“The
Past is never dead. It’s not even past.” ~Faulkner
Introduction
to Archaeology
Anthropology L48 190B;
Archaeology L52 190B
Brown
100 -
MWF 11-12
Office: 205 South
Brookings
Tel. 5-4937
http://archaeology190.blogspot.com
Archaeology
plays a critical and unique role in our understanding of the human past. It is our only access to the 3 million years
of human lifeways before writing. It is
also our only access to the lives of those people often ignored or
misrepresented in written history, e.g. slaves, peasants, and women.
This
course
introduces students to the way archaeologists use material culture to
reconstruct past human behavior. The
first part of this course focuses on archaeological method and theory,
or “how
archaeologists do archaeology”. Lectures
and readings from this part of the course are augmented with two hours
of lab
work to familiarize you with the ways archaeologists study artifacts
such as
stones, bones, plants, and ceramics. The
second half of the course draws upon chronologically ordered case
studies to
look at social, ecological, and cultural issues facing humans from the
earliest
times (c. 3 mya) to the present. We will
discuss such issues as early evidence for food sharing and its social
implications, when and why humans first began burying their dead and
producing
art, and why humans gave up their autonomy to live in state controlled
societies. Contemporary issues such as,
“Whose
past is it anyway?”, will also be discussed.
After completing this course, I expect that you will have a
sound
understanding of how the past is reconstructed, that you will be able
to think
critically about how the past is presented, and why, and that you will
understand the importance of the past as it relates to the present and
future.
2006. Ashmore and Sharer. Discovering Our Past,
4th ed. McGraw-Hill.
2007. Feder.
The Past in Perspective, 4th
ed. McGraw-Hill.
Regular
class attendance, careful note taking, and class participation are
essential to
your success in this course. Please read
the assigned material BEFORE each
class.
The
lab
component of this course involves a total of two hours of lab work. One of the labs will be held in the Washington
University Archaeology Lab (Old McMillan 117).
You will schedule your lab time by signing up on-line. Many times are offered to accommodate your
schedules. The other lab is
on-line. For each lab you will perform a
set of specified activities and will complete a lab exercise that will
be
graded. Each lab/exercise is worth 5 points.
There
will
be two exercises given in conjunction with the lecture component of
this
course. These exercises are noted on your syllabus.
Each exercise is worth 10 points.
You may not make-up an exercise unless you have a verified
excuse. Exercises turned in after the due
date will
be penalized one point per day.
Your
course
grade is based on your performance in the following areas: class
exercises 20% (20 points), lab
participation and lab exercises
10% (10 points), and three exams. Exams one and two are worth 20% each and exam three is worth 30% (70 total
points
possible for exams). Exam
material will be drawn from lectures, readings, films, and lab work. The exams are not cumulative, but the second
and third exams will draw on knowledge acquired from earlier material. Exam format will be multiple choice,
matching, short answer, and true or false.
Make-up examinations will only be given in the case of verified
emergencies. Make-up exams will be more difficult
than the exam given in class.
Individual course grades will be derived from the following
scale:
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93-100=A |
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90-92=A- |
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87-89=B+ |
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83-86=B |
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80-82=B- |
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77-79=C+ |
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73-76= C |
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70-72=C- |
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67-69=D+ |
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63-66=D |
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60-62=D- |
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59 or below = F |
For
those
taking the course Credit/No Credit the lowest passing grade is a C-.
Exam,
assignment, lab and final grades will be posted on Telesis.
There
are
three graduate teaching assistants and two undergraduate teaching
assistant for
this course. Two of the graduate TAs
will hold office hours and meet with students as necessary to go over
course
material. The third graduate TA is
responsible for the laboratory component of this course.
The undergraduate TAs will also be available for
questions from students and will help with class logistics.
TAs
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Paula Doumani Office: Old McMillan Office hours: |
Lab Czar Timothy
Schilling Lab/Office: Old McMillan
117 Office hours: by
appointment |
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Diana Fridberg Office: Old McMillan Office Hours: |
Undergraduate TAs: Amanda Berman Emily Cornwall |
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Academic Integrity: Plagiarism is the use
of someone
else's work or words without attribution.
