Fields of Study
- Late Antiquity
Areas of Interest
- Archaeology, Archaeometry
- Ceramic analysis, Ceramic petrology
- Research Design in Archaeology
- Regional studies and socio-economies
Biography
An anthropologically trained archaeologist, Dr. Sunahara’s research and fieldwork has predominantly focused on Mesoamerica with specific emphasis on the ancient Maya of Belize and Mexico. Joining the Royal Ontario Museum Department of Art and Culture in 2010, she currently manages collections of material culture from ancient Greece, Rome, Etruria, Byzantium, and Prehistoric Europe. Dr. Sunahara also oversees the day to day operation of the Royal Ontario Museum’s Ceramic Petrology Laboratory research facility including the training of graduate student researchers at the lab.
In 2019, Dr. Sunahara was cross appointed to the University of Toronto as Assistant Professor in the Department of Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations. In this capacity, Dr. Sunahara teaches courses on the applications of polarized light microscopy in archaeological research, ceramic analyses, and archaeometry.
Education
Publications
- Petrographic Analysis (Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto : 2018)
- Ancient Maya Ceramic Economy in the Belize River Valley Region: Petrographic analyses (Archaeopress, Oxford : 2009)
- Survey, Settlement, and Population History at the Ancient Maya Site of Pacbitun, Belize (Boston University, Boston : 2007)
- Diagnostic Medieval Wares from the 2001/2002 Seasons at Tell ‘Acharneh (Brepols, Turnhout (Belgium) : 2006)
- In the Shadow of La Lucha: Modeling Ancient Maya Non-Urban Complexity in Northwest Belize (Institute of Archaeology, National Institute of Culture and History, Belmopan, Belize : 2005)