David Cheetham is a Canadian archaeologist. He works primarily in Central America and specializes in the identification of Preclassic/Formative era (1800 BC-250 AD) structures and pottery.Awe, Jaime, Cassandra Bill, Mark Campbell, and David Cheetham. "Early Middle Formative Occupation in the Central Maya Lowlands: Recent Evidence from Cahal Pech, Belize." Papers from the Institute of Archaeology 1 (1990): n. pag. Pia. Web. 29 Mar. 2013. http://www.pia-journal.co.uk/article/view/pia.358

Career

Cheetham is a member of the New World Archaeological Foundation, Department of Anthropology at Brigham Young University. He has taught Anthropology courses at California State Polytechnic University Pomona, California State University, Long Beach (2007-2010) and is currently teaching at University of California, Los Angeles (2012-2013).Prowis, Terry, and David Cheetham. "From House to Holy: Formative Development of Civic Ceremonial Architecture in the Maya Lowlands." Research Reports in Belizian Archaeology 4 (2007): 177-86. Ufdc.ufl.edu. Web. 29 Mar. 2013. http://ufdc.ufl.edu/AA00011735/00001Cheetham, David. CULTURAL IMPERATIVES IN CLAY: EARLY OLMEC CARVED POTTERY FROM SAN LORENZO AND CANTÓN CORRALITO. Ancient Mesoamerica. 2010. 21, pp 165-185 doi:10.1017/S0956536110000040Greif, Leslie, prod. "Chasing Mummies." Chasing Mummies. History Channel. New York, New York, 2010. Television.Cheetham, David. "The Americas' First Colony?" Archaeology Jan.-Feb. 2006: 42-46. Print.Prowis, Terry G., W. Jeffrey Hurst, Maria Del Carmen Rodriguez, Ponciano Ortiz, C., Michael Blake, David Cheetham, Michael D. Coe, and John G. Hodgeson. The Origins of Cacao Use in Mesoamerica. Academia.edu. Academia, 2008. Web. 29 Mar. 2013. https://www.academia.edu/1808048/Powis_et_al._2008_The_Origins_of_Cacao_Use_in_MesoamericaCheetham, David. Cunil: A Pre-Mamom Horizon in the Southern Maya Lowlands. New Perspectives on Formative Mesoamerican Cultures, edited by T.G. Powis, pp.27-38. BAR International Series #1377. 2005. Oxford (Hadrian Books)Cheetham, David. INTERREGIONAL INTERACTION, SYMBOL EMULATION, AND THE EMERGENCE OF SOCIO-POLITICAL INEQUALITY IN THE CENTRAL MAY A LOWLANDS. Thesis. University of British Columbia. 1998. Circle.ubc.ca. Web. 29 Mar. 2013. https://circle.ubc.ca/handle/2429/8030 He has worked extensively in

Belize Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wate ...

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...

and

Chiapas, Mexico Chiapas (; Tzotzil language, Tzotzil and Tzeltal language, Tzeltal: ''Chyapas'' ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Chiapas ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Chiapas), is one of the states that make up the Political divisions of Mexico, ...

performing archaeological field work and pottery analysis on his own projects as well as consulting for other archaeologists, including extensive work for Jaime Awe at the BVAR. His major digs include the excavation of the Zopilote, a Maya burial at

Cahal Pech Cahal Pech is a Maya site located near the town of San Ignacio in the Cayo District of Belize. The site was a palatial, hilltop home for an elite Maya family, and though the most major construction dates to the Classic period, evidence of continuo ...

, Belize in 1993, several seasons of field work at

Tikal Tikal () (''Tik’al'' in modern Mayan orthography) is the ruin of an ancient city, which was likely to have been called Yax Mutal, found in a rainforest in Guatemala. It is one of the largest archeological sites and urban centers of the pre-Co ...

, Guatemala, and the unearthing of a juvenile sacrificial victim in Canton Corralito/

Paso de la Amada Paso de la Amada (from Spanish: "beloved's pass") is an archaeological site in the Mexican state of Chiapas on the Gulf of Tehuantepec, in the Mazatán part of Soconusco region of Mesoamerica. It is located in farmland between the modern town oB ...

, Chiapas Mexico in 2004. He spent six months assisting

Zahi Hawass Zahi Abass Hawass ( ar, زاهي حواس; born May 28, 1947) is an Egyptian archaeologist, Egyptologist, and former Minister of State for Antiquities Affairs, serving twice. He has also worked at archaeological sites in the Nile Delta, the Wes ...

during the filming of the History Channel show ''

Chasing Mummies ''Chasing Mummies: The Amazing Adventures of Zahi Hawass'' is a reality television series that aired on The History Channel in the United States. Produced by Boutique TV, the series depicted the adventures of archaeologist and Egyptologist Dr. Zah ...

'' during which he performed underwater archaeology and helped to raise a pylon from the temple of Cleopatra VII out of the harbor at Alexandria, Egypt in 2010. He has also appeared as an Anthropology consultant on several episodes of the History Channel's ''

Ancient Aliens ''Ancient Aliens'' is an American television series that explores the pseudohistorical and pseudoarchaeological ancient astronauts hypothesis, past human- extraterrestrial contact, UFOs, government conspiracies and related pseudoscientific top ...

'' television series. Working actively in the field of Mesoamerican Archaeology since the late 1980's, Cheetham has become an authority on the pottery and stratification based on ceramic analysis in the region of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec and the Yucatan Peninsula. His work has helped to link the

Olmec The Olmecs () were the earliest known major Mesoamerican civilization. Following a progressive development in Soconusco, they occupied the tropical lowlands of the modern-day Mexican states of Veracruz and Tabasco. It has been speculated that t ...

site of San Lorenzo with a potential Olmec outpost in the Soconousco through exhaustive comparative analysis of the style, dating and chemical analysis of the composite materials of pottery and figurines from both the

San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán or San Lorenzo is the collective name for three related archaeological sites—San Lorenzo, Tenochtitlán and Potrero Nuevo—located in the southeast portion of the Mexican state of Veracruz. Along with La Venta and Tre ...

and Canton Corralito sites. Additional analysis of the bones of individuals recovered from a burial at the site has reinforced these findings. Other work by Cheetham includes the study of Cacao use in early Mesoamerican cultures through the chemical residue left in specialized pottery vessels. He has also completed several analysis' of social structures in the region through pottery style from artifacts recovered during numerous excavations of midden, structure, and elite burial contexts. He has written on the use of ceramic forms and manufacture by the

, the

Maya Maya may refer to: Civilizations * Maya peoples, of southern Mexico and northern Central America ** Maya civilization, the historical civilization of the Maya peoples ** Maya language, the languages of the Maya peoples * Maya (Ethiopia), a populat ...

and other prehistoric cultures of Central America.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cheetham, David Living people Canadian archaeologists Canadian Mesoamericanists Year of birth missing (living people) Participants in American reality television series