Daniel Alexander Contreras, Ph.D
Department of Anthropology
University of Florida
1112 Turlington Hall, PO Box 117305
Gainesville, FL 32611-7305
USA
http://works.bepress.com/daniel_contreras
Positions
2023 – present Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of Florida; Affiliate Faculty, Center for Latin American Studies, University of Florida / School of Natural Resources and the Environment, University of Florida
2019 -2023 Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of Florida; Affiliate Faculty, Center for Latin American Studies, University of Florida
2018 – 2019 Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of Maryland
2017 – 2018 Cultural Resources Principal Investigator, SWCA Environmental Consultants, Salt Lake City, UT
2017 – 2018 Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of Utah
2017 Visiting Scientist, Institut Méditerranéen de Biodiversité et d’Ecologie marine et continentale (IMBE), Aix-Marseille Université
2014 – 2016 OT-Med Postdoctoral Research Fellow, AMENOPHYS – Adaptation of Mediterranean Economies of the Past to Hydroclimatic Changes, Institut Méditerranéen de Biodiversité et d’Ecologie marine et continentale (IMBE) / Groupement de recherche en économie quantitative d’Aix-Marseille (GREQAM), Aix-Marseille Université
2014 Visiting Researcher, Institute for Ecosystem Research, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel
2011 – 2013 Humboldt Postdoctoral Fellow, Institute for Ecosystem Research, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel
2009 – 2011 Postdoctoral Teaching Fellow, Introduction to the Humanities Program, Stanford University
2007 – 2009 Lecturer, Department of Anthropology, Stanford University
2008 – 2009 Research Associate, Cultural Heritage Resource, Stanford University
Education
2007 Ph.D, Department of Anthropological Sciences, Stanford University
Dissertation title: Sociopolitical and Geomorphologic Dynamics at Chavín de Huántar, Peru
2004 M.S., Anthropological Sciences, Stanford University
1998 M.A., Latin American Studies, Stanford University
1996 B.A., Religion (Magna cum laude), Amherst College
Certificate, Five College Program in Latin American Studies
Professional Interests
THEORY AND METHODS
geoarchaeology; human-environment interactions; digital methods and archaeology; GIS; R; socioecological modeling; geomorphology; environmental archaeology; prehistoric ecology; obsidian; origins and development of social inequality; looting and cultural heritage
REGIONS
Central Andes, Mesoamerica, Mediterranean
Publications (* indicates peer-reviewed)
Journal Articles
*2023. Contreras, Daniel A. and Brian F. Codding. Landscape Taphonomy Predictably Complicates Demographic Reconstruction. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory.
* 2023. Contreras, Daniel A. ‘Seeking Synchronicity: Re-examining the Peruvian Early Horizon through Bayesian Modeling of 14C Dates.’ In Seki, Yuji, ed., ‘New Perspectives on the Early Formation of the Andean Civilization: Chronology, Interaction, and Social Organization’. Osaka: National Museum of Ethnology. Senri Ethnological Studies 112:127-151.
* 2023. Herndon, Kelsey E., Robert Griffin, Whittaker Schroder, Timothy Murtha, Charles Golden, Daniel A. Contreras, Luwei Wang, Alexandra Bazarsky, and Omar Alcover Firpi. Google Earth Engine for Archaeologists: An Updated Look at the Progress and Promise of Remotely Sensed Big Data. Journal of Archaeological Science.
* 2023. Carter, Tristan, Daniel A. Contreras, Kathryn Campeau, and Cheryl A. Makarewicz. Cappadocian Obsidian Exchange Networks in the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A: A Southern Levantine perspective from el-Hemmeh (Jordan). Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 48.
* 2022 Sawchuk, Elizabeth A., Elisabeth A. Hildebrand, Austin Chad Hill, Daniel A. Contreras, Justus Erus Edung, Anneke Janzen, Abdikadir Kurewa, James Munene, Emmanuel Ndiema, Katherine M. Grillo. The Jarigole Mortuary Tradition Reconsidered. Antiquity 96(390):1460-1477.
* 2022 Vining, Benjamin R, Aubrey Hillman, Daniel A Contreras, and Ernesto Tejedor. Expanded Agroecological Niches and Redistributed Risks in Northern Peru’s Chicama Valley during Late-Holocene ENSO Climate Changes. The Holocene 32(12).
* 2022. Silva, Fabio, Fiona Coward, Kimberley Davies, Sarah Elliott, Emma Jenkins, Adrian C. Newton, Philip Riris, Marc Vander Linden, Jennifer Bates, Elena Cantarello, Daniel Contreras, Stefani A. Crabtree, Enrico Crema, Mary Edwards, Tatiana Filatova, Ben Fitzhugh, Hannah Fluck, Jacob Freeman, Kees Klein Goldewijk, Marta Krzyzanska, Daniel Lawrence, Helen Mackay, Marco Madella, S. Yoshi Maezumi, Rob Marchant, Sophie Monsarrat, Kathleen D. Morrison, Ryan Rabett, Patrick Roberts, Mehdi Saqalli, Rick Stafford, Jens-Christian Svenning, Nicki J. Whitehouse, Alice Williams. Developing Transdisciplinary Approaches to Sustainability Challenges: The Need to Model Socio-Environmental Systems in the Longue Durée. Sustainability 14.
* 2022. Contreras, Daniel A. Stages, Periods, and Radiocarbon: 14C Dating in the Archaeology of the Central Andes. Ñawpa Pacha: Journal of Andean Archaeology. DOI: 10.1080/00776297.2022.2028389
* 2022 Wilson, Kurt M, Weston C McCool, Simon C Brewer, Nicole Zamora-Wilson, Percy J Schryver, Roxanne Lois F Lamson, Ashlyn M Huggard, Joan Brenner Coltrain, Daniel A Contreras, and Brian F Codding Climate and demography drive 7000 years of dietary change in the Central Andes. Scientific Reports 12(1):2026. DOI:10.1038/s41598-022-05774-y.
* 2022 Vining, Benjamin, Aubrey Hillman, and Daniel A. Contreras. El Niño Southern Oscillation and enhanced arid land vegetation productivity in NW South America, Journal of Arid Environments 198.
