Richard Hansen: The Magnificent PreClassic Maya, Conquest of El Mirador

Richard D. Hansen is an American archaeologist and adjunct professor of anthropology at the University of Utah.

Hansen is a noted specialist on the ancient Maya civilization and directs the Mirador Basin Project, which investigates a circumscribed geological and cultural area known as the Mirador Basin in the northern Petén, Guatemala. He has previously held positions at the University of California, Los Angeles and Idaho State University where he was awarded the Idaho State University Distinguished Achievement Award (2009). He is also the founder and president of the Foundation for Anthropological Research and Environmental Studies (FARES) which is a 501 (c) non profit scientific charitable organization formed in 1996 which seeks to: (1) conduct multidisciplinary investigations of the Mirador Basin region of northern Guatemala; (2) Conduct extensive conservation and preservation programs of both the cultural and environmental heritage of Guatemala; (3) Provide literacy, educational, and vocational training opportunities and provide for the economic development of impoverished communities in northern Guatemala. His work has been featured in 31 film documentaries and was the principal consultant for the movie Apocalypto (Mel Gibson) (Hansen 2012a), CBS Survivor Guatemala, and National Geographic’s The Story of God with Morgan Freeman. Hansen has worked in the Mesoamerican region and early Maya civilization since 1978.