Date Updated
7-20-2026
Department
Anthropology, College of Social Sciences
Academic Rank
Lecturer Emeritus
Year Retired from SJSU
2019
Educational Background
San Jose State University, Anthropology, MA 1993
(MA Thesis Title: A Reinterpretation of Some San Francisco Bay Mound Sites: A View from the Mortuary Complex from Prehistoric Site CA-ALA-329, The Ryan Mound): https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/etd_theses/694/
City College of New York, Major: Anthropology; Minor: Education and Geology, BA 1973
Archaeological Field Schools
University of Nevada: Nevada State Museum Archaeological Field School, Dr. Robert Elston, Director, June - August 1972
City College of New York Archaeological Field School, Dr. Robert Schuyler, Director, June - August 1971
See CV for Awards/Scholarships, 1972-2013.
Teaching Experience
San Jose State University, Department of Anthropology, Lecturer, 1978-2019
San Jose State University, Department of Urban Planning, Lecturer, 1993-2003
See CV for additional teaching experience beginning in 1973 - And for list of Guest Lectures
Administrative and Professional Experience
San Jose State University, Department of Anthropology, 1978-1987: Anthropology Lab Director, SJSU Field School Site Supervisor; Archaeological Sites supervised and excavated. See CV for additional details.
See CV for extensive list of experience beginning in 1973 as Archaeological Field Supervisor and Technician, Research Assistant; Museum and Professional Consulting
Service
Native American Student Organization (NASO) Faculty Advisor, 1980-1987; 2013-2019. See CV for additional information
San Jose State University Chapter Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS), Faculty Advisor, 2008-2016
See CV for Volunteer Community work
Selected Publications
2025a - Alan Leventhal, Charlene Nijmeh, Monica V. Arellano, Sheila Guzman Schmidt, Gloria E. Arellano-Gomez, Joseph Torres, Bernadette Quiroz, Julia Dominguez, and Rosemary Cambra. Final Report on the Archaeological Recovery Program Conducted on a Portion of the Hoontach Kâ-nâtʹ-tak Place of the Ancient Spring Site (CA-SCL-671/Murphy Springs) Located in the City of Morgan Hill, Santa Clara County, California. Report Prepared for The City of Morgan Hill, California. Douglas Van Horn and VHF Construction, Morgan Hill Historical Society, The Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area, Muwekma Ohlone Preservation Foundation.
2025b - Naseem Fazeli, Will Russell, Alan Leventhal, and Monica V. Arellano. The Influence of Land Use Alternatives on Traditional Ohlone Floristic Resources. Human Ecology: An Interdisciplinary Journal. Springer Nature. https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/faculty_rsca/6247/
2025c - Beasley, Melanie M., Eric J. Bartelink, Alan Leventhal, Monica V. Arellano, Richard Massiatt, Charlene Nijmeh. Late Holocene Paleodietary Patterns Among the Ancestral Ohlone: Ecogeographic Partitioning of Resources Along the San Francisco Bay Eastern Shore. American Journal of Biological Anthropology. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/faculty_rsca/6429/
2025d - Roberto J. González, Jan English-Lueck, Alan Leventhal, Monica V. Arellano, and Charlene C. Nijmeh. Report - Reclamation: Developing a Museum Exhibit with, by, and for a Descendant Community. In, Practicing Anthropology, 1-7. Routledge, Taylor, and Francis Group.
2025e - Charlene Nijmeh, Alan Leventhal, Joseph Torres, Bernadette Quiroz, Julia Dominguez, Richard Torres, Monica V. Arellano, Sheila Guzman Schmidt, Gloria E. Arellano Gomez. An Ethnohistory of the Santa Clara Valley and Adjacent Regions: Historic Ties of the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area and Tribal Oversight on the Burial Recovery Program Conducted at Mánni Húyyú Muwékma Yatiš Túnnešte-tka (Place Where the Ancient People Are Buried Site) CA-SCL-1070/H Located at 651 Walsh Avenue in the City of Santa Clara, Santa Clara County, California. In, Archaeological Monitoring and Field Recovery Report, Walsh Data Center Project, 641 Walsh Avenue, Santa Clara, California. Volume II. Kleinfelder Project NO: 20212364.001A. https://www.muwekma.org/assets/pdf/Muwekma-Ohlone-Ethnohistory-CA-SCL-1070.pdf
2024a – Kyle Burk, Glendon Parker, Jelmer W. Eerkens, Christopher Canzonieri, Christopher Zimmer, Monica V. Arellano, Alan Leventhal, and Ramona Garibay. “Proteomic Analysis of Dental Calculus as Insight into Mission-Period Diets in California” (Article 7). In Native Californian Cultural Persistence During the Mission Period, edited by Jelmer W. Eerkens, Lee M. Panich, Christopher Canzonieri, and Christopher Zimmer. University Press of Florida, Gainesville, Fla.
