ÌÇÐÄVlog

M.A., , 1988

Archaeology, Lithics, Paleoindians of the New World, South America, Ecuador

I am a Senior Instructor in the Department of Anthropology and director of ÌÇÐÄVlog's Archaeology Field Program on the Ecuadorian coast. This program, which has been operating for 29 years, is the longest-running field program in the region.

My main interests are the emergence of complex societies, territorial expansion, and the formation of local identities. I worked mainly in the province of Manabí, elucidating the final period of indigenous occupation before the arrival of the Spaniards and their process of resistance.

I work and collaborate with descendant communities in their efforts to be recognized as guardians of their past. As such, together with Michael Harris, Ph.D., we have received the U.S. Ambassador's Fund for Cultural Preservation on two occasions. Those funds were used in various community-level initiatives to restore a historically significant building; to design exhibits that tell local stories of struggle and territorial struggle; to build an archaeological storage room; and to conserve archaeological collections guarded by the community. During the pandemic, I secured funding from IBERMUSEOS to oversee the development of an interactive digital platform for the Salango Community Museum and a video game featuring landscapes and archaeological data associated with the Manteño culture. The featured game was created by Andrés Garzón-Oeschle, Ph.D. (ESPOL University). Go to

With funding from the Ecuadorian Government, and in collaboration with Nicole Jastremski, PhD (University of Central Washington), we supervised the construction of a climate-controlled storage room for prehistoric human remains and trained community members in the conservation and protection of the Salango Osteological Collection. Without specific technical and ethical regulations, prehistoric human remains are extremely vulnerable to damage, abandonment, and decontextualization. This latest project led to the establishment of the Bioarchaeology and Bioethics interest group, which proposes a multicultural dialogue to study, protect, and connect today's population with their ancestors.  

I am also interested in gender issues, mainly in the invisibilization of South American women who have participated in and continue to participate in archaeological work. To this end, in 2019, together with other colleagues, a dedicated website for analysis, dialogue, and reflections on the archaeology of the Global South from a female perspective was created. See

Finally, the research project conducted in coastal Ecuador by the ÌÇÐÄVlog Department of Anthropology since 1997 has produced more than 30 master's and doctoral theses, as well as several articles.