The focus of my research in Mesoamerica is the Tarascan State, with its capital across Lake Patzcuaro at Tzintzuntzan. The Tarascans came to dominate a territory roughly equivalent to what is today the Mexican state of Michoacan and was the second largest conquest empire in Mesoamerica at the time of European contact. The Tarascans flourished between 1100 AD and 1530 AD at the time of Spanish contact. What little is written about the Tarascans is contained in the Relación de Michoacán, a description of the culture written by a Franciscan friar in 1538.

The Lake Patzcuaro region is the population center with several important sites. The capital at Tzintzuntzan contains many historical evidence of the state including 5 temple pyramids called yacatas. Our fieldwork has centered around the city of Erongaricuaro which has had several archaeological excavations by Dr. Helen Pollard of Michigan State University.