Archaeologists 2015-2019
Ariel Texis Muñoz
(2015-2016, 2018-2019, 2022-2025)
Ariel is a graduate archaeologist of the Universidad de las Américas Puebla (UDLAP) and was a thesis student of the Tlalancaleca Archaeological Project, Puebla. As a native to Tlaxcala, the smallest state in Mexico, it grew up under the influence of the Nahuatl culture that is still present in the villages of the region. For this reason, he aims to preserve his ancient heritage, both the tangible and intangible. He has worked in multiple archaeological sites such as: Tepeticpac (Tlaxcala), Yaxuná (Yucatán), archaeological salvages in Cholula. It was at Tlalancaleca (Puebla) where he carried out his research project “Tlalancaleca: ceramics and regional dynamics”.
Ariel was part of the first team to join the Project Plaza of the Columns, and he has participated during the 2015, 2016, and 2019 excavation seasons. In 2018 he joined the Surface Survey Team, being in charge of verify elements in the field. In addition, it has collaborated in the analysis of the LiDAR map of the Teotihuacan Valley in search of elements that are detected through this tool, to later confirm its existence through surface survey, as well as taking samples, such as ceramics or obsidian , which are regularly at ground level. He has been the person in contact with the communities, since all the surface part of the project has been carried out under the permission and supervision of each locality of the different municipalities of the Teotihuacan Valley.
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Yolanda Peláez Castellanos
(2016-2019, 2022-2025)
Yolanda is an archaeologist who graduated from the Universidad de las Américas Puebla (UDLAP). She has participated in archaeological excavations in the highlands of central Mexico (Cholula, Tepeticpac) and also in Peru (San José de Moro, Huaca Pucllana). In 2016 she joined the Plaza of the Columns Complex Project in Teotihuacan and has performed excavation and topographic mapping activities throughout multiple field seasons (2016-2019). In addition, she has worked on the standardization of digital records and cataloging of different materials from the project.
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Ryohei Takatsuchi
(2019, 2022-2025)
Ryohei is an anthropology/archaeology graduate student at the University of California, Riverside. He is interested in the exchange and production of culture and knowledge through ceramic exchange and production. Being trained as a traditional potter and ceramic artist, he values how ceramic objects generate human movement and reactions, rather than being static objects of the past. Observing the relationship between those that make pottery and those that use it, he examines the social and cultural contexts of the life of the ceramic objects and the lives of the people around them.