Anthropologists

Anthropologists who study the Maya of today, and those who came before. Checked November 7, 2026. Back to Topics. Archaeologists and epigraphers and Historians are the other two lists.

Most worked in Maya towns and villages, and some studied Mayan languages. Maya anthropologists are marked. Each name links to a page that confirms where the person works or when they died. Lines marked to verify come from a thin or old source, or name a fact still to be checked. Each line names the field.

50 people.

• Victor Montejo. Maya Jakaltek. UC Davis. Professor Emeritus and former chair of Native American Studies. PhD in anthropology, University of Connecticut, 1993. Guatemala. Field, sociocultural anthropology. Retired. United States. Source
• Irma Alicia Velásquez Nimatuj. Maya K’iche’. Anthropologist and journalist. Born 1965, Quetzaltenango, to verify. MA in social anthropology, 2000. PhD in social anthropology, UT Austin, 2005. Visiting posts at Texas 2016, Duke 2017, Brown 2018, Stanford, and Oregon. Columnist, elPeriódico, 2003 to 2023. Current post not found. Field, social anthropology. Working today. Guatemala. Source Source 2
• Aura Cumes. Maya Kaqchikel. Researcher, writer, and teacher. PhD in anthropology, CIESAS, year not found. MA in social sciences, FLACSO Guatemala. Colonialism, patriarchy, and racism in Guatemala. Current post not found. Field, social anthropology, to verify. Working today. Guatemala. Source
• Edgar Esquit. Maya Kaqchikel. Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala. Professor of social anthropology and researcher, Instituto de Estudios Interétnicos y de los Pueblos Indígenas, USAC. Doctorate in social sciences, CIESAS, year not found. Kaqchikel history and memory, Patzicía. Field, history and anthropology. Working today. Guatemala. Source Source 2
• Genner Llanes Ortiz. Maya Yucatec. Bishop’s University. Assistant Professor of Indigenous Studies, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, and Canada Research Chair in Digital Indigeneities. Earlier at Leiden from 2016, end year to verify. DPhil in Social Anthropology, Sussex, 2010. BA in social anthropology, UADY. Yucatec Maya life, maize, and Maya digital media. Field, anthropology, archaeology, and heritage. Working today. Canada. Source Source 2 Source 3
• Juan Castillo Cocom. Maya Yucatec. Universidad Intercultural Maya de Quintana Roo. Professor, Universidad Intercultural Maya de Quintana Roo, from 2007. Degree to verify. Yucatec Maya identity. Field, Maya philosophy and epistemology. Working today. Mexico. Source Source 2
• Giovanni Batz. Maya K’iche’. UC Santa Barbara. Assistant Professor of Chicana and Chicano Studies. PhD in Social Anthropology, UT Austin, 2017. The Ixil Maya town of Cotzal. Wrote The Fourth Invasion: Decolonizing Histories, Extractivism, and Maya Resistance in Guatemala (UC Press, 2024), which won the Thomas McGann Book Prize in Modern Latin American History in 2025. Field, anthropology and history. Working today. United States. Source PhD
• Edward F. Fischer. Vanderbilt University. Born 1966. Cornelius Vanderbilt Professor of Anthropology since 2016, with appointments in Management, Health Policy, and Radiology. BA Alabama at Birmingham 1989. MA 1995 and PhD 1996, Tulane. Kaqchikel towns, Tecpán. Field, anthropology. Working today. United States. Source Source 2
• Walter E. Little. University at Albany, SUNY. Professor of Anthropology since 2016, and Chair of Africana, Latin American, Caribbean, and Latinx Studies since 2023. PhD in cultural anthropology, Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2001. Speaks Kaqchikel. Kaqchikel vendors in Antigua Guatemala. Field, cultural anthropology. Working today. United States. Source
