Education
December 2009 Southern Methodist University (SMU) Dallas TX: Ph.D. Anthropology
Dissertation Title: Ritual, Process, and Continuity in the Late to Terminal Classic Transition: Investigations at Structure M13-1 in the Ancient Maya Site of El Perú-Waka’, Petén, Guatemala
May 2007 Southern Methodist University (SMU) Dallas TX: Master of Arts in Anthropology specializing in Archaeology.
1994-1998 St. Mary’s University San Antonio, TX: Bachelor of Arts, Cum Laude, in Multinational Organizational Studies (M.O.S.) in Spanish and Sociology
Undergraduate Thesis Title: “Las Políticas de la Arqueología en México”
Academic Employment
2018-Present Associate Professor of Anthropology & Archaeology – The College of Wooster
2012-2018 Assistant Professor of Anthropology & Archaeology – The College of Wooster
2010 –2012 University of New Mexico Division for Equity and Inclusion (DEI) and Department of Anthropology Postdoctoral Diversity Fellow
2011–Present Visiting Instructor of Anthropology at the Department of Anthropology at the University of New Mexico (UNM)
2010 Summer II Visiting Adjunct Professor of Anthropology at the Department of Anthropology, Southern Methodist University (SMU)
2010 Spring Visiting Adjunct Professor of Anthropology at the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Texas at Arlington (UTA)
2009-2010 Visiting Adjunct Professor of Archaeology at the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Collin County Community College District – (CCCCD)
2007 Fall Visiting Professor of Anthropology at the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Trinity University (TU)
2006 – Spring Ethnographic Research Assistant to Dr. Robert Van Kemper – Project on the Latino immigrant use of alternative transportation systems
2005- Fall Ethnographic Research Assistant to Dr. Caroline Brettell – Russell Sage Grant funded South Asians of North Texas Immigration Research Project
2001-2004 Teaching Assistant for at the Department of Anthropology, Southern Methodist University
Non-Academic Employment
2017-Present Co-Director for the El Perú-Waka’ Archaeological Project
2008-2010 Research and Administrative Assistant for the Women’s and Gender Studies Program, Southern Methodist University
2006-2007 Assistant to Dean of Graduate Studies, Southern Methodist University
2005- Summer Administrative assistant for the Institute for the Study of Earth and Man (ISEM)
2000-2001 Instructor of English as a Foreign Language (EFL): Centro de Idiomas Del Sureste (CIS) Mérida, Yucatán
Courses Taught
- Peoples and Cultures of Latin America – C.O.W. (1 semester)
- First Year Seminar in Critical Inquiry: Ancient and Modern Maya Worlds – C.O.W. (1 semester)
- Introduction to Four-Field Anthropology – C.O.W. (6 semesters)
- Introduction to Archaeology – C.O.W. (7 semesters)
- Archaeological Method and Theory – C.O.W. (3 semesters)
- Introduction to Physical Anthropology – C.O.W. (6 semesters)
- Mesoamerican Archaeology – C.O.W. (4 semesters)
- Strategies of Archaeology – UNM – (1 semester)
- Topics: Ritual and Religion in Mesoamerica – UNM – (Graduate level seminar – 1 semester)
- Gender and Sex Roles – SMU (Summer II Session)
- Introduction to Four-Field Anthropology – UT Arlington (1 semester)
- Introduction to Archaeology – Collin County Community College (2 semesters)
- Introduction to Prehistoric Archaeology – Trinity University (2 sections – 1 semester)
Teaching Assisted Courses
2003-2004 Introduction to Cultural Anthropology – SMU
2004 Culture, Food, and the Global Grocery Market – SMU
Fall 2002 Fantastic Archaeology – SMU
Spring 2002 Great Plains of North America – SMU
Fall 2001 Origins of Language and Culture – SMU
Publications
Books
2014 Archaeology at El Perú-Waka’: Performances of Ritual, Memory, and Power Navarro-Farr, Olivia C. and Michelle E. Rich (Eds.) The University of Arizona Press
Articles and Book Chapters
2020 Forest of Queens: The Legacy of Royal Calakmul Women at El Perú-Waka’s Central Civic-Ceremonial Temple (with Griselda Pérez Robles, Juan Carlos Pérez Calderón, and Keith Eppich) in A Forest of History: The Maya after the Emergence of Divine Kinship. Travis Stanton and M. Kathryn Brown (Editors) The University Press of Colorado, Boulder
2020 The Ix Kaloomte’ Phenomenon: Classic Maya Warrior Queens. First author with Mary Kate Kelly, Michelle Rich, and Griselda Pérez Robles. Feminist Anthropology.
2020 Science 101: Teaching Scientific Anthropology in the Age of “Alternative” Facts. In Open Rivers: Rethinking Water, Place, and Community. 16 (Winter 2020).
2020 Inclusive Comparisons for Undergraduates in Archaeology: Representation and Diversity in and Beyond the Classroom. Society for American Archaeology: SAA Archaeological Record.
2020 Ancient Maya Queenship: Generations of Crafting State Politics and Alliance Building from Kaanul to Waka’. (First author with David A. Freidel, Keith Eppich, and Griselda Pérez Robles) Brett A. Houk, Barbara Arroyo, and Terry Powis (Editors). The University Press of Florida.
Forthcoming (2020) [Report] Burial 61 at El Peru-Waka’s Structure M13-1 (first author with Griselda Pérez Robles, Juan Carlos Pérez Calderón, Damaris Menéndez Bolaños, Erin Patterson, and Keith Eppich) – Latin American Antiquity
R&R (2018) Feeding the Gods, Calling the Rains: Archaeobotanical Remains from a Monumental Fire Shrine at El Peru-Waka’, Guatemala (Cagnato, Clarissa, Olivia C. Navarro-Farr, Griselda Pérez Robles, Juan Carlos Pérez Calderón and Damaris Menéndez) Latin American Antiquity
Under Review (2018) Queens and Statecraft: Royal Women as Agents of Kaanul at El Perú-Waka’ (first author with Michelle Rich, Keith Eppich, David Freidel, and Griselda Pérez). In Identity, Power, and Politics: 3,000 Years of War and Peace in the Maya Lowlands. Geoffrey Braswell and Valorie Aquino (Editors). Routledge Press, New York City.
