Brent Woodfill

Department of Anthropology
Vanderbilt University
PO Box 6050, Station B
Nashville, TN 37203
brentwoodfill@yahoo.com

Languages

 Speaking and Reading: German, Q'eqchi', and Spanish
 Reading: French

Education

2004-present Ph.D. Candidate in Anthropology, Vanderbilt University
2004 M.A., Anthropology, Vanderbilt University
2000-present Honors Fellow, Vanderbilt University
2000 K-12 Certification for Teaching English as a Second Language, Macalester College
1999 B.A., Anthropology with Honors, Macalester College
 B.A., English Literature, Macalester College
 

Archaeological Experience
Sub-Project Director

2001-present Vanderbilt Upper Pasión Archaeological Cave Survey (Petén and Alta Verapaz,
 Guatemala)
2001-2002 La Caoba Regional Archaeological Project (La Caoba, Petén, Guatemala)

Reconnaissance

2005-present Caves in Chenalho, Chiapas, Mexico
2001-present Caves and settlements in Petén and Alta Verapaz, Guatemala (Vanderbilt Upper 
 Pasión Archaeological Cave Survey)
1996 Upper Peninsula, MI (Institute for Minnesota Archaeology Consulting, Inc.)
1995 Stillwater, MN (Institute for Minnesota Archaeology Consulting, Inc.)
1993 Bloomington, MN (Institute for Minnesota Archaeology)
1991 Hinkley, MN (Minnesota Archaeological Society)

Mapping

2001-present Vanderbilt Upper Pasión Archaeological Cave Survey (Petén and Alta Verapaz, 
 Guatemala)
2001 Cancuen Mapping Project (Petén and Alta Verapaz, Guatemala)
2000 Western Belize Regional Cave Project (Cayo, Belize)
1998 Western Belize Regional Cave Project (Cayo, Belize)

Excavation

2002- present Vanderbilt Upper Pasión Archaeological Cave Survey (Candelaria Caves and 
 associated settlements, Alta Verapaz, Guatemala)
2002 La Caoba Regional Archaeological Project (La Caoba Vieja and associated 
 settlements, Petén, Guatemala)
2002 Cancuen Regional Archaeological Project (Raxruha Vieja, Alta Verapaz, 
 Guatemala)
2000 Western Belize Regional Cave Project (Cayo, Belize)
1998 Belize Valley Archaeological Reconnaissance Project/Western Belize 
 Regional Cave Project (Cayo, Belize)
1996 Institute for Minnesota Archaeology Consulting, Inc. (Hallock, MN)
1995 Institute for Minnesota Archaeology (Red Wing, MN)
1992 Institute for Minnesota Archaeology (Red Wing, MN)
 

Laboratory Analysis

2004-present Ceramic analysis, Cancuen Archaeological Project/ La Caoba Regional Archaeological 
 Project/ Vanderbilt Upper Pasión Archaeological Cave Survey (Guatemala City, 
 Guatemala)
2000 Belize Valley Archaeological Reconnaissance Project/ Western Belize 
 Regional Cave Project (Cayo, Belize)
1990-1996 Institute for Minnesota Archaeology (Minneapolis, MN)

Teaching Experience

2003 ` Teacher’s assistant, “Shamanism and Spiritual Curing,” Vanderbilt University
2002 Teacher’s assistant, “Images of Culture,” Vanderbilt University
2002 Teacher's assistant, "The Rise and Fall of Civilization," Vanderbilt University
2001 Teacher's assistant, "Introduction to Cultural Anthropology," Vanderbilt University
2000 Teacher's assistant, "Images of Culture," Vanderbilt University
2000 Field school instructor, Western Belize Regional Cave Project
1999-2000  Substitute teacher, Minneapolis Public Schools
2000 Battle Creek Middle School ESL II and III (St. Paul, MN)
1999 Math Munchers after school program, Ericsson Elementary
1999 Ericsson Elementary School ESL (Minneapolis, MN)
1999 Osseo Senior High School ESL (Osseo, MN)
1999 Amundsen High School ESL I and II (Chicago IL)

Professional Development

2004-5 Ceramic analysis instruction with Jeannette Castellanos (Guatemala City, Guatemala)
2002 Q'eqchi' language instruction (Coban, Guatemala and Guatemala City, Guatemala)
2000 San Ignacio Hieroglyphic Introductory Lectures with Harri Knutsen and Christophe
 Helmke (Cayo, Belize)
2000 Ch'orti' language instruction, Proyecto Lingüistico Francisco Marroquín (Antigua 
 Guatemala and Jocotan, Guatemala)
1999 Maya Hieroglyphic Writing Workshop (Austin, TX)
1998 Spanish language instruction, Instituto Cultural Oaxaca (Oaxaca, Oaxaca, Mexico)
1998 Archaeology of the Mexican Highlands with Dr. Skip and Phyllis Messenger 
 (Central Highlands, Mexico)
1998 Maya Hieroglyphic Workshop with Dr. Katherine Josserynd and Nick Hopkins
1997 Ancient, Colonial, and Modern Maya of the Yucatan Peninsula with Dr. Skip and 
 Phyllis Messenger (Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico)

Manuscripts, Articles, and Lectures

Woodfill, Brent
 2006 New Discoveries and Evidence of Long-Distance Exchange in Alta Verapaz, Guatemala. 
 Paper presented at the 2006 Annual Meetings of the Society for American Archaeology.

2004 Manual arqueológico para guías turísticas en las Cuevas de Candelaria.

 Manuscript prepared for the United Status Agency of International Development.
 2004 Archaeology of the Candelaria Caves. Paper presented at the 69th Annual Meetings of 
 the Society for American Archaeology, Montreal, Canada.
 2002 The Witz as Temple: Natural vs. Constructed Sacred Landscapes among the 
 Maya of the Upper Pasión Region, Guatemala. Paper presented at the 100th Annual
 Meetings of the American Anthropological Association, New Orleans, LA.
 2002 Living Between Worlds: Cancuen and the Upper Pasión Kingdom. Paper presented
 for the Maya Society of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN.
 2002 Archaeology and Ritual in the Upper Pasión. Saturday Morning Workshop for the
 Maya Society of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN.
 1999 Caves and the Rise of the Late Pre-Classic Maya Elite. Paper presented at the 
 University of Minnesota Undergraduate Anthropology Conference, Space: Use,
 Abuse and Possession, Lake Itaska State Park, MN.
 1999 Caves and the Rise of the Late Pre-Classic Maya Elite. Unpublished honors project
 in the possession of the Department of Archaeology, Belmopan, Belize
 1999 Iconographic Representations of Scenes from the Popol Vuh. Paper presented at the 
 Associated Colleges of the Twin Cities English Majors Conference, College of St.
 Catherine, St. Paul, MN.
 1998 The Dark Side of the Maya. Paper presented at Macalester College's Department of
 Anthropology, St. Paul, MN.
 1998 The Popol Vuh. Lecture given to the Elder Learning Institute, University of 
 Minnesota.
 
Woodfill, Brent; Federico Fahsen; and Mirza Monterroso
 2005 Nuevos descubrimientos y evidencia de intercambio de larga distancia en Alta Verapaz, Guatemala.  
 Paper presented at the 2005 Simposio de investigaciones arqueológicos en Guatemala.
Woodfill, Brent and Jenny Guerra
 2004 El Intercambio ecoturístico Chisec-San Ignacio, Fase I. Proyecto Arqueológico Cancuen 
 Informe Preliminar No. 5. Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press.
 
Woodfill, Brent; Jose Hurtado, Álvaro Ramírez, and Carlos Girón
 2004 Reconocimientos en Ub’ub’. Proyecto Arqueológico Cancuen Informe Preliminar No. 5. 
 Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press.