* 2022 Fitton, Tom, Daniel A. Contreras, Agness O. Gidna, Audax Z.P. Mabulla, Mary E. Prendergast, and Katherine M. Grillo. “Detecting and mapping the ‘ephemeral’: magnetometric survey of a Pastoral Neolithic settlement at Luxmanda, Tanzania.” Antiquity.
* 2022. Walder, Heather M., Daniel A. Contreras, Walker W. Good, Michael L. Wendt, Miranda J. Alexander, Tyler J. Olsen, Lindsay J. Lentz, M., Alexander D. Woods. Sites in the Sand: Sifting through a Palimpsest at Stillwell Crossing, Fort McCoy (Tomah, Wisconsin). The Wisconsin Archeologist.
* 2021 Contreras, Daniel A., Zachary Batist, Ciara Zogheib, and Tristan Carter. “Matching Pragmatic Lithic Analysis and Proper Data Architecture: The QuARI R Shiny Database Interface”. Advances in Archaeological Practice.
*2021. Storozum, Michael J., Steven T. Goldstein, Daniel A. Contreras, Katherine M. Grillo, Mary E. Prendergast, Agness Gidna, Audax Mabulla. “Legacies of ancient herder settlement: soil development and landscape evolution on the Mbulu Plateau, Tanzania.” Catena.
* 2019 Carter, Tristan, Daniel A. Contreras, Justin Holcomb, Danica D. Mihailovic, Panagiotis Karkanas, Guillaume Guérin, Ninon Taffin, Dimitris Athanasoulis, and Christelle Lahaye. “Earliest occupation of the Central Aegean (Naxos), Greece: Implications for hominin and Homo sapiens’ behavior and dispersals”. Science Advances.
* 2019 Grillo, Katherine M. and Daniel A. Contreras. “Public archaeology’s mammoth in the room: engaging Wikipedia as a tool for teaching and outreach.” Advances in Archaeological Practice 7(4):435-442.
* 2019 Contreras, Daniel A., Alberte Bondeau, Joël Guiot, Alan Kirman, Eneko Hiriart, Loup Bernard, Romain Suarez, and Marianela Fader. “From Paleoclimate Variables to Prehistoric Agriculture: Using a Process-Based Agroecosystem Model to Simulate the Impacts of Holocene Climate Change on Potential Agricultural Productivity in Provence, France.” In Kluiving, Sjoerd, ed. Geoarchaeology Approaches and Methods: Special Issue of Quaternary International 501B:303-316.
* 2018 Contreras, Daniel A., Eneko Hiriart, Alberte Bondeau, Alan Kirman, Joël Guiot, Loup Bernard, Romain Suarez, and Sander Van Der Leeuw. “Regional Paleoclimates and Local Consequences: Integrating GIS Analysis of Diachronic Settlement Patterns and Process-Based Agroecosystem Modeling of Potential Agricultural Productivity in Provence (France).” PLOS One 13(12): e0207622.
* 2018 Contreras, Daniel A., Joël Guiot, Romain Suarez, and Alan Kirman. “Reaching the Human Scale: A Spatial and Temporal Downscaling Approach to the Archaeological Implications of Paleoclimate Data.” Journal of Archaeological Science 93:54-67.
* 2018 Grillo, Katherine M., Prendergast, Mary E., Contreras, Daniel A., et al. “Pastoral Neolithic Settlement at Luxmanda, Tanzania”. Journal of Field Archaeology 43(2):102-120.
2017 Marwick, Ben, Jade d’Alpoim Guedes, C. Michael Barton, Lynsey A. Bates, Michael Baxter, Andrew Bevan, Elizabeth A. Bollwerk, Tom Brughmans, Alison K. Carter, Cyler Conrad, Daniel A. Contreras, et al. “Open Science in Archaeology”. SAA Archaeological Record 17(4):8-14.
* 2017 Skarpelis, Nikolaos, Tristan Carter, Daniel A. Contreras, and Daniça D. Mihailović. “Characterization of the siliceous rocks at Stélida, an early prehistoric lithic quarry (Northwest Naxos, Greece), by petrography and geochemistry: A first step towards chert sourcing.” Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 12:819-833.
* 2016 Carter, Tristan, Daniel A. Contreras, Kathryn Campeau, and Kyle Freund. “Spherulites and Aspiring Elites: The Identification, Distribution, and Consumption of Giali Obsidian (Dodecanese, Greece).” Journal of Mediterranean Archaeology 29(1):3-36.
* 2016 Ghilardi, Matthieu, Daniel Istria, Andrés Curras, Matteo Vacchi, Daniel Contreras, Claude Vella, Philippe Dussouillez, and Yannick Crest. “Reconstructing the Landscape Evolution and the Human Occupation of the Lower Sagone River (Western Corsica, France) from Bronze Age to The Medieval Period.” Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 12:741-754.
* 2015 Contreras, Daniel A., “Landscape Setting as Medium of Communication at Chavín de Huántar, Peru.” Cambridge Archaeological Journal 25(2):1-17.
* 2015 Djamali, Morteza, Matthew D. Jones, Jérémy Migliore, Silvia Balatti, Marianela Fader, Daniel Contreras, Sébastien Gondet, Zahra Hosseini, Hamid Lahijani, Abdolmajid Naderi, Lyudmila S. Shumilovskikh, Margareta Tengberg, Lloyd Weeks. “Olive Cultivation in the Heart of the Persian Achaemenid Empire: New Insights into Agricultural Practices and Environmental Changes Reflected in a Late Holocene Pollen Record from Lake Parishan, SW Iran.” Vegetation History and Archaeobotany 25(3):255-269.
* 2014 Contreras, Daniel A. “(Re)constructing the Sacred: Landscape Geoarchaeology at Chavín de Huántar, Peru.” In Roos, Christopher and Christian Wells, eds. Geoarchaeology of Ritual Behavior and Sacred Places: Special Issue of Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences 9(6):1045-1057.
* 2014 Contreras, Daniel A. and John Meadows. “Summed Radiocarbon Calibrations as a Population Proxy: A Critical Evaluation Using a Realistic Simulation Approach.” Journal of Archaeological Science 52:591-608.
* 2014 Contreras, Daniel A., Vincent Robin, Regina Gonda, Rachel Hodara, Marta Dal Corso, and Cheryl Makarewicz. “(Before and) After the Flood: A Multiproxy Approach to Past Floodplain Usage in the Middle Wadi Al-Hasa, Jordan.” Journal of Arid Environments 110:30-43.
