I have been involved in archaeology since 1992 and have been conducting field research in Central America since 1996.  My doctoral fieldwork focused on the relationship between changing architectural patterns and sociopolitical organization at the ancient Maya center of Chau Hiix, Belize.  My colleague - Dr. Gabriel D. Wrobel of the University of Mississippi at Oxford - and I recently initiated a new program of field research in the Caves Branch River Valley in the Cayo District of south-central Belize.  As co-director of the Caves Branch Archaeological Survey (CBAS), I am particularly interested in developing an improved understanding of sociopolitical patterns that will allow for comparison with better understood areas of the Maya Lowlands in the period leading up to the so-called Maya “collapse.” Dr. Wrobel and I began running an archaeological field school examining cave and surface sites in the valley in 2009, and we plan to continue offering opportunities for student involvement in our research with the kind permission of the Belize Institute of Archaeology, National Institute of Culture and History.  In addition to my long-term involvement in Mesoamerican archaeology, I have participated in cultural resource management and research in the American Midwest, Southwest, and Southeast.  My current research interests include the built environment, spatial analysis, Maya ceramics, urbanism, the rise and fall of ancient civilizations, and the role of monumental architecture in sociopolitical transformations in complex societies. You can see my C.V. by clicking here.

This webpage is maintained by Richard Sutter.

Last updated 26 August 2009.