My research has focused on the social context of technology. Most of my fieldwork has been located in the Andean highlands of Peru and Bolivia, where I combine ethnographic and archaeological work with artefact analysis to gain a better understanding of indigenous society before, during and after the Inca Empire.  I also use analysis of artefacts and experimental research to evaluate changes in technology and organisation of production.

Five themes of this research have been:

1)     The development of theoretical and methodological approaches to investigate the cultural context of technology. This has included a focus on the sequence of techniques used in production (the chaîne opératoire) and investigating what influences the ‘technological choice’ of distinct materials, tools and techniques within specific social settings. 

2)     Archaeological and anthropological implications of Andean animistic approaches to the landscape and material world.

3)     Investigating pottery production, trade and use in relation to the social and economic context of the producers and consumers

4)     Research at Raqchi, Cuzco, Peru investigating the long-term occupation; characterising the construction and function of the Inka site; and identifying a major Wari installation of a ‘work camp’.

5)      Research on Inka building practices in Cuzco and the surrounding region to identified changes in the use of labour and resources during the emergence of the Inka State.