Christopher Morehart
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Phone: 480-727-8724
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Mail code: 2402Campus: Tempe
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Christopher Morehart is an environmental anthropologist, an ethnobotanist/paleoethnobotanist, an archaeologist, and a Latin Americanist. Regionally, the vast majority of his work as an anthropological archaeologist occurs in the region scholars call Mesoamerica. Sub-regionally, he has conducted research in the Maya Lowlands of Belize, Yucatan, and Guatemala, and has been working intensively in the Basin of Mexico over the past several years. Conceptually, much of his research speaks to the questions of political ecology, particularly the variable impact of state power on agrarian landscapes, and of long-term landscape legacies.
Morehart's primary research exists in central Mexico. He is the principal investigator of the Northern Basin of Mexico Historical Ecology Project, which has carried out archaeological survey and excavations and ecological and paleoecological research at both the site and the landscape scales. This is a collaborative project, and Morehart has worked closely with scientists from several institutions, particularly the National and Autonomous University of Mexico. Morehart also supports ASU research in Mexico by serving as the associate director of ASU's Teotihuacan Research Facility.
Morehart is the director of ASU's Laboratory of Ethnobotany and Environmental Anthropology where he continues to work (with student trainees) as a paleoethnobotanist on archaeological projects in Yucatan, Mexico; Belize; Guatemala; and the southeast United States. Creating a Mesoamerican ethnobotanical database (based on published literature) is a project Morehart has been working on since 2000, and has worked with many ASU students to compile data.
- Ph.D. Anthropology, Northwestern University 2010
- M.Sc. Anthropology, Florida State University2002
- B.A. Anthropology; minor: Environmental and Plant Biology, Ohio University 1999
Historical and Political Ecology. Landscapes. Ethnobotany. Food. Agriculture and water management. Archaeology of ritual. GIS. Remote sensing. Archaeology of gender. Public archaeology. Economic anthropology. Mexican Colonial history.
Academia.edu: https://asu.academia.edu/ChristopherMorehart
Morehart, Christopher. La Ecología Política del Paisaje Chinampero de Xaltocan. Arqueología Mexicana January, no 119:56-59. (2024).
Morehart, Christopher. Of Ruins and Ruination: Infrastructures against the Anthropocene. In Adaptive Reuse in Latin America Cultural Identity, Values and Memory, edited by José Bernardi, pp. 163-180. Routledge, London.(2024)
Morehart, Christopher, Angela Huster, and Abigail Meza Peñaloza. Pax Tolteca: Collapse, Conflict, and the Formation of the Tula State. In The Legacies of The Basin of Mexico: The Ecological Processes in the Evolution of a Civilization, edited by C. Cordova and C., Morehart, University Press of Colorado, Boulder. (2023)
Carlos Cordova and Christopher Morehart. Introduction: The Legacies of the Green Book. In The Legacies of The Basin of Mexico: The Ecological Processes in the Evolution of a Civilization, edited by C. Cordova and C, Morehart, University Press of Colorado, Boulder. (2023).
Carlos Cordova and Christopher Morehart (editors). The Legacies of “The Basin of Mexico: The Ecological Processes in the Evolution of a Civilization”. University Press of Colorado, Boulder (2023)
Pacheco-Forés, Sofía, Christopher Stojanowski, and Christopher Morehart. Migration and biological continuity in central Mexico during the Classic-Epiclassic Transition. American Journal of Biological Anthropology 182:264-278. (2023).
Morehart, Christopher. Reply to "Riding, Ruling, and Resistance: Equestrianism and Political Authority in the Hungarian Bronze Age, by Katharine Kanne". Current Anthropology 63:312-313. (2022).
Meza-Peñaloza, Abigail, Frederico Zertuche, and Christopher Morehart. Population level Comparisons in Central Mexico using Cranial Non-Metric Traits. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 176(10):237-248. (2021).
