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Dr. Dolores Piperno, Curator
Archaeobotany and South American Archaeology
About
Dr. Dolores Piperno, Curator of Archaeobotany and South American Archaeology, is an archaeologist and archaeobotanist. Her research focuses on the antiquity and character of prehistoric human adaptations in the lowland tropical regions of the world, including agricultural orgins, together with the biogeographical and climatological history of the tropical biome.
Research
My research interests have mainly involved the archaeology and human ecology of the lowland American tropics together with the biogeographical and climatological history of the tropical biome. I have recently become engaged in archaeological research in southwest Asia. I primarily use plant microfossils (phytoliths, starch grains, and pollen) to investigate research problems, which prominently include the origins and dispersals of agriculture. My theoretical perspective is based in the intersection of evolution and ecology, especially the emerging field of Human Behavioral Ecology in archaeology and its role in formulating explanations of human behavior and adaptive change.
…Piperno Research Page
Links—Recent Publications in PDF
- Piperno CV.
- 2012 Grobman, A., Bonivia, D., Dillehay, T.D., Piperno, D.R., Iriarte, J., Holst, I.
Preceramic maize from Paredones and Huaca Prieta, Peru. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 109:1755-1759.
2011. The Origins of Plant Cultivation and Domestication in the New World Tropics. In The Origins of Agriculture: New Data, New Ideas, edited by T. D. Price and Ofter Bar-Yosef. Wenner-Gren Symposium Series. Current Anthropology Vol. 52, Supp. S4, 453-470.- Henry, Amanda G., Alison S. Brooks, and Dolores R. Piperno.
2010 Microfossils in Calculus Demonstrate Consumption of Plants and Cooked Foods in Neanderthal Diets (Shanidar III, Iraq; Spy I and II, Belgium). PNAS Early Edition pp. 1-6. www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1016868108. - Gremillion, Kristen J. and Dolores R. Piperno.
2009 Human Behavioral Ecology, Phenotypic (Developmental) Plasticity, and Agricultural Origins. Insights from the Emerging Evolutionary Synthesis. Current Anthropology 50(5):615-619. - Ranere, Anthony J., Dolores R. Piperno, Irene Holst, Ruth Dickau, and José Iriarte.
2009. The Cultural and Chronological Context of Early Holocene Maize and Squash Domestication in the Central Balsas River Valley, Mexico. PNAS 106(13):5014-5018. - Piperno, Dolores R, Anthony J Raniere., Irene Holst, José Iriarte, and Ruth Dickau.
2009. Starch Grain and Phytolith Evidence for Early Ninth Millennium B.P. Maize from the Central Balsas River Valley, Mexico. PNAS 106(13):5019–5024. - Piperno, Dolores R.
2006 Quaternary Environmental History and Agricultural Impact on Vegetation in Central America. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 93:274–296. - Piperno, Dolores R., Irene Holst, Linda Wessel-Beaver, and Thomas C. Andres.
2002 Evidence for the Control of Phytolith Formation in Cucurbita Fruits by the Hard Rind (Hr) Genetic Locus: Archaeological and Ecological Implications. PNAS 99 (16):10923–10928.
- Piperno, D. R. and K. V. Flannery.
2001 The Earliest Archaeological Maize (Zea mays L.) from Highland Mexico: New Accelerator Mass Spectrometry Dates and Their Implications. PNAS 98(4):2101–2103. - Piperno, Dolores R., Anthony J. Ranere, Irene Holst & Patricia Hansell.
2000 Starch Grains Reveal Early Root Crop Horticulture in the Panamanian
Tropical Forest. Nature 407(19):894-897.
Office Phone: 202-633-1912
Lab Phone: 301-238-1025
Fax:
+507 212-8154
Pages
Mailing Address:
Program in Human Ecology and Archaeology
National Museum of Natural History
Smithsonian Institution
NHB MRC 112
Washington, DC 20013-7012
Courier Delivery Address:
Smithsonian Institution
National Museum of Natural History
10th and Constitution Ave, NW
Washington, DC 20560-0163
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