Woodfill, Brent; Nicolas Miller; Margaret Tarpley; and Amalia Kenward

2003 Investigaciones Espeleoarqueológicos en Chisec, Alta Verapaz y La Caoba, Sayaxché, Petén.

XVI Simposio de Investigaciones Arqueológicos en Guatemala. Guatemala: Ministerio de

Cultura y Deportes.

 
Woodfill, Brent and Mirza Monterroso
 2006 Investigaciones Espeleológicos en las Cuevas de Candelaria, Temporadas 2004 y 2005. Proyecto
 Arqueológico Cancuen Informe Preliminar No. 6. Nashville: Vanderbilt University 
 Press.
 2006 Investigaciones en la Cueva de Hun Nal Ye.  Proyecto Arqueológico Cancuen Informe Preliminar 
 No. 6. Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press.
 
 

Woodfill, Brent; Matt O’Mansky, and Jon Spenard

2002 Asentimiento y sitios sagrados en la región de Cancuen. XV Simposio de Investigaciones

Arqueológicos en Guatemala. Guatemala: Ministerio de Cultura y Deportes, pp. 909-922.

Woodfill, Brent and Álvaro Ramírez

2004 Introducción a las Cuevas de Candelaria. Proyecto Arqueológico Cancuen Informe

Preliminar No. 5. Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press.

Woodfill, Brent; Álvaro Ramírez; Emilia Gazzuolo; Mirza Monterroso; Adriana Segura; Carlos Girón; Jose

Hurtado; Nicolas Miller; and Paul Halacy

2004 Informe preliminar de trabajos Espeleoarqueológicos en las Cuevas de Candelaria, 2003.

Proyecto Arqueológico Cancuen Informe Preliminar No. 5. Nashville: Vanderbilt University

Press.

Woodfill, Brent; Álvaro Ramírez; Carlos Girón; and Adriana Segura

2005 Investigaciones espeleológicos en las Cuevas de Candelaria, temporada 2004. Proyecto

Arqueológico Cancuen informe preliminar no. 6. Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press.

 
Woodfill, Brent; Álvaro Ramírez, and Cameron Griffith
2004 Cave Archaeology and Community Development in the Upper Pasión Region of 
Guatemala. Paper presented at the 69th Annual Meetings of the Society for American
Archaeology, Montreal, Canada.
 
Woodfill, Brent, Matt O'Mansky, and Jon Spenard
 2001 Asentimiento y sitios sagrados en la region de Cancuén. Paper presented at the XV 
 Simposio de Investigaciones Arqueológicas en Guatemala, Guatemala City.
 
Woodfill, Brent and Jon Spenard
 2001 Investigaciones Arqueológicos y Espeleo-arqueológicos en la vecinidad de La Caoba, 
 Sayaxche, Guatemala. In Proyecto Arqueológico Cancuén Informe Preliminar #3, 
 Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press.
 2001 Mapeo y Reconocimiento en Cancuén. In Proyecto Arqueológico Cancuén Informe 
 Preliminar #3, Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press.
 
Mirza Monterroso and Brent Woodfill
 2006 Investigaciones en Sitio Arqueológico La Lima.  Proyecto Arqueológico Cancuen Informe 
 Preliminar No. 6. Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press.
 
O'Mansky, Matt and Brent Woodfill
 2001 Settlement and Sacred Sites in the Cancuen Region. Paper presented at the Society
 for American Archaeology Meetings, New Orleans, LA.

Ramírez, Alvaro and Brent Woodfill

2004 Recomendaciones Turísticas para las Cuevas de Candelaria. Proyecto Arqueológico

Cancuen Informe Preliminar No. 5. Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press.

Grants and Awards

2005 Vanderbilt University Dissertation Improvement Grant
2004 Chemonics, Inc.
2003 FIPA Water Fund Grant
2003  Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies, Inc. Research Grant
2002 Ahau Foundation Research Grant
2000-present Honors Fellow, Vanderbilt University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
1999 James P. Spradley Award for Excellence in Research, Macalester College Department
 of Anthropology

References

Available upon request.