Pacheco-Fores, Sofía, Christopher Morehart, Jane Buiksta, Gwyneth Gordon, and Kelly Knudson. Migration, violence, and the "other": a biogeochemical approach to identity-based violence in the Epiclassic Basin of Mexico. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 61. (2021).
Graff, Sarah R., Nina Berman, Rimjhim Aggarwal, Clea Edwards, Christopher Morehart, Salah Hamdoun, David Manuel-Navarrete, Okechukwu Iheduru, Hallie Eakin, Mary Jane Parmentier, Gary Grossman, and Netra Chhetri. If “the economy” is collapsing, how do people survive? Medium. https://asuglobalfuture.medium.com/if-the-economy-is-collapsing-how-do-…
Morehart, Christopher, Kristin De Lucia, and Enrique Rodríguez-Alegría (editors). Xaltocan: La Historia e Arqueología de una Comunidad. Local publication for community outreach grant (Wenner Gren) (Not peer reviewed) (2019)
Meza-Peñaloza, Abigail, Frederico Zertuche, Maria García-Velasco, and Christopher Morehart. A non-metric traits study of skulls from Epiclassic Xaltocan in relation to other Mesoamerican cultures. Journal of Archaeological Science Reports 23:559-566. (2019).
Manuel-Navarrete, David, Christopher Morehart, Beth Tellman, Hallie Eakin, J. Mario. Siqueiros-García, and Bertha Hernández Aguilar. Intentional disruption of path-dependencies in the Anthropocene: Gray versus green water infrastructure regimes in Mexico City, Mexico. Anthropocene 26. (2019).
Baller, Kendall, Marcus Lorang, Christopher Schwartz, and Christopher Morehart. Analysis of Archaeobotanical Samples from Cuychen. In The Realm Below: Speleoarchaeological Investigations in the Macal River Valley, Belize, edited by Christophe Helmke, pp. 195-202. Precolumbia Mesoweb Press, San Francisco. (2019).
Morehart, Christopher. Inherited Legacies of Ecological Imperialism in Central Mexico. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 52:103-112. (2018)
Morehart, Christopher. The Political Ecology of Chinampa Landscapes in the Basin of Mexico. In Water and Power in Past Societies, edited by Emily Holt, pp. 19-39. State University of New York Press (2018)
Millhauser, John, Christopher Morehart, and Santiago Juarez (Editors). Uneven Terrain: Archaeologies of Political Ecology. Archaeological Papers of the American Anthropological Association, No. 29. Washington, D.C. (2018).
Christopher Morehart, Santiago Juarez, and John Millhauser. Archaeologies of Political Ecology: Problems and Orientations. In Uneven Terrain: Archaeologies of Political Ecology, edited by John Millhauser, Christopher Morehart, and Santiago Juarez, pp. 5-29. Archaeological Papers of the American Anthropological Association, No. 29. Washington, D.C. (2018)
Millhauser, John, and Christopher Morehart. Sustainability as a Relative Process: A Long‐Term Perspective on Sustainability in the Northern Basin of Mexico In Uneven Terrain: Archaeologies of Political Ecology, edited by John Millhauser, Christopher Morehart, and Santiago Juarez, pp. 134-156. Archaeological Papers of the American Anthropological Association, No. 29. Washington, D.C. (2018)
Morehart, Christopher. Ritual Time: The Struggle to Pinpoint the Temporality of Ritual Practice using Archaeobotanical Data. Social Perspectives from Environmental Archaeology Data: Food, Place, and People, edited by Matt Syre and Maria Bruno. Springer. (2017)
Morehart, Christopher and John Millhauser. Monitoring Cultural Landscapes from Space: Evaluating Archaeological Sites in the Basin of Mexico using Very High Resolution Satellite Imagery. Journal of Archaeological Science Reports 10:363-376. (2016)
Morehart, Christopher. Let the Earth Forever Remain! Landscape Legacies and the Materiality of History in the Northern Basin of Mexico. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute (incorporating Man) 22:939-961. (2016).
