Skip to main content.
Historic Preservation Home > Syllabi > 200 Level Courses > HISP 207-01 American Archaeology

 

UNIVERSITY OF MARY WASHINGTON
DEPARTMENT OF HISTORIC PRESERVATION
HISP 207-01, AMERICAN ARCHAEOLOGY [WI, EA]

Spring 2009
Combs 237
Assoc. Prof. Douglas W. Sanford
MWF.  11:00-11:50 AM                                                                            

This course introduces modern American archaeology to historic preservation and other interested students.  Subsequently, while covering archaeological methods and theory, the course discusses how archaeological research relates to the recovery and writing of anthropology and history, the treatment of cultural resources, and to current social and political thought.  Several case study presentations will concern historical archaeology, particularly of the Chesapeake region and the eastern United States, but attention will be drawn to archaeology related to Native Americans and prehistoric time periods.  Utilizing a topical and case study approach to archaeology's various facets, the class encourages students to consider how archaeologists recover, interpret, and disseminate the results of their studies.

COURSE OBJECTIVES

1.  Foster knowledge of American archaeology and its modern cultural and political contexts.
2. Impart a preliminary understanding of the research methods (field, laboratory, analytical) currently practiced by archaeologists.
3. Gain a preliminary understanding of how archaeologists theorize, analyze, interpret, and publish their research data.
4. Promote knowledge of how environmental awareness informs archaeological methods, theories, and resources.  Themes include past and present relationships between cultures and ecosystems and the diverse and patterned human interactions with the biosphere.  “Essentially, archaeology is the study of our human ancestors’ relationship with the world in which they found themselves.” (Frost (2000:378) in The Archaeology Education Handbook).

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

I. TEXTS:  The following texts are required:
    Colin Renfrew & Paul Bahn, Archaeology Essentials: Theories, Methods, and Practice (2007).
    Fraser D. Neiman, The "Manner House" before Stratford (1980).
    Other readings will be made available through the course’s Blackboard webpage.

II. TESTS:  There will be a mid-term examination on February 23rd  and a final examination on Monday, April 27th.

II. WRITING ASSIGNMENTS: As a designated "Writing Intensive" course, three written assignments are required for successfully completing the class.  We will discuss these assignments thoroughly in class as well as the associated mechanics for scholarly production and notation.  The first assignment, due Feb. 16 th, will be a critical review of approximately 1,200 words that discusses an acceptable archaeological text (approved by the instructor or listed on the "Recommended Readings" handout).  Following its submission we will review your essay together and after our discussion, you will produce a second draft that is due no later than February 27th.  The second assignment, due March 25th, will be a five-page evaluation of a cultural resource management report.  Following an in-class peer review session on that date, you will produce a second draft that is due no later than April 3rd.  The third exercise, due April 24th, will be a laboratory exercise in which you will analyze a body of archaeological data and then interpret your findings in a five-page report.  You’re encouraged to discuss these assignments with me.

N.B.:   No Late Papers will be Accepted without Penalty (1 letter grade per day).  All Class Assignments must be Completed in Order to Pass the Class.

IV. REQUIRED FIELDWORK & OTHER OPPORTUNITIES: Each student is required to participate in one day of archaeological fieldwork, with most opportunities occurring on the weekends.  Further information will be provided in class.  For students with strong interest, there are additional opportunities to participate in ongoing archaeological projects within the Fredericksburg area and to attend regional conferences and scholarly presentations.

COURSE INFORMATION
I. GRADING SCALE:   A: 94-100; A-: 90-93; B+: 87-89; B: 83-86; B-: 80-82; C+: 77-79; C: 73-76; C-: 70-72; D+: 67-69; D: 60-66; F: 0-59.  Your final grade will be determined by the following method:  Mid-term exam (15%); Final exam (25%); Critical book review (15%); CRM report evaluation (15%); Laboratory exercise (20%); and Class participation and one day of archaeological fieldwork (10%).

II. OFFICE INFORMATION: Hours: M.: 9-10; Tu.: 10-11 AM; W.: 3-4 PM; Th.: 1-2 PM; F.: 10-11 AM, and by appointment.  Room: Combs 133, 654-1314.  I work best by e-mail: dsanford@umw.edu..

CLASS SCHEDULE AND READING ASSIGNMENTS

INTRODUCTION:  THE WHO, WHAT, AND WHY OF ARCHAEOLOGY

Jan. 12             Class Introduction

Jan. 14             Archaeology, Anthropology, Historic Preservation & Their Relations to America’s Pasts
            Reading:          Renfrew & Bahn, Introduction.

Jan. 16             The Archaeological Record, The Concept of Artifact, & Research Goals
            Reading:          Renfrew & Bahn, Chpt. 2.

