I am an anthropological archaeologist with a specialization in paleoethnobotany – the study of the interaction between people and plants in the past. My primary region of study is the Central Andes, including adjacent tropical forest areas, with a secondary interest in North America Plains.

I am particularly interested in human adaptation, socio-cultural, and biological evolution.

Paleoethnobotany, Archaeology, Environmental Archaeology, Human-Environmental Interactions, Biological Anthropology, Landscape Archaeology, Evolutionary and Behavioral Ecology, Origins of Agriculture, Archaeology of the Great Plains and South America, Microscopy, Photomicroscopy, Technical analysis in archaeology, Traditional knowledge and use studies.

I am a Registered Professional Archaeologist.

Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles

2018     Zarrillo, Sonia, Nilesh Gaikwad, Claire Lanaud, Terry Powis, Christopher Viot, Isabelle Lesur, Olivier Fouet, Xavier Argout, Erwan Guichoux, Franck Salin, Rey Loor Solorzano, Olivier Bouchez, Hélène Vignes, Patrick Severts, Julio Hurtado, Alexandra Yepez, Louis Grivetti, Michael Blake, and Francisco Valdez. The use and domestication of Theobroma cacao during the mid-Holocene in the upper Amazon. Nature Ecology and Evolution 2:1879-1888.

2016     Rademaker, Kurt, Gregory Hodgins, Katherine Moore, Sonia Zarrillo, Christopher Miller, Gordon R. M. Bromley, Peter Leach, David A. Reid, Willy Yépez–Álvarez, and Daniel H. Sandweiss. Reply to Capriles et al.: Cuncaicha Rockshelter, a key site for understanding colonization of the high Andes. Current Anthropology 57(1):101-103.

2014     Rademaker, Kurt, Gregory Hodgins, Katherine Moore, Sonia Zarrillo, Christopher Miller, Gordon R. M. Bromley, Peter Leach, David A. Reid, Willy Yépez–Álvarez, and Daniel H. Sandweiss. Paleoindian Settlement of the High-Altitude Peruvian Andes. Science 346:466-469.

2012     Lanaud, Claire, Rey Loor Solórzano, Sonia Zarrillo, and Francisco Valdez. Origen de la Domesticacíon del cacao y su uso temprano en Ecuador. (Origin of the domestication of cacao and its early use in Ecuador). Nuestro Patrimoinio 12:12-14.

2008     Zarrillo, Sonia, Deborah M. Pearsall, J. Scott Raymond, Mary Ann Tisdale and Dugane J. Quon. Directly Dated Starch Residues Document Early Formative Maize (Zea mays L.) in Tropical Ecuador. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 105:5006-5011.

2007     Perry, L., R. Dickau, S. Zarrillo, I. Holst, D. M. Pearsall, D. R. Piperno, M. J. Berman, R. G. Cooke, K. Rademaker, A. J. Ranere, J. S. Raymond, D. H. Sandeweiss, F. Scaramelli, K. Tarble, and J. A. Zeidler. Starch Fossils and the Domestication and Dispersal of Chili Peppers (Capsicum spp.L.) in the Americas. Science 315:986-988.

2006     Zarrillo, Sonia and Brian Kooyman. Evidence for Berry and Maize Processing on the Canadian Plains from Starch Grain Analysis. American Antiquity 71(3):473-499.

Book Chapters

2014     Zarrillo, Sonia and Monica Nicolaides. Starch Granule Analysis of Artifacts. In The Viejo Period in West-Central Chihuahua, Part 3: Additional Studies, J. Holden Kelley and R. D. Garvin, pp. 49-62. Maxwell Museum Technical Series No. 19, Part 3, Maxwell Museum of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque.

2013     Zarrillo, Sonia and Francisco Valdez. Evidencias del cultivo de maíz y de otras plantas en la ceja de selva oriental ecuatoriana (Evidence for the cultivation of maize and other plants in the Ecuadorian Upper Amazon). In Arqueología Amazónica: Las civilizaciones ocultas del bosque tropical, edited by F. Valdez, pp. 147-171. Abya-Yala, Quito, EC.

Additional Publications (non-peer Reviewed)

2018    Zarrillo, Sonia. Clues to Cacao. Contributor to Nature Ecology and Evolution “Behind the Paper” website, Oct. 29. https://natureecoevocommunity.nature.com/users/180609-sonia-zarrillo/posts/40365-clues-to-cacao

2015    Rademaker, Kurt, and Sonia Zarrillo. Survival of the Highest. Natural History magazine (March issue).

University of Calgary Graduate Student Scholarships and Grants

2012                   Student Activities Fund Travel Grant

2012                   Graduate Students Association Professional Development Grant

2011                   University of Calgary Graduate Studies Scholarship

2011                   Martha Biggar Anders Memorial Award

2010                   Faculty of Graduate Studies Travel Award

2010                   University of Calgary Graduate Research Scholarship

2009                   Martha Biggar Anders Memorial Award

2008                   Martha Biggar Anders Memorial Award

2007-2009         Honorary Izaak Walton Killam Memorial Scholarship

2007                   International Fee Differential Travel Grant
2006                   Friends of Head-Smashed-In Graduate Scholarship

2006                   Dean’s Entrance Scholarship for acceptance to PhD program

2006                   Queen Elizabeth II MA Scholarship

2005                   Friends of Head-Smashed-In Graduate Scholarship

2005                   SSHRCC Canada Graduate Scholarship

2005                   Dean’s Research Excellence Award

2005                   Graduate Research Scholarship

2004                   Faculty of Graduate Studies Award and Province of Alberta Graduate Scholarship

Awards

2013     Teaching Honour Roll Award, University of British Columbia-Okanagan

2010     J.B. Hyne Research Innovation Award, University of Calgary

Research excellence, innovation, collaboration and publication

2008     Nominated as a full member of Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society

2007     Barbara Lawrence Award, Society of Ethnobiology

Best student conference paper

2005     Bea Loveseth Memorial Prize, Chacmool Archaeological Conference

Best student conference paper

2004     Silver Medal, University of Calgary

Highest proficiency of the Department of Archaeology graduates

2019-present     Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, UCLA

Postdoctoral Fellow, Director of Ancient Agriculture and Paleoethnobotany Laboratory

2019-present     University of Saskatchewan

                           Adjunct Professor, Department of Archaeology and Anthropology

2018-present     University of British Columbia

Honorary Research Associate, Department of Anthropology

2013-2019         University of Calgary

Adjunct Assistant Professor, Anthropology and Archaeology

2015-2016         SWCA Environmental Consultants,

Permian Basin Services Lead, Environmental and Archaeological Assessments

2012-2014         University of British Columbia-Okanagan         

Sessional (Adjunct Full-time) Lecturer, Anthropology

2010                  Universidad San Francisco de Quito,

Sessional (Adjunct Full-time) Instructor, Anthropology