Biography
I am a Chilean archaeologist investigating the use of plants for technology and fabrics in Pre-Columbian coastal societies. I completed my bachelor’s degree at University of Tarapaca in the Department of Anthropology where I started to become interested in the technology of plants-fibres and textiles in South America
2017-2021: CONICYT-Chile Cambridge Trust Scholarship
2017-present: PhD in Archaeology, University of Cambridge
2008-2012: BA in Anthropology with a major in Archaeology, University of Tarapaca, Chile.
Research
I am investigating plant-fibre artefacts made by hunter-gatherer societies that inhabited the West coast of South America between 12,000 and 3,700 years ago. Through conducting archaeobotanical and structural analyses on artefacts from Peru-Chile coastal sites, I am developing scientific techniques for the study of plant technology in ancient societies, a topic which is underexplored in Archaeology
From a theoretical perspective, I propose to combine ‘artistic and scientific approaches. Because I am trying to centre the archaeological interpretation on peoples’ movements and technological gestures, I am developing a theoretical framework that uses dance as metaphor to describe ‘the choreography of technical actions’ performed by artisans, likely women, upon the landscape and plants.
My area of interest includes
- The use of plants for technology
- Fabrics and textile technology
- Hunter-gatherers of coastal environments.
- Dance theory & Body discipline, specifically Laban and Benesh choreographic notation.
- Plant philosophy and behavioural ecology
Key Publications
2010a Alday C. and B. Cases. Tecnología en fibra vegetal del sitio La Capilla 1 (norte de Chile). Proceedings of the National Conference of Chilean Archaeology: 375- 380
2010b Alday, C. and C. Castillo. Cuerpos en el Arcaico: una aproximación teórica para su (de)construcción. Proceedings of the National Conference of Chilean Archaeology: 563- 566
2014 Oyanader, A., Alday, C. Sepúlveda, M. and D. Valenzuela 2014. Pinturas rupestres y desarrollo cultural costero de la costa del extremo norte de Chile (2,000 A.C al presente). Mundo de Antes 8:179-194
2018 Alday, C. and A. Oyaneder Actividades tecnológicas articuladoras: una interpretación fértil del paisaje desértico costero de Arica (Chile). Revista del Museo de La Plata 3(1): 96-111.
2019 Alday C. and S. Morrisset. Desert Archaeology: Introduction. Archaeological Review from Cambridge 34(1):2-14.
2021 Beresford-Jones , D.; Pomeroy, E.; Alday, C.; Benfer, R.; Quilter, J.; C. O’Connell, T. and Lightfoot, E. Diet and Lifestyle in the First Villages of the Middle Preceramic: Insights from Stable Isotope and Osteological Analyses of Human Remains from Paloma, Chilca I, La Yerba III, and Morro I Latin American Antiquity
Teaching and Supervisions
I am involved in the supervision of the following courses:
A2 Archaeology in Action
A21 Archaeological Science
A12 Archaeological Theory and Practice II
Supervisors: David Beresford-Jones, Elizabeth Demarrais
Advisor: Margarita Gleba
Other Professional Activities
General member of the Society for American Archaeology (2019-2020)
General Editor of the Archaeological Review from Cambridge (June 2019- January 2020)
