Paleoethnobotany
Plants, People, and Archaeology. By Clarissa Cagnato.
  • Paleoethnobotany
  • Research
  • Macrobotanical Analysis
  • Starch Grain Analysis
  • Starch Grain Database
  • Resources
  • Publications
  • CV
  • Contact
  • Archaeology Blog
EDUCATION

2016-2017                      Archéologie des Amériques (UMR 8096), Université de Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne –  
                                       Paris, France

                                       Fyssen Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow

2008-2016                      Washington University in St Louis Arts and Sciences – St. Louis, MO
                                        Ph.D. in Anthropology
                                        Research Focus: Reconstruction of Ancient Human Diets and
                                        Cuisine, Ancient Uses of Plants, Mesoamerican Archaeology, Gardens, Macrobotanical
                                        and Starch-Grain Analysis, Paleoethnobotany
                                        Advisors: Dr. Gayle Fritz and Dr. David Freidel

2005-2008                      Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences – New Haven, CT
                                        MA in Archaeological Studies
                                        Research Focus: Early Complex Societies; Political and Ritual Economy;
                                        Ancient Maya Archaeology
                                        Master’s Thesis: El Guayabal: Life at a Late Preclassic Center in the El Paraiso
                                        Valley, Honduras
                                        Advisor: Dr. Marcello Canuto

2001-2004                      University of Leicester –​ Leicester, England
                                        Bachelors of Science Degree in Archaeology

GRANTS and AWARDS
2016-2017                       Fyssen Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship
2015                                Dissertation Fellowship (Washington University in St. Louis)
2012                                National Science Foundation Award: Doctoral Dissertation Research

                                        Improvement Grant ($25,197)
2011-12                           Dean’s Award for Teaching Excellence (Washington University in St. Louis)
2011                                Charles R. Jenkins Award for Distinguished Achievement (National Executive Council of    
                                        Lambda Alpha (the National Collegiate Honor Society for Anthropology)
2010-2011                       Summer research funding awarded by Washington University in St. Louis
2008-2014                       Full scholarship and tuition for PhD program awarded by Washington University
                                        in St. Louis
2006-2007                       Albers Fund Traveling Grant awarded by the Peabody Museum (Yale University, Honduras   

                                        Project)
2003                                Leonardo da Vinci Award funded by European Union (Iceland Project)


