Heather Hurst (Skidmore College), “Creating Places of Sustenance: Ancient Maya Urban Planning at San Bartolo-Xultun, Guatemala” (Council on Latin American & Iberian Studies)

Event time: 
Friday, February 13, 2026 - 12:00pm
Location: 
51 Hillhouse Avenue See map
Event description: 

Heather Hurst specializes in Mesoamerican archaeology with a focus on the study of art production, iconography, materials analysis, identity, and the role of art in society. She has ongoing fieldwork on Maya mural painting in Guatemala, as well as research on Olmec rock art in Mexico. Her publications and illustrated volumes include The Murals of San Bartolo, El Petén, Guatemala. Part 1, The North Wall, and Part I1, The West Wall. She collaborates with chemists, conservators and epigraphers, resulting in recent articles including “An Early Maya Calendar Record from San Bartolo, Guatemala,” “Strategies for 14C Dating the Oxtotitlán Cave Paintings, Guerrero, Mexico,” and “Maya Codex Book Production and the Politics of Expertise.” Dr. Hurst earned her Ph.D. in Anthropology from Yale University. Her courses include Mesoamerican Archaeology, Archaeological Field Methods, Imaging/Imagining the Past, and Built Environments. She is Associate Chair and a Professor of Anthropology at Skidmore College.