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Biography
After thirty-nine years of teaching experience at Wheaton, Dean Arnold retired in May 2012. Dr. Arnold's contributions to the Department of Sociology and Anthropology will be long remembered. After three years of teaching at Pennsylvania State University, Dr. Arnold went to Universidad Nacional San Antonio Abad in Cuzco, Peru as a Fulbright lecturer. After finishing his work in Peru, Dr. Arnold came to Wheaton in 1973. He was a Fulbright scholar a second time in Mexico in 1984, returning to Yucatán, Mexico to continue his study of potters that he began in 1965. He has completed field-work in the US Southwest, Mexico, Peru, and Bolivia and has ongoing research interests in a long-term study of the relationship of social change and technological change among potters in Ticul, Yucatán, Mexico, having studied them extensively over a period of forty-three years.
Dr. Arnold is internationally known as a scholar in ceramic ethnoarchaeology, specifically the organization and technology of ceramic production. He has published numerous books and articles covering topics ranging from the ecology of production to the standardization of ceramic pastes and the social organization of potters. In 1996, he was awarded the Society for American Archaeology's Award for Excellence in Ceramic Studies. He is also Adjunct Curator at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. Dr. Arnold received the Wheaton College Alumni Association Award for Distinguished Service to Alma Mater in 2008.
Dr. Arnold enjoys listening to classical music and traveling. He and his wife June ave two grown daughters, Michelle and Andrea.
Education
University of Illinois, Urbana
Ph.D., Anthropology, 1970
University of Illinois, Urbana
M.A., Anthropology, 1967
Wheaton College, IL
B.A., Anthropology, 1964
Professional Affiliations
- American Anthropological Association (Distinguished Member)
- Society for American Archaeology
- American Association for the Advancement of Science (Fellow)
- Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society
- Fulbright Alumni Association (Life Member)
- Chicago Area Chapter, Fulbright Alumni Association
- Clare Hall, University of Cambridge (Life Member)
- American Scientific Affiliation (Fellow)
Courses Taught
- Human Origins
- Medical Anthropology
- Ceramics and Culture
- Cross-Cultural Ethics
- Latin American Peoples
- Biculturalism
- Pre-Columbian Civilizations
- Senior Capstone
Research
Dr. Arnold is currently working on several projects. He has done extensive work on the ethnography of pottery production using the study of contemporary potters to evaluate assumptions archaeologists use in their study of the past. In 1995, Dr. Arnold received $90,000 from the National Endowment for the Humanities to synthesize more than thirty years of research among Maya potters in Ticul, Yucatán, Mexico and to prepare a book length monograph. The purpose of the synthesis was to show the relationship of social change and technological change and to demonstrate how that relationship can be used as a tool to interpret the unwritten past.
Dr. Arnold also has carried out research showing the relationship between the ancient pigment 'Maya Blue' and contemporary Maya culture. Maya blue is an unusual pigment consisting of the clay mineral palygorskite and indigo that was used by the ancient Maya for murals, pottery, and on human victims before they were sacrificed. In the late 1960s, he demonstrated that one of the principal components of Maya Blue, the clay mineral palygorskite, was still being used by the contemporary Maya. Through a triangulation of methodologies, he showed that the modern Yucatec Maya were aware of the unique properties of palygorskite and used it for pottery temper and for the treatment of illnesses.
Major Publications
Arnold, Dean E., Joseph W. Ball, Laure Dussubieux, and Jennifer Taschek. 2025. Palygorskite from Sacalum, Yucatán in Maya Blue from the Eastern Maya Lowlands: New Evidence from Buenavista Del Cayo, Belize and La-ICP-MS Analysis. Ancient Mesoamerica 1–25.
Arnold, Dean E. 2024. Maya Blue: Unlocking the Mysteries of an Ancient Pigment. University Press of Colorado, Denver. https://upcolorado.com/university-press-of-colorado/item/6637-maya-blue. (Website site shows reviews with media links.)
Arnold, Dean E. 2018. Maya Potters’ Indigenous Knowledge: Cognition, Engagement and Practice. University Press of Colorado, Boulder. https://upcolorado.com/university-press-of-colorado/item/3246-maya-potters-indigenous-knowledge (Website shows reviews)
Arnold, Dean E. 2017. “Raw Material Selection, Landscape, Engagement, and Paste Recipes: Insights from Ethnoarchaeology.” In Matières à Penser: Raw materials acquisition and processing in Early Neolithic pottery productions, Proceedings of the Workshop of Namur (Belgium), 29 and 30 May 2015, pp. 15-27. Société Préhistorique Française, Paris.
Arnold, Dean E. 2017. “Changes in Ceramics as Commodities in Ticul, Yucatán, Mexico (1965-2008) and What They Tell us about Ancient Maya Ceramic Production.” In The Value of Things: Prehistoric to Contemporary Commodities in the Maya Region, ed. by Jennifer P. Mathews and Thomas H. Guderjan, pp. 193-214. University of Arizona Press, Tucson.
