15 Questions With An Archeologist

Dr. Kaoru "Kay" Ueda Today's episode has been pulled from our archives! In this one we are joined by Dr. Kaoru “Kay” Ueda. Dr. Ueda has been conducting archeological research at a wide range of sites around the world, including: Tiwanaku, Bolivia; Banten, Indonesia; Malacca, Malaysia; Kiri-Uriwari, Japan; and the steppe of Mongolia. She received her Ph.D. in archeology from Boston University (2015). Her main research interests are archaeology of food, hybridization of material culture, and colonialism. She specializes in phytolith (silica remains of plants) study and petrography of ceramics to reconstruct past food and foodways. She plans to bring phytolith study to the Field School project to overcome the issue of poor organic preservation in a tropical climate. She is also interested in an interdisciplinary approach and one of the contributing authors of the special exhibition catalog “Asia in Amsterdam: Culture of Luxury during the Golden Age” (Yale University Press 2015) at the Peabody Essex Museum, Sa