Vivian Lantow

Vivian Lantow is a doctoral candidate studying the ancient Andes under the supervision of Dr. Maya Stanfield-Mazzi. Her dissertation uses a multifaceted lens to offer a new perspective on how featherwork communicated complex meanings of social identity, political authority, and ideology for the Chimú (800-1450 CE) on the Peruvian north coast. Vivian’s dissertation centers on almost a dozen Chimú feathered garments, scientifically excavated by Dr. Gabriel Prieto and his team in 2018 from a mass-sacrifice site in Huanchaco, Peru. Her research has been funded by the Center for Latin American Studies Field Research Grant (LAS), the Research Abroad for Doctoral Students (RAD) program, the Center for the Humanities and the Public Sphere Rothman Doctoral Fellowship, and the Dumbarton Oaks Bliss Travel Award. Vivian has presented her work at the Rocky Mountain Pre-Columbian Association Research Colloquium, SECAC (formerly the Southeastern College Art Conference), the Andean Textile Association, and the Society for American Archaeology (SAA), among others. She has also served as the vice president of the Gainesville Chapter of the American Institute of Archaeology (AIA) since 2024. Vivian holds an MA and BA in Art History from the University of Florida and an AS in Zoo Animal Science from Santa Fe College.