Arnold, Dean E. 2015. The Evolution of Ceramic Production Organization in a Maya Community. University Press of Colorado, Boulder. http://www.upcolorado.com/university-press-of-colorado/item/2022-the-evolution-of-ceramic-production-organization-in-a-maya-community (Website shows reviews)
Arnold, Dean E. 2012. “The Social Evolution of Potters’ Households in Ticul, Yucatán, Mexico 1965 – 1997.” In Ancient Households of the Americas: Conceptualizing What Households Do, ed. by John G. Douglass and Nancy Gonlin, pp. 163-187. University Press of Colorado, Boulder.
Arnold, Dean E., Bruce F. Bohor, Hector Neff, Gary M. Feinman, Patrick Ryan Williams, Laure Dussubieux, Ronald Bishop. 2012. “The First Direct Evidence of Pre-Columbian Sources of Palygorskite for Maya Blue.” Journal of Archeological Science 39:2252-2260 (July).
Arnold, Dean E. 2011. Ceramic Theory and Cultural Process after 25 Years. Ethnoarchaeology 3 (1): 63-98.
Arnold, Dean E. 2008. Social Change and the Evolution of Ceramic Production and Distribution in a Maya Community. University Press of Colorado, Boulder. http://www.upcolorado.com/university-press-of-colorado/item/1905-social-change-and-the-evolution-of-ceramic-production-and-distribution-in-a-maya-community (Website shows reviews)
Arnold, Dean E., Jason R. Branden, Patrick Ryan Williams, Gary M. Feinman and J. P. Brown. 2008. “The First Direct Evidence for the Production of Maya Blue: Rediscovery of a Technology.” Antiquity 82:151-164.
Arnold, Dean E., Hector Neff, Michael D. Glascock, and Robert J. Speakman. 2007. “Sourcing the Palygorskite Used in Maya Blue: A Pilot Study Comparing the Results of INAA and LA-ICP-MS.” Latin American Antiquity 18 (1):44-58.
Arnold, Dean E. 2006. “Why Are There So Few Christian Anthropologists? Reflections on the Tensions between Christianity and Anthropology.” Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith 58(4):266-282.
Arnold, Dean E. 2000. Does the Standardization of Ceramic Pastes Really Mean Specialization? Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory 7:333-375.
Arnold, Dean E. 1999. Advantages and Disadvantages of Vertical-half Molding Technology: Implications for Production Organization. In Pottery and People: A Dynamic Interaction, ed. by James M. Skibo and Gary M. Feinman, pp 50 - 80. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.
Arnold, Dean E. 1993 Ecology of Ceramic Production in an Andean Community. Cambridge University Press. http://www.amazon.com/Ecology-Ceramic-Production-Community-Archaeology/dp/0521543452/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1416616364&sr=8-2&keywords=Arnold%2C+Dean+E.
Arnold, Dean E., Hector Neff, and Ronald L. Bishop. 1991. “Compositional Analysis and 'Sources' of Pottery: An Ethnoarchaeological Approach.” American Anthropologist 93:70-90.
Arnold, Dean E. 1989. “Patterns of Learning, Residence and Descent among Potters in Ticul, Yucatan, Mexico.” In Archaeological Approaches to Cultural Identity, ed. by Stephen Shennan, pp. 174-184. Unwin Hyman, London.
Arnold, Dean E. 1985. Ceramic Theory and Cultural Process. Cambridge University Press. http://www.amazon.com/Ceramic-Cultural-Process-Studies-Archaeology/dp/0521272599/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1416616364&sr=8-1&keywords=Arnold%2C+Dean+E
Arnold, Dean E. 1983. “Design Structure and Community Organization in Quinua, Peru.” In Structure and Cognition in Art, ed. by Dorothy Washburn, pp. 56‑73. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Arnold, Dean E. 1975. “Ceramic Ecology in the Ayacucho Basin, Peru: Implications for Prehistory.” Current Anthropology 16:185‑203.
Arnold, Dean E. 1971. “Ethnomineralogy of Ticul, Yucatan Potters: Etics and Emics.” American Antiquity 36:20‑40.
Co-authored with Undergraduate Students
Arnold, Dean E., Hayley Schumacher Wynne, and Josiah Ostoich. 2013. “The Materiality of Social Memory: The Potters’ Gremio in Ticul, Yucatán, México.” Ethnoarchaeology 5 (2):81-99.
Arnold, Dean E., Jill Huttar Wilson, and Alvaro L. Nieves. 2007. “Why Was the Potter’s Wheel Rejected? Social Choice and Technological Change in Ticul, Yucatán, Mexico.” In Pottery Economics in Mesoamerica, pp. 59-87, ed. by Christopher A. Pool and George J. Bey III. University of Arizona Press, Tucson.
Mouat, Laurette and Dean E. Arnold. 1988. “Ceramic Ecology and Pottery Production in El Porvenir Honduras.” In A Pot for all Reasons: Ceramic Ecology Revisited (A Special Publication of Cerámica de Cultura Maya), ed. by Charles C. Kolb and Louana Lackey, pp. 239-261. Laboratory of Anthropology, Department of Anthropology, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA.
Ralph, Delores and Dean E. Arnold.1988. “Socioeconomic Status, Kinship, and Innovation: The Adoption of the Tornete in Ticul, Yucatan.” In Ceramic Ecology Revisited, 1987: The Technology and Socio-Economics of Pottery, ed. by Charles C. Kolb, pp 145-164. BAR International Series 436, Oxford, U.K.