Philip Phillips (11 August 1900 – 11 December 1994) was an influential

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landsca ...

in the United States during the 20th century. Although his first graduate work was in

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing buildings ...

, he later received a doctorate from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...

under advisor Alfred Marston Tozzer. His first archaeological experiences were on

Iroquois The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian Peoples, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Indigenous confederations in North America, confederacy of First Nations in Canada, First Natio ...

sites, but he specialized in the

Mississippian culture The Mississippian culture was a Native American civilization that flourished in what is now the Midwestern, Eastern, and Southeastern United States from approximately 800 CE to 1600 CE, varying regionally. It was known for building large, eart ...

, especially its Lower Mississippi Valley incarnation.

Career

In 1937, he was appointed assistant curator of Southeastern Archaeology at the

Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology The Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology is a museum affiliated with Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1866, the Peabody Museum is one of the oldest and largest museums focusing on anthropological material, wi ...

at 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 Alfred Ford (February 12, 1911–February 25, 1968) was an American archaeologist. He was born in Water Valley, Mississippi, in February 1911. While growing up in the region, where ancient earthwork mounds are visible, he became interested ...

James Bennett Griffin James Bennett Griffin or Jimmy Griffin (January 12, 1905 – May 31, 1997) was an American archaeologist. He is regarded as one of the most influential archaeologists in North America in the 20th century. Personal life Born in Atchison, Kans ...

, and

Gordon Willey Gordon Randolph Willey (7 March 1913 – 28 April 2002) was an American archaeologist who was described by colleagues as the "dean" of New World archaeology.Sabloff 2004, p.406 Willey performed fieldwork at excavations in South America, Central A ...

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 lifelong colleague and collaborator Gordon R. Willey. It was published in 1996 by the Society for American Archaeology.

Personal life

Phillips married Ruth Wilma Schoellkopf (daughter of

business magnate A business magnate, also known as a tycoon, is a person who has achieved immense wealth through the ownership of multiple lines of enterprise. The term characteristically refers to a powerful entrepreneur or investor who controls, through per ...

Jacob F. Schoellkopf Jr.) in 1922 in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...

. In 1942, the Phillips resided in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...

. In 1955 their son Bradley Sawyer Phillips (1929–1991) married the poet

V. R. Lang Violet Ranney "Bunny" Lang (married name Phillips, 11 May 1924 – 29 July 1956) was an American poet and playwright. Biography Born into a wealthy Boston family, Violet R. Lang was a debutante who began college at the University of Chicago but ...

(1924–1956).

Published works

Phillips' published works include: * 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. {{DEFAULTSORT:Phillips, Philip Pre-Columbian scholars Harvard University alumni American Mesoamericanists Mesoamerican archaeologists 20th-century Mesoamericanists 1900 births 1994 deaths Schoellkopf family 20th-century American archaeologists