Dr. Edwin Lawrence Barnhart (born October 29, 1968) is an American archaeologist and explorer specializing in ancient civilizations of the Americas. He is the founder and Director of the Maya Exploration Center, President of Ancient Explorations and fellow of

The Explorers Club The Explorers Club is an American-based international multidisciplinary professional society with the goal of promoting scientific exploration and field study. The club was founded in New York City in 1904, and has served as a meeting point fo ...

. Barnhart's early career focused on survey and mapping in

Mesoamerica Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area in southern North America and most of Central America. It extends from approximately central Mexico through Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and northern Costa Rica. W ...

. He re-discovered the city of Ma’ax Na ("Spider-Monkey House"), in Belize in 1995. He also led the Palenque Mapping Project in 1998–2000, at the invitation of the Mexican government, which documented 1478 structures in the Maya ruins of

Palenque Palenque (; Yucatec Maya language, Yucatec Maya: ), also anciently known in the Itza Language as Lakamhaʼ ("Big Water or Big Waters"), was a Maya city City-state, state in southern Mexico that perished in the 8th century. The Palenque ruins dat ...

, in

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, ...

. Barnhart studied under

Linda Schele Linda Schele (October 30, 1942 – April 18, 1998) was an American Mesoamerican archaeologist who was an expert in the field of Maya epigraphy and iconography. She played an invaluable role in the decipherment of much of the Maya hieroglyphs. She ...

at the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

, where he received his Ph.D. in anthropology in 2001. He has an undergraduate degree from the University of Colorado in 1992 with a double major in Anthropology and Latin American Studies. Barnhart is a public speaker on archaeology topics. He has appeared on the History Channel, Discovery Channel and Japanese public television. He also produced four lecture series for the Teaching Company's Great Courses and has a podcast called ArchaeoEd.

References

External links

Maya Exploration Center
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barnhart, Edwin 1968 births Mayanists People from Englewood, New Jersey Scientists from New Jersey 20th-century Mesoamericanists 20th-century American archaeologists Living people Historians from New Jersey