• Judith M. Maxwell. Tulane University. Louise Rebecca Schawe and Williedell Schawe Professor of Linguistics and Anthropology, and director of Native American and Indigenous Studies. BA Michigan State 1970. MA in linguistics, Michigan State, 1976. PhD in linguistics and anthropology, Chicago, 1982. Kaqchikel, and earlier Chuj and Ixil. Field, linguistics and anthropology. Working today. United States. Source Source 2 Source 3
• Timothy J. Smith. Appalachian State University. Professor and Chair of Anthropology, at Appalachian State since 2008. BA in Latin American studies and BS in anthropology, Tulane. MA and PhD in anthropology, Albany, 2004. Speaks Kaqchikel. The Kaqchikel language and its teaching. Field, sociocultural anthropology. Working today. United States. Source Source 2
• Garrett W. Cook. Baylor University. Listed as Professor, at Baylor since 1990. BA 1969, MA 1974, and PhD 1981, anthropology, Albany. Momostenango. Whether he has retired is to verify. Field, sociocultural anthropology. Working today. United States. Source
• Victoria Sanford. Lehman College and the Graduate Center, CUNY. Lehman Professor of Excellence, Department of Anthropology, and doctoral faculty, Graduate Center, CUNY. Founding director, Center for Human Rights and Peace Studies. PhD in anthropology, Stanford, 2000. Genocide and truth seeking in Guatemala. Field, anthropology. Working today. United States. Source Source 2
• Linda Green. University of Arizona. Professor, School of Anthropology. PhD 1993 and MA 1987, UC Berkeley. MPH, Johns Hopkins, 1985. Former director, Center for Latin American Studies, Arizona. Maya widows of the Guatemalan highlands. Field, anthropology. Working today. United States. Source Source 2
• Charles R. Hale. UC Santa Barbara. SAGE Sara Miller McCune Dean of Social Sciences since 2018, and Professor of Anthropology and Global Studies. BA in social studies, Harvard. PhD in anthropology, Stanford, year not found. Race and Indigenous politics in Guatemala. Field, sociocultural anthropology. Working today. United States. Source Source 2
• David Stoll. Middlebury College. Professor of Anthropology, teaching at Middlebury since 1997. BA in anthropology, Michigan. PhD in anthropology, Stanford, 1992. Department to verify. Ixil towns, Nebaj. Field, anthropology. Working today. United States. Source
• Ricardo Falla. Jesuit priest. Born 1932. PhD in anthropology, UT Austin, 1975. The K’iche’ of San Antonio Ilotenango, and the Ixcán. Gave the opening lecture of the year at the University of Costa Rica in 2022. No later source found. To verify. Field, anthropology. Working today. Guatemala. Source
• Quetzil E. Castañeda. Indiana University Bloomington. Senior Lecturer and Maya Instructor, Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, from 2006. Founding Director of OSEA. PhD, Albany, 1991. BA Cornell, 1983. Yucatec Maya, Chichén Itzá and Pisté. Field, anthropology. Working today. United States. Source Source 2 Source 3
• Paul Sullivan. Independent scholar. Independent scholar. PhD, Johns Hopkins, 1983, dissertation Contemporary Yucatec Maya Apocalyptic Prophecy. Yucatec Maya, and the Maya rebels of nineteenth century Yucatán. Field, anthropology. Working today. United States. Source Source 2
• Pedro Pitarch. Universidad Complutense de Madrid. Catedrático de Antropología de América, Departamento de Historia de América y Medieval y Ciencias Historiográficas. Director, Grupo de Antropología de América. Doctorate in anthropology, State University of New York, year not found. Tzeltal Maya of Chiapas, since 1988. Field, anthropology of the Americas. Working today. Spain. Source
• Christine Kovic. University of Houston, Clear Lake. Professor of Anthropology and Cross-Cultural Studies. BA Rice 1989. MA Hunter 1992. PhD in cultural anthropology, Graduate Center, CUNY, 1997. Tzotzil Catholics who left Chamula. Field, anthropology. Working today. United States. Source