2014 Carter, Tristan, Daniel A. Contreras, Sean Doyle, Danica D. Mihailoviç, Theodora Moutsiou, and Nikolaos Skarpelis. “The Stélida Naxos Archaeological Project: New Data on the Mesolithic and Middle Palaeolithic Cyclades.” Antiquity 88(341).
2012 Contreras, Daniel A., Nicholas Tripcevich and Yuri I. Cavero Palomino. “Investigaciones en la fuente de la obsidiana tipo Quispisisa, Huancasancos- Ayacucho.” Investigaciones Sociales 16(28):185-195.
* 2012 Carter, Tristan and Daniel A. Contreras. “The Character and Use of the Soros Hill Obsidian Source, Antiparos (Greece).” Comptes rendus Palevol 11:595-602.
* 2011 Contreras, Daniel A. “How Far to Conchucos? A GIS Approach to Assessing the Implications of Exotic Materials at Chavín de Huántar.” World Archaeology 43(3):380-397.
* 2011 Tripcevich, Nicholas and Daniel A. Contreras. “Quarrying Evidence at the Quispisisa Obsidian Source, Ayacucho, Peru.” Latin American Antiquity 22(1):121-136.
2011 Rick, John W., Christian Mesia, Daniel A. Contreras, Silvia R. Kembel, Rosa M. Rick, Matt Sayre, and John Wolf. “La cronología de Chavín de Huántar y sus implicancias para el Periodo Formativo.” Boletín de Arqueología PUCP 13:87-132.
* 2010 Contreras, Daniel A., “Huaqueros and Remote Sensing Imagery: Assessing Looting Damage in the Virú Valley, Peru.” Antiquity 84(324):544-555.
* 2010 Contreras, Daniel A. and Neil Brodie “The Utility of Publicly-Available Satellite Imagery for Investigating Looting of Archaeological Sites in Jordan.” Journal of Field Archaeology 35(1):101-114.
* 2010 Contreras, Daniel A. “A Mito-Style Structure at Chavín de Huántar: Dating and Implications.” Latin American Antiquity 21(1):1-19.
* 2010 Contreras, Daniel A. “Landscape and Environment: Insights from the Prehispanic Central Andes.” Journal of Archaeological Research 18(3):241-288.
2010 Contreras, Daniel A. and Neil Brodie. “Shining Light on Looting: Using Google Earth to Quantify Damage and Raise Public Awareness.” SAA Archaeological Record 10(3):30-33.
* 2009 Contreras, Daniel A. “Reconstructing Landscape at Chavín de Huántar, Perú: A GIS-based Approach.” Journal of Archaeological Science 36(4): 1006-1017.
* 2009 Contreras, Daniel A. and David K. Keefer. “Implications of the Fluvial History of the Wacheqsa River for Hydrologic Engineering and Water Use at Chavín de Huántar, Peru.” Geoarchaeology 24(5):589-618.
In preparation. Contreras, Daniel A. and Nicholas Tripcevich. “Retrospect and Prospect for Obsidian Studies in the Central Andes.” To be submitted to Latin American Antiquity.
Books
* 2017 Contreras, Daniel A., ed. The Archaeology of Human-Environment Interactions: Strategies for Investigating Anthropogenic Landscapes, Dynamic Environments, and Climate Change in the Human Past. Routledge Studies in Archaeology.
Book Chapters
In press. Contreras, Daniel A. “The Chavín Phenomenon and Its Regional Manifestation.” In Aldenderfer, Mark, Marcela Sepulveda, and Eduardo Neves (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of South American Archaeology. Oxford University Press.
In press. Contreras, Daniel A. Los conjuntos de cerámicas de Chavín de Huántar y el radiocarbono: un síntesis de medio siglo de investigación. In Villanueva, Juan Pablo (ed.). Chavín, 100 años de Arqueología. Desde Julio C. Tello hasta nuestros días. Avances y Perspectivas.
In press. Contreras, Daniel A. and Kristin Nado. “Interpreting Geochemically Characterized Obsidian from Chavín de Huántar, Peru.” In Peterson, David and John Dudgeon (eds.), The Archaeology of Circulation, Exchange and Human Migration: Techniques, Cases, Evidence. Equinox Publishing, Ltd.
In press. Contreras, Daniel A. “Using R as a GIS: working with raster and vector data.” In Marwick, Ben (ed.), How To Do Archaeological Science Using R, https://benmarwick.github.io/How-To-Do-Archaeological-Science-Using-R/.
2020 Contreras, Daniel A. and John Meadows. “The Slow Rise of “Dates as Data”: Recent Approaches to 14C Assemblages as Population Proxies.” In Juan A. Barceló and Berta Morell, eds. Métodos Cronométricos en Historia y Arqueología. Editorial Dextra.
2018 Contreras, Daniel A. “Hacia una geoarqueología del paisaje andina: paisaje, medioambiente, y acción humana en Chavín de Huántar.” In Flores Blanco, Luis Ángel, ed. Lugares, Monumentos, Ancestros. Arqueologías del Paisajes Andinos y Lejanos, Avqi Ediciones.
2018 Bertoncello, Frédérique, Marie-Jeanne Ouriachi, Célia Da Costa Pereira, Andrea Tettamanzi, Louise Purdue, Daniel Contreras, et al. “Modelling complex systems in Archaeology: general issues and first insights from the ModelAnSet project.” In Argentina, M. et al., eds. Proceedings of the Complex Systems Academy of Excellence. Université Côte d’Azur – Complex Systems Academy of Excellence, Nice. pp145-154.
* 2017 Contreras, Daniel A., “Not Just a Pyramid Scheme? Diversity in Ritual Architecture at Chavín de Huántar.” In Rosenfeld, Silvana and Stefanie Bautista, eds. Rituals in Andean Archaeology: Prehispanic and Colonial Case Studies. University Press of Colorado, pp51-77.
* 2017 Contreras, Daniel A. and Cheryl Makarewicz. “Regional Climate, Local Paleoenvironment, and Early Cultivation at Pre-Pottery Neolithic A el-Hemmeh, Jordan.” In Contreras, D.A., ed. The Archaeology of Human-Environment Interactions: Strategies for Investigating Anthropogenic Landscapes, Dynamic Environments, and Climate Change in the Human Past. New York: Routledge, pp96-120.
