Dr. Carolyn E. Boyd,
Executive Director

Carolyn E. Boyd is the Executive Director and co-founder of SHUMLA, an archeological research and educational nonprofit corporation formed to connect people of all ages with the land and their cultural heritage.  She serves as Adjunct Professor at Texas State University and as a Research Fellow at the Center for Arts and Symbolism of the Ancient Americas in San Marcos, Texas and the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory in Austin.

Boyd received her doctorate in archeology from Texas A&M University based on her analysis of the 4,000 year-old rock art of the Lower Pecos Canyonlands of southwest Texas and northern Mexico.  Her background as an artist has provided her with a unique perspective to recognize these paintings as planned compositions, not random accumulations of images over time.  Her expanded dissertation, Rock Art of the Lower Pecos, was published in 2003 and is considered an important contribution on rock art interpretation.

Boyd teaches Field Methods in Rock Art, a three-week field school offered each May through Texas State University, gives numerous lectures around the country, serves on several graduate committees, and continues her rock art research in the Lower Pecos.