Andrew K Scherer
Biographic Data
| ID | 82972 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Andrew K Scherer |
| GIVEN NAMES | Andrew K |
| FAMILY NAME | Scherer |
| SIGNATURE | SCHERER A K |
| AFFILIATIONS | Department of Anthropology, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island 02912, USA |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 16 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 189 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 16 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2005 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
Childness, Humanness, and Violence among the Classic Maya Elite
Regional household variation and inequality across the Maya landscape
Health Care in the Marketplace: Exploring Maya Medicinal Plants and Practices at Piedras Negras, Guatemala
Botanical residues recovered from excavations in the Southeast Marketplace of Piedras Negras provide information about the healing and medical activities of the site's Classic period (a.d. 350–900) inhabitants, and point towards the intersection between commerce and medicine for the ancient Maya. The plants were likely exchanged at the market then used on-site for the purposes of healing. The botanical remains are complemented by both architectur…
Chronology and the evidence for war in the ancient Maya kingdom of Piedras Negras
Recent Research on the Archaeology of War and Violence
The mid-1990s through the first decade of the new millennium marked an increase in publications pertaining to war and violence in the ancient past. This review considers how scholars of the past decade have responded to that work. The emerging consensus is that war and violence were endemic to all societies studied by archaeologists, and yet the frequency, intensity, causes, and consequences of violence were highly variable for reasons that defy …
True People, Foreigners, and the Framing of Maya Morality
A royal Maya country house: Archaeology at Bejucal, Guatemala
This article presents three years of archaeological investigations at the minor Maya center of Bejucal, Guatemala. A complete site history is presented relying on data from artifact analysis, architectural study, epigraphy, and bioarchaeology, with a goal towards identifying the site's function within the broader El Zotz polity. The authors argue that Bejucal underwent significant transformation following its establishment as a sacred hilltop sit…
Dental Morphometric and Strontium Isotope Evidence for Population History at Tikal, Guatemala
Territory, Trust, Growth, and Collapse in Classic Period Maya Kingdoms
Drawing on theoretical understandings of the relationship between civil society and the state, the authors argue that the collapse of the kingdoms of Piedras Negras and Yaxchilan in the ninth century AD resulted from the same political processes that permitted the expansion of dynastic power in preceding centuries. Populations initially clustered around the dynastic capitals of these kingdoms, where daily spheres of interaction facilitated trust …
The Classic Maya sarcophagus: Veneration and renewal at Palenque and Tonina
Remote Sensing as a Tool for Tropical Ecology
Tropical forests provide important habitat for a tremendous diversity of plant and animal species. However, limitations in measuring and monitoring the structure and function of tropical forests has caused these systems to remain poorly understood. Remote-sensing technology has provided a powerful tool for quantification of structural patterns and associating these with resource use. Satellite and aerial platforms can be used to collect remotely …
Tecolote, Guatemala: Archaeological Evidence for a Fortified Late Classic Maya Political Border
A newly discovered system of fortifications at Tecolote, Guatemala, a Late Classic period (A.D. 600–900) Maya secondary center in the Yaxchilan polity, consists of a series of stone walls and hilltop watchtowers. The stone walls appear to have been used as foundations to secure wooden palisades, as suggested previously for other Classic Maya sites, and were used in concert with strategic settlement at the site to maximize overall defensibility. W…
Piedras Negras and Yaxchilan: Divergent Political Trajectories in Adjacent Maya Polities
In this article we present a synthetic overview and preliminary analysis of the data collected by members of the Sierra del Lacandón Regional Archaeology Project (SLRAP) during four field seasons of research from 2003 to 2007. We examine the growth, development, and transformation of the Classic Maya polities of Piedras Negras, Guatemala, and Yaxchilan, Mexico, located in the Middle Usumacinta Basin. This analysis uses a conjunctive approach, inc…
Population structure of the classic period Maya
This study examines the population structure of Classic period (A.D. 250–900) Maya populations through analysis of odontometric variation of 827 skeletons from 12 archaeological sites in Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, and Honduras. The hypothesis that isolation by distance characterized Classic period Maya population structure is tested using Relethford and Blangero's (Hum Biol 62 ( 1990 ) 5–25) approach to R matrix analysis for quantitative traits. …
Bioarchaeological Evidence for Social and Temporal Differences in Diet at Piedras Negras, Guatemala
In this bioarchaeological study of Classic Maya subsistence, we analyzed porotic hyperostosis, dental caries, and stable isotopes on skeletal remains recovered from 118 burials at Piedras Negras, Guatemala. The abundant porotic hyperostosis and dental caries at Piedras Negras, coupled with a high mean δ13C (mean -9.2 ± 1.0‰) provide evidence for high levels of maize consumption. The isotope data show slight differences among social status groups.…