In Prep Stelae, Spirits, Desecration and Devotion: The fate of some Time Lords in the Classic Maya World – (second author with David Freidel) – In The Materialization of Maya Time. David Freidel, Arlen Chase, Anne Dowd, and Jerry Murdock (Editors) University Press of Florida.
In Prep Ritual in Transition: Re-Examining Late-to-Terminal Classic Era above-floor Deposits at El Perú-Waka’s Primary Public Civic-Ceremonial Structure
2019 La Ciudad de los Ciempiés: Urbanismo, Fronteras, y Comunidad en El Perú-Waka’, Peten, Guatemala. (Third author with Damien B. Marken, Juan Carlos Pérez, and Keith Eppich). Ministerio de Cultura y Deportes, Instituto de Antropología e Historia, Asociación Tikal, Cd. de Guatemala.
2019 The Curious Case of Lady K’abel’s snuff bottle: the functionality, form, context, and distribution of Classic Maya tobacco flasks (2nd author with E. Keith Eppich) in Breath and Smoke: Tobacco Among the Maya Peoples. Jennifer Loughmiller-Cardinal and Keith Eppich (editors). The University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.
2017 Descubrimiento de las Estelas 43, 44, y 45 de El Perú, Petén, Guatemala: Nuevos Datos Iconográficos en la Historia del Reino de Waka’ (third author with David Freidel, Griselda Pérez, Juan Carlos Pérez, and Michelle Rich). Anuario de la Dirección General del Patrimonio Cultural y Natural, III Época No. 16, año 2017
2016 Enero/Febrero Investigaciones en El Perú-Waka’, Guatemala. First author with Griselda Pérez Robles, Juan Carlos Pérez, and Damaris Menéndez Bolaños. In Arqueología Mexicana, pp. 32-37.
2016 Dynamic Transitions at El Peru-Waka’: Late-Terminal Classic Ritual Repurposing of a Monumental Shrine. In Ritual, Violence, and the Fall of the Late Classic Maya Kings. Edited by Gyles Iannone, Brett Houk, and Sonja Schwake. University Press of Florida.
2015 Waka´, El Reino Del Ciempiés: La Reina K’abel y su Historia Recién Descubierta (fourth author with Juan Carlos Pérez, Griselda Pérez and David Freidel). In Jornadas Académicas del Museo de América.
2014 A Palimpsest Effect: The Multi-Layered Meanings of Late-to-Terminal Classic Era Above-Floor Deposits at Structure M13-1 (first author with Ana Lucía Arroyave Prera). In Archaeology at El Perú-Waka’: Performances of Ritual, Memory, and Power. Edited by Olivia C. Navarro-Farr and Michelle E. Rich. The University of Arizona Press.
2014 Archaeology, Ritual and the Maya: Weaving a Perspective from El Perú -Waka’ (second author with Michelle E. Rich). In Archaeology at El Perú-Waka’: Performances of Ritual, Memory, and Power. Edited by Olivia C. Navarro-Farr and Michelle E. Rich. The University of Arizona Press.
2008 Manipulating Memory in the Wake of Dynastic Decline at El Perú-Waka’: Termination Deposits at Abandoned Structure M13-1 (first author with David A. Freidel and Ana Lucía Arroyave Prera). In Ruins of the Past: The Use and Perception of Abandoned Structures in the Lowland Maya Area Edited by Travis Stanton and Aline Magnoni.
Conference Proceedings
Expected 2020 Waka’ y Teotihuacán en el Clásico Tardío-Terminal: Dos ciudades vinculadas por la historia y la memoria. In the Annual XXXII Simposio de Investigaciones Arqueológicas en Guatemala, July 2019. First author with Juan Carlos Pérez Mary Kate Kelly, David Freidel, and Damien Marken.
2014 El descubrimiento de la Estela 44 de El Perú-Waka’: un nuevo capítulo en la historia de los mayas antiguos del noroeste de Petén, Guatemala. In the Annual XXVII Simposio de Investigaciones Arqueológicas en Guatemala, July 2014. Fifth author with Griselda Pérez Robles, Stanley Guenter, David Freidel, and Francisco Castañeda.
2013 Hallazgos Recientes en la Estructura M13-1 de El Perú – Waka’. In the Annual Volume XXVI Simposio de Investigaciones Arqueológicas en Guatemala. July 15-20, 2012, Guatemala City, Guatemala.
2012 Transiciones Dinámicas en El Perú-Waka’: La Reutilización de un Santuario Monumental en el Clásico Tardío-Terminal. In the Annual Volume XXV Simposio de Investigaciones Arqueológicas en Guatemala. July 18-22, 2011, Guatemala City, Guatemala.
2007 Ceremonias, Conducta, y Sentido: Una Exploración de los Rituales de Terminación y Dedicación en las Estructuras M13-1 y N14-2 de El Perú-Waka’(first author with E. Keith Eppich and Ana Lucía Arroyave Prera). In the Annual Volume XXI Simposio de Investigaciones Arqueológicas en Guatemala. July 23-27, 2007, Guatemala City, Guatemala.
2006 Un Final Macabro: La Terminación Ritual de la Estructura M13-1 de El Perú-Waka’ (first author with Ana Lucía Arroyave Prera). In the Annual Volume XX Simposio de Investigaciones Arqueológicas en Guatemala. July 24-28 2006, Guatemala City, Guatemala.
2005 La Arquitectura Monumental en el Este de las Plazas 1 y 2 de El Perú-Waka’ (first author with Horacio Martínez). In the Annual Volume XVIII Simposio de Investigaciones Arqueológicas en Guatemala. July 2004, Guatemala City, Guatemala.
