Tim Koch - 2021-2024 (MA)
Tim obtained his MA at Trent University under the supervision of Dr. Helen Haines and Dr. Alec McLellan. His thesis examined issues of low density agrarian urbanism. By conducting a comparative analysis of Maya sites we are hoping to gain a better understanding of how populations were organised in the Ka'kabish-Lamanai Corridor. |
Adam Gobran - 2021-2024 (MA)
Adam obtained his MA student at Trent university under the supervision of Dr. Helen Haines. His thesis focused on the political role Ka'Kabish played in north-central Belize during the Classic Maya period through a comparative study of the Ballcourts at Ka'Kabish and Lamanai. In 2022, Adam mapped looters trenches in Structure D-6 to document exposed architecture as well as excavated a unit into the playing alley of the ballcourt to document construction sequences. |
Olivia Molica-Lazzaro - 2021-2023 (MA)
Olivia obtained her MA student at Trent University working under the supervision of Dr. Newton and Dr. Haines. She is investigated Maya mortuary practices through a comparative analysis of burial patterns to examine the location of individuals. Olivia will be using material from Ka’kabish as a starting point to frame her research. Olivia initially joined KARP in 2019 as an undergraduate participating in the ANTH-3000Y Belize field school and has since been a part of KARL. |
Emily Jurasek - 2021-2023 (MA)
Emily obtained her MA at Trent University under the supervision of Dr. Helen Haines and Dr. Newton. Her thesis, initially aimed on expanding our understanding of mortuary practices at Ka'kabish. Specifically, her work continues investigations into Chultun B-2, the only double chambered chultun thus discovered at Ka'kabish. She excavated the east chamber of the chultun during the 2022 summer field season and data from this excavation -- which was unexpected and surprising -- was combined with previously excavated data and analysis on material from the west chamber to help us better understand the function of chultuns in the Southern Lowlands. |
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Dr. Alec McLellan - - 2010-2016 (MA), 2017-2019 (Ph.D)
Operations Director & Field Director Alec obtained his B.A. from Trent University Durham where he studied archaeology with Dr. Haines who poached him from the History Department. He later earned his Master's degree at Trent University in 2012 under the direction of Drs. Paul Healy and Helen R. Haines before going on to obtain his Ph.D. in December 2019, from the Institute of Archaeology, University College London, under the direction of Dr. Elizabeth Graham (Director, Lamanai Archaeology Project). Alec now serves at the Field Director for KARP. Both his M.A. Thesis and Doctoral Dissertation focused on settlement issues in the Ka'kabish and Lamanai areas and are accessible on our Thesis and Dissertation publication page. |
Dr. Chen Shen - Consulting Lithic Analyst
Dr. Chen is a Vice-President at the Royal Ontario Museum where he is in charge of the Department of World Cultures. He is also a Senior Curator at the Museum, and holds the Bishop White Chair in East Asian Archaeology. Although currently his research focuses on human origins and lithic technology development in East Asia, he also is well versed in lithic studies in the New World. Dr. Shen joins the project this year to assist with the study and cataloging of the lithic material from the site. With his assistance we hope to determine if stone tool production was occurring at the site or nearby, and to identify tools suitable for more in-depth use-wear analysis that might shed more light on the quotidian activities of the city. |
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Benjamin Lightner - 2019
Ben was undergraduate student on the Ka'kabish project and returned to the project in 2019as an Operations Director. Ben supervised excavations at the Baker Group, a small residential group to the south of the main plaza. His work is helping us understand the domestic occupation of the site. |
Lesley Sinopoli and Kieran Way - 2019
Formerly undergraduate students in the Trent ANTH 3000Y field school in 2017, Kieran and Lesley became so enamoured with Ka'kabish and Belize that they opted to return in 2019 as Junior Staff Members for an ANTH 4900Y course credit. They co-supervised the excavation of our Palace Structure (Structure D-14) where, instead of uncovering the expected staircase, they discovered a beautiful arched doorway with steps leading up to an unexpected flanking room (see photo to the left). |
Grant Smith - 2018-2020 (MA)
Working under the supervision of Dr. Jocelyn William at Trent University, Grant conducted Stable Isotope Analysis on the remains of 29 individuals excavated from four chultuns at Ka'kabish. He presented a poster at the 2019 Canadian Association for Physical Anthropology annual meeting in Banff, Alberta, on the potential identification of sacrococcygeal agenesis among some of the remains (PDF). His thesis help us better understand the diet, health, and possible origin of the Post-Classic inhabitants at Ka'kabish.
