ArchaeoCon Online in 2023

Heather Hurst, an award-winning archaeologist and archaeological illustrator, is an expert on ancient Maya wall paintings and director of the San Bartolo-Xultun Archaeology Project. Her work has required many months (cumulatively, years!) in excavation tunnels deep beneath pyramids to document murals buried by the ancient Maya in Guatemala and perched high atop scaffolding to illustrate cave paintings in Mexico.

Darnell-Jamal Lisby is the Assistant Curator of Fashion at the Cleveland Museum of Art. The first to step into the fashion curatorial space at the CMA, his mandate is to conceptualize fashion exhibitions that link the museum’s comprehensive collection with fashion history. In addition to his upcoming exhibition Egyptomania: Fashion’s Conflicted Obsession opening at the CMA from April 1, 2023 – January 28, 2024, he’s very active in collaborations across the fashion industry and education, from writing to lecturing in various mainstream and academic capacities.

Darron Patterson is a native of Plateau—also known as Africatown—Alabama and is the great-great grandson of ‘Kupollee,’ among the last 110 Africans to be illegally enslaved in America. An accomplished sportswriter and communications specialist, Patterson was the first African American sportswriter at the Mobile Press Register is a four-time Associated Press and Alabama Press Association award winner for “Best Story of the Year.” He is past president of the Clotilda Descendants Association and serves on the board of directors of the Mobile Sports Hall of Fame, is on the advisory board of the Mobile Sports and Entertainment Group, is Men’s Ministry co-leader at Mt. Hebron Church Ministries, and is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity. Patterson was a panelist for the 2022 virtual International Archaeology Day program, “Diving for the Clotilda: The Archaeology, History, and Legacy of the Last Known Slave Ship.

Mike Parker Pearson has been researching Stonehenge for the last 20 years. He has also worked on archaeological excavations in Europe, Madagascar, Syria, Easter Island (Rapanui) and North America as well as Britain and has published 23 books and hundreds of scientific articles. His interest in archaeology began in childhood and, after graduating from university, he began his career as an archaeologist in England’s heritage agency before taking up a teaching post at Sheffield University. He is currently Professor of British Later Prehistory at University College London and a Fellow of the British Academy.

Jo Anne Van Tilburg is Director of the Easter Island Statue Project (EISP) and  Director of the UCLA Rock Art Archive. Her areas of specialization include style and iconographic analysis, typological analysis, and symbolism. Her study areas are the rock art of California and the monolithic statues of Easter Island. 

Rosalva Parada is a graduate of the University of Arizona’s Classics and History programs. Afterward, she attended the Culinary Institute of America and the American Academy in Rome’s “The Sustainable Food Project” and is interested in using food to create and strengthen community. She sings for memory care patients and delights in the power of music, history, and food!