ARCH0100
Field Archaeology in the Ancient World
MWF 11:00-11:50 (D Hour); Rhode Island Hall 108
Professor Sue Alcock
Susan_Alcock@brown.edu; 863-3710
Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology and the Ancient World
Rhode Island Hall, 60 George Street, Room 101
Office Hours: TBA
Teaching Assistant: Jessica Nowlin
Jessica_Nowlin@brown.edu Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology and the Ancient World
Rhode Island Hall, 60 George Street, Room 101
Office Hours: TBA
Class wiki address:
http://proteus.brown.edu/FieldArchaeology/Home (password:
field)
Always wanted to be Indiana Jones?
Admit it — you always wanted to be an archaeologist when you grew
up... This course is designed to build on that enthusiasm, while also radically
expanding your notions about just what field archaeology is and just what
archaeologists do. If archaeologists, to put it most simply, ‘study the past’,
what is left for them to study? Is digging the only way to find things? Who
pays for archaeological work, and who owns the ‘goodies’ we discover?
When did archaeology begin? How much can we learn about people in the
past? What did they eat? How did they die? Why are people entirely willing
to murder each other over the fate of archaeological sites? And are ‘real
men’ alone capable of discovering the truth behind all this?
To examine these and other questions, archaeological case studies will
be drawn from all over the ancient world, with an emphasis on the
Mediterranean, Egypt and the Near East. Local resources, such as the
Haffenreffer Museum and the Rhode Island School of Design Museum, as well
as a variety of archaeological talent on campus, will be introduced
whenever possible.
Required readings:
Colin Renfrew and Paul Bahn, Archaeology: Theories, Methods and Practice
(5th ed., 2008) (available at the Brown Book Store)
Additional readings, to be periodically posted to the class wiki by instructors
or fellow students
Course requirements and grading:
Final grades will be based upon the following elements of work:
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
15%
15%
30%
10%
30%
First Hourly Examination (Friday, February 26th)
Second Hourly Examination (Monday, April 12th)
Final Examination (Monday, May 13th, 9:00 am)
Class Participation and Postings
Project/Paper (due Wednesday, April 19th) = Total: 100%
ARCH0100
Field Archaeology in the Ancient World
Course Outline and Assignments
Readings should be done by the class date assigned
Changing goals, changing techniques
W, Jan. 27
Introduction and game plan
F, Jan. 29
What do we mean by field archaeology? And why does it
matter?:
case studies and student input
Read: Renfrew & Bahn, Introduction and Chapter 1
M, Feb. 1
How has archaeology changed? A view from Pompeii
Is there anything to find?
W, Feb. 3
Yes, but... the effect of formation processes
Read: Renfrew & Bahn, Chapter 2
F, Feb. 5
Unusual preservation: wet, dry, frozen, buried
How do you find stuff?
M, Feb. 8
Looking down: from a bird’s eye view to the space shuttle
Read: Renfrew & Bahn, Chapter 3, 75-109
W, Feb. 10
Looking below: remote sensing
What can you do with the junk on the surface?
F, Feb. 12
Looking across: regional field survey
M, Feb. 15
Digging it up
W, Feb. 17
F, Feb. 19
M, Feb. 22
W, Feb. 24
F, Feb. 26
Landscape archaeology
Excavation: why and how
Read: Renfrew & Bahn, Chapter 3, 110-120
What to make of, what to do with, what you find
NO CLASS
Archaeology underwater
First Hourly Examination
(on material covered through Feb. 24th)
The politics of archaeology
M, March 1
Public presentation: who gets to touch (or to own)?
Read: Renfrew & Bahn, Chapter 14
W, March 3
Are museums dull?
F, March 5
Are museums dull? case studies and student input
How to get a date: establishing chronologies
M, March 8
Relative dating: lining things up in time
Read: Renfrew & Bahn, Chapter 4, 121-136
W, March 10 Absolute dating: texts, trees, and radioactivity
Read: Renfrew & Bahn, Chapter 4, 136-174
F, March 12
Dating at Brown: case studies and student input
Living in the world: the changing environment
M, March 15 The restless earth
Read: Renfrew & Bahn, Chapter 6
W, March 17 Climatic change: interrogating flowers and snails
F, March 19
The End of the World?: Case Studies and Student Input
Living in the world: what do you eat?
M, March 22 Vegetarians or carnivores?
Read: Renfrew & Bahn, Chapter 7
W, March 24 Teeth, bones and stomach contents
F, March 26
The archaeology of food: case studies and student input
Spring Recess
The archaeology of people
M, April 5
Looking at cemeteries: can archaeology take a census?
Read: Renfrew & Bahn, Chapter 11
W, April 7
Sex, age and determining the killer
F, April 9
Archaeology CSI: case studies and student input
M, April 12
Second Hourly Examination
(on material covered from Feb. 26th to April 9th)
Resources, technology and contact
W, April 11
Rock, paper, scissors
Read: Renfrew & Bahn, Chapter 8
F, April 13
Characterization: where do things come from?
