David D. Anderson

Biography

David G. Anderson (born 1949) is an archaeologist in the department of anthropology at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, who specializes in Southeastern archaeology. His professional interests include climate change and human response, exploring the development of cultural complexity in Eastern North America, maintaining and improving the nation's Cultural Resource management (CRM) program, teaching and writing about archaeology, and developing technical and popular syntheses of archaeological research. He is the project director of the on-line Paleoindian Database of the Americas (PIDBA).[1] and a co-director, with Joshua J. Wells, Eric C, Kansa, and Sarah Whitcher Kansa, of the Digital Index of North American Archaeology (DINAA)[2] The majority of Anderson's career has been involved in Cultural Resources Management (CRM) archaeology. Graduating from high school in Milledgeville, Georgia, he went to Case Western Reserve University for his undergraduate education. He did not have an interest in anthropology initially, but switched to it after taking classes in physics, biology, and classics. The change was inspired by an introductory anthropology course he took during his sophomore year. Anthropology intrigued Anderson because it focused on major questions of human existence, such as why people fought wars, practice religion, or organized themselves the way they do in groups and cultures. The major historical figures of the field of anthropology were not afraid to tackle big questions or to challenge accepted stereotypes about race or culture, and this appealed to Anderson's 1960s-era idealism. Because of his own experience, Anderson feels that well-taught introductory courses in archaeology or anthropology can be crucial in recruiting new members to the profession. Upon graduation with a BA in 1972, Anderson volunteered on archaeological field projects in southwestern New Mexico for several months. Continuing with volunteer work over the next two years, in 19

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