* 2017 Contreras, Daniel A. “Correlation is Not Enough – Building Better Arguments in the Archaeology of Human-Environment Interactions.” In Contreras, D.A., ed. The Archaeology of Human-Environment Interactions: Strategies for Investigating Anthropogenic Landscapes, Dynamic Environments, and Climate Change in the Human Past. New York: Routledge, pp3-22.
* 2017 Carter, T., Contreras, D.A., Holcomb, J. Mihailović, D.D., Skarpelis, N., Campeau, K., Moutsiou, T., and Athanasoulis, D., ‘The Stélida Naxos Archaeological Project: New Studies of an Early Prehistoric Lithic Quarry in the Cyclades’, in D.W. Rupp and J. Tomlinson (eds.), From Maple to Olive: Proceedings of a Colloquium to Celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the Canadian Institute in Greece, 10-11 June 2016. Publications of the Canadian Institute in Greece, 10, Athens
2016 Contreras, Daniel A. “La incorporación de la tradición Mito en el ámbito ritual de Chavín de Huántar.” In Ibarra, Bebel, ed. Arqueología de la Sierra de Ancash 2: Cronología y Espacio. Lima: Instituto de Estudios Huarinos, pp29-52.
2016 Carter, Tristan, Daniel A. Contreras, Sean Doyle, Daniça D. Mihailović, and Nikolaos Skarpelis. “Early Holocene Interaction in the Aegean Islands: Mesolithic Chert Exploitation at Stélida (Naxos) in Context.” In Ghilardi, Matthieu, ed., Géoarchéologie des îles de la Méditerranée. CNRS Éditions, pp275-286.
2013 Tripcevich, Nicholas and Daniel A. Contreras. “Archaeological Approaches to Obsidian Quarries: Investigations at the Quispisisa Source.” In Tripcevich, Nicholas and Kevin Vaughn (eds.), Mining and Quarrying in the Ancient Andes: Sociopolitical, Economic and Symbolic Dimensions. New York: Springer, pp23-44.
2012 Brodie, Neil and Daniel A. Contreras. “The Economics of the Looted Archaeological Site of Bâb Edh-Dhrâ’: A View from Google Earth.” In Paula K. Lazrus and Alex W. Barker (eds.) All The Kings Horses: Essays on the Impact of Looting and the Illicit Antiquities Trade on Our Knowledge of the Past. Washington D.C.: Society for American Archaeology Press, pp9-24.
* 2010 Contreras, Daniel A. “Reconstructing an Engineered Environment in the Central Andes: Landscape Geoarchaeology at Chavín de Huántar, Peru.” In The Archaeology of Anthropogenic Environments, edited by Rebecca M. Dean. Center for Archaeological Investigations, Occasional Paper No. 37. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University, pp225-249.
2008 Contreras, Daniel A. “Geomorfología y Paisaje en Chavín de Huántar.” In Museo Nacional Chavín. Lima: Instituto Nacional de Cultura, pp51-59.
Reviews
2020 Contreras, Daniel A. “Review of Lozny and McGovern, eds., Global Perspectives on Long Term Community Resource Management.” Journal of Anthropological Research.
2015 Contreras, Daniel A. “Review of Håkansson and Widgren, eds., Landesque Capital: The Historical Ecology of Enduring Landscape Modifications.” Journal of Anthropological Research 71(2):286-287.
Grants and Fellowships
2022 UF Humanities Scholarship Enhancement Fund research award, Dates as Metadata: How Disciplinary History Shapes Central Andean Archaeology ($11791.19)
2019 National Science Foundation Grant (PI with Brian Codding, co-PI) Collaborative Research: Improved Taphonomic Correction of Past Population Dynamics (Award 1921013, $79465)
2019 National Science Foundation Grant (co-PI with Ben Vining [PI] and Aubrey Hilman [co-PI]) Collaborative Research: Coupling and Cohesion as Factors Affecting Vulnerability to Abrupt Climate Change (Award 1847131, $26155)
2011 National Geographic Society Committee for Research and Exploration Grant #8916-11 ($23,000, with Nicholas Tripcevich)
2011 Brennan Foundation Program in Support of Archaeological Field Research in the Development of Early Civilizations ($5000)
2010 Council of American Overseas Research Centers Multi-Country Research Fellowship ($10000)
2006 Lewis and Clark Field Scholar Grant, American Philosophical Society ($1800)
2006 John Mason Clark 1877 Fellowship, Amherst College ($7200)
2006 Explorers Club Exploration Fund Grant ($1200)
2006 Stanford Humanities Center Mellon Foundation Dissertation Fellowship ($19,500)
2006 Freeman Spogli Institute O’Bie Shultz Dissertation Write-Up Grant ($2000)
2005 National Science Foundation Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant # 0532350 ($12,000)
2005 Amherst College Memorial Fellowship ($4600)
2005 Graduate Research Opportunity Grant, Stanford School of Humanities and Sciences ($5000)
2005 Lynford Family Foundation Grant ($1000)
2003 Graduate Summer Field Research Grant, Stanford Center for Latin American Studies
2002 John Woodruff Simpson Fellowship, Amherst College ($1600)
2002 Mellon Summer Fieldwork Grant ($3000)
2002 Graduate Summer Field Research Grant, Stanford Center for Latin American Studies ($4565)
Awards
2007 Joseph H. Greenberg Award for Academic Excellence in Anthropological Sciences, Department of Anthropological Sciences, Stanford University
