Biography

Karla J. Cardona Caravantes is a Guatemalan archaeologist who earned her B.A. and Licentiate degree in Archaeology from Universidad del Valle de Guatemala. She earned her M.A. in Anthropology from Tulane University with a Fulbright-LASPAU Scholarship and later earned an M.A. in Managing Archaeological Sites from University College London with a British Council Scholarship. She also completed her Ph.D. in Integrative Anthropological Sciences at the University of Central Florida.

Her interests include Mesoamerican and Maya archaeology, anthropology, ethnohistory, ceramics, cultural heritage management, and preservation. She has worked on several projects for the public, private, and academic sectors in different regions of Guatemala, including the highlands, Pacific Coast, and Petén lowlands. She has also conducted research in the Soconusco region of Chiapas, Mexico, and at the prehistoric rock art sites of the Côa Valley, Portugal. For the last 11 years, she has worked with Drs. Brigitte Kovacevich and Michael Callaghan as Co-Director of the Holtun Archaeological Project and the UCF–El Mirador LiDAR Archaeological Project.

Areas of Research/Interest

Ceramic ethnoarchaeology, heritage management, and cultural preservation.