Jaime Awe

Northern Arizona University

Jaime Awe is a Professor of Anthropology at Northern Arizona University, member Emeritus of the Belize Institute of Archaeology, and senior Director of the Belize Valley Archaeological Reconnaissance Project. He received his BA Degree with Honours, and his MA Degree in Anthropology at Trent University in Ontario, Canada, and his Ph.D. from the Institute of Archaeology at the University of London, England.  Between 2003 and 2014, he served as the first Director of the Belize Institute of Archaeology where he was responsible for managing the archaeological heritage of his home country Belize. During his extensive professional career, Awe has directed conservation efforts at several of the major archaeological sites in Belize, and his research has focused on questions that span from the Paleo-Indian period to the time of European contact in the 16th Century. More recently, his research has addressed questions related to the rise of cultural complexity in western Belize, and on human and environment interaction, particularly on human responses to environmental stress during the decline of Maya civilization.