Book Reviews
2012 Journal of Anthropological Research – Review of: “Indigenous Peoples and Archaeology in Latin America. By Cristóbal Gnecco and Patricia Ayala, eds.
2011 Journal of Anthropological Research – Review of: “The Maya World of Communicating Objects: Quadripartite Crosses, Trees, and Stones” by Miguel Angel Astor-Aguilera.
Honors, Prizes, and Awards
2005, 2009 Graduate Student Assembly Award – SMU
2004-2005, 2007, 2009 Paul Steed Travel Award Department of Anthropology – SMU
2008 Graduate Research Day Poster Award – Dean of Research and Graduate Studies SMU.
2006, 2007 Graduate Student Dean’s Travel Award – SMU
2002 Honorable Mention, Graduate Research Fellowship, National Science Foundation
1998 The Maya Research Program Harkrider Scholarship
1997-1998 St. Mary’s University Department of Foreign Languages Scholarship for studies in the Multinational Organizational Studies (M.O.S.) Program in Spanish.
- Delta Epsilon Sigma (National Scholars Honor Society)
1995 Phi Sigma Iota (National Language Honor Society)
1994-1998 The St. Mary’s University Presidential Scholarship
Grants and Fellowships
2020 McClung Fund for International Research $7,360
2020 Henry Luce III Fund for Distinguished Scholarship $4,600
2020-2021 Alphawood Foundation – $ 125,000 – Proposal title: “Sacred Space, Time, and Commemoration in the Heart of a City: Defining the Construction History of Structure M13-1 and its Impact on the Citizenry of Ancient Waka’”
2019-2020 College of Wooster Instructional Technology Faculty Fellowship $1000
2017-2019 Alphawood Foundation – $326, 049 – Proposal title: “Marriage Diplomacy and Statecraft: Investigating the Enduring Role of Kaanul Women and their Political Legacies at Waka’: A Three-Year Proposal for Alphawood-Sponsored Field and Laboratory Investigations at El Perú-Waka’, Petén, Guatemala”
2016 Alphawood Foundation – $87, 582– Proposal title: “Royal Women of Influence: An Investigation of a Classic Period Lineage of Female Dynasts at Waka’”
2015 Apex Mini Grant – $308.00
2015 Henry Luce III Fund for Distinguished Scholarship Award – $3,960
2015 National Geographic Society Grant [#9688-15] – $25,000 – David Freidel and Juan Carlos Pérez co-PI’s
2013 Ralston Endowment Fund – The College of Wooster – $2,000
2012 Alphawood Foundation – $46, 608– Proposal title: “Ritual, Memory, and Sacred Landscapes at El Perú-Waka’: Ethnoarchaeological and Archaeological Perspectives”
2011-2012 PACUNAM Fundación Patrimonio Cultural y Natural Maya (of Guatemala) $75,000 1 year – With David Freidel and Mary Jane Acuña
2010-2012 Office for Equity and Inclusion Postdoctoral Diversity Fellowship – UNM
2009 Dean of Graduate Studies Research Grant – SMU – $4,500
2008 Institute for the Study of Earth and Man (ISEM) Research Grant – SMU – $1,000
2007-2008 Department of Anthropology Dissertation Writing Fellowship – SMU – $7,500
2003-2006 The Glick Foundation
2001-2007 Anthropology Department Tuition Exemption – SMU – $67, 398
2004 Student Diversity Travel Grant through the Archaeology Division of the AAA -$600
Invited Colloquia and Papers
(*slated for publication in an edited volume)
2021 Snake Queens and Political Consolidation: How Royal Women Helped Create Kaanul – a view from Waka’. Paper to be presented at the 86th Annual Meetings for the Society for American Archaeology, San Francisco, CA.
2019 College of Wooster, Cultural Studies Colloquium, “Doing Archaeology in Imperiled Communities and Landscapes of Northern Central America – Challenges and Potential Pathways Forward”
2019 Invited paper: The Symbolism and Technology of Classic Maya Tomb Debitage from El Peru-Waka (4th author). Paper to be presented at the 84th Annual Meetings for the Society for American Archaeology, Albuquerque, NM
2019 Invited participant in Forum Discussion: Panel title: Comparative Approaches for Mayanists: How to Proceed? Forum at the 84th Annual Meetings for the Society for American Archaeology, Albuquerque, NM
2019 Invited Electronic Talk: A Cosmopolitan Queen: Kaloomte’ K’abel’s place on the Ancient Maya world stage. Session title: Pre-Columbian Cosmopolitanisms. Paper to be presented at the 84th Annual Meetings for the Society for American Archaeology, Albuquerque, NM
2018 Invited paper: Science 101: Teaching Scientific Anthropology in the Age of Trump. Session title: Integrating Climate Change into Archaeological Curricula (Phyllis Messenger: session organizer). Paper to be presented at the 83rd Annual Meetings for the Society for American Archaeology, Washington D.C.
2018 Invited discussant for session: Palimpsest Urbanism: Charting the Long-term Development of the Ancient Maya Center of Actuncan, Belize. (David Mixter and Lisa LeCount: session organizers). At the 83rd Annual Meetings for the Society for American Archaeology, Washington D.C.
2017 UCLA Cotsen Institute of Archaeology — Friday seminar series Paper Title: Snake Queens and Statecraft: Kaanul Women and their Political Legacies at Waka’
2016 Invited Paper: Title “Queens and Statecraft: the legacy of royal women as agents of the Kaanul foothold at El Peru-Waka’” (with Michelle Rich) Session title: Understanding Classic Maya Hegemonic Networks Through Textual-Material Synergies: The Case of the Snake Kingdom (Simon Martin and Marcello Canuto, organizers and chairs) at the 81st Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Orlando, FL.
2016 Invited Lecture: Sex and Gender in the City: Women, Political Complexity, and Ritual Activity at El Perú-Waka’ (2nd author with Michelle Rich) 13th Annual Tulane Maya Symposium and Workshop. Conference title: Ixiktaak: Ancient Maya Women. New Orleans, LA
2015 Invited paper: Fire Ceremony, Sacred Memory, and Ritual Revitalization: Remembering Kaloomte K’abel at the Classic Maya City of El Peru-Waka’. Session title: Power, Politics, Violence, and Identity:3,000 Years of War and Peace in Central America. Parts I and II: AD 800-1900 (Geoffrey E. Braswell, Fabio E. Amador, Valorie V. Aquino, and Marlon V. Escamilla organizers). Congreso title: “Conflicto, Paz, y construcción de identidades en las Américas” at the 55th Annual Congreso Internacional de Americanistas – San Salvador, El Salvador.
2015 Invited paper: Los cambios llegan a Waka´: La historia de una Reina Maya en el entorno sociopolítico y religioso en el Clásico Tardío de una Capital Maya en el occidente de Petén. (Co-author with Juan Carlos Pérez, David Freidel, Griselda Pérez, and Keith Eppich) Paper to be presented at the XXIX Simposio de Investigaciones Arqueológicas en Guatemala, C.A.
2015* Invited Paper: “A Forest of Queens: The Legacy of Royal Calakmul Women at El Perú-Waka’s Central Civic-Ceremonial Temple” with Francisco Castañeda, Griselda Pérez, and Juan Carlos Pérez. Session title: Contextualizing Maya History and Archaeology Part I & II: Reflections on the 25th Anniversary of Forest of Kings Mesoamerica Maya Mesoamerica (M. Kathryn Brown and Travis Stanton, organizers and chairs) at the 80th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, San Francisco, CA.
2013 Invited Paper: “Una Guerrera Real y la Memoria de una Comunidad: El Entierro de Kaloomte’ K’abel.” Session Title: “Vida y Muerte del Abolengo Maya del Clásico. Confrontando la Bioarqueología con otras aproximaciones a su estudio.” (Andrea Cucina and Vera Tiesler organizers) at the 9th International Congreso de Mayistas, Campeche, MX.
2013 Invited Paper, “Staying Power: Ritual Dynamics of Pre-Abandonment Political and Symbolic Agency at Classic Maya El Perú-Waka’.” Session Title: “Living Abandonment: the Social Process of Detaching from Place.” (Patricia A. McAnany and Maxime Lamoureux St.-Hilaire organizers) at the 78th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Honolulu, HA.
2013 Invited lecture Archaeological Institute of America (AIA) – St. Louis Society. “Memory, Monuments, and Mortuary Ritual in the Ancient Maya City of El Peru-Waka’ (Guatemala)
2013 Invited Paper Mesoamerican Research Institute (MARI) “Royal Interment and Enduring Social Memory: The Archaeology of Burial 61 at El Perú-Waka’s Principle Public Shrine” Conference title “Kaanal: the Snake Kingdom of the Classic Maya” 10th Annual Tulane Maya Symposium & Workshop
2012 Invited Paper “Excavating Identity and Reclaiming Power: The Fusion of Chicana/o art and Pre-Columbian Iconography” Session title: “Latina/o Archaeology” (Albert Gonzalez Organizer) at the 77th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Memphis, TN
2011 Invited Colloquium – School of Advanced Research (SAR) –“Late to Terminal Classic Ritual Transitions at the Ancient Maya City of El Perú-Waka’, Petén, Guatemala: A View from Structure M13-1”
2011 Invited Paper “Dynamic Transitions at El Perú-Waka’: Late-Terminal Classic Ritual Repurposing of a Monumental Shrine”. Session title: “Ritual, Violence, and the Fall of Classic Maya Kings” (Gyles Iannone Organizer) at the 76th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Sacramento, CA.
Organized Conference Sessions
2020 Organizer and Moderator for the Society for American Archaeology Forum, “Archaeology in Imperiled Communities and Landscapes of Guatemala, C.A. – Challenges and Potential Pathways Forward” – the 2020 SAA MTGS were cancelled – this panel is slated for SAA 2021
2009 Chair and Co-Organizer of the SAA Session Titled: Rethinking Garbage in the
Archaeological Record: Theoretical Perspectives and Case Studies from the Maya Region. Paper title: “Discarding ‘Trash’: Re-Conceptualizing Above-Floor Deposits Excavated at El Peru-Waka’s Structure M13-1”
2007 Chair and Co-Organizer of the SAA Session Titled: Ritual Behavior and Displays of Power at El Perú-Waka’. Paper title: “A Palimpsest Effect: The Multi-Layered Meanings of Termination and Dedication Ritual Activities carried out at Structure M13-1 of Waka’” by Olivia C. Navarro Farr and Ana Lucía Arroyave Prera. Paper presented at the 72nd annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology held in Austin, TX.
Student Co-Authored Papers and Posters
2020 Collaborator on two posters – for the 85th Annual Meetings for the Society for American Archaeology, Austin, TX (with Cyrus Hulen and Kevin Rolph)
2019 Collaborator on four posters – for the 84th Annual Meetings for the Society for American Archaeology, Albuquerque, NM (with Melissa Dods, Simon Weyer, Hannah Bauer, and Hannah Paredes)
2018 Collaborator on two posters – for the 83rd Annual Society for American Archaeology Meetings (with Arabella Goodrich and Abigail Varlan)
2016 Collaborator on five posters – for the 81st Annual Society for American Archaeology Meetings (with Haley Austin; Eric Hubbard; Jade Robison; Katelyn Schoenike; Sarah Van Oss)
2015 Collaborator on three posters –for the 80th Annual Society for American Archaeology Meetings (with Blair Heidkamp; Courtney Astrom; Rachael Aleshire)
2014 The Queen’s Serpent: An Examination of the Iconography on the War Serpent Vessel from Burial 61 at El Perú-Waka’.” Second author with Sarah Van Oss. Paper to be presented at the 5th Annual South-Central Conference on Mesoamerica, New Orleans, LA.
