Edward R. Swenson
Edward R. Swenson, Ph.D. (University of Chicago, 2004)
Assistant Professor, St. George Campus
(416) 946-5186
Office: AP 504
Website: http://individual.utoronto.ca/eswenson/index.html
Field: Archaeology, complex societies, theory and method, religion and ideology; Andes, Latin America
Current Research
Currently, Dr. Swenson is conducting research in the Cañoncillo urban system of the Jequetepeque Valley, Peru. This project combines mapping, architectural analysis, and large-scale excavation in order to reconstruct long-term processes of urbanization in the region. An important component of the research is to gauge how transformations in public architecture related to changes in local ritual activity and the organization of domestic space.
Recent Publications
In Press. “Dramas of the Dialectic: Sacrifice and Power in Ancient Polities.” In “Violence and Civilization,” edited by Roderick Campbell, Joukowsky Institute Publications, Brown University Press, Providence.
In Press. “The Cosmological Foundations of Moche Highland Interactions in Middle-Horizon Peru.” In Interregional Interaction and Social Change in Peru from 550-1000 AD, edited by Luis Jaime Castillo and Justin Jennings. Fondo Editorial Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, Lima.
In Press. “Chinchorro Mortuary Ritual and the Thesis Against ‘Hunter-Gatherer’ Religions.” In La Cultural Chinchorro en una Perspectiva Comparada, edited by Nuria Sanz. Press of the Intergovernmental Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization of the World Heritage Centre of UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), Paris.
In Press. “Feminine Powers, Ritual Warfare, and the Sacrificial Foundations of Contested Authority in Late Moche Jequetepeque, Peru.” In: Queens of the Stone Age: The Role of Women in Power Structures. Chacmool Proceedings, University of Calgary Press, Calgary.
In Press. “Architectural Renovation as Ritual Process in Late Intermediate Period Jequetepeque.” In Advances in North Coast Archaeology: State and Empire in the Jequetepeque Valley, edited by Colleen Zori and Illana Johnson. British Archaeological Reports International Series, Oxford.
2011. Stagecraft and the Politics of Spectacle in Ancient Peru. Cambridge Archaeological Journal 21(2): 285-315.
2010. Emotions Reified: Lessons from an Archaeology of Ritual. Archaeological Dialogues 17(2) 176-185.
2010. Revelation and Resolution: Anthropologies of Religion, Cognition, and Power. Reviews in Anthropology, 39: 173-200.
2009. Dillehay, Tom, Alan L. Kolata, and Edward Swenson Paisajes Culturales en el Valle del Jequetepeque: Los Yacimientos Arqueológicos. Ediciones Sian, Trujillo and Lima Peru.
2008. “Festines competitivos, pluralismo religioso y poder descentralizado en el período Moche Tardío. Revista del Museo de Arqueología, Antropología e Historia de la Universidad Nacional de Trujillo (Facultad de Ciensia Sociales) 10: 87-110.
2008. “The ‘Disjunctive Approach’ to the Archaeological Analysis of Ritual Politics.” Religion in the Material World, edited by Lars Fogelin. Center for Archaeological Investigations, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale IL.
2008. “San Ildefonso and the Popularization of Moche Ideology in the Jequetepeque Valley.” In Arqueología Mochica: Nuevos Enfoques, edited by Luis Jaime Castillo, Hélène Bernier, Gregory Lockard, and Julio Rucabado, pp. 411-432. Fondo Editorial Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, Lima.
2007. Local Ideological Strategies and the Politics of Ritual Space in the Chimú Empire. Archaeological Dialogues 14(1): 61-90.
2007. Adaptive Strategies or Ideological Innovations? Interpreting Sociopolitical Developments in the Jequetepeque Valley of Peru During the Late Moche Period. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 26(2): 1-30.
2006. “Competitive Feasting, Religious Pluralism, and Decentralized Power in the Late Moche Period.” In Andean Archaeology III: North and South, edited by William H. Isbell and Helaine Silverman. Springer/Plenum Press, New York.