2023a - Alexandra M. Greenwald, Gregory R. Burns, Jelmer W. Eerkens, Eric J. Bartelink, Alan Leventhal, and Monica V. Arellano. Sex-biased parental investment and female wealth accumulation in ancient California. American Journal of Biological Anthropology, 182(1):109–125. Wiley Periodicals LLC. https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/faculty_rsca/5050/
2022a Fournier, Nichole A., Erin Kennedy Thornton, Monica V. Arellano, and Alan Leventhal. Stable Isotopic Reconstruction of Weaning and Childhood Diet During Times of Change: An Examination of Life History and Health of San Francisco Bay Area Juveniles. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, Volume 44, August 2022.
2022b Brian F. Byrd, Monica V. Arellano, Laurel Engbring, Alan Leventhal, and Michael Darcangelo. Community-Based Archaeology at Síi Túupentak in the San Francisco Bay Area: Integrated Perspectives on Collaborative Research at a Major Protohistoric Native American Settlement. Journal of California and Great Basin anthropology 42(2):135-158
2022c - Monica V. Arellano, Alan Leventhal, Charlene Nijmeh, Sheila Guzman-Schmidt, and Gloria E. Arellano Gomez. Ethnohistory, Historic Ties, and Tribal Stewardship of the ‘Ayttakiš ‘Éete Hiramwiš Trépam-Tak (Place of Woman Sleeping Under the Pipe Site) CA-ALA-677/H Located within the Sunol/Pleasanton Region, Including the Greater Santa Clara Valley, and Adjacent Areas. In Archaeological Data Recovery at ‘Ayttakiš ‘Éete Hiramwiš Trépam-tak (CA-ALA-677/H) for the Niles Canyon Safety Improvement Project, Alameda County, California. Brian F. Byrd, Laurel Engbring, Michael Darcangelo, Eric Wohlgemuth. Prepared for the California Department of Transportation, District 4 Cultural Resources Studies Office, Oakland, California.
2022d Mikayla Rosario, Jelmer W. Eerkens, Diana Malarchik, Brian Byrd, Laurel Engbring, Monica V. Arellano, and Alan Leventhal. Carbon and Nitrogen Isotope Analysis of Bone Collagen at Ayttakiš ‘Éete Hiramwiš Trépam-tak (CA-ALA-677/H). Society for California Archaeology Proceedings.
2022e - Alissa L. Severson, Brian F. Byrd, Elizabeth K. Mallott, Amanda C. Owings, Michael DeGiorgio, Alida de Flamingh, Charlene Nijmeh, Monica V. Arellano, Alan Leventhal, Noah A. Rosenberg, and Ripan S. Malhi. Ancient and Modern Genomics of the Ohlone Indigenous Population of California. Proceedings in the National Academy of Sciences, March 29, 2022 Vol. 119, No. 13. https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2111533119
https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/faculty_rsca/3304/
2022f - Alexandria M. Firenzi, Alina Tichinin, Eric J. Bartelink, Jelmer W. Eerkens, Alan Leventhal, and Monica V. Arellano. Stable Isotopic Analysis at the Ancestral Ohlone Site of Yakmuy ‘Ooyákma-tka (“Place of the East Ridge Site”): A Comparative Study of “Prehistoric” Dietary Variation. Society for California Archaeology Proceedings. https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/faculty_rsca/3539/
2022g – Cara Monroe, Monica V. Arellano, and Alan Leventhal. "New Perspectives and Collaborations on the Ancestral Biology of the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe," Human Biology: Vol. 94: Issue 1, Article 1. Available at: https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/humbiol/vol94/iss 1/1
2022h – Mario Zimmermann, Brian F. Byrd, Laurel Engbring, Jelmer Willem Eerkens; Monica V. Arellano, Alan M. Leventhal, Dave Grant, Diane DiGiuseppe, Elisabeth Mabie, Anna Berim, David Gang, and Shannon Tushingham. “Disease and Healing in Ancient Societies: Dental Calculus Residues and Skeletal Pathology Data Indicate Age and Sex-Biased Medicinal Practices among Native Californians,” Human Biology, Vol. 94, Issue 1, Article 2.