Working under the supervision of Dr. Jocelyn William at Trent University, Grant conducted Stable Isotope Analysis on the remains of 29 individuals excavated from four chultuns at Ka'kabish. He presented a poster at the 2019 Canadian Association for Physical Anthropology annual meeting in Banff, Alberta, on the potential identification of sacrococcygeal agenesis among some of the remains (PDF). His thesis help us better understand the diet, health, and possible origin of the Post-Classic inhabitants at Ka'kabish.
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Gabriella Dziki - 2016-2017 (MA)
Gabrielle (Gabi), completed her MA thesis at Cambridge University, England, in 2017 under the direction of Dr. Elizabeth DeMarrais. Her thesis focused on Structure D-14 at Ka'kabish. Previously, she obtained her B.A. from the Institute of Archaeology, UCL, under the direction of Dr. Elizabeth Graham (Director, Lamanai Archaeology Project), where she is currently enrolled in the Ph.D. programme. |
T. Gwynne Carlos - 2015-2019 (MA)
After completing her B.A. at Trent University, she was accepted into the M.A. programme under the supervision of Dr. Haines. At Ka'kabish, she initially worked with Toni Gonzalez excavating two chultuns before moving on to supervise the excavation of two other chultuns (C-3 and C-4). She completed her Master Thesis at Trent University in 2019 cataloging chultun use in the Maya Lowlands. Her thesis is available on our Thesis and Dissertation publication page. |
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Dr. Cara Tremain - 2010-2012 (MA) & 2011-2015 (Field Director)
Cara obtained her Ph.D. from the University of Calgary in 2017, where her dissertation examined dress of the ancient Maya Royal court, as seen in representations on Late Classic period painted ceramics. Her Master's thesis, completed at Trent University in 2011, focused on the impacts of looting and what can be learned from the damage left behind. Her theis is available on our Thesis and Dissertation publication page. Cara is originally from Essex, England and did her BA at the Institute of Archaeology, UCL London. |
Joshuah Lockett-Harris - 2013-2016 (MA)
Joshuah Lockett-Harris completed his M.A. programme at Trent University in 2016, under the supervision of Dr. Haines. His thesis focused on excavations into the Group D plaza looking at the earliest occupations of Ka'kabish and the rise of kingship, and is available on our Thesis and Dissertation publication page. Joshuah is currently enrolled in the Ph.D. programme at Calgary University. |
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Toni Gonzalez - 2012-2014
Toni Gonzalez completed her MA at California State University, Los Angeles where she worked with cave archaeologist, Dr. James Brady. Her MA thesis focused on the ritual connotation of chultuns in the southern Maya lowlands, primarily in Belize. She spent the 2012 field season excavating a chultun in Group B and excavated another chutlun in Group C during the 2013 and 2014 field season. |
Alice Gomer - 2011-2013
Alice obtained her MA in Archaeology at UCL in 2013 under the direction of Dr. Elizabeth Graham on the Formative to Early Classic ceramic inventory at Ka'Kabish. She participated in the project in 2011 and 2012, before which she excavated at the site of Marco Gonzalez, Ambergris Caye, Belize. |
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Erik Jamik - 2012
While a MA student in Trent's Environmental Programme, Erik assisted us in 2012 with mapping the area around the site core. |
Angela Craig - 2017
John Baker - 2015
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