Postdoc Dita Auzina investigates relationship between appearance of monumentality and disruptive environmental events
In the spring of 2024 the Faculty of Archaeology welcomed a new postdoc. Dita Auzina, originally from Latvia, works as a researcher in the project of Alex Geurds. ‘I have joined the project as a landscape archaeologist, but I also run my own fieldwork in Nicaragua.’
Medieval archaeology
Dita Auzina studied a BA in Archaeology at the University of Latvia. ‘Here I focused on Northern European medieval archaeology.’ After graduation, Auzina joined the Research Master’s programme at Leiden University. ‘That’s probably the reason why I’m back here, as I already worked with Alex Geurds as my supervisor at the time.’
For her thesis, Auzina mapped the archaeological site Aguas Buenas, in Nicaragua. ‘In this way I got interested in the archaeology of Central America.’ This interest would simmer for a while after graduation. ‘First I moved back to Latvia and dove back into European archaeology. Later on I worked at the British Museum for six years, joining in on a project to assess the damage done to heritage by Daesh [the Arabic name for the Islamic State] and to work together with Iraqi archaeologists.’ Here my specialisation was more on a technological side of archaeological geospatial modeling, so I helped out with 3D scanning, drone photogrammetry, and use these data to create models.’
Monumentality and social complexity
Parallel to the British Museum project, Auzina started a PhD at the University of Bonn. ‘My heart was always back in Central America, so I built up my own project on the east coast of Nicaragua. My main focus was the investigation of monumentality and its connection with social complexity.’ The project, in Kukra Hill region is running to this day. ‘This is also the project I was hired to continue here in Leiden, because it very much overlaps with Alex Geurds’ project. Moreover, the area that I am investigating is one of the least researched regions in Nicaragua and Honduras. I am the only archaeologist to run an active project there.’
Additionally to her PhD, Auzina worked in archaeological and historical projects in Guatemala, Honduras and Belize, expanding here wider regional expertise.
Geospatial modeling
Geurds’ project investigates a geographically wide area, including Central America, Panama and the north of Colombia. ‘I have joined the project as a landscape archaeologist. I am combining site based geoarchaeological data with regional scale geospatial modeling to understand how environmental events such as hurricanes and volcano eruptions impacted human-environment relationships in the past.
Mound complex
Archaeologically, the east coast of Nicaragua is thought to have been without social complexity in pre-Columbian times. ‘The exciting thing is that we don’t really know what was going on there. One of the sites I investigate features a huge mound complex, with mounds like 4 meters in height and 30 meters in diameter.’ It has been defined as a monumental site. ‘The question is, how does monumentality appear without top-down coordination of the works? And what role (if any) is played by re-accruing hurricanes in the region? Features like this make it a fascinating region.’
Material for students to work and collaboration opportunities
Her field projects in the Caribbean and Central Nicaragua has yielded large amount of archaeological data which could be an interesting material for students to work for their thesis or internship projects. Auzina is welcoming interested students to get in touch with her. ‘:And if I can help out Faculty colleagues with maps or geospatial modeling, I’d be happy to collaborate!’