MEC Staff
MEC Director Dr. Ed Barnhart has over two decades of experience in Mesoamerica as an archaeologist, an explorer and an instructor. He is a Fellow of the Explorers Club, has published many papers and appeared in over a dozen documentaries about ancient Maya civilization.
Dr. Edwin Barnhart
MEC Director and ArchaeologistDr. Ed Barnhart has almost three decades of experience as an archaeologist, an explorer and an instructor. He is a Fellow of the Explorers Club, has published many papers, and appeared in over a dozen documentaries about ancient civilizations.
Dr. Edwin Barnhart
- Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin Anthropology Department 2001
- Director of the Palenque Mapping Project 1998-2000
- Discovered the Maya ruins of Ma'ax Na in Belize 1995
Maya Exploration Center Director Dr. Ed Barnhart has almost three decades of experience as an archaeologist, an explorer and an instructor. He is a Fellow of the Explorers Club, has published many papers, and appeared in over a dozen documentaries about ancient civilizations. His involvement in Maya studies began in 1990 as an archaeological intern in the ruins of Copan, Honduras. In January of 1996 he was invited to return to Copan and help the University of Pennsylvania excavate the early acropolis and the tomb of the city's lineage founder.
From 1992-1995 he had been studying art, iconography and epigraphy (hieroglyphic translation) under the late Dr. Linda Schele at the University of Texas at Austin. During that same time he worked across the State of Texas as a contract archaeologist.
In 1994 he began working as a surveyor and a UT field school instructor in the jungles of Northwestern Belize. After finding numerous small villages, Dr. Barnhart discovered the ancient city of Ma'ax Na (Monkey House), a major center of the Classic Maya Period. He mapped over 600 structures at Ma'ax Na between 1995 and 1997 before moving his research focus to Chiapas, Mexico. Also while in Belize, Dr. Barnhart worked with the Belize Post Classic Project mapping the island of Caye Coco and excavating a series of burials on an island in Laguna de On.
Dr. Barnhart received his Masters degree in May of 1996 and began teaching Anthropology classes at Southwest Texas State University the following September. He taught Archaeology and Anthropology classes at SWTS until 1998 when he was invited by the Mexican government to direct the Palenque Mapping Project.
The Palenque Mapping Project was a three-year effort to survey and map the unknown sections of Palenque's ruins. Over 1100 new structures were documented, bringing the site total to almost 1500. The resultant map has been celebrated as one of the most detailed and accurate ever made of a Maya ruin. He received a Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin in 2001 with his dissertation entitled The Palenque Mapping Project: Settlement Patterns and Urbanism in An Ancient Maya City (PDF).
In 2003 Dr. Barnhart founded Maya Exploration Center and since that time has organized and led over 200 study abroad programs for students around the globe. He has appeared on History Channel, Discovery, Japanese Public Television and multiple independent documentaries. In 2012 he completed a 24-lecture video series for The Great Courses entitled "Lost Worlds of South America." Then in 2014 he was invited back to record a 48-lecture series called "Maya to Aztec: Ancient Mesoamerica Revealed". His third Great Courses series, "Ancient Civlizations of North America" came out in the summer of 2018. All three series have recieved almost nothing but 5-star reviews.
Dr. Christopher Powell
ArchaeologistAn archaeologist with 20 years in the field, Powell has worked all over the Maya world, both in the ruins and with the modern Maya people. After a decade of contract and research archaeology in the United States, Powell shifted his focus to Mesoamerica.
Dr. Christopher Powell
- Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin Institute of Latin American Studies, 2010
- Field Director of The Proyecto Grupo de Las Cruces, Palenque 1997-2000
- Excavated the tomb of Copan's lineage founder, Lord Yax K'uk' Mo' 1995
An archaeologist with 20 years in the field, Powell has worked all over the Maya world, both in the ruins and with the modern Maya people. After a decade of contract and research archaeology in the United States, Powell shifted his focus to Mesoamerica. From 1993 to 1996 he worked at Copan, Honduras with the University of Pennsylvania where he excavated the richly decorated tomb of Copan's lineage founder, Yax K'uk' Mo, the tomb of his queen, and the tomb of a sacrifical burial of a tlaloc style warrior. His work at Copan is featured in the December 1997 issue of National Geographic Magazine.
