Ricardo Higelin Ponce de León is a NAGPRA Postdoctoral Fellow in the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History archaeology division. He earned his MA. and Ph.D. in archaeology from Indiana University, an MA in Biological Anthropology at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, and his BA in physical anthropology from Escuela Nacional de Antropología e Historia.
As a Mesoamerican archaeologist and bioarchaeologist, my work is very collaborative. I have sought to apply various methodologies and techniques, building inter- and multi-disciplinary projects that contribute to studying ancient Zapotec and Mixtec Indigenous history from Oaxaca, Mexico. More specifically, I have conducted analyses of skeletal health and mortuary practices to understand broader phenomena, such as religious beliefs, conflict, and violence. I have documented demographic shifts associated with sociopolitical changes, epidemics, warfare, violence, and access to natural resources. My experience in North America is primarily associated with documenting Native American Ancestors and belongings for repatriation. I worked (2014-2016) at the Office of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act at Indiana University with Dr. Jayne-Leigh Thomas and currently at the University of Oklahoma with Dr. Marc Levine.
Publications
Book
2023 Aguirre Samudio, Ana Julia; Edith Ortiz Díaz; Ricardo Higelin Ponce de León (Eds). Población y movilidad entre zapotecos prehispánicos de Oaxaca. UNAM, México.
Peer-reviewed Journal Articles and Book Chapters (Selected)
2023 Higelin Ponce de León, Ricardo, Gary Feinman y Linda Nicholas. Salud Esquelética entre los Zapotecos Mesoamericanos de Tlacolula, Oaxaca. En: Población y movilidad entre zapotecos prehispánicos de Oaxaca. Aguirre Samudio, AJ, Ortiz Díaz, E, Higelin Ponce de León, R. UNAM, México. Pp. 203-234
2022 Higelin Ponce de León, Riardo, Hepp, Guy D. Bioarchaeology of Oaxaca: Major Developments in the Study of 3500 Years of Mortuary Practice in Southern Mexico. En: The Routledge Handbook of Mesoamerican Bioarchaeology. Tiesler Vera (ed). Pp. 150-167.
2020 Pérez Rodríguez, Verónica, Corina M. Kellner, and Ricardo Higelin Ponce de León. Urban to the bone: Isotopic and faunal dietary data from formative-period Cerro Jazmín, Mixteca Alta, Oaxaca, México. Journal of Archaeological Science. 121:105-177
2020 Higelin Ponce de León, Ricardo, Jeffrey Blomster, Verónica Pérez Rodríguez, Antonio Martínez, Tuñón. Tratamiento Funerario y Organización Sol en la Mixteca Alta. Anales de Antropología, UNAM. Vol. 54-1: 93-104
2020 Higelin Ponce de León, Ricardo, Shunashi S. Bustamante Victoria, Gary M. Feinman, Linda M. Nicholas, José M. Cervantes Pérez, José C. Gallegos Pérez. Bioarqueología de la Violencia. Traumatismos en Esqueletos Femeninos de El Palmillo, Oaxaca. Anales de Antropología, UNAM. Vol. 54-1: 45-55
2020 Higelin Ponce de León, Ricardo, Geraldine Granados, Gary M. Feinman, Linda M. Nicholas, Shunashi S. Bustamante Victoria, José M. Cervantes Pérez, José C. Gallegos Pérez. Bioarqueología de la Niñez: El caso de El Palmillo, durante el Clásico. Anales de Antropología, UNAM. Vol. 54-1: 35-44
2018 Pérez Rodríguez, Verónica, Antonio Martínez Tuñón, and Ricardo Higelin Ponce de León. Late to Terminal Formative period political transformations and their household level impact at Cerro Jazmín, Mixteca Alta, Oaxaca. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology. Vol. 49: 199-209
2017 Higelin Ponce de León, Ricardo, Gary M. Feinman, Nelly M. Robles García, Linda M. Nicholas, Jorge L. Ríos Allier and P. Guillermo Ramón Celis. Differences in the Classic Period Mortuary Treatment of Adults and Children in the Valley of Oaxaca. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports. Vol. 13: 744-750
2017 Higelin Ponce de León, Ricardo and Guy D. Heep. Talking with the Dead from Southern Mexico: Tracing Bioarchaeological Foundations and New Perspectives in Oaxaca. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports. Vol. 13: 697-702
2017 Pérez Rodríguez, Verónica, Ricardo Higelin Ponce de León, Antonio Martínez Tuñón. Skeletal health and the abandonment of a late-terminal formative urban center in the Mixteca Alta: A bioarchaeological analysis of human remains from Cerro Jarzmín. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports. Vol. 13: 729-736
2017 Blomster, Jeffrey P. and Ricardo Higelin Ponce de León. Knowing the Dead in the Mixteca Alta: Yucuita phase Burials at Etlatongo. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports. Vol 13: 719-728
2014 Sánchez Santiago, Gonzálo and Ricardo Higelin Ponce de León. El Quego Xilla en la Antigua Oaxaca: Una Aproximación a los Idiófonos de Ludimiento. Flower World – Mundo Florido. Ekho Verlag. Publishing House for Music Archaeology. Vol. 3: 101-121. México
