About

Robin Beck is a professor in the Department of Anthropology and serves as the curator of Eastern North American Archaeology in the Museum of Anthropological Archaeology. His research interests include the archaeology and ethnohistory of complex societies in eastern North America and the Andes of Bolivia and Peru, early colonial encounters in what is now the southern United States, and broader issues related to social organization and change. He received his Ph.D. in Anthropology from Northwestern University in 2004, where his dissertation involved excavating a Middle Formative ritual platform at Alto Pukara in Bolivia's Lake Titicaca Basin, utilizing Lévi-Strauss’ concept of the social house to understand transformations in public space during the Formative Period. Since 2001, he has co-directed the Exploring Joara Project, focusing on the archaeology and early colonial history of Native American societies in North Carolina, including research at the Berry site, which is the location of the native town of Joara and the Spanish garrison Fort San Juan built by Juan Pardo in 1567. His work at this site sheds light on the early processes of colonialism in North America. His research areas include colonialism and colonial encounters, the origins of complex societies, theories of social change, and social structure and events. He has received several awards, including the 2019 Field Discovery Award at the Shanghai Archaeology Forum, the 2017 Henry Russel Award from the University of Michigan for research and teaching, and the 2006 C B Moore Award for Excellence in Archaeology by a Young Scholar in Southeastern Studies. Beck has authored a book titled 'Chiefdoms, Collapse, and Coalescence in the Early American South' and published articles on topics such as material culture and social practices in anthropology.

Research topics

• Physics
• Astrobiology
• Environmental science
• History
• Social Science
• Engineering
• Sociology
• Aerospace engineering
• Geology
• Geography
• Gender studies
• Ecology
• Nuclear engineering
• Meteorology
• Electrical engineering
• Ethnology
• Materials science
• Archaeology
• Composite material
• Thermodynamics
• Automotive engineering
• Mechanical engineering

Selected publications

• Flame Propagation in Piston Lands of a Spark-Ignited Hydrogen Internal Combustion Engine

  Proceedings in Technology Transfer · 2025-01-01

  book-chapter
  PublisherDOI

• Fear the Native woman: Femininity, food, and power in the sixteenth‐century North Carolina Piedmont

  UNC Libraries · 2025-03-25

  articleOpen access

  Native women in Indigenous‐Western colonial entanglements are often portrayed as passive agents with little transformative social power in an otherwise dynamic landscape. However, Native women throughout the European colonial world many times controlled the most important resource required by European colonists: the knowledge and materials necessary to transform raw materials into “food.” Their control over this invaluable resource provided Native women with avenues of power both within their own societies and in European colonies. Here, we explore constructions and perceptions of Native women's power during the period of sixteenth‐century Spanish expeditions into the Carolina Piedmont and mountains by reviewing documentary data from entradas led by Hernando de Soto and Juan Pardo, as well as archaeological data from the Indigenous town of Joara and the Spanish colonial outpost of Cuenca and Fort San Juan at the Berry site (31BK22), located near Morganton, North Carolina. Employing an Indigenous feminist framework, we argue that the power vested in Native women through their own societies, as well as by Spaniards through their dependence on them for survival, provided Native women with far greater agency and power in entanglements with Spanish colonists, and interactions with European colonists more broadly, than previously recognized. Las mujeres nativas en entrelazamientos coloniales indígeno‐occidentales a menudo son representadas como agentes pasivos con poco poder transformativo en un paisaje por lo demás dinámico. Sin embargo, las mujeres nativas a través del mundo colonial europeo muchas veces controlaron el más importante recurso requerido por los colonos europeos: el conocimiento y los materiales necesarios para transformar las materias primas en “alimentos”. Su control sobre este recurso invaluable les proporcionó a las mujeres nativas avenidas de poder tanto dentro de sus sociedades como en colonias europeas. Aquí, exploramos construcciones y percepciones del poder de las mujeres nativas durante el período de expediciones españolas en el siglo XVI en el Piedemonte y las montañas de Carolina por medio de revisar datos documentarios de las entradas lideradas por Hernando de Soto y Juan Pardo, así como los datos arqueológicos del pueblo indígena de Joara y puesto colonial español de avanzada de Cuenca y Fuerte San Juan en el sitio de Berry (31BK22), localizado cerca de Morganton, Carolina del Norte. Empleando un marco feminista indígena, argumentamos que el poder investido en las mujeres nativas a través de sus propias sociedades, así como por los españoles a través de su dependencia de ellas para su propia sobrevivencia proporcionó a las mujeres nativas mucha más agencia y poder en entrelazamientos con colonos españoles e interacciones con colonos europeos más ampliamente, que los reconocidos anteriormente. [entrelazamientos coloniales indígeno‐europeos, feminismo, género, humoralismo galénico, mujeres indígenas, poder simbólico, provisión de alimentos, suroriente de los Estados Unidos]

