Wendy Ann Ashmore (née Matthews;[1] June 26, 1948 – January 8, 2019) was an American professor of Maya archaeology at the University of California, Riverside.
Even though there was always a ready supply of water available at Quirigua, the wells provide archaeologists with an excellent example of specialized Maya hydraulic technology.
Urban, Edward M. Shortman, and David Webster, Ashmore challenges the assumption that ballcourts functioned as public architecture in ancient Maya society.
It suggests alternately that they instead functioned as a “lived space” more closely resembling households and private dwellings than public architecture like temples.
For many years, her textbook, coauthored with long-time collaborator Robert J. Sharer, Fundamentals of Archaeology was a top seller.
She taught archaeology at Rutgers University for many years, where she was highly respected by all, and held in the highest esteem by her many students.