I was born and raised in New York City. I grew up in Queensbridge Housing Projects. When I was young, two experiences developed my interests in the past. One was my trips to England with my mother to visit my grandmother and other relatives. I became fascinated in castles, Roman ruins, Stonehenge, and many other ancient and historic sites. Back in New York, my father and I would regularly make the rounds of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the American Museum of Natural History, and all of the other museums. These childhood experiences eventually led to my becoming an archaeologist. The single most important experience that influenced me, however, was my trip to Peru as an exchange student on my 17th birthday, an experience that came about through my volunteering as a "Junior Curator" at the Brooklyn Children's Museum and also because my parents encouraged me to go.

I went to Brooklyn Technical High School, spent a year at NYU, and then finished my undergraduate degree at the University of Chicago. I went to graduate school at the University of California, Santa Barbara where I received by M.A. and Ph.D. My research projects mostly have been in Peru although I spent almost a decade in Costa Rica when political conditions made conducting research in Peru difficult. I have taught at a number of colleges and universities as a visiting professor but I spent 15 years at Ripon College, Wisconsin, and then served as Director of Pre-Columbian Studies and Curator of the Pre-Columbian Collection at Dumbarton Oaks. From 2004 to 2012 I served as as Deputy Director for Curatorial Affairs at the Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology at Harvard University. In 2012 I was given the honor and privilege to serve as Director of the museum, a post that I currently hold.

My research has been somewhat diverse although all focused in the New World. Although I do like diversity, my work in Preceramic Peru, late prehistoric Costa Rica, Moche iconography, and Colonial Period archaeology is less due to restlessness than combination of serendipity and an interest in fields of study that intrigue me and that often were slightly off-center of the focus of most scholarship when I first became interested in them. Most interesting things happen on the edges, not in the centers.

I enjoy writing very much and I particularly like to write books for educated laypeople. My wife pointed out many years ago that what one publishes is the most public and long-lasting legacy one can leave as a scholar. I hope you will find my books enjoyable and interesting.