Timothy Earle, Professor Emeritus in the Department of Anthropology, was elected to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), according to the Academy’s announcement on May 2.
Earle is an economic anthropologist specializing in the evolution of complex societies, prehistoric economies, and material culture. He has conducted multi-year, international field research projects in three world regions: Polynesia, South America, and Europe. His multiple, landmark studies have contributed significantly to the current understanding of irrigation systems and intensification of agriculture, engineered landscapes, and how land tenure translated into political hierarchy and systems of economic control.
Earle served as chair of the Department of Anthropology (1995-2000) and president of the Archaeology Division of the American Anthropological Association. He continues to study comparatively the long-term development of political economies, emphasizing contrasts between intensified agricultural landscapes and long-distance trading and raiding as affecting political power.
The NAS is a private, non-profit society of scholars charged with providing independent and objective advice to the U.S. government on matters related to science and technology. Members are elected by their peers in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research. This year, 120 members and 23 international members were elected.
Read more about the NAS, and check out some of Professor Earle’s most frequently cited works: