Chris Peebles was born on May 26, 1939 in Clearwater, Florida. His interest in anthropology and archaeology led him to the University of Chicago where he met Lewis Binford and received his AB Degree in Philosophy and Anthropology. Chris continued his education with Lewis to the University of California, Santa Barbara where he received his Ph.D. in Anthropology in 1974 but finished under Albert C. Spaulding.
In
between this time, Chris worked closely with Charles H. Fairbanks and
William H. Sears at the University of Florida. Peebles states "the
person I would count as my mentor (is) David Lloyd DeJarnette,
at the University of Alabama & Mound State Monument. Those three (men) taught
me
the craft of archaeology and Southeastern prehistory; Binford and
Spaulding taught me how to think about archaeology within anthropology."
Currently, he is involved in several aspects of Indiana University. From Associate Vice President for Research and Academic Computing, to Dean for Information Technology. He is also a Professor of Anthropology and the Director for the Glenn A. Black Laboratory of Archaeology. Furthermore, he is involved in the Program for Cognitive Science, as well as in the Research Center for Language and Semiotic Studies. His interest in the development of technology has led him to be involved in working as a part of a management team to bring quality and cost care programs to the University's Computing Services.
In 1985 Peebles arrived at Indiana University. In association with the Glenn A. Black Laboratory, Indiana proved to be a wonderful resource for archeology in terms of the Ohio River valley, and other areas of North American Prehistory. Peebles interests in computer and information science have been easily combined into the technical aspects of his archeological work. Among his achievements is the construction of databases and management information systems for archeological research. One of these notable databases aided in creating (along with Sandra Parker, University of Arkansas) the National Archeological Database for the National Parks Service.
Chris Peebles studies have encompassed a wide array of archaeological sites and issues, and in addition, prehistoric archeology and the theories of culture and change. His most noted excavations is at Moundville in Alabama. Of this on going excavation he writes:
"I have spent the better part of my scholarly career in an attempt to write the prehistory of a very small patch of the past: a few hundred years and a few thousand square miles of west central Alabama. My goal has been to understand and to explain the developments that led from the genesis, through the florescence, and ultimately to the decline and destruction of what has been called the Moundville phase, a late prehistoric agricultural society situated in the middle reaches of the Black Warrior River Valley. This quest, which has been conducted in partnership with several other scholars, has included field survey and excavation, analysis of museum collections, and the application of techniques and instruments imported from the natural sciences to answer various historical and anthropological questions. The multiple foci of this work have ranged in scale from the diet and health of individuals, to community and settlement structure, to the constitution and organization of one of the largest prehistoric polities to have arisen in North America."
Peebles continues his work at Indiana University today.
http://www.gbl.indiana.edu/per.html, (March, 2006)
Personal Interview, H.S, (2006)
Chris Peebles. Personal Biography, 2006
Chris Peebles Direct Quote, (2006)
Written By: Holly Schwichtenberg, 2006