In 1996 he began working at Palenque, first as field director for the Pre-Columbian Art Research Institute's PGC (Projecto Grupo de Las Cruces) and later as a supervisor for INAH (Instituto Nacional de Antropologia y Historia). He was field director during the 1999 season when the PGC excavated Temple XIX and the finely carved throne of Akal Mo Nhab III, one of Palenque's final kings. Powell's 1998 University of Texas at Austin thesis entitled A New View on Maya Astronomy presented groundbreaking evidence regarding Maya calendrics and how they are mathematically based on multiple astronomical cycles.
His Ph.D. dissertation, The Shapes of Sacred Space, presents his revolutionary new theories regarding Maya geometry and explains how the Maya, both ancient and modern, incorporate the proportions of nature in their art and architecture. MEC is proud to support his ongoing research.
Alonso Mendez
Project ArtistBorn in San Cristobal de las Casas on February 6, 1964, Alonso spent much of his youth surrounded by the vibrant highland Maya culture of the Tzeltal and Tzotzil, as well as the emergent movement in anthropology and ethnography that occurred during the '60s and '70s.
Alonso Mendez
- Bachelors Degree in Fine Arts from Middlebury College, Vermont 1993
- Creating scale replicas of Palenque's ceramic incense burners
- Discovered unknown solar alignments in the temples at Palenque 2002
Born in San Cristobal de las Casas on February 6, 1964, Alonso spent much of his youth surrounded by the vibrant highland Maya culture of the Tzeltal and Tzotzil, as well as the emergent movement in anthropology and ethnography that occurred during the '60s and '70s. His Father, Alonso Mendez Ton, a Tzeltal Maya of Tenejapa, Chiapas, participated prominently in these studies as a cultural informant, translator, and liaison, while his Mother, Francisca T. Mendez, also played a key role in the Maya communities as an historian, facilitator, friend and participant in the social and ritual life of the Highland Maya. In this enivronment of dynamic contact between cultures Alonso grew and witnessed critical changes that altered the physical and cultural landscape of Chiapas.
Alonso attended Middlebury College, graduating in 1987 with a degree in Fine Arts. His skill as an artist would prove critically useful when in 1997 he joined the archaeological projects in Palenque, first as project artist with the Palenque Mapping Project and subsequently with the Proyecto Grupo de las Cruces and the Proyecto Arqueol�gico Palenque. During this time Alonso produced drawings that documented the new discoveries and developed 3D reconstructive drawings of the site.
In this atmosphere of discovery, he began to conduct astronomical investigations at Palenque and other important sites in the area, and discovered many new astronomical alignments in the major temples as well as new understanding of the hieroglyphic texts. He has published these findings and presented many of these in symposiums and conferences, and has participated in educational programs with focus on Indigenous science and knowledge. His most recent participation is as co-scriptwriter for the full dome planetary production of Maya astronomy for the Chabot Planetarium in San Francisco.
Carol Karasik
Writer and EditorCarol Karasik is a writer and editor who has worked on books and films in the fields of anthropology, art, ecology, and educational philosophy. As an educational consultant, she designed experimental programs for state and local school systems and the US Department of Education.
Carol Karasik
- BA from George Washington University, English Literature Department, 1964
- MA from George Washington University, English Literature Department, 1967
- Author of The Turquoise Trail
Carol Karasik is a writer and editor who has worked on books and films in the fields of anthropology, art, ecology, and educational philosophy. As an educational consultant, she designed experimental programs for state and local school systems and the US Department of Education. During the past fifteen years in Chiapas, she has edited two books of photography, a collection of Maya women's poetry, as well as numerous books on Maya culture, including Maya Tales from Zinacant�n: Dreams and Stories from the People of the Bat; Living Maya; and Every Woman Is a World: Interviews with Women of Chiapas. She is the author of The Turquoise Trail, a popular book on cross-cultural communication between the Southwestern United States and Mesoamerica.
She has also worked as a writer on a variety of documentaries for the Smithsonian and National Geographic. She received a National Endowment for the Humanities award for her script on Maya civilization. Her poems have appeared in Grant Street, La Jicara, and Blue Light, Red Light. She recently completed a novel set in nineteenth-century Chiapas. Corazon abriendo, a multi-media dance piece based on Maya weaving, for which she wrote the text, is now being performed in the US and Mexico.