2014 Poster: “Gendering Ceramic Production in Hohokam Society” Second author with Anna Mazin and P. Nick Kardulias at the 79th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Austin, TX.
2014 Poster: “A Preliminary Analysis of Epiclassic Burials at Cerro Magoni.” Third author with Emily Kate and J. Heath Anderson at the 79th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Austin, TX.
Conference Papers and Posters
(*slated for publication in an edited volume)
2020 “El Peru-Waka’, a Kaanul Vassal Kingdom in the era of Dzibanche.” Second author with David Freidel and Mary Kate Kelly. Paper presented at the 85th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Austin, TX.
2019 “Waka’ y Teotihuacán en el Clásico Tardío-Terminal: Dos ciudades vinculadas por la historia y la memoria” First author with Juan Carlos Pérez, David Freidel, Mary Kate Kelly. Paper presented at the XXXIII Annual Simposio de Investigaciones Arqueológicas en Guatemala, Guatemala City, Guatemala, C.A.
2017 *“Feeding the Mountain: Plant Remains from Ritual Contexts On and Around Structure M13-1 at El Peru-Waka’.” Second author with Clarissa Cagnato, Griselda Pérez Robles, Juan Carlos Pérez Calderón, and Damaris Menéndez. Paper to be presented at the 82nd Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Vancouver, B.C.
2017 “Quintessential Queen of Kaanul: K’abel of Waka’ in the age of empire” Second author with David Freidel. Paper to be presented at the 82nd Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Vancouver, B.C.
2015 “Feeding the Gods, Calling the Rains: Archaeobotanical Remains from a Monumental Fire Shrine at El Peru-Waka’, Guatemala.” Second author with Clarissa Cagnato, Griselda Pérez, and Damaris Menéndez. Paper to be presented at the 80th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, San Francisco, CA.
2014 “Royal Ritual and Public Memory at the City Shrine of Ancient El Peru-Waka’: The Archaeology of Burial 61” at the 79th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Austin, TX.
2013 – session chair “Fire Ceremony, Sacred Memory, and Ritual Revitalization: Remembering Kaloomte K’abel at the at the Classic Maya City of El Peru-Waka’.” Session title: What’s New in Maya Archaeology” at the 112th Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, Chicago, IL.
2013 “Staying Power: Ritual Dynamics of Pre-Abandonment Political and Symbolic Agency at Classic Maya El Perú-Waka’.” Session Title: Living Abandonment: the Social Process of Detaching from Place. (Patricia A. McAnany and Maxime Lamoureux St.-Hilaire organizers) at the 78th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology,Honolulu, HA.
2013* “Teotihuacan-Lowland Maya Interaction: The Wite’ Naah Fire Shrines at El Perú-Waka’.” (with David Freidel & Michelle Rich) Session Title: Teotihuacan and Early Classic Mesoamerica: Multi-Scalar Perspectives on Power, Identity, and Interregional Relations. (Claudia Garcia-Des Lauriers; Tatsuya Murakami organizers) at the 78th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology,Honolulu, HA.
2013 Southern Illinois University 29th Annual Visiting Scholar Conference. Poster title: Dynamics of Decline: Ritualized Strategies for Continuity and Transition as seen from the Classic Maya City of El Perú -Waka’” Conference title: “Beyond Collapse: Archaeological Perspectives on Resilience, Revitalization, & Reorganization in Complex Societies.”
2013 Feasts for the Honored Dead: Royal Funerary Ceramics from the Classic Maya city of El Perú-Waka’, Guatemala (second author with E. Keith Eppich and Griselda Pérez). Paper presented at the 4th Annual South-Central Conference on Mesoamerica.
2011 Transiciones Dinámicas en El Perú-Waka’: La Reutilización de un Santuario Monumental en el Clásico Tardío-Terminal. Paper presented at the XXV Annual Simposio de Investigaciones Arqueológicas en Guatemala, Guatemala City, Guatemala, C.A.
2010 “Blurring the Commoner/Elite Boundary: Evidence for Non-Elite Ritual Engagement of a Public Monumental Shrine at El Perú-Waka’” by Olivia C. Navarro Farr. Paper presented at the 109th Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, New Orleans, LA.
2010 “Exploring Sacred Memory and the Early Classic Significance of Structure M13-1, El Peru-Waka’”. Paper presented at the first Annual South-Central Conference on Mesoamerica, San Antonio, TX.
2010 “Interpretando los Depósitos del Clásico Tardío-Terminal en la Estructura M13-1 en Waka’” with E. Keith Eppich and Ana Lucía Arroyave Prera. Paper presented at the XXIV Annual Simposio de Investigaciones Arqueológicas en Guatemala, Guatemala City, Guatemala, C.A.
2010 “Evidence for Non-Elite Ritual Activity at the Monumental Locale of Str. M13-1 at El Perú-Waka’” with E. Keith Eppich and Ana Lucía Arroyave Prera. Paper presented at the 75th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, St. Louis, MO.
2009 “Will the Real Audience(s) Please Stand Up?: An Analysis of the Private/Public Dichotomy Conveyed in Ancient Maya Monumental Architecture at El Peru- Waka’, Petén, Guatemala” Second author with Michelle E. Rich. Paper presented at the 108th annual meeting of the American Anthropological Association, Philadelphia, PA.
2008 “Embodying Sacred Identity: Archaeological and Ethnographic Perspectives on the Ritual Manipulation of the Human Head among Ancient and Modern Maya People” first author with Kristoffer E. Alstatt. Paper presented at the 107th annual meeting of the American Anthropological Association, San Francisco, CA.
2007 “Agency, Ritual Manipulation, and the Persistence of Social Memory: Patterns of Termination and Dedication at Structure M13-1 of El Perú-Waka’.” First author with Ana Lucía Arroyave Prera. Poster presented at the 106th annual meeting of the American Anthropological Association, Washington, D.C.
