Instructor: Kent Lightfoot
Term: Spring 2019
Time: M,W,F 10 am-10:59 am
Units: 4
Course Number: 21390
Prehistory and cultural growth. Introduction to the methods, goals, and theoretical concepts of archaeology with attention to the impact archaeology has had on the construction of the histories of diverse communities - Native Americans, Hispanics, and Euro-Americans. It fulfills the requirements for 2.
Course Description:
Anthro 2AC is an introduction to the methods, goals, and theoretical concepts of archaeology. The field of archaeology is concerned with the study of past human societies based primarily on the material culture produced and used by people. For more than a century, archaeologists have been developing and refining a suite of methods for recovering and analyzing material cultural remains that have been deposited into the archaeological record. These material remains (artifacts, ecofacts, features, sites, etc.) often comprise a rather fragmentary, but nonetheless complex data base. This course explores how archaeologists employ these material remains to construct interpretations about past societies. Lecture topics will include discussions on the formation of the archaeological record; the history of archaeology; developing research designs; field methods (survey and excavation) for recovering and recording archaeological data; laboratory methods employed in the analysis of archaeological data; chronology; and generating interpretations about the past.