Philip Phillips (archaeologist)

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This article is about the American archaeologist; for the political figure, see Philip Phillips.

Philip Phillips was one of the most influential archaeologists of the United States during the 20th century. He was born on 11 August 1900 and died on 11 December 1994. Although his first graduate work was in architecture, he later received a doctorate from Harvard University under advisor Alfred Marston Tozzer. His first archaeological experiences were on Iroquois sites, but he specialized in the Mississippian culture, especially its Lower Mississippi Valley incarnation.

In 1937, he was appointed assistant curator of Southeastern Archaeology at the Peabody Museum of Harvard. In 1949, he became its curator; and remained an honorary curator from his 1967 retirement until his death.

His professional collaborations with James A. Ford, James Bennett Griffin, and Gordon Willey have become some of the standard works of American archaeology.

His professional obituary, including a summary of his life's accomplishments, was written by his life-long colleague and collaborator Gordon R. Willey. It was published in 1996 by the Society for American Archaeology.

Important Published Works

Brain, Jeffrey P. and Philip Phillips. 1996. Shell Gorgets: Styles of the Late Prehistoric and Protohistoric Southeast. Peabody Museum Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Phillips, Philip. 1970. Archaeological Survey in the Lower Yazoo Basin, Mississippi, 1949-1955. Peabody Museum Papers, vol. 60. Harvard University, Cambridge.
Phillips, Philip and J. A. Brown. 1975-83. Pre-Columbian Shell Engravings from the Craig Mound at Spiro, Oklahoma. (6 volumes) Cambridge, Peabody Museum Press.
Phillips, Philip and J. A. Brown. 1984. Pre-Columbian Shell Engravings from the Craig Mound at Spiro, Oklahoma. (2-volume softbound edition) Cambridge, Peabody Museum Press.
Phillips, Philip, James A. Ford, and James B. Griffin. 1951. Archaeological Survey in the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley, 1940-1947. Peabody Museum Papers, vol. 25. Harvard University, Cambridge.
Willey, Gordon R. and Philip Phillips. 1958. Method and Theory in American Archaeology. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.

References

Willey, Gordon R. Obituary: Philip Phillips 1900-1994. American Antiquity, Vol. 61, No. 1. (Jan., 1996), pp. 39-43.

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