JP Rojas, a 2nd year Anthropology student, led the first field season of the Proyecto Arqueológico del Municipio de Corn Island (PAMCI) in Nicaragua as the principal investigator (PI). The season involved surveys of archaeological sites on Big Corn Island and Little Corn Island, collaboration on documenting archaeological collections at the Museo Histórico Cultural de la Costa Caribe CIDCCA-BICU, and community workshops on both islands to discuss the municipality’s history and develop the objectives of the PAMCI. This preliminary field season was funded by CLACX through the Simon-Collier Travel Award, with additional financial support from the Anthropology Department.
Rojas also completed the Center for Materials Research in Archaeology & Ethnology (CMRAE) Summer Intensive on Ceramic Petrography in Archaeology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Ceramic petrography is an archaeometric research method that integrates geology, chemistry, and materials science to explore archaeological questions related to pottery and material production, human use of environmental resources and geologies, past and present technologies, interregional interaction, trade and exchange, and past human migrations. This research opportunity was made possible by the Society for American Archaeology through the Student Excellence in Archaeology Scholarship (SEAS).