S'edav Va'aki Museum is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Christopher W. Schwartz, Ph.D., RPA as the new City of Phoenix Archaeologist. Dr. Schwartz moved to Phoenix in 2001 from Rancho Palos Verdes, California and has lived in Arizona ever since. He attended Arizona State University, where he earned B.S., M.A., and Ph.D. degrees in Anthropology with a specialization in Archaeology. He has conducted archaeological work in Arizona and New Mexico, as well as in the Mexican States of Sonora, Chihuahua, Zacatecas, and México.
After completing his Ph.D. in Anthropology, Dr. Schwartz was a postdoctoral researcher at Arizona State University and lecturer at Northern Arizona University. His academic research examines the social impacts of long-distance exchange and long-term human-animal relationships in pre-Hispanic North America and has been funded by various institutions, including the National Science Foundation, National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Society for American Archaeology. He works primarily in the U.S. Southwest and Northern Mexico and specializes in zooarchaeology, isotopic systems, and Geographical Information Systems. He is the lead editor of Birds of the Sun: Macaws and People in the Pre-Hispanic U.S. Southwest and Mexican Northwest, published by the University of Arizona Press. He has won various awards for scholarship and teaching, most recently including the 2021 Powers Prize at the Pecos Conference and the 2022 Book Subvention Award from the Arizona Archaeological and Historic Society.
Most recently, Dr. Schwartz has been leading a cultural resources department for a private company. He was responsible for the management of more than $3 million of cultural resources projects, oversight of archaeological field operations, compliance and report preparation, and the management and development of a team of 14 archaeologists and specialists.
When he's not out doing archaeology, you can find him on the soccer field, on the trails, or enjoying a cup of coffee with a good book.
We are excited to welcome Dr. Schwartz to the Museum and to City Archaeology on December 9, 2024
