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Center for Archaeological and Tropical Studies

The Center for Archaeological and Tropical Studies (CATS)—formerly the Mesoamerican Archaeological Research Laboratory (MARL)—is located within the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory (TARL) at The University of Texas at Austin's J.J. Pickle Research Campus.

CATS is a part of the Department of Anthropology at The University of Texas at Austin, and provides opportunities for students and researchers to gain practical experiences in fieldwork and hands-on analyses. Publication series from CATS includes:

  • Occasional Publications, a monograph series focused on field reports,
  • El Conejo, the Journal of CATS publishing research articles and reports.

Belize Field School

A major initiative of CATS is the Programme for Belize Archaeological Project (PfBAP): a summer field school for students and non-student volunteers to assist with research concerning the ancient Maya civilization in the country of Belize, in Central America. All research conducted by the PfBAP is with the permission of the Institute of Archaeology of the Government of Belize. The PfBAP operates with land-owner permission on the property owned and managed by the Programme for Belize. 

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For more information, please contact Dr. Fred Valdez, Director of CATS.