Karl James Lorenzen has a Ph.D. in Anthropology from UC Riverside specializing in Mesoamerican art and archaeology. He has over 15 years of experience in archaeology, including directing field projects in Mexico. His dissertation and publications focus on Late Postclassic Maya ritual practices and architecture in the northern Yucatan Peninsula. He has held various administrative and teaching positions at universities throughout his career.

1. Karl James Lorenzen, Ph.D.
40000 Tinderbox Way
Murrieta, CA 92562
Phone: 951.696.1061
Email: karljameslorenzen@hotmail.com
EDUCATION
Ph.D. Anthropology, 2003 – Specializing in Mesoamerican Art and Archaeology, University of California,
Riverside (worked with Karl Taube).
Dumbarton Oaks/Harvard University, 1999 – 2000 – One year pre-doctoral fellowship in Pre-Columbian
Art and Archaeology at the Dumbarton Oaks Research Library, Pre-Columbian Studies Program,
Trustees of Harvard University (worked with Jeff Quilter).
M.A. Anthropology, 1997 – Specializing in Mesoamerican, Southwest, and Southern California
Archaeology, University of California, Riverside (worked with Karl Taube).
B.S. Anthropology, 1992 – Specializing in CRM and Southern California Archaeology, University of
California, Riverside (worked with Phil Wilke).
Upper-Division Honors Program, 1991 – 1992 – Senior Thesis and Graduation with Upper-Division
Honors. University of California, Riverside.
A.A. Business Administration Major and Anthropology Minor, 1990 – Saddleback Community College
(worked with Patricia Martz).
EDUCATION ABROAD PROGRAM
Graduate Program, 1995 – 1996 – Academic year at the Universidad Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM),
Instituto Investigaciones Antropologicas (IIA), Mexico City, Mexico.
Graduate Program, Summer 1995 – Intensive Spanish language and history program at the Centro
Ensenanza Para Extranjeros (CEPE), UNAM, Mexico City, Mexico.
Undergraduate Program, Summer 1992 – Intensive Spanish language and history program, Universidad
Michoacana de San Nicholas de Hidalgo (UMSNH), Morelia, Michoacan, Mexico.
FOREIGN LANGUAGE
Spanish – very conversational to fluent
EMPLOYMENT
Undergraduate Research Program, 2005 – 2006 – UC Merced, one-year temporary position. Served as
an Administrative Specialist supporting 26 tenured faculty teaching required undergraduate courses and
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2. assisting in the development of the Undergraduate Research Opportunities, Freshman Seminar Program,
and Undergraduate Research Journal.
Undergraduate Research Center and Center for Academic Research Excellence, 2002 – 2004 – UCLA
contract position serving as Assistant Director responsible for administrating the Student Research
Program, Freshman Seminar Program, CityLab High School Science Outreach Program, UCLA
Undergraduate Science Journal, and coordinated the annual UCLA Science Poster Day event.
Laboratory for Historical Research, 1997 – 1999 – UC Riverside, served as an Administrative Assistant II
for the Editor of the journal Historical Methods, handling all aspects related to article solicitation,
submission, editing, and coordinating with Heldref Publications (Washington, D.C.) for it’s quarterly
publication.
Environmental Toxicology Graduate Program and Department of Entomology, 1996 – 1997 – UC
Riverside, served as Assistant to the Chair for the Department of Entomology and Contracts and Grants
Coordinator for the Environmental Toxicology Graduate Program.
Archaeological Research Unit, Department of Anthropology, 1991 – 1995 – UC Riverside, served as a
part-time student employee (Field and Lab Archaeologist) involved in all aspects of CRM contract
archaeology for the ARU.
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
CityLab: Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology 194, UCLA – Fall, Winter, Spring 2003 – 2004,
Faculty Advisor and Course Instructor for teaching practicum.
Undergraduate Science Journal: Honors 101B, UCLA – Fall and Winter 2003 – 2004, Faculty Advisor and
Course Instructor for teaching practicum.
Unearthing Ancient Maya History and Religion: Honors 98, Sec 38 UCLA Freshman Seminar – Winter
2003, Fiat Lux Freshman Seminar Course Instructor.
World Prehistory: Anthropology 3, UCR – Spring 1995, Teaching Assistant for Karl Taube (Course
Instructor).
Archaeology of Eastern Mesoamerica: Anthropology 118B, UCR – Winter 1994, Teaching Assistant for
Karl Taube (Course Instructor).
Introduction to Archaeology, Anthropology 5, UCR – Fall 1993, Teaching Assistant for Scott Fedick
(Course Instructor).
Archaeology of Western Mesoamerica: Anthropology 118A, UCR – Winter 1994, Research Assistant for
Karl Taube (Course Instructor).
ARCHAEOLOGICAL FIELD PROJECT EXPERIENCE
Proyecto El Naranjal II, 2001 – Principal Investigator and Field Director of Dissertation Field Project
funded by Earthwatch Institute International.
Proyecto El Narajal I, 1999 - Principal Investigator and Field Director of Dissertation Field Project funded
by the National Science Foundation (NSF), Foundation for Mesoamerican Studies, Inc. (FAMSI), UC
Mexus Dissertation Grant Program, and UCR Graduate Program.
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3. Yalahau Regional Human Ecology Project II, 1996 – Field Supervisor (co-Director) of UC Riverside field
project directed by Scott Fedick.
Yalahau Regional Human Ecology Project I, 1993 – Project Student Archaeologist with UC Riverside field
project co-directed by Karl Taube and Scott Fedick.