  PublisherDOI

• Women and Power at Joara, Cuenca, and Fort San Juan

  University of Florida Press eBooks · 2024-06-11

  book-chapter
  PublisherDOI

• Women and Power at Joara, Cuenca, and Fort San Juan

  University Press of Florida eBooks · 2024

  • Geology
  • Geography
  • History

  During the mid-sixteenth century, Late Mississippian women actively engaged in personal and diplomatic relations with Spanish explorers who traversed the Carolina Piedmont. From the Lady of Cofitachequi to Guatari Mico, the public leadership roles of Native women are well attested by historical sources. Yet written accounts are less useful for understanding how Native women also shaped these encounters through foodways and daily practice. Research at the Berry site, location of the Native town of Joara, and Fort San Juan, founded by Juan Pardo, offers new insights into how the actions and activities of Mississippian women shaped the course of the colonial encounter that unfolded at this short-lived fort and provides some insights for how one might better understand the role of women within Late Mississippian societies.

  PublisherDOI

• Fear the Native woman: Femininity, food, and power in the sixteenth‐century North Carolina Piedmont

  American Anthropologist · 2023

  • Sociology
  • Social Science
  • Ethnology

  Abstract Native women in Indigenous‐Western colonial entanglements are often portrayed as passive agents with little transformative social power in an otherwise dynamic landscape. However, Native women throughout the European colonial world many times controlled the most important resource required by European colonists: the knowledge and materials necessary to transform raw materials into “food.” Their control over this invaluable resource provided Native women with avenues of power both within their own societies and in European colonies. Here, we explore constructions and perceptions of Native women's power during the period of sixteenth‐century Spanish expeditions into the Carolina Piedmont and mountains by reviewing documentary data from entradas led by Hernando de Soto and Juan Pardo, as well as archaeological data from the Indigenous town of Joara and the Spanish colonial outpost of Cuenca and Fort San Juan at the Berry site (31BK22), located near Morganton, North Carolina. Employing an Indigenous feminist framework, we argue that the power vested in Native women through their own societies, as well as by Spaniards through their dependence on them for survival, provided Native women with far greater agency and power in entanglements with Spanish colonists, and interactions with European colonists more broadly, than previously recognized.

  PublisherDOI

• Development and Sizing of the Mars2020 Thermal Protection System

  AIAA Aviation 2019 Forum · 2022 · 14 citations

  • Aerospace engineering
  • Mechanical engineering
  • Engineering

  View Video Presentation: https://doi.org/10.2514/6.2022-3951.vid The Mars 2020 entry vehicle successfully delivered the Perseverance rover to the Martian surface on 18 February 2021. The entry vehicle aeroshell was shielded from aerodynamic heating with a thermal protection system (TPS) made of three different ablative materials. This paper provides an overview of the methodology and assumptions employed for the thermal sizing and design of the Mars 2020 aeroshell TPS. The sizing results demonstrate that the as-built thicknesses of the TPS materials were sufficient to withstand the predicted aerothermal environments without exceeding temperature limits of the underlying aeroshell structure. This paper also provides an overview of the ground testing performed in NASA arc jet facilities to verify the performance of flight lot TPS materials. Finally, temperature data returned by thermocouples embedded in the flight vehicle TPS are compared with predictions by the thermal response models used in pre-flight TPS sizing.