• Mario Humberto Ruz Sosa. UNAM. Born 1952, Hunucmá. Investigador Emérito since 2024. Médico cirujano, UNAM, 1977. MA in social anthropology, Iberoamericana, 1981. Doctorate in ethnology, EHESS, Paris, 1985. Speaks Tojolabal. Maya life in colonial times and today. Field, social anthropology and ethnology. Working today. Mexico. Source Source 2
• Jesús Lizama Quijano. CIESAS Peninsular. Profesor-investigador. Doctorate in anthropology, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, year not found. Yucatec Maya festivals. Field, anthropology. Working today. Mexico. Source Source 2
• Ella Fanny Quintal Avilés. Centro INAH Yucatán. Researcher, Centro INAH Yucatán, per Antrópica 10(20), 2024. Doctorate in Ciencias Antropológicas, UAM Iztapalapa, thesis 2011. Yucatec Maya popular religion and ethnic identity. Field, to verify. Working today. Mexico. Source Source 2 Source 3
• Beatriz Manz. UC Berkeley. Emerita. PhD, SUNY Buffalo, 1977. The Ixcán, the Ixil region, and the Lacandón. Field, social anthropology. Retired. United States. Source
• John B. Haviland. UC San Diego. Emeritus. PhD, Harvard, 1972. Tzotzil, Zinacantán. Field, anthropological linguistics. Retired. United States. Source
• Victoria R. Bricker. Tulane University. Emerita. PhD, Harvard, 1968. Tzotzil ritual humor, Hocabá in Yucatán, and the Maya codices. Field, cultural anthropology and ethnohistory. Retired. United States. Source
• Brent Berlin. University of Georgia. Born 1936. Graham Perdue Professor Emeritus of Anthropology. Tzeltal and Tzotzil plant knowledge in highland Chiapas, since 1960. PhD, Stanford, 1964. To verify. Field, anthropology. Retired. United States. Source Source 2
• Allan F. Burns. University of Florida. Emeritus. PhD, University of Washington, 1973. Yucatec Maya oral literature, and Q’anjob’al Maya in Indiantown, Florida. Field, applied anthropology. Retired. United States. Source
• Richard R. Wilk. Indiana University. Emeritus. PhD, Arizona, 1981. Belize. Wrote Household Ecology. Economic Change and Domestic Life among the Kekchi Maya in Belize (1991). Field, anthropology. Retired. United States. Source
• Kay B. Warren. Brown University. 1947 to 2026. Professor Emerita, Brown, from 2017. BA UCSB 1968. PhD, Princeton, 1974. Maya of highland Guatemala. Day of death to verify, April 16 or 17, 2026. Field, cultural anthropology. Remembered. United States. Source
• Gary H. Gossen. SUNY Albany. 1942 to 2025. Distinguished Teaching Professor Emeritus. PhD, Harvard, year to verify. Chamula, Tzotzil. Wrote Chamulas in the World of the Sun. The source for his dates is a funeral home obituary. Field, anthropology. Remembered. United States. Source Source 2
• Robert M. Carmack. SUNY Albany. 1934 to 2023. At SUNY Albany 32 years, retired 2002. BA in zoology, MA in physiology, and PhD in anthropology, UCLA, 1965. The K’iche’ before the Spanish. Field, cultural anthropology. Remembered. United States. Source
• Barbara Tedlock. University at Buffalo. 1942 to 2023. PhD, Albany, 1978. K’iche’ divination and the calendar, Momostenango. Wrote Time and the Highland Maya (1982). Field, anthropology. Remembered. United States. Source
• Diane M. Nelson. Duke University. 1963 to 2022. Eads Family Professor of Cultural Anthropology, Duke, from 2001. BA Wellesley. MA and PhD in anthropology, Stanford, 1996. Maya life and politics in Guatemala after the war. Day of death to verify, April 27 or 28, 2022. Field, cultural anthropology. Remembered. United States. Source
• Nora C. England. UT Austin. 1946 to 2022. MA and PhD, Florida, dissertation Mam Grammar in Outline, 1975. Research language Mam. BA to verify, Bryn Mawr or Florida. Mam and other Mayan languages. Field, linguistics. Remembered. United States. Source
