an Auger Testing Program.”  In Settlement Archaeology and Political Economy at Tres Zapotes, Veracruz, Mexico, edited by Christopher A. Pool, pp. 32-46.  Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, University of California at Los Angeles.