Morehart, Christopher. Aztec Agricultural Strategies: Intensification, Landesque Capital, and the Socio-Politics of Production. Oxford Handbook of the Aztecs, edited by Deborah Nichols and Enrique Rodríguez-Alegría, pp. 263-279. Oxford University Press, Oxford. (2016)
Morehart, Christopher. Diversity, Standardization, and the State: The Politics of Maize Agriculture in Postclassic Central Mexico. In Viewing the Future in the Past: Historical Ecology Applications to Environmental Issues, edited by Thomas Foster, Lisa Paciulli, and David Goldstein. University of South Carolina Press. (2016)
Millhauser, John, and Christopher Morehart. The Ambivalence of Maps: A Historical Perspective on Sensing and Representing Space in Mesoamerica. In Remote Sensing: Current Methods and Applications, edited by Maurizio Forte and Stefano Campana, Springer. (2016).
Morehart, Christopher. Chinampa Agriculture, Surplus Production, and Political Change at Xaltocan, Mexico. Ancient Mesoamerica 27(1):183-196. (2016).
Morehart, Christopher, and Destiny Crider. Low-Intensity Investigations at Three Small Sites along Lake Xaltocan in the Northern Basin of Mexico. Latin American Antiquity 27(2):257-263. (2016).
Feinman, Gary, Linda Nicholas, Heather Lapham, Ricardo Higelin Ponce de León, Jorge Ríos Allier, and Morehart, Christopher. Recent Discoveries at Lambityeco, Oaxaca, Mexico (2013–2015): Broadening Context. Mexicon 38:46-55. (2016)
Christopher Morehart. Archaeologies of the Past and in the Present: Materialities of Human History. American Anthropologist 117:483-511.(2015).
Christopher Morehart and Shanti-Morell-Hart. Beyond the Ecofact: Toward a Social Paleoethnobotany in Mesoamerica. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory 22:483-511 (2015).
Christopher Morehart and Kristin De Lucia. Surplus: The Politics of Production and the Strategies of Everyday Life. University of Colorado Press (2015).
De Lucia, Kristin, and Christopher Morehart. Surplus and Social Change: The Production of Household and Field in Pre-Aztec Central Mexico. Surplus: The Politics of Production and the Strategies of Everyday Life.. The University of Colorado Press, Boulder (2015).
Christopher Morehart. The Potentiality and the Consequences of Surplus: Agricultural Production and Institutional Transformation in the Northern Basin of Mexico. Economic Anthropology (2014).
Christopher Morehart and Charles Frederick. The Chronology and Collapse of Pre-Aztec (chinampa) agriculture in the Northern Basin of Mexico..Antiquity (2014).
Morehart, Christopher. What if the Aztec Empire Never Existed? The Prerequisites of Empire and the Politics of Plausible Alternative Histories. American Anthropologist 114:267-281. (2012).
Morehart, Christopher. Mapping Ancient Chinampa Landscapes in the Basin of Mexico: A Remote Sensing and GIS Approach. Journal of Archaeological Science 39:2541-2551. (2012).
Morehart, Christopher, Abigail Meza Peñaloza, Carlos Serrano Sánchez, Emily McClung de Tapia, and Emilio Ibarra Morales. Human Sacrifice in the Northern Basin of Mexico during the Epiclassic Period. Latin American Antiquity 23(4): 426–448. (2012).
Morehart, Christopher. Sustainable Ecologies and Unsustainable Politics: Chinampa Farming in Ancient Central Mexico. Anthropology News, April Issue, pp. 9-10. (2011)
Morehart, Christopher. Food, Fire, and Fragrance: A Paleoethnobotanical Perspective on Classic Maya Cave Ritual. BAR International Series 2186, Oxford. (2011).
Morehart, Christopher, and Noah Butler. Ritual Exchange and the Fourth Obligation: Ancient Maya Food Offering and the Flexible Materiality of Ritual. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 16:588-608. (2010).
Morehart, Christopher, and Dan Eisenberg. Power, Prosperity, and Change: Modeling Maize at Postclassic Xaltocan, Mexico. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 29(1):94-112. (2010).
