Florida Atlantic University Archaeological and Ethnographic Field Programs in Ecuador

June 22, 2024 - August 4, 2024

Visit the FAU Ecuador Archaeological Field Program web page

Visit the FAU Ecuador Ethnographic Program web page

The Florida Atlantic Unversity (FAU) Department of Anthropology's Ecuador Field School Programs has provided anthropological and archaeological field training for all levels of students: undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral. Since its inception in 1997, the Ecuador Field Program has trained over 600 students in anthropological and archaeological field methods.

From FAU, the US, Europe and South America, students have learned archaeolgical and ethnographic field techniques and amny have completed their theses and doctoral dissertations based on research they conducted at the Ecuador Field Program. FAU faculty, professional anthropologists and archaeologists, provide students with methodological training within the context of ongoing research projects.

2023 group

The ethnographic and archaeological research programs center on understanding local subsistence practices in variegated micro-ecosystems with the goal of building a record of how people in coastal Ecuador have made use of multiple ecosystems in a relatively small area from approximately 5000 years ago to the present.

Fishermen

Recently initiated is an archaeological survey of an interior river valley populated with a number of distinct monkey species. This survey has the potential to expand the field school's programs to the study of primatology, tropical forest ecology, zoology, geography, art and history.

The Salango Research Center is adjacent to the beach and ten minutes from the Field School's primary excavation site. It has labs for processing and curating archaeological materials and a small but excellent archaeological museum

Located in the town of Salango, students live in cabanas on the site of the research center. It is a walled, secure compound with a kitchen, shower and facilities. Breakfast and dinner are prepared by project cooks. Student provide their own lunches. The village has a few small stores and restaurants, a church, and bars.

Participation in the Ecuador Field Program can satisfy different course requirements in FAU's Department of Anthropology BA curriculum. The courses are titled, "Ethnographic Fieldwork," ANT 4804, and "Field Methods in Archaeology," ANT 4824 and ANT 4802, "Ethnographic Fieldwork in Ecuador." Both are offered for 3-6 credit hours. Students from other colleges and universities are welcome to participate in the program as a non-degree student and may have the option to register for 1 audit credit if they do not need the full course credit transferred back to their home institution. FAU tuition rates apply.

Please Contact:

Valentina Martinez, Field School Director
Email: vmartine@fau.edu, Phone: 561-297-0991

Dr. Michael Harris, Anthropology Department Chairperson
Email: mharris@fau.edu, Phone: 561-297-3230