Institute of Archaeology

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Charles S Stanish

PROFESSOR

Ph.D., University of Chicago, 1985

Office: Fowler A207/A322-A
Phone: (310) 267-5579
Fax: 310-206-4723
E-mail: stanish@anthro.ucla.edu

Mailing Address:

Cotsen Institute of Archaeology
308 Charles E Young Dr. North
A210 Fowler Building/Box 951510
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1510

Curriculum Vitae

Class Websites

UCLA Appointments

Department of Anthropology and Director, Cotsen Institute

Research Interests

Andean archaeology, complex society, political economy

Research Summary

The Lake Titicaca Basin in highland Peru and Bolivia represents one of the great centers of preindustrial civilization in the world. Our survey and excavations along the shores and on the islands of Lake Titicaca have uncovered numerous sites that span more than six millennia of human occupation. Recently, we have been excavating the remains of a house from the seventh to ninth century AD on the Island of Esteves, near the northern shore of the lake. This architecture was associated with a large pyramid and temple complex that was the center of the Tiwanaku (ca. AD 400-1000) state's provincial administration of this territory. The high quality of pottery and other objects associated with this house complex indicates that it was inhabited by an elite group, possibly Tiwanaku administrators or artisans.

Selected Publications

Publications in PDF format are located here

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Featured Publication

The Construction of Value

Scholars from Aristotle to Marx and beyond have been fascinated by the question of what constitutes value. The Construction of Value in the Ancient World makes a significant contribution to this ongoing inquiry, bringing together in one comprehensive volume the perspectives of leading anthropologists, archaeologists, historians, linguists, philologists, and sociologists on how value was created, defined, and expressed in a number of ancient societies around the world. Based on the basic premise that value is a social construct defined by the cultural context in which it is situated, the volume explores four overarching but closely interrelated themes: place value, body value, object value, and number value. The questions raised and addressed are of central importance to archaeologists studying ancient civilizations: How can we understand the value that might have been accorded to materials, objects, people, places, and patterns of action by those who produced or used the things that compose the human material record? Taken as a whole, the contributions to this volume demonstrate how the concept of value lies at the intersection of individual and collective tastes, desires, sentiments, and attitudes that inform the ways people select, or give priority to, one thing over another.

Available now!

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