
M. Elizabeth Grávalos
Postdoctoral Scholar, Anthropology
Bio
Dr. Grávalos is an anthropological archaeologist with over a decade of fieldwork and lab experience. Located at the intersection of materiality, landscape, and craft production, her research centers on the politics and sociality of making and using ceramic and textile objects. Dr. Grávalos is interested in how artisans embody, share, and contest technological and landscape knowledge across generations and between communities. Most recently, her work has focused on Casma potters on Peru's north coast (ca. 700-1440 CE) and Recuay artisans (100-700 CE) in Peru's north highlands.
Since 2014, Dr. Grávalos has applied material science methods to the analysis of archaeological materials, including ceramic, glass, and stone. She is a specialist in laser ablation – inductively coupled plasma – mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) and thin section petrography.
She also conducts community-based archaeological fieldwork in Peru. Most recently, Dr. Grávalos co-directed the Proyecto de Investigación Arqueológica de Jecosh (PIAJ; Jecosh Archaeological Research Project) in highland Ancash, Peru, with colleagues Denisse Herrera Rondan and Emily A. Sharp. Learn more about this collaborative project with the descendant community of Jecosh/Poccrac here: https://www.facebook.com/PIAJecosh
Honors & Awards
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Workshop Grant for “Political Geologies Past and Present: Ontology, Knowledge, and Affect”, Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research (2023)
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Junior Fellowship in Pre-Columbian Studies, Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection (2020-2021)
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Dissertation Fellowship (Honorable Mention), Ford Foundation (2020)
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Women-in-Science Graduate Fellowship, Field Museum of Natural History (2019-2020)
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Doctoral Dissertation Fieldwork Grant, Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research (2018)
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Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Award (#1830719), National Science Foundation (2018)
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Archaeology Research Grant, Rust Family Foundation (2017)
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Field Dreams Program Award, Field Museum Women's Board (2017)
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Collections Study Grant, American Museum of Natural History (2016)
Stanford Advisors
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Andrew Bauer, Postdoctoral Research Mentor
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Barbara Voss, Postdoctoral Faculty Sponsor
All Publications
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Examining the Nasca religious network on the south coast of Peru: LA-ICP-MS of Early Nasca ceramics from the Upper Ica Valley (AD 250-450)
JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL SCIENCE-REPORTS
2023; 49
View details for DOI 10.1016/j.jasrep.2023.103919
View details for Web of Science ID 001043498100001
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Inka and Local ceramic production and distribution networks: A view from the Chinchaysuyo and Colesuyo
JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL SCIENCE-REPORTS
2023; 48
View details for DOI 10.1016/j.jasrep.2023.103910
View details for Web of Science ID 001000354200001
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Crafting cosmopolitanism: Ceramic production and exchange during Wari imperialism (600–1000 CE)
Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports
2023; 50
View details for DOI 10.1016/j.jasrep.2023.103878
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An examination of Recuay kaolin pottery production and exchange through petrography and LA-ICP-MS (100-700 CE; Ancash, Peru)
ARCHAEOMETRY
2022; 64 (6): 1340-1358
View details for DOI 10.1111/arcm.12782
View details for Web of Science ID 000791611900001
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Memory Work and Place-Making over the Longue Duree at Jecosh, Peru (340 b.c.-a.d. 1630)
JOURNAL OF FIELD ARCHAEOLOGY
2022; 47 (3): 175-195
View details for DOI 10.1080/00934690.2022.2028232
View details for Web of Science ID 000748202600001
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Changing to remain the same: everyday animal use at ancient Jecosh, north-central Peru
WORLD ARCHAEOLOGY
2022
View details for DOI 10.1080/00438243.2021.2005676
View details for Web of Science ID 000750239600001
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Prehispanic Highland Textile Technologies: A View from the First Millennium AD at Hualcayan, Ancash, Peru
LATIN AMERICAN ANTIQUITY
2021; 32 (4): 781-799
View details for DOI 10.1017/laq.2021.30
View details for Web of Science ID 000728745700009