Ricardo Higelin Ponce de León

Dr. Higelin Ponce de León is an archaeologist and bioarchaeologist with over 18 years of experience in archaeological research, rescue and salvage operations, and heritage preservation. He holds a Ph.D. (2021) and M.A. (2014) in Archaeology from Indiana University, an M.A. (2012) in Biological Anthropology from Southern Illinois University, and a B.A. (2010) in Physical Anthropology from the National School of Anthropology and History in Mexico. He is currently completing postdoctoral research at the Sam Noble Museum, University of Oklahoma (2023–2025).

His research centers on the bioarchaeology of childhood, violence, and marginalized ancient populations in Oaxaca, Mexico. His doctoral dissertation—funded by the Mellon Foundation and the American Indian Studies Research Institute—investigated health and demographic shifts in the Valley of Oaxaca following the collapse of Monte Albán (ca. 250–1521 CE). Through an interdisciplinary and community-engaged approach, Dr. Higelin Ponce de León integrates Feminist Archaeology and Indigenous perspectives to illuminate the lived experiences of ancient Zapotec women, children, and non-elite individuals.

In the Tlacolula Valley, he has collaborated with local museums and schools to lead heritage education workshops for Zapotec students. In a separate project in the Mixteca Alta region, conducted with Veronica Perez and Jeffrey Blomster, he performed an inter-site comparison of mortuary contexts from the Cerro Jazmín and Etlatongo archaeological sites. This analysis of ancestral remains and associated artifacts revealed relatively consistent skeletal health across social strata during the Middle Formative through Early Classic periods (ca. 200 BCE–200 CE), contrasting with dietary health disparities observed at contemporaneous central Mexican sites such as Cuicuilco and Tlatilco.

Dr. Higelin Ponce de León is co-editor of Población y Movilidad entre los Zapotecos Prehispánicos de Oaxaca (Aguirre, Díaz, Higelin Ponce de León, 2023), a volume that explores mobility and socio-economic interactions between Zapotec settlements in the Valley of Oaxaca and major urban centers such as Teotihuacan, Tenochtitlan, and Maya cities to the south. This multidisciplinary work contributes to reconstructing ancient migration patterns in Mesoamerica and encourages contemporary descendants to embrace their heritage through a deeper understanding of cultural interaction and movement.

In the United States, Dr. Higelin Ponce de León contributes to the respectful documentation of Native American ancestral remains and cultural belongings from communities in the Midwest and Great Plains, in accordance with NAGPRA regulations.