Christine VanPool

Christine VanPool is an Associate Professor of Archaeology at the University of Missouri. Her research explores broad anthropological questions through evolutionary and praxis theory frameworks, focusing on symbolic and religious behavior. She utilizes multidisciplinary approaches including library research, museum analysis, and field investigations in the Chihuahuan Desert region.

Her primary research examines the integration of evolutionary theory with agency-based perspectives to understand human symbolic systems, ritual practices, and cosmological frameworks in ancient societies. Key interests include shamanic traditions, material culture analysis, and community engagement in archaeological contexts.

Recent publications demonstrate a consistent focus on ritual objects, altered states of consciousness, and indigenous cosmologies in Southwestern archaeology, particularly within the Casas Grandes cultural sphere. Her work bridges cognitive anthropology with material analysis to reconstruct ideational frameworks of prehispanic cultures.