David McCormick

David Rafael McCormick Alcorta

PhD Student

My training and experiences as an Anthropological Archaeologist and Museum Professional have given me the opportunity to work in field, laboratory, and museum settings in Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Peru, and the United States. As an archaeologist, it is important not only to share the insights of our labor with our peers but also with the host community and the public at large. My dissertation research examines the political and economic dynamics at Cotzumalhuapa, a Late-Classic Mesoamerican capital. My goals lie in understanding the geopolitical landscape of pre-Contact Mesoamerica and the way in which this landscape is manifest in material culture using a multi-scalar approach. 

My interest in museum work and education has led me to gain experience in collections management and curation, publication support and development, exhibition development and installation, program development and delivery, and archival research. I am fortunate to have worked at several leading museums in the United States, including The Smithsonian Institution Museums of Natural History, American History, American Indian, and Latino Center, The Penn Museum, Independence Hall National Historic Park, and recently at The Yale Peabody Museum and Yale University Art Gallery. I am currently the Archaeology Lab and Collections Supervisor at the Mohegan Tribal Historic Preservation Office (MTHPO), where I curate collections, upgrade and maintain our catalog, implement a database and tracking system, perform research, engage in fieldwork, and teach laboratory methods at our annual field school.

n.d. Craft Specialization and Multicrafting as Domestic Economic Strategy at Late-Classic Cotzumalhuapa. In The urban question: interdisciplinary approaches to investigating the ancient Mesoamerican city. Edited by Lisa Johnson and Arianna Campiani. University of Utah Press: Salt Lake City. (D.R. McCormick Alcorta, G. Cruz, E. Gomez, O. Chinchilla, and F. Trabanino [In Review]).

n.d. Obsidian for the Dead: Understanding Classic Maya Tomb Debitage from El Perú-Waka.’ In Crafting Celestial Fire: The Technologies of Ceremonial Chipped-Stone Production. Edited by Zachary Hruby. University Press of Colorado: Boulder. D.R. McCormick Alcorta, Z. Hruby, O. Navarro-Farr, M. Rich, K. Eppich [In Press]).

n.d.  Artesanos innovadores: producción de mercancías líticas en Cotzumalhuapa. In XXXVI Simposio de Investigaciones Arqueológicas en Guatemala, 2023. Museo Nacional de Arqueología e Etnología, Guatemala City. (Submitted)

2022 Los Sujuyes: Resiliencia y adaptabilidad de la gente común en la periferia de Cotzumalguapa, Escuintla. In XXXIV Simposio de Investigaciones Arqueológicas en Guatemala, 2021 Museo Nacional de Arqueología e Etnología, Guatemala City. (E. Gomez, D.R. McCormick, G. Cruz, O. Chinchilla).

2022  Estrategias de movilidad ascendente: Diversificación artesanal o “Multi-crafting” como estrategia económica entre familiares de Cotzumalhuapa. In XXXIV Simposio de Investigaciones Arqueológicas en Guatemala, 2021 Museo Nacional de Arqueología e Etnología, Guatemala City. (D.R. McCormick, G.Cruz, E. Gómez, O. Chinchilla Mazariegos).

2021 Formative Obsidian Procurement and Production at Salinas La Blanca, Guatemala. International Association of Obsidian Studies Bulletin, No. 67. 15-26. (C. Reddington Davis, D.R. McCormick Alcorta).

2020 Contextualizando las industrias liticas: indicadores sociales de los artesanos de la obsidiana en las prozimades de la Acrópolis de El Baúl. In XXXIII Simposio de Investigaciones Arqueológos en Guatemala, 2019 Museo Nacional de Arqueología e Etnología, Guatemala City. (E. Gomez, D.R. McCormick, G. Cruz, O. Chinchilla).

2019 La obsidiana de Cotzumalhuapa: resultados del análisis tecnológico visual y geoquímico. In XXXII Simposio de Investigaciones Arqueológicas en Guatemala, 2018, pp. 227-236. Museo Nacional de Arqueología e Etnología, Guatemala City.

2014 Pottery, People and pXRF: Toward the Development of Intraregional Provenance Assays for Southeast Mesoamerican Ceramics. In Social Dynamics of Ceramic Analysis: New Techniques and Interpretations, Papers in Honour of Charles C. Kolb. Edited by Sandra L. López Varela. British Archaeological Reports. (D.R. McCormick, E.C. Wells).

Contact Info

david.r.mccormick@yale.edu

Subfield: Archaeology

Adviser(s): Oswaldo Chinchilla

Degree(s): B.A. Anthropology, Drexel University, 2008; M.A. Applied Anthropology, University of South Florida, 2013

Website