Carol received a B.A. in English Literature from The George Washington University in 1964, did graduate work in English and Irish Literature at New York University, and completed her M.A. in 1967 at The George Washington University. During graduate school, she studied with poet and novelist James Dickey. She participated in advanced seminars in Maya hieroglyphics under Dr. Linda Schele, University of Texas at Austin. She is currently working with a Maya women's theater group and conducting research on archaeoastronomy at Palenque.
Dr. Kirk French
ArchaeologistDr. Kirk French is a professional archaeologist and an authority on ancient Maya water management systems. He was a senior member of the Palenque Mapping Project and headed up the team's water management research.
Dr. Kirk French
- Ph.D. Pennsylvania State Anthropology Department 2009
- Director of the documentary film "Land and Water Revisited" 2009-2011
- Director of the Palenque Hydroarchaeology Project 2005-2008
- Presently a faculty member of the Pennsylvania State Anthropology Department
Dr. Kirk French is a professional archaeologist and an authority on ancient Maya water management systems. He was a senior member of the Palenque Mapping Project and headed up the team's water management research.
His 2002 University of Cincinnati Master Thesis, Creating Space Through Water Management at the Classic Maya Site of Palenque, Chiapas, Mexico (PDF) , documented dozens of newly discovered water features and presented compelling evidence that Palenque expanded its habitable land by controlling the flow of water.
French recently completed his PhD at the Pennsylvania State University. His dissertation, The Hydroarchaeological Approach: Understanding the Ancient Maya Impact on the Palenque Watershed (PDF) , introduces a new method for measuring the effects of human impact on the environment. Surprisingly, French concludes that the major cause for fluctuations in the water cycle at Palenque is landcover alteration (deforestation, urbanism, etc.) not climate change.
In addition, French spearheaded "Land and Water Revisited", a project that documents the effects of modern day urbanism on the Teotihuacan Valley of Mexico through ethnographic film. In 1961, Penn State archaeologist William T. Sanders (1926 - 2008), filmed "Land and Water: An Ecological Study of the Teotihuacan Valley of Mexico". This documentary captured a way of life that is all but gone in the Valley today due to the urban growth of Mexico City. French has in his possession all of the outtakes and notes of the original film. His goal is to return to the Teotihuacan Valley and record the changes through juxtaposition of past and present footage and with interviews of the local people.
French has presented his cross-disciplinary research at multiple professional conferences and published almost a dozen articles. His goal is to develop a better understanding of the interplay between humans and their surroundings by providing views of what landscape alteration can and has done to the environment through archaeology, watershed modeling, and ethnographic/documentary film. Currently, he is a Lecturer of Anthropology at the Pennsylvania State University.
James Eckhardt
Archeaologist and Survey ChiefA professional surveyor and an archaeologist with eight years of field experience, James Eckhardt is MEC's senior survey crew chief. From 1998 to 2000 he was a senior member of the Palenque Mapping project.
James Eckhardt
- Archaeologist in Northwestern Belize 1995-1997
- Chief surveyor of the Palenque Mapping Project 1998-2000
- Professional surveyor in Austin, Texas 2000-present
A professional surveyor and an archaeologist with eight years of field experience, James Eckhardt is MEC's senior survey crew chief. He has particpated in multiple excavations in Northwestern Belize, including the excavtion of a royal tomb at the site of Dos Hombres. He has surveyed and mapped with teams at the Belizean ruins of Guijeral, Chan Chich and Ma'ax Na.
From 1998 to 2000 he was a senior member of the Palenque Mapping project. Since 2000 Eckhardt has been working as a crew chief for a professional survey company in Austin, Texas. His knowledge of professional survey methods and experience in the Maya region make him a key member of the MEC team.
Dr. Michael Grofe
Maya SpecialistA specialist in Maya hieroglyphic writing, archaeoastronomy, comparative mythology, and cacao, Dr. Grofe has led multiple field courses in Belize, Mexico and India. He has published several papers and presented his diverse research on archaeoastronomy and the mythology of cacao at multiple conferences.
