Gary Urton
Gary Urton's research focuses on a variety of topics in pre-Columbian and early colonial Andean intellectual history, drawing on materials and methods in archaeology, ethnohistory, and ethnology. He is the author of many articles and author/editor of several volumes on Andean/Quechua cultures and Inka civilization. His books include: At the Crossroads of the Earth and the Sky (1981), The History of a Myth (1990), The Social Life of Numbers (1997), Inca Myths (1999), Signs of the Inka Khipu (2003), Inka History in Knots (2017), and El Cosmos Andino (2022). All of his books have also been translated and published in Spanish. A MacArthur Fellow (2001-2005) and recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship (2014-15), Urton was the Founder/ Director of the Harvard Khipu Database.
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in the American Economic Review and which was uncritically highlighted in Science magazine. Their paper claims
there is a causal effect of genetic diversity on economic success, positing that too much or too little genetic diversity
constrains development. In particular, they argue that “the high degree of diversity among African populations and
the low degree of diversity among Native American populations have been a detrimental force in the development
of these regions.” We demonstrate that their argument is seriously flawed on both factual and methodological
grounds. As economists and other social scientists begin exploring newly available genetic data, it is crucial to
remember that nonexperts broadcasting bold claims on the basis of weak data and methods can have profoundly
detrimental social and political effects.