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(Illustration by Giulia Ecchili)

As a researcher, I am committed to developing innovative methods for asking new questions of archaeological samples. Current work in this area includes experimentally modeling the abrasive qualities of archaeological dentifrices and working with dental professionals to develop models to apply recent findings in dental biomechanics and pathobiology to our study of teeth in the archaeological record.

(Image: Scanning electron micrograph of a resin cast tooth)

I am and have been involved with a number of archaeological field projects in northeastern Chiapas, Mexico as well Guatemala as a project bioarchaeologist and consulting osteologist. Currently, I am working with the Proyecto Arqueológico Busilhá-Chocoljá and the Proyecto Arqueológico Bajo Lacantun, both in Chiapas. I am always open and willing to working with new projects in a bioarchaeological or osteological capacity.

(Image: River running nearby an archaeological site in Chiapas)

This project is building a database of herbal remedies and therapeutic interventions recorded in early colonial (16th and 17th centuries) manuscripts in Mesoamerica, especially Indigenous-authored manuscripts, as well as oral care practices reported in ethnographic and ethnomedical studies among contemporary Maya groups.

(Illustration from Historia general de las cosas de Nueva España)

Part of my broader interests in Maya mortuary and funerary practice includes the disassembling and remaking of the dead - the biographies of human remains after death and primary interment. I am particularly interested in objects, including relics and works of art, crafted from human bone.

(Illustration of Tikal Altar 5 by John Montgomery)