Christopher Ralph Chippindale, FSA (born 13 October 1951) is a British

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

. He worked at the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology from 1988 to his retirement in 2013, and was additionally Reader in Archaeology at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

from 2001 to 2013.

Early life and education

Chippindale was born on 13 October 1951, to Keith and Ruth Chippindale. He was educated at

Sedbergh School Sedbergh School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Private schools in the United Kingdom, private boarding school, boarding and day school, day school) in the town of Sedbergh in Cumbria, North West England. It comprise ...

, a public school in

Sedbergh Sedbergh ( or ) is a town and civil parish in the ceremonial county of Cumbria. It falls within the historic boundaries of the West Riding of Yorkshire. Since April 2023, it has been administered by Westmorland and Furness local authority. Th ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

. He went on to study at

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College, formally the College of St John the Evangelist in the University of Cambridge, is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch L ...

, graduating

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

(BA Hons). He then studied for a

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of Postgraduate education, graduate study and original resear ...

(PhD) at

Girton College, Cambridge Girton College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was established in 1869 by Emily Davies and Barbara Bodichon as the first women's college at Cambridge. In 1948, it was granted full college status by the un ...

. His

doctoral thesis A thesis (: theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: D ...

was titled "The Later Prehistoric rock-engravings of Val Fontanalba, Mont Bego, Tende, Alpes-Maritimes, France" and was completed in 1988.

Career

Chippindale was a

research fellow A research fellow is an academic research position at a university or a similar research institution, usually for academic staff or faculty members. A research fellow may act either as an independent investigator or under the supervision of a p ...

in archaeology at

from 1985 to 1988 and bye-fellow from 1988 to 1991. In 1987, he was appointed assistant

curator A curator (from , meaning 'to take care') is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the particular ins ...

of the

Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Cambridge The Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, also known as MAA, at the University of Cambridge houses the university's collections of local antiquities, together with archaeological and ethnographic artefacts from around the world. The museum ...

. He was promoted to Senior Assistant Curator in 1993. In 2001, he was appointed reader in archaeology at the

. He concurrently held the positions of reader and curator for British archaeology at the museum. He retired in 2013, and is now reader

emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". In some c ...

at the university and a senior fellow of the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research. Outside of his university career, he served as

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, organization, a ...

of the academic journal '' Antiquity'' for ten years, from 1987 to 1997.

Personal life

In 1976, Chippindale married Anne Lowe. Together they had four children; two sons and two daughters. They divorced in 2008. In 2008, he entered into a

civil partnership A civil union (also known as a civil partnership) is a legally recognized arrangement similar to marriage, primarily created to provide legal recognition for same-sex couples. Civil unions grant some or all of the rights of marriage, with ch ...

with Justice Oleka. His brother

Peter Chippindale Peter Chippindale (4 July 1945 – 10 August 2014) was a British newspaper journalist and author. He was born to Keith and Ruth Chippindale in Northern India, where his father was a captain in the 11th Sikh regiment. As a child he attended Sedber ...

was a journalist and author.

Honours

On 10 January 1991, Chippindale was elected

Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London The Society of Antiquaries of London (SAL) is a learned society of historians and archaeologists in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1707, received its royal charter in 1751 and is a Charitable organization, registered charity. It is based ...

(FSA).

Works

His publications include: *''Stonehenge Complete'' (first published 1983 , 4th edition 2012) *with

Paul Devereux Paul Devereux (born 1945) is a British author, researcher, lecturer, broadcaster, artist and photographer based in the UK. Devereux is a co-founder and the managing editor of the academic publication ''Time & Mind – the Journal of Archaeology, C ...

, Peter Fowler, Rhys Jones, and Tim Sebastian: ''Who Owns Stonehenge?'' (1990) *as editor with Paul S. Taçon: ''The Archaeology of Rock Art'' (1998) * **

References

British archaeologists Alumni of Girton College, Cambridge Academics of the University of Cambridge 1951 births Living people Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge British LGBTQ historians People educated at Sedbergh School 21st-century British LGBTQ people Antiquity (journal) editors {{UK-archaeologist-stub