Kenneth Hirth is Professor of Anthropology at Pennsylvania State University. An economic anthropologist who has conducted archaeological research in Mexico, Honduras, Peru, and Turkey that has spanned 12,000 years of human development, he has authored, edited, and co-authored nineteen books on different aspects of Mesoamerican society and economy. Hirth is currently a Senior Fellow at Dumbarton Oaks Library and Research Collections in Washington, DC. He has received National Geographic Society's Career Achievement Award in Archaeology (2000) and the Excellence in Lithic Studies Award from the Society of American Archaeology (1998).