ARCHAEOLOGICAL METHODS AND TECHNIQUES
CLA 2110 A
Professor:
Office:
Telephone:
E-mail:
Classes:
Office Hours:
Jitse Dijkstra
ARTS, room 012 (ground floor)
562-5800 (ext. 1325)
jdijkstr@uottawa.ca
Tuesday, 10:00 – 11:20 a.m. HGN 302
Thursday, 8:30 – 9:50 a.m. HGN 302
Tuesday, 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Thursday, 10:00 - 11:00 a.m.
or by appointment
Teaching Assistant: Sabrina Higgins
E-mail:
sabrinahiggins@gmail.com
Office:
ARTS, room 008
Office Hour:
Thursday, 11:00 – 12:00 a.m.
OBJECTIVES
This course is designed to provide a basic introduction to the methods and techniques used in
archaeological research, particularly of the Mediterranean. Students will become familiar with
different methods of interpreting material evidence and understand the advantages of
combining material and historical sources (e.g. inscriptions, literary texts and archaeological
remains). Students will also learn about recent developments in the field of archaeology, such
as new survey and dating methods. Finally, students will experience, through a series of
workshops, some of the practical aspects of archaeology. The course specifically prepares
students for taking part in field work campaigns or museum activities.
TEXTBOOK

C. Renfrew, P. Bahn, Archaeology: Theories, Methods and Practice (London: Thames
& Hudson, fifth edition, 2008), supported by the book’s website:
http://thamesandhudsonusa.com/web/archaeology/5e/index.html
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The text book is available at All Books bookstore, located on Rideau St. next to the Bytowne
Cinema for $83.
EVALUATION
Participation:
Assignments:
Mid term test:
Final examination:
10 %
20 %
30 %
40 %
PARTICIPATION
This is a practical class and therefore participation is absolutely necessary, unless there are
serious reasons not to (the student needs an official confirmation of this such as a doctor’s
note!). At the start of every class, students must sign in. The participation rate is calculated by
the number of times they attended divided by the number of classes. The participation rate is 10
% of the final mark.
CLASS STRUCTURE
The class structure is such that more theoretical material is covered in classes while more
practical material will be explored through workshops. During the lectures the required reading
from the text book will be elucidated and illustrated mainly with the professor’s own field work
experience. During the first series of classes until the mid-term test, emphasis will be on
attaining a basic knowledge of the field: the why? who? what? where? when? and how?
questions. After having acquainted ourselves with the basics of archaeology, after the mid-term
test our attention will shift to more practical aspects of archaeology, the actual digs, illustrated
by three case studies. The classes wrap-up with a lecture about Canadian archaeology. As
regards the workshops, in these classes we acquire some basic hands-on experience of what it
is like being an archaeologist in the field. Workshops include the analysis of bone and plant
remains and artefacts, the application of GIS-methods, and the writing of an archaeological site
description.
ASSIGNMENTS
The assignments consist of brief questionnaires and exercises pertaining to each workshop.
They should be handed in at the end of class or at the next class. Students can work together in
small groups. Assignments are not simply marked but rather approved or not approved. The
total number of approved assignments is divided by the total number of assignments and this
takes up 20 % of the final mark.
MID-TERM TEST
The mid-term test (30 %) is a written test on the theory of the first 4 chapters of the textbook
(plus additional pages from other chapters as indicated), as well as on class notes. A revision of
required knowledge will be provided prior to the mid-term test. There will also be a pre-test, in
which students can practice for the mid-term.
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FINAL EXAMINATION
The last class will act as a forum for review for the final exam. The emphasis of the final
examination will not so much be on factual knowledge, though that is the basis, but on insight
into the different cases of archaeological research that we came across during the course.
STUDENT SUPPORT ON THE WEB
The professor will put the course outline on his website at http://artsites.uottawa.ca/dijkstra/
(choose ‘courses’ and then ‘Archaeological Methods and Techniques’) during the entire
semester.
