• A member of the faculty since 2002, Dr. Troy Lovata is a tenured, associate professor in the Honors College at The University of New Mexico.
  • Trained as an Anthropologist and Archaeologist (Ph.D., M.A. The University of Texas; B.A. Colorado State University), much of his work is focused on non-textual forms of presentation, the social role of material culture and cultural landscapes.
  • Locata has led research projects in the US Rocky Mountains and Great Plains and Ecuador; and has led study abroad and research courses in Ecuador, China, Egypt, Kazakhstan, and Spain.
  • Recent research and teaching includes: the examination of monuments and public displays from megaliths to public art to graffiti; the archaeology of walking; work with adobe construction; the study of people and the sense of place in mountain landscapes; and mapping and interpreting culturally modified trees.
  • His books, Inauthentic Archaeologies: Public Uses and Abuses of the Past and (with Elizabeth Olton) Understanding Graffiti: From Prehistory to Present, are available from Left Coast Press.

Additional areas of interest
Lovata is the author of "Inauthentic Archaeology: Public Uses and Abuses of the Past" (2007) and the forthcoming "Interdisciplinary Approaches to Graffiti: From Prehistory to the Present" (with part-time UNM Art History faculty member Elizabeth Olton), both from Left Coast Press. Additional areas of interest include
Landscape and Landscape Archaeology; Anthropology and Archaeology of Hispanics in New Mexico and the Rocky Mountain Region; Monuments and Public Art; Decansos; Arborglyphs, Graffiti, and Rock Art; Prehistoric, Historic, and Modern Trails and Walking; Mountain Environments, Landscapes, and Cultures; Archaeology Hoaxes and Re-creations; Material Culture Studies.

Contact
If you would like to contact this expert for a story, please call Mary Beth Stokes at (505) 277.1742 (office) or University Communication and Marketing (UCAM) at (505) 277.581