George Gumerman, IV,
Professor, Director of NAU's Honors Program
Northern Arizona University
- complex societies
- food and culture
- the Andes mountains
- public archaeology
BA, University of Illinois-Urbana Champagne
MA, PhD, University of California-Los Angeles 1991
George Gumerman IV is currently researching prehistoric food and
culture on the north coast of Peru. The Moche Foodways Archaeological
Project aims to understand Moche culture through the study of
food. Moche culture is consumed by death, warfare, and human sacrifice.
Gumerman’s discovery of a large funerary feasting complex at the extraordinary
site of El Brujo indicates that feasting also revolved around death.
Gumerman also has a broad interest in public archaeology
including the development of an interactive educational CD-ROM: TheInteractive Archaeology of
the Grand Canyon and Colorado Plateau. Students create a virtual
museum exhibit by exploring who lived in the Grand Canyon and how they existed.
In addition, Gumerman is collaborating with the Hopi Cultural
Preservation Office, educators, elders, and archaeologists, to develop a Hopi
culture curriculum for Hopi schools. The Hopi Footprints project is an
incredible opportunity to improve teacher quality that uses archaeology and
elder oral history as a foundation to build a standards-based cultural