Dr. Fisher is an Assistant Professor of anthropological archaeology at the University of South Carolina. She earned her PhD in anthropology from the University of Michigan in 2019.

Teaching

ANTH 101 Primates, People, and Prehistory

ANTH 319: Principles of Archaeology

ANTH 331: Mesoamerican Prehistory

ANTH 591: Special Topics Environmental Archaeology

ANTH 720: Development of Anthropological Archaeology

Research

Dr. Fisher currently directs the Yaxunah Haciendas and Lands Archaeological Project (PAHTY, for its initials in Spanish) in Yucatán, Mexico. PAHTY works with community members from the Yucatec Maya town of Yaxunah to investigate colonial ranching sites in Yaxunah’s agricultural landholding, with the goal of understanding how past and present cattle farming shapes Yucatec Maya land relations and ecological practices. To learn more about Dr. Fisher’s research, visit her website.

Selected recent publications

Fisher, C. (2024) Patron saints of meat and tallow: Sacralizing extractivism in the colonial cattle industry of Yucatán, Mexico. In “Special Issue: Religion in Extractive Zones”, edited by Terra Schwerin Rowe, Lisa Sideris, and Christiana Zenner. Religions 15(11): 1291.

Fisher, C. and Clara Albacete. (2023) Ancient greenwashing: On food justice and civilizations in the supermarket. Gastronomica 23(3): 46-64.

Fisher, C (2023). Monumentality as traditional ecological knowledge in the northern Maya lowlands. Antiquity 97(392), 386-402.

Fisher, C. (2020) Archaeology for sustainable agriculture. Journal of Archaeological Research 28:393-441.

Fisher, C. (2020) Maize politics and Maya farmers’ traditional ecological knowledge in Yucatán, 1450-1600. Human Ecology 48(1): 33-45.

Recent Accomplishments

Dr. Fisher’s first book, Rooting in a Useless Land: Ancient Farmers, Celebrity Chefs, and Environmental Justice in Yucatán, was published by the University of California Press in 2023.