In order to support the learning of the text book, some questions will be uploaded to this
website after every class. By trying to answer these questions, students can check the
comprehensiveness of their notes. If students are unable to answer the questions they may have
missed something and can then complete their notes using the textbook website and textbook,
asking a question about it to the professor or his teaching assistant by e-mail, during office
hours or at the start of class. The list of questions can also be used in preparation for the midterm test and final exam.
The text book does not have to be read in its entirety, for example many of the box features are
less relevant. The instructor will include relevant page numbers with the question lists. Other
relevant documents will also be listed on the website.
SCHEDULE
Readings are taken from the Renfrew and Bahn textbook
Date
Thursday
Sept. 8
Tuesday
Sept. 13
Thursday
Sept. 15
Tuesday
Sept. 20
Thursday
Sept. 22
Rotating
Topic
Introduction to the course.
What is archaeology? Archaeology and Ancient History
Readings
Introduction
Required reading: Introduction
Who’s Who? The History of Archaeology or The Discovery of the Past
Ch. 1
Required reading: Ch. 1: The Searchers: The History of Archaeology
Material Evidence and Its Preservation
Ch. 2
Required reading: Ch. 2: What is Left? The Variety of the Evidence.
Where Do You Find It? Surveys and Excavations in Practice. A first Ch. 3
look on site: the Wroxeter Hinterland Project, the Groningen University
surveys at Halos, Greece, and the excavations of the Oxford
Archaeological Unit at White Horse Hill, Great Britain
Required reading: Ch. 3: Where? Survey and Excavation of Sites and
Features.
8:30 – 9:05
Groups 1,2,3: Tour through the Museum by Prof. Antonia Holden
(assignment 1)
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Class
Location: Museum of Classical Antiquities, ARTS hall
Groups 4,5,6: surveys and excavations (sequel)
Location: Lecture Hall
9:15-9.50
Groups 1,2,3: surveys and excavations (sequel)
Location: Lecture Hall
Groups 4,5,6: Tour through the Museum by Prof. Antonia Holden,
(assignment 1)
Location: Museum of Classical Antiquities, ARTS hall
Tuesday
Sept. 27
When Is It Dated? Dating methods and Archaeology. New Perspectives Ch. 4
on the Chronology of Greek Colonization in Italy
Required reading: Ch. 4: When? Dating Methods and Chronology
Thursday
Sept. 29
Split
Class
Groups 1,2,3: Practicum Artifacts (assignment 2)
Instructed by Museum volunteers
Location: Museum of Classical Antiquities, ARTS hall
Groups 4,5,6: Dating methods (sequel)
Location: Lecture Hall
Tuesday
Oct. 4
Split
Class
Groups 4,5,6: Practicum Artifacts (assignment 2)
Instructed by Museum volunteers
Location: Museum of Classical Antiquities, ARTS hall
Groups 1,2,3:
Dating methods (sequel)
Location: Lecture Hall
Thursday
Oct. 6
Archaeobotany (and practicum plant remains) by Laila Sikking, Ch. 6:
Archaeobotanist (assignment 3)
pp. 245-253
Tuesday
Oct. 11
Required reading: Ch.6: What Was the Environment (Environmental
Archaeology), and Ch. 7: What Did They Eat? Subsistence and Diet.
How Were Societies Organized? Social Archaeology. The
Reconstruction of Settlement Patterns and Ranking from Burials
Required reading: Ch. 5 – How Were Societies Organized?
Archaeology.
Thursday
Oct. 13
Ch. 7:
pp.275-289
Ch. 5
pp. 180 and
199-200
Social
4th Ed.
pp. 179 and
199-200
Practicum Conservation by Judith Logan, Archaeological Conservator Ch. 8
(assignment 4)
pp.341-356
and Ch. 13
536-544
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Required reading: Ch. 8 – How Did They Make and Use Tools and
Ch. 13 – Archaeology in Action.
