About
51
Publications
31,059
Reads
How we measure 'reads'
A 'read' is counted each time someone views a publication summary (such as the title, abstract, and list of authors), clicks on a figure, or views or downloads the full-text. Learn more
497
Citations
Introduction
Ashley Sharpe is a zooarchaeologist and staff scientist at the Center for Tropical Paleoecology and Archaeology (CTPA), Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. Her research examines past human and animal interactions in the New World tropics using traditional bone and shell identification from animal remains at archaeological sites, along with isotope analysis to examine animal diet, movement (trade and migration), and past environments.
Current institution
Additional affiliations
January 2017 - present
June 2013 - August 2014
Position
- Instructor
Description
- Instructor to undergraduate course, "Introduction to World Archaeology", Summers 2013 and 2014. Designed course syllabus and lab activities, created and taught daily lectures, wrote and administered original exams, quizzes, and essay assignments.
August 2012 - December 2012
Position
- Research Assistant
Description
- Teaching assistant to Dr. Susan Gillespie in anthropology course titled "Principals of Archaeology." Taught two weekly lab sessions, met with student questions, graded class assignments and exams.
Education
September 2011 - May 2016
September 2009 - August 2011
September 2005 - May 2009
Publications
Publications (51)
Evolutionary and ecological hypotheses of the freshwater mussel subfamily Ambleminae are intensely geographically biased—a consequence of the complete exclusion of Mesoamerican taxa in phylogenetic reconstructions of the clade. We set out to integrate a portion of the Mesoamerican freshwater mussel assemblage into existing hypotheses of amblemine c...
Significance
The nature of animal management in Mesoamerica is not as well understood compared with other state-level societies around the world. In this study, isotope analysis of animal remains from Ceibal, Guatemala, provides the earliest direct evidence of live animal trade and possible captive animal rearing in the Maya region. Carbon, nitroge...
Zooarchaeology is a field heavily integrated with many other disciplines, including zoology, biology, ecology, geology, history, and anthropology. The basis of the discipline lies in the zooarchaeologist’s ability to identify faunal remains based on analogy with known specimens, either from a comparative faunal collection or from experience. Yet, t...
We examined the potential use of lead (Pb) isotopes to source archaeological materials from the Maya region of Mesoamerica. The main objectives were to determine if: 1) geo-logic terrains throughout the Maya area exhibit distinct lead isotope ratios (206 Pb/ 204 Pb, 207 Pb/ 204 Pb, and 208 Pb/ 204 Pb), and 2) a combination of lead and strontium rat...
In 2022, the Rio Azul Regional Archaeological Project (RARAP) from the University of Texas at Austin began archaeological research in the Rio Azul area with the goal of registering archaeological sites that had not been previously reported and, most importantly, to better understand human-environment interactions. Based on airborne LiDAR data, seve...
This study examines the carbon (δ 13 C), oxygen (δ 18 O), and strontium (87 Sr/ 86 Sr) isotopes from the dental enamel of 63 animals and compares these data to the carbon signatures from 21 humans from the Maya site of Ceibal, Guatemala. Comparing both domestic dogs and non-domestic species over a history spanning two millennia, we find that subsis...
The Caribbean & Mesoamerica Biogeochemical Isotope Overview (CAMBIO) is an archaeological data community designed to integrate published biogeochemical data from the Caribbean, Mesoamerica, and southern Central America to address questions about dynamic interactions among humans, animals, and the environment in the region over the past 10,000 years...
The application of stable isotope analyses allows a diachronic characterisation of
species habitat and feeding behaviour, information of utmost importance for zooarchaeological research. In South America, the former distribution of the guanaco (Lama guanicoe) encompassed a much larger territory than the current one. Within the Argentinean Great Ch...
Tourist brochures inform visitors that “Panamá” meant “abundance of fish” to the original inhabitants. This is hardly surprising on a narrow isthmus bathed by two contrasting oceans. Coastal and riverine resources played a fundamental role in the diet and economy of native isthmian cultures as perceived from archaeological evidence and ethnohistori...
The analysis of lead isotopes ( ²⁰⁶ Pb/ ²⁰⁴ Pb, ²⁰⁷ Pb/ ²⁰⁴ Pb, and ²⁰⁸ Pb/ ²⁰⁴ Pb) in ancient enamel and bone is a relatively new technique for tracking lead exposure, as well as the movement of animals across the landscape. The methods and limitations for lead isotope testing on ancient faunal remains are still being explored. Lead isotopes in ar...
