身為一個考古學家，William Ayres教授並研究島嶼的史前社會、居住型態多年，他也研究陶器的演變、石器及陶器的訂年法。他並指導太平洋島嶼和東南亞的考古田野調查。網站裡有他研究的島嶼的照片和簡介。

As an archaeologist, I have teaching and research interests that center on complex societies, especially prehistoric chiefdoms developing in island contexts, and their associated settlement and subsistence characteristics. As one aspect of these studies, I do research on issues of ceramic evolution, archaeometry, including provenance study of ceramics and lithics (including petro graphic and geochemical analyses). I conduct field studies in archaeology principally in the Pacific Islands and in Southeast Asia.