Jeffrey P. Blomster
Title — Associate Professor of Anthropology
Office — Hortense Amsterdam House 303
Phone — (202) 994-4880
E-mail — blomster@email.gwu.edu
Areas of Expertise —
Archaeology
Rise of complex societies, interregional interaction in Mesoamerica, symbolism and ideology, archaeological approaches to gender, material culture. Regional focus: Mexico.
Current Research
Dr. Blomster's regional and spatial research interests lie primarily in Mesoamerica, where he has focused on Mixtec, Zapotec and Olmec cultures. He has conducted archaeological and laboratory fieldwork at Etlatongo, in the Mixteca Alta of Oaxaca, Mexico, which examines the emergence of social complexity in the Nochixtlán Valley, and explores the impact of interregional interaction in this area. His academic writings have focused on manipulation and movement of style, looking at both traditional stylistic analyses as well as compositional approaches.
Ongoing Projects
- Early Formative socio-political complexity and interaction, especially the role of the Olmec. Ongoing laboratory analyses, with additional excavations to come, to understand the nature of both local and non-local ceramic and figurine traditions, and interaction's impact on socio-political complexity.
- Diachronic change in urbanism and pottery production in Oaxaca. Research devoted to defining a new ceramic phase, the Yucuita (from 500 – 300 BCE), for the Mixteca Alta, and investigate the related but different processes of urbanism, specialization, and standardization.
- Sociopolitical collapse and transformation in Oaxaca following the collapse of major Zapotec and Mixtec states around 800 CE.
Education
Ph.D. 1998, Yale University
M.A. 1990, Yale University
B.A. 1987, Washington and Lee University
Background
Dr. Blomster is an anthropological archaeologist specializing in social complexity, interregional interaction and approaches to style, ritual and ideology.
To see Dr. Blomster's complete CV, click here.
Publications
Books
2008 Blomster, J.P., ed. After Monte Albán: Transformation and Negotiation in Oaxaca, Mexico. Mesoamerican Worlds Series. Boulder, CO: University Press of Colorado.
2004 Blomster, J.P. Etlatongo: Social Complexity, Interaction and Village Life in the Mixteca Alta of Mexico. Florence, KY: Wadsworth Publishing.
Selected Articles and Book Chapters
2012 Blomster, J.P. "Early evidence of the ballgame in Oaxaca, Mexico," Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. Published online May 7, 2012.
2010 Blomster, J.P. "Complexity, interaction, and epistemology: Mixtecs, Zapotecs, and Olmecs in Early Formative Mesoamerica," Ancient Mesoamerica 21(1): 135-149. DOI: 10.1017/S0956536110000039.
2008 Blomster, J. "Legitimization, negotiation, and appropriation in Postclassic Oaxaca: Mixtec stone codices." In J. Blomster, ed., After Monte Albán: Transformation and Negotiation in Oaxaca, Mexico. Mesoamerican Worlds Series. Boulder, CO: University Press of Colorado.
2011 Blomster, J.P., and M. Glascock. "Obsidian procurement in Formative Oaxaca, Mexico: Diachronic changes in political economy and interregional interaction," Journal of Field Archaeology 36(1): 21-41.
2008 Blomster, J. "Changing cloud formations: The socio-politics of Oaxaca in Late Classic/Postclassic Mesoamerica." In J. Blomster, ed., After Monte Albán: Transformation and Negotiation in Oaxaca, Mexico. Mesoamerican Worlds Series. Boulder, CO: University Press of Colorado.
2006 Neff, H., J. Blomster, M. Glascock, R. Bishop, M. Blackman, M. Coe, G. Cowgill, R. Diehl, S. Houston, A. Joyce, C. Lipo, B. Stark, and M. Winter. "Methodological issues in the provenance investigation of Early Formative Mesoamerican ceramics," Latin American Antiquity 17(1): 54-76.
2005 Blomster, J., H. Neff and M. Glascock. "Olmec pottery production and export in ancient Mexico determined through elemental analysis," Science 307: 1068-1072.
2002 Blomster, J. "What and where is Olmec style? Regional perspectives on Early Formative hollow figurines in Mesoamerica," Ancient Mesoamerica 13(2): 171-195.
Classes Taught
Anth 3804 (old 186): Rise of the State and Urban Society
Anth 3812 (180): Power and Violence in New World Societies: The Aztecs of Mexico
Anth 3814 (185): Archaeology of Mesoamerica
Anth 3838 (118): Theory and Practice in Archaeology
Anth 3891 (189): Topics: The Olmecs and Their Neighbors
Anth 3891 (189): Topics: Inkas, Moche and Their Ancestors
Anth 6103 (203): Proseminar in Archaeology
Anth 6803 (282): Problems in New World Archaeology: The Cloud People of Oaxaca
Anth 6838 (219): Lab Research Methods in Archaeology
Anth 6838 (new): Archaeological Theory