Publications
The Story of Food in the Human Past: How What We Ate Made Us Who We Are (University of Alabama Press, 2021), is based on a course called Paleokitchen: The Archaeology of Food, which I have taught at Centre many times. The book uses my own research and cases from the archaeological and paleoanthropological literature to explore how food made us who we are, and how human society and culture shapes how we eat. I've created additional resources for educators here.
“The Story of Food in the Human Past is fascinating and well written and covers a broad swath of archaeology with a tone that will not only engage students, but also general readers interested in the archaeology of food.”
—Jerry D. Moore, author of The Prehistory of Home and Visions of Culture: An Introduction to Anthropological Theories and Theorists, Fifth Edition
Ancient Households on the North Coast of Peru (University Press of Colorado, 2021) is an edited volume that collects recent research on households from different time periods and valleys on Peru's north coast. Emphasizing varied dimensions of domestic life, contributions to the volume emphasize the heterogeneity of prehispanic domestic life, and the multiple points of contact between households, communities, and polities. The volume is available open access.
“An insightful, fresh contribution to understanding the prehistory of the North Coast.”
—Marc Bermann, University of Pittsburgh
My essay in Sapiens looks at the history of change—and continuity—in past cuisine in order to understand why many Americans were so obsessed with baking bread during the first months of covid-19, and whether it will last. This essay brings together my archaeological research on daily culinary practice in the past and my personal adventures with sourdough baking.
Another Sapiens essay explores the popularity of farming simulator video games from the perspective of an archaeologist of food and farming.
Comparative Perspectives on the Archaeology of Coastal South America/Perspectivas comparativas sobre la arqueologia de la costa sudamericana is a bilingual edited volume based on a conference in Lima, Peru in 2007, and published by the University of Pittsburgh, the Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru, and Abya Yala in 2010. Co-editors Alex Martin, Enrique Lopez-Hurtado, and I wanted to bring together archaeologists working on the coasts of Ecuador, Peru, and Chile to compare approaches and perspectives on the prehistory of this important region. The volume is available for free download from the University of Pittsburgh Center for Comparative Archaeology, at the link above.
Data from my dissertation research at Pedregal is available open access on the Comparative Archaeology Database supported by the University of Pittsburgh. Click HERE to access the data. My dissertation, Between the Kitchen and the State: Domestic Practice and Chimu Expansion in the Jequetepeque Valley, Peru (University of Pittsburgh, 2009) is also available open access HERE.