Results for ARCHLGY

Aims, methods, and data in the study of human society's development from early hunters through late prehistoric civilizations. Archaeological sites and remains characteristic of the stages of cultural development for selected geographic areas, emphasizing methods of data collection and analysis appropriate to each.

Fossil, genetic and archaeological evidence suggest that modern humans began to disperse out of Africa about 50,000 years ago. Subsequently, humans have colonized every major landmass on earth. This class introduces students to the data and issues regarding human dispersal, migration and colonization of continents and islands around the world. We explore problems related to the timing and cause of colonizing events, and investigate questions about changing patterns of land use, demography and consumption. Students are introduced to critical relationships between prehistoric population changes and our contemporary environmental crisis.

Methodological issues related to the investigation of archaeological sites and objects. Aims and techniques of archaeologists including: location and excavation of sites; dating of places and objects; analysis of artifacts and technology and the study of ancient people, plants, and animals. How these methods are employed to answer the discipline's larger research questions.

The development of high civilizations in Andean S. America from hunter-gatherer origins to the powerful, expansive Inca empire. The contrasting ecologies of coast, sierra, and jungle areas of early Peruvian societies from 12,000 to 2,000 B.C.E. The domestication of indigenous plants which provided the economic foundation for monumental cities, ceramics, and textiles. Cultural evolution, and why and how major transformations occurred.

Introduction to the history of archaeology and the forms that the discipline takes today, emphasizing developments and debates over the past five decades. Historical overview of culture, historical, processual and post-processual archaeology, and topics that illustrate the differences and similarities in these theoretical approaches.

Practical, theoretical, and ethical issues which face museums and collections. Practical collections-based work, museum visits, and display research. The roles of the museum in contemporary society. Students develop their own exhibition and engage with the issues surrounding the preservation of material culture.

Academic, contract, government, field, laboratory, museum, and heritage aspects of the profession.

Introduces processes of cultural evolution from the Paleolithic to the Three Dynasties in China. By examining archaeological remains, ancient inscriptions, and traditional texts, four major topics will be discussed: origins of modern humans, beginnings of agriculture, development of social stratification, and emergence of states and urbanism.

From clay to culture. Design, technology, manufacture, and consumption of ceramics. Guest lecturers, site visits, and hands-on studio work.

The elevated status of animals in prehistory derived from their position as sentient beings sharing many of the ontological qualities of people "comparable life-cycles and behavioral traits in some cases, affection, the display of dominance hierarchies, and differing degrees of sociality" while at the same time retaining clear biological and behavioral differences. The course will consider aspects of the social and ontological relations between people and animals in prehistory, particularly cosmologies and folk classifications, and the place of animals in social relations and identity formation. It is aimed to understand how the presence, qualities, materialities, and networks of animal life shaped human socialities as much as human agency created engagement with the `animal estate'. Furthermore, it intends to define how to include animals as subjects in archaeological and anthropological studies taking non-human agency as a starting point. Focusing on case studies drawn from Europe, Asia and the Americas, the course is aimed to highlight varied and multifaceted intersection between humans and animals in the past.

The current state of archaeology in central and eastern part of Europe reveals a multiplicity of regional intellectual traditions and social factors, interrelating with each other in many complex ways. The course will discuss intellectual panorama of archaeologies in this part of the continent and examine the reaction to various socio-political, economic, intellectual, institutional and organizational conditions in its different parts that created a wide variety of local strategies within which archaeology has been practiced. As nationalism requires the elaboration of a real or invented remote past, the course will then consider how archaeological data have been manipulated for nationalist purposes, and discuss the relationship of archaeology to nation-building in Central and Eastern Europe. Contrastive conceptions of nationality and ethnicity are presented. The political uses of archaeology, involving mobilization and appropriation of archaeological and cultural heritage, are also reviewed. The problematic nature of nationalistic interpretations of the archaeological record is discussed in context of the professional and ethical responsibilities of archaeologists confronted with such interpretations.

Practicum applying a variety of survey techniques to discover, map, and record prehistoric and historic archaeological sites on Stanford's 8180 acres. Basic cartographic skills for archaeologists and an introduction to GIS tools, GPS instruments, and geophysical techniques. Participants should be able to walk 3-4 miles in uneven terrain or make special arrangements with the instructor for transportation.

This seminar will explore foundational concepts currently employed within heritage practice and debates. Readings will examine the historically formative context of colonial-era and nationalist discourses on stewardship and culture, as well as postcolonial reformulations of such concepts as cultural property, cultural recognition and public history. The seminar will engage the question of the relationship between foundational concepts and the current cosmopolitan and internationalist vision for heritage, probing the enduring dynamics of North-South divides in heritage development and archaeological practice.

