Profile for Timothy McAndrews

Brief biography

I am a Professor of Archaeology here at UW-L and I offer courses on Andean archaeology, rise of complex society, theory and history of archaeology, archaeological field methods, and biological anthropology. I am also the Director of the Mississippi Valley Archaeology Center and Chair of the Department of Archaeology & Anthropology. So, if you have any interest in archaeology or anthropology, are interested in finding out about our programs, or would like to visit campus and tour our state-of-the-art facilities, please don't hesitate to contact me. I would be happy to meet with you and explain why UW-L is the ideal place for you to pursue degrees in Archaeology and Anthropology.

Research
I have conducted extensive settlement pattern research in the Bolivian and Peruvian Andes in studying the organization and evolution of regional social, economic, and political institutions. In addition, I have conducted a great deal of cultural resource management (CRM) research in the states of Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York, West Virginia, and Virginia. I have presented and published results of my research in the United States and South America.

In addition to having strong theoretical interests in early village-based society, I am extremely interested in the process of urbanization and the evolution of highly complex socio-political forms. In particular, I am interested in the rise of the complex society that built the impressive prehispanic urban settlement of Tiwanaku on the southern shores of Lake Titicaca in Bolivia. In order to understand how Tiwanaku developed, archaeologists research the Formative Period in the Lake Titicaca Basin and beyond. I have closely examined the nature of Tiwanaku's political control within and beyond its Altiplano heartland through research in Moquegua, Peru and Cochabamba, Bolivia, two of the distant regions impacted by Tiwanaku socio-cultural and political influence.

I have taken UWL students with me in the context of an international field school in Cochabamba, Bolivia. I have also taken students to the United Kingdom (Galway, Ireland and London, England) for a month-long course (Origins of Cities or World Archaeology) which includes intensive exploration of world-class museums and multiple cultural and archaeological excursions. Incorporating undergraduates into my ongoing field research activities and traveling with them abroad to the U.K. is one of the most rewarding aspects of my career.