Dennis Ogburn is an archaeologist who specializes in the study of the Inca Empire and other ancient societies in Andean South America. He has been active in fieldwork and research in Andean archaeology for more than 20 years, leading or participating in work in the southern and northern highlands of Ecuador and in the Cuzco, Ayacucho, and Nazca regions of Peru. His research is at the intersection of science and history, as he employs scientific techniques such as geochemical sourcing and radiocarbon dating in combination with the analysis of historical documents. Dennis has written a number of scholarly works and articles in prominent journals, covering topics ranging from Inca warfare to the long‐distance movement of massive building stones. Recently, he has been investigating the interpretation of quipus, the Inca writing system, as well as the contents of drinking vessels found on the Peruvian coast.

A native of North Carolina, Dennis went west to attend college at Rice University before moving even further west to earn his master’s and PhD at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He worked at the Archaeological Research Facility at the University of California, Berkeley before moving back east, where he is now associate professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, teaching courses in archaeology and ethnohistory.  In addition to a general affinity for old things, his interests include playing guitar, hiking, bicycling, collecting rocks, and learning about native plants and animals.