SPRING, 2008
Syllabus
This course is an introduction to contemporary archaeology, the methods through which we can recover the past and how these differ from the portrayal of archaeology and archaeologists in the popular media. The goal of this class is to provide you with the background to make informed decisions concerning the preservation, destruction, exploitation, or investigation of the past and to be able to deal with information concerning the past presented to you via newspapers, magazines, TV programs, films, the Internet and other media. Course material will be presented through lectures, slides, films, and assigned reading. Grading will be based upon performance upon a midterm and a final exam and on a short paper. The exams will be objective in format (i.e. true-false, multiple choice) and will test the student's knowledge of material covered in lectures, assigned reading, films and other visual presentations. The paper is a project in archaeological observation and recording. A descriptive sheet will be passed out once the unrest of the beginning of the semester is over
TEXTS:
Sutton, Mark O. and Robert M. Yohe II Archaeology: The Science of the Human Past. Allyn and Bacon Publishers, 2006 2nd edition. Please notice that this is the 2nd edition
Karen Olsen Bruhns, compiler, Online Reader.
The On-line reader is in On-line Reserve. The password to open the reader is available on your paper copy of this syllabus or from the instructor, should you lose your syllabus.
The text book is available at the Franciscan Bookshop in the Student Union. The articles (which are not optional) are available on-line, although most may also be found in their respective journals in the library.
LECTURE TOPICS AND READINGS:
Please note that this outline is by topic, not by week of the semester. I will announce in class when we will be changing the topic, but if you are confused or forget, please remind me to announce the topic again.
First class meeting: Introductory remarks, class mechanics.
1. What is archaeology and where did it come from?
Topics covered include: the origins of archaeology in western Asian intellectual traditions, archaeological concerns of ancient and medieval European societies, discoveries of Heinrich and Sophia Schliemann and Leonard Wooley, politics and archaeological interpretation, and the nature of modern archaeology (which is quite unlike the way it is presented in the media, but a lot more entertaining)
Reading:
Sutton and Yohe: Chapters 1-3
On-line Reserve: Karl E. Meyer "The Hunt for Priam's Treasure (including also "What Did Schliemann Find...." and "The Spoils of War"); Rodrick J. McIntosh "The Riddle of Great Zimbabwe"
Films
"Digging for Slaves" AV #86616
"Lost City of Zimbabwe" AV#84631
2. What are archaeological data and how do they get there?
Topics covered include archaeological associations: specific types of contexts and their use in interpretation, plus ethnoarchaeology. Examples given will include Late Preclassic West Mexican tomb figurines, the ancient disasters of Pompeii, Italy, and Joya de Cerén, El Salvador, ritual deposits of the Olmec of La Venta, Mexico and of the Postclassic Maya of El Salvador, the "Royal Tombs" of Sipán, Peru).
Reading:
Sutton and Yohe: Chapter 4
On-line Reserve: Alan G. Pastron "William Hoff's Gold Rush Emporium: Bonanza from Old San Francisco"; Payson D. Sheets "Tropical Time Capsule" , Gabriel Haslip-Viera, Bernardo Ortiz de Montellano, and Warren Barbour "Robbing Native American Cultures: Van Sertima's Afrocentricity and the Olmecs"
3. Locating and identifying sites, excavation techniques
Topics covered include: how to recognize a site, site survey design (examples: coastal Peru, southern highlands of Ecuador and Teotihuacán, Mexico), aerial survey (example: Olmec habitation sites, Gulf Coast of Mexico), subsurface survey techniques (example: Olmec ceremonial site of San Lorenzo, Veracruz State, Mexico), specialized surveys (example: the ancient city of Teotihuacán in central Mexico). Excavation techniques topics covered include research design and funding, layout of excavation units, recording provenience and stratigraphy (traditional methods, Harris matrices), field recording (notes, inventories, photography, drawing,), and publication. Examples given will include Cuello, Belize, and Cihuatán, El Salvador.
Reading:
Sutton and Yohe: Chapters 5 and 6.
On-line Reserve: Rene Millon "Teotihuacán"
Film:
"Mictlantecpan: Digging a Burned Palace"
ON
THE
WEB
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Of the hundreds of Web sites that deal with Teotihuacán (commercial, crazies, pictures, etc.) the most useful is the one maintained by Dr. Saburo Sugiyama , one of the leading archaeologists working at Teotihuacán. His site contains maps, bibliographies, links to publications, including the Internet publication Teotihuacán Notes, and similar stuff. See it here.
Marine or underwater archaeology is so popular that Yahoo has an entire section devoted to it. Just ask Yahoo for "Marine archaeology"
For information concerning archaeological investigations in El Salvador, there is Cihuatán, a site which documents the eternal politics of modern archaeological investigation in the context of trying to protect and investigate two of El Salvador's major archaeological sites and to find out what really happened when the Maya kingdoms of the 9th century AD collapsed. It also discusses changes and improvements at Joya de Cerén and San André:s, two Classic Maya sites in central El Salvador.
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4. When did it happen?
Topics covered include methodologies of both absolute and relative dating: seriation (example: Paracas mummy bundles), stratigraphy (example: Cuello, Belize), fluorine dating (examples: Tepexpan and Piltdown persons), radiocarbon dating and other radioactive decay methods, archaeomagnetism, thermoluminescence and obsidian hydration.
