Gary M. Feinman

Gary M. Feinman (born 1951) is an American archaeologist, and the MacArthur Curator of Mesoamerican, Central American, and East Asian Anthropology at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. He was a part of the Valley of Oaxaca Settlement Pattern Project which focused on the evolution of the Monte Albán state and shifts in settlement in the region over three millennia. The members of the Valley of Oaxaca Settlement Pattern Project and their colleagues have now walked over the largest contiguous archaeological survey region in the world, more than 8000 sq km.

Overall, Feinman has conducted research in the Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico for over 40 years, most recently in the lands of the communities Tlacolula, Mitla, Matatlán, and Ejutla. These studies mostly focused on household excavations at three sites (Ejutla, El Palmillo, and the Mitla Fortress). Most recently, he excavated at Lambityeco in collaboration with representatives of the Mexican Institute of Anthropology and History. At Lambityeco, Feinman and colleagues have documented a large Classic-period ball court, which was not previously recorded during surface mapping of this site. The Field Museum of Natural History team also found the largest carved stone ever recovered at this site.

Since 1995 Feinman has also been conducting archaeological survey in coastal Shandong Province, China in conjunction with Shandong University. The coastal Shandong settlement pattern research, spearheaded by Feinman, Linda Nicholas (Field Museum), and Professor Fang Hui (Shandong University) has had a role in introducing this regional-scale systematic field methodology to Chinese archaeology. The team has documented a large segment of the ancient Qi Great Wall, which was built during the Warring States period, and ultimately was breached by Qin armies just prior to the first unification of China. Presently, more than 3000 square kilometers have been systematically surveyed, the largest area covered by foot in East Asia.

Feinman is the author of several hundred articles, books, and book chapters. He is the founding co-editor of the ''Journal of Archaeological Research'', Chief Editor of ''Frontiers of Human Dynamics: Institutions and Collective Action'', past editor of ''Latin American Antiquity'', and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The Journal of Archaeological Research is presently the highest ranked Archaeology and Anthropology journal for Impact Factor. Provided by Wikipedia