Morehart, Christopher, and Christophe Helmke. Situating Power and Locating Knowledge: A Paleoethnobotanical Perspective to Ancient Maya Gender and Social Relations. In Gender, Households, and Society: Unraveling the threads of the past and present, edited by Cynthia Robin and Elizabeth Brumfiel. Archaeological Papers of the American Anthropological Association, Vol. 18, No.1, pp. 60-75. (2008).
Morehart, Christopher, David Lentz, and Keith Prufer. Wood of the Gods: The Ritual Use of Pine (Pinus spp.) by the Ancient Lowland Maya. Latin American Antiquity 16(3):255-274. (2005)
Morehart, Christopher. Plants and Caves in Ancient Maya Society. In Reconstructing Maya Ritual and Cosmology in the Cave Context, edited by Keith Prufer and James Brady, pp. 167-185. University of Colorado Press, Boulder. (2005).
Morehart, Christopher, Jaime Awe, Michael Mirro, Vanessa Owen, and Christophe Helmke. Ancient Textile Remains from Barton Creek Cave, Cayo District, Belize. Mexicon 26(3):50-56. (2004).
- The Northern Basin of Mexico Historical Ecology Project
- The Comparative Paleoethnobotany and Ethnobotany of the Maya Lowlands and Greater Mesoamerica
Subsistence and Economic Diversity Resilience and Transformation in the Northern Basin of Mexico. NSF-SBE-SES (9/1/2015 - 8/31/2019).
Courses
2025 Spring
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
ASB 493 | Honors Thesis |
ASB 799 | Dissertation |
ASB 792 | Research |
ASB 592 | Research |
ASB 499 | Individualized Instruction |
ASB 590 | Reading and Conference |
ASB 790 | Reading and Conference |
ASB 492 | Honors Directed Study |
ASB 499 | Individualized Instruction |
ASB 493 | Honors Thesis |
ASB 492 | Honors Directed Study |
ASB 500 | Research Methods |
2024 Fall
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
ASB 790 | Reading and Conference |
ASB 799 | Dissertation |
ASB 792 | Research |
ASB 590 | Reading and Conference |
ASB 499 | Individualized Instruction |
ASB 492 | Honors Directed Study |
ASB 493 | Honors Thesis |
ASB 592 | Research |
ASB 499 | Individualized Instruction |
ASB 501 | Professionalism |
ASB 492 | Honors Directed Study |
ASB 362 | People and Plants |
ASB 362 | People and Plants |
ASB 493 | Honors Thesis |
2024 Summer
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
ASB 799 | Dissertation |
ASB 792 | Research |
ASB 590 | Reading and Conference |
ASB 362 | People and Plants |
ASB 362 | People and Plants |
ASB 362 | People and Plants |
ASB 362 | People and Plants |
ASB 499 | Individualized Instruction |
ASB 499 | Individualized Instruction |
2024 Spring
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
ASB 493 | Honors Thesis |
ASB 799 | Dissertation |
ASB 792 | Research |
ASB 592 | Research |
ASB 499 | Individualized Instruction |
ASB 590 | Reading and Conference |
ASB 790 | Reading and Conference |
ASB 492 | Honors Directed Study |
ASB 499 | Individualized Instruction |
ASB 493 | Honors Thesis |
ASB 492 | Honors Directed Study |
ASB 337 | Pyramids and Hieroglyphs |
2023 Fall
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
ASB 790 | Reading and Conference |
ASB 799 | Dissertation |
ASB 792 | Research |
ASB 590 | Reading and Conference |
ASB 499 | Individualized Instruction |
ASB 492 | Honors Directed Study |
ASB 493 | Honors Thesis |
ASB 592 | Research |
ASB 499 | Individualized Instruction |
ASB 492 | Honors Directed Study |
ASB 362 | People and Plants |
ASB 362 | People and Plants |
ASB 493 | Honors Thesis |
2023 Summer
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
ASB 590 | Reading and Conference |
ASB 799 | Dissertation |
ASB 792 | Research |
ASB 362 | People and Plants |
ASB 362 | People and Plants |
ASB 362 | People and Plants |
ASB 362 | People and Plants |
2023 Spring
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
ASB 493 | Honors Thesis |
ASB 799 | Dissertation |
ASB 792 | Research |
ASB 592 | Research |
ASB 499 | Individualized Instruction |
ASB 590 | Reading and Conference |
