Expertise

I am an anthropological archaeologist and paleoethnobotanist interested in foodways in the past and present, Andean archaeology, household archaeology, plant domestication, GIS and data visualization, and ethics in archaeological practice.

I am an archaeologist who is also trained as a paleoethnobotanist or archaeobotanist specializing in the archaeology of the Andean region of South America. My research takes place primarily in coastal Peru where I have worked for over a decade on several archaeological projects investigating the role of plants in ancient foodways

My scholarship explores many facets of the intimate engagements that past peoples of the Americas had with the plant world.

Current Themes

  • Household and Home in the Andean Past​
  • The Gastropolitics of Moche Food and Cuisine
  • The Domestication and Spread of Chili Peppers in the Americas
  • The Impact of Forced Resettlement on Native Andean Foodways 

​I am also interested in the ethical dimensions of archaeological practice and am a proponent of increasing ethical training for students of archaeology.

My primary, overarching interest is in plants and their role in ancient Andean foodways. I am particularly keen on investigating the manner in which what we eat is tied to a sense of self, using food as a means of "seeing faces" in the distant past.

Research Interests:

  • Anthropological Archaeology
  • Paleoethnobotany/Archaeobotany
  • Andean Archaeology
  • Archaeology of Food
  • Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and 3D Modeling
  • Household Archaeology
  • Archaeological Ethics
  • Genus Capsicum

Subject Areas:

  • Identities and Inequalities: class and status, intersectionality
  • Education, Outreach, and Community Engagement
  • Archaeological Science: environmental archaeology, digital archaeology
  • Archaeology of the Americas: Andean archaeology, landscape archaeology/household archaeology.

Skills and Expertise:

  • Prehistoric Archaeology
  • Archaeobotany
  • Paleoethnobotany
  • Andean archaeology
  • Geographic Information System
  • Archaeological Ethics
  • Archaeology
  • Moche
  • Archaeology of Food
  • Capsicum.

 

Communities
Anthropology
Degrees
PhD, University of California, Berkeley, Anthropology, 2017
MA, University of California, Berkeley, Anthropology, 2009
BA, New York University, Anthropology, 2008
Keywords
foodways archaeological ethics archaeobotany paleoethnobotany food history capsicum plant domestication peru archaeology
Languages
Chinese, Mandarin (Mandarin), English, Spanish