Biography
Curriculum Vitae – Rachel Witt
Ph.D., Anthropology, Tulane University
B.A. in Anthropology (honors), Vanderbilt University
B.A. in Art history, Vanderbilt University
Rachel Witt holds a B.A. in anthropology (honors) and art history from Vanderbilt University and an M.A. and Ph.D. in anthropology from Tulane University. She is a biological anthropologist who specializes in bioarchaeology and biogeochemistry. Before joining the Sociology and Anthropology Department at Marshall University, she was a Visiting Assistant Professor at Tulane University. Witt’s ongoing research with the Programa Arqueologico Huanchaco in collaboration with Drs. Gabriel Prieto (University of Florida) and John Verano (Tulane University) investigates the role of ritual violence in empire-building and imperial expansion on the north coast of Peru during the reign of the Chimú and Inca Empires. She also participates with the Proyecto Arqueologico Huari Ancash Canchas Uckro in collaboration with Dr. Jason Nesbitt (Tulane University). Witt has received several honors including the National Science Foundation Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grant, and grants from the Lambda Alpha National Collegiate Honors Society and the Rust Family Foundation.
Selected Publications
Witt Rachel G., Prieto G, Chachapoyas A, Verano J, Flores de la Oliva L, Castillo F. (2026) The Purpose Death Serves: Trauma Analysis of Human Sacrifices at El Pollo, Moche Valley, Peru. Latin American Antiquity. Published online 2026:1-20. Doi:10.1017/laq.2026.10169
Witt, Rachel G. (2025) Selected for Death: A Bioarchaeological Study of the Biocultural Profiles of Human Sacrifices at El Pollo, Moche Valley, Peru. Arqueologícas 34:185-215.
Prieto, Gabriel, John Verano, Feren Castillo, Luis Flores, Alan Chachapoyas, Victor Campaña, Richard Sutter, Aleksalia Isla, Khrysthyne Tschinkel, Rachel Witt, Andres Shiguekawa, Jordi A. Rivera-Prince, Celeste Gagnon, Carlos Avila-Mata, Ann Pollard-Rowe, Arabel Fernandez, Fuyuki Tokanai, Claver W. Aldama-Reyna, and José M. Capriles (2023). Pampa la Cruz: A New Mass Sacrificial Ground during the Chimú occupation on the Huanchaco, North Coast of Peru. Ñawpa Pacha, DOI 10.1080/00776297.2023.2221481