Staff profile

Education

2008-2016: Academic Technician, Geographical Information Systems Laboratory, CIESAS-DF, Mexico City.

2010-2011: University College London, Institute of Archaeology, Faculty of Social and Historical Sciences. MSc GIS & Spatial Analysis in Archaeology, with merits, 2011.
Dissertation: Iyolloco in altepetl: Tlapa-Tlachinollan's polity through GIS and spatial analysis. La Montaña of Guerrero, Mexico

2002-2006: Escuela Nacional de Antropología e Historia –ENAH-. Bachelor of Archaeology (Licenciado), with distinction, 2009.
Thesis: Construcción y Reconstrucción de Tenochtitlan a la Ciudad de México. Aculturación y Urbanismo en el Mapa de Nüremberg y en el Mapa de Uppsala a través de un Sistema de Información Geográfica

Research topic

Urban fluctuations in the Nile Delta before the Arabs. Between the Nile river and the Mediterranean sea.

Research topic abstract

 The Nile Delta is one of the world's largest river deltas, covering an area of about 22000km2, and has been one of the most populated places in the world since prehistorical times due to a combination of land fertility and a big and privileged settlement area among the Sahara, the Red Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, the Persian Gulf, the Sinai, the arid lands of what was called Levant and even the complex terrain of the Anatolian peninsula.

Through time, several sites in the Nile Delta were abandoned for one reason or another, despite their strategic position and the social and economical benefits the Nile Delta gave to its settlers due to its high fertility. Interestingly, the abandonment of some sites has coincided with long term changes in the annual flooding pattern of the Nile. Shifts of the courses of the Nile's branches led to some towns to decline (see Redford 2010; Blouin 2012; Marchiori 2013). The disappearance of the Nile branches due to excessive silting may have led to a population decrease in the 8^th century A.C., and several sites declined as well (Wilson 2007). Also, researchers point out the fact that long-term fluctuations changed the pattern of sediment deposition; for instance, the ratio of the sapropel core between 4200 and 4500 years B.P. (Gawad 2007) and the strontium isotope minima (Krom et al. 2002) provide evidence of a decline in the Nile flows that may have led to the demise of the Old Kingdom.

In the Nile Delta, there is a pattern of several "twin" sites that appear to have been either partially or totally abandoned and at some point resettled because of the fluctuations of the Nile and the sea level; the sites' new locations were geographically very close to the original ones, most possibly for maintaining administrative control and to facilitate the population's migration from one place to the other. What needs to be understood is whether these fluctuations determined the abandonment or displacement of settlements and/or were causing some sort of political, social and economical upheaval that ended up collapsing urban life, infrastructure and that eventually resulted in abandonment or site displacement. Why did people move? Was the migration planned, coerced, spontaneous or did respond to a more gradual and natural migration due to the attractiveness of a new settlement in comparison to the old one? Could there exist a displacement pattern relating all these twin sites?

Awards and Fellowships (2007-2018)

2017: ASOR Member Supported Excavation Fellowship, American Schools of Oriental Research, USD $2000

2016: Full Scholarship from Mexican National Council of Science and Technology. (CONACYT) to pursue a PhD in Archaeology in a foreign country (Durham University, UK).

2010: Full Scholarship from Mexican National Council of Science and Technology. (CONACYT) to pursue a Master degree in a foreign country (University College London, UK).

2010: Institute of Archaeology (IOA) Masters Award, IOA Grants Sub Committee, University College London, MA/MSc academic year 2010-11. GBP £1000

2007: Subprograma de Becas de Capacitación en Técnicas y Metodologíade la Investigación, CIESAS, “Topografía de un desastre: medición de las afectaciones provocadas por el huracán Stan en el municipio de Mazatán, Chiapas” project. Dr. Gerardo Gutiérrez Mendoza, principal investigator and field director.

Professional presentations and lectures (2012-2018)

2018: Egyptians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Arabs: thousands of years of landscape transformation in the Nile Delta. #tag503, The Creation, Contestation and Transformation of Landscape (Eduardo Herrera Malatesta, Jan Kolen, chairs), TAG Deva, The 40th Theoretical Archaeology Group Conference, Department of History and Archaeology, University of Chester, UK, December 19.

2018: Rethinking the archaeological record. UAVs, photogrammetry, and GIS. SESSION 28C – Aerial Approaches In Landscape Archaeology: Past, Present And Future (Davis & Opitz, chairs), Landscape Archaeology Conference, Newcastle, UK, September 20.

2018: Cosmologies and ecologies transforming the Nile Delta. Egyptians, Greeks and Romans. Session 50F – Converting the Landscape: Mapping Religious Conversion And Contested Religious Space Through Landscape Analysis (Marron, Chenal & Chevassu, chairs), Landscape Archaeology Conference, Newcastle, UK, September 18.

2018: Looking Down on Mesoamerica: Applying Geophysical Prospection, UAV mapping, and LiDAR to the Archaeological Record, co-presented with Gerardo Gutiérrez, SAA 83th Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C., USA, Abril 14.

