Dr Michał Gilewski Head of the research group in Mesoamerica of the Center for Andean Studies of the University of Warsaw. He is coordinating the Polish part of the geoarchaeological research project carried out at Tak'alik Ab'aj in Guatemala.
Michal Gilewski
Head of the research group in Mesoamerica
Specialization:
Mayan Archaeology; Archeology Theory; ancient agriculture
Bio:
Dr Michał Gilewski is a researcher at the Center for Andean Studies at the University of Warsaw. He is a doctor in archeology from the University of Warsaw. He was a fellow at the Institute for Anthropology and Archeology of the Americas at the University of Bonn. For his master's thesis he received the Domeyko Prize (2nd place) in the competition for the best thesis of the Polish Society for Latin American Studies. His doctoral research deals with the topic of archaeological reconstruction of pre-Columbian agriculture in southern Guatemala. Since 2013 he has been conducting archaeological research in Guatemala as part of a cooperation program at the Tak'alik Ab'aj National Archaeological Park of the Guatemalan Ministry of Culture and Sports, under the coordination of Christa Schieber de Lavarreda and Miguel Orrego Corzo. Together with Stanisław Iwaniszewski, he is co-organizer of the 'Warsaw Maya Meeting' conference. He is executive editor of the scientific journal 'Estudios Latinoamericanos', author of articles for 'Contributions to New World Archaeology' and other scientific and outreach journals.
Research and Teaching:
Currently, Dr Michal Gilewski coordinates the Polish part of the geoarchaeological research project carried out in the framework of cooperation with the renowned Guatemalan archaeological research project and Tak'alik Ab'aj National Archaeological Park. The research aims to study the construction processes of ancient earthen architecture and landscape. The project has also succeeded in obtaining data on the probable agricultural areas of Tak'alik Ab'aj. Two field seasons (in 2019 and 2022) have been carried out in Guatemala. A number of samples have been brought to Poland and are being studied with the cooperation of Polish scientists.
Publications
Scientific articles:
In preparation, Michal Gilewski, Christa Schieber de Lavarreda, Carlos Espigares,
Miguel Medina, Víctor Flores, Aldo Aleman, Kajetan Oglaza, The archaeological
evidence of pre-Hispanic agriculture at Tak'alik Ab'aj, El Asintal, Retalhuleu,
Guatemala, “ANCIENT MAYA AGRICULTURE – From Practice to Mythology,
Proceedings of the 26th European Maya Conference, Bratislava, 07 – 11 December Acta Mesoamericana), (Edited by M. Kovac et al.).
Gilewski Michał, Christa Schieber de Lavarreda, Barbara Woronko, Kajetan Ogłaza,
Miguel Medina, Carlos Espigares, Geremias Claudio, Victor Flores, Aldo Aleman
Evidence of differences and changes in land use of the Central Group, South Group and
peripheral areas of Tak'alik Ab'aj, based on geochemical and loss studies by
combustion (LOI), XXXIV Symposium of Archaeological Investigations in Guatemala,
2021 (edited by B. Arroyo, L. Méndez Salinas and G. Ajú Álvarez), pp. 175-186. Museum
National Archeology and Ethnology, Guatemala.
Michał Gilewski „Niegrzeczne naczynia. O postrzeganiu transgresji w pozaeuropejskiej,
prekolumbijskiej kulturze Majów [Naughty tableware. About the perception of
transgression in non-European pre-Columbian Mayan culture], „Szkło i Ceramika»
[Glass and ceramics magazine”] n 4/2019. .
Gilewski, Michał „Rola ceramiki jako źródła archeologicznego w badaniach nad kulturą
Majów", [The role of ceramics as an archaeological source in the investigation of the
Mayan culture]„Szkło i Ceramika» [Glass and Ceramics Magazine”] n. 5/2018, ISSN 0039-
8144.
Gilewski, Michal. Kukurydza jako podstawa współczesnych wierzeń Majów z Wyżyn.
[Corn as a basic element of the contemporary beliefs of the Mayas of the
Highlands] Ameryka Łacińska. Kwartalnik Analityczno-Informacyjny, [America
Latina. Quarterly magazine of analysis and information] [Sl], n. 3 (97), p. 61-84, ready. 2017.
