Stephen Douglas Houston (/ˈhaʊstən/ HOW-stən; born November 11, 1958)[1] is an American anthropologist, archaeologist, epigrapher, and Mayanist scholar, who is particularly renowned for his research into the pre-Columbian Maya civilization of Mesoamerica.
In 2021, National Geographic noted that he participated in the correct cultural association assigned to a half-size replica discovered at the Tikal site of the six-story pyramid of the mighty Teotihuacan culture,[2] which replicated its Citadel that includes the original Feathered Serpent Pyramid.
He then entered the graduate studies program at Yale University, undertaking a Master of Philosophy (Anthropology) research degree, which was awarded in 1983.
During this period he worked as an epigrapher on an archaeological project at the site of Caracol, Belize, and served as director on a project mapping the Dos Pilas site in the Petexbatun region, Pasión River, Guatemala, spending several months at a time in fieldwork for these positions.
[9] In 2018, he was appointed by the Library of Congress as the inaugural Jay I. Kislak Chair for the study of the history and cultures of the early Americas at the John W. Kluge Center.