Through case studies of faunal remains from Roman Britain, prehistoric Southeast Asia, ancient African pastoral cultures, and beyond, this volume illustrates some of the ways stable isotope analysis of ancient animals can address key questions in human prehistory. Contributors use a diverse set of isotope chemistry techniques to investigate social...
Through case studies of faunal remains from Roman Britain, prehistoric Southeast Asia, ancient African pastoral cultures, and beyond, this volume illustrates some of the ways stable isotope analysis of ancient animals can address key questions in human prehistory. Contributors use a diverse set of isotopic techniques to investigate social and biolo...
Isotope research has become an integral part of archaeological faunal analyses, or zooarchaeology, in recent years. Archaeologists can now examine the past relationships among humans, animals, and their surrounding environments in better detail than ever before. This chapter reviews the history of isotope applications in zooarchaeology, including i...
The analysis of lead isotopes (206Pb/204Pb, 207Pb/204Pb, and 208Pb/204Pb) in ancient enamel and bone is a relatively new technique for tracking lead exposure, as well as the movement of animals across the landscape. The methods and limitations for lead isotope testing on ancient faunal remains are still being explored. Lead isotopes in archaeologic...
The Caribbean Sea is the most species-rich sea in the Atlantic, largely due to its vast coral reef systems. However, its high biodiversity and endemism face unprecedented anthropogenic threats, including synergistic modern pressures from overfishing, climate change and bioinvasion. Archaeological data indicate initial human settlement of the Caribb...
In the Maya lowlands, where bedrock consists largely of carbonate rocks, aquatic organisms living in inland bodies of water may incorporate inorganic carbon derived from those rocks. Their tissues may reflect the freshwater reservoir effect (FRE), which would give radiocarbon dates older than those of contemporaneous terrestrial plants. FRE may als...
This study examines artifact production using lithic, animal bone, and shell materials at the lowland Maya site of Ceibal, Guatemala, to explore the emergence and societal role of early crafting specialists. During the Middle Preclassic period (1000–350 b.c. ), ancient Maya society went through a critical transition to sedentary settlements, includ...
This study provides an isotopic examination of both human and animal paleodiets and mobility patterns at a highland Maya community. Kaminaljuyu, Guatemala, was a large Prehispanic center located in a distinctly cooler, drier setting compared with the majority of Maya sites in the surrounding lowlands. Previous archaeological research at Kaminaljuyu...
City plans symbolizing cosmologies have long been recognized as a defining element of Mesoamerican civilizations. The origins of formal spatial configurations are thus the key to understanding early civilizations in the region. Assessment of this issue, however, has been hindered by the lack of systematic studies of site plans over broad areas. Her...
This study examines the ritual and socioeconomic significance of animals in ceremonial contexts at Kaminaljuyu, Guatemala. Kaminaljuyu was once the largest and most politically powerful highland Maya center. We compare faunal remains from different contexts, including burials and dedicatory offerings in and around monumental features, to better und...
Throughout much of the pre-Hispanic Andes, bioarchaeological and iconographic evidence shows that the decapitation, dismemberment, and display of human heads were important aspects of ritual practices. Researchers have debated about the social identities of these decapitated heads—were they revered local ancestors, non-local enemies captured in rai...
This study uses carbon (δ¹³C), nitrogen (δ¹⁵N), oxygen (δ¹⁸O), and strontium (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr) isotopes to infer the diets and mobility patterns of pre-Columbian humans from seven archaeological sites in Panama: Cerro Mangote, Sitio Sierra, and Cerro Juan Díaz in central Pacific Panama; Cerro Brujo and Sitio Drago along Panama’s northwest Caribbean coast...
Large material accumulations from single events found in the archaeological record are frequently defined as evidence of ritual. They are interpreted as generalized deposit categories that imply rather than infer human motivations. While useful in the initial collection of data, these categories can, over time, become interpretations in and of them...
It is well known that the development of the ancient Maya civilization had significant and long-lasting impacts on the environment. This study assesses a large collection of faunal remains (>35,000 specimens) recovered over a span of several kilometers in and around the archaeological site of Ceibal, Guatemala, in order to determine whether the com...