2022i - Jelmer W. Eerkens, Alina Tichinin, Nikoletta D. Karapanos, Alexandra Campbell-Grey, Alexandria M. Firenzi, Eric J. Bartelink, Alan Leventhal, Monica V. Arellano, and Brieann DeOrnellas. “Contrasting Male and Female Dietary Life Histories: A Case Study at an Ancestral Muwekma Ohlone Heritage Site in San Jose, California.” Human Biology, Vol. 94, Issue 1, Article 3.
2022j - Tammy Buonasera, Jelmer Eerkens, Brian Byrd, Laurel Engbring, Monica V. Arellano, Alan Leventhal, and Glendon J. Parker. "Sex-Biased Differences in Infant Mortality and Life Expectancy at Síi Túupentak, an Ancestral Ohlone Village in Central California (ca.540–145 cal. BP)," Human Biology, Vol. 94: Issue 1, Article 4.
2022k - Nichole A. Fournier, Jelmer W. Eerkens, Tammy Buonasera, Glendon J. Parker, Monica Arellano, and Alan Leventhal. "Sex-Ratio, Health, and Social Status: A Biographical Description of Middle and Late Period Bay Area Children.” Human Biology: Vol. 94: Issue 1, Article 5.
2021a - Monica V. Arellano, Alan Leventhal, Sheila Guzman-Schmidt, Gloria E. Arellano Gomez, Charlene Nijmeh. Volume III: An Ethnohistory of Santa Clara Valley and Adjacent Regions, 575 Benton Street Project, Santa Clara, California. Prepared by the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area; in Technical Report No. 21-099 Prepared by PaleoWest, 1870 Olympic Boulevard, Suite 100, Walnut Creek, CA 94596. Prepared for Prometheus Real Estate Group, Inc., 1900 South Norfolk Street, Suite 150 San Mateo, California 94403.
2021b - Diane DiGiuseppe, David Grant, Elisabeth Mabie, Harrison Foo, and Alan Leventhal, Monica V. Arellano, Charlene Nijmeh, Sheila Guzman Schmidt, Gloria E. Arellano Gomez. Burial and Archaeological Data Recovery Program Conducted on a Portion of Thámien Rummeytak - Thámien (Guadalupe) River Site CA-SCL-128, Located in Downtown San Jose, Santa Clara County, California. Prepared by D&D Osteological Services, LLC and the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area for Jay Paul Company 200 Park Project, City of San José, Santa Clara County.
2020a - Alan Leventhal, Diane DiGiuseppe, David Grant, Colin Jaramillo, Brianna Graves, Harrison Foo, Rosemary Cambra, Monica V. Arellano, Sheila Guzman-Schmidt, Gloria E. Gomez, and Arnold Sanchez. Final Report on the Burial and Archaeological Data Recovery Program Conducted on a Portion of Prehistoric Site CA-SCL-851 ’Utthin širkeewis Tcitca ’Irekmatka [Two Black Obsidian Rocks Site] (P-43-001594), Located at 2298 S. 1st Street and Tully Road, City of San Jose, Santa Clara County, California. Report Prepared for the City of San Jose Planning Department.
2020b - Monica V. Arellano, Alan Leventhal, Charlene Nijmeh, Sheila Guzman-Schmidt, and Gloria E. Arellano Gomez. Ethnohistory, Historic Ties, and Tribal Stewardship of Sunol/Pleasanton, Santa Clara Valley, and Adjacent Areas. In Protohistoric Village Organization and Territorial Maintenance: The Archaeology of Síi Túupentak (ALA-565/H) in the San Francisco Bay Area. Brian F. Byrd, Laurel Engbring, Michael Darcangelo, and Allika Ruby; Gregory H. Wada (eds..). Center for Archaeological Research at Davis (CARD) Publication Number 20.
2020c - Monica V. Arellano, Alan Leventhal, Charlene Nijmeh, Sheila Guzman-Schmidt, and Gloria E. Arellano Gomez. Ethnohistory, Historic Ties, and Tribal Stewardship of Sunol/Pleasanton, Santa Clara Valley, and Adjacent Areas. In Archaeological Data Recovery at Rummey Ta Kuččuwiš Tiprectak (CA-ALA-704/H), Sunol Long-term Improvements Project, Alameda County, California. Volume 1: Project Summary and Native American Archaeology; Brian F. Byrd, Laurel Engbring, Michael Darcangelo. San Francisco Planning Department, Environmental Planning Division. On behalf of: San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, Bureau of Environmental Management. San Francisco, CA.
