Besides archaeologists and other experts who work on the project, local workers are also an integral part to the project. In season 2015, 39 local workers participated as auxiliary staff during excavation and/or as laboratory technicians. During season 2016, we had more than 60 local workers.

Laboratory assistants

The project is supported by local laboratory staff who are responsible for curating the excavated materials. In 2015 we hired eight workers year-round to clean and wash, dry, mark, and weigh the artifacts after they arrive straight from the field. Each year we train some of these laboratory assistants in various skills such as taking artifact photos, floating soil samples, bulk sorting bone samples, and conservation/cleaning of fragile artifact types. This benefits both the workers and the project; the workers acquire new skills that enable them to be hired by other projects in the area, and the project itself has trained workers that guarantee success in its conservation objectives.

Our laboratory staff include: Fredy Antonio Álvarez* (2015, 2016), Maricarmen Moreno Ortega (2015-2019, 2022-2025), Eduardo Sandoval Rodríguez* (2015, 2016), Primo Espinoza Reyes* (2015, 2016), Guillermina Alemán (2015), Daniela Obispo (2015, 2016), Edwin Rubén Martínez Cruz* (2015, 2016), and Luis Antonio Cruz Durán (2015, 2016), Berenice Ortega Solís (2017-2019), Guillermo García Román (2017-2019, 2022-2025), Benito Nieto Martínez *(2018-2019, 2022), Elizabeth Benitez Gonzalez (2018-2019, 2022-2025), Alma Lizbeth Aguirre Hernnadez (2022-2025), Mayte Espinoza Sanchez (2022-2025), Maria del Pilar Martínez Moreno (2022), Nadya Meneses Castañeda (2022-2025), Veronica Amada Moreno Moreno (2022-2025), Jazmin Moreno Ortega (2022-2025), Yareli Ivonne Ortega Solís (2022), Silvia Jaqueline Arellano Maldonado (2023), Nataly Gutierrez Hernandez (2023, 2024), Ramiro Medina Ortiz* (2023-2025), Elisa Gómez Chavez (2024), Gabriela Andrade Garcia (2025), and Freddy Espinoza (2025).

All of them come from local areas near the pyramids, such as San Francisco Mazapa, San Pedro Tlajinga, San Lorenzo Tlalmimilolpan, San Martín de las Pirámides and Atlatongo. Workers marked with an asterisk (*) also participate out in the field as excavation assistants during the field season.

Field crew

The names of the additional workers in this project with the season(s) in which they participated are listed below: