VIDEO by Cameron Griffith
Click on the link to travel through Xibalban Doors of Perception….
This video presents a new c... more Click on the link to travel through Xibalban Doors of Perception….
This video presents a new class of cave art: monumental Modified Speleothem Sculpture (mMSS). My investigations with members of the Western Belize Regional Cave Project have revealed numerous speleothem sculptures beyond the scope of those previously identified in Mesoamerica. This presentation presents several newly discovered works of art from the caves of Belize and provides possible interpretations of the various art forms.
Posters by Cameron Griffith
Papers by Cameron Griffith
Cells, 2022
The purpose of our study is to determine the protective effects of the chaya leaf against mitocho... more The purpose of our study is to determine the protective effects of the chaya leaf against mitochondrial abnormalities and synaptic damage in the Type 2 diabetes (T2D) mouse model, TallyHO (TH). The TH mouse is a naturally occurring polygenic mouse model of diabetes that mimics many characteristics of human Type 2 diabetes. Only male TH mice develop hyperglycemia and moderate obesity. Female mice display moderate obesity but do not manifest overt diabetes. In this study, we evaluated three groups of mice over a period of 11 weeks: (1) the experimental group of TH diabetic mice fed with chaya chow; (2) a diabetic control group of TH diabetic mice fed with regular chow; and (3) a non-diabetic control group of SWR/J mice fed with regular chow. Body mass and fasting blood glucose were assessed weekly. Brain and other peripheral tissues were collected. Using qRT-PCR and immunoblotting analyses, we measured the mRNA abundance and protein levels of mitochondrial biogenesis, mitochondrial dynamics, autophagy/mitophagy, and synaptic genes. Using immunofluorescence analysis, we measured the regional immunoreactivities of mitochondrial and synaptic proteins. Using biochemical methods, we assessed mitochondrial function. We found increased body mass and fasting glucose levels in the TH diabetic mice relative to the non-diabetic control SWRJ mice. In chaya chow-fed TH diabetic mice, we found significantly reduced body mass and fasting glucose levels. Mitochondrial fission genes were increased and fusion, biogenesis, autophagy/mitophagy, and synaptic genes were reduced in the TH mice; however, in the chaya chow-fed TH diabetic mice, mitochondrial fission genes were reduced and fusion, biogenesis, autophagy/mitophagy, and synaptic genes were increased. Mitochondrial function was defective in the diabetic TH mice; however, it was rescued in the chaya chow-fed TH mice. These observations strongly suggest that chaya chow reduces the diabetic properties, mitochondrial abnormalities, and synaptic pathology in diabetic, TH male mice. Our data strongly indicates that chaya can be used as natural supplemental diet for prediabetic and diabetic subjects and individuals with metabolic disorders.
Heritage, 2021
The Belizean culinary landscape has experienced a dramatic shift in recent years, with an abundan... more The Belizean culinary landscape has experienced a dramatic shift in recent years, with an abundance of "fresh" and "local" dishes (i.e., salads) appearing on restaurant menus. While many tourists appreciate the option of ordering salad, there is a truly local green that might be equally or better suited to the tourist market given what we know about tourists' interests in both authenticity and healthful eating. This paper explores both host and guest attitudes towards chaya, a leafy green that is high in protein and may have anti-diabetic properties. We argue that tourists enjoy eating chaya but restauranteurs are not taking advantage of its potential as a sustainable, low-cost dish that could also help preserve traditional foodways. Though restauranteurs are apt to cite supply chain issues as one of the reasons they are reluctant to make chaya a menu mainstay, we also believe that when a food occupies an ambiguous place in the local foodscape-as chaya does-local hosts may be unable to leverage it to is full potential.
Teaching Anthropology, 2016
This paper explores the relative value of "permanent" working groups versus "ad h... more This paper explores the relative value of "permanent" working groups versus "ad hoc" groups in large introductory level anthropology courses. The aim is to manage tutor workload while simultaneously enhancing students’ attainment of the learning objectives. In addition, a main learning objective was for students to practice critical thinking and develop an understanding of cultural relativism. We argue that one effective experiential approach to teaching such concepts is collaborative learning with others in diverse learning groups. We explore the factors enhancing such learning experiences. Based on our survey research we conclude that ad hoc groups are better for exposing students to diverse perspectives and permanent working groups are better for fostering an intimate learning experience within a large class. Although our original goals for using groups were mainly pragmatic, our research on teaching methods shows that it exposes students to diverse perspecti...
Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 2017
Bioarchaeological investigations at Actun Uayazba Kab (AUK), in west-central Belize, sought to ch... more Bioarchaeological investigations at Actun Uayazba Kab (AUK), in west-central Belize, sought to characterize the nature of the site's mortuary use by reconstructing aspects of social identity. Skeletal analyses provided data related to the age, sex, health, diet, and geographic origins of individuals buried within the rockshelter-like entrance to AUK. Changes in the site's ritual use were contextualized with current archaeological data from the surrounding region, demonstrating that burial activity was initiated in the Late Preclassic and was likely by a local kin group. Cessation of primary burial sometime around the 3 rd century AD generally coincides with the construction of monumental civic-ceremonial architecture in the area, after which activity at the site appears to have shifted to rituals pertaining to the propi-tiation of rain. While small cave and rockshelter sites typically receive little research attention in Mesoamerica, the data from AUK illustrate how ritual activities at small, non-elite sites are indeed dynamic and can inform broader models of social and political organization.
Ecological Modelling, 2010
The HOMINIDS ABM is a new Agent Based Model that simulates the actions of two species of proto-hu... more The HOMINIDS ABM is a new Agent Based Model that simulates the actions of two species of proto-human agents defined by a few, simple parameters. These proto-human agents attempt to subsist by foraging and nesting on dynamic, spatially explicit landscapes. The landscapes are described with a number of parameters based on empirical field data collected in habitats in East Africa. The results of three separate scenarios with 1 year model runs repeated 30 times each, for a total of 90 simulations, are presented and discussed to illustrate both the capacity and flexibility of our ABM modeling environment. The simulations show that the model food preferences and anatomy ascribed to Australopithecus boisei resulted in different expressions of foraging behaviors and subsistence strategies in two distinct ecological settings, and that adding tubers to the diet significantly increases the chances of the hominid agents meeting their daily caloric requirements year-round. In addition, this paper provides links to the open-source implementation code, along with the user documentation, design document, java API, and all datasets required to replicate the simulations.
Anthropology News, Feb 2014
As anthropologists, we often pride ourselves on our holistic study of humankind. But even in depa... more As anthropologists, we often pride ourselves on our holistic study of humankind. But even in departments that claim to be four-field, we often operate in isolation from within the relative safety of our subdisciplinary silos. Whether we realize it or not, our anthropology students figure out for themselves that most of us are only paying lip service to this Boasian ideal. In the current academic climate, it is difficult to develop specialties in more than one subfield. Fortunately, our colleagues can be our greatest resource. Recognizing the value of taking a complementary approach to the content, rather than the divide-and-conquer approach that often characterizes team-teaching, we have begun creating learning opportunities that give students a more holistic understanding of a single phenomenon.
Opportunities and Challenges for Applied Demography in the 21st Century, 2012
Agent-Based Models (ABMs) collectively represent an individual modeling method that, along with t... more Agent-Based Models (ABMs) collectively represent an individual modeling method that, along with two related approaches, Microsimulation (MSM) and Cellular Automata (CA, also known as Artificial Neural Networks or ANN), has received attention as a demographic forecasting tool in the past 20 or so years. This development corresponds to observations made by Smith et al. (2001: 367) that while population projections were primarily made at the national and state levels until the 1970s, they started being routinely made for lower levels of geography such as census tracts and block groups, which, in turn, generated demand for even lower levels of geography such as tax assessor files, block faces, and street segments. They observed that this trend implied that projections would eventually be made for individual addresses, households, and people. Indeed, this observation has been borne out and the reason is largely due to the development of individual modeling methods, including ABM.