2007 “Ceremonias, Conducta, y Sentido: Una Exploración de los Rituales de Terminación y Dedicación en las Estructuras M13-1 y N14-2 de El Perú-Waka’.” With E. Keith Eppich, and Ana Lucía Arroyave Prera. Paper presented at the XXI Simposio de Investigaciones Arqueológicas en Guatemala. Guatemala City, Guatemala, C.A.
2006 “Un Final Macabro: La Terminación Ritual de la Estructura M13-1 de El Perú-Waka’”. With Ana Lucía Arroyave Prera. Paper presented at the XX Simpósio de Investigaciones Arqueológicas en Guatemala. Guatemala City, Guatemala, C.A.
2005 “Periods Ending: Ritual Termination at El Perú-Waka’” first author with Ana Lucía Arroyave Prera, Mary Jane Acuña Smith, Jennifer Piehl, and Stanley Guenter. Paper presented at the 104th annual meeting of the American Anthropological Association, Washington, D.C.
2004 “Killing Spaces: Ritual Termination at the Southeast Acropolis at El Perú-Waka’” By Olivia Navarro Farr. Paper presented at the 103rd annual meeting of the American Anthropological Association, Atlanta, GA.
2004 “La Arquitectura Monumental en el Este de las Plazas 1 y 2 de El Perú-Waka’.” First author with Horacio Martínez. Paper presented at the XVIII Simpósio de Investigaciones Arqueológicas en Guatemala. Guatemala City, Guatemala, C.A.
Press Releases
2019 Descubrimiento de una Nueva Estela en el Sitio Arqueológico El Perú-Waka’, Guatemala
2017 Early Classic Maya Royal Tomb Discovered in the Palace Acropolis of El Perú-Waka’ in Northwestern Petén, Guatemala. Fifth author with David Freidel, Griselda Pérez, Damaris Menéndez, and Juan Carlos Pérez
2012 Comunicado de Prensa Guatemala: Tumba Real de Kalomt´e K´abel localizada en El Perú-Waka´ (with Juan Carlos Pérez and David Freidel)
2012 Tomb of Revered Maya Queen Discovered in Guatemala (with Juan Carlos Pérez and David Freidel)
2013 Comunicado de Prensa. Julio 16 de 2013: Descubrimiento de una Estela en El Perú-Waka’ añade un nuevo capítulo a la historia de los mayas antiguos en noroeste de Peten, Guatemala.
2013 Discovery of Stone Monument Adds New Chapter to History of Ancient Maya (with Juan Carlos Pérez and David Freidel)
Government Proposals
2016 Proposal to the Instituto de Antropología e Historia (IDAEH) de Guatemala to conduct Instrumental Neutron Activation Analyses on ceramic materials pertaining to Waka’ Burials 39 and 61.
Reports
2020 Excavaciones en la Operación WK01 en la Estructura M13-1 (first author with Rony López)
2018 Final Report on the 2018 Alphawood Investigations at El Perú-Waka’
2017 Final Report on the 2017 Alphawood Investigations at El Perú-Waka’
2017 WK01: Operación 1: Excavaciones en M13-1(first author with Griselda Pérez and Danilo Hernández) Informe No. 15, Temporada 2016 Ed. Juan Carlos Pérez.
2013 WK01: Operación 1: Excavaciones en M13-1 y el descubrimiento de la Estela 44 (second author with Griselda Pérez). Informe No. 11, Temporada 2013 Ed. Juan Carlos Pérez.
2013 Final Report on the 2012 Alphawood Investigations at Structure M13-1 of El Peru-Waka’ (with Griselda Pérez and Damaris Menéndez)
2013 WK01: Operación 1: Excavaciones en la Estructura M13-1 (with Griselda Pérez and Damaris Menéndez). Informe No. 10, Temporada 2012 Ed. Juan Carlos Pérez.
2010 WK-01: Análisis de Radiocarbono Proyecto Arqueológico El Perú-Waka’: Informe No. 7, Temporada 2009 Eds. Mary Jane Acuña and Jennifer Piehl.
2007 WK-01: Excavaciones en La Estructura M13-1 Proyecto Arqueológico El Perú-Waka’: Informe No. 4, Temporada 2006 Eds. Héctor L. Escobedo and David Freidel.
2006 WK-01: Excavaciones en La Estructura M13-1 Proyecto Arqueológico El Perú-Waka’: Informe No. 3, Temporada 2005 Eds. Héctor L. Escobedo and David Freidel.
2005 WK-01: Excavaciones en La Estructura M13-1 Proyecto Arqueológico El Perú-Waka’: Informe No. 2, Temporada 2004 Eds. Héctor L. Escobedo and David Freidel.
2004 WK-01: Excavaciones en La Estructura M13-1 Proyecto Arqueológico El Perú-Waka’: Informe No. 1, Temporada 2003 Eds. Héctor L. Escobedo and David Freidel.
2003 Cronología Preliminar: Informe de Análisis de Laboratorio Agosto 2003- Enero 2004 (Eds.Mary Jane Acuña Smith, Ana Lucía Arroyave Prera, Walter Orlando Burgos Morakawa, Joel Adolfo López Muñoz, Juan Carlos Meléndez Mollinedo, Elisa Mencos Quiroa, Olivia Navarro-Farr, Griselda Pérez Robles, Fabiola Quiroa Flores, and Edwin René Román Ramírez). Proyecto Arqueológico El Perú-Waka’.
2003 Excavations at Tomb One at the Bedrock Site, In Working Papers of the Blue Creek Project for the 2000 and 2001 Seasons, Edited by Dr. Thomas Guderjan. Report presented to the Belize Department of Archaeology, Belmopan.
1999 Excavations at Structure 78, In Working Papers of the Blue Creek Project for the 1998-1999 Season, edited by Dr. Thomas Guderjan and Robert Lichtenstein. Report presented to the Belize Department of Archaeology, Belmopan.
