Contact alarcon.tinajero@uga.edu Education University of Chicago, A.B., 2013 Dissertation Research Edgar Alarcón’s research centers individual lifetimes and past communities as lenses through which to examine wider ecological and social contexts. Edgar attempts to understand aspects of the lived-experience of past individuals through an Osteobiographical approach when considering the diets, physical activity and subsistence practices of individuals at snapshots in time. Edgar’s research is situated on the cusp of Spanish colonization near what became Mexico City. Edgar plans to apply radiogenic and stable isotope analyses of strontium, carbon and nitrogen to for paleodietary reconstruction, while keeping a reflexive point of view on traditional study of diet, health and disease in bioarchaeology. Edgar’s research plans to cross-examine archaeological assumptions early colonial diets - based primarily on vegetal agricultural products - through both carbon/ nitrogen isotope analysis, as well as 88Sr/86Sr ratio analysis. Edgar’s research examines skeletal samples from a peri-urban community in Mexico City's hinterland as an example of a colonial population. The evidence of dietary change and disease susceptibility in the decades following European contact substantiates understanding of social structure and social inequality during a time of significant change. In the future, Edgar plans to further archaeological and bioarchaeological research in Mesoamerica by addressing challenges to the field and the region: accessibility of archaeological information to scholars and the general public, creation of local-level biogeochemical standards, refinement of chronologies, and partnership with stakeholder communities. Research Interests Cross-sectional geometry, stable isotope biogeochemistry, dental non-metric biodistance, phytolith analysis, Epiclassic Period, Postclassic Period, Colonial archaeology, Mesoamerica, Basin of Mexico, Morelos Publications 2018 Christopher Morehart, Rudolf Cesaretti, Dean Blumenfeld, Edgar Alarcón, and Megan Parker. La Continuación de las Investigaciones en la Operación 5. In Proyecto de Ecología Histórica del Norte de la Cuenca de México: Informe de la Temporada de Campo 2017, edited by Christopher Morehart, pp. 10-35. The School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Tempe. Grants and Awards 2018 Latin American and Caribbean Studies Institute Travel Award 2017 Rhodes Pre-Dissertation Award Affiliations 2018-2019 Society for American Archaeology 2018-2019 Geologic Society of America Geologic Society of America, Southeastern Section Personal Website https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Edgar_Alarcon_Tinajero