HOW ARCHAEOLOGISTS DO WHAT THEY DO IN AND OUT OF THE FIELD

Jan. 19             No Class – Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

Jan. 21             Field Methods Ia: Site Survey & Identification
            Reading:          Renfrew & Bahn, Chpt. 3.

Jan. 23             Field Methods Ib: Sits Selection           

Jan. 26             Field Methods II: Recording Systems

Jan. 28             Field Methods III: Remote Sensing
            Reading:   “Through Dirt to the Past” by E. Paul Durrenberger (2003); or, “City Beneath the Mounds: Mapping a Prehistoric American Metropolis” by Mike Toner (2008).           

Jan. 30             Field Methods IVa: Soils           

Feb. 2             Field Methods IVb:  Stratigraphy

Feb. 4              Field Methods in Action: Video presentation.           

Feb. 6             Underwater Archaeology
Reading:          "Uluburum" from Time Detectives, by Brian Fagan; or “Raising the Hunley,” Common Ground, Summer/Fall 2001, pp. 12-23.

Feb. 9              Archaeology & the Internet
Class will be held in the computer lab.

Feb. 11            Historical Perspective: The Historiography of American Archaeology
            Reading:          Renfrew & Bahn, Chpt. 1.

Feb. 13            New & Post-Modern Archaeology
            Reading:          Renfrew & Bahn, Chpt. 9.

Feb. 16            Historiography (continued):  Science Rising (Again?).

First Writing Assignment (Draft) Due

Feb. 18            Artifacts: Identification, Analysis, & Curation
            Reading:          Renfrew & Bahn, Chpt. 7.

Feb. 20            Laboratory Analysis & Conservation

Feb. 23            Mid-term Examination

Feb. 25            Cultural Resource Management: Archaeology, the Law, & "Picking & Choosing”

Feb. 27            CRM (continued).
            Reading:          Select 2 out of 3 short articles from the SAA Bulletin.

Mar. 2, 4, 6      No Class – Spring Break

RECONSTRUCTING AMERICAN PASTS:  ARCHAEOLOGY THROUGH THE AGES

Mar. 9              American & Virginia’s Prehistory – Archaeological Issues
            Reading:          Renfrew & Bahn, Chpt. 5.

Mar. 11            Social & Environmental Construct: Addressing Complexity & the Terms of Engagement
            Reading:          Renfrew & Bahn, Chpt. 6.

Mar. 13            Researching & Interpreting Native American Ecology
            Reading:          Either Stephen Lekson, “War in the Southwest, War in the World”
                        (2002), or, Sharman Apt Russell, “Clovisia the Beautiful” (1997).

Mar. 16            The Chesapeake’s First European Century: From Jamestown to Williamsburg            Reading:          Neiman, whole text.

Mar. 18            Archaeology of the 17th & 18th Centuries

Mar. 20            Discussion article for the 19th Century:  Jared Diamond’s “Living Through the Donner Party” (1992).

ARCHAEOLOGICAL ANALYSIS

Mar. 23            Chronology
            Reading:          Renfrew & Bahn, Chpt. 4.

Mar. 25            Second Writing Assignment Due – Peer Review

Mar. 27            Methods of Dating

Mar. 30            Ceramics: Video presentation:  “The Sultan’s Lost Treasure”.

Apr. 1              Ceramic Analysis
          Reading:            Smart Martin, "Magical, Mythical, Practical, and Sublime: The Meanings and Uses of Ceramics in America" (2001).                       

Apr. 3              Artifact Analysis & Counting

Apr. 6              Quantitative Analysis           

Apr. 8              Bones – Introduction to Analysis
            Reading:          Renfrew & Bahn, Chpt. 8.  Curry:  “The Gladiator Diet: How to Eat, Exercise, and Die a Violent Death” (2008)

Apr. 10                        Bones & Environment
            Reading:          Dickson et al.: “The Iceman Reconsidered” (2003).

ARCHAEOLOGICAL TOPICS & ISSUES

Apr. 13            African-American Archaeology
Reading:          Patricia Samford: “Engendering Enslaves Communities on Virginia’s and North Carolina’s Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century Plantations” (2004).
            Video:  "Ground Truth".

Apr. 15            African-American Archaeology (continued)
            Reading (relevant for the 3rd writing assignment):     Wilson & Cabak: “Feminine Voices from beyond the Grave: What Burials Can Tell Us about Gender Differences among Historic African Americans” (2004).                                   

Apr. 17            Landscape Archaeology

Apr. 20            Pulling It All Together: Theory, Methods, Evidence, & Changing Paradigms
            Video:             “Mystery of the First Americans”

Apr. 22            Video discussion.

Apr. 24            Professional, Ethical Archaeology & The Discourse of Cultural Politics
            Reading:          Renfrew & Bahn, Chpt. 10.

Third Writing Assignment Due

FINAL EXAMINATION:  Monday, April 27th, 12:00 – 2:30 PM