Chungara, Revista de Antropología, 2012
Tourism management is increasingly coming under fire from anthropologists concerned about issues ... more Tourism management is increasingly coming under fire from anthropologists concerned about issues of social representation and accelerated cultural change. However, when managed well and at a local level, it can represent an economic boon to the community and may even revitalize ethnic pride. This is not to say that tourism development of archaeological sites should proceed without expert consultation. Rather, using Taíno caves in the Dominican Republic as a case study, this paper proposes a methodology of archaeotourism where the anthropologist and archaeologist are positioned as "guides on the side" coaching local development of data collection techniques that can be used to craft and disseminate a narrative that is situated in local worldviews.
Latin American Antiquity, Jun 2006
Evidence from preceramic Paleoindian and Archaic time periods in Belize has been recorded over th... more Evidence from preceramic Paleoindian and Archaic time periods in Belize has been recorded over the past quarter of a century by a number of projects. This paper summarizes previously published information and presents new archaeological data in bringing the hunting-and-gathering and itinerant horticultural millennia of this region into a more accurate and comprehensive perspective than has been presented to date. The Paleoindian period includes influences from North as well as South America, with settlement preferences shown for river valleys and near-coastal margins. Cave sites hold particular promise for yielding new and well-preserved remains from this early period. The Archaic, beginning as early as 8000 B.C., is poorly dated until 3400 B. C. and was probably characterized by mobile hunter-foragers. The Late Archaic includes two facets, the Early (3400-1900 B.C.) and the Late (1500-900 B.C.) Preceramic, and represents the first appearance and gradual spread of cultivation together with habitat modification. The period beginning around 1500 B.C. shows intensifying maize cultivation, apparently mobile populations, and also the emergence of well-defined stone tool traditions that trend into the early Middle Preclassic. Ceramics seem to appear unevenly from ca. 1200 to 900 B.C., when the Cunil and Kanocha complexes in western Belize and Swasey sphere in northern Belize are reported.
Making Marks: Graduate Studies in Rock Art Research at the New Millennium, 2005
Scholars studying ancient Maya cave sites have divided cave art into two basic types: painting an... more Scholars studying ancient Maya cave sites have divided cave art into two basic types: painting and carving. The majority of Maya cave carvings identified to date are small petroglyphs, many in the form of crude faces gouged on speleothems. Recent investigations by the authors have revealed speleothem modification far beyond the scope of typical petroglyphs. This paper presents several newly discovered monumental speleothem sculptures, as well as preliminary interpretations for these works of art.
Arte rupestre de México oriental y Centro América, 2003
En 1925 Thomas Gann informó por primera vez sobre una espeleotema esculpida en forma de una figur... more En 1925 Thomas Gann informó por primera vez sobre una espeleotema esculpida en forma de una figura humana tosca en una cueva cerca de Benque Viejo, Belice (Gann1925). A pesar del largo transcurso de tiempo desde este informe inicial, el arte rupestre de Belice recién ha recibido la atención que merece dentro de las últimas tres décadas. Las primeras descripciones científicas fueron fruto de la investigación arqueológica de la cueva E del Río Frío, iniciada por A. H. Anderson y reportada por David Pendergast (1970). Desde entonces la cantidad de sitios conocidos con arte rupestre se ha incrementado enormemente, lo que condujo a la conclusión de que los Mayas de Belice participaron en la producción de expresiones simbólicas complejas tan activamente como sus vecinos de Guatemala y México. Nuestro conocimiento de este corpus todavía es limitado por la naturaleza enigmáitica del simbolismo y más aún por la relativa falta de sitios conocidos de arte rupestre en Belice, un obstáculo que podrá ser solucionado solamente a través de prospecciones arqueológicas continuas e intensivas de las cuevas.
In the Maw of the Earth Monster, 2005
Investigations by the Western Belize Regional Cave Project (WBRCP) have documented three caves in... more Investigations by the Western Belize Regional Cave Project (WBRCP) have documented three caves in western Belize that contain vertically standing megalithic monuments. Because these monuments resemble stelae found in Maya sites, we are applying the term "stelae," although we recognize that the cave examples in western Belize are shorter than most surface-site monuments and bear no inscriptions. It is equally important to note that, unlike speleothems, which were sometimes placed in an upright position and rarely modified, the stelae in these caves were produced from either slate or limestone and generally display evidence of modification. The monuments were also erected within recessed cave chambers and are accompanied by cultural materials that are associated predominantly with ritual activity. Because stelae are chiefly discovered within the central plazas of major surface sites, and because they are traditionally associated with ancient Maya rulership, the occurrence of these monuments in subterranean contexts offers intriguing new data on Pre-Hispanic Maya cave activity and has important implications for our understanding of Maya cave ritual.
