Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Center for Materials Research in Archaeology and Ethnology (CMRAE)
Room 8-431
Cambridge, MA 02139
jmeanwel@mit.edu | (617)253-3225
Profile
Jennifer Meanwell teaches classes on archeology and archaeological materials, particularly ceramics. Her research focuses on a wide variety of ancient ceramic materials used in Mesoamerica, including pottery, pigments, plasters, and metallurgical ceramics like tuyeres and crucibles. She applies a wide variety of analytical techniques in her research but particularly focuses on ceramic petrography; X-ray diffraction; scanning electron microscopy energy dispersive spectrometer, or SEM-EDS; and Raman spectroscopy. She has worked on projects investigating a wide variety of sites in Mexico, including the Middle Balsa region of Guerrero; Mayapan, Yuvatan; the Jovel Valley, Chiapas; and Calixtlahuaca.
Meanwell first came to MIT in 1997, when she began her undergraduate degree in DMSE’s Course 3-C program in archaeology and materials. She also received her PhD in archaeological materials from DMSE. She taught classes as visiting professor at Brown University and has been teaching classes in MIT’s Center for Materials Research in Archaeology and Ethnology consortium since 2008. When not traveling for research, she enjoys cooking, scuba diving, and singing in the local community choir.
Selected Publications
Paris, E., Baquedano, E., Peraza Lope, C., Masson, M., Kennett, D., Serafin, S., & Meanwell, J. (2023). METALWORKING AT MAYAPAN, YUCATAN, MEXICO: DISCOVERIES FROM THE R-183 GROUP. Ancient Mesoamerica, 34(2), 432-454. doi:10.1017/S0956536122000128
Gilstrap, W. D., Meanwell, J. L., Paris, E. H., López Bravo, R., & Day, P. M. (2021). Post-Depositional Alteration of Calcium Carbonate Phases in Archaeological Ceramics: Depletion and Redistribution Effects. Minerals, 11(7), 749. https://doi.org/10.3390/min11070749
Meanwell, J., Paris, E.H., Peraza Lope, C., Seymour, L.M., & Masic, A. (2020) Blowpipes and their metalworking applications: New evidence from Mayapán, Yucatán, México. PLoS ONE 15(9): e0238885. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0238885
Meanwell, J. (2017). Ancient Engineering: Selective Ceramic Processing in the Middle Balsas Region of Guerrero, Mexico. Paris Monographs in American Archaeology, 48. Series editor, Eric Taladoire. Archaeopress, Oxford. https://www.archaeopress.com/Archaeopress/Products/9781784916503
Meanwell, J. (2015). Technical Requirements and Technical Choices in Pottery Production: A View From the Middle Balsas Region of Guerrero, Mexico. American Antiquity, 80(2), 312-331. doi:10.7183/0002-7316.80.2.312
