Biography

Barbara Roth is an anthropologist whose research focuses on hunter-gatherer adaptations to arid environments, primarily in the Southwest and Mojave Desert. She studies events surrounding the adoption of agriculture in the southern Southwest and its impact on hunter-gatherer populations. An example is her work in the Mimbres Mogollon region of southwestern New Mexico, where she has been examining changes in household and community organization that occur as groups become more sedentary and dependent on agriculture.

Roth, professor and chair in the department of anthropology, is the author of an award-winning book, Agricultural Origins in the American Southwest, seven edited books, and multiple articles and book chapters.