Professor of Anthropology, Archaeology, and Latin American Studies
Interim Director of the Global Medieval Studies Program (2026-2027)
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David Carballo is a specialist in Mesoamerican archaeology, focusing particularly on the prehispanic civilizations of central Mexico. The courses he commonly teaches include Archaeology of Cities (AR 150), Indigenous Peoples of the Americas (AR/AN 201), and Aztec, Maya, and their Predecessors: Archaeology of Mesoamerica (AR/AN 250).
Currently ongoing field projects at the early metropolis of Teotihuacan include the Proyecto Arqueológico Tlajinga, Teotihuacan (PATT), and the Proyecto Gran Conjunto Teotihuacan (PGCT). The first seeks to understand urbanization, neighborhood organization, and the daily life of commoners through excavations and geophysical prospection within a southern district of the city. The second is focused on what has been hypothesized to be either the city’s central marketplace or and administrative complex and is aimed at understanding the city’s political economy.
Among Professor Carballo’s publications are the books Urbanization and Religion in Ancient Central Mexico (Oxford, 2016), Collision of Worlds: A Deep History of the Fall of Aztec Mexico and the Forging of New Spain (Oxford, 2020), and Collective Action and the Reframing of Early Mesoamerica (Cambridge, 2024).