Field Experience
2001-Present Senior Staff member for the El Perú-Waka’ Archaeological Project
2009 Summer Participant and Spanish language interpreter for the Lake Pátzcuaro Basin Archaeological Project, Michoacán, México (Dir. Dr. Christopher T. Fisher).
2006 – Spring Ethnographic Research Assistant to Dr. Robert Van Kemper – Project on the Latino immigrant use of alternative transportation systems
2005- Fall Ethnographic Research Assistant to Dr. Caroline Brettell – Russell Sage Grant funded South Asians of North Texas Immigration Research Project
2003-Present Professional interpreter and political/governmental policy liaison between the Guatemalan Institute of Anthropology and History office (IDAEH) and the El Perú-Waka’ Archaeological Project.
2003-Present Staff archaeologist for the El Perú-Waka’ Archaeological Project
2001-2002 Assistant coordinator of excavations and field school instruction for the Yalahau Regional Human Ecology Project in Cancun, Quintana Roo México.
2001 Reconnaissance assistant Proyecto Arqueológico El Perú-Waka’, Guatemala (Dir. Dr. David Freidel).
2000 Sub-Operation Co-director and field instructor for the excavations at a Residential Zone of the Blue Creek archaeological site for the Maya Research Program in Belize C.A. (Dir. Dr. Tom Guderjan).
1998-1999 Crew Chief and assistant field instructor for excavations in the Residential Zone the Blue Creek archaeological site for the Maya Research Program in Belize C.A. (Dir. Dr. Tom Guderjan).
1997 Student and participant in excavations at the Late Pre-Classic site of Blue Creek for the Maya Research Program in Belize C.A. (Dir. Dr. Tom Guderjan).
1997 Assistant in the organization and re-classification of the ceramics from the Proyecto Chichén Itzá under the instruction of Licda. Yoly Palomo Carrillo of the INAH (National Institute of Anthropology and History).
Service to College and Campus
2021 Spring External member search committee for COW Communications Dept. TT position
2020-2021 Member Strategic Planning and Priorities Action Committee at COW
2020-2021 Member search committee for the College of Wooster Art Museum (CWAM) head curator position
2020- Chair Program in Archaeology
2019-2020 External member search committee for COW Theatre and Set Design TT position
2019-2020 COW Faculty Working Group on Indigeneity
2019 Participated in COW Faculty Retention Workshop May 15, 2019
2018-2019 Advisor for student APEX-funded Experiential Learning Opportunity at the 15th and 16th Annual Tulane Maya Symposium Workshops (2018 and 2019)
2018-2019 Member of Search Committee for Museum Studies Tenure Track Position
2018-2019 Member of Committee in creation of new Mellon-Funded interdisciplinary position on Museum Studies
2018 Participant in the OH5 Workshop on Enhancing Inclusive Curricular Practices May 23rd at Kenyon College
2017-2018 Spoke with Junior Colleagues on review process as part of a TS&T meet and greet
2018 Member of Freedom of Expression Task Force organized by President Bolton
2017-2018 Member of Kendall Rives Latin American Research Grant Committee
2017 External member search committee Theatre Design TT position
2017-2020 Conference with Trustees Committee
2017-present Faculty Advisor for COW Dance Team
2015-2016 Interim Chair Archaeology Program
2015-2018 Junior Faculty Mentor (Erzsebet Regan in 2015-2016 & Tracy Cosgriff 2017-2018)
2015 Spring Committee on Committees elected member
2014-2015 Honorary Degrees Committee
2013-2015 Faculty advisor for COW Quidditch Team
2013-present Faculty Advisor for College of Wooster Archaeology Student Colloquium
2013-present Latin American Studies Committee – the College of Wooster
2013-2014 Copeland Funding Committee – The College of Wooster
2012-Present Archaeology Program Committee – the College of Wooster
2011 – 2012 Faculty Committee Member UNM Anthropology Colloquia Series
2011-2012 Member of the Office for Equity and Inclusion Faculty Women of Color Event Planning Committee
2011 – Spring Anthropology Graduate Student Union (AGSU) 15th Annual Graduate Student Symposium – Faculty Reviewer for Graduate Student Presentations – UNM Department of Anthropology
2008-2009 Member, Open-Rank Faculty Search Committee for position in Mesoamerican archaeology, SMU Department of Anthropology
2007 Participated in a two-day faculty retreat with the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Trinity University
Professional Service
2019-Present Director of the Proyecto Arqueológico Waka’
2019- Present Advisory Board Feminist Anthropology
2017-2018 Society for American Archaeology Program Committee
2017-Present Member of the Waka’ Foundation Board
Educational Mentoring
2012 Panelist for Graduate Resource Center (GRC) Program “Being Successful in Graduate School”
2011-2012 McNair Faculty Mentor to UNM undergraduate Anthropology Major: Oscar Ortega
2011 Mentor for the 11th Annual NASA (National Association of Student Anthropologists) Mentorship Workshop at the 110th Annual Meetings of the AAA
2010 Panelist for the 4th Annual Cultivating Leadership through Research Conference at UNM – Ronald E. McNair Program
2010, 2011 Panelist for UNM’s Graduate Resource Center – Center for Academic Program Support (CAPS) – panel title: “CAPS: Facing the Dissertation Project”
2010 Panelist for Project for New Mexico Graduate Students of Color (PNMGC) Second Annual Critical Knowledge Symposium – Session Title: Preparing for the Job Market: Professionalism and Job Skills for the Ph.D.
2001-2002/2005-2006 Guest Lecturer – Bilingual Education Teacher Training Project: GPISD
2001-2004 Participant in the Annual Farmer’s Branch Archaeology Fair
Professional Certifications and Translation Work
2008 Certified successful completion of 16 hours of instruction in Geographic Information Systems for Archaeology (GIS) at the Center for Spatial Research at Baylor University.
2003-Present Professional interpreter and political/governmental policy liaison between the Guatemalan Institute of Anthropology and History office (IDAEH) and the El Perú- Waka’ Archaeological Project.