2020d - Alan Leventhal, Brieann DeOrnalles, Leslie Hoefert, Amanda Jorgenson, Rosemary Cambra, Monica V. Arellano, Sheila Guzman-Schmidt, Gloria E. Gomez, Charlene Nijmeh, and Arnold Sanchez. Report on the Burial and Archaeological Data Recovery Program, Analysis and AMS Dating of Ancestral Muwekma Ohlone Human Remains Recovered from the Táareš Tunnešte ’Ullaaštak Chitcomini Šaro-tka (Place of the Man Buried on a Bed of Blue Mussel Shells Site, CA-SCL-967) Located at 6055 Guadalupe Mines Road, City of San Jose, Santa Clara County, California. Report Prepared for: Mr. Steve Saray and John McCann, Developer, NEXGEN Builders Inc., 225 Demeter St., East Palo Alto, CA, 94303.
2019a - Alan Leventhal, Brieann DeOrnalles, Diane DiGiuseppe, David Grant, Leslie Hoefert, Amanda Jorgenson, Rosemary Cambra, Monica V. Arellano, Sheila Guzman-Schmidt, Gloria E. Gomez, and Arnold Sanchez. Report on the Burial and Archaeological Data Recovery Program, Analysis and AMS Dating of Ancestral Muwekma Ohlone Human Remains Recovered from the Táareš Tunnešte ’Ullaaštak Chitcomini Šaro-tka (Place of the Man Buried on a Bed of Blue Mussel Shells Site, CA-SCL-967) Located at 6055 Guadalupe Mines Road, City of San Jose, Santa Clara County, California.
2019b - Alan Leventhal, Nicholas Lara, Arianna Heathcote, Hannah Harrison, and Jazmin Alexander, Diane DiGiuseppe, David Grant, Rosemary Cambra, Charlene Nijmeh, Monica V. Arellano, Sheila Guzman-Schmidt, and Gloria E. Gomez. Report on the Archaeological Data Recovery Program, Analysis, and AMS Dating of the ’Írek Šaro ’Ayttakiš (Fossil [Stone] Shell Woman Recovered from the ’Írek Šarotka [Place of the Fossil Shell Site], CA-SCL-314 Located at 1549 Fleming Avenue, City of San Jose, Santa Clara County California. Report Prepared for the Department of Anthropology, San Jose State University.
2018a Karen S. Gardner, Eric J. Bartelink, Antoinette Martinez, Alan Leventhal, and Rosemary Cambra. Breastfeeding and Weaning Practices of the Ancestral Ohlone Indians of California: A Case Study Using Stable Isotope Analysis of Bone Collagen. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 2018; 28:528-534. John Wiley and Sons, Ltd. https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/faculty_rsca/4099/
2018b C. L. Scheib, Hongjie Li, Tariq Desai, Vivian Link, Christopher Kendall, Genevieve Dewar, Peter William Griffith, Alexander Mörseburg, John R. Johnson, Amiee Potter, Susan L. Kerr, Phillip Endicott, John Lindo, Marc Haber, Yali Xue, Chris Tyler-Smith, Manjinder S. Sandhu, Joseph G. Lorenz, Tori D. Randall, Zuzana Faltyskova, Luca Pagani, Petr Danecek, Tamsin C. O’Connell, Patricia Martz, Alan S. Boraas, Brian F. Byrd, Alan Leventhal, Rosemary Cambra, Ronald Williamson, Louis Lesage, Brian Holguin, Ernestine Ygnacio-De Soto, JohnnTommy Rosas, Mait Metspalu, Jay T. Stock, Andrea Manica, Aylwyn Scally, Daniel Wegmann, Ripan S. Malhi, Toomas Kivisild. Ancient Human Parallel Lineages Within North America Contributed to a Coastal Expansion. Science 360, 1024–1027 (2018). https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/faculty_rsca/3304/
2018c Eric J. Bartelink, Viviana I. Bellifemine, Irina Nechayev, Valerie A. Andrushko, Alan Leventhal, and Robert Jurmain. Biocultural Perspectives on Interpersonal Violence in the Prehistoric San Francisco Bay Area. In Hunter-Gatherer Adaptation and Resilience: A Bioarchaeological Perspective, Daniel H. Temple and Christopher M. Stojanowski, editors. Cambridge University Press.
