Books by Sarah Kurnick
∞ This paper meets the requirements of the ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992 (Permanence of Paper).
Papers by Sarah Kurnick
Mexicon, 2023
Paleoclimate studies suggest that droughts between ca. 800 and 1100 CE coincided with, and perhap... more Paleoclimate studies suggest that droughts between ca. 800 and 1100 CE coincided with, and perhaps caused, the Classic Maya “collapse.” Oxygen isotope data from sediment cores recovered from Lake Punta Laguna reveal exceptionally dry periods during that interval. We present data from the archaeological site surrounding Lake Punta Laguna, which are critical for exploring the relation between paleoclimate and society in the Maya area. The site includes more than 200 mounds and was occupied continuously or recurrently from the Middle Preclassic (600 – 300 BCE) through the Postclassic period (1100/1200 – 1500/1550 CE). Rather than suggesting a correlation between drought and “collapse,” we argue that the persistence of ancient Maya peoples at Punta Laguna suggests societal resilience in the face of high rainfall variability.
Ancient Mesoamerica, 2023
This article presents a preliminary, revised life history of Punta Laguna, Yucatan, Mexico, and c... more This article presents a preliminary, revised life history of Punta Laguna, Yucatan, Mexico, and considers in detail the site's relationship to nearby communities. More specifically, this article presents the results of a type-variety analysis of the cumulative palimpsest of ceramics excavated at the site between 2017 and 2022. Unlike initial studies conducted in the 1980s, the current study suggests that Maya peoples occupied Punta Laguna continuously or recurringly from 600/300 B.C. through A.D. 1500/1550. Punta Laguna is therefore usefully understood as a persistent place. By offering a composite life history of Punta Laguna, this article aims to augment current understandings of the complex social, political, and economic landscape of the northeastern Yucatan Peninsula. It also considers the utility of archaeological studies of persistent places to scholarship on urban sustainability and suggests that research investigating the connections between early occupation and site longevity may prove a fruitful avenue of study. Finally, this article argues that investigations of persistent places may provide a counterweight to the more common focus on collapse and thereby offer a more comprehensive understanding of the Maya past-one that emphasizes the vitality of the Maya present. Resumen Este artículo presenta una inicial revisión de la historia de vida en Punta Laguna, Yucatán, México, y considera la relación del sitio con comunidades cercanas. Más específicamente, este artículo presenta los resultados de un análisis de tipo-variedad del acumulado palimpsesto de cerámica excavado del sitio entre 2017 y 2022. Diferente a otros estudios conducidos en los 1980s, este estudio sugiere que los antiguos Mayas ocuparon Punta Laguna continuamente desde 600/300 a.C. a 1500/1550 d.C. Sostenemos que Punta Laguna es más útilmente entendido como un lugar persistente. Ofreciendo una historia revisada de Punta Laguna, este artículo propone aumentar el entendimiento del complejo escenario social, político, y económico de la península oriental de Yucatán. El artículo también reconsidera la utilidad de estudios arqueológicos de lugares persistentes a los estudios de sostenibilidad urbano y sugiere que estudios investigando las conexiones entre ocupaciones tempranas y la longevidad de sitios pueden ser caminos beneficiosos. Finalmente, sostenemos que las investigaciones de lugares persistentes pueden ser un contrapeso al enfoque más común de derrumbe, y ofrece un entendimiento más comprensivo del pasado Maya, uno que acentúa la vitalidad del presente Maya.
Cambridge Archaeological Journal, 2022
Photography has been a particularly important though often under-theorized aspect of archaeologic... more Photography has been a particularly important though often under-theorized aspect of archaeological research. Although seemingly simple representations, photographs are simultaneously objective and subjective, truthful and creative. This article considers the contradictory nature of photography generally and the specific relationship between photography and archaeology. It then looks at the Yucatan peninsula of Mexico and examines how individuals have photographed ancient Maya sites, architecture and artifacts from the mid nineteenth century to the present. Initially used to support diffusionist theories of Maya origins, photography was later understood as a neutral and scientific way to record the Maya past. More recently, it has been used to share power more equitably with local communities and to make archaeology a more inclusive and relevant endeavour. Indeed, several have demonstrated that photography is a useful tool for engaged archaeology. This article argues that the reverse is also true: insights from engaged archaeology are useful tools for archaeological photography generally. By making photographic choices explicit and by including people and other aspects of the contemporary world in their photographs, scholars can emphasize that archaeology is a decisively human and necessarily political endeavour, and that archaeological sites and artifacts are dynamic and efficacious parts of the contemporary world.