Agent Based Models (ABM) provide computational tools with which to simulate parameters of multiva... more Agent Based Models (ABM) provide computational tools with which to simulate parameters of multivariate behavioral systems and analyze with GIS the emergent patterns of agent behavior generated by different sets of experimental conditions. We have created an agent based model HOMINIDS (Hungry Omnivores Moving, Interacting, and Nesting in Independent Decision‐making Simulations), in which we define simple behavioral rules for agents who forage in simulated landscapes. The experimental landscapes are spatially explicit, dynamic, and derived from field vegetation survey data on seasonal abundance and distribution of different plant foods collected in modern analogs of Plio‐Pleistocene habitats from two different semi‐arid riparian settings. Using the original plant food field data as a baseline, we experimentally manipulate the edible productivity and abundance of different types of key plant foods, such as different species with edible roots, to evaluate the impact of plant food availa...
… of the Annual Conference of the North …, 2005
Agent Based Models (ABM) provide computational tools with which to simulate parameters of multiva... more Agent Based Models (ABM) provide computational tools with which to simulate parameters of multivariate behavioral systems and analyze with GIS the emergent patterns of agent behavior generated by different sets of experimental conditions. We have created an agent based model HOMINIDS (Hungry Omnivores Moving, Interacting, and Nesting in Independent Decision‐making Simulations), in which we define simple behavioral rules for agents who forage in simulated landscapes. The experimental landscapes are spatially explicit, dynamic, and derived from field vegetation survey data on seasonal abundance and distribution of different plant foods collected in modern analogs of Plio‐Pleistocene habitats from two different semi‐arid riparian settings. Using the original plant food field data as a baseline, we experimentally manipulate the edible productivity and abundance of different types of key plant foods, such as different species with edible roots, to evaluate the impact of plant food availa...
Advancing Social Simulation: The First World Congress. Springer., 2007
In this paper we present results of an agent-based model of foraging of hominids. The model repre... more In this paper we present results of an agent-based model of foraging of hominids. The model represents foraging activities in a landscape that is based on detailed measurements of food availability in the modern East African environments. These current landscapes are used as a model for the environment of the hominids one million years ago. We use the model to explore possible rankings of food preferences for different types of hominids (Homo ergaster and Australopithecus boisei) in different types of semi-arid landscapes. We let the agents adjust their preferences to maximize their calories intake and show that A. boisei could not meet its calories requirements in different landscapes.
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VIDEO by Cameron Griffith
This video presents a new class of cave art: monumental Modified Speleothem Sculpture (mMSS). My investigations with members of the Western Belize Regional Cave Project have revealed numerous speleothem sculptures beyond the scope of those previously identified in Mesoamerica. This presentation presents several newly discovered works of art from the caves of Belize and provides possible interpretations of the various art forms.
Posters by Cameron Griffith
Papers by Cameron Griffith
This video presents a new class of cave art: monumental Modified Speleothem Sculpture (mMSS). My investigations with members of the Western Belize Regional Cave Project have revealed numerous speleothem sculptures beyond the scope of those previously identified in Mesoamerica. This presentation presents several newly discovered works of art from the caves of Belize and provides possible interpretations of the various art forms.
food availability in the modern East African environments. These current landscapes are used as a model for the environment of the hominids one million years ago. We explore the spatial and temporal consequences of foraging patterns in different types of semi-arid landscapes and different types of hominids (Homo ergaster and Australopithecus boisei) who are defined with different abilities and preferences.
The data we generated in the field were quite helpful in our evaluation of two advanced remote-sensing platforms for their usefulness for locating cave sites. As new and improved imagery becomes more readily available for scientific research, we are confident that we will be able to efficiently locate Maya cave sites using remote sensing from space. These investigations from the vantage point of the heavens should lead to discoveries that will ultimately shed new light on the Maya and the use of caves in ancient Mesoamerica.