Eleanor Harrison-Buck

Eleanor Harrison-Buck is a Professor of Anthropology at the University of New Hampshire, specializing in Mesoamerican archaeology. Her research spans the Classic Maya collapse period and subsequent Spanish/British colonial eras in Belize, focusing on social identity, religious ideology, and sacred landscapes through architectural analysis and material culture studies.

Education:

• B.S. in Anthropology and Studio Arts, Skidmore College
• M.A. and Ph.D. in Archaeology, Boston University (2007)

Key research themes include relational archaeology, neomaterialism, and other-than-human agency. Since 2011, she has directed the Belize River East Archaeology (BREA) project, investigating human-environment interactions in the Belize River Watershed. Her publications appear in journals like Current Anthropology, American Antiquity, and International Journal of Historical Archaeology.

Notable scientific award: Whiting Foundation Fellowship (2017-2018). Recent grants include multiple Alphawood Foundation awards and NSF funding for collaborative research on adaptive strategies in Northern Belize. She has edited volumes including Relational Identities and Other-than-Human Agency in Archaeology (University Press of Colorado, 2018).

Labs & Teams: Leadership roles in the BREA project and interdisciplinary collaborations with institutions like the University Press of Colorado. Her work integrates GIS mapping, geochemical sourcing, and ethnographic approaches to material culture.