Syllabus
16 January: Introduction
to class, define terms
Questions: What is archaeology?
Why
is archaeology a subdiscipline of anthropology?
23 January: History
of Archaeology and Archaeological Theory
Questions: What are the origins of and
influences in archaeology?
Read: Chapter 1, 2 & 3
Video: Myths and the Moundbuilders
30 January: Archaeological
Theory (continued)
Questions: What are the
current intellectual approaches influencing archaeological thought? How are
they different or similar to each other?
Read: Chapter 3
Video: Mystery of Chaco Canyon
6 February:
Research
Design
Questions: How do archaeologists
examine the past? What constitutes archaeological evidence?
Read: Chapter 4
In-class
activity: Reading maps and
interpreting maps
13 February: Excavation
Question: How are archaeological
remains found, collected, and studied?
Read: Chapter 5 & 7
In-class
activity:
Deadline
to decide what book you are reading for your book review!
20 February: Dating Techniques
Questions: How old is it? What
techniques are applied to dating the past?
Read: Chapter 6; Price and Feinman, pp. 42-43, 142-143.
In-class
activity: Classification
Questions: What are they made of? How
were they made? How were they used?
In-
class activity: Artifact analysis
(lithic)
In- class activity: Archaeology Quiz Match! (Mid-term exam Review)
Questions: More ... What are they made
of? How were they made? How were they used?
Read: Chapter 7
In-class
activity: Artifact analysis
(ceramic)
Deadline
to have your paper topic approved!
13 March: Mid-term Exam
20 March: Paleodiet and human remains
Questions: What can human and animal
remains tell us about the past?
Read: Price and Feinman, pp. 172-173
Video:
The
Skeletons of Spitalfields
27 March: Origins
of agriculture and animal husbandry
Questions: How did agriculture become
central to many early cultures? What processes were involved in plant and
animal domestication?
Read: Price and Feinman, pp. 197-203, 239-245, 253-355.
Video:
3 April: SPRING BREAK!!
10 April: Interpretation
Questions: How do archaeologists
reconstruct and interpret the past? What shapes our understanding of past human
behaviors and patterns?
Read: Chapter 8 & 9; Price and
Feinman 280-281.
17 April: Complex societies: the
Questions: How did social complexity
change through time in the
Read:
**Book Reviews due today**
24 April: Complex societies: the
Questions: What similarities or differences occur across
Read: Price and Feinman, pages 305-307, 365-367, 404-405.
Video:
1 May: Archaeology
Today
Questions: What are the challenges
facing archaeologists today. Whose rights are more important in the owing, curation, and study of the past?
Read: Chapter 10, articles on
reserve in folder
In-class
activity: Discussion of who owns
archaeological remains
8 May: Student presentations
In-class
activity: Archaeology Quiz Match II!
**Research papers due today!**
15 May: FINAL EXAM—