Autor/-in: Alexander J. Martín

Alexander J. Martín is an anthropologist and the Associate Director of the Center for Comparative Archaeology at the University of Pittsburgh, where he manages the Comparative Archaeology Database—a global initiative to collect and digitize archaeological data for the empirical study of prehistoric societies. His research explores how human communities structured their political, economic, and religious institutions as they expanded in size and complexity. By comparing societies across regions and time periods, Martín investigates the cultural foundations that enabled large-scale cooperation, with particular focus on the role of religion—seeking to understand which aspects of religious behavior are universal and which are shaped by the specific needs of individual societies.