He has conducted archaeology studies for over 40 years and has written twenty books, dozens of journal articles and many other technical publications.
[2] Chapman began his career as a teacher at the Webb School of Knoxville (1965–1967) and was later promoted to be the chairman of the social studies department (1968–1971).
[1][5] Work at the Icehouse Bottom site (1970–1971 and 1975) uncovered the best evidence for early cultivation of maize in eastern North America.
[10] In 1987, Chapman was made an Honorary Fellow of the Lower Mississippi Survey, Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology.
Chapman's research concentrates on the material remains in paleoethnobotony, museology and public archaeology in the southeast United States and Americas.