2002 Annual Reviews Prize, Department of Anthropological Sciences, Stanford University
1996 Inducted into Phi Beta Kappa Society, Amherst College Chapter.
1996 Moseley Prize in Religion (2nd place), Amherst College.
Archaeological Field Research
2019 Project Geospatial Specialist and Geoarchaeologist – Later Prehistory of West Turkana Project, Jarigole, Kenya (P.I.s Elisabeth Hildebrand, Stony Brook University, Elizabeth Sawchuk, Stony Brook University, and Kate Grillo, U Florida)
2013 – 2019 Field Director, Stélida Naxos Archaeological Project, Naxos, Greece (P.I. Tristan Carter, McMaster University)
2010 – 2018 Project Geoarchaeologist, The el-Hemmeh Excavation Project, Wadi al-Hasa, Jordan (P.I. Cheryl Makarewicz, CAU Kiel)
2016 – 2018 Project Geoarchaeologist, Sharara Excavation Project, Wadi al-Hasa, Jordan (P.I.s Cheryl Makarewicz, CAU Kiel and Bill Finlayson, CBRL)
2015 – 2018 Project Geospatial Specialist and Geoarchaeologist – Northern Tanzania Archaeological Project, Luxmanda, Tanzania (P.I.s Kate Grillo, U Florida and Mary Prendergast, St. Louis University – Madrid)
2012 Project Geoarchaeologist, Stanford-Universidad del Valle Semetabaj Project, San Andres Semetebaj, Guatemala (P.I.s John Rick, Stanford University and Tomás Barrientos, Universidad del Valle)
2009 – 2012 Director, Proyecto Arqueológico Caracha Alta, Ayacucho, Peru (co-P.I. with Nicholas Tripcevich, U.C. Berkeley)
2010 – 13 Project Geoarchaeologist, McMaster Obsidian Procurement Expedition (P.I. Tristan Carter, McMaster University)
2010 Geoarchaeological Consultant, Remote Detection of Hydraulic Agricultural Features at Teotihuacan, Teotihuacan, Mexico (P.I. Ian Robertson, Stanford University)
2009 Geoarchaeological Consultant, Proyecto Arqueológico Stanford, Chavín de Huántar, Peru (P.I. John Rick, Stanford University)
2009 Ground-truthing satellite-identified Looting Damage in Jordan (co-P.I. with Neil Brodie, Stanford University)
2007 Field Consultant, Proyecto Arqueológico Queneto, Valle de Virú, Peru (P.I. Ignacio Cancino, Stanford University)
2002 – 2006 Field Director, Proyecto Arqueológico Stanford, Chavín de Huántar, Peru (P.I. John Rick, Stanford University)
2004-2005 Field Supervisor, Stanford-Universidad del Valle Semetabaj Project, San Andres Semetebaj, Guatemala (P.I. John Rick, Stanford University and Luisa Escobar Galo, Lic., Universidad del Valle)
2003 Field Supervisor, Stanford Field School, Çatalhüyük Archaeological Project, Çatalhüyük, Turkey (P.I. Ian Hodder, Stanford University)
1998, 2000 Field Assistant, Proyecto Arqueológico Stanford, Chavín de Huántar, Peru (P.I. John Rick, Stanford University)
1995 Student, Proyecto Arqueológico Valle de Naco, Cofradía, Honduras (P.I.s Ed Schortman and Pat Urban, Kenyon College)
Teaching Experience
2019 – 2021 Digital Field Methods in Archaeology; Past Human Environments; R for Archaeological Data Analysis and Visualization; Foundations for a Career in Anthropology; R for Archaeological Data Analysis and Visualization; Archaeological Perspectives on the Anthropocene; Geoarchaeology; GIS for Archaeological Research; Global Prehistory: Postglacial Environments and the Origins of Food Production, Anthropology, University of Florida
2018 Introduction to Archaeology; Quantification and Statistics in Applied Anthropology, Anthropology, University of Maryland
2011 World Archaeology and Global Heritage, Introduction to the Humanities, Stanford University
2010 World Archaeology and Global Heritage, Introduction to the Humanities, Stanford University
2009 Past Human Environments; Applying GIS in Anthropological Research; Laws and Orders, Anthropology and Introduction to the Humanities, Stanford University
2008 Digital Methods in Archaeology; Introduction to Peruvian Prehistory; Archaeology as a Profession, Archaeology Center, Stanford University.
Tropical Ecology and Conservation (with Rodolfo Dirzo), Latin American Studies, Stanford University
2007 Humanized Landscapes: Archaeological Approaches to Human-Environment Interactions, Advanced Andean Archaeology (with John Rick), Archaeology Center, Stanford University
2006 Models and Images in Archaeological Computing (with John Rick), Anthropological Sciences, Stanford University
2003 – 2005 Teaching Assistant, Department of Anthropological Sciences, Stanford University. Courses included: Introduction to Prehistoric Archaeology, Peruvian Archaeology, Human Origins, Introduction to Mesoamerican Archaeology
1999 – 2001 History Teacher, Robert Louis Stevenson School, Pebble Beach, CA
1998 – 1999 Teaching Assistant, Center for Latin American Studies, Stanford University
Courses included: History of Mexico, Sustainable Development in Latin America
1997 – 1998 History Teacher, Punahou School, Honolulu, HI
Professional Service
2022 Co-chair, Leveraging Radiocarbon in the Central Andes: From Chronologies to Research Agendas, Symposium for the 86th Annual Society for American Archaeology Meeting, Chicago, IL
2021 Review Committee for Institute of Andean Studies 62nd Annual Meeting
2021 Development Committee, Anthropology Department, University of Florida
2020-21 Faculty Council, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Florida
2020 Graduate Education Committee, Anthropology Department, University of Florida
2019 Co-chair, An Archaeological Example: Celebrating John Rick’s Research and Teaching Career, Symposium at the 84th Annual Society for American Archaeology Meeting, Albuquerque, NM
2018 – 2020 Member, Scientific Committee, Historical Ecology for the Future: International conference on historical ecology
2007 – 2021 Peer review for Advances in Archaeological Practice; Ancient Mesoamerica; Andean Past, Antiquity, Arqueología y Sociedad, Arqueología, Boletín de Arqueología PUCP, Cambridge Archaeological Journal, Chungara: Revista de Antropología Chilena, Environmental Archaeology, Geosciences, The Holocene, International Journal of Cultural Property, Journal of Anthropological Archaeology; Journal of Archaeological Research, Journal of Archaeological Science, Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, Journal of Cultural Heritage, Journal of Field Archaeology, Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology, Landscape Research, Latin American Antiquity, Nature Communications, Ñawpa Pacha: Journal of Andean Archaeology, PNAS, Quaternary, Radiocarbon, Remote Sensing, Sustainability
2017 – 2020 Member, Institute of Andean Studies 14C Grant Committee
2017 – 2020 Member, Open Science Interest Group, Society for American Archaeology
2016 – 2020 Member, PAGES LandCover6k Working Group
2014 Chair, Correlation Is Not Enough: Building Better Arguments in the Archaeology of Human-Environment Interactions, Symposium at the 79th Annual Society for American Archaeology Meeting, Austin, TX
2013 Co-organizer, Social and Environmental Change in Pre-Hispanic Latin America session of the Socio-Environmental Dynamics over the Last 12,000 Years International Open Workshop, Kiel, Germany
2006 Organizer, “Searching for Patterns in the Diversity of the Central Andean Formative” Roundtable Symposium, held at Stanford University 3-4 March 2006.
