PREHISTORIC ARCHAEOLOGY

Montclair State University

ANTH103-01

Spring 2007

Instructor:                  Dr. Peter E. Siegel

Classroom:                 Dickson Hall 173

Lecture hours:                        Tuesday and Thursday, 8:30 – 9:45AM

Office:                         Dickson Hall 143

Office hours:               Tuesday, 2 – 3:30PM, Thursday, 10AM – Noon, or by appointment.

Course description: This course introduces the concepts, methods, and theory of anthropological archaeology. The class is structured around three major themes: (1) History of archaeology and how it developed as a scientific discipline. (2) Methods used by archaeologists to reconstruct and interpret past lifeways. (3) The connections between archaeological research and issues of broad anthropological importance. In presenting the material I will draw on a variety of examples, many of which come out of the textbook and others from additional sources.

Textbook:

Price, T. Douglas

2007 Principals of Archaeology. McGraw Hill, Boston.

Additional Reading (on reserve at the Sprague Library):

Willey, Gordon R., and Jeremy A. Sabloff

A History of American Archaeology. W.H. Freeman, San Francisco.

Grades will be based on:

2 quizzes                                   20%

Midterm exam                           30%

Cumulative final exam               50%

Grades will be assigned according to the following method: The highest score attained by an individual on all of the quizzes and exams combined will be treated as the upper limit of an “A” grade. Whole letter grades will be calculated as 10 percentage points from that highest score. For example, if the quizzes and exams combined equal 1,000 points and the highest achiever in the class scored 850 points then to get an “A” in the class you would need a score of 795 or more total points. In this example, an “A-” encompasses the point distribution of 765-794, and so on. Once the benchmark has been established by the highest overall achiever in the class (i.e., the person who scores the most points on all quizzes and exams combined) then the following percentage distributions will be used to assign letter grades: A = 94-100, A- = 90-93, B+ = 87-89, B = 84-86, B- = 80-83, C+ = 77-79, C = 74-76, C- = 70-73, D+ = 67-69, D = 64-66, D- = 60-63, F = <60.

Quizzes and exams will draw on information presented in the textbooks, lectures, and films/videos. Extra credit, up to five percentage points, may be earned by writing two book reviews or a research paper. Extra-credit projects must be arranged with me in advance.

 Class Policies:

Attendance. Attendance to class is crucial to your success. Lateness to class is strongly discouraged. Lectures will include information that is not contained within the textbook and readings. 

Cell phones. Cell phones must be turned off or placed on vibrate.

Academic dishonesty. Academic dishonesty is defined as “intentionally or knowingly giving or receiving aid on any test, exam, or academic exercise … collusion or purchase [of] term papers, and plagiarism” (MSU University Regulations and Disciplinary Procedures of the Undergraduate and Graduate Student handbook). A student found culpable for academic dishonesty will be subject to penalties.

Incomplete grades. Incomplete grades will be granted in cases where a student has completed most of the work for a course and extraordinary circumstances preclude her or him from finishing the required work by the end of a semester or summer session (see Modifications to Academic Policies and Procedures for Undergraduate Students [Nov 10, 2004]). Incomplete grades will be posted for a period of about six weeks after the submission of final grades (Feb 15 for a fall course, June 30 for a spring course, and Oct 15 for a summer course). If work is not completed and a final grade posted within that time the grade will convert to an “F.”

Schedule of Topics:

Date                Topic                                                               Reading Assignment

 Sept 6               Introduction

 Sept 11             Scientific method and archaeology,                     Price, pp. 3-45

                        Archaeology and anthropology                          

 Sept 13             No class

 Sept 18             Archaeology and anthropology                          Price, pp. 3-45

 Sept 20             History of archaeology                                       Price, pp. 47-65

Willey and Sabloff

Sept 25             What makes something archaeological?              Price, pp. 67-99

 Sept 27             movie                                                              

 Oct 2                Quiz

 Oct 4, 9                        Sampling and prospecting or how do                   Price, pp. 101-175

archaeologists find and dig sites?                       

 Oct 11, 16         Dating methods in archaeology                           Price, pp. 215-243

 Oct 18, 23         Settlement patterns                                            Price, pp. 245-269

 Oct 25              movie                                                              

 Oct 30              Mid-term exam

 Nov 1, 6            Technology                                                       Price, pp. 177-213, 271-321

 Nov 8, 13          Subsistence                                                       Price, pp. 323-375

 Nov 15, 20        Social systems, cosmology, and ideology Price, pp. 377-413, 445-475

 Nov 22             Thanksgiving holiday

 Nov 27             movie                                                              

 Nov 29             Quiz

 Dec 4               Law, ethics, and bones of contention                   Price, pp. 477-501

                        in archaeology                                                  

 Dec 6               movie

 Dec 11             movie