Luke Stroth

Luke Stroth is a Mesoamerican archaeologist focusing on the Maya of southern Belize. His interests include the human-environment relationship, paleobotanical methods, and using structure-from-motion photography (photogrammetry) to document ancient artifacts and architecture. His PhD research focuses on the paleobotanical, faunal, and ceramic artifacts from the Classic (AD 150-850) Maya site of Nim li Punit, Toledo District, Belize, to provide a holistic view of ancient Maya diet and lifeways. In addition to this primary dissertation research, Luke has been involved with UCSD Professor Jade d’Alpoim Guedes’s lab in the analysis of the paleobotanical collection from Khirbat al-Jariya, an Iron Age copper production site in the Wadi Faynan, Jordan, and characterizing obsidian artifacts from a Cocal period (AD 1000-1520) site on the north coast of Honduras. Luke has excavated in Belize, Peru, South Africa, Chiapas, and Iowa. In 2016 he received his B.A. from the University of Iowa and received his M.A. from UCSD in 2018. Service work includes a position as an editorial assistant for Latin American Antiquity (2018 to 2020) and the chief organizer of the UCSD Archaeology Colloquium Series (2016 to 2020). He has received the Katzin Prize endowed fund (2016-2021) and the San Diego Fellowship (2018-2020). You can find his up-to-date CV here