2005-07 Co-coordinator, Stanford Obsidian Research Group, Stanford Archaeology Center
2003-07 Coordinator, Andean Archaeology Working Group, Center for Latin American Studies, Stanford University
Papers Presented (last 5 years)
2021 Daniel A. Contreras and Brian Codding. “Identifying Human Responses to Holocene Climate Change: Population, Environment, and Landscape Taphonomy in the Bonneville Basin, Utah”. Invited talk for Seminar Series, University of Aberdeen, 10 March 2021 (presented virtually).
2021 Daniel A. Contreras and Brian Codding. “Identifying Human Responses to Holocene Climate Change: Population, Environment, and Landscape Taphonomy in the Bonneville Basin, Utah”. Invited talk for Research Seminar, University of Glasgow, 3 February 2021 (presented virtually).
2021 Daniel A. Contreras, Benjamin Vining, and Aubrey Hillman. “Working from Regional Climates towards Local Consequences: Diachronic Settlement Patterns as Model Material in the Chicama Valley, Peru”. Invited talk for RDMed Workshop: Modelling adaptation of ancient agricultural societies to climate change, the core of an interdisciplinary approach. 26-27 January 2021(presented virtually).
2021 Daniel A. Contreras and Benjamin Vining. “Assembling the Archive: Integrating Legacy Data to Examine the Longue Durée in the Chicama Valley, Peru”. Presentation at the 61st Annual Meetings of the Institute of Andean Studies, Berkeley, CA, January 2021.
2020 Daniel A. Contreras and Brian Codding. “Proxies Need Models! Constructing transparent and reflexive population estimates using archaeological radiocarbon assemblages.” Invited talk for Knowledge Gaps in Long-term Human Ecodynamics, Institute for the Modelling of Socio-Environmental Transitions, Bournemouth University, 14-15 September 2020 (presented virtually).
2020 Daniel A. Contreras, Benjamin Vining, and Aubrey Hillman. “Regional Climates, Local Consequences: Downscaling Climate Data in the Chicama Valley, Peru”. Local Manifestations of Climate Change for Archaeological Research Session. 85th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Austin, TX, April 2020 (presented virtually).
2020 Daniel A. Contreras, “Uso e interpretación de datos radiocarbónicos en la arqueología”. Invited lecture at the Museo del Complejo Arqueológico El Brujo, Chicama, Peru, March 2020.
2019 Daniel A. Contreras. “Datación Radiocarbónica en Chavín ¿de dónde?, ¿hacia dónde?, y ¿con que finalidad?”. Invited presentation at Chavín, 100 años de Arqueología desde Julio C. Tello hasta nuestros días: Avances y Perspectivas, Chavín de Huántar, Peru, August 2019.
2019 Daniel A. Contreras. “Approaching climate and archaeology in the Andes”. Invited presentation at Climate, People, and Camelids in the Titicaca Basin: Bridging Archaeology, Paleoclimatology, and Organic Geochemistry, University of Pittsburgh, May 2019.
2019 Daniel A. Contreras and Brian F. Codding. “Is Dates as Data Just a Zombie? Breathing New Life into Radiocarbon Summaries by Assessing Local Landscape Taphonomy” 84th Annual Society for American Archaeology Meeting, Albuquerque, NM, April 2019
2019 Daniel A. Contreras. “Geospatial Methods for Assessing Landscape-Scale Human-Environment Interactions.” Invited presentation at the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris, January 2019.
2019 Daniel A. Contreras. “Stages, Periods, and Radiocarbon: Chronology Matters in the Archaeology of the Central Andes.” Invited presentation at the University of Florida, January 2019.
2019 Daniel A. Contreras. “Stages, Periods, and Radiocarbon: 14C Dating in the Archaeology of the Central Andes.” Presentation at the 59th Annual Meetings of the Institute of Andean Studies, Berkeley, CA, January 2019.
2018 Heather Walder, Daniel A. Contreras, Walker W. Good, Alexander Woods. “Phase III Investigations of Three Archaeological Sites at Stillwell Crossing, Fort McCoy, Wisconsin.” Invited presentation in the CRM Archaeology on Federal Lands: New Contributions and Unique Management Strategies Session at the 83rd Annual Society for American Archaeology Meeting, Washington, D.C., April 2018
2018 Daniel A. Contreras. “From Paleoclimate Variables to the Human Consequences of Environmental Change: Downscaling, Process-Based Agroecoystem Modeling, and Settlement Patterns in Holocene Provence.” Invited presentation at the University of Utah, March 2018.
2017 Daniel A. Contreras. “From Paleoclimate Variables to the Human Consequences of Environmental Change: Downscaling, Process-Based Agroecoystem Modeling, and Settlement Patterns in Holocene Provence.” Invited presentation at the University of Maryland, December 2017.
2017 Daniel A. Contreras. “From Paleoclimate Variables to Prehistoric Agriculture: Settlement Patterns, Human Environments, and Process-Based Agroecosystem Modeling in Holocene Provence.” Invited presentation in the seminar Modeling complex adaptive systems in Archaeology: Insights and feedbacks from the modeling of past socio-ecosystems. CEPAM, Nice, May 2017.
2017 Daniel A. Contreras. “R as GIS: Raster and Vector Data Manipulation, Simple Spatial Analysis, and Plotting.” Invited presentation in the Using R for Archaeological Science Forum at the 82nd Annual Society for American Archaeology Meeting, Vancouver, April 2017.
2017 Daniel A. Contreras. “Downscaling in Archaeology: From digital forest to probable trees.” Invited presentation in the session Archaeological Epistemology in the Digital Age at the 82nd Annual Society for American Archaeology Meeting, Vancouver, April 2017.
