Alexander J. Martín

Center for Comparative Archaeology · University of Pittsburgh · AlexMartin@Pitt.edu

I'm an anthropological archaeologist studying how prehistoric societies organized themselves economically, politically, and religiously — and why some grew more complex than others. My earlier fieldwork in coastal Ecuador traced how craft production and trade in Spondylus shell drove population nucleation and household interdependence long before formal bureaucracies existed. I'm currently expanding that work into a quantitative comparative analysis of Spondylus use across coastal South America, developing a model for why early Andean states came to hoard and ritualize Spondylus as a form of durable, portable wealth. I've also explored more broadly how complex social institutions interact with innate human cognitive predispositions and needs, in a general-audience book drawing on archaeology, history, anthropology, and evolutionary psychology.

Presently, I serve as Associate Director of the Center for Comparative Archaeology at the University of Pittsburgh.

Experience

Associate Director

Center for Comparative Archaeology, University of Pittsburgh
2022 - Present

Director of Global Studies

Semester at Sea, Institute for Shipboard Education
2025

Temporary Assistant Professor

Department of Anthropology, Indiana University of Pennsylvania
2018 - 2023

Faculty

Semester at Sea, Institute for Shipboard Education
2011, 2016

Research Associate

Center for Comparative Archaeology, University of Pittsburgh
2010 - 2021

Visiting Professor

Escuela de Ciencias Humanas, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador
2006 - 2007

Education

University of Pittsburgh

Ph.D., Anthropology
2009

Florida Atlantic University

M.A., Anthropology
2001

Florida International University

B.A., Anthropology and Sociology
1999

Research

Craft Production and Social Complexity in Coastal Ecuador

My dissertation fieldwork examined how the production and trade of Spondylus shell ornaments shaped household economies along the coast of Manabí, Ecuador. Full-coverage settlement surveys and excavation at sites like Machalilla and Agua Blanca showed that craft specialization and regional exchange networks drove population nucleation and functional interdependence among households, well before the development of formal political bureaucracies. More broadly, this work highlighted how economic incentives shape settlement patterns — pushing some communities toward compact, nucleated centers and others toward more dispersed arrangements — and how that variation plays an important role in the emergence of social complexity. See Publications (Martín 2010, 2017; Martín and Murillo Herrera 2014).

Spondylus, Wealth, and the Rise of Andean States

My current research expands this work into a quantitative comparison of Spondylus use across more than 50 archaeological sites in coastal South America, spanning roughly 5,000 years. The project develops a formal model for why early Andean states — particularly during the late Moche, Sicán, and Chimú periods — came to hoard and ritualize Spondylus in unprecedented quantities: as agrarian states grow, they need durable, low-weight, high-value goods to store and mobilize wealth, a role that perishable grain tribute cannot fill.

Religion, Cognition, and the Evolution of Institutions

Alongside my archaeological work, I'm interested in why religious and social institutions take such different forms across societies. My 2021 Current Anthropology article examined variation in religious institutions across pre-Columbian America, and my 2025 book, Storms, Nations, and Other Gods, draws on archaeology, history, anthropology, and evolutionary psychology to ask how complex social institutions interact with innate human cognitive predispositions and needs. See Publications (Martín and Sol 2021; Martín 2025).

Publications

Books & Edited Volumes

Martín, Alexander J. (2025) Storms, Nations, and Other Gods: The Ongoing Evolution of Religious Thought. Springer, New York.

Cutright, Robyn E., Enrique López-Hurtado, and Alexander J. Martín (2010) Comparative Perspectives on the Archaeology of Coastal South America. University of Pittsburgh Center for Comparative Archaeology, Pittsburgh.

Salazar, Ernesto and Alexander J. Martín (Archaeology Section Editors) (2007) II Congreso Ecuatoriano de Antropología y Arqueología, Volumen I. Fernando García (volume editor). Abya Yala, Quito.

Journal Articles

Martín, Alexander J. and Ricardo Felipe Sol (2021) Variation in the Structure and Role of Religious Institutions: Examples from pre-Columbian America. Current Anthropology 62(6):692–716.

Martín, Alexander J. (2017) Population Nucleation and Functional Interdependence in Prehistoric Coastal Ecuador. Social Evolution & History 16(2):20-51.

Murillo Herrera, Mauricio and Alexander J. Martín (2017) La Relación entre Estructura Comunitaria y Economía Doméstica en Cacicazgos del Centro y Sur de América. Boletín de Antropología (Universidad de Antioquia, Medellín) 54:101-125.

Martín, Alexander J. and Mauricio Murillo Herrera (2014) Networks of Interaction and Functional Interdependence in Societies Across the Intermediate Area. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 36:60-71.

Martín, Alexander J. (2010) The Domestic Economy and Its Implications for Social Complexity: Spondylus Craft Production in Coastal Ecuador. Research in Economic Anthropology 30:111-155.

Martín, Alexander J. (2010) Trade and Social Complexity in Coastal Ecuador from Formative Times to European Contact. Journal of Field Archaeology 35:40-57.