Dr. Michael Grofe
- Ph.D. from the University of California at Davis, Department of Native American Studies, 2007
- M.A. from the California Institute of Integral Studies, Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology, 1998
- Researcher on the Maya Hieroglyphic Database Project, 2001-2007
A specialist in Maya hieroglyphic writing, archaeoastronomy, comparative mythology, and cacao, Dr. Grofe has led multiple field courses in Belize, Mexico and India. He is particularly interested in the confluence of mythological narrative and participatory science in Mesoamerica, and the historical interaction between the traditions of the Maya and Central Mexico. In his doctoral research at the University of California at Davis, he explored a new astronomical interpretation of the Serpent Series within the Dresden Codex, and he is currently expanding this research to incorporate the theoretical astronomy found in the Palenque inscriptions.
Dr. Grofe has published several papers and presented his diverse research on archaeoastronomy and the mythology of cacao at multiple conferences. In 2007, he designed and curated an exhibit on cacao and the ancient Maya at the Gorman Museum at U.C. Davis. An experienced teacher, Dr. Grofe has taught numerous courses on the Popol Vuh and Native American literature, and he is currently teaching cultural anthropology, archaeology and physical anthropology at American River College in Sacramento, California.
Lilia Lizama Aranda
ArchaeologistLilia Lizama is an archaeologist with a master degree in Anthropological Sciences specializing in Archaeology. She is the founder and General Director of EMCSA, a Cultural Resource Management organization working towards convincing the Mexican government to allow a much needed contract archaeology industry.
Lilia Lizama Aranda
- Masters Degree from the Autonmous University of Yucatan, Merida, 2004
- Founder of EMCSA, 2002
Lilia Lizama is an archaeologist with a master degree in Anthropological Sciences specializing in Archaeology. She is the founder and General Director of EMCSA, a Cultural Resource Management organization working towards convincing the Mexican government to allow a much needed contract archaeology industry. As part of that work, Lilia has participated in multiple archaeological projects with the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH). At present, she leads the Project of Registration and Diagnosis of cultural and archaeological places in the states of Yucatan and Quintana Roo, Mexico, which was recognized in March of 2004 by the Interamerican Development Bank as one of the eight best projects of Latin America and the Caribbean. This project promotes the protection of cultural heritage, creates jobs, and trains indigenous communities in strategies of self sustainable cultural development.
A champion of cultural preservation, Lilia has created workshops for children and the awareness-raising of cultural heritage in the community of Puerto Morelos, Quintana Roo. She has gives lectures in the Mexico and abroad about responsible archaeological practices and the protection of cultural heritage. She has obtained local, state, national, foreign and private scholarships for her work and continuing education. As part of her quest to protect the cultural heritage of the Yucatan, Lilia represents the Fundaci�n sin Fronteras Civil Association of Puerto Morelos, Quintana Roo in planning meetings with the Technical Committee of the Ecological Development of the Riviera Maya. Her proposals to the committee include a new system of registration for archaeological sites and a requirement that cultural resource management studies be conducted prior to any land development projects.
Most recently, Lilia has been the director of two preservation projects, one with the National Commission for the Development of Native Pueblos and the Program of Cultural Development of the Interamerican Development Bank. Both of those programs focus on Puerto Morelos and surrounding communities with the goals of preserving the area's cultural heritage and protecting its people's social rights. The tourism industry is inevitably changing Puerto Morelos, but Lilia is working to make sure it does so with respect for both its people and environment.
Dr. David Hixson
Survey Crew ChiefDavid Hixson began working among the Maya in 1991 when he was only a teenager, volunteering in rural Maya villages with the NGO Intercambio Cultural Maya. He went on to receive his undergraduate degree in Anthropology and Latin American History from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Dr. David Hixson
- Ph.D. from Tulane University in New Orleans, 2011
- Field Director of the Chunchucmil Archaeological Project, 2002-2005
- NASA Research Fellow, GSRP, 2002-2004
David Hixson began working among the Maya in 1991 when he was only a teenager, volunteering in rural Maya villages with the NGO Intercambio Cultural Maya. He went on to receive his undergraduate degree in Anthropology and Latin American History from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he exhausted every possible class on ancient and modern Mesoamerica.