2017 Feathers, James, Tristan Carter, Daniel A. Contreras, and Kathryn Campeau. “Luminescence Dating of a Palaeolithic Site in the Aegean.” Poster presented at the 82nd Annual Society for American Archaeology Meeting, Vancouver, April 2017.
2017 Daniel A. Contreras. “Archaeology and Long-Term Sustainability: A Case Study in Modeling Holocene Provence.” Invited talk in the Sustainability Series, University of South Dakota, March 2017.
2017 Daniel A. Contreras. “From Paleoclimate Variables to Prehistoric Agriculture: Settlement Patterns, Human Environments, and Process-Based Agroecosystem Modeling in Holocene Provence”. Invited seminar at the Tour du Valat Institut de recherche pour la conservation des zones humides méditerranéennes, February 2017.
2016 Daniel A. Contreras. “From Paleoclimate Variables to Prehistoric Agriculture: Settlement Patterns, Human Environments, and Process-Based Agroecosystem Modeling in Holocene Provence”. Invited talk in the Capita Selecta Research Seminar, Groningen Institute of Archaeology, December 2016.
2016 Daniel A. Contreras. “Archaeology, Climate Change, and Agent-Based Models: Necessary Ingredients and Viable Questions in a Case Study from Provence.” Invited talk in the 7th Workshop on Complex Evolving System Approach in Economics: “On Agent-Based Modeling”, Université Nice Sophia Antipolis, November 2016.
2016 Daniel A. Contreras. “What can archaeology contribute to modeling sustainability?” Invited presentation at Modeling Challenges for Sustainability, Research Institute For Humanity And Nature, Kyoto, September 2016.
2016 Katherine Grillo, Mary Prendergast, Daniel A. Contreras, Thomas Fitton, Agness Gidna, Steven Goldstein, Matthew Knisley, and Audax Mabulla. “New excavations at the Pastoral Neolithic site of Luxmanda (UVS40), Tanzania” Paper presented in the session New perspectives on the origins and spread of food production in Africa at the Society for Africanist Archaeology meetings, Toulouse, June 2016.
2016 Daniel A. Contreras “How Significant Were Past Climate Changes in Provence? Examining Paleoclimates at Landscape Scales Using GIS and Agroecosystem Modeling” Invited presentation at the Nouvelles directions dans l’archéologie du paysage workshop, IMéRA, Marseille, June 2016.
2016 Daniel A. Contreras, Alan Kirman, Alberte Bondeau, Joël Guiot, Eneko Hiriart, Loup Bernard, Nobuyuki Hanaki, Sylvie Thoron, and Romain Suarez. “Using Dynamic Socioecological System Modeling to Explore the Footprint of Prehistoric Agriculture in the western Mediterranean” Paper presented in the session Indigenous populations-vegetation-climate relationship in the past: what can this teach us about sustainable vegetation use in the present? at Anthropology, Weather, and Climate Change, London, May 2016.
2016 Daniel A Contreras, Eneko Hiriart, Sander Van Der Leeuw, Alberte Bondeau, Alan Kirman, Joël Guiot, Loup Bernard, Romain Suarez. “Simulating Known Unknowns: Integrating GIS Modeling Modeling of Settlement Patterns and Process-Based Agroecosystem Modeling of Past Agricultural Productivity in Provence (France)” Paper presented in the SimulPast Workshop How wrong is my model? Empirical Challenges in Archaeology, History, and Anthropology, Barcelona, May 2016.
2016 Daniel A. Contreras, Alberte Bondeau, Joël Guiot, Alan Kirman, Eneko Hiriart, Loup Bernard, Marianela Fader, and Romain Suarez. “From Paleoclimate Variables to Prehistoric Agriculture: Using a Process-Based Agroecosystem Model to Simulate Prehistoric Agricultural Productivity.” Paper presented in the Human adaptation to landscape changes, landscape resilience to human impact and integrating palaeoenvironmental and archaeological records session at the European Geophysical Union, Vienna, April 2016.
2016 Daniel A. Contreras. “Correlation is Not Enough: Untangling Past Human-Environment Interactions from Formative Period Peru to the Neolithic Near East.” Invited talk in the University of Minnesota Anthropology Department, Minneapolis, March 2016.
2015 Daniel A. Contreras. “Dating Matters at Chavín de Huántar: Bayesian Modeling of 14C Dates and Revisiting the Central Andean Early Horizon.” Invited presentation in L’Unité Mixte de Recherche Archéologie des Ameriques, Maison Archéologie et Ethnologie, Paris, October 2015.
2015 A. Kirman, A. Bondeau, D. Contreras, J. Guiot, N. Hanaki, S. Thoron, L. Bernard, E. Hiriart. “Lessons from the Past: Modeling past human adaptation to climatic change in the Mediterranean Basin – AMENOPHYS (an OTMed Project).” Paper presented at Our Common Future Under Climate Change – The Mediterranean Basin in a warmer and drier world: challenges and opportunities. Paris, July 2015.
2015 Carter T., Contreras D., Freund K. “The Nature and Use of Giali Obsidian: New Geo-Archaeological and Characterization Studies”. Paper presented at GeoMedIslands – Multidisciplinary approaches to palaeoenvironmental changes and the history of the human occupation in the Mediterranean islands since the Last Glacial Maximum, Cargèse, France, July 2015
2015 Daniel A. Contreras. “Reflections on digital data acquisition and analysis at Chavín de Huántar, Peru.” Paper presented in the invited symposium Ancient Architecture and Spatial Technology: A Global Perspective at the 80th Annual Society for American Archaeology Meeting, San Francisco, CA, April 2015.
2015 Doyle, Sean, Daniel A. Contreras, and Tristan Carter. “Archaeological Visibility at Stélida, Naxos: Identifying Activity Hubs at a Palaeolithic Chert Quarry in the Cyclades.” Paper presented in the invited symposium Chert Sourcing Case Studies Part II: Landscape Distribution and Prehistoric Societies at the 80th Annual Society for American Archaeology Meeting, San Francisco, CA, April 2015.
2015 Sayre, Matt, Daniel A. Contreras, and Vincent Robin. “Lessons from the Tello Obelisk- plant use at Chavín de Huántar, Peru” Paper presented in the invited symposium ‘Siempre a la Vanguardia’: A Tribute to Dolores Piperno Contributions to the Origins and Spread of Agriculture at the 80th Annual Society for American Archaeology Meeting, San Francisco, CA, April 2015.