ASB 790 | Reading and Conference |
ASB 492 | Honors Directed Study |
ASB 499 | Individualized Instruction |
ASB 362 | People and Plants |
ASB 362 | People and Plants |
ASB 500 | Research Methods |
ASB 493 | Honors Thesis |
ASB 492 | Honors Directed Study |
2022 Fall
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
ASB 790 | Reading and Conference |
ASB 799 | Dissertation |
ASB 792 | Research |
ASB 590 | Reading and Conference |
ASB 499 | Individualized Instruction |
ASB 492 | Honors Directed Study |
ASB 493 | Honors Thesis |
ASB 592 | Research |
ASB 223 | Aztecs, Incas and Mayas |
ASB 499 | Individualized Instruction |
ASB 492 | Honors Directed Study |
2022 Summer
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
ASB 799 | Dissertation |
ASB 792 | Research |
ASB 590 | Reading and Conference |
ASB 362 | People and Plants |
ASB 362 | People and Plants |
ASB 362 | People and Plants |
ASB 362 | People and Plants |
2022 Spring
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
ASB 493 | Honors Thesis |
ASB 799 | Dissertation |
ASB 792 | Research |
ASB 592 | Research |
ASB 499 | Individualized Instruction |
ASB 590 | Reading and Conference |
ASB 790 | Reading and Conference |
ASB 492 | Honors Directed Study |
ASB 499 | Individualized Instruction |
ASB 337 | Pyramids and Hieroglyphs |
2021 Fall
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
ASB 790 | Reading and Conference |
ASB 799 | Dissertation |
ASB 792 | Research |
ASB 590 | Reading and Conference |
ASB 499 | Individualized Instruction |
ASB 492 | Honors Directed Study |
ASB 493 | Honors Thesis |
ASB 592 | Research |
ASB 499 | Individualized Instruction |
ASB 362 | People and Plants |
ASB 362 | People and Plants |
2021 Summer
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
ASB 799 | Dissertation |
ASB 590 | Reading and Conference |
ASB 362 | People and Plants |
ASB 362 | People and Plants |
ASB 362 | People and Plants |
ASB 362 | People and Plants |
2021 Spring
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
ASB 493 | Honors Thesis |
ASB 799 | Dissertation |
ASB 792 | Research |
ASB 592 | Research |
ASB 499 | Individualized Instruction |
ASB 590 | Reading and Conference |
ASB 790 | Reading and Conference |
ASB 492 | Honors Directed Study |
ASB 499 | Individualized Instruction |
ASB 584 | Internship |
ASB 223 | Aztecs, Incas and Mayas |
2020 Fall
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
ASB 790 | Reading and Conference |
ASB 799 | Dissertation |
ASB 792 | Research |
ASB 590 | Reading and Conference |
ASB 499 | Individualized Instruction |
ASB 492 | Honors Directed Study |
ASB 493 | Honors Thesis |
ASB 592 | Research |
ASB 499 | Individualized Instruction |
ASB 500 | Research Methods |
ASB 362 | People and Plants |
ASB 362 | People and Plants |
2020 Summer
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
ASB 799 | Dissertation |
ASB 792 | Research |
ASB 590 | Reading and Conference |
ASB 362 | People and Plants |
ASB 362 | People and Plants |
ASB 362 | People and Plants |
ASB 362 | People and Plants |
2020 Spring
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
ASB 493 | Honors Thesis |
ASB 799 | Dissertation |
ASB 792 | Research |
ASB 592 | Research |
ASB 499 | Individualized Instruction |
ASB 590 | Reading and Conference |
ASB 790 | Reading and Conference |
ASB 492 | Honors Directed Study |
ASB 499 | Individualized Instruction |
ASB 584 | Internship |
2019 Fall
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
ASB 584 | Internship |
ASB 790 | Reading and Conference |
ASB 799 | Dissertation |
ASB 792 | Research |
ASB 590 | Reading and Conference |
ASB 499 | Individualized Instruction |
ASB 492 | Honors Directed Study |
ASB 493 | Honors Thesis |
ASB 592 | Research |
- Christopher Morehart Socio-Spatial Isomorphism and Ancient Farming Systems: Nominal versus Practical Tenure in the Basin of Mexico.. 80th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. (Apr 2015).
