Thomas BesomThomas Besom is a Research Associate in the Department of Anthropology at Binghamton University in upstate New York. For thirty-five years, he has been researching human sacrifice and mountain worship in the Andes of South America during the Inka perod. To better understand these practices, he has studied both ethnohistoric documents--records relating to the Inkas that were penned by Spanish sources in the 16th and 17th centuries--and archaeological materials. When not doing research and writing, Thomas Besom likes to make art; he has produced sculptures in bronze, steel, wood, stone, plaster, and even plastic. He also enjoys hiking, mountaineering, canoeing, and traveling. He has lived in and visited more than thirty nations around the world. Read More Read Less