Reading:
Sutton and Yohe: Chapter 7
Oniline Reserve: Colin Renfrew "Carbon 14 Dating and the Prehistory of Europe"; Michel Brent "Faking African Art"
5. Looking at ancient lives: physical anthropology in archaeology.
Topics covered will include preservation of human bodies (examples: the Bog People, the Ice Man), osteological analysis and what it can tell us (example: Teotihuacán kinship and gender practices);chemical means for telling where you came from and what you ate (example Copan's King Yax Kuk Mo), and DNA analysis in archaeology.
Reading:
Sutton and Yohe: Chapter 8
On-line Reserve: Theya Molleson "The Eloquent Bones of Abu Hureya"; Tim D. White "Once Were Cannibals"; Tabitha Powledge and Mark Rose "The Great DNA Hunt"
Film:
"Frozen in Heaven" AV #89039
6. How did they make a living?
Topics covered include differential preservation conditions, techniques in paleobotany, iconographic analysis, trace element analyses in discerning trade and communication patterns. Examples from various Old and New World cultures, including Egypt, Peru, Central Asia, the Tyrolean Iceman and the Northern European Bog People, Cuello, Belize, Moche culture of Peru, Olmec obsidian and the Maya jade trade.
Reading:
Sutton and Yohe: Chapters 9 and 10
On-line Reserve: Patrick E. Mcgovern "Wine for Eternity"
Films:
"Return of the Iceman" AV #89046
ON
THE
WEB
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The "More than you ever wanted to know about the Iceman has pictures and information on finding and conserving this extraordinary find and all the hot news about where he is now, what is happening to him and what studies are being done. All in an eyeball breaking gaudy design.
See the Peruvian ice mummies also on the Nova site.
Again, the archaeology section on about.com lists some interesting paleobotanical sites, including ones on taphonomy and experimental archaeology.
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7. Finding out about Human Lives in the Past
Topics covered include locational analysis and interpretation from distribution analysis (Example: Lubaantún, Belize, a Maya ceremonial center), experimental and ethnoarchaeology (examples from Cuello, Belize).
Reading:
Sutton and Yohe: Chapters 11 & 12
On-line Reserve: Jean-Pierre Protzen "Inca Stonemasonry"
Film:
"Jean-Pierre's Rock Concert".
8. Past societies; past beliefs: the really hard part of looking at the past
Topics covered include the study of gender and belief systems, a general introduction to the study or imagining of political systems, archaeolostronomy or making up stories about past interest in the heavens.
Reading:
On-line Reserve: Greg Reeder "Same Sex Desire, Conjugal Constructs, and the Tomb of Niankhkhnum and Khnumhotep"; Heather Pringle "New Women of the Ice Age", Anthony F. Aveni "Solving the Mystery of the Nazca Lines".
9: The Past and the Present; Preserving the Past for the Future
Topics covered will include problems of tourism and site destruction, looting and the high incidence of fakery of ancient art.
Reading
Sutton and Yohe: Chapters 13 & 14
On-line Reserve: Neil Asher Silverman and Yuvel Gordon "Faking Biblical History"; Karl Meyer "Who Owns the Spoils of War?"; Michael Stoll "Whose Art Is This Anyway?"
Film
"Plunder!"
ON
THE
WEB
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The State Department maintains a site with relevant international legistlation concerning antiquities and the trade in the looted past along with news and photographic archives showing categories of prohibited items by country.
A bibliography of sources concerning looting antiquities and art theft worldwide.
A list of relevant legislation concerning antiquities important and vending.
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Please enter these important dates on your calendar:
The midterm will be held on Thursday, March 13 during regular class meeting7
The paper is due on Tuesday,April 17 before 5 PM
The final :
Section 01 (meets at 11 AM) will have its final on Tuesday, May 20, at 10:45 AM
Section 02 (meets at 2:10 PM) will have its final on TTuesday, May 20, at 1:30 PM
Study guides will be provided for each exam and the instructor will hold an informal review session before each exam in SCI 270 (second floor of the Science Building, the Anthropology and History Students' Resource Room) the class meeting before each exam.
Please remember a Zeus form ( the 8 1/2 by 11" one) for each exam. These forms are available at the campus book store and associated shops.
Grading Criteria and Policies
Grading will be done on the basis of performance on the two examsand on the paper Acceptable (passing) performance will be considered as a grade of 50% or better, with a higher percentage resulting in a higher grade. You must have a university acceptable excuse to be able to reschedule a regularly scheduled exam (i.e. a makeup). The acceptable excuses are:
1. Verifiable illness of self, parent, child, or other close relative (this normally includes grandparents and relatives who live with you). Verifiable generally means a signed excuse from your doctor, the emergency room, etc.
2. Death of self or close relative (death notice).
3. Incarceration of self (you have two phone calls).
4. Verifiable jury duty (you should inform the instructor in advance).
5. If you are a parent failure of childcare is also an acceptable excuse (if you know your child's school or preschool is going to set the children free the day of a scheduled exam for some obscure holiday or teacher ed or whatever, please let me know in advance and we can work something out to cause all of us the least hassle)
The instructor will know when there are BART or MUNI problems. If these happen on an exam day, do not panic. Please contact the instructor as soon as you get to campus so that you can take the exam the same day as scheduled if at all possible (don't want to wast all thatgood studying). Should you miss an exam it is your responsibility to inform the instructor as soon as possible so that a makeup can be promptly scheduled. Students who do not arrange for a make up exam prior to the other papers being graded and handed back will not be able to make up the missed exam.
Attendance will be taken after the first week of instruction and a student who has more than 5 unexcused absences will be dropped.
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