SYLLABUS

ANTHROPOLOGY 167 - SPRING 2004

INTRODUCTION TO ARCHAEOLOGY

TR 10:05-11:30 pm - SL 212 Professor: Dr. William (Bill) H. Isbell
  Office: S1 109-111 X 2744
Teaching Assistants: Office Hours:

Felix Acuto bi91532@binghamton.edu
Amy Groleau agrolea1@binghamton.edu




Introduction to Archaeology

1. Jan. 20 Introduction
Divide into "moieties," A and get everyone on the computer "Revealing Archaeology" Discussion: Politics and the past
Films Pompeii and Herculaneum
Begin first section, Huanaitys' Imprint

Jan. 22 The Nature of Archaeology and the Archaeological Record
Film: "The Big Dig" Discussion nature of the archaeological record
Humanitys' Imprint

Ch. 2 Epistemology: How you Know What You Know pp. 15-32 Fader, K. L.
1999 Frauds, Myths and Mysteries: Science and Pseudoscience in Archaeology. Mayfield Publishing, Mountain View.

2. Jan. 27 Discussion: How do we know the past
Leaving a Trail

Jan. 29
Wylie, A.
1992 On "Heavily Decomposing Red Herrings": Scientifc Method in Archaeology and the Ladening of Evidence with Theory. In Metaarchaeology: Reflections by Archaeologists and Philosophers, edited by L. Embree, pp. 269-288. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Boston.

3. Feb. 3
Tracking Down Time
Archaeoastronomy
Film: The Mystery of Stonehenge
Ch. 4 Seats of the Sun: the Solar Pillars of Cuzco, pp. 67-100
Bauer, B. S. and D. S. Dearborn
1995 Astronomy and Empire in the Ancient Andes. University of Texas Press, Austin.

Feb. 5
Charting Time

4. Feb. 10 Radiocarbon dating and calibration
http://www.varchive.org/ce/c14.htm
http://www.unmuseum.org/radiocar.htm
http://www.c14dating.com/
http://www.c14dating.com/int.html
http://www.ansto.gov.au/ansto/environment1/ams/ams_Radiocarbon-dating.htm
http://archaeology.miningco.com/blc14bib.htm
http://www.shroud.com/nature.htm

Feb.12 (Problem)

5. Feb. 17
Following the Trail

Feb. 19 Examining field methods (reading on survey and on excavation)
Ch. 5 Fieldwork: Why Archaeologists Walk Straight Lines and Dig Square Holes pp. 121-156. Thomas, David H. 1999 Archaeology: Down to Earth (second Edition) Fort Worth: Harcourt, Brace College Publishers

6. Feb. 24 (Problem )

Feb. 26
Ch 5 How were Societies Organized pp. 173-224 Renfrew, C. and P. Baun
2000 Archaeology: Theories methods and Practice (third edition). Thames and Hudson, London

7. March 2
Detecting Technology
Film: Flint knapping

March 5
Flim: Sutton Hoo

8. March 10 Midterm Exam

Spring Break

9. March 16 Provisioning Society
Drop deadline
March 18

10. March 23 Mortuary Studies
Pearson, Mike Parker
1999 The Archaeology of Death and Burial. College Station: Texas A&M University Press. (Third printing, 2002)
Film: African Burial Ground Revisited

March 25

March 30
Film: Science or Sacrilege: Native Americans, Archaeology and the Law
----------- Passover, Easter ---------

11. April 13 Gender
Moore, H.
1994 Bodies on the Move: Gender, Power and Material Culture. In A Passion for Difference, edited by H. Moore, pp. 71-85. Polity Press, Cambridge.

O'Gorman, J. A.
2001 Life, Death, and the Longhouse: A Gendered View of Oneota Social Organization. In Gender and the Archaeology of Death, edited by B. Arnold and N. L. Wicker, pp. 23-50. Alta Mira Press, Walnut Creek.

Dowson, T. A.
2000 Homosexuality, Queer Theory and Archaeology. In Interpretive Archaeology: A Reader, edited by J. Thomas, pp. 283-289. Leichester University Press, London and New York.

April 15 Analysis of human remains - Bioarchaeology
Fowler, Brenda
2000 Iceman: uncovering the life and times of a prehistoric man found in an Alpine glacier. New York, Random House (paperback)

12. April 20 Landscape and place
Ingold, T.
1993 The Temporality of Landscape. World Archaeology 25:152-174.

Thomas, J.
2002 Archaeology of Place and Landscape. In Archaeological Theory Today, edited by I. Hodder, pp. 165-186. Polity, Cambridge.

April 22
13. April 27 Cultural Evolution
Flannery, K. V.
2002 Prehistoric Social Evolution. In Archaeology: Original Readings in Method and Practice, edited by P. N. Peregrine, C. R. Ember and M. Ember, pp. 225-244. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey.

Bender, B.
1989 The Roots of Inequality. In Domination and Resistance, edited by D. Miller, M. Rowlands and C. Tilley, pp. 83-95. Unwin Hyman, London.

April 29
Film: Out the of Past: An Introduction to Archaeology, No. 3: Artisans and Trades

14. May 4 Preserving the Trail
Meighan, C. W.
1996 Burying American Archaeology. In Archaeological Ethics, edited by K. D. Vitelli, pp. 209-213. AltaMira Press, Walnut Creek.

Stanley, D. P.
1993 The Antiquities Market. Journal of Field Archaeology: pp.347-355.

Dempsey, M. A.
2002 Protecting the Past: An Interview with Walter Alva. In Archaeology (Sixth Edition) 01/02. Annual Editions, edited by L. L. Hasten, pp. 214-217. Annual Editions, McGraw-Hill/Dushkin, Guilford Conn.

May 6
Film: Thieves of Time
Exam week May 10

Recommended and Reserve Books and CDs
Revealing Archaeology: Interactive Explorations. 2001-2003 CD from "Thinking Strings." Macromedia Inc.

Fowler, Brenda
2000 Iceman : uncovering the life and times of a prehistoric man found in an Alpine glacier. New York, Random House (paperback)

Pearson, Mike Parker
1999 The Archaeology of Death and Burial. College Station: Texas A&M University Press. (Third printing, 2002)

Additional readings on electronic reserve

 

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