After the Volcano Erupted: Papers in Honor of Dr. Payson Sheets (Part 1)

The UNESCO World Heritage site of Cerén, El Salvador, has fueled the archaeological imagination for decades with its superb preservation of earthen architecture, agricultural fields, and in situ artifacts buried beneath multiple meters of volcanic ash. Payson Sheets has tirelessly led investigations of this Classic Period Maya community enhancing our understanding of ancient commoners, household archaeology, social and political organization, diet and subsistence, among other topics. The contributions of Sheets' work have wide-ranging methodological and theoretical impacts throughout archaeology. Honoring the work of Sheets, participants contribute presentations of their original research in areas influenced by Payson’s work and highlight the extensive contributions of his research across the discipline. In Part 1 of this two-part symposium, participants emphasize Payson’s contributions to archaeology through his extensive decades of archaeological exploration in El Salvador.