Advances in Archaeological Practice, 2021
Graduate schools provide students opportunities for fieldwork and training in archaeological meth... more Graduate schools provide students opportunities for fieldwork and training in archaeological methods and theory, but they often overlook instruction in field safety and well-being. We suggest that more explicit guidance on how to conduct safe fieldwork will improve the overall success of student-led projects and prepare students to direct safe and successful fieldwork programs as professionals. In this article, we draw on the experiences of current and recent graduate students as well as professors who have overseen graduate fieldwork to outline key considerations in improving field safety and well-being and to offer recommendations for specific training and safety protocols. In devising these considerations and recommendations, we have referenced both domestic and international field projects, as well as those involving community collaboration.
Heritage, 2020
Engaged archaeology, like other forms of research, is replete with contradictions. Over the last ... more Engaged archaeology, like other forms of research, is replete with contradictions. Over the last several years, members of the Punta Laguna Archaeology Project-a community-based endeavor in Yucatan, Mexico-have encountered and sought to address several paradoxical questions. Do attempts to mitigate certain forms of inequality unintentionally sustain other forms of inequality? Can the production of capital alleviate rather than exacerbate unequal social relationships? And, can Western social theories be marshalled to advocate for and increase Maya and other Indigenous perspectives in archaeology? This article examines these contradictory questions and analyzes them as potential sources of dialectical change. To conclude, the article suggests three new foci for engaged archaeology: intersectionality, control, and authoritative speech.
Journal of Social Archaeology, 2020
It is common to view maps as simple reflections of the world. Maps, however, are more complex and... more It is common to view maps as simple reflections of the world. Maps, however, are more complex and dynamic. They are a potent form of spatial imagination and a powerful means of producing space. This article encourages archaeologists to experiment with, and to produce a multiplicity of, maps and other spatial images. As an example, this article juxtaposes two previously unpublished maps of Punta Laguna, Yucatan, Mexico: a site map created using traditional archaeological conventions and a visual cartographic history created using Indigenous Maya spatial ontologies. Because they depict space relationally, Indigenous Maya maps are arguably more congruous with contemporary social theories about space than are traditional Western maps. Further, the juxtaposition of two radically different maps of the same place highlights those mapping conventions that scholars often take for granted; demonstrates how specifically maps are selective and subjective; and emphasizes that Western worldviews are neither natural nor ubiquitous.
American Anthropologist, 2019
Over the last several decades, scholars have reexamined the importance of spatiality to human lif... more Over the last several decades, scholars have reexamined the importance of spatiality to human life and argued that space produces and is produced by social relationships. This article adopts such a relational understanding of space to examine the production of eco‐archaeological tourist attractions in the eastern Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico and beyond. Specifically, this article considers the common practice of declaring areas encompassing archaeological sites as nature parks or wildernesses. Because so many sites are currently located in areas that have been deemed natural, scholars cannot fully understand the contemporary production of archaeological space without examining the historic production of nature and wilderness. Using the Xcaret Eco‐Archaeological Park and the Otoch Ma'ax Yetel Kooh, this article shows that although the creation of archaeological nature parks frequently harms indigenous peoples through processes of spatial colonization and spatial commodification, the production of such spaces can also enable and empower local, marginalized groups. [wilderness, political authority social inequality, community archaeology, the Maya]
Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 2019
Dramatic social transformations are common events in world history and raise several questions. H... more Dramatic social transformations are common events in world history and raise several questions. How, for example, do individuals navigate the past during these critical times? Do they emphasize their ties to the past, distance themselves from the past, alter the past, or eschew the past? An analysis of modifications to existing built environments – and particularly whether existing features are venerated, destroyed, re-contextualized, or ignored – offers one means to answer this question. Using Henri Lefebvre’s notion of relational space and Walter Benjamin’s notion of temporal constellations, this article examines Postclassic period (1100–1500 CE) engagement with the Classic period (250–1100 CE), and in some instances Late Preclassic period (400 BCE – 250 CE), past in the northeast Yucatan Peninsula. Specifically, it uses data from a variety of sources to compare Postclassic modifications to existing features at eight sites: El Meco, Xcaret, Xelha, Muyil, T’isil, El Naranjal, Punta Laguna, and Cobá. Data from these sites suggest, among other insights, that the past was indeed a critical resource at each of these communities, but that Postclassic peoples navigated the past in heterogeneous ways: They engaged in a variety of practices, each with a multiplicity of meanings. This article concludes by suggesting that the Postclassic, like other time periods, is usefully understood as a temporal constellation.
