My research interests focus on the study of the sociopolitical development of small sedentary societies and societies that were more hierarchically organized, as well as prehistoric economic systems. Methodologically I specialize in ceramic technology, provenance studies, and the integration of material analyses into archaeological research. To pursue my research interests, I have been conducting extensive field and laboratory research in the American Southwest and Mesoamerica.
My projects in the Southwest include two large-scale studies on late prehistoric polychrome production and distribution, one centered on White Mountain Red Ware from east-central Arizona and the other on Chihuahua Polychrome from the Casas Grandes region in Chihuahua, Mexico. My research in the Maya area included work in Belize and I have been co-directing the Aguateca Archaeological Project in Guatemala. Our research there was geared toward examining social, political, and economic organization and its change through the analysis of domestic assemblages. Excavations of elite residential structures at the epicenter of this rapidly abandoned city revealed the richest in situ floor assemblages found to date at a Classic Maya site, providing a unique opportunity for reconstructing Classic Maya household organization. I am currently the Co-director of a new project at the site of Ceibal where my colleagues and I are investigating the processes of the foundation of the site and its political disintegration during the Terminal Classic.
Selected Publications
Triadan, D. (2007) Warriors, Nobles, Commoners and Beasts: Figurines from Elite Buildings at Aguateca, Guatemala. Latin American Antiquity 18(3):269-294.
Triadan, D. (2006) Dancing Gods: Ritual, Performance, and Political Organization in the Prehistoric Southwest. In Theatres of Power and Community: Archaeology of Performance and Politics, edited by T. Inomata and L. Coben, pp. 159-186. Altamira Press, Walnut Creek.
Triadan, D., and M. N. Zedeño (2004) The Political Geography and Territoriality of 14th Century Settlements in the Mogollon Highlands of East-central Arizona. In The Protohistoric Pueblo World: A.D. 1275-1600, edited by E. Charles Adams and Andrew I. Duff, pp. 95-107. University of Arizona Press, Tucson.
Inomata, Takeshi, Daniela Triadan, Erick Ponciano, Estela Pinto, Richard E. Terry, and Markus Eberl (2002) Domestic and Political Lives of Classic Maya Elites: The Excavation of Rapidly Abandoned Structures at Aguateca, Guatemala. Latin American Antiquity 13(3):305-330.
Triadan, D. (2000) Elite Household Subsistence at Aguateca, Guatemala. Mayab 13:46-56.
Triadan, D. (1997) Ceramic Commodities and Common Containers: Production and Distribution of White Mountain Red Ware in the Grasshopper Region, Arizona. Anthropological Paper 61. University of Arizona Press, Tucson.
