Graduate Student Introduction for Erick Rochette
Expression of Interest:
Prehispanic Mesoamerican Archaeology, Political Economy, Prestige Goods Theory, Craft Production, Lithic Technology, Experimental Archaeology
I am an archaeologist with interests in lithic technology, experimental replication studies, economic anthropology, political economy & prestige goods theory. My current research focuses on the nature & structure of prehispanic political economies in Mesoamerican.
At present, I am in the initial stages of a planned long-term research project in the Middle Motagua Valley, Guatemala, documenting the prehispanic organization of jade prestige goods production throughout the valley. Using a combination of intensive pedestrian survey and test excavation, we have located a number of sites in the Middle Motagua Valley with evidence of jade artifact production. The information from this research will enable more detailed research about the social & political contexts of prestige goods production among the ancient Maya, as well as the intensity of craft production, especially on the household level. Detailed analyses of excavated & surface-collected lithic material inform the structure of my ongoing experimental research into prehispanic lapidary technologies.
Dissertation Title:
Trafficking Rocks to the Community: Prehispanic Jade Artifact Production in the Middle Motagua Valley, Guatemala
Experience:
Fieldwork
Director, Proyecto de Investigación Sobre la Producción de Jade en el Río Lato, Guatemala (E. Rochette, PSU, P.I.) 9/05-Present
Field Director, Centre County Rock Shelter and Fox Hollow Sites (D. Snow, PSU., P.I.) 6/02-7/02
Field Assistant, La Milpa Archaeological Project, Belize (N. Hammond, Boston Univ., P.I.), 1/98-4/98; 1/00-4/00
Field Assistant, Belknap Site, Belmont, NH (P. Goldberg, NH State Archaeologist, P.I.), 7/95
Laboratory Work
2005-2007: Lithic Analyst, Jade Project in the Lower Lato River Valley, Middle Motagua Valley, Guatemala.
Dissertation Research
My dissertation research focuses on understanding the preshispanic organization of the production of jade prestige goods in the Middle Motagua Valley, Guatemala, the only know source region for jadeite in Central America. Jadeite objects were highly valued prestige goods and played a vital part in the political economies of all pre-hispanic Mesoamerican civilizations. Despite their importance, Mesoamerican archaeologists know little about how prestige goods production was organized. From October to December 2005, FAMSI-supported field research, consisting of archaeological survey and excavations, was carried out as part of the Proyecto de Investigación Sobre la Producción de Jade en el Río Lato (PJ 2005) to understand the distribution, organization, and technological process of jadeite artifact production in the Middle Motagua Valley, centering on the region around the Lower Lato River Valley. Excavations were initiated to determine if surface jadeite debitage scatters represented in situ jadeite workshops. Archaeological survey attempted to identify other potential jadeite workshops throughout the valley and make representative surface collections from these sites. Our field research indicates that jade artifact production was much more widespread than previously believed.
Currently, I am completing technological analyses of the collected & excavated lithic materials. Upon completion of these analyses, I will be performing a series of experimental replication studies to better understand the methods of prehispanic jade artifact production. To date, no detailed studies have examined the techniques of jade artifact production. The results of these replication studies will provide a firmer basis for recognizing & interpreting the archaeological correlates of jade artifact production. More detailed information can be found here: FAMSI
Conference Presentations:
(2006) “Prehispanic Jadeite Artifact Production in the Middle Motagua Valley, Guatemala.” Poster presented at the Society for American Archaeology Annual Meetings, San Juan, Puerto Rico, April 26-30.
Book Reviews:
2003 Salt: White Gold of the Ancient Maya, H. McKillop (Maya Studies Series, University of Florida Press), in Latin American Antiquity, Vol. 14 Num. 4, p. 499-500.
Home Page:
http://www.geocities.com/pachunga/ErickRochetteVitae_March_2006.doc
