Adam Benfer is a Postdoc researcher as well as Data Steward at the Faculty of Archaeology.

More information about Adam Benfer

Office days

• Research Project Office (A2.10): Mondays--Wednesdays
• Data Steward Office (A2.15): Thursdays

If you want to reach out to Adam Benfer in his role as Data Steward, please contact him at rdm@arch.leidenuniv.nl. 

Research

As part of the project 'Resilience as Human–Environmental Engagement: Sustainability in Pre-Columbian Central America', my research is focused on large-scale geospatial mapping of object-based data which will make it possible to recognize and understand previously invisible or overlooked connections in the data. The idea of using as much data as possible, by combining existing museum and national datasets, will allow moving beyond the method of sampling a much more limited set of objects from different collections, or the analysis of a single museum collection. Digital datasets from the involved countries will be integrated in a (web-based) GIS.

The data available for this research consists of to-be-defined parts of archaeological collections in museums in North America, Europe, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, and Colombia, as well as a selection of local or regional collections and national archaeological archives. This investigation will seek out those collections and their constituent parts that are optimally contextualized through museum records to allow the study of differentiation in stylistic patterns at the local level and an evaluation of postulated relatedness of objects at the regional level.

A key product from this postdoctoral investigation will be a multinational web-based GIS for the entire research area, registering the presence/absence of objects and sites of a particular period, style, or materials for each cell in the gridded geospatial dataset.

Teaching activities

While I am not teaching during my postdoctoral research fellowship, I have taught many courses on anthropology and archaeology. From January 2020 to May 2024, I worked as an Adjunct Assistant Professor teaching introductory courses in Cultural Anthropology and Archaeology at Johnson County Community College, Overland Park, Kansas. Before that, I served as a graduate teaching assistant for a wide variety of courses, especially a hands-on laboratory-based introduction to archaeology course.

Curriculum Vitae

EDUCATION

• PhD (Archaeology), The University of Calgary (1/2023)
• MA (Anthropology), The University of Kansas (5/2012)
• BA (Anthropology/Latin American Studies), The University of Kansas (5/2009)

RESEARCH EXPERIENCE

• Assistant Cultural Resources Specialist, Natural and Cultural Resources, Environmental Services, Burns & McDonnell, Kansas City, Missouri, USA (6/2023 – 5/2024)
• Collaborator / Researcher, Quindaro Townsite Project, Quindaro Ruins Project Foundation & Kansas Studies Institute, Kansas City, Kansas, USA (5/2022 – 5/2024)
• Section Supervisor / Field Lab Assistant, La Pachona and Aguas Buenas sites, Proyecto Arqueológico Centro de Nicaragua (PACEN), Leiden University, Contales, Nicaragua (6/2014 – 8/2016)
• Lithic Analyst, Sonzapote site, Isla Zapatera Archaeology Project, The University of Calgary, Mi Museo (Granada), & Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Nicaragua (Managua), Granada, Nicaragua (7/2013 – 8/2013)
• Contracted Excavator, Scheuerman and Coffey sites, Odyssey Geoarchaeology Program, Kansas Geological Survey, The University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, USA (6/2012 – 7/2013)
• Graduate Researcher, Proyecto Sitio Nuevo Corinto, La Universidad de Costa Rica & The University of Kansas, La Unión, Guápiles, Costa Rica (1/2010 – 5/2012)

Publications