Thomas H. Eubanks, state archaeologist
Submitted by N.O.V.A. September 2006
Times Picayune 09-12-2006


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Thomas Hales Eubanks, Louisiana's state archaeologist who built
strong relationships with Indian tribes throughout the state by
respecting their achievements and traditions, died Aug. 23 of
pancreatic cancer at his Baton Rouge home. He was 57. 

During his 12 years as the state's top archaeologist, Dr.
Eubanks put landmark plaques at Indian mounds all over the
state to explain their historical significance, and he linked
them with the Louisiana Ancient Mounds Trail, a driving tour,
said Ray Brinkman, his companion. 

"They predate the pyramids," Brinkman said. 

Working with the Louisiana National Guard and the Native
American Historical Initiative, Dr. Eubanks helped establish
the Native American Keepsake Cemetery at Camp Beauregard near
Pineville to receive bones of Indians that were dug up during
activities such as construction or farming. 

"He formed a tomb where they could be interred, rather than
thrown into a pile," Brinkman said. 

For these accomplishments, Dr. Eubanks was honored by the
Chitimacha Tribal Council, the Caddo Nation, the Louisiana
Archaeological Society, the federal Agriculture Department and
the federal Advisory Council on Historic Preservation. 

"He won the respect of Indians because they're not fond of
archaeologists who dig up their bones and put them into
museums," Brinkman said. 

"It took a while, but he won them over because they realized
that he was on their side." 

Dr. Eubanks was born in Nashville, Tenn., and grew up in
Cincinnati, where he started working at the Cincinnati Museum
of Natural History when he was 15. 

He earned a bachelor's degree in anthropology from Eastern
Kentucky University and master's and doctoral degrees from the
University of Florida. 

Dr. Eubanks was trained as a historical archaeologist, and he
specialized in the plantation era of the Southern United States
and the Caribbean. 

Besides excavating several 18th and 19th century sugar
factories and rum distilleries on Tobago in the West Indies, he
was a historic-preservation consultant for the Tobago House of
Assembly and director of the University of Florida's Tobago
Archaeological Program. 

Before becoming Louisiana's state archaeologist in 1994, Dr.
Eubanks was an assistant to Georgia's state archaeologist. 

For the past three years, he also taught anthropology at
Louisiana State University. 

Dr. Eubanks had been president of the National Association of
State Archaeologists since 2003. 

He had been chairman of the Louisiana Ancient Mounds Heritage
Area and Trails Commission and the Louisiana Unmarked Burial
Sites Board, and he had been a member of the Louisiana
Archaeological Survey and Antiquities Commission. 

In addition to Brinkman, survivors include a nephew, a niece,
an aunt and cousins. 

A memorial service will be held Oct. 6 at 4 p.m. at the
Louisiana State Museum, 660 N. Fourth St., in Baton Rouge.