  PublisherDOI

• Mars 2020 Thermal Protection Systems (TPS)

  NASA Technical Reports Server (NASA) · 2021-02-04

  article1st authorCorresponding

  This is a presentation for the Destination Space 2021 STEM activities leading up to and beyond the landing of the Perseverance Rover on Mars. This presentation will look at the thermal protection systems for the Mars entry vehicle by first showing the overall spacecraft, explaining a little about the mission, describing the harrowing entry and the reason why TPS is required. It will give a little introduction to the materials and how they behave. Finally a little background on the author is presented along with encouragement to look into engineering if students love math and science.

  Publisher

• TPS and Entry System Technologies for Future Mars and Titan Exploration

  2021-03-18 · 3 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  The purpose of this white paper is to provide an overview to the NRC Decadal Survey Mars and Ocean Worlds Sub-Panels on thermal protection system (TPS) technologies required for future Mars and Titan exploration missions. It considers the capability of heritage TPS technology used by previous Mars and Titan missions. A prime conclusion is that there are important advances regarding the availability of forebody TPS therefore, we recommend that NASA invest in a cross-cutting technology program that focuses on development and sustainment of relevant TPS materials, entry systems, test facilities, design tools, and flight instrumentation.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Thermal Protection System Materials for Sample Return Missions

  Bulletin of the AAS · 2021 · 5 citations

  • Environmental science
  • Materials science
  • Astrobiology

  This white paper from the Thermal Protection System (TPS) community to the NRC Decadal Survey Sub-Panels provides an overview of TPS materials needed for future Sample Return (SR) missions. We consider the capability of heritage TPS material used by recent SR missions and identify appropriate materials for future SR missions. A prime conclusion is that the current TPS materials, if properly maintained, offer good low-density solutions for lower velocity (<13.5 km/s) sample return missions without planetary protection back-contamination concerns. Furthermore, missions that have a larger capsule, a higher entry speed (>13.5 km/s), or back-protection concerns will leverage recently developed mid-density TPS materials. To maintain NASA's Sample Return capabilities in the coming decade, we recommend that NASA continue to invest in sustainment of relevant TPS materials, as well as ground-test facilities, predictive entry modeling, and flight instrumentation.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Sustaining Mature Thermal Protection Systems Crucial for Future In-Situ Planetary Missions

  2021-03-18 · 5 citations

  articleOpen access

  This paper seeks to inform of the need for, and approaches to, sustaining critical thermal protection systems (TPS) for in-situ planetary missions in the coming decade. The key technologies, HEEET and PICA, are needed only for NASA missions. These technology capabilities will most likely atrophy due to uncertain future needs and thus place future science missions at risk. Therefore we advocate for and propose an outline of how NASA can sustain these two TPS technologies in the coming decade for the missions in 2030 and beyond.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Christopher B. Rodning

  21 shared

• Malaz Boustani

  Regenstrief Institute

  19 shared

• Christopher M. Callahan

  Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis

  17 shared

• Ethiraj Venkatapathy

  Ames Research Center

  15 shared

• Helen Hwang

  Washington University in St. Louis

  15 shared

• Matthew Gasch

  Ames Research Center

  11 shared

• David G. Moore

  Sandia National Laboratories

  11 shared

• Hugh C. Hendrie

  10 shared

Awards & honors

• 2019, Field Discovery Award. Fourth Biennial Shanghai Archae…
• 2017, Henry Russel Award, University of Michigan, for except…
• 2006 C B Moore Award for Excellence in Archaeology by a Youn…