Tamara Bray

Tamara Bray is a Professor of Archaeology at Wayne State University’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. She specializes in the Inca Empire and late pre-Columbian Andean societies. She earned her Ph.D. in Anthropology from SUNY Binghamton (1991), and has held roles including Director of the Grosscup Museum of Anthropology (1995–2016). Her research focuses on imperial strategies, craft production, and Andean-Amazonian interactions. Notable honors include Michigan Distinguished Professor of the Year (2013) and Fulbright Senior Specialist (2024).

Bray’s work examines material agency, sacred landscapes, and the politics of archaeology. Current projects include studies on Inca ceramic production in Ecuador and Bolivia, funded by grants like the Wenner-Gren Foundation (2016). She serves on editorial boards for journals like Archaeology of Food and Foodways. Her book Objects of Empire (2025) explores Inca ceramics as imperial tools.

Key contributions include analysis of Inca architecture at Caranqui, investigations into imperial frontiers, and collaborations with international institutions. Her research bridges archaeology with ontological studies, emphasizing non-Western perspectives on material culture and time.