2017 : Archaeological Settlement Patterns in the Province of Tlapa, Guerrero, co-presented with Gerardo Gutiérrez, SAA 82th Annual Meeting in Vancouver, BC, Canada, Abril 24.

2017: Urbi or not Urbi: Urban Fluctuations in the Nile Delta, Epiphany Term conversazione, 25 February 2017, Birley Room, Hatfield College, Durham University.

2015: Unearthing a Town from the Sky: Kom Wasit, the Bird’s Eye Archaeological Point of View, co-presented with Henrik Brahe, SAA 80th Annual Meeting in San Francisco, California, USA., April 19

2015: Modeling Space at Tell Timai: Composite Imaging at Greco-Roman Thmuis, Egypt, co-presented with Jay Silverstein, Sarah Chapman and Robert Littman, SAA 80th Annual Meeting in San Francisco, California, USA., April 19

2014: Prospección y topografía en un sitio costero: Las Labradas y la Flor del Océano, Sinaloa. XXX Mesa redonda de la Sociedad Mexicana de Antropología, Session 45. Arqueología costera, Proyecto Arqueológico Las Labradas Sinaloa (I). Co-ordinators: Jesús Gibrán de la Torre Vázquez & Víctor Joel Santos Ramírez. August 6th.

2014: Kom Wasit & Kom al-Ahmer survey. Magnetometry, topography, 3D modelling and GIS. Kom al-Ahmer/ Kom Wasit archaeological day, The Italian archaeological mission in Beheira, The Alexandria Center for Hellenistic Studies. Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Alexandria, Egypt, July 26.

2014: Settlement Patterns, Cognitive Maps and Political Memory in Eastern Guerrero, co-presented with Dr. Gerardo Gutiérrez Mendoza, SAA 79th Annual Meeting in Austin, Texas, USA., April 24.

2013: Anti-peatonalidad: La Ciudad de México y la calzada de Tlalpan. Recuento histórico sobre la destrucción. II Reunión de Historiadores y Etnohistoriadores del CIESAS, Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, September 6th.

2013: Introducción a los SIG en las Ciencias Sociales. Presented to the postgraduate students of Seminario de investigación II. Técnicas y fuentes de la investigación antropológica of the Master program of Social Anthropology, CIESAS Sureste, San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, México

2012: Análisis del espacio. (Dr. Valentina Garza Martínez & Dr. Mario Trujillo Bolio). Presented to the postgraduate students of the Historia y Construcción Social del Espacio course by Dr. Valentina Garza Martínez & Dr. Mario Trujillo Bolio of the PhD program in History, CIESAS-Peninsular, Mérida, Yucatán, México

2012: Sistemas de Información Geográfica. Una forma de ver el espacio-tiempo. Presented to the postgraduate students of the Historia y Construcción Social del Espacio course by Dr. Valentina Garza Martínez & Dr. Mario Trujillo Bolio of the PhD program in History, CIESAS-Peninsular, Mérida, Yucatán, México

Projects (2010-2018)

2018: Surveyor, Delta Survey – Kafr Dawar province. EES-Durham University. Elena Tiribilli (dir.). Kafr Dawar, Egypt

2018: Surveyor, Delta Survey – Kafr Sheikh province. EES-Durham University. Penelope Wilson (dir.). Kafr Sheikh, Egypt

2014-2017: Supervisor & surveyor, Kom al-Ahmer-Kom Wasit archaeological project, Dr. Mohamed Kenawi, Dr. Cristina Mondin, directors, Dr. Giorgia Marchiori, field director.The Italian-Egyptian Archaeological Centre (CAIE) and Padova University, Beheira, Egypt

2016-2018: Collaborator. Project MAP, Gerardo Gutiérrez, director. University of Colorado Boulder. USA-Mexico-Vietnam. http://project-map.org

2016-2018: Collaborator. Development Of A New Subsistence Adaptation In Middle America - PIPOG, NSF award 1450562. Gerardo Gutiérrez, director. University of Colorado Boulder. Chiepetlan, Guerrero, Mexico. http://nsfgrant.pipog.org/

2016: Supervisor & surveyor, Chametla, Sinaloa archeological project, M. Joel Santos Jiménez, director, INAH-Sinaloa, Chametla, Sinaloa, Mexico.

2008-2016: Academic Technician, GeographicalInformationSystemsLaboratory, CIESAS-DF, Mexico City.

2015: Supervisor, GIS and topography, Cerro de la Máscara archaeological project, Julio Vicente López & M. Joel Santos Jiménez, directors. INAH-Sinaloa. El Fuerte, Sinaloa, Mexico

2014: Supervisor, GIS and topography, Kom al-Ahmer-Kom Wasit archaeological project, Dr. Mohamed Kenawi, Dr. Cristina Mondin, directors, Giorgia Marchiori, field director,The Italian-Egyptian Archaeological Centre (CAIE) and Padova University, Beheira, Egypt.

2014: Topography, Archaeological rescue in downtown Alexandria. Mapping a mosaic between Dr Abd El-Hameed Sayed, Dinokrat e Ibn Shogea streets, Al Azaritah WA Ash Shatebi, Qesm Bab Sharqi, Alexandria, Egypt.

