COURSE DESCRIPTION

Archaeology is the study of the human past through its material remains. It is a truly interdisciplinary undertaking involving the cooperation of scholars from both the humanities and the sciences. Archaeology is best known for its detailed excavations of prehistoric and historic places, but archaeologists also regularly use written records, oral histories, geological and geographical data and a host of specialist studies of plant, animal and human remains to document the past.

This course satisfies the General Education requirement in the Social Sciences, Set 7: Science / Technology / Society. 3 credits.

The first third of the course comprises a combination of lecture-style presentations aimed at providing students with a solid understanding of basic archaeological concepts and tools along with in-class exercises and demonstrations.

The second third of the class involves a hands-on experimental archaeology project in which students set up an experiment to test their ability to distinguish between cut marks made in animal bones by a variety of stone and metal tools. A protocol for the experiment is designed, samples cut in class, and then a series of observations are made using a scanning-electron microscope.

The final third of the class looks at archaeological interpretation and at how archaeologists reconstruct the past by looking at the fragmentary remains of their tools, houses, graves, and other material culture. A number of case-studies are presented. We end the class by examining how archaeology is presented to the public via popular magazines, documentaries, and Hollywood blockbusters.