#lambdaalpha

Damien Marken, instructor of anthroplogy, and 25 anthropology students were inducted this spring into Lambda Alpha National Collegiate Honor Society in Anthropology, Zeta Chapter of Pennsylvania. 

The reception included a welcome from Dean Brown of the College of Liberal Arts. Marken has was invited to give the invited lecture “Cities of the Tropical Forest: Archaeology and Culture History of Classic Maya of El Perú-Waka’, Petén, Guatemala.”

Although many of their cities remain shrouded beneath a dense jungle canopy, Classic Maya capitals represent one of the great indigenous urban traditions of the Americas. Since 2003, ongoing archaeological investigation of the ruins of El Perú-Waka’, a major political capital in the regional dynastic struggles of the Classic Maya lowlands, are continuing to advance our understanding of the Maya urban form and social organization.

Marken presented the results of these investigations at El Perú and its hinterlands, with a focus on recent and upcoming (summer 2016) studies of how patterns of land-use and settlement created an urban landscape that endured for nearly six centuries. 

Marken mentors and collaborates with anthropology students at this famous Maya archaeological site, including Erika Maxson in summer 2015 and summer 2016, and Kristi Gift, Emily Haney, and Zachary Cooper in summer 2016. 

Lambda Alpha Inductees

Marissa K. Weaver

Alexandra C. Wheatley

Katlyn M. Rowe

Megan S. Shay

Alina K. Allgyer

Alisia M. Drayton

Jessica E. Vickers

Keelan McDonald

Theodora Baranowski

Savanah Dakos

Maggie Fenstermaker

Felicia Karns        

Amanda N. Rose

Anne Snyder

Amanda Tucker

Kristi L. Gift

Austin L. Hughes

Anthony M. Rivellini

Rachel E. Green

Facia N. Sirleaf  

Lydia M. Stebbins

Andrew J. Barrow

Emily Grace Haney

Michael G. Hollar

Jessica Amato

Lambda Alpha line, Fall 2014