Faculty

The long term Taraco Archaeological Project conducted two excavation field seasons in 2022 and 2023 in the Early Formative period sectors of sites Chiripa, Chiriamaya, and Chiripata, located next to each other along the Taraco Peninsula, Lake Titicaca, Bolivia. The team conducted a range of collection strategies during the excavations, with a focus on contextual recording of artifact and ecofact material, systematically collecting archaeobotanical, zooarchaeological, and bio-archaeological material.

"City Life at Classic Maya Palenque, Mexico" is a Collaborative Research project with primary funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Palenque, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Chiapas, Mexico, is well-known for its important role in the decipherment of Maya hieroglyphic writing. Previous work there on the temples and residence of the ruling family have produced one of the best-understood case studies of the development of a Classic Maya state during the Late Classic Period (approximately 600-800 AD). Less is known about life outside of the precincts of the ruling family.

Research at the archaeological site of Ancient Nemea (Sanctuary of Zeus) in 2024 included the architectural study of the Early Christian Basilica (5thc. CE), the installation and opening of the exhibit Nemea 100 commemorating 100 years of excavation at the site, and the study of unpublished legacy finds from the sanctuary.

Driving 20,000 miles this year, we visited multiple Ancestral Places together and developed research projects aligned with the priorities of our Tribal Mentors, including TEK officers, Tribal Vice Chairwomen, and the Flicker (InterTribal Ecological Restoration) Crew.

We also built a weekend-long event at Blodgett UC research forest to discover modes and policies for co-management of UC properties aligned with Tribal priorities, including our unique combination of archaeology and cultural fire.

An open-air sanctuary used between the Protogeometric and the Classical periods (roughly 1000 to 400 BCE) was recently identified on the western part of the summit of the Anavlochos massif in East Crete. The sanctuary was first located in 2016 by the Anavlochos Project, which is directed by Florence Gaignerot-Driessen (University of Cincinnati) and operates under the auspices of the École française d’Athènes and with the permission of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports. It was excavated in 2017 and 2018.

The discovery of new hunter-gatherer and early farming occupations on the Mediterranean Island of Cyprus is dramatically changing our understanding of the timing and nature of the first occupants of the island. Archaeological evidence suggests that Epipalaeolithic hunters-gatherers in Cyprus arrived by at least 13,000 years ago. These early islanders remained deeply connected to their mainland (Levantine and/or Aegean) counterparts and, like them, experimented with plant and animal management.

The Pompeii Artifact Life History Project (PALHIP) carried out its tenth and final fieldwork season at Pompeii (Napoli), Italy, between June 30 and July 27, 2024.

The PALHIP team, which consisted of four persons (Ted Peña, Aaron Brown, Susanna Faas-Bush, Francesca LaPasta), completed its description of the portable artifacts recovered in the various residences in the block identified as Regio I, Insula 11 (I.11 in the Pompeii address system), expanding its coverage to include the items from residences I.11.11, I.11.12, I.11.13, I.11.14, I.11.15.9 and I.11.16.

Agarwal, S., Glencross, B., & Beauchesne, P. (2011). Bone Growth, Maintenance and Loss in the Neolithic Community of Çatalhöyük, Turkey: Preliminary Results. UC Berkeley: Archaeological Research Facility Stahl Reports. Retrieved from https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9m13784c
ip.org/uc/item/9m13784c

A crop domestication center emerged ~5000 years ago in Eastern North America. Native Americans in this area transformed several wild plant species, including sunflower (Helianthus annuus) into staple crops. Archaeological evidence from Eastern North America and genomic evidence from extant cultivated and wild sunflower supports this narrative, and it was once thought that cultivated sunflower did not reach Mexico until after European colonizers established trade routes.

This past field season was the second of two excavation seasons which focused on the earliest levels at the site of Chiripa. We managed to expose two major areas where the deposits were sitting on sterile and contained early ceramics and other material. The Berkeley team is focusing on studying the early engagement with tubers and chenopods,w th laboratory work ongoing throughout the year.