Zachary Hruby

Field Supervisor

Zac Hruby is an archaeologist originally from Northern California who moved to Kentucky in 2012. He has done field and lab work in North America, Mesoamerica, and Southwest Asia with a special interest in the processes of chipped stone and ground stone production vis-à-vis social identification among ancient crafters. He holds a doctorate in anthropology from the University of California at Riverside, with a dissertation on lithic technology, economic anthropology, and religion among the Classic Maya. Many of his studies examine the intersection between religious belief and craft production in Native American practice, which underscores some basic ontological differences between modern Western cultures and those from the New World. In addition to lithic technology, Dr. Hruby specializes in visual use-wear analysis, stone sourcing, cache and special deposit studies, and Mesoamerican and North American iconography. He is also interested in site formation processes and spatial analyses of production debris to understand how places and landscapes were used and constructed by those who lived in them.

In his spare time, Zac plays music, collects and sells vinyl records, and is a professional cat herder. He also carves jadeite and nephrite into jewelry and powerful amulets of his own design.