Alejandra Roche Recinos is an assistant professor at the Faculty of Archaeology.

More information about Alejandra Roche Recinos

Current research

Roche Recinos’ research is grounded in archaeological applications of political economic theory and centers on the reconstruction of ancient Maya economic systems and practices, examining how specialized production and networks of exchange functioned and developed through time. Through this work, she addresses broad questions of regional economic integration, the development of markets, and the respective roles of non-elite and elite craftspeople in the organization of production. Her long-term investigation of these processes, from the rise and fall of Maya polities, through Spanish conquest and colonialism, and up to the daily practices of Indigenous Maya communities today, allows her to connect archaeological questions to the present and to place contemporary issues in broader historical contexts.

Curriculum vitae

Roche Recinos received her Licenciatura in archaeology from Universidad del Valle de Guatemala (2013) and her MA and Ph.D in anthropology from Brown University (2021), where she wrote her dissertation on economic exchange within the regional polity of Piedras Negras, located on the border between Mexico and Guatemala. She has worked at many Maya sites throughout Mexico and Guatemala, and she is currently developing a new field project on the Pacific South Coast of Guatemala. This project seeks to understand the relationship between the powerful city of Teotihuacan in Central Mexico and the small centers located along the coast of Guatemala, especially the site of Río Seco.

Office days

Tuesday to Thursday