What is Chacmool?
Chacmool is an undergraduate club dedicated to the Archaeology students at the University of Calgary. Over the last few years, Chacmool has been defunct due to COVID-19, but the club is finally back on its feet and ready to accept new members! Since its inception, Chacmool has hosted conferences and events for archaeology students at the University of Calgary; i.e., Chacmool has been around a long time (since the 1970s!).
What does Chacmool do?
Chacmool aims to actively host events for students.
Club events are geared towards academics (course workshops, sharing field school opportunities, getting involved in archaeology post-grad, career fairs, teaching valuable skills for employment), and social events, where members of the club can get together and network.
What does “Chacmool” mean?
The name derives from a series of large stone sculptures depicting a reclining figure with bent knees and a bowl resting on the stomach. These enigmatic statues have been found across Mesoamerica; many scholars have attempted to interpret their meaning, yet no consensus exists. The reason behind why UofC’s archaeology club adopted the name “Chacmool” is lost to time; however, previous accounts from Emeritus Professor Dr. Jane Kelley, state that the name originated with the department’s co-founder, Dr. Richard (Scotty) MacNeish, who was an eminent Mesoamerican archaeologist best known for his investigation of the domestication of corn.
So does Chacmool only focus on Mesoamerica?
Absolutely not! There is nothing inherently ‘Chacmoolish’ about the archaeology club; we encourage everyone with an interest in Mesoamerican, Plains, African, and Classical archaeology — really any type of archaeology — to join and discuss their interests with other like-minded individuals.
Meet the 2024/2025 Executives!
