Aleksa Alaica

I am an anthropological archaeologist interested in how people in the past interacted with and valued the world around them. I specialized in archaeology during my BA from the University of Toronto. During my MSc at the University of Edinburgh, I began training in osteoarchaeology and isotope analysis. I examined dietary variation among humans and animals at a Late Roman-Early Byzantine site in Ibiza, Spain, in which I detected dietary differences between gender groups and socioeconomic statuses. My PhD dissertation was completed at the University of Toronto in 2021, where I applied zooarchaeology, iconography, bioarchaeology, and isotope analyses to study human-animal interactions among the Moche cultural phase of the North Coast of present-day Peru. In parallel with my doctoral research, I was fortunate to conduct zooarchaeological and isotopic analyses on faunal collections from the southern highlands of Peru to better understand the impact of Wari state expansion into the Cusco and Arequipa regions. In 2021, I obtained a Killam Memorial Postdoctoral Fellowship to continue my research on human-animal interactions in the Andes at the University of Alberta. My research on Moche period animal management and the incorporation of animals into daily and ritual practices is ongoing. I joined the Department of Anthropology at UBC in 2022 where I began investigating the impact of Wari state expansion on food security and interregional interaction in the Nasca region.

My central research focus is on human-animal interactions – the way that different animal species influence and shape human behaviour and belief. This research allows me to explore how past foodways were changing in relation to environmental pressures. It also gives me the ability to trace animal life histories as proxies for human activities. I employ archaeological excavation, zooarchaeology, and isotope analysis to examine several key research themes:

1. Moche Perceptions and Use of Animals: Documenting animal depictions in Moche artwork; patterns of animal use in foodways and as ritual offerings/sacrifices; indigenous worldviews and transforming ideas about non-human beings.
2. Food Security and Interregional Interaction during Wari State Expansion: Tracing the types of animal species and local/non-local items in domestic and elite spaces in the Nasca and Cusco regions; food sharing; marine and terrestrial species exploitation; social and political meaning of animals.
3. Colonization, Diet and Animal Management: Employing zooarchaeological and isotopic methods to trace animal life histories; ancient animal dental calculus and microbotany; pathology and size variation among camelids, dogs, and guinea pigs.
Phone: +1647-236-7201