Ceramic analysis
Don Zeferino Ortega (2015, 2016)
Plaza of the Columns, 2016
Don Zefe is the local ceramist of the project with over 50 years of experience. He began working on the first excavations in the area from 1963 to 1967 with Dr. Miller and Dr. Cohen. Later, he joined projects in different regions of the country and has worked with both Mexican and international researchers (Japan, U.S.A., Canada). He tells us how fortunate he feels by collaborating with them.
He opens up bags of materials and carefully distributes the ceramic sherds into nice, discreet piles. He takes each sherd and meticulously reviews it next to a nearby light source. Most of the time, he is standing and carefully analyzing each of the sherds.
Wesley D. Stoner (2024)
Wesley Stoner is an anthropologist who works primarily with archaeological data. His research centers on economic trade, the evolution of social and political complexity, and urbanism. To approach trade, he has developed methodological specializations in sourcing analysis, specifically applied to archaeological ceramics. He employs chemical and petrographic analyses to trace ceramics found in the archaeological record back to their location of production. He has also developed a specialty in remote sensing using satellite imagery and LiDAR data. He has employed these methods principally in the Gulf Lowlands and the Central Highlands of Mexico.
Shinya Shoda (2025)
Shinya Shoda is a biomolecular archaeologist and Head of the International Cooperation Section at the Nara National Research Institute for Cultural Properties in Japan. He is also affiliated with the BioArCh, University of York in the UK, as an honorary visiting fellow. His research integrates advanced chemical and molecular techniques to reconstruct ancient diets, culinary traditions, and agricultural diffusion across Eurasia and beyond, based on the lipid residues on prehistoric pottery, cooking stones, and dental calculus.