Gabriel Silva Collins

Coordinator, Andean Working Group; Ph.D. Student, Cotsen Institute of Archaeology
Department: Cotsen Institute of Archaeology
gsilvacollins@g.ucla.edu
Website

Gabriel Silva Collins is a doctoral student in the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology. His work, which includes contemporary archaeology, archaeobotany, and anthropological fieldwork in Brazil, Peru, and Bolivia, focuses on the ways in which people establish connections to landscapes in both historical and modern contexts. Gabriel's ongoing dissertation examines how present-day land reform movements in northeastern Brazil interact with the distinctive caatinga ecosystem and its historical status as a place of resistance (especially in relation to the 1896-1897 War of Canudos). In Peru, Gabriel studies the ongoing use of previously Inca heritage sites near Chinchero, and his work in Bolivia documents a group of threatened archaeological sites near Cochabamba.

Gabriel is a coordinator of the Andean Working Group, in addition to being a member of both the Andean and Architecture and Undocumented Migration Project laboratories.