Elizabeth Arkush (PhD UCLA 2005) is an archaeologist whose research in the Peruvian Andes has emphasized themes of war and violence, and their connections to political authority, community, and ideology. She has been engaged in field research in Peru since 1999.
Her comparative approach to understanding warfare explores how relationships of hostility and alliance shape individual, community, and regional identities, structure settlement patterns, generate social hierarchies, and inform ritual and the performance of authority. A secondary theme lies in the intersection of paleoclimate, the progressive modification of lands for agricultural and pastoral production, and Andean sociopolitical histories. Methodologically her research relies on spatial technologies such as drone mapping, GIS analysis, and remote sensing.