Biography

Dr. Barber joined our faculty in the fall of 2007. Dr. Barber is an assistant professor of anthropology specializing in archaeology. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 2005. Her theoretical interests include the application of poststructuralist social theory to archaeological contexts, the origins and organization of early complex societies, social identity, and the role of households and communities in large-scale social phenomena. Dr. Barber's methodological interests include ceramic analysis and the use of geophysical remote sensing in archaeological contexts. Her current field research focuses on the origins of political complexity in the lower Rio Verde valley, on the Pacific Coast of Oaxaca, Mexico. Recent publications include "Polity Produced and Community Consumed" in Mesoamerican Ritual Economy (U of Colorado Press, 2007), and "When is a House a Palace?" in Palaces in the Ancient Americas (U of Texas Press, 2006).