Heather Hurst (born 1975) is an American

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

and archaeological illustrator.

Career

Hurst graduated from

Skidmore College Skidmore College is a Private school, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Saratoga Springs, New York. Approximately 2,700 students are enrolled at Skidmore pursuing a Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Scien ...

in 1997 and from

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

in 2009 with a Ph.D. in anthropology. She teaches at

. Her research is focused on art and iconography, with a focus on Maya murals and Olmec rock art. She has studied the art and architecture of

Bonampak Bonampak (known anciently as ''Ake'' or, in its immediate area as ''Usiij Witz'', 'Vulture Hill') is an ancient Maya civilization, Maya archaeological site in the Mexico, Mexican Political divisions of Mexico, state of Chiapas. The site is approxi ...

, Copan,

Holmul Holmul is a pre-Columbian archaeological site of the Maya civilization located in the northeastern Petén Basin region in Guatemala near the modern-day border with Belize. Location In spite of its relatively modest size, Holmul was important to ...

, Oxtotitlan,

Palenque Palenque (; Yucatec Maya: ), also anciently known in the Itza Language as Lakamha ("big water" or "big waters"), was a Maya city-state in southern Mexico that perished in the 8th century. The Palenque ruins date from ca. 226 BC to ca. 799 AD ...

Piedras Negras Piedras Negras may refer to: * Piedras Negras, Coahuila, a city in the state of Coahuila, Mexico ** Piedras Negras Municipality, a municipality in Mexico, with the center in the eponymous city * Piedras Negras (Maya site) Piedras Negras is the ...

, San Bartolo, and

Xultun Xultún is a large Maya archaeological site located 40 km northeast of Tikal and 8 km south of the smaller Preclassic site of San Bartolo in northern Guatemala. Site The site, which once supported a considerable population, has a 35 m t ...

. Hurst has been an archaeological illustrator at sites in Honduras, Guatemala, and Mexico. Her illustrations have appeared in ''National Geographic'' and ''Arqueología Mexicana'' and have been exhibited at the

Peabody Museum of Natural History The Peabody Museum of Natural History at Yale University (also known as the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History or the Yale Peabody Museum) is one of the oldest, largest, and most prolific university natural history museums in the world. It ...

and the

National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art is an art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of charge, the museum was privately established in ...

, as well as the Science Museum of Minnesota's 2013 exhibit on the Maya. She gave a talk: "Tres Pintores Magníficos y Un Viajero: La Identificación de Artistas por los Pasos de Producción en Pintura Mural" at the 2010 Maya Meetings, Casa Herrera. In 2013, she gave a talk on recently discovered Maya murals.

Awards

*2017

John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon individuals who have demonstrated dis ...

*2013, 2015 Site Preservation Award,

Archaeological Institute of America The Archaeological Institute of America (AIA) is North America, North America's oldest learned society and largest organization devoted to the world of archaeology. AIA professionals have carried out archaeological fieldwork around the world and ...

*2004

MacArthur Fellows Program The MacArthur Fellows Program, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship and colloquially called the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the MacArthur Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to typically between 20 and ...

References

External links

Heather Hurst exploring the ruins of Temple XXVI
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hurst, Heather American archaeologists 1976 births Skidmore College alumni Yale University alumni Skidmore College faculty MacArthur Fellows Living people American Mesoamericanists Women Mesoamericanists 21st-century Mesoamericanists American women archaeologists American women academics 21st-century American women