Stones, Bones, and Crowded Plazas: Evidence for Terminal Classic Maya warfare at Colha, Belize
This study provides a synthetic review of the Terminal Classic collapse of the Maya site of Colha, Belize, based on new data drawn from recent lithic and osteological studies and previously reported information. The well-known Colha skull pit has figured prominently in previous hypotheses of the site's collapse, which focus on either warfare or ritual termination. In this review, these two hypotheses are reexamined using data from: (1) shifts in …
Territory, Trust, Growth, and Collapse in Classic Period Maya Kingdoms
Drawing on theoretical understandings of the relationship between civil society and the state, the authors argue that the collapse of the kingdoms of Piedras Negras and Yaxchilan in the ninth century AD resulted from the same political processes that permitted the expansion of dynastic power in preceding centuries. Populations initially clustered around the dynastic capitals of these kingdoms, where daily spheres of interaction facilitated trust …
Piedras Negras and Yaxchilan: Divergent Political Trajectories in Adjacent Maya Polities
In this article we present a synthetic overview and preliminary analysis of the data collected by members of the Sierra del Lacandón Regional Archaeology Project (SLRAP) during four field seasons of research from 2003 to 2007. We examine the growth, development, and transformation of the Classic Maya polities of Piedras Negras, Guatemala, and Yaxchilan, Mexico, located in the Middle Usumacinta Basin. This analysis uses a conjunctive approach, inc…
Bioarchaeological Evidence for Social and Temporal Differences in Diet at Piedras Negras, Guatemala
In this bioarchaeological study of Classic Maya subsistence, we analyzed porotic hyperostosis, dental caries, and stable isotopes on skeletal remains recovered from 118 burials at Piedras Negras, Guatemala. The abundant porotic hyperostosis and dental caries at Piedras Negras, coupled with a high mean δ13C (mean -9.2 ± 1.0‰) provide evidence for high levels of maize consumption. The isotope data show slight differences among social status groups.…
Tecolote, Guatemala: Archaeological Evidence for a Fortified Late Classic Maya Political Border
A newly discovered system of fortifications at Tecolote, Guatemala, a Late Classic period (A.D. 600–900) Maya secondary center in the Yaxchilan polity, consists of a series of stone walls and hilltop watchtowers. The stone walls appear to have been used as foundations to secure wooden palisades, as suggested previously for other Classic Maya sites, and were used in concert with strategic settlement at the site to maximize overall defensibility. W…
Population structure of the classic period Maya
This study examines the population structure of Classic period (A.D. 250–900) Maya populations through analysis of odontometric variation of 827 skeletons from 12 archaeological sites in Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, and Honduras. The hypothesis that isolation by distance characterized Classic period Maya population structure is tested using Relethford and Blangero's (Hum Biol 62 ( 1990 ) 5–25) approach to R matrix analysis for quantitative traits. …
Stones, Bones, and Crowded Plazas: Evidence for Terminal Classic Maya warfare at Colha, Belize
This study provides a synthetic review of the Terminal Classic collapse of the Maya site of Colha, Belize, based on new data drawn from recent lithic and osteological studies and previously reported information. The well-known Colha skull pit has figured prominently in previous hypotheses of the site's collapse, which focus on either warfare or ritual termination. In this review, these two hypotheses are reexamined using data from: (1) shifts in …
Recent Research on the Archaeology of War and Violence
The mid-1990s through the first decade of the new millennium marked an increase in publications pertaining to war and violence in the ancient past. This review considers how scholars of the past decade have responded to that work. The emerging consensus is that war and violence were endemic to all societies studied by archaeologists, and yet the frequency, intensity, causes, and consequences of violence were highly variable for reasons that defy …
Chronology and the evidence for war in the ancient Maya kingdom of Piedras Negras
A royal Maya country house: Archaeology at Bejucal, Guatemala
This article presents three years of archaeological investigations at the minor Maya center of Bejucal, Guatemala. A complete site history is presented relying on data from artifact analysis, architectural study, epigraphy, and bioarchaeology, with a goal towards identifying the site's function within the broader El Zotz polity. The authors argue that Bejucal underwent significant transformation following its establishment as a sacred hilltop sit…
Health Care in the Marketplace: Exploring Maya Medicinal Plants and Practices at Piedras Negras, Guatemala
Botanical residues recovered from excavations in the Southeast Marketplace of Piedras Negras provide information about the healing and medical activities of the site's Classic period (a.d. 350–900) inhabitants, and point towards the intersection between commerce and medicine for the ancient Maya. The plants were likely exchanged at the market then used on-site for the purposes of healing. The botanical remains are complemented by both architectur…
The Classic Maya sarcophagus: Veneration and renewal at Palenque and Tonina
Stones, Bones, and Crowded Plazas: Evidence for Terminal Classic Maya warfare at Colha, Belize
