Robert Rosenswig

Robert M. Rosenswig is a Mesoamerican archaeologist born Oct. 30, 1968 in Montreal, Canada. He earned a B.A at McGill University in 1994, an M.A. at the University of British Columbia in 1998 and Ph.D. in 2005 from Yale University. Rosenswig currently conducts research projects Mexico, Belize, and Costa Rica. His research explores the emergence of sociopolitical complexity and the development of agriculture.
In 2006, he began teaching in the Department of Anthropology at the University at Albany, State University of New York. Rosenswig is currently the director of the Institute of Mesoamerica Studies (IMS) at UAlbany.
Research.
Chiapas, Mexico.
Rosenswig’s work in Mexico has been concentrated in the Soconusco region of Chiapas Mexico. He began the Soconusco Formative Project in 2001 for his dissertation research which included settlement survey and excavations at the coastal site of Cuauhtémoc. The project addresses the role of Olmec inter-regional interaction and contributed data on long-term processes of agricultural origins and the development of social stratification for the Soconusco region.
Rosenswig's current project in the Soconusco region is the Izapa Regional Settlement Project (IRSP) that began in 2011. This project provided the first settlement data associated with the Formative period kingdom of Izapa. The IRSP project developed lidar (light detection and ranging) maps of Izapa and surrounding regions. Together with archaeological survey this project established a better understanding of settlement patterns and the development of sociopolitical complexity for this region.<ref name="UAlbany News Story 3/2011"></ref> Rosenswig also began excavations at Izapa in 2012.
Northern Belize.
Rosenswig has conducted research in northern Belize for two principal time periods, the Mesoamerican Formative period and the Mesoamerican Archaic period (see Mesoamerican Chronology). Formative period occupation in northern Belize has been documented at the archaeological site of San Estevan, located in the New River region of Belize. San Estevan was occupied during the Middle and Late Formative periods. Rosenswig directed two seasons of excavation for the San Estevan Archaeological Project in 2005 and 2008.The project documented sociopolitical changes that took place in northern Belize during this period, including the origin of village life, the transition from horticulture to intensive agriculture, and the construction of the first monumental architecture in the area.
Rosenswig’s current research on the Late Archaic period occupation of northern Belize was in the Freshwater Creek drainage. Seven Archaic period sites have been documented from which starch grains of domesticated plants and lithic tools reveal adaptive patterns of these early horticulturalists. This research explores to origins of agriculture and settled life and the influence of the 4.2k BP Event as acting as a catalyst for the end of the Archaic period in Mesoamerica.
Costa Rica.
Together with Ricardo Vázquez Leiva, of the Museo Nacional de Costa Rica, Rosenswig is also co-director of archaeological excavations at the site of Las Mercedes located on the property of EARTH University. Rosenswig and Vázquez’s research at Las Mercedes investigates life at this chiefly center, occupied from AD 1000-1500. Rosenswig runs undergraduate archaeological field schools to Las Mercedes, including trips in 2009, 2012, and 2017.
Publications.
Publications since 2006 include: