Robert N Zeitlin

Title

Professor Emeritus of Anthropology

Anthropology

Expertise

Research and teaching expertise: Prehistoric archaeology of Mesoamerica (Ancient Mexico and Central America). Pre-state and early state societies. Political economy. Ancient trade/exchange. Sociocultural evolution. Archaeological method and theory.

Degrees

Yale University, Ph.D.

Yale University, M.Phil.

City University of New York, M.A.

Boston University, B.S.

Cornell University, B.A.

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Contact

Email:	zeitlin@brandeis.edu
Phone:	781-736-2221
Office:	Brown Social Science Center, 221

Awards and Honors

American Museum of Natural History, Collection Study Grant (1999)

American Museum of Natural History, Collection Study Grant (1996)

Archaeological Excavation Grant, Nevis Historical and Conservation Society, St. Kitts-Nevis (1993)

National Science Foundation Research Grant (1991)

National Science Foundation Research Grant (1990)

Sigma Xi Grant in Aid of Research (1976)

National Science Foundation Dissertation Improvement Grant (1973)

Concilium on International and Area Studies, Yale University, Research Grant (1972)

NDEA Title VI Fellowship (1971)

Council on Latin American Studies, Yale University, Research Grant, (1970)

Scholarship

Zeitlin, Robert N. ""Foreword"." Polity and Ecology in Formative Period Coastal Oaxaca. Ed. Arthur Joyce. Boulder: University Press of Colorado, 2013. 392.

Zeitlin, Robert N. "Review." Rev. of Mining and Mining Technologies in Ancient Mesoamerica, by ed. P. Weigand and G. Gwynne. American Antiquity vol. 50(4) 2010: 929-30.

Zeitlin, Robert N, D. Pearsall. "Early Cultures of Middle America." Encyclopedia of Archeology. 2008.

Zeitlin, Robert N. "Review." Rev. of Intermediate Elites in Pre-Columbian States and Empires, by edited by C.M. Elson and R.A. Covey. American Anthropologist vol. 109 375-76.

Zeitlin, Robert N and J.F. Zeitlin. "Zapotec: Pre-Hispanic and Colonial Periods." The Oxford Encyclopedia of Mesoamerican Cultures, The Civilizations of Mexico and Central America. 2001.

Zeitlin, Robert N. "Laguna Zope." The Archaeology of Ancient Mexico and Central America: An Encyclopedia. 2001.

Zeitlin, Robert N. "Necrologies: Richard Stockton MacNeish." Journal de la Societe des Americanistes April 29, 1918- January 16, 2001 (2001).

Zeitlin, Robert N. "Oaxaca and Tehuantepec Regions." The Archaeology of Ancient Mexico and Central America: An Encyclopedia. 2001.

Zeitlin, Robert N. "The Isthmus of Tehuantepec." The Oxford Encyclopedia of Mesoamerican Cultures, The Civilizations of Mexico and Central America. 2001.

Zeitlin, Robert N and Arthur A. Joyce. "The Limits of Empire: Monte Alban Imperialism and the Pacific Coast." 65th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Philadelphia. April 2000.

Zeitlin, Robert N and J. F. Zeitlin. "The Paleoindian and Archaic Cultures of Mesoamerica." The Cambridge History of the Native Peoples of the Americas. vol. II Ed. R.E.W. Adams and M.J. MacLeod. Cambridge University Press, 2000. 45-121.

Zeitlin, Robert N. "On Oaxaca Coast Archaeology: Setting the Record Straight." Current Anthropology 41. 4 (2000): 623-25.

Zeitlin, Robert N. "Two Perspectives on the Rise of Civilization in Mesoamerica's Oaxaca Valley." Latin American Antiquity vol. 11 87-89.

Zeitlin, Robert N and A.A. Joyce. "The Zapotec Imperialism Argument: Insights from the Oaxaca Coast." Current Anthropology 40. 3 (1999): 383-92.

Zeitlin, Robert N and J.F. Zeitlin. "Making Potsherds Talk: A Consideration of Some Recent Applications of Ceramic Analysis." 64th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Chicago. March 1999.

Zeitlin, Robert N. "Imperialism and Independence in Precolumbian Oaxaca, Mexico." Massachusetts Archaeological Society. R.S. Peabody Museum. January 1998.

Zeitlin, Robert N. "Columbian and Precolumbian Encounters on the Southern Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Mexico." Massachusetts Archaeological Society. March 1997.

Zeitlin, Robert N and J.F. Zeitlin. "Rethinking Old Models for the Origins of Food Production in Mesoamerica. Social Interaction and the Development of Agriculture." 61st Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. New Orleans, LA. April 1996.

Zeitlin, Robert N. "Comments on 'Agency, Ideology, and Power: Models in Archaeology'." Current Anthropology 37. 1 (1996): 64-65.

Zeitlin, Robert N. "Explaining Civilization." Rev. of Zapotec Civilization. How Urban Society Evolved in Mexico's Oaxaca Valley, by J. Marcus and K.V. Flannery. Science vol. 273 1178-1179.

Zeitlin, J.F. and Robert N Zeitlin. "El postclasico tardio en el Istmo de Tehuantepec." Revista Daani Beedxe 16. (1995): 7-8.

Zeitlin, J.F. and Robert N Zeitlin. "Grupos etnicos y linguisticos del postclasico tardio en el sur del istmo." Revista Daani Beedxe 17. (1995): 7-10.

Zeitlin, Robert N. "Review." Rev. of Ancient Mesoamerica. A Comparison of Change in Three Regions, by R.E. Blanton, S.A. Kowalewski, G.M. Feinman, and L.M. Finsten. American Antiquity vol. 60 385-88.

Zeitlin, Robert N. "Review." Rev. of The Aztecs, Maya, and their Predecessors. Archaeology of Mesoamerica, by M.P. Weaver. American Antiquity vol. 60 385-88.

Zeitlin, Robert N. "Accounting for the Prehistoric Long-Distance Movement of Goods with a Measure of Style." World Archaeology, Special Issue on "Communication and Language" 26. 2 (1994): 208-34.

Zeitlin, Robert N. "Concepts of Core and Periphery in the Analysis of Precapitalist Political Economy: Examples from Ancient Oaxaca." 93rd Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association. Atlanta, GA. December 1994.

Zeitlin, Robert N. "Pacific Coastal Laguna Zope: A Regional Center in the Terminal Formative Hinterlands of Monte Alban." Ancient Mesoamerica 4. (1993): 85-101.

Zeitlin, Robert N. "Pottery Far From Home." Faces IX. (1993).

Zeitlin, Robert N and A.A. Joyce. "On the Nature of Highland-Coastal Sociopolitical Interaction in Late Formative Period Oaxaca." 57th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Pittsburgh, PA. April 1992.

Zeitlin, Robert N. "2000 Years of Encounters with Outsiders on Mexico's Southern Isthmus of Tehuantepec." Fourteenth Annual Lecture and Luncheon Series. Peabody Museum, Harvard University. November 1992.

Zeitlin, Robert N. "A Stylistic Indicator of Sociopolitical Relationships and Commodity Procurement." 91st Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association. San Francisco, CA. December 1992.

Zeitlin, Robert N. "Formations of State and Empire in Early Mesoamerica." The Johns Hopkins University, Latin American Studies Program, Anthropology Lecture Series. April 1991.

Zeitlin, Robert N. "La arqueologia de interaccion de Monte Alban con el istmo meridional de Tehuantepec en el periodo formativo tardio." Boletin (1990) (1991): 278-82.

Zeitlin, Robert N. "The Energetics of Trade and Market in the Early Empires of Mesoamerica." Research in Economic Anthropology. vol. 13 Ed. B. L. Isaac. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press, 1991. 373-86.

Zeitlin, Robert N. "The Hypothesis of Late Formative Period Monte Alban Imperialism in Light of Recent Excavations at Laguna Zope, Oaxaca." 56th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. New Orleans. May 1991.

Zeitlin, Robert N and J.F. Zeitlin. "Arqueologia y epoca prehispanica en el sur del istmo de Tehuantepec." Lecturas historicas del estado de Oaxaca. vol. 1, Epoca prehispanica Ed. M.C. Winter. Mexico: Instituto Nacional de Antropologia, 1990. 393-454.

Zeitlin, Robert N. "Documenting the Argument for a Scientific Approach to Archaeological Inference." Rev. of Archaeology and the Methodology of Science, by J. Kelley and M.P. Hanen. Current Anthropology vol. 11 472-74.

Zeitlin, Robert N. "The Isthmus and the Valley of Oaxaca. Questions about Zapotec Imperialism in the Pacific Lowlands of Mesoamerica." American Antiquity 55. 2 (1990): 250-61.

Zeitlin, Robert N. "Review." Rev. of Preclassic Maya Pottery at Cuello, Belize, by Laura J. Kosakowsky. The Latin American Anthropology Review vol. 1 17-18.

Zeitlin, Robert N. "The Energetics of Trade and Market in the Early Empires of Mesoamerica." 88th Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association. Washington, DC. November 1989.

Zeitlin, Robert N. "An Ancient Sacred Center." Rev. of Ancient Chalcatzingo, by David C. Grove. Science vol. 241 103-104.

Zeitlin, Robert N. ""Comments" on Earle, T. and R.W. Preucel, 'Processual Archaeology and the Radical Critique'." Current Anthropology 28. 4 (1987): 524-25.

Zeitlin, Robert N. "Bridges over Troubled Waters." Rev. of Ripples in the Chichimec Sea. New Considerations of Southwestern-Mesoamerican Interactions, by ed. R.J. Mathien and R.H. McGuire. The Kiva. Quarterly Journal of the Arizona Archaeological and Historical Society vol. 53 59-65.

Zeitlin, Robert N. "The Isthmus and the Valley of Oaxaca." 52nd Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Toronto. May 1987.

Zeitlin, Robert N. "A Sociocultural Perspective on the Spatial Analysis of Commodity and Stylistic Distributions." The Human Uses of Flint and Chert. Ed. G. Sieveking and M.H. Newcomer. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1986. 173-81.

Zeitlin, Robert N. "The Role of Models in the Interpretation of Commodity Distributions." Seminar on Lithics. Center for Materials Research in Archaeology and Ethnology, M.I.T.. April 1986.

Zeitlin, Robert N and J.F. Zeitlin. "Tracing the Origins of Village Life and Agriculture in the Maya Area of Mesoamerica." Massachusetts Archeological Society. Worcester, MA. June 1984.

Zeitlin, Robert N. "A Summary Report on Three Seasons of Field Investigations into the Archaic Period Prehistory of Belize." American Antiquity 86. (1984): 358-69.

Zeitlin, Robert N. "An Archaeological Reconstruction of Social and Political Relationships from the Interregional Distribution of Commodities and Styles." Institute for Mesoamerican Studies, State University of New York, Albany. November 1984.

Zeitlin, Robert N. "Review." Rev. of Archaeology and Volcanism in Central America. The Zapotitan Valley of El Salvador, by ed. P.D. Sheets. Science vol. 226 163-64.

Zeitlin, Robert N and J.F. Zeitlin. "Recent Archaeological Research on the Archaic Period of Lowland Belize." Massachusetts Archaeological Society. Milton, MA. March 1983.

Zeitlin, Robert N. "Insights into the Nature of Prehistoric Lithic Procurement and Long-Distance Exchange from the spatial Patterning of Stylistic Elements." The Fourth International Flint Symposium. Brighton, England. April 1983.

Zeitlin, Robert N. "On Drawing Sociocultural Inferences from the Interregional Spatial Distribution of Material Goods and Stylistic Traits." Colloqium Lecture Series. Boston University, Archaeology Department. November 1983.

Zeitlin, Robert N. "Review." Rev. of The Cuicatlan Canada and Monte Alban. A Study of Primary State Formation, by C.S. Spencer. American Antiquity vol. 48 646-47.

Zeitlin, Robert N. "Toward a More Comprehensive Model of Interregional Commodity Distribution: Political Variables and Prehistoric Obsidian Procurement in Mesoamerica." American Antiquity 47. (1982): 260-75.

Zeitlin, Robert N. "Ben's Mill." Odyssey Educator's Guide (1981): 13.

Zeitlin, Robert N. "Maya Lords of the Jungle." Odyssey Educator's Guide (1981): 16.

Zeitlin, Robert N. "Model Building in Commodity Distribution Studies." Semiar on Lithics. Center for Materials Research in Archaeology and Ethnology, M.I.T.. December 1981.

Zeitlin, Robert N. "Principles and Techniques of Spectrochemical Analysis for Obsidian Source Characterization and Artifact Provenancing." Seminar on Lithics. Center for Materials Research in Archaeology and Ethnology, M.I.T.. September 1981.

Zeitlin, Robert N and J.F. Zeitlin. "Sociocultural Evolution in Mesoamerica." Science 207. (1980): 396-98.

Zeitlin, Robert N. "Determinantes politicas y economicas de la variacion en los patrones de intercambio de obsidiana en Mesoamerica precolombina." Rutas de intercambio en Mesoamerica ye el norte de Mexico 1. Memorias de la XVI Reunion de Mesa Redonda, Saltillo Mexico (1980): 363-69.

Zeitlin, Robert N. "Political and Economic Determinants of Shifting Obsidian Exchange Patterns in Mesoamerica, 1500 B.C. to A.D. 1500." The XVI Reunion de Mesa Redonda de la Sociedad Mexicana de Antropologia. Saltillo, Mexico. September 1979.

Zeitlin, Robert N and R.C. Heimbuch. "Trace Element Analysis and the Archaeological Study of Obsidian Procurement in Precolumbian Mesoamerica." Lithics and Subsistence: The Analysis of Stone Tool Use in Prehistoric Economies. vol. 20 Ed. D.D. Davis. Vanderbilt University Publications in Anthropology, 1978. 117-59.

Zeitlin, Robert N. "Long-Distance Exchange and the Growth of a Regional Center: An Example from the Southern Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Mexico." Prehistoric Coastal Adaptations: The Economy and Ecology of Maritime Middle America. Ed. B.L. Stark and B. Voorhies. New York: Academic Press, 1978. 183-210.

Zeitlin, Robert N. "Trace Element Analysis of Obsidian Artifacts from Southern Mesoamerica." Archaeological Institute of America, Lecture Series. March 1978.

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