This course provides a survey of Aegean prehistory (7th-2nd millennium BC), focusing on traditions that were picked up or renegotiated, instead of taking a standpoint that evaluates phenomena as steps leading up to a `state-like¿ `palatial¿ society. It will draw on the region¿s wealth of data, and will be set within a theoretically informed, problem-oriented framework, aiming to introduce students to current interpretations and debates, mainly through discussion of specific case-studies.

This course provides a general, introductory survey of Africa's past from prehistoric times into the 19th-century. Through lectures, readings, discussions, museum visits, debates and film, we will explore Africa's rich and dynamic past, juxtaposing the material remains of empires, states and cities with historical constructs of Africa as timeless, isolated and underdeveloped. The course begins with a critical examination of how we view Africa and its past and how the very concept of `Africa' changes throughout time. The course critically questions the usefulness of the prehistory/history divide and problematizes how Africa has served as an ethnographic font for examples of tribal life. We will challenge Western depictions of Africa as a dark continent `without history' by highlighting the continent's vibrant cultures, sophisticated technologies, dynamic and complex political systems and participation in far-reaching commercial networks, all predating the arrival of modern Europeans. The course ends with the transoceanic slave trade and nascent European colonialism and illuminates the roles these histories played in the production of negative and inaccurate images of Africa in contemporary discourse.

Students conducting independent study and or research with archaeology faculty members.

Independent study with honors faculty adviser.

Introduction to art and archaeology of Korean peninsula and adjacent continental northeast Asia from Bronze Age to early twentieth century. Topics include archaeology of the proto-Three Kingdoms period, state formation and Sinicization, introduction of Buddhism and its development to the Unified Silla period, the sophisticated tastes of the Koryo aristocrats, and the literati culture of Choson.

The elevated status of animals in prehistory derived from their position as sentient beings sharing many of the ontological qualities of people "comparable life-cycles and behavioral traits in some cases, affection, the display of dominance hierarchies, and differing degrees of sociality" while at the same time retaining clear biological and behavioral differences. The course will consider aspects of the social and ontological relations between people and animals in prehistory, particularly cosmologies and folk classifications, and the place of animals in social relations and identity formation. It is aimed to understand how the presence, qualities, materialities, and networks of animal life shaped human socialities as much as human agency created engagement with the `animal estate'. Furthermore, it intends to define how to include animals as subjects in archaeological and anthropological studies taking non-human agency as a starting point. Focusing on case studies drawn from Europe, Asia and the Americas, the course is aimed to highlight varied and multifaceted intersection between humans and animals in the past.

The current state of archaeology in central and eastern part of Europe reveals a multiplicity of regional intellectual traditions and social factors, interrelating with each other in many complex ways. The course will discuss intellectual panorama of archaeologies in this part of the continent and examine the reaction to various socio-political, economic, intellectual, institutional and organizational conditions in its different parts that created a wide variety of local strategies within which archaeology has been practiced. As nationalism requires the elaboration of a real or invented remote past, the course will then consider how archaeological data have been manipulated for nationalist purposes, and discuss the relationship of archaeology to nation-building in Central and Eastern Europe. Contrastive conceptions of nationality and ethnicity are presented. The political uses of archaeology, involving mobilization and appropriation of archaeological and cultural heritage, are also reviewed. The problematic nature of nationalistic interpretations of the archaeological record is discussed in context of the professional and ethical responsibilities of archaeologists confronted with such interpretations.

Practicum applying a variety of survey techniques to discover, map, and record prehistoric and historic archaeological sites on Stanford's 8180 acres. Basic cartographic skills for archaeologists and an introduction to GIS tools, GPS instruments, and geophysical techniques. Participants should be able to walk 3-4 miles in uneven terrain or make special arrangements with the instructor for transportation.

This seminar will explore foundational concepts currently employed within heritage practice and debates. Readings will examine the historically formative context of colonial-era and nationalist discourses on stewardship and culture, as well as postcolonial reformulations of such concepts as cultural property, cultural recognition and public history. The seminar will engage the question of the relationship between foundational concepts and the current cosmopolitan and internationalist vision for heritage, probing the enduring dynamics of North-South divides in heritage development and archaeological practice.

This course provides a survey of Aegean prehistory (7th-2nd millennium BC), focusing on traditions that were picked up or renegotiated, instead of taking a standpoint that evaluates phenomena as steps leading up to a `state-like¿ `palatial¿ society. It will draw on the region¿s wealth of data, and will be set within a theoretically informed, problem-oriented framework, aiming to introduce students to current interpretations and debates, mainly through discussion of specific case-studies.

nINDEPENDENT STUDY/RESEARCH

Practical, theoretical, and ethical issues which face museums and collections. Practical collections-based work, museum visits, and display research. The roles of the museum in contemporary society. Students develop their own exhibition and engage with the issues surrounding the preservation of material culture.