Understand what this means and always cite references when using
the
words or ideas of another. Each student
in this course is expected to abide by the Undergraduate Student
Academic
Integrity Policy. The University’s policy is available on the web
at http://www.wustl.edu/policies/undergraduate-academic-integrity.html.
Breaches of academic integrity must be referred to the
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Lecture Topic |
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Part
I: |
Archaeology’s History and
Practices |
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W 8/27 |
Course Overview |
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F 8/29 |
What Is Archaeology? |
A&S
Chapter 1 |
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M 9/1 |
Labor Day – No Class |
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W 9/3 |
Archaeology’s Past |
A&S
Chapter 2 |
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F 9/5 |
How Archaeology Works |
A&S, |
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M 9/8 |
In The Field – Part I |
A&S, |
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W 9/10 |
In the Field – Part II |
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F 9/12 |
No Class |
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M 9/15 |
In the Field – Part III |
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W 9/17 |
What’s So Special About
Rocks? |
A&S
pp. 115-123 and Chapter 6 ERES:
Woman the Toolmaker |
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F 9/19 |
What Is Zooarchaeology? |
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M 9/22 |
You Are What You East |
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W 9/24 |
Bones Sweet Bones |
ERES:
Forensic Archaeology (Harper) |
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F 9/26 |
Why Do Archaeologists Love Ceramics? |
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M 9/29 |
Review for Exam 1 |
Review |
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W 10/1 |
How Do Archaeologists
Think About the Past? |
Exercise
1 assigned – Due 10/13 |
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F 10/3 |
First Exam |
Exam |
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M 10/6 |
How Is The Past Presented
And Should We Believe It? |
ERES:
The Real Flintstones? (Gifford-Gonzalez) |
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W 10/8 |
Relative Dating…it’s not
what you think. |
A&S
Chapter 7 |
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F 10/10 |
Absolute Dating |
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M 10/13 |
How Do We Interpret The
Past? |
A&S
Chapter 8 Exercise
1 due at beginning of class |
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W 10/15 |
N!ai And Analogical
Reasoning |
ERES:
Eating Christmas in the Kalahari (Lee) |
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F 10/17 |
Fall Break – No Class |
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PART II: |
The Origins of Culture |
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M 10/20 W 10/22 F 10/24 |
African Roots |
Feder, |
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M 10/27 W 10/29 F 10/31 |
Neanderthals, Goddesses,
& Art |
Feder, ERES: New
Women of the Ice Age (Pringle) |
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M 11/3 |
Review for Exam 2 |
Review |
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W 11/5 |
No Class – study for exam |
Study! |
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F 11/7 |
Exam 2 |
Exam |
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PART III |
After the Ice |
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M 11/10 |
Culture Change in the
Post-Pleistocene |
Feder, |
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W 11/12 |
Agricultural Revolution?
Or Transition? |
Feder, ERES: Worst Mistake in
the History of the Human Race (Diamond) |
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F 11/14 |
Why Is There So Much
Inequality In The World? |
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M 11/17 |
The Roots of Complexity |
Feder, Exercise 2
assigned – Due 12/1 |
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W 11/19 |
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Feder pp. 468-482 |
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F 11/21 |
Classical Archaeology |
ERES:
Pliny the Younger (Pliny the
Younger) |
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M 11/24 |
Historical Archaeology |
ERES: To
Live and Labor for Another (Allison) |
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W-F 11/26-28 |
Thanksgiving Break – No
class |
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M
12/1 |
Whose Past Is It Anyway? |
A&S Chapter 10 ERES:
Anthropological Culture Shift (Morell) Exercise 2 due at
beginning of class |
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W 12/3 |
Review for Exam 3 |
Review |
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F 12/5 |
No Class – study for exam |
Study! |
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M 12/8 |
Exam 3 – In Class |
Final Exam |