DR. DANIEL H. SANDWEISS

Ph.D., Cornell University, 1989

I am an archaeologist interested in maritime adaptations and climate change in Latin America. Most of my research has been carried out on the desert coast of Peru, but I have also worked in Central America (Honduras and Guatemala) and in Cuba. In Peru, I have worked on early (preceramic) sites, studying climate change and its effects on people. This focus has led to an interest in the prehistory of El Niño, a global climatic perturbation first recognized in Peru and now known to affect weather throughout the world. My research has included developing a variety of techniques for identifying ancient El Niño events. I have also worked on the archaeology of complex, late prehistoric sites in Peru, studying such topics as the role of specialized fishermen in the Inca empire and the nature and function of a major regional center on the north coast. Currently, I am involved in a multi-year project evaluating the idea that the north Peruvian coast experienced a major climate change about 5,000 years ago, as well as a study of early maritime adapations in the Andes. I was President of the Scientific Committee for FERCO (Foundation for Research and Exploration on Cultural Origins), a Canary Island foundation, from 1998-2002. I am currently Chair of the Society for American Archaeology's Committee on the Americas. See also Climate Change Institute and Andean Past. Also check out the recent UMaine Today article, "A Sea Change." Anyone interested in receiving email bulletins related to Andean archaeology should email me a request to join the Andean list. I now serve as the Dean and Associate Provost for Graduate Studies and am in the second year as a Sigma Xi Distinguished Lecturer.

Representative Publications:

Sandweiss, D.H., J.B. Richardson III, E.J. Reitz, J.T. Hsu, and R.A. Feldman, 1989, Early maritime adaptations in the Andes: Preliminary studies at the Ring Site, Peru. In: Ecology, Settlement, and History of the Osmore Drainage, Peru, ed. by D.S. Rice, C. Stanish, and P.R. Scarr. Bar International Series 545i, pp. 35-84.

Sandweiss, D.H. 1992. "The Archaeology of Chincha Fishermen: Specialization and Status in Inka Peru." Carnegie Museum of Natural History Bulletin 29.ix + 162 pp.

T. Heyerdahl, Sandweiss, D.H., A. Narváez 1995. The Pyramids of Túcume: The Quest for Peru's Forgotten City. Thames & Hudson, London.

Sandweiss, D.H. 1996. "Mid-Holocene Cultural Interaction Between the North Coast of Peru and Ecuador." Latin American Antiquity 7:41-50.

Sandweiss, D.H. and E.S. Wing 1997. "Ritual Rodents: The Guinea Pigs of Chincha, Peru." Journal of Field Archaeology 24:47-58.

Sandweiss, D.H., H. McInnis, R.L. Burger, A. Cano, B. Ojeda, R. Paredes, M.C. Sandweiss, and M.D. Glascock 1998. "Quebrada Jaguay: Early South American Maritime Adaptations "Science 281:1830-1832

Sandweiss, D.H. 1999. The Return of the Native Symbol: Peru Picks Spondylus to Represent New Integration with Ecuador. Society for American Archaeology Bulletin 17(2): 1, 8-9.

Copson, W. and D.H. Sandweiss 1999. Native and Spanish Perspectives on the 1578 El Niño. In The Entangled Past: Integrating History and Archaeology. Proceedings of the 1997 Chacmool Conference, edited by M. Boyd, J.C. Erwin, and M. Hendrickson, pp. 208-220. Calgary: University of Calgary.

Sandweiss, D.H., M.E. Moseley, J. Haas, W. Creamer 2001 Amplifying Importance of New Research in Peru. Science 294:1651-1653.

Erickson, D.L., BD. Smith, A.C. Clark, D.H. Sandweiss, and N. Tuross 2005. An Asian Origin for a 10,000-year-old Domesticated Plant in the Americas. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 102:18,315-18,320.

Sandweiss, D.H. 2005. Early Maritime Adaptations in Western South America, Part I. Mammoth Trumpet 20(4):14-20/21(1): 14-1. College Station, TX: Center for the Study of First Americans.

Perry, L., D.H. Sandweiss, D. Piperno, K. Rademaker, M.A. Malpass, A. Umire, and P. de la Vera 2006. Early Maize Agriculture and Interzonal Interaction in Southern Peru. Nature 440:76-79.

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