Universidad de Puerto Rico Rio Piedras

Faculty Member, Department of Sociology and Anthropology

Other Affiliations: Centro de Estudios Avanzados de Puerto Rico y el Caribe, Arqueología
University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez, Marine Sciences
University College London, Institue of Archaeology

Thesis Title: Between land and sea in Puerto Rico: climate, coastal landscapes and human occupations in the Mid-Holocene Caribbean

About

My research combines geoarchaeology, archaeomalacology and anthropology to investigate the relationship between people and the environment, and in particular the process of human adaptation to climate and landscape change. My research can be classified into four main areas: 1) archaeological theory; 2) sea level change, island adaptations and human environments; 3) laboratory techniques to identify landscape change and evidence of human behavior within sediments; and 4) contributions of archaeology to modern issues. My most recent project applies a multiscalar approach of landscape and climate change in relation to social patterns of settlement, resource exploitation and culture change of mid-Holocene societies in the Caribbean archipelago, achieved through the micro and macroscopic analysis of organic and inorganic traces of human activity (sediment chemistry, magnetism and physical properties; microartifact content, mollusk resource exploitation and landscape change).

Techniques and specialization:
Geoarchaeology (including microartefact analysis and micromorphology)
Archaeomalacology
Microfaunal remains
Coastal Palaeoecology

Member of the GHEA (Global Human Ecodynamics Alliance) http://www.gheahome.org/cgi_bin/ghea_member_info.pl?id=73

Contact Information