Mary Pohl
Contact Information
By Appointment
Academia Link
Biography
Summers spent on Pohl's grandparents farm in northern Minnesota introduced her to American Indian life and people. Pohl volunteered examining archaeological artifacts at the Science Museum of Minnesota during high school and went on to participate in excavations near Saint Paul. She found Mesoamerican archaeology while a graduate student at Harvard University.
Field of Study
Archaeology with interests in:
- Mesoamerica, Southern Mexico and Belize, archaeology
- Ancient Olmec and Maya society
- Urban Origins, San Andres, La Venta, Tabasco, Mexico
- Cave murals of Oxtotitlan, Guerrero, Mexico
Videos of Belize Field Research
Pulltrouser Swamp
Douglas East
Belize
Vibracoring
Selected Publications
2019 The Artistic Practice of Cave Painting at Oxtotitlán, Guerrero (third author Heather Hurst, Leonard Ashby, and Christopher von Nagy. In Mural Art of the Americas, edited by Victoria I. Lyall, pp. 15-41. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, OK.
2017 Strategies for 14C Dating the Oxtotitlán Cave Paintings, Guerrero, Mexico (second author with Jon Russ, Christopher L. von Nagy, Karen L. Steelman, Heather Hurst, Leonard Ashby, Marvin W. Rowe, Eliseo F. Padilla Gutiérrez, and Paul Schmidt) Advances in Archaeological Practice 5 (2): 170-183.
2009 Determining Olmec Maize Use through Bulk Stable Carbon Isotope Analysis (third author with Daniel Seinfeld and Christopher von Nagy) Journal of Archaeological Science 36:2560-2565.
2008 Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) as a Pre-Columbian Domesticate in Mexico (second author with D. Lentz, J. L. Alvarado, S. Tarighat, and R. Bye. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 105:6232-6237.
2007 Microfossil Evidence for Pre-Columbian Maize Dispersals in the Neotropics from San Andrés, Tabasco, Mexico (first author with D Piperno, K Pope, J Jones). Proceedings of the National the Academy of Sciences 104: 6870-6875.
2002 Olmec Origins of Mesoamerican Writing (first author with Kevin Pope and Christopher von Nagy). Science 298: 1984-1987.
2001 Origin and Environmental Setting of Ancient Agriculture in the Lowlands of Mesoamerica (second author with Kevin Pope, John Jones, David Lentz, Christopher von Nagy, Francisco Vega, and Irvy Quitmyer. Science 292: 1370-73.
1996 Early Agriculture in the Maya Lowlands (first author with Kevin O. Pope, John G. Jones, John S. Jacob, Dolores R. Piperno, Susan D. deFrance, David L. Lentz, John A. Gifford, Marie E. Danforth, and J. Kathryn Josserand) Latin American Antiquity 7 (4): 355-372.
1983 Ancient Maya Cave Rituals (first author with John Pohl) Archaeology 36: 28-32, 50-51.
1981 Ritual Continuity and Transformation in Mesoamerica: Reconstructing the Ancient Maya Cuch Ritual. American Antiquity 46 (3): 513-529.