With an interest in graphic design and multimedia communications in archaeology, he authored one of the first online photographic archives of Mesoamerican archaeological sites in 1996 (Mesoamerican Photo Archives - now hosted by Mesoweb). This began his longstanding association with online public education outlets, including the popular academic listserv Aztlan, which he helped revive in 2005 and now co-moderates with the help of his colleagues at FAMSI.
Hixson's graduate studies at Tulane University combined his interest in digital imagery with regional surveying techniques. With the aide of knowledgeable Maya farmers and hunters, he explored the uncharted back country of Yucatan. To cover as much ground as possible in the seasonal wetlands of western Yucatan, he pioneered the use of mountain bikes mounted with GPS units to expand his area of investigation and incorporate the use of remote sensing data. He applied for and received NASA funding for this data recovery project. His continued association with NASA led to experience with other technologies and ultimately his dissertation emerged as a study utilizing NASA remote sensing imagery (multispectral and synthetic aperture radar data) to locate previously undocumented Maya archaeological sites around the ancient city of Chunchucmil, Yucatan.
With over 20 years of experience traveling, working, and living among the Maya of Yucatan, David Hixson now uses his long track record of creating public education opportunities and his Ph.D. in Maya archaeology from Tulane to inspire students to explore the beauty of Yucatan. He believes that not just anthropologists and archaeologists can contribute to our knowledge of the Maya, but also students and scholars from many different fields. Dr. Hixson is Maya Exploration Center's resident expert on the Yucatan and he stands ready to work with students and travelers from a wide variety of disciplines, helping them to get involved and find ways to engage their skills in the quest to better understand the ancient and modern Maya.
Dr. Gerardo Aldana
Professor of AnthropologyGerardo Aldana is professor of Anthropology and Chicano Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Dr. Aldana's academic intervention has been to introduce a history-of-science-based approach to the study of Ancient Mayan astronomy.
Dr. Gerardo Aldana
- Ph.D. from Harvard University, Department of the History of Science, 2001
- A.M. from Harvard University, Department of the History of Science, 1996
- Demonstrated that the 819-Day Count was an astronumerological invention by the Palenque royal court under Kan B'ahlam
Gerardo Aldana is professor of Anthropology and Chicano Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is the author of The Apotheosis of Janaab Pakal and Tying Headbands or Venus Appearing as well as numerous articles including: "Solar Stelae and a Venus Window," "Glyph G and the Yohualteuctin" and "On Deciphering Ancient Mesoamerican Foundational Texts: the challenges of a non-logos-based Creation narrative."
Dr. Aldana's academic intervention has been to introduce a history-of-science-based approach to the study of Ancient Mayan astronomy. Following methods developed to study modern and ancient Western Science, he investigates astronomical records relative to their historical, political, religious, and economic contexts in addition to reconstructing their internal logic and quantitative utility. Aldana has applied this method to the 819-Day Count at Palenque, the Lunar Series throughout the Maya region, solar event glyphs at Copan and even Glyphs G and F of the Supplementary Series. Currently, he is working on a historical unpacking of the Dresden Codex Venus Table.
Miguel Covarrubias
ArchaeologistBorn in Mexico City in 1965, Miguel Covarrubias grew up within a family of artists and anthropologists. With 21 years of experience, he's participated in several archaeological projects in Yucatan and the Basin of Mexico.
Miguel Covarrubias
- Graduate Archaeologist, Autonomous University of Yucatan, Merida, 2003
- Director of the Dzilam Archaeological Project, 2010
- Chief surveyor of the Ah Kin Chel Regional Project , 2005-2008
Born in Mexico City in 1965, Miguel Covarrubias grew up within a family of artists and anthropologists. With 21 years of experience, he's participated in several archaeological projects in Yucatan and the Basin of Mexico, most for the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), specializing in surveys, geomatics, remote sensing, emergency rescues and restorations. He has also collaborated for 10 years at the INAHÂ's Izamal Archaeological Project and 2 field seasons for the Sacbe Uci-Cansahcab Regional Project of the University of Kentucky.
He has been a speaker at different scientific and general public conferences and congresses in the US, Europe, Central America and Mexico and has published 28 articles concerning the Maya, historic sites and legal issues related to archaeology.
For the last several years he's been focusing on settlement pattern studies, developing a GIS Archaeological Atlas of the Yucatan peninsula. With all this experience, has been able to locate hundreds of previously unknown sites.