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Appointment
- Reader in Latin American Archaeology
- Institute of Archaeology Gordon Square
- Institute of Archaeology
- Faculty of S&HS
Research Summary
Recent research focuses on the ancient history (archaeology, ethnohistory) of the aborigines of the Caribbean, particularly in Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic. Recently research has focused on the archaeology of personhood and ‘archaeo-ethnicity’, through an examination of politically and religiously-charged pre-Columbian material culture and on how such materials (ranging from cemi idols, and houses to cultural landscapes such as caves, ceremonial plazas and bateyes [ball-courts]) were used to construct and negotiate identities and ‘Maussian’ webs of social, economic and political relations in a multicultural and multi-linguistic setting. Dr. Oliver directs a multi-year research, Macorix de Arriba Archaeological Project in northern Dominican Republic to further explore webs of inter-ethic groups and identities, and the ethnogenesis of the ‘Taino’ (Arawakan speakers) and ‘Macorix’ (non-Arawakan) and their eventual transformation due to European conquest.
Teaching Summary
- Course Co-ordinator: ARCL2039 Ancient Civilisations of Andean South America
- Course Co-ordinator: ARCL3049 Archaeology of the Caribbean
- Course Co-ordinator: ARCL3059 Archaeology of Chiefdoms
- Course Co-ordinator (with Manuel Arroyo Kalin): ARCL3060 Ancient societies of Amazonia
Academic Background
| 1989 | Doctor of Philosophy | University of Illinois at Chicago | |
| 1981 | Master of Arts | University of Illinois at Chicago | |
| 1977 | Bachelor of Arts | University of Miami |