This study provides a synthetic review of the Terminal Classic collapse of the Maya site of Colha, Belize, based on new data drawn from recent lithic and osteological studies and previously reported information. The well-known Colha skull pit has figured prominently in previous hypotheses of the site's collapse, which focus on either warfare or ritual termination. In this review, these two hypotheses are reexamined using data from: (1) shifts in …
Population structure of the classic period Maya
This study examines the population structure of Classic period (A.D. 250–900) Maya populations through analysis of odontometric variation of 827 skeletons from 12 archaeological sites in Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, and Honduras. The hypothesis that isolation by distance characterized Classic period Maya population structure is tested using Relethford and Blangero's (Hum Biol 62 ( 1990 ) 5–25) approach to R matrix analysis for quantitative traits. …
Bioarchaeological Evidence for Social and Temporal Differences in Diet at Piedras Negras, Guatemala
In this bioarchaeological study of Classic Maya subsistence, we analyzed porotic hyperostosis, dental caries, and stable isotopes on skeletal remains recovered from 118 burials at Piedras Negras, Guatemala. The abundant porotic hyperostosis and dental caries at Piedras Negras, coupled with a high mean δ13C (mean -9.2 ± 1.0‰) provide evidence for high levels of maize consumption. The isotope data show slight differences among social status groups.…
Piedras Negras and Yaxchilan: Divergent Political Trajectories in Adjacent Maya Polities
In this article we present a synthetic overview and preliminary analysis of the data collected by members of the Sierra del Lacandón Regional Archaeology Project (SLRAP) during four field seasons of research from 2003 to 2007. We examine the growth, development, and transformation of the Classic Maya polities of Piedras Negras, Guatemala, and Yaxchilan, Mexico, located in the Middle Usumacinta Basin. This analysis uses a conjunctive approach, inc…
Tecolote, Guatemala: Archaeological Evidence for a Fortified Late Classic Maya Political Border
A newly discovered system of fortifications at Tecolote, Guatemala, a Late Classic period (A.D. 600–900) Maya secondary center in the Yaxchilan polity, consists of a series of stone walls and hilltop watchtowers. The stone walls appear to have been used as foundations to secure wooden palisades, as suggested previously for other Classic Maya sites, and were used in concert with strategic settlement at the site to maximize overall defensibility. W…
Remote Sensing as a Tool for Tropical Ecology
Tropical forests provide important habitat for a tremendous diversity of plant and animal species. However, limitations in measuring and monitoring the structure and function of tropical forests has caused these systems to remain poorly understood. Remote-sensing technology has provided a powerful tool for quantification of structural patterns and associating these with resource use. Satellite and aerial platforms can be used to collect remotely …
The Classic Maya sarcophagus: Veneration and renewal at Palenque and Tonina
Territory, Trust, Growth, and Collapse in Classic Period Maya Kingdoms
Drawing on theoretical understandings of the relationship between civil society and the state, the authors argue that the collapse of the kingdoms of Piedras Negras and Yaxchilan in the ninth century AD resulted from the same political processes that permitted the expansion of dynastic power in preceding centuries. Populations initially clustered around the dynastic capitals of these kingdoms, where daily spheres of interaction facilitated trust …
Dental Morphometric and Strontium Isotope Evidence for Population History at Tikal, Guatemala
A royal Maya country house: Archaeology at Bejucal, Guatemala
This article presents three years of archaeological investigations at the minor Maya center of Bejucal, Guatemala. A complete site history is presented relying on data from artifact analysis, architectural study, epigraphy, and bioarchaeology, with a goal towards identifying the site's function within the broader El Zotz polity. The authors argue that Bejucal underwent significant transformation following its establishment as a sacred hilltop sit…
True People, Foreigners, and the Framing of Maya Morality
Recent Research on the Archaeology of War and Violence
The mid-1990s through the first decade of the new millennium marked an increase in publications pertaining to war and violence in the ancient past. This review considers how scholars of the past decade have responded to that work. The emerging consensus is that war and violence were endemic to all societies studied by archaeologists, and yet the frequency, intensity, causes, and consequences of violence were highly variable for reasons that defy …
Chronology and the evidence for war in the ancient Maya kingdom of Piedras Negras
Regional household variation and inequality across the Maya landscape
Health Care in the Marketplace: Exploring Maya Medicinal Plants and Practices at Piedras Negras, Guatemala
Botanical residues recovered from excavations in the Southeast Marketplace of Piedras Negras provide information about the healing and medical activities of the site's Classic period (a.d. 350–900) inhabitants, and point towards the intersection between commerce and medicine for the ancient Maya. The plants were likely exchanged at the market then used on-site for the purposes of healing. The botanical remains are complemented by both architectur…
Childness, Humanness, and Violence among the Classic Maya Elite
Archaeology (14 works) · Maya (14 works) · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies (12 works) · Geography (11 works) · History (9 works) · Latin American history and culture (7 works) · Political science (7 works) · Art (6 works) · History (6 works) · Ancient history (4 works)