Staff Spotlight
Dr. Kitty F. Emery
Assistant Curator, Environmental Archaeology
114 Dickinson Hall
Museum Road & Newell Drive
Gainesville, FL 32611
(352) 273-1919
Email: kemery@flmnh.ufl.edu
Ph.D. Cornell University, 1997
FLMNH Environmental Archaeology Program
Concurrent Appointments
Affiliate Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology; Affiliate, Land Use and Environmental Change Institute, University of Florida; Affiliate, Latin American Studies.
Research Interests
I, and the other members of the FLMNH Environmental Archaeology team, study ancient animal, plant, and soil remains to investigate the ancient relationship between humans and the environments within which they lived. I work in the tropical forests of Central America, using the environmental remains recovered in archaeological deposits to understand how the ancient Maya and other Mesoamerican cultures used (and sometimes abused) their natural world. I have worked in Belize, Honduras, and Guatemala for 20 years, and am currently studying materials from several Maya sites including Tikal (National Geographic Magazine Nov 1974, Dec. 1975), Copan (NG Oct. 1989, Dec. 1997, July 2001), Dos Pilas (NG Feb. 1993), Piedras Negras (NG Aug. 2003), Aguateca (NG May 2003), and Motul de San Jose.
Courses Taught at UF
Lessons from Ancient Environments (Anthropology, 2002, 2003)
Environmental Archaeology (Anthropology, 2004, 2005, 2008)
Current Graduate Students (Chair)
Erin Kennedy Thornton, Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Anthropology
- Research on Mesoamerican zooarchaeology and trade of animal products among the Classic Maya
Elyse Anderson, M.A. Candidate, Department of Anthropology
- Research on modern and ancient Maya ritual animal bone use through ethnozoology and zooarchaeology
Erol Kavountzis, M.A. Candidate, Department of Anthropology
- Zooarchaeological research on exotic animal remains in Classic Maya cave deposits
Michael Kaye, M.A. Candidate, Department of Anthropology
- Zooarchaeology of early complexity as revealed in animal remains from Panamanian coastal villages
Lisa Tromley, M.A. Candidate, Department of Anthropology
- GIS analysis of Maya settlement carrying capacities and implications for the abandonment of the Motul de San Jose polity, Guatemala
Ryan VanDyke, (co-Chair) M.A. Candidate, Department of Anthropology
- South Eastern USA zooarchaeology
(I also serve on committees for the following students: (PhD) Ivan Batun Anthropology, Christine Craig SNRE, Michelle LeFebvre Anthropology, Pio Saqui Anthropology; (MA) Nicole Cannarozzi, Tria Ellison, Karen Pereira,. Graduated students include: (PhD) Michael Rosenmeier Geology, (MA) Sarah Newell Geology, Michelle LeFebvre.)
Staff
Irvy Quitmyer - Collection Manager, Zooarchaeologist, Environmental Archaeology
Donna Ruhl - Archaeobotanist, Environmental Archaeology
Representative Publications
(2008) Zooarchaeological Isotopic Chemistry: A Regional Perspective on Biotic Change during the Classic Maya Occupation of the Guatemalan Petén. Quaternary International. [senior author with E.K. Thornton]
(2007) Aprovechamiento de la Fauna en Piedras Negras: Dieta, Ritual y Artesania del Periodo Clasico Maya. Mayab 19:51-69.
(2007) Assessing the Impact of Ancient Maya Animal Use. Journal of Nature Conservation 15(3):184-195
(2007) Bone Tool Manufacturing in Elite Maya Households at Aguateca, Guatemala. Ancient Mesoamerica 18(2):69-89. [senior author with Kazuo Aoyama]
(2006) Definiendo el Aprovechamiento de la Fauna por la Elite: Evidencia en Aguateca y Otros Sitios en Petexbatún, Guatemala. Ut'zib 4(1):1-16.
(2005) Animals and Ritual in the Copán Acropolis: Zooarchaeology of Special Deposits (2004 Research Season). Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies, Inc. (FAMSI) Report Publications (www.famsi.org/reports/03028/index.html)
(2004) In Search of the "Maya Diet": Is Regional Comparison Possible in the Maya Area? Archaeofauna 13:37-56
(2004) Maya Zooarchaeology: New Directions in Method and Theory. Edited volume. Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, Monograph 51. Los Angeles, CA. [310 pp, 85 figures, 49 tables; including a preface, taxonomic appendix, subject index, and three chapters by Emery]
(2003) The Economics of Natural Resource Use at Ancient Motul de San Jose, Guatemala. Mayab 16:33-48
(2003) A Marine Resource Survey at Marco Gonzalez, Belize. Canadian Zooarchaeology Supplement 1:68-102. [senior author with E. Graham]
(2002) The Noble Beast: Status and Differential Access to Animals in the Maya World. World Archaeology 34(3):498-515
(2000) Isotopic Analysis of Ancient Deer Bone: Biotic Stability in Collapse Period Maya Land-Use. Journal of Archaeological Science 27:537-550. [senior author with L.E. Wright and H. Schwarcz]
(1999) Temporal trends in ancient Maya animal use: Zooarchaeological studies of Postclassic and Colonial period faunal assemblages from Lamanai and Tipu, Belize. In Reconstructing Ancient Maya Diet, edited by CD White, pp. 61-81. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press.
(1990) Ancient and modern Maya exploitation of the jute snail (Pachychilus). Latin American Antiquity 1(2): 170-183. [second author with Healy, P. and L.E. Wright]