Proseminar in Archaeology

Proseminar in Archaeology

Proseminar in Archaeology -Braun

Proseminar in Archaeology

Semester: Fall 2017,

Meeting Time and Place: T 11:10-13:00HAH 202

Instructor: Prof. David Braun (SEH 6690)

Contact information:

In evolutionary terms, if culture is the way in which
humans deploy their behaviour through socially
learned means, then it could be said that there is
only one culture.”
Robert Foley 2010 / “The greatest contribution that archaeology has provided to society is the notion that everyone will eventually become a feature”
Unknown archaeologist

Course Description:

About this course

What make humans unique? How long has our lineage been unique? How do we know how old human culture is? To answer these questions, we need to make an in-depth investigation into the field of Archaeology. This is a graduate seminar that will provide a baseline knowledge of human behavior in the past. By the end of this course we want you “Think Like an Archaeologist”. In this sense we want you to be able to integrate the theories and methodologies that allow us to understand the temporal and spatial extent of human behavior.

Although the archaeological record involves a host of allied sub-fields that draw on a variety of different theoretical perspectives and varied methodologies, in the end you need to know “the record,” which is the summation of knowledge about how we know what we know about humanity between about 4 million years ago and today.

What Will You Be Doing?

You will discuss the archaeological record as well as other behavioral information. You will understand the environmental and chronological context of past human activities. You will begin by emphasizing contextual ideas that provide the background to understanding human behavior.

The course is structured around a series of thematic components that deal with specific perspectives on the past.You will investigate different components of each of these perspectives and try to place them into the context of overall theoretical approaches ot the past. You will focus on the material evidence as well as its interpretation, but also an understanding of the major questions confronting archaeologists (see below), methods of inquiry, and problem solving.

You will become acquainted with the major questions about the evolution of human behavior. Such as:

-How did the archaeological record form?

-How do archaeologists collect information about the past? What are the biases?

-How do we know how old archaeological sites are?

-Is Archaeology just for archaeologists? What are the ethics of digging up material remains?

-How do we know what people ate and did in the past?

-Can we view gender in the past?

What can you do to succeed in this course?

Take ownership of the learning process

What you get out of this course will be directly related to how much you put into it. In order to get the most out of our class time, your peers will rely on you to do “prep” work in advance. Depending on the topic, this prep work might involve reading a set of articles, submitting text on-line, filling out a survey, giving feedback on a written assignment, or creating a list of discussion questions. Many of you are preparing for comprehensive exam in Archaeology. I want you to do well and together we can make that happen.

Interact and collaborate with your classmates

You always learn more from your peers than you will from me. Your classmates are a valuable resource to help you fill in holes in your understanding, provide feedback on your work, and expose you to a different perspective than your own. Make a commitment to work both inside and outside of class.

Engage with the material

With all of the material you consider in this course, I want you do keep these questions in mind: What are the main points? How is this relevant to your overall understanding of human behavior? What do you not understand? For material you don’t feel you have mastery of, what action could you take to patch your understanding?

About Me

I have spent my career working on excavations all over Africa (Kenya, Ethiopia, and South Africa). Most of my research involves the early part of the archaeological record. I have spent every summer since college in Kenya. I lived in South Africa for 6 years. Although I recognize that archaeology represents the interface between the humanities and sciences, my research and perspective is largely focused on the quantitative components of Archaeology.

Learning Objectives:

  1. Learn the details of major theoretical perspectives on Archaeology. Be able to understand how these theoretical perspectives are developed.
  2. Develop an appreciation for how we derive significant understanding of human behavior using archaeological data.
  3. Identify the differences between singular inferences based on a single strand of evidence and more nuanced inferences that are provided by integrating multiple sources of information about the past.
  4. Learn about the importance of archaeological data for identity in many countries.
  5. Reflect on how your own particular perspective (bias) on the past makes you more or less likely to accept certain claims about the archaeological record.
  6. Recognize the unique perspective provided by a science that is steeped in historical and biological perspectives.

Short Term Assessments

1)In class formative assessments: Over the length of the course you will be expected to interact with the readings in in class activities. These activities will be done as a group or individually. These are developed in a manner that allows you to think critically about the readings and employ this knowledge by applying it to specific situations. It will be difficult to do these in class assessments without doing the reading. There will also short mini-quizzes that will occur at the end of class. These are largely focused on making sure you understood the material from that class so I know what to cover better.

2)In class summative assessments: During the course there will be several assignments that identify your ability to integrate information across the classes. These will usually take the form of short written retrieval questions that ask you to write a quick answer to a question from a previous class.

3)In class Exam: This exam will take place in the middle of the semester and test your ability to integrate ideas from the first hall of the course.

Long Term Assessments

Research Paper Prospectus

The aim of a project prospectus is that it provides the background for the basis of the work that you are hoping to cover in the paper. It makes sure that you (and I) understand what you are planning to undertake and what details you will be covering.

A project prospectus should have:

1)A brief description of the major question you are describing. This should be between 3-6 sentences and should be akin to an abstract.

2)There should be a literature review. This should outline the problem and a list of other studies that either touch on the problem you are hoping to address as well as studies that provide context for your review. This should be anywhere from 2-3 paragraphs.

3)The project synopsis should include an outline of some important details such as:

  1. Theoretical perspective: This should provide a brief description of the different theoretical perspectives that you think could address the topic that you are hoping to review. This should include references to specific articles that outline theoretical perspectives that you think would of relevance to your topic.
  2. Methodological Perspectives: You should briefly outline what kind of methodological perspectives you want to cover that will be relevant to your project topic. These can be very varied (e.g. OSL dating, ethnoarchaeology, landscape archaeological research). You should review how these methodologies have been applied to the topic you are interested in and how you would like to investigate their effects on the way in which your topic is studied.
  3. Schedule: This should be a plan of how you plan to construct this final project. In essence this is a road map for how you will complete this project. Give yourself deadlines of writing the different sections. This will make you happier and result in a better final product.

