Heather Thakar

Biography

Educational Background

• PhD, University of California, Santa Barbara, 2014

Research Interests

• Evolutionary and Ecological Theory, New World (California, Mexico, Central America) Foraging and Proto-agricultural Societies, Paleoecology, Archaeobotany, Archaeometry (Isotope Geochemistry), Quantitative Methods, Chronological Models and Data Integration, Archaeological Curation and Collections Management

  Anthropology Research Collections (ARC)

  Radiocarbon and Isotope Preparation Laboratory

   

  Current Research Projects

  • Human Niche Construction during the Late Pleistocene and Middle Holocene in Pacific Central America (Nicaragua and Coasta Rica), Principal Investigator (2020 – present), Funding: NSF Archaeology Program Collaborative Research Grant BCS-2023089.

  • Landscape and Foodways Reconstruction through Palynological, Isotopic, Macrobotanical, and Faunal Analysis with Hector Neff (CSULB)

  • Domestication, Food Production & Wild Plant Use during the Holocene 11,000 -2,500 cal BP, Principal Investigator (2014 – present), Funding: NSF Archaeology Program Collaborative Research Grant BCS-1757374.

  • Foodways Reconstruction through Macrobotanical and Coprolite Analysis of the El Gigante Rockshelter Collection from Honduras with Amber VanDerwarker (UCSB), Douglas Kennett (PSU) and Collaborator: Kenneth Hirth (PSU)

  • Early Holocene Human Ecology and Culture in the Southern Lowlands of Belize, 15,000-3,500 cal BP, Research Collaborator (2017 – present)

  • Macrobotanical and Palynological Analysis of Saki Tzul and Mayahak Cab Pek Rockshelters with Principal Investigator Keith Prufer (UNM)

  • High-Precision Radiocarbon Dating & Chronological Assessment of Arlington Springs Man, Research Collaborator (2016 – present)

  • Bayesian Analysis and Integration of Chronological and Stratigraphic Data for Arlington Springs Man 13,500 cal BP with Principal Investigators: John Johnson (Santa Barbara Natural History Museum) and Tom W. Stafford (Stafford Laboratories)

  • Watch Dr. Thakar’s HOT (Human Origins Today) TOPICS Lecture for the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History: From Ancient Teosinte to Modern Corn: The Domestication of Plants and People

Selected Publications

• • 2020 Kistler, Logan, Heather B. Thakar, Amber M. VanDerwarker, Alejandra Domic, Anders Bergstrom, Richard J. George, Thomas K. Harper, Robin G. Allaby, Kenneth Hirth, and Douglas J. Kennett “Archaeological Central American Maize Genomes Suggest Ancient Gene Flow from South America.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2015560117

  • 2019 Stephens, Lucas, et al. “Archaeological assessment reveals Earth’s early transformation through land use.” Science 365(6456):897-902. DOI: 10.1126/science.aax1192.

  • 2017    Kennett, D.J., H.B. Thakar, A.M. VanDerwarker, D.L. Webster, B.J., Culleton, T.K. Harper, L. Kistler, T.E. Scheffler, Hirth, K. High-precision chronology for Central American maize diversification from El Gigante rockshelter, Honduras. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA. www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1705052114
    2017           Thakar, Heather B., Michael A. Glassow, and Carol A. Blanchette (In Press) “The Forest and the Trees: Small-Scale Ecological Variability and Archaeological Interpretations of Temporal Changes in California Mussel Shell Size.” Quaternary International, special issue entitled “Methodological issues in Archaeomalacological Studies”, edited by Antonieta Jerardino and Patrick Faulkner. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2016.08.031

  • 2017           Thakar, Heather B., Michael A. Glassow, and Carol A. Blanchette (In Press) “Reconsidering Evidence of Human Impacts: Implications of Within-Site Variation of Growth Rates in Mytilus californianus along Tidal Gradients.” Quaternary International, special issue entitled “Methodological issues in Archaeomalacological Studies”, edited by Antonieta Jerardino and Patrick Faulkner. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2015.10.018

  • 2016           Thakar, Heather B. “Foraging Ancient Landscapes: Seasonal and Spatial Variation in Prehistoric Exploitation of Plant and Animal Food Resources on Santa Cruz Island, California.” Journal of California and Great Basin Archaeology, 36:1, special issue on California Paleoethnobotany edited by Seetha Reddy and Eric Wohlegemuth.

  • 2016           VanDerwarker, Amber M., Dana N. Bardolph, Kristen M. Hoppa, Heather B. Thakar, Lana S. Martin, Allison Jaqua, Matthew E. Biwer, and Kristina M. Gill “New World Paleoethnobotany in the New Millennium (2000-2013).” Journal of Archaeological Research, 24(2):125-177.

  • 2014           Thakar, Heather B. “Sites Forlorn: Dating Intervals of Abandonment at Three Shell Middens on Santa Cruz Island, California using Bayesian Chronological Models.” Journal of Archaeological Science 52:633-634.