Dr Marisa Lazzari
Lecturer
Extension: 5329
Telephone: 01392 725329
I specialise in the archaeology of circulation and social interaction in the south-central Andes, with a particular focus in north-western Argentina. I look at ancient regional connections and how these shaped landscapes over the long-term, through the analysis of classes of material culture traditionally studied separately, such as obsidian artefacts and pottery. My research combines technological analysis of stone tools, sourcing studies of raw materials (lithics and clays), and intra-site and regional distributions of material culture within social theory frameworks to explore the cultural taxonomies and value of things and materials, and the creation of ancient social landscapes that hosted wide-spread social imaginaries (e.g. the wider regional community to which people felt they belonged, thus affecting decission-making and practices at the local level)
I am also interested in the interdisciplinary exploration of the contemporary claims made by Indigenous peoples in the field of cultural heritage, particularly how such claims affect and are affected by scholarly analytical frameworks. Combining archaeological, anthropological, critical theory and material culture perspectives, this strand of research explores identities as socio-material networks embedded in particular landscapes that embody long-term histories.
