Klaus Hilbert

Klaus Hilbert, born in the Amazon, has been Professor of Archaeology at the Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS), Brazil, since 1990. He received his PhD at the University of Marburg, Germany (1984) and is a specialist in Pre-Columbian South American History. His main research interests are the Prehistory of the Amazonian and Río de La Plata regions. For many years, he coordinated the PhD-program of Ibero-American History at PUCRS. He is currently conducting a research-group on Material Culture Studies and on Anthropogenic Amazonian Dark Earths (Terra Preta de Índio).  His recent publications include “From the ‘Terra Preta de Indio’ to the ‘Terra Preta do Gringo’: A History of Knowledge of the Amazonian Dark Earths” (2020), a chapter that he co-authored with Jens Soentgen in Ecosystem and Biodiversity of Amazonia (ed. by H.J. Mikkola) and O Rio Mar: Francisco de Orellana e o Rio das Amazonas (2020), a book that he wrote together with Peter Paul Hilbert.

On January 10, 2023, Prof. Hilbert gives a lecture talk on ‘(Hi)Stories of the Amazon.’ Click here for more information.