2013: Supervisor, GIS and topography, Las Labradas Archaeological Project, M.Joel Santos Jiménez, director. INAH-Sinaloa. San Ignacio, Sinaloa, Mexico.

2011-2013: Supervisor, GIS and topography, Tell Timai Archaeological Project, Dr.Robert J. Littman, Jay Silverstein & Mohamed Kenawi, directors. University of Hawaii at Manoa. Timai, Egypt.

2010-2011: Volunteer and assistant, Khirbet al Mafjar survey. Dr. Mahmoud Hawari & Dr. Dominic Perring, directors. Birzeit University. Jericho, Palestine.

2010: Assistant, topography and excavation, Papantla, Veracruz, Mexico. (archaeological sites around Tajín). Dr. Arturo Pascual, principal director. UNAM-IIE & INAH.

Blog and websites

2018: Fieldwork collaborator, designer and webmaster, PIPOG, Development Of A New Subsistence Adaptation In Middle America, Gerardo Gutiérrez (dir.), http://nsfgrant.pipog.org

2018: Fieldwork collaborator, designer and webmaster, Project MAP. Grand Challenge, University of Colorado Boulder, Gerardo Gutiérrez & Steve Lekson (dirs.), http://project-map.org

2015: Designer and webmaster, AntropoSIG & Geonode. CIESAS, GIS Laboratory website, CIESAS-DF, http://antroposig.ciesas.edu.mx & http://geonode.ciesas.edu.mx

2007-2016:ishiba, http://ishiba.blogspot.com/

• Open source software
• Information technologies
• Archaeology of Central Mexico
• Archaeology of the Near and Middle East
• Human use of space
• Geographical Information Systems and Spatial analysis
• Historiography (Critical history)
• Remote sensing
• Visual perception
• Urban planning, development and landscape transformations
• Transportation and human mobility

Chapter in book

• Hinojosa Baliño, I. Estructuras invisibles. Instalación funeraria de lodo en Loma del Tecomate. In J. Santos, A. Grave, & G. López Castillo (Eds.), “Chametla, arqueología e historia” conmemorativo de los 25 años del Centro INAH Sinaloa. INAH
• Hinojosa Baliño, I. (2019). Chapter 3 Archaeological and Topographic Survey at Kom al-Ahmer and Kom Wasit. In M. Kenawi (Ed.), Kom al-Ahmer – Kom Wasit I: Excavations in the Metelite Nome, Egypt: ca. 700 BC – AD 1000 (41-55). Archaeopress. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvwh8c5j.11
• Hinojosa Baliño, I., & Marchiori, G. (2015). Topografía y mapeo de la zona de grabados rupestres Las Labradas y el sitio La Flor del Océano. In V. J. Santos Ramírez, & J. G. de la Torre Vázquez (Eds.), Las Labradas. Cinco años del proyecto arqueológico. INAH­ - Centro INAH Sinaloa
• Hinojosa-Baliño, I. (2015). Topografía en Las Labradas y La Flor del Océano, sobre el espacio y los mapa cognitivos. In V. J. Santos Ramírez, & J. G. de la Torre Vázquez (Eds.), Las Labradas. Cinco años del proyecto arqueológico. INAH­ - Centro INAH Sinaloa
• Fenoglio-Limón, F., Ibarra Fonseca, E. M., & Hinojosa-Balino, I. (2007). El Epiclásico en el Marqués, Querétaro. Un grano de arena. In C. J. Viramontes (Ed.), Tiempo y región (57-76). INAH-UAQ-Gobierno del Estado de Querétaro

Conference Paper

• pre-dynastic Egypt to the rise of Islam using an object-relational database. Presented at CAA 2018 “Check Object Integrity”, Kraków, Poland

Journal Article

• Deckers, K., Riehl, S., Meadows, J., Tumolo, V., Hinojosa Balino, I., & Lawrence, D. (2024). A history of olive and grape cultivation in Southwest Asia using charcoal and seed remains. PLoS ONE, 19(6), Article e0303578. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0303578
• Hinojosa-Baliño, I., Infante-Vázquez, O., & Vallejo, M. (2019). Distribution of PM2.5 Air Pollution in Mexico City: Spatial Analysis with Land-Use Regression Model. Applied Sciences, 9(14), Article 2936. https://doi.org/10.3390/app9142936
• Hinojosa-Baliño, I. (2018). Algunas pistas para la ubicación de la Isla Bermeja en el Golfo de México: L’isola che non c’è
• Hinojosa Baliño, I. (2016). Anti peatonalidad. Historia sobre la transformación de la Calzada de Tlalpan. Historia 2.0 (En linea), VI(11), 224-251

Other (Print)

• Hinojosa Baliño, I. (2016). Processing a Detailed Digital Terrain Model Using Photogrammetry and UAVs at Cerro de la Máscara, Sinaloa, Mexico
• Hinojosa-Baliño, I. (2014). Los estados anacreónticos y el lidar. El caso de Tajín
• Hinojosa-Baliño, I., Fonseca Ibarra, E. M., & Fenoglio Limón, F. (2008). Diversión prehispánica