James Harvey Chaplin

James "Jim" Harvey Chaplin (16 September 1924 – 31 March 1967) was a British meteorologist, archaeologist, and anthropologist who primarily studied weather, culture, and rock art in East and Central Africa.

Career

Chaplin's major scientific contributions include:

performing ethnographic research on iron and copper smelting that was useful in describing metalworking traditions from the Iron Age

rapidly organizing an excavation to collect evidence of 15th-century trading relations involving Monomatapa, the Zambian plateau, and the coast

undertaking foundational work on rock art in Zambia and East Africa

serving as "the first executive officer of the Monuments Commission" in Uganda

making "significant contributions to the study of Zambia's past"

Job positions

[c. 1942 – 1945]: served as a seaman and meteorologist in the Royal Navy in the latter part of World War II, during which he visited Cape Town and Durban

1952 – c. 1957: member of the Meteorological Department of the Northern Rhodesian Government

1957–1962: Inspector of Monuments on the Commission for the Preservation of Natural and Historical Monuments and Relics, in close association with the Rhodes-Livingstone Museum

c. 1964: Director of Antiquities in Uganda

1965–1967: Inspector of Monuments at the Department of Antiquities; Director of Ancient Monuments of the Uganda Ministry of Culture; Curator of Monuments for Uganda

Activities and affiliations

"had been a keen Boy Scout"

1949–1951: participated in the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey (FIDS), at Admiralty Bay, South Shetlands (Base G; 63° S, 58° W), where he observed snow crystals between 1949 February 6 and November 30, and Port Lockroy, Graham Land (Base A; 65° S, 63° W), 1950 February 3 – 1951 January 25 (present 1950 January 24 – 1951 February 10; serving as a meteorologist and the leader of the station), in Antarctica

1950 May 17: elected as a Fellow of the Royal Meteorological Society

1951 December 17: elected for Fellowship with the Royal Geographical Society

1957 December: became a member of the South African Archaeological Society

1957 December – 1958 January: accompanied an International Geophysical Year expedition to climb Mount Kenya with 13 other people to survey its glaciers, serving as one of two meteorologists

c. 1960: became an Associate of Current Anthropology

c. 1963: received a minor grant for research on East Africa from the Emslie Horniman Anthropological Scholarship Fund

1964: joined two research expeditions with Merrick Posnansky to Lolui Island, finding rock gongs and rock art

c. 1965: became a Life Fellow of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland

c. 1966 – 1967: assisted in the editing of the Uganda Society's the Uganda Journal

Education

c. 1947–1948: University College London

"did not have a university education" and progressed his career through work experience instead

1962 – 1964 June: Post-graduate Diploma in Prehistoric Archaeology from the University of London's Institute of Archaeology

c. 1964 – 1966: M.A. from the African Studies Program at the Makerere University College of the University of East Africa, studying the symbolism of Central African rock art, supervised by Professor Merrick Posnansky

Publications

Chaplin's publications include academic articles and letters, poetry, and more:

Chaplin, J. H. (13 August 1950).