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Joyce, Arthur A

Professor

Positions

Research Areas research areas

Research

research overview

  • My research focuses on the pre-Columbian peoples of Mesoamerica particularly surrounding issues of power, political dynamics, religion, interregional interaction, warfare, and landscape. Since 1986, I have conducted interdisciplinary archaeological and paleoenvironmental research in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca. I use theories of practice, power, and materiality to examine sociopolitical change in ancient Oaxaca. I also investigate the 4000 year history of human impact on the environment along the Río Verde drainage basin of Oaxaca. My field research includes archaeological excavation and survey in the lower Río Verde Valley along the Pacific coast as well as archaeological, geological and paleoecological research in the Nochixtlan and Oaxaca Valleys in the highlands.

keywords

  • Mesoamerican archaeology, archaeology of Oaxaca, archaeological method and theory, social theory in archaeology, political change, religion, materiality, geoarchaeology, landscape archaeology, ceramic analysis, exchange and interaction, human impact on the environment

Publications

selected publications

editor of

Teaching

courses taught

  • ANTH 1190 - Origins of Ancient Civilizations
    Primary Instructor - Fall 2018 / Fall 2020 / Fall 2021 / Fall 2022 / Fall 2023 / Fall 2024
    Examines origins of the world's first civilizations in Mesopotamia, Egypt, the Indus Valley, Mesoamerica, and the Andes. Covers archaeology of ancient cities, trade, economy, politics, warfare, religion, and ideology. Seeks insights into general processes of cultural evolution.
  • ANTH 4020 - Explorations in Anthropology
    Primary Instructor - Spring 2019 / Spring 2023
    Special topics in cultural and physical anthropology, as well as archaeology. Check with the department for semester offerings. May be repeated up to 9 total credit hours. Same as ANTH 5020.
  • ANTH 4220 - From Olmec to Aztec: The Archaeology of Mexico
    Primary Instructor - Fall 2018 / Fall 2021 / Fall 2023
    Examines the archaeology of Mexico from the initial peopling of the Americas to the Spanish conquest of the Aztec empire. Studies origins of complex societies; ancient Mexican cities, states and empires; religion and politics; trade and interaction; ecology and economy; and social organization. Recommended prerequisite: ANTH 2200. Same as ANTH 5220.
  • ANTH 4300 - From Cloud People to the Land of the Sky: The Archaeology of Oaxaca
    Primary Instructor - Summer 2022 / Summer 2023
    Examines the prehispanic and colonial history of the Zapotec, Mixtec, and Chatino peoples of Oaxaca, Mexico. Explores their diverse histories and cultures from Ice Age arrival to the Spanish Conquest in the 1520s. A major feature will be trips to archaeological sites, museums, and Indigenous markets as well as colonial-period churches and Mixtec palaces. Students will need passports. Recommended prerequisite: ANTH 2200: The Archaeology of Human History.
  • ANTH 5020 - Explorations in Anthropology
    Primary Instructor - Spring 2019 / Spring 2023
    Special topics in cultural and physical anthropology, as well as archaeology. Check with the department for semester offerings. May be repeated up to 9 total credit hours. Same as ANTH 4020.
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