Dr. Fred Valdez

Biography

Fred Valdez, Jr. has been a faculty member at the University of Texas since 1988, where he currently directs the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory. He oversees the Archaeological Studies Program and directs the Center for Archaeological Tropical Studies. His research interests focus on the study of material culture, including ceramic and lithic technologies, settlement patterns, small site studies, and the early emergence of social and political complexity. Valdez has a particular interest in the history of archaeological investigations in Central America and the cultural continuity and transition in Latin America and the American Southwest, with a specialization in Mesoamerican prehistory. He conducts seminars on the technological aspects of material culture analyses and directs the university's archaeological field school in Belize. His research in Belize is part of a twenty-year program studying ancient Maya society. Valdez was a Fulbright Scholar in Guatemala from 1991 to 1992 and has received the Taft Lecture Fellowship from the University of Cincinnati.

Research Interests