2005-Present Professional English to Spanish Translator for the Yalahau Regional Human Ecology Project.
2000-2001 Professional translator (Spanish to English) for Ph.D. dissertation of Rafael Cobos Palma, Tulane University
Public Lectures and Outreach
2020 Faculty Research Luncheon Talk College of Wooster: Lady K’abel and the Political Power of Classic Maya Queens
2018 The University of Texas at Austin, Department of Art and Art History Mesoamerica Center Colloquium Series – Talk Title: Fire Ceremony, History, & Memory: Situating Waka’s Central Civic Ceremonial Complex
2017 Kent State University Archaeological Institute of America Chapter – Talk title: Statecraft and Sorcery: Lady K’abel; Princess of Kan and Queen of Wak’
2017 Mesoamerican Research Institute Brown Bag Lecture Series – Talk title: Statecraft and Sorcery: Lady K’abel; Princess of Kan and Queen of Wak’
2016 Wooster Ohio Science Café Series. Talk title: Ancient Maya Queens
2015 Workshop for Maya Society of Minnesota – Title: Representation and Collaboration: Outlines of a Working Partnership with the Cleveland Museum of Art and the El Perú -Waka’ Regional Archaeological Project
2015 Invited Paper: Title “Fire Ceremony, Sacred Memory, and Ritual Revitalization: Remembering Kaloomte K’abel at the Classic Maya City of El Peru-Waka’. Delivered to the Maya Society of Minnesota.
2015 Interview on Burial 61 excavations for Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) Artlens ipad/web link including photos and taped interview for museum visitors: http://www.clevelandart.org/gallery-one/artlens
2015 Co-Organizer and Speaker for the Maya Lecture and Hieroglyphic Workshop Weekend held at the Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA).
2014 Lecture for Spouses of College of Wooster Trustees – Fire Ceremony, Sacred Memory, and Ritual Revitalization: Remembering Kaloomte K’abel at the Classic Maya City of El Perú-Waka’
2014 Lecture for the Cleveland Archaeological Society – Royal Ritual and Social Memory at Waka’s Civic-Ceremonial Shrine
2014 Lecture for the College of Wooster Faculty at Large Series – Fire Ceremony, Sacred Memory, and Ritual Revitalization: Remembering Kaloomte K’abel at the Classic Maya City of El Perú-Waka’
2013 Appeared and interviewed in Documentary film “Dance of the Maize God” Night Fire Films: David Lebrun director: http://nightfirefilms.org/films/dance-of-the-maize-god/
2013 Lecture at Youngstown State University – Royal Ritual and Social Memory at Waka’s Civic-Ceremonial Shrine
2013 “Memory, Monuments, and Royalty at the City Shrine of Ancient El Perú-Waka’.” Lecture for Parent’s Weekend – the College of Wooster
2013 “Royal Ritual and Social Memory at Waka’s Civic-Ceremonial Shrine” Talk delivered to Rotary Club of Wooster
2013 “Royal Ritual and Social Memory at Waka’s Civic-Ceremonial Shrine” Talk delivered to the College of Wooster Alumni Board
2013 “Royal Ritual and Social Memory at Waka’s Civic-Ceremonial Shrine” Talk delivered to the Lerner Research Institute Experience Council Science Café Series at the Cleveland Clinic
2012 “Royal Ritual and Social Memory at Waka’s Civic-Ceremonial Shrine” paper delivered at the Friday Archaeology lecture series for the Department of Anthropology at Washington University, St. Louis MO.
2012 “Recent Research at Structure M13-1 of El Peru-Waka’” paper delivered to the Archaeology Student Colloquium Meeting, the College of Wooster.
2012 “La Tumba Real de Kalomt´e K´abel: Sitio Arqueológico El Perú-Waka´” paper delivered to the Ministry of Culture and Sports and Guatemalan Press for Announcement of Burial 61 to the press.
2011 “Ritual Engagement of a Public Monumental Shrine in the Heart of El Perú-Waka’” paper delivered for the UNM Latina/o Faculty Brown Bag Series at El Centro de la Raza
2010 “Late to Terminal Classic Transitions at the Ancient Maya city of El Perú-Waka’: Investigations at Structure M13-1.” Paper delivered for the UNM Anthropology Brown Bag Series, The University of New Mexico
2005 “Defiling the Sacred: Ritual Termination at the Southeast Acropolis at El Perú-Waka”” By Olivia Navarro Farr. Paper delivered for the SMU Anthropology Brown Bag Lecture Series, Southern Methodist University
2005 “Broken Pots and Broken People: Ritual Termination at the Southeast Acropolis at El Perú-Waka” By Olivia Navarro Farr. Paper delivered for the Dallas Archaeological Society Meetings held at Southern Methodist University
2002 “Trade Sustaining Ideologies: A Closer Examination of the Trade and Exchange Networks between the Formative site of Chalcatzingo and the Olmec Heartland Centers.” By Olivia Navarro Farr. Paper delivered as part of the Mesoamerican Seminar for the SMU Anthropology Brown Bag Lecture Series. Southern Methodist University
Popular Media Featurings
National Geographic, National Public Radio, Time Magazine, the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Reuter’s, Discovery News, the Associated Press, USA Today, World Archaeology, Archaeology Magazine, the Wooster Voice, the Wooster Daily Record, Jezebel, Prensa Libre, La Prensa HN, St. Mary’s University Alumni Magazine, the College of Wooster Alumni Magazine (2013; 2017), the Daily Record, Washington University news, the Huffington Post, NBC news, Fox Latino, the French tribune, and Eurekalert news.
Professional Memberships
- Archaeological Institute of America (AIA)
- Society of American Archaeology (SAA)
- Lambda Alpha (National Anthropology Honor Society)
- Phi Sigma Iota (National Language Honor Society)
- Delta Epsilon Sigma (National Scholars Honor Society)
Languages
Spanish with Native Fluency – (México & Guatemala)
Additional References Available Upon Request