This study examines 2,000 years of marine trade to the ancient Maya site of Ceibal, Guatemala. Located almost 150 kilometers from the nearest coast in Belize, Ceibal was a large community spanning the Middle Preclassic through early Postclassic periods (1000 b.c. – a.d. 1200). It therefore provides an excellent opportunity to assess the marine reso...
Informe de temporada de campo 2018, Resolución 270-18 DNPH (Report for the 2018 Excavation Season, Submitted to the Instituto Nacional de Cultura de Panama for Resolution 270-18)
Lead isotope ratios (²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb, ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁴Pb, and ²⁰⁸Pb/²⁰⁴Pb) are used with increasing frequency in archaeological science to track the movement of animals, including humans. Like other isotopes used for sourcing, including strontium and oxygen, lead isotope ratios from bone and tooth enamel apatite can be matched to known lead sources in local b...
Los baños de vapor se ha utilizado en Mesoamérica durante más de un milenio
con fines recreativos, como retiros medicinales para curar dolores y enfermedades y
como habitaciones para que las mujeres den a luz y para ceremonias rituales
relacionadas con el nacimiento. Aquí presentamos el descubrimiento de una estructura
única de baño de sudor con im...
Megalonaias is the most geographically widespread genus of the subfamily Ambleminae and is distributed across much of the eastern half of North America, from Minnesota to Nicaragua. Despite the large geographic distribution, the species-level diversity of Megalonaias is quite depauperate (2 spp.), suggesting the genus may not be constrained by the...
Due to an unfortunate mistake during the production process of the original publication, part of Table 1 was omitted. Hence, the original article has been corrected. The missing section (region ‘Mobile’) of Table 1 is also published on the following page. Springer Nature regrets the error and accepts sole responsibility.
Sweat baths and lodges have been used in Mesoamerica for well over a millennium for the purposes of recreation, as medicinal retreats for curing pains and illnesses, and as rooms for women to give birth and for birth-related ritual ceremonies. Here we present the discovery of a unique sweat bath structure with aquatic and birthing imagery and fauna...
This article examines Preclassic Maya ritual practices and craft production by means of a study of ritual deposits containing obsidian artifacts dated mostly to the late Middle Preclassic period (700–350 B.C.) at Ceibal, Guatemala. New ritual practices developed at Ceibal during this period, possibly through political interactions and negotiation i...
The probable E-Group assemblage was a primary focus of our investigation at the lowland Maya center of Ceibal. Tunnel excavation into Structure A-20 (the western structure of this complex) demonstrated that the Ceibal residents built the earliest version (Structure Ajaw) by carving natural marl around 950 b.c. The earliest version of the eastern pl...
K-means cluster analysis reports for the Northern Lowlands, Southern Lowlands, and Motagua Valley.
(A) K-Means cluster analysis for the Northern Lowlands, 207Pb/204Pb and 206Pb/204Pb. Black and red colors designate different clusters, identified by centroid numbers. (B) K-Means within-cluster sum of squares scree plot for the Northern Lowlands, 207...
Identification of turkey (Meleagris spp.) remains in Maya archaeological deposits is problematic because the two species that co-existed during ancient Maya occupations are extremely difficult to separate osteologically. One species, M. gallopavo, was introduced from northern Mexico possibly multiple times. The other species, M. ocellata, is indige...
Initial Spanish colonization of the Central Andes and efforts to transform indigenous society were highly dependent on local social and geographic conditions. In the Colca Valley of southern Peru, Franciscan friars established a series of doctrinas (settlements for the conversion and doctrinal instruction of the indigenous population) at former Ink...
El presente análisis utiliza los isótopos estables para examinar si los animales en el sitio Ceibal fueron criados en cautividad y si estos fueron parte de un intercambio larga distancia durante los períodos Preclásico y Clásico, y cómo estos procesos de domesticación e intercambio fueron llevados a cabo. Los isótopos de carbono y nitrógeno evalúan...
Eduard Seler's 1909 analysis of the various birds and their associated symbolism in the Mexican codices is one of the most thorough undertakings of its kind; however, although numerous revelations have been made in the realm of codex research over the past century, no comprehensive attempt has been undergone to revise Seler's initial identification...
