Bob Chapman
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+44 (0) 118 378 6564
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Emeritus Professor
Areas of interest
- The later prehistory of Iberia and the West Mediterranean
- The development of inequalities and classes in human societies
- Marxism and archaeology
- Archaeological theory and practice.
Teaching
I have now retired from all undergraduate and postgraduate teaching.
Research projects
I have excavated on Mallorca, Menorca, and in south-east Spain, where I collaborated with the Autonomous University of Barcelona on the excavation of the Bronze Age settlement of Gatas in its regional context, coupled with an archaeo-ecological survey of the Aguas valley in the Vera Basin. Two monographs have been published on the Gatas project (1987, 1999) and one on the Aguas valley survey (1998). I have published the following monographs on the later prehistory of the west Mediterranean: Emerging Complexity: the later prehistory of S.E. Spain, Iberia and the west Mediterranean (CUP 1990) and Archaeologies of complexity (Routledge 2003).In addition to papers on archaeological theory (principally mortuary practises),I co-edited The Archaeology of Death (1981).
I am on the editorial or advisory boards of the Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, Journal of World Prehistory, and Trabajos de Prehistoria.
I received a grant from the Leverhulme Trust to support the six-month visit of philosopher of science Professor Alison Wylie (University of Vancouver, Canada) to the Department in 2010. This was the beginning of a collaborative project on evidential reasoning in Archaeology, which we pursued through a series of departmental seminars and then a workshop of archaeologists, philosophers of science and science studies scholars. We have published a co-edited book, Material Evidence: Learning from Archaeological Practice (Routledge, 2015). Alongside this book, we co-authored a volume, Evidential Reasoning in Archaeology (2016) for Bloomsbury's Debates in Archaeology series.
More recently, I have also written a book titled Archaeological Theory: The Basics, published by Routledge (2023). This is intended to be an accessible introduction for students and newcomers to archaeology, guiding readers to an understanding of what theory is, how it works and the range of theories drawn on by archaeologists.
I received a grant from the Leverhulme Trust to support the six-month visit of philosopher of science Professor Alison Wylie (University of Vancouver, Canada) to the Department in 2010. This was the beginning of a collaborative project on evidential reasoning in Archaeology, which we pursued through a series of departmental seminars and then a workshop of archaeologists, philosophers of science and science studies scholars. We have published a co-edited book, Material Evidence: Learning from Archaeological Practice (Routledge, 2015). Alongside this book, we co-authored a volume, Evidential Reasoning in Archaeology (2016) for Bloomsbury's Debates in Archaeology series.
More recently, I have also written a book titled Archaeological Theory: The Basics, published by Routledge (2023). This is intended to be an accessible introduction for students and newcomers to archaeology, guiding readers to an understanding of what theory is, how it works and the range of theories drawn on by archaeologists.
Background
Academic qualifications
- MA, PhD – University of Cambridge
Professional bodies/affiliations
- Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries.
Publications
- Chapman, R. (2023) Archaeological Theory: The Basics. Routledge , Abingdon. pp 182. ISBN: 9781138101234
- Chapman, R. and Wiley, A. (2016) Evidential reasoning in archaeology. Debates in Archaeology Bloomsbury , London. pp 254. ISBN: 9781472525277
- Chapman, R. and Wylie, A. , eds. (2015) Material evidence: learning from archaeological practice. Material Evidence. Learning from archaeological practice.. Routledge , New York and London. pp 380. ISBN: 9780415837453
- Chapman, R. and Wylie, A. (2015) Material evidence: learning from archaeological practice. In: Chapman, R. and Wylie, A. , (eds.) Material Evidence. Learning from archaeological practice.. Routledge , New York and London. pp. 1-20. ISBN: 9780415837453
- Chapman, R. (2014) Scales, interaction and movement in later Mediterranean prehistory. In: Souvatzi, S. and Hadji, A. , (eds.) Space and Time in Mediterranean Prehistory. Routledge Studies in Archaeology Routledge , New York and London. pp. 32-48. ISBN: 9780415837323
- Chapman, R. (2013) The living and dead in Later Prehistoric Iberia. In: Tarlow, S. and Nilsson Stutz, L. , (eds.) The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of Death and Burial. Oxford University Press , Oxford. pp. 375-390. ISBN: 9780199569069
- Chapman, R. (2013) Death, burial and social representation. In: Tarlow, S. and Nilsson Stutz, L. , (eds.) The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of Death and Burial. Oxford University Press , Oxford. pp. 47-57. ISBN: 9780199569069
- Chapman, R. (2010) Downsizers, upgraders, cultural constructors and social producers. In: Alt, S. , (eds.) Ancient complexities: new perspectives in pre-Columbian North America. University of Utah Press , Salt Lake City. pp. 205-219. ISBN: 9781607810261
- Chapman, R. (2009) Working with the dead. In: Sayer, D. and Williams, H. , (eds.) Mortuary practices and social identities in the Middle Ages. University of Exeter Press , UK. pp. 23-37. ISBN: 9780859898317
- Chapman, R. (2008) Producing Inequalities: Regional Sequences in Later Prehistoric Southern Spain. Journal of World Prehistory , 21 (3-4). pp. 195-260. ISSN: 0892-7537 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10963-008-9014-y
- Chapman, R. (2007) Evolution, complexity and the state. In: Kohring, . and Wynne-Jones, . , (eds.) Socialising Complexity. Structure, Interaction and Power in Social Discourse. Oxbow Books , Oxford. pp. 13-28. ISBN: 9781842172940
- Chapman, R. and Black, S. (2006) (on the Vera Basin).
- Chapman, R. (2006) Alternative states. In: Habu, . , Fawcett, . , Matsunaga, . , (eds.) Beyond Nationalist, Colonialist and Imperialist Archaeologies: Evaluating Multiple Narratives.
- Chapman, R. (2006) Middle Woodland/Hopewell. A view from beyond the periphery. In: Charles, . and Buikstra, . , (eds.) Recreating Hopewell. University of Florida Press , Gainesville. pp. 510-528.
- Chapman, R. (2005) Mortuary analysis. A matter of time?. In: Rakita, . , Buikstra, . , Beck, . , Williams, . , (eds.) Interacting with the Dead. Perspectives on Mortuary Archaeology for the New Millennium. University Press of Florida , Gainesville. pp. 25-40.
- Chapman, R. (2005) Food systems, power structures and social differentiation: case studies from the prehistoric Mediterranean. In: Kuijt, . and Prentiss, . , (eds.) Social and Economic Dynamics among New World and Old World Middle-Range Societies: Changing Food Systems and New Power Structures. University of Arizona Press
- Chapman, R. (2005) Changing social relations in the Mediterranean Copper and Bronze Ages. In: Blake, . and Knapp, . , (eds.) The Archaeology of Mediterranean Prehistory. Blackwell , Oxford. pp. 77-101.
- Chapman, R. (2003) Beyond the archaeology of death. Historiae Mortis , 1 pp. 1-12.
- Chapman, R. (2003) Other archaeologies and disciplines: mortuary analysis in the twenty-first century. In: Jeske, . and Charles, . , (eds.) Theory, Method and Practice in Modern Archaeology. Praeger , Westport. pp. 3-13.
- Chapman, R. (2003) Death, society and archaeology: the social dimensions of mortuary practices. Mortality , 8 (3). pp. 308-315. ISSN: 1469-9885 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13576270310001599849
- Chapman, R. (2003) Archaeologies of complexity. Routledge , London.