1 - 10 of 78 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.

How has archaeology changed our knowledge of the spread of Islam and past Muslim societies? How does archaeology shape heritage debates, conflicts and ideas about Islam today? Topics include the city and urban change, secular and religious life, gender, economy, and globalization. These topics are explored using archaeological and critical heritage approaches. Focus is on examples drawn from Syria-Palestine, Egypt, Iraq, Arabian Peninsula, India, and Africa. Sources include archaeological data and material culture, historical texts in translation, and photography.

What does it mean to be a Native American in the 21st century? Beyond traditional portrayals of military conquests, cultural collapse, and assimilation, the relationships between Native Americans and American society. Focus is on three themes leading to in-class moot court trials: colonial encounters and colonizing discourses; frontiers and boundaries; and sovereignty of self and nation. Topics include gender in native communities, American Indian law, readings by native authors, and Indians in film and popular culture.

(Formerly CLASSART 21Q.) Preference to sophomores. Focus is on excavation, features and finds, arguments over interpretation, and the place of each site in understanding the archaeological history of Europe. Goal is to introduce the latest archaeological and anthropological thought, and raise key questions about ancient society. The archaeological perspective foregrounds interdisciplinary study: geophysics articulated with art history, source criticism with analytic modeling, statistics interpretation. A web site with resources about each site, including plans, photographs, video, and publications, is the basis for exploring.

The human-animal relationship is dynamic, all encompassing and durable. Without exception, all socio-cultural groups have evidenced complex interactions with the animals around them, both domesticated and wild. However, the individual circumstances of these interactions are hugely complicated, and involve much more than direct human-animal contact, going far beyond this to incorporate social, ecological and spiritual contexts.n This course delves into this complexity, covering the gamut of social roles played by animals, as well as the methods and approaches to studying these, both traditional and scientific. While the notion of `animals as social actors¿ is well acknowledged, their use as proxies for human autecology (the relationship between a species and its environment) is also increasingly recognized as a viable mechanism for understanding our cultural and economic past. It will piece together the breadth of human-animal relationships using a wide geographic range of case studies.

While the tools of Digital Archaeology frequently change, using digital tools has been part of the discipline for decades. These tools and approaches provide new forms of research, visualization, and outreach to archaeological investigations. This course is designed to introduce students of archaeology to the digital research methods useful to the discipline, and provide them with hands-on experience in three types of digital method: digital mapping, visualization, and 3D modeling. The goal of the course is for students to learn about the state of digital archaeology, to become familiar with common methods, and become aware of the resources available for research.

An introduction to the archaeology of ancient Greece, from the first city states through the cultural achievements of classical Athens to the conquest by Rome.

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.