My name is Joshua Schnell and I am an anthropological bioarchaeologist working in the Maya area - primarily in Mexico and Guatemala. I received my PhD from the Department of Anthropology at Brown University and am currently a Fellow in Pre-Columbian Studies at Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection in Washington, DC. My research focuses on identifying human agency in the study of health, healing, and medicine in the past. My work calls attention to people’s efforts to shape their appearance, care for their bodies, and especially combat and treat illnesses and injuries. I think the study of health and disease in the archaeological past can go beyond seeing people as the passive recipients of pathologies associated with their diet or environment.

My current project is a case study in this approach, focusing on evidence for oral care, dental hygiene, and aesthetic expression of the mouth in the Maya world. The human dentition provides a unique opportunity to examine quotidian and self-directed forms of care such as toothbrushing, toothpick-use, therapeutic and herbal treatments, and even oral surgery or tooth extraction. Understanding how people cared for their mouths within their specific cultural context, and how those practices might intersect with broader cultural values such as hygiene, sociality, aesthetics, and even morality can tremendously enhance our study of health and disease in the past. Through this work, I am also working with colleagues in paleoethnobotany, biomolecular anthropology, and dental science to advance a holistic model for the study of the mouth in the archaeological past.

My work is fundamentally biocultural and interdisciplinary and I am committed to exploring and developing new, innovative methodologies and approaches for advancing the study of health and disease in the past. I believe this work should always be culturally-grounded, which is why I incorporate iconography, visual culture, ethnohistory, and ethnography in my research. Beyond my primary interests in bioarchaeological approaches to medicine and healing in the past, I have additional research interests in the cultural modification of the antemortem and postmortem body, including dress and ornamentation, body modification practices, mortuary practices, and the postmortem lives of human remains. I have conducted field work in Belize, Guatemala, and Mexico at a variety of Classic period sites, including large, dynastic civic-ceremonial urban centers, small subsidiary sites, and mortuary rockshelters and caves.

When I’m not in the field, the lab, or the classroom, I’m usually at a table playing board games and tabletop RPG’s with friends. I also love the outdoors and will never miss an opportunity to go hiking or backpacking, especially with my Shih Tzu sidekick, Sammy.

{This site is always under construction}