Cynthia Robin

Associate Professor (Ph.D. U. Pennsylvania 1999)
1812 Hinman Ave, Room 104
(847) 491-4835
c-robin@northwestern.edu

RESEARCH AND TEACHING INTERESTS: Archaeology, Households and Everyday Life, Social and Settlement Organization, Space and Place, Gender and Feminist Theory, Maya, Mesoamerica, Complex Societies

Cynthia Robin is an anthropological archaeologist who specializes in the study of the everyday lives of ordinary people in ancient Maya society. Her research has paid particular attention to household and gender relations. By documenting archaeologically how ordinary people make a difference in the past, we become aware that people are not the mere pawns of history or prehistory. Since 2001 Robin has led an international multi-disciplinary team that is studying the 2000 year history of the ancient Maya farming community of Chan in Belize. Chan’s occupation spans the periods of the rise and fall of pre-Columbian Maya civilization, making Chan an ideal place not only to learn about Maya farmers, but also to explore how ordinary life affected and was affected by broader changes in a society. Her research at Chan has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the National Geographic Society, the John J. Heinz III Charitable Trust, and Northwestern University. For more information on the Chan Project see our under-construction web site at: http://www.anthropology.northwestern.edu/chan/.

Robin’s previous publications include “Gender, Farming, and Long-Term Change: Maya Historical and Archaeological Perspectives” (Current Anthropology), “New Directions in Classic Maya Household Archaeology” (Journal of Archaeological Research) ,“Outside of Houses: The Practices of Everyday Life at Chan Nòohol, Belize” (Journal of Social Archaeology), “Peopling the Past: New Perspectives on the Ancient Maya” (Proceedings

of the National Academy of Sciences http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/full/98/1/18), Spatial Theory and Archaeological Ethnographies, a special section in the Journal of Social Archaeology and the book Preclassic Maya Burials at Cuello, Belize (British Archaeological Reports).

RECENT COURSES TAUGHT

101 – Freshman Seminar – Everyday Life in ancient and Historic Times

214 Culture Origins
325 – Archaeological Methods Lab
328 – The Maya
490 – Topics in Anthropology – Gender and Archaeology
490 – Topics in Anthropology – Household Archaeology
496 – Bridging Seminar – Space and Place

RECENT PUBLICATIONS/PAPERS/CONFERENCES

Books and Edited Volumes
2002 Spatial Theory and Archaeological Ethnographies, special section of Journal of Social Archaeology 2(2).
1989 Preclassic Maya Burials at Cuello, Belize, British Archaeological Reports International Series 480, Oxford.

Selected Recent Articles and Book Chapters

2006		“Gender, Farming, and Long-Term Change: Maya Historical and Archaeological Perspectives,” Current Anthropology 47 (3): 409-433
2005		“Households and Community Ritual in a Maya Farming Community: The 2003 Season at the Chan Site, Belize,” in J. Awe, J. Morris, S. Jones, and C. Helmke (eds.) Archaeological Investigations I the Eastern Maya Lowlands: Papers of the 2004 Belize Archaeology Symposium, Institute of Archaeology, Belmopan, Belize.
2004		“Social Diversity and Everyday Life within Classic Maya Settlements, “ in J. Hendon and R. Joyce (eds.), Mesoamerican Archaeology, 148-168, Blackwell, Oxford.
2004		“Commoner Heterogeneity in the Hinterlands of Xunantunich”, in Jon C. Lohseand Fred Valdez, Jr. (eds.), Ancient Maya Commoners, 147-174, University of Texas Press, Austin.
2004		“Surveying an Agrarian Community: The 2002 Season at the Chan Site, Belize,” in J. Awe, J. Morris, and S. Jones (eds.) Archaeological Investigations in the Eastern Maya Lowlands: Papers of the 2003 Belize Archaeology Symposium, 231-242, Institute of Archaeology, Belmopan, Belize.
2003		“New Directions in Classic Maya Households Archaeology,” Journal of Archaeological Research 1 (4): 307-356.
2002		“Outside of Houses: The Practices of Everyday Life at Chan Noohol, Belize,” Journal of Social Archaeology 2(2): 245-268.
2002		“Archaeological Ethnographies: The Social Dynamics of Outdoor Space,” Journal of Social Archaeology 2(2): 159-172. (with Nan Rothschild)
2002		“Gender and Farming at Chan Noohol, Belize’” in Traci Arden ed, Ancient Maya Women, 12-30, Alta Mira Press, Boulder.
2001		“Peopling the Past: New Perspectives on the Ancient Maya”’ Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 98(1): 18-21.