PRESENTATIONS

​2017       Society for Economic Botany — June 4-9, Bragança, Portugal.
               Wood for the Gods: An Anthracological Study of an Ancient Maya Fire Shrine at El Peru-Waka’, Guatemala. 
2017       82nd Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology — Mar 29- Apr 2, Vancouver, Canada.
               Feeding the Mountain: Plant Remains from Ritual Contexts On and Around Structure M13-1 at El Perú-  
               Waka’ (co-authored with 
Olivia Navarro-Farr, Griselda Perez, Damaris Menendez, and Juan Carlos Perez)
2016        17th International Work Group for Paleoethnobotany — July 4-9, Paris, France.
                Spicy, Sweet, Weedy, and Wild: Micro- and Macrobotanical Remains from Feasting Deposits at the Late    
                Classic Maya site of La Corona, Guatemala. 
2015        80th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology — April 15-19, San Francisco, California.
                Feeding the Gods, Calling the Rains: Archaeobotanical Remains from a Monumental Fire Shrine at El Peru-
                Waka’, Guatemala (co-authored with Olivia Navarro-Farr, Griselda Perez, and Damaris Menendez). 
2014        Feeding the Fire, Calling the Rains: Plant Remains from a Fire Shrine at El Peru-Waka, Guatemala. 
                Lecture presented for the Mound City Archaeological Society, History Museum, St. Louis, MO. 
2014        Joint Meeting of Society of Ethnobiology and Society for Economic Botany--- Cherokee, North Carolina
                Shedding light on the Nightshades (Solanaceae) used by the Ancient Maya: New Archaeobotanical                                           
                Evidence from Sites in Northwestern Petén, Guatemala. 
2014         Friday Archaeology Talk-- Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis
                 Feeding the Fire, Calling the Rains: Plant Remains from a Fire Shrine at El Peru-Waka, Guatemala. 
2013         Ancient Maya Cuisine and Feeding the Divinities. Lecture presented for the Academy of Science                                    
                 of St. Louis, Missouri. 
2013         16th International Work Group for Palaeoethnobotany-- June 17-22, Thessaloniki, Greece.
                  More than Meets the Eye: Integrating Macrobotanical Plant Remains and Starch-grain 
                  Analysis to Reconstruct the Ancient Classic Maya Diet of Petén, Guatemala.
2013          78th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology-- April 3-7, Honolulu, HI.                     
                  Integrating Macro- and Microbotanical Remains to Reconstruct Ancient Maya Plant Use in   
                  Northwestern Petén, Guatemala. 
2012          XXVI Simposio de Investigaciones Arqueológicas en Guatemala (26th Annual
                  Archaeological Symposium), July 16-20, Guatemala City, Guatemala Plantas E Animales
                  en La Corona, Joint Paper with Diana N. Fridberg.
2012          77th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology – April 18-22, Memphis, TN.
                  Strolling through Madame Mandeville’s Garden: The Real and Imagined Landscape of 18th
                  Century New Orleans.
2012           Poster Session at the 17th Annual Graduate Research Symposium, Washington University in
                   St. Louis. Starch-Grain Analysis and Paleoethnobotany: A Microscopic Approach to
                   Reconstructing Ancient Diets.
2010           Friday Archaeology Talk- Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis
                   Strolling through Madame Mandeville’s Garden: The Real and Imagined Landscape of 18th
                   Century New Orleans.
2009           Friday Archaeology Talk-- Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis
                    Flotation of Samples from El Perú-Waka’, Guatemala.
2007           72nd Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology -- April 25-29, Austin, TX.
                    El Guayabal and Las Orquideas: The El Paraiso Valley as a Regional Center in the
                    Preclassic Period.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXPERIENCE
2016                 Flotation and Analysis of Soil Samples from Teotihuacan, Mexico. 
2012                 Archaeological investigations and Flotation of Soil Samples from El Perú-Waka’, Guatemala
2010-2012        Archaeological investigations and Flotation of Soil Samples from La Corona, Guatemala
2009-2010        Analysis of Soils from Rising Sun Hotel Site, New Orleans
2009                 Flotation of Soil Samples from El Perú-Waka’, Guatemala
2006-2007        Investigator at El Guayabal Site, and Staff/Student Coordinator for the Kenyon-Honduras Study  
                          Abroad Project--El Paraiso, Honduras
2005                  Investigator -- Lazaret Cave, Nice, France
2003                  Investigator -- Skriðuklaustur, Iceland (medieval Augustinian monastery)

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
Society for American Archaeology (SAA)
Société des Américanistes 
Society of Ethnobiology
Economic Botany
Lambda Alpha

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

Instructor (Washington University in St. Louis)
  • Culture and Environment (Spring 2016)
  • Introduction to Archaeology (Summer 2013)

Teaching Assistant (Washington University in St. Louis) 2009-2016
  • Introduction to Cultural Anthropology (Prof. Geoff Childs)
  • Culture and Environment (Prof. Glenn Stone)
  • Brave New Crops (Prof. Glenn Stone)
  • Archaeological Fantasies and Hoaxes (Profs. Gayle Fritz and David Freidel)
  • Introduction to Archaeology (Professor Darla Dale)
  •  People and Plants: Paleoethnobotany and Ethnobotany (Professor Gayle Fritz)
  •  Introduction to Environmental Studies (Dr. Joshua Lockyer)
  •  Culture and Environment (Dr. Matthew Fry)
  • World Archaeology (Dr. John Kelly)

Teaching Assistant (Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences) 2008 (Spring)
  • Course: Hoaxes and Fantasies in Archaeology (Professor William Honeychurch)



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