4)Background bibliography: This need not be exhaustive but it should show that you have investigated the topic and that you did a few searches on various search engines to find articles that are relevant to the topic. This will allow me to point you in the direction of particular articles that you may have missed or that don’t show up in some search engines.

Research Paper

You will be able to prepare an an abstract and write an evidence-based research paper on a topic that is relevant to Archaeology, using appropriate formatting. Further details on this paper will be forthcoming.

Final Exam

This exam will be a cumulative assessment for the whole course. It will be a series of questions that you have to answer by extracting information from the readings and in class activities. It will be a take home exam and expected to be referenced.

Course Schedule

Week / Topics and Major Questions / In (After) Class Activity / Assessments / Readings
1 / Introduction to Archaeology / What do you know about Archaeology?
Introductions / Concept Map
2 / Formation Processes
-How do We Know What We Know About the Past? / Gifford-Gonzalez’s: “Levels of Inference” / C versus N transforms- Schiffer
Mini-quiz, Retrieval Question / Binford, Giffird-Gonzalez, Schiffer
3 / Excavation and Survey Techniques
-How Do We Dig Up the Past? / The Harris Matrix- How Do you Do That? / Excavation Techniques- HowDo They Bias?
Mini-quiz, Retrieval Question / Manzanilla, Dibble, Stern.
4 / Dating and Chronology
-How Do We Know How Old a Site Is?? / Mystery Site- How Old Is It? Group Assignment / Mini-quiz, Retrieval Question / Shott, Hellstrom&Pickering, Jacobs&Roberts, Feibel, Rhodes
5 / Public Archaeology
-Whose Archaeology Is It Anyway? / Ethics Bowl-Think-Pair-Share
1-minute thesis exercise / Mini-quiz, Retrieval Question / Blakely, Trigger, Kelly, Watkins, Smith&Gribble, Schrire
6 / Archaeology and Museums
-How Do We Present Archaeology to the Public? / Visit to the National Museum of the Native American. / Paper Prospectus Due
Museum review exercise
7 / Subsistence and Diet in the Past
-Do Stone Tools Represent Style, Culture or Function? / Optimal Foraging or Niche Construction- Why?
1 minute thesis / Peer review of Paper Prospectus
Mini-quiz, Retrieval Question / Sealy, Sponheimer&Lee-Thorp, Zeder, Rowly-Conwy, Lupo, Henry
8 / Archaeological Science and Archaeometry
-What is the Science of Archaeology / It’s All Theory to Me: Group Activity / What is the Chaine Operatoire? Diagram
Mini-quiz, Retrieval Question / Killick&Young, Jones, Hegmon, Pollard&Bray
9 / In Class Exam / Jeopardy!
10 / Environmental Archaeology
-Does the Environment Structure our Culture?
Halloween-Come dressed as your favorite Archaeologist. / Muddiest Point Exercise / Glacial vs. Interglacial- You Decide- Group Activity
Mini-quiz, Retrieval Question / Cullen, Sandweiss, Brooks, Deacon, Denham, Kennett, Emery,
11 / Cognition and Ritual
-Is there Religion in the Archaeological Record? / Discussion
Three Most Important Sentences From Reading-Think-Pair-Share (Triads) / Thesis Statement Practice- Peer Review
Mini-quiz, Retrieval Question / Lewis-Williams, Groleau, Paisley, Burger, Marcus&Flannery, Wilson
12 / BioArchaeology / Peer and Self-Assessment of Draft Papers
In class development (Triads) of “Plan of Action” for revisions prior to submission.3 things you want to change; make them concrete and doable. Read aloud / Inference VS. Data (GRID): Trauma in The Past
Mini-quiz, Retrieval Question / Gaither&Murphy, Klaus, Klaus, Knudson&Stojanowski. Larsen
13 / Qualifying Exam Due
14 / Final Paper Due

The following material is required information for a syllabus in the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences:

Grading

The grades will be calculated as follows:

  1. Class discussion (5%)
  2. Mini-quizzes and Retrieval Questions (8%)
  3. Museum Review Exercise (8%)
  4. In Class Activities (8%)
  5. Peer review and self-assessment of draft paper (6%)
  6. In class exam (10%)
  7. Paper prospectus (20%)
  8. Term paper (20%)
  9. Take home cumulative exam (15%)

Support For Students Outside The Classroom

Disability Support Services (DSS) (see also above under “Exams”)

Any student who may need an accommodation based on the potential impact of a disability should contact the Disability Support Services office at 202-994-8250 in the Marvin Center, Suite 242, to establish eligibility and to coordinate reasonable accommodations. For additional information please refer to:

University Counseling Center (UCC)202-994-5300

The University Counseling Center (UCC) offers 24/7 assistance and referral to addressstudents'personal, social, career, and study skillsproblems. Services for students include:

-crisis and emergency mental health consultations

-confidential assessment, counseling services (individual and small group), and referrals

Security

In the case of an emergency, if at all possible, the class should shelter in place. If the building that the class is in is affected, follow the evacuation procedures for the building. After evacuation, seek shelter at a predetermined rendezvous location.

University policy on observance of religious holidays

In accordance with University policy, students should notify faculty during the first week of the semester of theirintention to be absent from class on their day(s) of religious observance. For details and policy, see: students.gwu.edu/accommodations-religious-holidays.

Academic integrity code

Academic dishonesty is defined as cheating of any kind, including misrepresenting one's own work, taking credit for the work of others without crediting them and without appropriate authorization, and the fabrication of information. For details and complete code, see: studentconduct.gwu.edu/code-academic-integrity

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