Andrew Scherer

Andrew Scherer is the Pierre and Patricia Bikai Professor of Anthropology and Archaeology at Brown University, where he also serves as Director of the Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology and the Ancient World. His work focuses on Mesoamerican (particularly Maya) archaeology, integrating bioarchaeology, landscape analysis, and political studies to examine Classic Maya polities along the Usumacinta River.

• Co-directs interdisciplinary projects in Mexico/Guatemala (Lacanja Tzeltal, Piedras Negras, Tikal, El Zotz, Yaxha)
• Research themes: mortuary archaeology, ritual practice, warfare, political organization, and diet/subsistence

Selected Publications: As the Gods Kill: Morality and Social Violence among the Precolonial Maya (2025), Mortuary Landscapes of the Classic Maya (2015), and co-edited volumes including Substance of the Ancient Maya (2024) and Embattled Bodies, Embattled Places (2014).

Research Funding:

• Multiple NSF grants (2003-2015)
• National Geographic Society support (2009)
• Wenner-Gren and Heinz Trust grants

Academic Affiliations: Society for American Archaeology, Dental Anthropology Association, Dumbarton Oaks (as Pre-Columbian Fellow 2008-2009)

Teaching: Courses on human evolution, bioarchaeology, Maya violence studies, and archaeological principles at Brown University.