Arion T. Mayes

Dr. Arion T. Mayes is an Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology at San Diego State University, within the College of Arts and Letters. She earned her Ph.D. in Biological Anthropology from the University of Colorado, Boulder in 2001. Her research focuses on bioarchaeology and dental anthropology, examining how subsistence strategies and dietary changes impact population health, with an emphasis on morphological adaptations, occupational stress, and disease processes.

Dr. Mayes conducts fieldwork in Oklahoma, California, and Oaxaca, Mexico, and revitalizes unstudied museum collections. She serves as a Research Associate at the New York African Burial Ground and the San Diego Museum of Man. Key grants/awards include support from the National Geographic Society, NSF, and the Smithsonian Institution. Her work explores biocultural adaptations in regions like Oaxaca, an early center of plant domestication, enabling long-term studies of biological history.

Her research outputs include articles on the Lower Rio Verde region of Oaxaca and dental variation in New World populations. Grants and collaborations highlight her contributions to understanding human adaptation through bioarchaeological methods.