In his memoir, Final Report: An Archaeologist Excavates His Past, Michael D. Coe
recalled his 35 years of teaching in the Anthropology Department at Yale: “like a happy
marriage, ‘nothing to report’.” His numerous students and colleagues in the department
beg to differ. During those years (1960-94), he mentored generations of graduate and
undergraduate students, while conducting field research in Guatemala, Mexico, and
Massachussetts, and serving as curator at the Yale Peabody Museum. He was no less
active after retiring, and his continued engagement was an asset for Yale students and
faculty members until his death in 2021.
Michael Coe approached the archaeology of ancient Mesoamerica from a broad range of
perspectives that extended from human ecology and chronological sequences to studies
of pictorial and documentary sources. His field projects at the early village sites of La
Victoria and Salinas la Blanca in Guatemala, and the Olmec site of San Lorenzo in
Mexico reshaped the study of the origins of Mesoamerican civilization. Never afraid of
controversy, he was an early proponent of phonetic interpretations of ancient Maya
writing, against the prevailing opinions of contemporary scholars. His own work and the
stimulus that he provided to other scholars were crucial for the decipherment of the
Maya inscriptions, and opened new avenues for the study of Maya religion and art.
A gifted writer, Professor Coe published numerous articles and academic books, but he
is best known for the books that he wrote for general audiences. His classic introductory
volumes, Mexico (1962) and The Maya (1966) are still in print, now respectively in their
eighth and tenth editions. His personal account of the decipherment of Maya writing, Breaking the Maya Code (1992) became a successful documentary film. His ability to
combine exacting scholarship with readable and engaging prose is also evident in the
The True History of Chocolate (1996), which he coauthored with his wife, Sophie Coe.
The breadth of his interests comes forward in Angkor and the Khmer Civilization
(2003), a fine introduction to the archaeology of ancient Cambodia.
At Yale, Michael Coe created endowments that support the conservation and scientific
study of Peabody Museum collections and allow students to learn the practice of field
archaeology. We are inspired by his unwavering passion for learning, his receptiveness
to new ideas, and his capacity to transmit the thrill of archaeological research to broad
audiences.