2017a Alan Leventhal, Diane DiGiuseppe, David Grant, Rosemary Cambra, Monica V. Arellano, Sheila Guzman-Schmidt, and Gloria E. Gomez and Arnold Sanchez. Report on the Analysis and Temporal Placement of an Ancestral Muwekma Ohlone Burial Recovered from ’Ayttakiš ’Éete Hiramwiš Trépam-tak [Place of Woman Sleeping Under the Pipe Site], CA-ALA-677/H Located in the Town of Sunol, Alameda County, California. Report prepared for the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission.
2017b Alan Leventhal, Diane DiGiuseppe, David Grant, Rosemary Cambra, Monica V. Arellano, Sheila Guzman-Schmidt, Gloria E. Gomez, and Arnold Sanchez. Report on the Burial and Archaeological Data Recovery Program, Analysis and AMS Dating of Ancestral Muwekma Ohlone Human Remains Recovered from the Cashrishmini ’Awweš ’Írek ’Innutka (Yellow Salt [Alum] Rock Road) Site, CA-SCL-950) VTA/BRT Project Located at the Intersection of Alum Rock Avenue and Jackson Street, City of San Jose, Santa Clara County, California. Report prepared for Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, San Jose, California.
2016a Alan Leventhal, Diane DiGiuseppe, David Grant, Katrinka Reinhart, Rosemary Cambra, Monica V. Arellano, Sheila Guzman-Schmidt, and Gloria E. Gomez. Report on the Recovery, Analysis, and AMS Dating of Ancestral Muwekma Ohlone Human Remains Recovered from the Horše ’Iššéete Ruwwatka [Place of the Good Health House Site] (Ronald McDonald House/CA-SCL-609) Located at 520 Sand Hill Road, Palo Alto, Santa Clara County, California. Report Prepared for: Laura Boudreau, Chief Operating Officer, Ronald McDonald House, 520 Sand Hill Road, Palo Alto, CA, and Laura Jones, Stanford University Archaeologist, Stanford, CA.
2016b Alexandra M. Greenwald, Jelmer W. Eerkens, Eric Bartelink, Alan Leventhal, and Rosemary Cambra. Stable Isotope Evidence of Episodic Access to Marine Resources In the Santa Clara Valley. In, Reconstructing Lifeways in Ancient California: Stable Isotope Evidence in Foraging Behavior, Life History Strategies, and Kinship Patterns, Volume edited by Aleandra M. Greewald and Gregory R. Burns. Center for Archaeological Research at Davis (CARD) Publication #18.
See CV for extensive list of publications 1974-2015; papers/posters presented at professional meetings and educational/cultural events.
Files
Download Curriculum Vitae (683 KB)
Personal Commentary
For the past 46 years, Alan has worked with the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Region as a tribal ethnohistorian and senior archaeologist. He has also conducted tribal genealogical research through the federal censuses and vital records from the three Bay Area missions. Alan has also co-authored the history of Muwekma Ohlone military service, spanning from pre- and during WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm, Iraq, and those tribal members currently serving in the U.S. Armed Forces. He has also worked as a volunteer (1992-1998) on the Congressionally created (HR 2144) Advisory Council on California Indian Policy’s Federal Recognition Tribal Task Force and was one of the few advocates for the Previously Federally Recognized Tribes in the state.
Alan had also worked closely with other tribes throughout California as they seek restoration and reaffirmation of their tribal status. He had also served as an ethnohistorian and archaeologist for two other previously Federally Recognized tribes: the Amah–Mutsun Tribal Band of Costanoan Indians (since 1989) centered around Mission San Juan Bautista, and Ohlone-Costanoan/Esselen Nation (since 1992) centered around Mission San Carlos in Monterey.
Alan is also a veteran of the 500 Mile American Indina Spiritual Run (1980-1984) taking a team from SJSU on that run. He also served as chairman of the board (from 1980-1987) for the MOSQUTOS Eastside Action Club, which was a United Way agency located near SJSU. Recently, he was one of the founding board members for Open Doors, a non-profit currently working with homeless military veterans. Alan is also a board member on the Muwekma Ohlone Preservation Foundation (2021 - present) https://www.muwekmafoundation.org/