2015 Daniel A. Contreras. “A history of digital data acquisition and analysis at Chavín de Huántar, Peru.” Poster presented at the Computer Applications in Archaeology Annual Conference, Siena, Italy, April 2015.
2014 Daniel A. Contreras. “Chronology Matters at Chavín de Huántar.” Invited presentation at the University of Wisconsin – Madison, October 2014.
2014 Tristan Carter, Daniel A. Contreras, Sean Doyle, Daniça Mihailovic, Theodora Moutsiou and Nikos Skarpelis. “Neanderthals on Naxos: New Evidence for Early Hominins in the Aegean Basin.” Paper presented at the European Association of Archaeology Meetings, Istanbul, September 2014.
2014 Daniel A. Contreras. “Measuring Resilience and Sustainability: Archaeology of the Human Consequences of Environmental Change at Teotihuacan, Mexico.” Invited presentation at the University of York, June 2014.
2014 Daniel A. Contreras and Cheryl Makarewicz. “How Green Was my Valley? Reconciling Regional and Local Paleoenvironmental Signals at PPNA el-Hemmeh, Jordan.” Paper presented in the invited symposium Correlation Is Not Enough: Building Better Arguments in the Archaeology of Human-Environment Interactions at the 79th Annual Society for American Archaeology Meeting, Austin, TX, April 2014.
2014 Daniel A. Contreras. “Climate and Causation, Landscape and Lifeways: the Neolithic Near East, Formative Peru, and Reclaiming Environment for Anthropological Archaeology.” Invited talk at the Université de Montréal, March 2014.
2014 Daniel A. Contreras. “Chavín Chronology: Do Bayesian Goggles Bring a Chavín Horizon into Focus?” Invited paper presented at the symposium Chavín: Toward a New Synthesis, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, January 2014.
2013 Daniel A. Contreras. “Reconciling Sequences and Peering at the Horizon: Bayesian Modelling of Excavation, Architectural, and Ceramic Chronologies at Chavín de Huántar.” Paper presented at the South American Archaeology Seminar, University College London, December 2013.
2013 Daniel A. Contreras. “Vinculando las cronologías arquitectónicas, cerámicas, y estratigráficas en Chavín de Huántar: Implicancias del modelaje Bayesiano de los fechados 14C” Invited paper presented at the Simposio Internacional: Nuevos horizontes de los estudios de Chavín, National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka, Japan, November 2013.
2013 Daniel A. Contreras, John W. Rick, and Silvia R. Kembel. “Reconciling Sequences: Using Bayesian Modeling to Link Excavation, Architectural, and Ceramic Chronologies at Chavín de Huántar, Peru” Paper presented at the International Symposium Absolute Chronology in the Central Andes, Warsaw, Poland, September 2013.
2013 Daniel A. Contreras, Vincent Robin, Regina Gonda, Marta del Corso, Rachel Hodara, and Cheryl Makarewicz. “A Multiproxy Approach to Past Floodplain Usage in the Middle Wadi al- Hasa, Jordan.” Poster presented at the Association for Environmental Archaeology Conference, Kiel, Germany, September 2013.
2013 John Meadows and Daniel A. Contreras. “From demography to dates and back again: is it possible to uncover meaningful population trends in aggregated scientific dating results?” Paper presented in the invited session Testing Time: new approaches to archaeological chronologies, radiocarbon dating, and 14C data, at the 19th Annual Meeting of the European Association of Archaeologists, Plzen, Czech Republic, September 2013.
2013 Daniel A. Contreras. “The Human Consequences of Environmental Change: Quantifying past Ecosystem Services at Teotihuacan, Mexico”. Paper presented at the invited symposium New Perspectives on Human Development in Landscapes, CAU Kiel, Germany, August 2013.
2013 Daniel A. Contreras and Cheryl Makarewicz. “Modeling Arable Landscapes of the Early Holocene: Emergent Cultivation at el-Hemmeh.” Paper presented in the invited session Between Site and Synthesis: Missing Landscapes of the Southwest Asian Early Neolithic at the Socio-Environmental Dynamics over the Last 12,000 Years International Open Workshop, Kiel, Germany, April 2013.
2013 Daniel A. Contreras. “The Medium is the Message: Reading an Anthropogenic Landscape: Setting at Chavín de Huántar, Peru.“ Paper presented at the invited symposium Ritual Innovation, Material Culture, and Environment in Formative Chavín de Huántar, Peru at the 78th Annual Society for American Archaeology Meeting, Honolulu, HI, April 2013.
2013 Tom Kimber, Daniel A. Contreras, Nicholas Tripcevich, and Yuri Cavero. “Quantifying Quarrying: Investigations at the Source of Quispisisa-type obsidian, Ayacucho, Peru.” Paper presented at the 78th Annual Society for American Archaeology Meeting, Honolulu, HI, April 2013.
2013 Michelle Lau, Daniel A. Contreras, Nicholas Tripcevich, and Yuri Cavero. “What to make out of so much obsidian?” Paper presented at the 78th Annual Society for American Archaeology Meeting, Honolulu, HI, April 2013.
2013 Nicholas Tripcevich, Daniel A. Contreras, and Yuri Cavero. “Obsidian miners’ structures and workshops in highland Peru: Results from research at the Quispisisa obsidian source.” Presentation for the Archaeological Research Facility Brownbag Series, U.C. Berkeley, March 2013.
Media Coverage
2011 Andrés Bermúdez Liévano. “La nueva Mirada” Computer Hoy 329:33-34.
2011 Erin Wayman. “GIS: A Rising Tool in the Geoarchaeologist’s Toolbox” Earth January 2011: 26-32.
2010 Heather Pringle. “Google Earth Shows Clandestine Worlds” Science Aug. 2010: 1008-1009.
2009 Stanford University. “Buying, Selling, Owning the Past” Stanford Report Jan. 2009: 9-12.
Languages
Native speaker of English. Written and oral fluency in Spanish. Competence in French and basic competence in German.
Professional Memberships
Society for American Archaeology
Institute of Andean Studies
International Association of Obsidian Studies
Register of Professional Archaeologists
Associate Member, Graduate School of Human Development in Landscapes, CAU Kiel