The Ceramic Research and Fiber Technologies (CRaFT) Lab is a space where researchers come together to examine social life in the past through the study of archaeological ceramics, textiles, and cordage. We are concerned with understanding how making things is a political process that creates, maintains, and disrupts worlds. Lab members think through questions such as: what are the political affordances of specific materials? How do materials bridge possibilities for political action? How do people’s engagements with specific landscapes and materials impact power dynamics, economies, and social identities?

Lab members share a commitment to community-based participatory research, in which research problems and outcomes are co-created with stakeholder communities. By working closely with descendant communities, our archaeological research is committed to crafting equitable futures.

The CRaFT Lab was established at the Stanford Archaeology Center in 2026 and is directed by Dr. Marie Elizabeth Grávalos. Our lab houses 8 polarizing light microscopes for research and teaching, including a Zeiss Axioscope 5. Current projects focus on archaeological materials from Peru, including: thin section petrography of ceramics, molecular and elemental analyses of ceramic paints (Raman spectroscopy and XRD), soil micromorphology of a pre-Hispanic reservoir, and chemical analysis of textile dyes (LC-MS/MS).

Current Lab Members:
Daniela Fuenmayor, PhD Student, Stanford Anthropology