Professor, Department of Anthropology
Research Fellow, Trent University Archaeological Research Centre
Education:
Ph.D. Prehistory, University College London (University of London), 1996
M.A. Anthropology, Trent University, 1992
B.A. Honours (first Class) archaeology, anthropology minor, Simon Fraser University, 1990
Faculty Profile
Research Interests: Early State Formations and Urbanism (especially in the tropics); Settlement Archaeology; Resilience Theory; The Archaeology of Climate Change, Natural Disasters, Human Impact on Ancient Environments, and Collapse; Mesoamerica (especially Maya); South and Southeast Asia (especially Myanmar)
Current Research Projects:
Professor Iannone is looking for students interested in the archaeology of resilience with a focus on: early tropical state formations, climate change, human impacts on ancient environments, societal collapse, water management, agroecosystems, settlement studies, societal integration, and urbanization. His three current projects include:
1. Socio-Ecological Entanglement in Tropical Societies (SETS) Project (ongoing)
This project is aimed at mobilizing knowledge concerning socio-ecological issues in the world’s tropical zones, past and present. Such issues include, but are not limited to: population growth, increasing disease rates (e.g., malaria and dengue), growing poverty, deforestation, expansion of agricultural production and monocropping, diminishing biodiversity, food and water security, and the effects of climate change. Archaeologists have a significant role to play in this important research endeavor because the many issues that are impacting contemporary tropical societies are historically contingent. Some of them may have even emerged with the earliest examples of state formation. We therefore require a comprehensive understanding of their root causes if effective mitigation strategies are to be developed. https://www.facebook.com/setsproject/?ref=aymt_homepage_panel
2. Integrated History of Residential Patterning, Agricultural Practices, and Water Management at Bagan (IRAW @Bagan) Sub-Project (new)
The ultimate goal of this new research program is to examine shifting levels of household and community resilience at the ancient Burmese (Bamar) capital of Bagan, Myanmar (ca. 9th-late 13th century CE), across a range of significant ecological, climatic, economic, socio-political, and religious changes. This objective will be achieved through a settlement archaeology approach explicitly designed to develop an integrated socio-ecological history for residential patterning, agriculture practices, and water management within the peri-urban (mixed urban-rural) settlement zone immediately surrounding Bagan’s regal-ritual epicenter, which is still clearly defined by remnants of its original wall and moat. This study will provide a necessary counterbalance to our current understanding of this agrarian-based, dispersed urban community, which continues to be biased towards elite-focused monumental architecture, artwork, inscriptions, and historic chronicles.
3. Ongoing Analysis of Data from the Ancient Maya Kingdom of Minanha, Belize (ongoing)
Selected Peer-reviewed Publications
Iannone, Gyles, and Michael Aung-Thwin
2021 Merit Making at Ancient Bagan, Myanmar: A Consideration of Socio-Spiritual Entanglements and the Rise and Fall of a Classical Southeast Asian State. In Ritual during Periods of Decline, Collapse, and Regeneration in Archaic States, edited by Joanne M. A. Murphy, pp. 185-203. Routledge, Abingdon.
Iannone, Gyles
2020 Entanglement and Disentanglement at the Medieval Capital of Bagan, Myanmar. In Detaching from Place: A World Archaeology Perspective to Settlement Abandonment, edited by Maxime Lamoureux-St-Hilaire and Scott A. Macrae, pp. 164-177. University Press of Colorado, Boulder.
Iannone, Gyles, Pyiet Phyo Kyaw, Scott Macrae, Nyein Chan Soe, Saw Tun Lin, and Kong F. Cheong
2019 Water, Ritual, and Prosperity at the Classical Capital of Bagan, Myanmar (11th to 14th Centuries CE): Archaeological Exploration of the Tuyin-Thetso “Water Mountain” and the Nat Yekan Sacred Water Tank. SPAFA Journal 3:1-35. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.26721/spafajournal.v3i0.600
Iannone, Gyles, Brett Houk, and Sonja Schwake (editors)
2016 Ritual, Violence, and the Fall of the Classic Maya Kings. University of Florida Press, Gainesville.
Iannone, Gyles
2016 Release and Reorganization in the Tropics: A Comparative Perspective. In Beyond Collapse: Archaeological Perspectives in Resilience, Revitalization, and Transformation in Complex Societies, edited by Ronald K. Faulseit, pp. 179-212. Center for Archaeological Investigations, Occasional Paper No. 42. Southern Illinois University, Carbondale.
Akers, Pete D., George A Brook, L. Bruce Railsback, Fuyuan Liang, Gyles Iannone, James W. Webster, Philip P Reeder, Hai Cheng, and R. Lawrence Edwards
2016 An Extended and Higher-Resolution Record of Climate and Land Use from Stalagmite Mc01 from Macal Chasm, Belize, Revealing Connections Between Major Dry Events, Overall Climate Variability, And Maya Sociopolitical Changes. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 459:268-288.
Macrae, Scott, and Gyles Iannone
2016 Understanding Ancient Maya Agricultural Terrace Systems through Lidar and Hydrological Mapping. Advances in Archaeological Practice 4(3):371-392.
Iannone, Gyles, Keith Prufer, and Diane Z. Chase
2014 Resilience and Vulnerability in the Maya Hinterlands. In The Resilience and Vulnerability of Ancient Landscapes: Transforming Maya Archaeology through IHOPE, edited by Arlen F. Chase and Vernon Scarborough, pp. 156-170. Archeological Papers of the American Anthropological Association, Volume 24. American Anthropological Association, Washington, D.C.
Iannone, Gyles (editor)
2014 The Great Maya Droughts in Cultural Context: Case Studies in Resilience and Vulnerability. University Press of Colorado, Boulder.
Iannone, Gyles
2010 Collective Memory in the Frontiers: A Case Study from the Ancient Maya Center of Minanha, Belize. Ancient Mesoamerica 21(2):353-371.
Iannone, Gyles, and Samuel V. Connell (editors)
2003 Perspectives on Ancient Maya Rural Complexity. UCLA Institute of Archaeology Press, Monograph 49, Los Angeles.