In the spirit of the end of the academic year and the beginning of the field season for many archaeologists, we would like to highlight one of the longest-running projects at UMMAA. Since 1966, Dr. Kent Flannery has pursued a multidisciplinary research project entitled "Prehistory and Human Ecology of the Valley of Oaxaca." Archaeological investigations at multiple sites in this valley in southern Mexico have resulted in the publication of 19 books, with another forthcoming. (Visit the UMMAA Press website, click on Latin America, and look for the olive green covers to browse Oaxaca titles: https://sites.lsa.umich.edu/archaeology-books.) The first three books were authored by women, reflecting the significant role female scholars have played in the Oaxaca project. Further evidence of the important role of women on this project: Dr. Joyce Marcus became co-director in 1972.
Click here to read more about the Oaxaca project and how the research there has helped form our understanding of the origins of agriculture, inequality, the state, and writing in this region. https://sites.lsa.umich.edu/oaxaca-archaeology/
Photo: These three caves in a thorn forest in the Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico, form the Cueva Blanca group. The central cave was the focus of excavations.