Read: Renfrew & Bahn, Chapter 9
M, April 19
Things and Science: case studies and student input
**Project/papers due**
Pulling it all together
W, April 21
Other voices and other archaeologies
Read: Renfrew & Bahn, Chapter 13
F, April 23
Field archaeology and who owns the past?:
case studies and student input
Read: Renfrew & Bahn, Chapter 14 (again)
M, April 26
Project presentations and review
W, April 28
Project presentations and review
Thursday, May 13
Final Examination (9:00 am, Location TBD)
Project/Paper Suggestions
(due Monday, April 19th; 30% of grade)
Pick up on a theme or methodology introduced by this course, and run
with it by writing a paper or (and often more productive) doing some kind of
project. Suggestions are made below, but originality and ingenuity will be
rewarded. Brief presentations of the final product to the entire class may be
requested.
Required ‘length’: normally 7-10 pages, but this will depend very much
on what you choose to do and the form your presentation takes. Video and
web presentations are more than acceptable.
Be imaginative: there are no right or wrong answers here (just good
and bad effort). The only thing absolutely forbidden is actual excavation,
which — as a form of destruction — is NOT to be undertaken lightly.
Proposed topics:
1)
Do an ‘archaeology of us.’ Analyze (over a period of time) the domestic refuse (that
means the garbage) of your residence (dorm, house, fraternity/sorority) or the residence of
some other target population. What social and economic inferences could you make on
the basis of this evidence? If you are courageous, try quizzing people about their habits,
then testing them against the archaeological record.
2)
Plan and carry out a mini surface survey of some part of campus (e.g. the Green?
The hockey rink?) Make a simple (but neat) map, then systematically record what you
observe on the ground (you need not necessarily collect everything). Asking friends to serve
as fellow field walkers is acceptable. From what is observed, could you say anything about
the populations that inhabit, or use, this space? (for example, do they show any signs of
being health conscious? literate? environmentally aware?)
3)
Read and discuss children’s books, games or videos about archaeology or about the
past. What images are selected to appear? Do you find the texts biased in any way? (think
about issues such as race, gender, nationality...) How are they designed to appeal to their
target audience? For another spin, compare books written at different points in time, tracing
changes as far back as you can go. OR (and even more fun) write your own children’s book
about archaeology. In general, ask yourself: how can we improve the way we ‘educate’
kids about archaeology? (Warning: do not get too hung up on dinosaurs, which are the
province of paleontologists, not archaeologists)
4)
Visit a local museum or historical site apart from the ones to be considered in this
class (no cheating) and write a critique of its style of presentation. Consider issues such as:
(1) what is chosen to be on display? (2) how is it arranged (by period or by subject?) (3) how
accessible and interesting are the displays to different parts of the population (for example,
would children understand what is being shown to them?) (4) how are women or minority
groups represented? (5) what ‘story’ about the past does the museum/site try to tell? (6)
would you tell others to visit? Appropriate questions will obviously depend upon the place
you choose to visit.
5)
Redesign and reinstall the small exhibit space in the Joukowsky Institute for
Archaeology and the Ancient World (70 Waterman Street), for example by drawing on the
Institute’s artifact collections (pottery, coins, figurines).
6)
Examine current and back issues of some ‘popular’ archaeology magazine:
Archaeology, Biblical Archaeology Review, National Geographic. What types of topics do
they tend to highlight? How do they attempt to appeal to the public? Who writes for these
magazines? What is ‘sold’ along with the stories in the magazine? Do you see any changes
over time (from 1950s to 1960s to 1970s to 1980s to 1990s to 2000s)?
7)
Design and carry out an archaeological reconnaissance of an ‘old’ place in
Providence or in your neighborhood back home. Thorough work would include mapping,
sketching and photographing of standing remains and artifacts; you should also look into the
possibility of archival evidence (such as newspapers) and conduct interviews with local
residents (e.g. your parents and grandparents) for information about the site. Do not collect
artifacts, do not move or remove anything, do not excavate.
8)
Visit, systematically record and analyze a cemetery, preferably an older cemetery,
either in Providence or at home. Trace the demographic patterns of the cemetery (at what
age did people die? did women die younger than men? what about children?). Examine
changing styles of tomb markers and consider what gravestones can tell us about the
individual and their family. Can you infer anything about community history from this
cemetery?
9)
What can YouTube and MySpace do for archaeology? What can archaeology do
for MySpace and YouTube?
10)
Organize a public event to inform people and/or to commemorate the looting of the
Baghdad Museum in early April, 2003.
11)
Write a more straightforward research paper on any aspect of the course (a
particular technique, a particular site) that intrigues you and about which you would like to
learn more.
12)
Evolve your own project in consultation with your instructors.