∞ This paper meets the requirements of the ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992 (Permanence of Paper).
In 1754, the Academy of Dijon sponsored a contest for the best examination of the origins of huma... more In 1754, the Academy of Dijon sponsored a contest for the best examination of the origins of human inequality. Although not the winning entry, Jean-Jacques Rousseau's Discourse on the Origins and Basis of Inequality among Men remains the most widely read and influential submission. This article uses archaeological data unavailable in the eighteenth century to address Rousseau's questions anew-questions still of critical importance. Are humans naturally prone to extreme economic inequality? If not, when, how, and why did such inequality arise? And, did drastic imbalances in wealth benefit all members of early societies or only a few? ________________________________________________________________ Résumé: En 1754, l'académie de Dijon avait parrainé le concours du meilleur examen de l'origine de l'inégalité humaine. Bien qu'il n'en fû t pas le gagnant, le Discours de Rousseau sur l'origine et les fondements de l'inégalité parmi les hommes reste la présentation la plus lue et la plus influente. Cet article utilise les données archéologiques indisponibles au XVIIIe siècle pour traiter à nouveau des questions de Rousseau, questions qui sont toujours d'une importance cruciale. Les humains sont-ils naturellement exposés à une inégalité économique extrême ? Si non, quand, comment et pourquoi ces inégalités sont-elles apparues ? Et de forts déséquilibres de richesses bénéficiaient-ils à tous les membres des sociétés anciennes ou à quelques-uns seulement ? ________________________________________________________________ Resumen: En 1754, la Academia de Dijon patrocinó un certamen sobre el mejor análisis de los orígenes de la desigualdad humana. Aunque no fue ganador, el Discurso sobre el origen de la desigualdad entre los hombres, de Rousseau, sigue siendo el documento más influyente y más leído. El presente artículo utiliza datos arqueoló gicos no disponibles en el siglo XVIII para abordar las preguntas de Rousseau, de nuevo -preguntas que siguen siendo de importancia crítica. ¿Somos los humanos propensos de manera natural a una desigualdad econó mica extrema? Si no es así, ¿cuándo, có mo, RESEARCH ARCHAEOLOGIES
The politicization of the past is integral to the acquisition and maintenance of political author... more The politicization of the past is integral to the acquisition and maintenance of political authority. To justify their authority in the present, rulers frequently invoke past leaders, emphasize their ties to predecessors, and suggest themselves heir to certain already-accepted ideological traditions.
Book Reviews by Sarah Kurnick
Public Engagement by Sarah Kurnick
Futurum , 2022
This article was produced by Futurum Careers, a free online resource and magazine aimed at encour... more This article was produced by Futurum Careers, a free online resource and magazine aimed at encouraging 14-19-year-olds worldwide to pursue careers in science, tech, engineering, maths, medicine (STEM) and social sciences, humanities and the arts for people and the economy (SHAPE). For more information, teaching resources, and course and career guides, see www.futurumcareers.com
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Books by Sarah Kurnick
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Book Reviews by Sarah Kurnick
Public Engagement by Sarah Kurnick