• Robert M. Laughlin. Smithsonian Institution. 1934 to 2020. PhD, Harvard, 1963. Tzotzil, Zinacantán. Field, anthropology. Remembered. United States. Source
• Frank Cancian. UC Irvine. 1934 to 2020. Professor Emeritus of Anthropology, UC Irvine, retired 1999. BA in philosophy, Wesleyan, 1957. PhD, Harvard, 1963. Zinacantán. Field, anthropology. Remembered. United States. Source
• June Nash. City College, CUNY. 1927 to 2019. PhD, Chicago, 1960. The Tseltal town of Amatenango del Valle, Chiapas, from 1957. Field, anthropology. Remembered. United States. Source
• Dennis Tedlock. University at Buffalo. 1939 to 2016. PhD, Tulane, 1968. K’iche’ in Guatemala and Mopan in Belize. Translated the Popol Vuh. Field, anthropology. Remembered. United States. Source
• Evon Z. Vogt. Harvard University. 1918 to 2004. PhD, Chicago, 1948. Zinacantán, Tzotzil. Field, anthropology. Remembered. United States. Source
• Manning Nash. University of Chicago. 1924 to 2001. PhD, Chicago, 1955. Cantel, K’iche’. Field, anthropology. Remembered. United States. Source
• Alfonso Villa Rojas. UNAM. Born in Mérida, 1897. Died 1998. Some sketches give 1906 for his birth. No degree found in a source. Director of the Centro Coordinador Tzeltal-Tzotzil from 1955. Chan Kom, Tusik, and Yochib. Field, anthropology. Remembered. Mexico. Source
• Sol Tax. University of Chicago. 1907 to 1995. PhD, Chicago, 1935. Panajachel, Guatemala. Wrote Penny Capitalism (1953). Field, anthropology. Remembered. United States. Source Panajachel
• Charles Wagley. University of Florida. 1913 to 1991. PhD, Columbia, 1941. Santiago Chimaltenango. Field, anthropology. Remembered. United States. Source
• Myrna Mack Chang. AVANCSO, Guatemala City. Born in Retalhuleu in 1949. Studied anthropology at the University of Manchester and Durham University, to verify. She helped found AVANCSO and studied Maya families driven from their homes by the war, among them the Communities of Population in Resistance. In 2003 the Inter-American Court of Human Rights found that she was killed in 1990 because of this research, in an operation planned within the Presidential General Staff. In 2004 the Guatemalan state accepted responsibility in public. Field, anthropology. Remembered. Guatemala. Judgment in English en español
• Ruth Bunzel. Columbia University. 1898 to 1990. PhD, Columbia, 1929. Chichicastenango, K’iche’. Field, anthropology. Remembered. United States. Source
• Calixta Guiteras Holmes. Havana. 1905 to 1988. Studied Filosofía y Letras, University of Havana. Degree to verify. Taught at Mexico City College, the University of Mérida, and UNAM. Research language Tzotzil. Cancuc and Chenalhó in Chiapas. Wrote Perils of the Soul (1961), in Spanish Los peligros del alma (1965). Field, ethnography. Remembered. Cuba. Source
• Oliver La Farge. Tulane University. 1901 to 1963. AB, Harvard, 1924. AM, Harvard, 1929. At Tulane from 1926 to 1928. Research language Jakaltek, to verify. Jacaltenango and Santa Eulalia. Also a novelist. Field, ethnology. Remembered. United States. Source Source 2
• Robert Redfield. University of Chicago. 1897 to 1958. PhD, Chicago, 1928. Chan Kom, with Alfonso Villa Rojas. Field, anthropology. Remembered. United States. Source

Also working from written records. Robert M. Hill II, Timothy Knowlton, Munro S. Edmonson, Don E. Dumond, and Grant D. Jones, on Historians.

For people who have died, the sort for working or not lists them by the year they died, most recent first. The country is where the person worked last. Still to find are Tzotzil and Tzeltal anthropologists with a firm source, and anthropologists from Belize and Honduras.

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