Erik Otarola-Castillo
Graduate Student

I am an archaeologist, and received an M.A. in Anthropology from Iowa State University. My thesis work is a zooarchaeological analysis entitled: "Late Prehistoric (Oneota) exploitation of deer at the Clarkson site, Warren County, central Iowa." Currently, I am continuing my doctoral studies with the Department of Anthropology under the rubric of the Graduate Program in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.

In general, I am interested in applying archaeological data, with an emphasis in zooarchaeology - the study of faunal remains recovered from archaeological sites - to answer evolutionary questions of human behavior as adaptive responses to changing environments. Specifically, my research interests presently revolve around the use of Optimal Foraging Theory in order to develop testable predictive-models of modern and prehistoric human settlement and subsistence behavior.

I received a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) certificate from ISU as a master's student. I utilize this skill in conjunction with spatial statistics as tools to quantify patterns of spatially distributed human phenomena in order to gain insights into their behavioral implications.

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