Martín, Alexander J. and Catherine Lara (2009) La Trayectoria del Desarrollo Social Precolombino en el Sur de Manabí. Antropología: Cuadernos de Investigación PUCE 8:121-147.

Book Chapters

Martín, Alexander J., Enrique López-Hurtado, and Robyn E. Cutright (2010) Comparative Perspectives: An Introduction. In Comparative Perspectives on the Archaeology of Coastal South America. R.E. Cutright, E. López-Hurtado, and A. Martín, eds. Pp. 1-25. University of Pittsburgh Center for Comparative Archaeology, Pittsburgh.

Martín, Alexander J. (2010) Comparing the Role of the Export Sector in Prehistoric Economies: The Importance of Shell Manufacture to the Livelihood of Coastal Ecuadorian Populations. In Comparative Perspectives on the Archaeology of Coastal South America. R.E. Cutright, E. López-Hurtado, and A. Martín, eds. Pp. 77-100. University of Pittsburgh Center for Comparative Archaeology, Pittsburgh.

Martín, Alexander J. (2008) El Modo de Producción Doméstica y la Complejidad Sociopolítica. In II Latin-American Congress of Anthropology, San José. Costa Rica Conference Proceedings, Mauricio Murillo Herrera and Adam C.J. Menzies (symposium editors), pp. 32-40. Asociación Latinoamericana de Antropología and Universidad de Costa Rica, San José, Costa Rica.

Martín, Alexander J. (2007) El Intercambio de Spondylus a lo largo de la Costa Sudamericana de Acuerdo al Registro Arqueológico. In II Congreso Ecuatoriano de Antropología y Arqueología, Volumen I. Fernando García (volume editor). Pp. 433-462. Abya Yala, Quito.

Martín, Alexander J. (2007) Lo Sobrenatural en la Consolidación del Poder Político: Por qué la Tolita No Es un Buen Ejemplo. Apachita 10:3-5.

Reports, Datasets & Dissertations

Martín, Alexander J. (2009) Machalilla Settlement Dataset. Comparative Archaeology Database, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh. URL: http://www.cadb.pitt.edu.

Martín, Alexander J. and Catherine Lara (2009) Las Sociedades Precolombinas del Sur de Manabí y el Papel de la Exportación de Moluscos. Technical report presented to the Instituto Nacional de Patrimonio Cultural (Litoral Branch), Guayaquil, Ecuador.

Martín, Alexander J. (2009) The Domestic Mode of Production and the Development of Sociopolitical Complexity: Evidence from the Spondylus Industry of Coastal Ecuador. Ph.D. Dissertation. University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh.

Martín, Alexander J. (2001) The Dynamics of Precolumbian Spondylus Trade Across the South American Central Pacific Coast. MA Thesis. Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton.

Credited Book Translations

(2011) Obsidian and the Teotihuacan State: Weaponry and Ritual Production at the Moon Pyramid by David Carballo. (English to Spanish) University of Pittsburgh Center for Comparative Archaeology, Pittsburgh.

(2011) Comparative Perspectives on the Archaeology of Coastal South America by Robyn E. Cutright, Enrique López-Hurtado and Alexander J. Martín. (English to Spanish) University of Pittsburgh Center for Comparative Archaeology, Pittsburgh.

Presentations

Martín, Alexander J. and Felipe Sol Castillo (2016) Preliminary Results from "The Role of Religious Institutions in Pre-Columbian America Data Analysis Project." Society for American Archaeology Annual Meetings, Orlando.

Martín, Alexander J. (2013) "Demografía y Complejidad Social en la Prehistoria: Tres Ejemplos de Centro y Sudamérica." Universidad de San Francisco de Quito, Quito, Ecuador.

Murillo Herrera, Mauricio and Alexander J. Martín (2009) "Looking at the Variation of Pre-Columbian Communities at the Regional Scale in Southern Central America and Northern South America: San Ramón, Costa Rica and Manabí, Ecuador." Society for American Archaeology Annual Meetings, Atlanta.

Martín, Alexander J. (2009) "Prehistoric Economic Reactions to Macro Economic Changes: Evidence from the Spondylus Industry of Coastal South America." SAA Annual Meetings, Atlanta.

Martín, Alexander J. (2008) "The Domestic Mode of Production and Sociopolitical Complexity." II Latin-American Congress of Anthropology, San José.

Martín, Alexander J. (2007) "Comparing the Role of the Export Sector in Prehistoric Economies: The Importance of Shell Manufacture to the Livelihood of Coastal Ecuadorian Populations." Comparative Perspectives on the Archaeology of Coastal South America. Lima.

Martín, Alexander J. (2006) "El Intercambio de Spondylus a lo largo de la Costa Sudamericana de acuerdo al Registro Arqueológico." II Congress of Ecuadorian Anthropology and Archaeology. Quito.

Martínez, Valentina and Alexander J. Martín (2002) "Spondylus Trade in Prehistoric South America: Establishing Archaeological Criteria to Evaluate the Movements of Valuables." SAA Annual Meetings, Denver.