A respected expert in the field of archaeology will soon visit the Lyon campus to discuss a Mayan archaeological project funded by the National Geographic Society and Boston University.

Dr. Norman Hammond, professor of archaeology and chairman of the department of archaeology at Boston University, will present his program, "Exploring La Milpa: A Classic Maya City in Belize," on Friday, Oct. 26, at 7:30 p.m. in the Sanders Lecture Hall, located in the Derby Center.

Hammond’s research interests include pre-Columbian archaeology, comparative archaeology and history of archaeology. His work deals with the emergence and decline of complex societies, exchange and the history of archaeology.

Since 1968 he has worked in the Maya lowlands, with interdisciplinary projects at Lubaantun, Nohmul, Cuello and currently La Milpa, a large Classic period city in northwestern Belize dating from A.D. 250-900, a project he’s worked on since 1992.

Hammond has also published fieldwork in North Africa, Afghanistan and Ecuador. He was on the faculty of Cambridge University from1967 to 1975, Bradford University from 1975 to 1977 and Rutgers University from 1977 to 1988. He’s also been a visiting professor at the University of California at Berkeley, China’s Jilin University, the Sorbonne and the University of Bonn.

He has also held a Dumbarton Oaks Fellowship and visiting fellowships at the universities of Oxford and Cambridge. Professor Hammond serves on the editorial boards of Ancient Mesoamerica and the Journal of Field Archaeology, and is an adviser to The Times of London.