ISSN 2081-1152. Access: http://amerykalacinska.com/ojs/index.php/al/article/view/898
Gilewski, Michał, Slow-motion videography and recording experimental archaeology,
Biography Archeologii, nr 3(1), 2017, ISSN 2249-8017, DOI: 10.5281/c.1063744
Gilewski, Michal. Zagubiona archeologia zaginionych miast, [Lost Archeology of
the lost cities] Biografia Archeologii [Biography of Archaeology] n. 1(2)/2015,
p. 13-22, December 2015, https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/51296236.pdf
Gilewski, Michal. New imaging techniques and polish archeology impressions on rti
and slow-motion techniques in archaeology. Contributions in New World
Archeology, no. 9 (2015), p. 133-144, ISSN 2080-8216
Books:
In preparation, Gilewski, Michał. Relationships between pre-Columbian and modern
Maya agriculture in Southern Maya area. University of Warsaw Press.
Iwaniszewski, Stanislaw, Ricardo Moyano Vasconcellos, and Michał Gilewski, eds. The
life under the starry sky: archaeoastronomy and ethnoastronomy in Latin America.
University of Warsaw Press, 2021. https://doi.org/10.31338/uw.9788323554813.
Writing (Together with Kasper Hanus, Aleksandra Surlej, Dorota Przybylska)
EurASEAA 16 the 16th conference of European Association of Southeast Asian Archaeologists EurASEAA 16: Poznań, Poland 3-7 July 2017: Book of Abstracts, Cieszyn: Publisher: Oficyna Drukarsko-Wydawnicza Akant, 2017, ISBN 9788394621445
Popular science articles and articles in student editorials:
Gilewski, Michal. Sztuka erotyczna kultury Moche, [”Erotic Art of the Moche culture”]
AD REM. KWARTALNIK AKADEMICKI [ACADEMIC NOTEBOOK
QUARTERLY], Number 1-4(2015), p. 22–27, ISSN 1899-0495
Gilewski, Michal. Zarządzanie zasobami wodnymi w kulturze Mayoów, Materiały z
warsztatów archeologicznych «Śladami świata starożytnego», [”Management of
water resources in the Mayan culture”. Archaeological workshop materials
«Following the footsteps of the ancient world»] ed. P. Sypczuk, Międzywydziałowe
Towarzystwo Naukowe Badań i Ochrony Światowego Dziedzictwa Kulturowego»
Humanica. [Interdepartmental Scientific Association for Research and
Protection of the World Cultural Heritage «Humanica»] University of Warsaw,
ISBN: 978-83-61376-84-2
Scientific dissemination articles on web portals:
Gilewski, Michał „W środku Tak'alik Ab'aj”, [”Inside the Tak'alik Ab'aj”] portal
iberoameryka
http://iberoameryka.com/strefa-wiedzy/historia/srodek-stanowiska-takalik-abaj/
Gilewski, Michał ¨Trudne życie: Historia najdawniejszej Amerykanki¨, [”A hard life:
The story of the oldest American woman”] Iberoameryka portal
http://iberoameryka.com/ciezkie-zycie-historia-najdawniejszej-amerykanki/
Editorial works:
Secretary and technical editor of Latin American Studies, since March 29, 2019.
Evaluator of the scientific quality of the Polish edition of The Lost City of God
Monkey (author Douglas Preston), in translation by Dariusz Żukowski, Warsaw: Publisher
Agora, 2018, ISBN 9788326826078
English text style checker, drafting English texts of descriptions of
the articles of the archived editions (1972-2007) of the scientific journal of Studies
Latin Americans, Polish Association for Latin American Studies.
Critics:
critical article
(to be edited) „Andrzej Ulmer, Cywilizacja Majów. Intellectual osiągnięcia,
historia militarna i polityczna”, [”Andrzej Ulmer, Mayan Civilization. Achievements
intellectuals, military history and politics”] in “Indigena. Przeszłość i
Współczesność Tubylczych Kultur Amerykaśskich” "Indigenous. The past and present of American Indian cultures” (List B, 2 point).
Manuscript DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.1477590