Christopher M Stevenson

Biography

Christopher M. Stevenson is an Assistant Professor of Anthropology in the School of World Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia. He is an archaeologist by training with concentrations in multiple culture areas. Initially, his interests focused upon prehistoric Native American communities in the Eastern Woodlands of the United States where he conducted excavations at several Late Woodland (A.D. 900-1600) villages prior to his survey of several mall tributary valleys along the Allegheny Front in Central Pennsylvania for part of his MA Thesis. Soon distracted by the larger world, he changed his research focus to Pacific archaeology and conducted field research for his dissertation on Easter Island (Rapa Nui), Chile. Since 1988, he has returned almost each year to Rapa Nui for additional fieldwork. The outcomes of this effort have included several books on the settlement archaeology of Rapa Nui (Archaeological Investigations at Maunga Tari, An Upland Agricultural Complex (1997); Stevenson, C.M. and W.S. Ayres. 2000. Easter Island Archaeology: Research on Early Rapa Nui Culture; Stevenson, C.M aand S. Haoa. 2008. Prehistoric Rapa Nui). Recently funded by the National Science Foundation, Dr. Stevenson has investigated the development of ancient farming strategies on Rapa Nui, especially the invention of rock garden technologies used to enhance crop productivity.

Research Interest

Archaeological Science