Tuesday
Oct. 18
Thursday
Oct. 20
Tuesday
Oct. 25 &
Thursday
Oct. 27
Tuesday
Nov. 1
4th Ed.
pp. 341-356
and 538-545
preparation for mid-term test
MID-TERM TEST
NO CLASSES: READING WEEK!
Comments mid-term test
Case study 1: The excavations at Aswan, Egypt
Thursday
Nov. 3
Tuesday
Nov. 8
Geographical Information Systems in Archaeology: introduction to Ch. 9
spatial data in archaeology, distribution, spatial analysis by Melanie pp. 374-390
Zahab (assignment 5)
and Ch. 3 84Required reading: Ch. 9 – What Contact Did They Have? Trade and 95 revisited.
Exchange.
Groups 1,2,3: Practicum Underwater Archaeology by Brandy Lockhart,
Underwater Archaeologist (assignment 6)
Location: Lecture Hall
Groups 4,5,6: Bones Practicum by Janet Young, Physical Anthropology
Researcher, Museum of Civilization (assignment 7)
Ch. 11
Location: Museum of Civilization, Gatineau
Required reading: Ch. 11 – Who Were They? What Were They Like?
The Bioarchaeology of People.
Thursday
Nov. 10
Split
Class
Tuesday
Nov. 15
Split
Class
Thursday
Nov. 17
Tuesday
Nov. 22
Cognitive Archaeology. Case study 2: the Dutch excavations at Ch. 10
Francavilla Marittima, Italy
Required reading: Ch. 10 – What Did They Think? Cognitive
Archaeology, Art and Religion.
Groups 4,5,6: Practicum Underwater Archaeology by Brandy Lockhart,
Underwater Archaeologist (assignment 6)
Location: Lecture Hall
Groups 1,2,3: Bones Practicum by Janet Young, Physical Anthropology
Researcher, Museum of Civilization (assignment 7)
Ch. 11
Location: Museum of Civilization, Gatineau
Required reading: Ch. 11 – Who Were They? What Were They Like?
The Bioarchaeology of People.
Whose Past? Archaeology and the Public
Ch. 14
Required Reading: Ch. 14: Whose Past? Archaeology and the Public
Case study 3: The Dutch excavations at Satricum, Italy; explanation
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Thursday
Nov. 24
Tuesday
Nov. 29
Thursday
Dec. 1
Tuesday
Dec. 6
about site description (assignment 8)
Canadian Archaeology by Jean-Luc Pilon, Ontario Archaeologist and
Curator of the Museum of Civilization (assignment 9)
How to apply for a dig in Europe? Experiences of students who went on
field work.
Hand in assignment 8
INDIANA JONES & THE LAST CRUSADE
preparation for final examination
Final Exam: Dec. 9-22
BONUS:
LECTURES ON ARCHAEOLOGY THIS FALL
Students can obtain a bonus of 0.1 (out of 10) on their mark on the final exam (which is worth
40% of the final mark!) for each lecture they attend in the lecture programme of the Ottawa
Chapter of the Archaeological Institute of America this term:
Date
Wednesday
Sept. 21
(7.30 pm)
Speaker and Title
S. Rotroff (Washington University), ‘Beauty, Victory, Death, and
Marriage in Archaic Athens: Phrasikleia and the Merenda Kouros’
Sunday
Oct. 2
(2 pm)
‘From the Ground Up’: University of Ottawa students present about
their fieldwork experiences in Europe this summer
Tuesday
Oct. 25
(7.30 pm)
G. Schaus (Wilfrid Laurier University), ‘Recent Work at Miletos: The
Spark That Ignited WesternThought’
Wednesday
Nov. 16
(7.30 pm)
J. Delgado (Maritime Heritage, Office of National Marine Sanctuaries,
NOAA), ‘Kamikaze: Discovering Kublai Khan’s Lost Fleet’
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Place
Library and
Archives
Canada,
Salon A
DMS 1120
Library and
Archives
Canada,
Auditorium
Library and
Archives
Canada,
Salon A