CRM Field Projects, 1988 – 1995 – Project Archaeologist for the various CRM contracting firms in Orange
and Riverside Counties and Student Project Archaeologist for numerous CRM contracts through the
Archaeological Research Unit (ARU) at UC Riverside.
ACADEMIC PUBLICATIONS
Submitted – Ritual Cave Use and Miniature Masonry Water Shrines: Late Postclassic Religion in the
Northern Maya Lowlands – submitted summer 2006 to Latin American Archaeology.
2005 - Ancestor Deification in Ancient Maya Ritual and Religion: Late Postclassic Community Shrines and
Family Oratories – Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences: Vol. 91(4):25-47, Winter 2005.
1999 – New Discoveries at El Naranjal: Late Postclassic Architectural Reuse and the Ritual Recycling of
Cultural Geography – MEXICON XXI:98-107.
1995 – Late Postclassic Reuse of Early Classic Monumental Architecture at El Naranjal – In The View
from Yalahau: 1993 Archaeological Investigations in Northern Quintana Roo, Mexico. Karl Taube and
Scott Fedick eds., pp: 57-77. Latin American Studies Program, Field Report Series, No. 2, UC Riverside.
DOCTORAL DISSERTATION
2003 – Miniature Masonry Shrines of the Yucatan Peninsula: Ancestor Deification in Late Postclassic
Maya Ritual and Religion – Doctoral Thesis, Department of Anthropology, UC Riverside. Dissertation
Committee: Karl Taube (Chair), Phil Wilke (UCR), Scott Fedick (UCR), Francis Berdan (CSUSB).
TECHNICAL REPORTS
2001 – Unearthing Maya History: Expedition Brief – Earthwatch Institute International.
1998 – Excavaciones el las sascaberas de El Naranjal – In El proycto Yalahau: Informe tecnico final
sobre las investigaciones arqueologicas de 1996 – 1997 en el norte de Quintana Roo, Mexico: pp. 84 –
108.
1997 – Excavations in Sascabera Pits at El Naranjal – In The Yalahau Project: Preliminary Technical
Report on the 1996 Archaeological Investigations in Northern Quintana Roo, Mexico: pp. 21 – 31.
1991b – Cultural Resources Assessment: Tentative Parcel 26826, City of Indio, Riverside, Californa –
CRM final report prepared for Donald Stratton, Coachella Masonic Temple Association. Report UCRARU
#1163, on file at the Eastern Information Center, Department of Anthropology, UC Riverside.
1991a – Historic Building Survey, Tract 22100-1: Mockingbird Canyon Area of Riverside County,
California – CRM final report prepared for Sandy Throop, Director of Planning and Acuisitions, CalProp
Corporation, Los Angeles. Report UCARU #1128, on file at the Eastern Information Center, Department
of Anthropology, UC Riverside.
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4. PROFESSIONAL RESEARCH PRESENTATIONS
2001b – 66th
Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, New Orleans, LA – Invited paper
(Postclassic Yucatec Water Shrines and Ritual Cave Use) presented in symposium Pre-columbian Water
Management: Ideology, Ritual, and Power.
2001a – 66th
Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, New Orleans, LA – Invited paper
(Miniature Masonry Shrines of the Yucatan Peninsula) presented by co-author Darcy Wiewall in
symposium 1999 – 2000 Field Investigations in the Northern Maya Lowlands.
2000 – Dumbarton Oaks Research Library – Final report (Ancestral Deity Veneration: A Functional
Interpretation of Late Postclassic Shrine Complexes at El Naranjal, Quintana Roo, Mexico) to research
fellows and junior fellows.
1999b – Bowditch Roundtable Research Series, Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology,
Harvard University – Invited paper (Late Postclassic Shrine Complexes at El Naranjal, Mexico) presented
to the department of Anthropology and Peabody Museum staff.
1999a – Dumbarton Oaks Research Library – Required research report (1999 Field Excavations at El
Naranjal, Quintana Roo, Mexico) to Pre-columbian Studies fellow and junior fellows.
1998 – 63rd
Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Seattle, WA – Invited paper
(Sascabera Midden Excavations at El Naranjal: Evidence of Late Postclassic Residential Reoccupation)
presented in symposium 1996 – 1997 Field Results of the Yalahau Regional Human Ecology Progject.
1994 – 59th
Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Anahiem, CA – Invited paper (Late
Postclassic Reuse of Early Classic Monumental Architecture at El Naranjal, Quintana Roo, Mexico)
presented in symposium The Yalahau Regional Human Ecology Project: Ancient Maya Political Structure
and Resource Management in the Northern Maya Lowlands.
RESEARCH POSTER PRESENTATIONS
2001 – 21st
Symposium in Plant and Animal Biology, UC Riverside, CA – Invited research poster (Small
Game Trapping in a Yucatec Maya Community) co-authored with Dominique Rissolo, Kevin Hovey, and
Chuck Buscaren.
1998 – 18th
Annual James C. Young Colloquium, Department of Anthropology, UC Riverside – Research
poster presented titled Chaak Roads: Ritual Procession in Ancient Maya Rain Ceremonies.
1997 – Annual UC Riverside Research Day – Research poster presented titled Traditional Maya Tsu’Tsui
Traps: Contemporary Maya Bird Trapping Technology. Department of Anthropology, UC Riverside.
PROFESSIONAL SOCIETY AFFILIATIONS
Society of American Archaeology (SAA)
American Anthropological Association (AAA)
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