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Dan Seinfeld
PhD candidate, advisor Dr. Mary Pohl; BA Anthropology (2003) SUNY Albany; MS Anthropology (2007) Florida State University
My primary research concerns the political economy of emerging social complexity in Formative period Mesoamerica. I am especially interested in issues of agricultural intensification and food processing. I use molecular archaeology and paleobotanical analysis to explore these topics. I also research the role of intoxication, particularly with alcohol, in ritual, gender, and politics in ancient Mesoamerica.
My Master’s thesis research involved multiple forms of molecular analyses of absorbed organic residues in ceramics from a feasting midden at the Olmec site of San Andrés, Tabasco, Mexico, located nearby the major ceremonial center of La Venta. Comparison of maize-use patterns between classes of vessels as seen in bulk stable carbon isotope analysis suggested that the Olmec drank maize beer at feasts.
I am currently conducting my dissertation research on agricultural intensification associated with the beginnings of early kingship at the ancient Maya site of San Estevan, northern Belize. My research will compare paleobotanical macroremains and absorbed organic residues in ceramics from middens preceding and coinciding with the earliest kings at the site. I conducted fieldwork at San Estevan in 2005 and 2008 with archaeological field schools run by Dr. Robert Rosenswig of SUNY Albany, working as an excavation supervisor in 2005 and as field director in 2008.
Publications:
| in preparation |
Drinking, Shamanism, and the Olmec Elite: Interpreting the Molecular Analysis of Absorbed Organic Residues in Feasting Ceramics from San Andrés, Tabasco, Mexico. In Ritual Polity. Gender, Art, and Pilgrimage in the Anceint La Venta Polity, edited by Mary D. Pohl and Christopher von Nagy. |
| 2009 |
Seinfeld, Daniel, Christopher von Nagy, Mary D. Pohl. Determining Olmec Maize Use through Bulk Stable Carbon Isotope Analysis. Journal of Archaeological Science 36:2560–2565.
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| 2008 |
Suboperation 6 Complexes: More from a Middle Formative Midden at the Site Core. In San Estevan Archaeological Project 2008: Report to the Department of Archaeology, Belomopan, Belize, edited by R. M. Rosenswig. Institute of Mesoamerican Studies, Occasional Publication No. 15, Albany, New York. |
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Thompson, Eric J. In Encyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture, 2nd ed. Gale Cengage Learning, Farmington Hills, MI. |
| 2007 |
Suboperations 2 and 3 Complexes: A Cobble Surface and the San Estevan Ball Court. In San Estevan Archaeological Project 2005: Report to the Department of Archaeology, Belmopan, Belize, edited by R. M. Rosenswig, pp. 19-34. Institute of Mesoamerican Studies, Occasional Publication No. 14. The University at Albany-SUNY, Albany, NY. |
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