“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

Course Instructor: Darla Dale

Office hours: T 2-3; W 1-2, or by appointment

Office: 205 South Brookings

Tel. 5-4937; dddale@wustl.edu

http://archaeology190.blogspot.com

Course description

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.

Required texts

2010.  Ashmore and Sharer. Discovering Our Past, 5th ed. McGraw-Hill.

2007.  Feder. The Past in Perspective, 4th ed. McGraw-Hill.

Required articles

Required articles are available through Ares (http://ares.wustl.edu/ares/).  Password: pyramid.

• Allison, W.  1999.  To Live and Labor for Another.  American Archaeology 3:16-22.

• Diamond, J.  1987.  The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race.  Discover/May.  In Lessons from the Past, pp. 20-23, K.L. Feder, ed., 1999.  Mayfield.

• Gifford-Gonzalez, D.  1995.  The Real Flintstones? What are Artists’ Depictions of Human Ancestors Telling Us?  National Museums Anthro Notes 17:1-5.

• Harper, A.B.  1999.  Forensic Archeology and the Woodchipper Murder.  In Lessons from the Past, pp. 189-193, K.L. Feder, ed., 1999.  Mayfield.

• Lee, R.B.  1969.  Eating Christmas in the Kalahari.  Natural History/December.  In Conformity and Conflict, pp. 27-34, J.P. Spradley and D.W. McCurdy, eds., 8th ed. 1994.

• Morell, V.  1994.  An Anthropological Culture Shift.  Science 264:20-22.

• Pringle, H.  New Women of the Ice Age.  Discover/April, pp. 62-69.

• Resnick, M.  1995.  Seven Views of Oludvai Gorge.  In The Year’s Best Science Fiction:12th Annual Collection, pp. 305-342, G. Dozios, ed. 1995.  St. Martin’s Press.

• Pliny the Younger, Book 6.16 and 20 (Letters to Cornelius Tacitus).  In The Letters of the Younger Pliny, pp. 166-171, translated by Betty Radice, Penguin Books 1969.

Course expectations

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.

Lab

The lab component of this course involves a total of two hours of lab work.  The labs will be held in the Washington University Archaeology Lab (Old McMillan 117).  You will schedule your lab by signing up on-line (https://asapps.artsci.wustl.edu/wues/).  Many lab times are offered to accommodate your schedules.  For each lab you will perform a set of specified activities and complete a lab exercise that will be graded.  Each lab/exercise is worth 5 points.

Class exercises

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. 

Course evaluation

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 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 may be more difficult than the exam given in class.  Make-up exams will be scheduled two weeks from the date the exam was missed.  Individual course grades will be derived from the following scale:

Pass/Fail option

For those taking the course Credit/No Credit the lowest passing grade is a C-.

Telesis (https://telesis.wustl.edu/)

All grades will be posted on Telesis.

Teaching assistants

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

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 College of Arts and Sciences and can result in a failing grade for the course.