- Christopher Morehart Chinampas y Chinamperos: The Political Ecology of Raised Field Farming and Water Management in the Basin of Mexico.The Eighth Visiting Scholar Conference of the Institute for European and Mediterranean Archaeology,. (Apr 2015).
- Christopher Morehart Ethics of Digital Technology in Archaeology. Panel discussion in session on Digital Technology and Ethics in Anthropology..American Anthropological Association Annual Meeting, Washignton, D.C.. (Dec 2014).
- Christopher Morehart and John Millhauser Evaluating Representational Perspectives of Landscape and Adjusting the Historical Gaze of the Basin of Mexico. Paper presented at the 79th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Austin, TX.. (Apr 2014).
- Christopher Morehart and John Millhauser Hiding in plain sight: the significance of small sites in the northern Basin of Mexico.. Paper presented at the 79th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Austin, TX.. (Apr 2014).
- Christopher Morehart, Abigail Meza Peñaloza and Destiny Crider Understanding Violence: Ritual, Conflict, and Sacrifice in the Basin of Mexico..aper presented at the 79th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Austin, TX. (Apr 2014).
- Christopher Morehart and Megan Parker Culture vs. Behavior: Can we use archaeobotanical data from ritual contexts in the Maya Lowlands to document environmental change?. Paper presented at the 79th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Austin, TX.. (Apr 2014).
- Christopher Morehart Discussant for Applied Archaeology in the Global South: Action, Assessment, and the Democratization of Practices in Archaeology.. Presented at the 79th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Austin, TX.. (Apr 2014).
- Christopher Morehart Chair of session: Transitions: Governmentality, Politics, Power. SOCIETY FOR ECONOMIC ANTHROPOLOGY 2014 Annual Meeting "Energy and Economy". (Apr 2014).
- Ancient Mesoamerica, Reviewer (2015 - present)
- How to get an academic job panel, October 27, 2015, Presenter (2015 - present)
- Journal of Archaeological Research, Reviewer (2015 - present)
- National Science Foundation, Reviewer (2015 - present)
- Geoarchaeology, Reviewer (2015 - present)
- Journal of Field Archaeology, Reviewer (2015 - present)
- Presented a public talk (in Spanish) on the history of archaeological research at Xaltocan, Mexico April 2015 at a community event in Xaltocan Mexico, Presenter (2015 - present)
- Annual Colloquium Organizer, Organizer (2014 - present)
- Economic Botany, Reviewer (2014 - present)
- Teotihuacan Research Facility Taskforce, Committee member (2014 - present)
- Teotihuacan Research Facility Taskforce, Committee member (2013 - present)
- Society for American Archaeology, Current Research Online, Regional Coordinator for Northern Mexico (2013 - present)
- Society for American Archaeology, Committee on Archaeological Ethics, Committee Member (2013 - present)
- Undergraduate Committee, Member (2015 - 2016)
- Society for Economic Anthropology, Board Member (2013 - 2016)
- Annual Colloquium Organizer, Organizer (2014 - 2015)
- Society for Economic Anthropology, Board Member (2013 - 2015)
- Society for American Archaeology, Current Research Online, Regional Coordinator for Northern Mexico (2013 - 2015)
- Society for American Archaeology, Committee on Archaeological Ethics, Committee Member (2013 - 2015)
- Graduate Research Committee, Committee Member (2013)