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Anthropology | Rachel A. Horowitz

Ph.D, Tulane University
Assistant Professor

 

Research Interests

Organization of technology, lithic technology, Mesoamerica, Maya, economic organization, political economy, lithic sourcing, experimental archaeology

 

Current Research

 I am an anthropological archaeologist whose research examines ancient Maya economic organization and the role of different actors in these economic activities.  I specialize in the study of lithic technology, using organizational approaches to link tool production to economic organization.  I am currently conducting research in western Belize and eastern Guatemala, although I have previously conducted research in other areas of the Maya world as well as the western and southeastern United States and southern Africa.

My current research combines ongoing investigations in western Belize and eastern Guatemala to develop a multi-sited perspective on Classic period Maya lithic economies. Through this analysis, I will provide a more comprehensive reconstruction of lithic economies and their variability in the Maya lowlands. By analyzing lithic production areas and the household assemblages from households of different socio-economic classes, this project provides a comprehensive overview of production and use activities and their role in broader economies.

Methodologically, my research draws on detailed analyses of lithic production activities and experimental archaeology. I am also beginning a sourcing project, which will attempt to explore chert source variability throughout the region.

 

Courses

 

ANTH 101

Introduction to Anthropology Explores what it means to be human through the major subfields of anthropology, including biological anthropology (human evolution and variation.

ANTH 130

Great Discoveries in Archaeology Impact of great archaeological discoveries and the work of archaeologists on our sense of the past.

ANTH 135

Mythbusting in Archaeology A critical exploration of pseudo-scientific claims and fantastical interpretations of archaeological sites and objects in popular media.

ANTH 340

Maya, Aztec, Inka Examination of the great prehistoric civilizations of Mesoamerica and South America. Recommended preparation: ANTH 101, 330, or 336.

ANTH 513

Lithic Technological Organization Methods and theory of lithic technology.

 

 

Representative Publications

 

Horowitz, Rachel A. (2021). Reducing Risk: Maya Lithic Production and Economic Diversification at Callar Creek Quarry Belize. Ancient Mesoamerica https://doi.org/10.1017/S0956536120000462

 

Horowitz, Rachel A., Mary E. Clarke, and Kenneth E. Seligson.  (2021). Querying Quarries: Stone Extraction Practices and Socioeconomic Organization in Three Sub-Regions of the Maya Lowlands. Journal of Field Archaeology 46(8): 551-570.

 

Horowitz, Rachel A. and Grant S. McCall (eds.) (2019). Global Perspectives on Lithic Technologies in Complex Societies. University of Colorado Press, Boulder.

 

Horowitz, Rachel A. and David J. Watt (2020). Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century Gunflint Assemblages: Understanding Use, Trade, and Variability in the Southeastern United States. International Journal of Historic Archaeology 24(1): 95-114.

 

Horowitz, Rachel A. Bernadette Cap, Jason Yaeger, Meaghan Peuramaki-Brown, and Mark C. Eli (2019). Material Preferences for Stone Tools: The Use of Limestone Bifaces in the Mopan Valley, Belize. Latin American Antiquity 30(1): 198-204.

 

Nesbitt, Jason, Rachel Johnson, and Rachel A. Horowitz (2019). Was Obsidian Used for Camelid Shearing in Ancient Peru? An Experimental and Use-Wear Approach. Ethnoarchaeology 11(1): 80-94.

 

Horowitz, Rachel A. (2018). Technological Choice and Raw Material Availability: Lithic Production Implements in Western Belize. Lithic Technology 43(3): 172-185.

 

 Horowitz, Rachel A. (2018). Uneven Lithic Landscapes: Raw Material Procurement and Economic Organization among the Late/Terminal Classic Maya in western Belize. Journal of Archaeological Sciences: Reports 19: 949-947.

 

McCall, Grant S. and Rachel A. Horowitz (2014). Comparing Forager and Pastoralist Technological Organization in the Central Namib Desert, Western Namibia. In Works in Stone: Contemporary Perspectives on Lithic Analysis.  Michael J. Shott, ed., pp 63-77.  University of Utah Press.

 

Horowitz, Rachel A. and Grant S. McCall (2013). Evaluating Indices of Curation for Archaic North American Bifacial Projectile Points. Journal of Field Archaeology: 38(4): 347-361.

 

Jones, George T., Lisa M. Fontes, Rachel A. Horowitz, Charlotte Beck, and David G. Bailey (2012). Reconsidering Paleoarchaic Mobility in the Central Great Basin. American Antiquity 77(2): 351-367.

 

 

 

 

 

College Hall 208
TEL: 509-335-4204
rachel.horowitz@wsu.edu

Anthropology Lithics Lab