Associate Professor of Anthropology and Archaeology and Chair of the Department
Areas of Expertise: Mesoamerican archaeology, sociopolitical organization, ancient inequality, household archaeology, ritual, GIS, network analysis, Maya
Jessica Munson is an anthropological archaeologist who specializes in Mesoamerican archaeology with an emphasis on the ancient Maya. Her research combines archaeological fieldwork with quantitative studies of settlement patterns, household possessions, and hieroglyphic inscriptions to investigate the long-term dynamics of sociopolitical systems and spread of cultural innovations across the Maya lowlands. She is director of the Proyecto Arqueológico Altar de Sacrificios (PAALS), a multidisciplinary project that combines regional survey, household excavations, and paleoenvironmental studies to examine the diverse factors that contributed to the development of inequality and socioeconomic difference in ancient Maya society. Her work is collaborative and interdisciplinary with multiple opportunities for student participation.
Jessica has conducted archaeological field investigations and laboratory analysis at multiple sites in Guatemala, Mexico, and the American Southwest since 2002, and has published over two dozen articles in journals such as the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, PLOS One, Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory, Ancient Mesoamerica, Latin American Antiquity, and am co-editor of The Oxford Handbook of Archaeological Network Research.
Selected Publications:
Thompson*, Amy E., Jessica Munson*, Scott G. Ortman, Andrés G. Mejía Ramón, Gary M. Feinman, Gabriela Cervantes Quequezana, Pablo Cruz, Adam S. Green, Dan Lawrence, and Paul Roscoe. (2025) Assessing Neighborhoods, Wealth Differentials, and Perceived Inequality in Preindustrial Societies. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 122 (16). https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2400699121. (*lead authors)
Munson, Jessica, Matthew Looper, and Jonathan Scholnick. Ritual Networks and the Structure of Moral Communities in Classic Maya Society.” (2024) Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 74 (June):101584. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaa.2024.101584.
Munson, Jessica, Jonathan Scholnick, Andrés G. Mejía-Ramon, and Lorena Aragón Paiz. (2023) Beyond house size: Alternative estimates of wealth inequality in the ancient Maya lowlands. Ancient Mesoamerica 34 (3): e8. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0956536123000044.
Brughmans, Tom, Barbara Mills, Jessica Munson, and Matthew Peeples (eds.) (2023) Oxford Handbook of Archaeological Network Research. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Munson, Jessica and Jonathan Scholnick. (2022) Wealth and well-being in an ancient Maya community: A framework for studying the quality of life in past societies. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory. 29(1): 1-30. doi:10.1007/s10816-021-09508-8.