Welcome to the web site of Lawrence S. Coben ("Larry"), an archaeologist affiliated with the University of Pennsylvania and executive director of the Sustainable Preservation Initiative, a joint program of the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at UCLA and the Archaeological Institute of America. My present research interests include the Inka empire, which rapidly expanded through South America during the 15th and 16th centuries, and the archaeology of ancient performance. I am also interested in the relationship among belief, ideology and economic behavior-the behaviorial economics of premodern peoples, as well as how complex societies, states and empires attract followers and grow.

The Sustainable Preservation Initiative seeks to preserve the world's cultural heritage by providing sustainable economic opportunities to local communities.  Working with community and governmental leaders, local business people, archaeologists and preservationists,  SPI develops plans for projects and businesses that are locally owned and that maximize the spending of dollars in the communities surrounding the sites.  Through microlenders, charitable organizations and other sources of funding,  SPI arranges and provides microgrants to existing or start up businesses such as tourism, guides, restaurants, hostels, transportation, artisans and site museums and other rapidly implementable projects

I directed a multidisciplinary project at the monumental Inka site of Inkallakta (Incallacta, Incallajta or Inkallajta, see photo left), located near Cochabamba, Bolivia. This joint project of the University of Pennsylvania and the Universidad Mayor de San Simon, explored the nature of the expansion and the cosmological and ideological underpinnings of the Inka empire, and the role of performance, theatricality and spectacle therein. More information on this project can be found by clicking the Incallajta & Carabaya page of this website or by clicking Proyecto Inkallakta. I have also examined these themes at other locations.

This emerging field of the archaeology of performance, which studies the role of theatricality and spectacle in ancient societies, is a central focus of my work. I am co-editor, with Dr. Takeshi Inomata of the University of Arizona, of a volume entitled "Archaeology of Performance: Theater, Power and Community", recently released by Altamira Press . The volume will examine the nature and political implications of theatrical and ceremonial performance at public events in these societies, and features contributions by several eminent archaeologists.  For more on this subject click Archaeology of Performance

I utilize digital reconstructions and virtual reality to assist in this study of performance.  This is a digital reconstruction of Incallajta's monumental core (near left) and that core as it looks today (far left)

At left is a reconstruction the interior of the site's largest structure, the kallanka.  The kallanka as it appears today can be seen on the Incallajta & Carabaya page of this website.

A reconstruction of the site of Incallajta and its topography.

I will be speaking on Inca Expansion and Performance at the Dallas Museum of Art on October 15th at 7PM.  For details please click here. 

My new Archaeology of Performance volume is now out!!!  Click here for details.

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If you are looking for brother Harlan's bestsellers, congratulations on reading this far!  Click www.harlancoben.com.  Click this link to read more about the Sustainable Preservation Initiative. And if you want to read about America's energy future, click here to go to my Huffington Post Energy blog.