This seminar will explore foundational concepts currently employed within heritage practice and debates. Readings will examine the historically formative context of colonial-era and nationalist discourses on stewardship and culture, as well as postcolonial reformulations of such concepts as cultural property, cultural recognition and public history. The seminar will engage the question of the relationship between foundational concepts and the current cosmopolitan and internationalist vision for heritage, probing the enduring dynamics of North-South divides in heritage development and archaeological practice.

Required of second-year Ph.D. students in the archaeology track. The conceptualization of dissertation research problems, the theories behind them, and the methods for exploring them. Participants draft a research prospectus suitable for a dissertation proposal and research grant applications. Limited enrollment. Prerequisite: consent of instructor.

The aim of this course is to provide a short introduction to archaeobotany. An overview of types of archaeobotanical remains will include an examination of macrobotanical remains (seeds, charcoal), microfossil remains (starch, pollen, phytoliths) and molecular remains (aDNA, isotopes). The ways in which various types of plant remains have been used will be discussed through case studies. Major debates that archaeobotanical research has shed light on, including the origins of agriculture and issues around domestication will also be examined. Some practical work will allow students to gain familiarity with botanical nomenclature and some archaeobotanical protocols and plant identification techniques.Students will look at microfossil residues from local grinding slabs and write a short paper on the residues recovered. They will also look at seed remains from either Chinese or local flotation samples using microscopes in the lab.

This interdisciplinary research workshop will critically engage the issue of the growing currency of human rights discourse within cultural heritage. Epistemological and practical areas of tension between rights discourse and cultural discourse will be surveyed within the context of current global challenges facing heritage practice, conservation and archaeology. Topics will include the inequities of cultural recognition between North-South globalizations, questions of cultural property and rights, the role of tourism, and the impact of environmental conservation discourse on cultural rights.

The practice of historical archaeology through methodologies including archival research, oral history, material culture analysis, and archaeological excavation. Students use these methods to analyze the history and archaeology of a local park, the Thornewood Open Space Preserve.

Early China from the perspective of material remains unearthed from archaeological sites; the development of Chinese culture from early hominid occupation nearly 2 million years ago through the development of agriculture in the Neolithic period and complex society in the Bronze Age to the political unification of China under the Qin Dynasty. Continuity of Chinese culture from past to present, history of Chinese archaeology, relationships between archaeology and politics, and food in early China.

How have ethnographic and archaeological methods been combined in anthropological research? What methodological and theoretical implications do these kinds of projects generate? Seminar topics will include ethnoarchaeology, ethnographies of archaeological practice, public archaeology and heritage ethics. Lecture and discussion.

This interdisciplinary research workshop will critically engage the issue of the growing currency of human rights discourse within cultural heritage. Epistemological and practical areas of tension between rights discourse and cultural discourse will be surveyed within the context of current global challenges facing heritage practice, conservation and archaeology. Topics will include the inequities of cultural recognition between North-South globalizations, questions of cultural property and rights, the role of tourism, and the impact of environmental conservation discourse on cultural rights.

Conceptual and theoretical approaches to examine cultural and natural heritage from an interdisciplinary perspective. We ask: What are heritage ecologies? How are natural and cultural heritages interpreted, managed, and defined? Do heritage managers privilege nature and conservation over cultural heritage? This course uses archaeological data, ethnographic methods, archival analysis, and guest lectures to examine case studies representing key issues including conservation, indigenous rights, cultural landscapes, heritage in conflict, international heritage policy, and the use of expert knowledge in heritage contexts.

Conceptual and theoretical approaches to examine cultural and natural heritage from an interdisciplinary perspective. We ask: What are heritage ecologies? How are natural and cultural heritages interpreted, managed, and defined? Do heritage managers privilege nature and conservation over cultural heritage? This course uses archaeological data, ethnographic methods, archival analysis, and guest lectures to examine case studies representing key issues including conservation, indigenous rights, cultural landscapes, heritage in conflict, international heritage policy, and the use of expert knowledge in heritage contexts.

Early China from the perspective of material remains unearthed from archaeological sites; the development of Chinese culture from early hominid occupation nearly 2 million years ago through the development of agriculture in the Neolithic period and complex society in the Bronze Age to the political unification of China under the Qin Dynasty. Continuity of Chinese culture from past to present, history of Chinese archaeology, relationships between archaeology and politics, and food in early China.

Overview of the archaeology of early Roman Spain (3rd c. BCE-1st c. CE) and the processes involved in the creation of the Roman provinces. What is a province? Critical (postcolonial) analysis of the ¿Romanization¿ paradigm. Study of the role of the army, early Roman settlements and Roman provincial capitals in tying province and metropolis together. Change and the persistence of local heritage (temples, houses, tombs, coins). Hispania in Rome and Rome in Hispania.