Dr. Brian Hayden is an author and archaeologist who has conducted research on four continents, with a passion for understanding past cultures\u2014especially hunting and gathering societies\u2014and the reasons for their changes. Born in New York, he obtained a Certificate of Prehistory at the University of Bordeaux, studied stone-tool making with Australian Aborigines, and earned a doctoral degree in Archaeology from the University of Toronto. For 30 years, he worked with native groups in the interior of British Columbia, recording their traditional uses of food resources and excavating the prehistoric winter village at Keatley Creek; he has also worked extensively with complex hunting and gathering societies in the region, including short fictional reconstructions of life in the prehistoric Lillooet area.<\/p>\n
Now a Professor Emeritus of Archaeology at Simon Fraser University and Honorary Research Associate of the Anthropology Department at the University of British Columbia, Dr. Hayden lives on Cortes Island in coastal British Columbia. He has published numerous professional journal articles and books, including works on the Old Stone Age in France and a landmark synthesis of prehistoric religion (Shamans, Sorcerers, and Saints: The Prehistory of Religion<\/em>, Smithsonian Publications, 2003). His later books include The Power of Feasts<\/em> (Cambridge University Press, 2014) and The Power of Ritual in Prehistory: Secret Societies and the Origins of Social Complexity<\/em> (Cambridge University Press, 2018). His research has been recognized by induction into the Royal Society of Canada.<\/p>\n