About Sarah Newman

I am an anthropologist and archaeologist and currently an Assistant Professor at the University of Chicago. My research draws on archaeological, historical, and art historical methods and evidence to think about anthropological and environmental questions, including explorations of histories of waste and reuse, long-term landscape transformations, and human-animal relationships. Most of my research has focused on Latin America, especially in Mesoamerica and the ancient Maya, but I am also involved in comparative projects to study landscapes, infrastructure, and environment in other parts of the world (Turkey and Jordan). I am interested in the intellectual history of archaeology and the ways we generate knowledge about the past. Finally, I am currently writing a new book on the physical traces of animal histories and how they might be studied archaeologically.

Sarah Newman (@newmantropologa) is an archaeologist and Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the University of Chicago. Her research explores long-term human-environmental interactions, including questions of waste and reuse, processes of landscape transformation, and relationships between humans and other animals.

Sarah's website

NBN Episodes hosted by Sarah:

Nicolas Delsol, "Cattle in the Postcolumbian Americas: A Zooarchaeological Historical Study" (UP of Florida, 2024)

October 28, 2024

Cattle in the Postcolumbian Americas

Nicolas Delsol
Hosted by Sarah Newman

In Cattle in the Postcolumbian Americas: A Zooarchaeological Historical Study (University Press of Florida, 2024), Nicolas Delsol compares zooarchaeol…

William T. Taylor, "Hoof Beats: How Horses Shaped Human History" (U California Press, 2024)

September 29, 2024

Hoof Beats

William T. Taylor
Hosted by Sarah Newman

From the Rockies to the Himalayas, the bond between horses and humans has spanned across time and civilizations. In this archaeological journey, Willi…

Vincent Ialenti, "Deep Time Reckoning: How Future Thinking Can Help Earth Now" (MIT Press, 2020)

December 19, 2023

Deep Time Reckoning

Vincent Ialenti
Hosted by Sarah Newman

Based on twelve years of anthropological exploration, Vincent Ialenti's Deep Time Reckoning: How Future Thinking Can Help Earth Now (MIT Press, 2020) …

Timothy R. Pauketat, "Gods of Thunder: How Climate Change, Travel, and Spirituality Reshaped Precolonial America" (Oxford UP, 2023)

April 27, 2023

Gods of Thunder

Timothy R. Pauketat
Hosted by Sarah Newman

Timothy R. Pauketat’s Gods of Thunder: How Climate Change, Travel, and Spirituality Reshaped Precolonial America (Oxford UP, 2023) is a sweeping accou…

Claudia Brittenham, "Unseen Art: Making, Vision, and Power in Ancient Mesoamerica" (U Texas Press, 2023)

March 24, 2023

Unseen Art

Claudia Brittenham
Hosted by Sarah Newman

In Unseen Art: Making, Vision, and Power in Ancient Mesoamerica (U Texas Press, 2023), Claudia Brittenham unravels one of the most puzzling phenomena…