Courses |
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Courses Taught: 113:012 Introduction to Prehistory The focus of this course is on the evolution of human culture from
the hunters and gatherers of the Pleistocene (Ice Age) to the complex
societies of historically known civilizations. Cultures of both the
Old and New Worlds are covered. A brief introduction to archaeological
techniques of excavation, dating, analysis, and conservation of archaeological
remains is followed by a survey of the archaeological data from the
various regions of the world. Discussion sections supplement topics
covered in class. 113:013 Human Origins This is an introduction to human origins and evolution, and will
focus on the interdisciplinary approach used in paleoanthropology
to understand the past five million years of human evolutionary history.
We will survey the processes and products of human evolution from
the perspectives of genetics, evolutionary theory, human diversity,
comparative anatomy, primatology, and the fossil and artifactual records.
This course fulfills the General Education Program requirement for
a non-laboratory course in Natural Sciences. 113:158 Animal Bones in Archaeology: Introductory Faunal Analysis This course focuses on the analysis of animal bones in archaeological
sites. Bones are direct evidence of prehistoric lifeways for ancient
hunters and early farmers and herders. This is an increasingly important
data source for archaeologists. Students will learn mammalian skeletal
anatomy and identification, and we will explore a number of issues
central to the interpretation of those remains, including determination
age and sex, seasonality, quantification and sampling, recognition
of breakage and cut-marks, taphonomy, and interpretations. This course
involves lecture presentations and laboratory sessions. Laboratory
sessions will give hands-on experience in treating archaeological
bones and analyzing them. Grades will be based on two exams, a number
of lab and homework exercises, and a final project involving the analysis
of an assemblage of archaeological animal bones. 113:161 Prehistoric People of the Ice Age The focus of this course is on the fossil and archaeological record
of hominid occupation of the Old World during the Pleistocene. We
will cover scientific paradigms and their effect on interpretations
of prehistory, climatic reconstruction, dating methods and controversies,
hominid fossils, associated artifactual materials and the inferences
for behavior by prehistoric hunter/gatherers and for the processes
and course of cultural evolution. 113:162 Laboratory Methods in Archaeology This course is intended for students with strong archaeological interests or archaeological field experience. The class studies a wide range of materials recently recovered from archaeological sites. Pottery, lithics (stone tools and related items), plant remains, and animal bones are studied in an intensive, hands-on manner. 113:168 Method and Theory in Archaeology This course is an introduction to the practice of archaeology. It
will require attendance at lectures and participation in class discussions
and in laboratory exercises. We will draw most heavily on the Sharer
and Ashmore and the Binford texts for the structure of this course,
but will also complete several laboratory and homework exercises.
During the Wednesday lab sessions, there will also be considerable
hands-on experience in the field and laboratory each week with procedures
of survey, excavation and analysis. For much of the lab time, we will
be dealing with actual archaeological materials from my Paleolithic
excavations in France. These (or other data) will be the basis for
an independent project to be carried out during the laboratory time
during the last month of the semester. Grades will be based on class
participation, homework assignments, and field and laboratory work,
final project, as well as formal testing. 113:178 Hunter/Gatherer Ethnoarchaeology Hunting and gathering constituted the way of life for all humans
during the majority of human evolution. This course is an examination
of variability in adaptations of modern hunter-gatherer societies
on a global scale, emphasizing subsistence, mobility, and social organization.
The study of modern societies serves as the basis for understanding
the adaptations of prehistoric hunter-gatherers. Particular emphasis
is paid to lithic technology, faunal analysis, and site structure
for the interpretation of archaeological sites. 113:258 Seminar : Zooarchaeology This is a graduate level with focus on the use of faunal material
in the interpretation of archaeological remains. We will cover skeletal
anatomy and identification, taphonomy, determination of population
parameters such as age and sex, seasonality, quantification and sampling,
recognition of breakage and cutmarks, and interpretations by such
means as ethnoarchaeology. 113:268 Seminar : Archaeological Method and Theory This is a graduate level introduction archaeological method and theory.
It is not a course in techniques or laboratory methods, but rather
an exploration of the ideas behind the practice of archaeology. We
will examine the history of changes in archaeological thought, goals
and methods, and we will look at issues that are currently deemed
important for archaeological research. Archaeology, and American archaeology
in particular, is anthropology; we operate in many ways to try to
discover information relevant to goals of other anthropologists. We
do, however, have a unique advantage - the ability to look at changes
and processes with great time depth. It is only through archaeology
that we can understand how humans evolved to become the cultural beings
that they are today. Our advantage also entails an exceedingly thorny
epistemological problem: the archaeological record cannot be read
directly in terms of past behaviors. We must develop methods for the
initial interpretation of our data before we can apply them to our
data. |
Created by Dustin Roth Fall 2003