Staff Spotlight
Dr. Kitty F. Emery
Associate 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, 2009)
Zooarchaeology of Central America (Anthropology, 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
Lizzy Hare, M.A. Candidate, Department of Anthropology
- Maya environmental archaeology
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
Ashley Sharpe, M.A. Candidate, Department of Anthropology
- Maya environmental archaeology
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, Gypsy Price. Graduated students include: (PhD) Michael Rosenmeier Geology, (MA) Sarah Newell Geology, Michelle LeFebvre, Tria Ellison, Karen Pereira.)
Staff
Irvy Quitmyer - Collection Manager, Zooarchaeologist, Environmental Archaeology
Donna Ruhl - Archaeobotanist, Environmental Archaeology
Representative Publications
(2008) Negotiations with the Animate Forest: Hunting Shrines and Houses in the Maya Highlands. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory 15(4):300-337 [second author with Linda A. Brown]
(2008) Zooarchaeological Habitat Analysis of Ancient Maya Landscape Changes. Journal of Ethnobiology 28(2):154-179 [senior author with Erin Thornton]
(2008) Zooarchaeological Isotopic Chemistry: A Regional Perspective on Biotic Change during the Classic Maya Occupation of the Guatemalan Petén. Quaternary International. 191:131-143. [senior author with E.K. Thornton]
(2008) A Zooarchaeological Test for Dietary Resource Depression at the End of the Classic Period in the Petexbatun, Guatemala. Human Ecology 36(5):617-634.
(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]
(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]