Summary

I specialize in the archaeology of the ancient Near East and Eastern Mediterranean, with a focus on the Bronze and Iron Age southern Levant. I received an MA  (2009) and PhD (2013) from the Institute of Archaeology at University College London, preceded by BS (2003) and MA (2005) degrees in biblical studies from Abilene Christian University. I taught as College Fellow in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at Harvard University, having previously taught in the Department of Anthropology at San Francisco State University while also a Visiting Scholar at UC Berkeley. I am currently a Visiting Fellow in the Center for Geographic Analysis at Harvard and Eaducational and Cultural Affairs Research Fellow at the W.F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research in Jerusalem. 

My work broadly deals with approaches to human-environmental dynamics, the development of complex societies, geospatial data aqcuisition and analysis, and archaeometric material sciences. My teaching specializations include archaeological method and theory, quantitative analyses, geo-spatial documentation and analysis, and several topics in the ancient Near Eastern world. My teaching focuses on building connections between ancient societies and relevant real-world issues, using the study of material culture to provide a compelling world in which to immerse students in reflective ethical discourse, recognize socio-cultural diversity, and search for common human values. When evaluating and using the latest technological and methodological innovations in the field, I contrast the use of technology simply for the “wow factor” versus substantial improvements for the discipline. I stress the importance of the evidence we use in the discipline of archaeology and the methods with which we produce and interpret such data in order to evaluate the outcomes of research. 

I have spent several years conducting fieldwork at sites in the Middle East, and my current field projects in Israel-Palestine span the Early Bronze Age to the Roman period. I am Co-Director of the Jezreel Valley Regional Project (JVRP), where I serve many roles, including: co-directing our regional survey and excavation projects, heading a paleoenvironmental study, coordinating archaeological sciences, and instructing our field school. The JVRP is a multi-disciplinary project investigating the history of human activity in the Jezreel Valley during all periods of human habitation, up to the modern day. The project is also making headway toward our cultural heritage and public archaeology initiative, which aims to directly engage local community members in several ways. I am also a long-term staff member of the Megiddo Expedition, where I direct the excavations of an Iron Age domestic quarter (Area Q) as area supervisor and instructor. In the excavation of this area I also collaborate with specialists to conduct geoarchaeological research dealing with absolute dating, paleomagnetism, infrared spectroscopy, phytolith analysis, and micromorphology. 

My doctorate investigated the process of urbanization during the Middle Bronze Age in the southern Levant from the standpoint of socio-economic organization in the process of architectural construction. I challenged long-standing notions of cultural diffusion and normativity by highlighting diverse forms of heterarchical social organization and the importance of technological innovation evidenced through my data. In order to ground the discussion of this developing complex society, my primary data came from mud-bricks, which were a ubiquitous building material during this period. Through my analysis of brick composition, dimensions, and building strategies, together with ethnographic and textual evidence, I was able to reconstruct the chaine opératoires of mud-brick manufacture, and determine significant social patterns based on standardization, raw material procurement, labor, and architectural energetics. In the end, I conclude that the complex urban society that emerged during this period was not due to exogenous factors nor was it highly centralized or hierarchical; rather, urbanization was directly related to economic incentives and discontinuous technological innovation in an open system, from the standpoint of a dynamic systems approach toward socio-cultural evolution. 

One of my current research projects deals with the environment of the Jezreel Valley during the Holocene, including palynological, geomorphological, hydrological, and isotope studies. The unique geographic situation of this particular landscape, as well as the high resolution of environmental and archaeological data targeted by this project, will constitute a major contribution toward models of environment and human ecology in the region. Likewise, I am currently preparing a series of articles synthesizing and addressing the several limitations we currently have in interpreting human-environmental correlations during particular archaeological periods in the Near East, while promoting anthropologically-grounded theoretical approaches in contrast to prevailing deterministic explanations.