ANTH 113Q — California Archaeology
Research Paper — Instructions & Related Issues
Basic Instructions
This assignment, when finished, will consist of a 5-7 page research paper. The 5-7 pages are excusive of the
bibliography, illustrations (if any), and title page. You can choose any topic related to California archaeolgy,
but it should be something with enough written resources such that it is doable. Contact me if you want some
suggestions or you are uncertain in some way.
Your work will be conducted in two stages: (1) a topic statement, and (2) the final essay. The topic statement
is just that — a paragraph or two (a very brief outline) stating what your topic is and what your question is.
Remember, this is a research paper and therefore you need to ask a question or questions; I am not asking
you for a descriptive summary of something, so construct your effort around a question(s). For example:
What was the cause, or causes, of the extinction of Pleistocene megafauna? Are cultural factors involved and,
if so, to what extent? Another one might involve ethnicity. For example: How and to what extent did ethnic
identity change among some coastal groups with European contact? Both of these are questions that you can
explore. Your topic statement is due Thursday, April 24th. Along with your description of what you will
explore, your topic statement must include 2-3 sources other than the textbooks we are using for the course.
List these in bibliographic style right under your statement. Everything should be on one page. I will
comment on your topic and get it back to you.
The final essay is due Thursday May 29th and must be an original work, double-spaced, with normal margins
and font size. Your final paper should have a minimum of 5 sources that are actively cited within the text.
You may turn your essay in earlier if you wish. I also will be happy to briefly comment on a draft of your paper
if submitted at least a week before the due date.
Other Issues
Bibliography: Your essay MUST have a bibliography at the end of your paper, beginning on a new page with the
title “Bibliography” or “References Cited” at the top of the page. The works cited in the body of your research
paper—and ONLY those works—are then listed below in alphabetical order (by author surname). In cases where
there is more than one entry for the same author (i.e., more than one work cited), enter the earliest one first,
followed below by later works. Examples:
journal article:
James, Jessie
1885 The Art of Being Bad and other Stories of Ugliness While I was Drunk. Journal of Western
Nonsense 22(3):56-78.
(in this case, the journal title is underlined, the journal volume number is listed [no 22], the issue within the volume is
listed [no 3], and the page spread is listed [56-78])
Book:
Beiber, Justin
2005 If Only I Could Sing and Wasn’t Exceedingly Annoying. Putnam Publishing, New York.
(in this case the book title is underlined, the publisher is named, and the location of the publisher is named)
Book Chapter:
Piggy, Horacio
1955 There's a Nasty Yellow Stain at the Bottom of My Sink. In Bathroom Cleanliness: The Do's and
Don'ts, by Betty Scrubs-Bright, pp. 100-120. Irrelevant Publishing, Chicago.
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(in this case the chapter title comes first, followed by the book title [underlined], the book author [editor] name, the page
spread, and the publisher and location)
In-text Citation: There are various ways to cite the works. At the most fundamental level—this should be
obvious—do not use other people’s ideas and not give them credit via citation. This is called plagiarism (when
done verbatim [using the same text]) or academic theft / dishonesty (in the case of paraphrasing another’s ideas).
The following is a sample sentence in which I gave you two fundamental ways to cite:
- According to Jones (1998:23) the Maya were a peaceful series of chiefdoms.
- The Maya have been described as a peaceful series of chiefdoms (Jones 1998:23).
Here we have the same author being cited, the only difference being that in one sentence I use the name in
the text (and hence the actual citation is just the year and page number), and the other sentence is crafted in a
way that omits the person’s name (thus, it has to be included in the parenthesis with the year and page
number. Note that a semicolon separates the year and page number.
In cases where multiple authors wrote a paper you are citing, it would go like this:
- According to Jones et al. (1998:23) the Maya were a peaceful series of chiefdoms.
- The Maya have been described as a peaceful series of chiefdoms (Jones et al. 1998:23).
The letters “et al.” at Latin for “and others.” So if you have three or more authors this format should be used. If
there are only two authors, both would be named:
- According to Jones and Harmon (1998:23), the Maya were a peaceful series of chiefdoms.
- The Maya have been described as a peaceful series of chiefdoms (Jones and Harmon 1998:23).
These are the basic ways of citing. Of course, in some cases you may wish to cite several works pertaining to a
particular point. For example:
- According to Jones (1998:23), the Maya were a peaceful series of chiefdoms.
- It is widely recognized that the Classic Maya were a peaceful series of chiefdoms (Abrams 1986:23; Coe
1998:34; Jones 1998:23: Zachery 2000:23).
In this case several works are cited. Note that they are listed in alphabetical order, not by date.
Direct Quotation: Can be problematic in the sense that some students, if not told otherwise, will insert huge
block quotes in their paper, filling up otherwise empty pages to get to the “magic number.” Use quotation
sparingly, if at all. And NEVER use block quotes (i.e., several sentences of text that are set apart from
everything else in an indented manner). YOU should condense and put into YOUR OWN WORDS what is
being said by another person. That said, if someone has a catchy word or some very brief thing that merits
quotation, feel free to use it. But if you do, it should be clearly set in quotation marks. For example,
- To some scholars, the evolution of early hominids is “exceedingly rapid” (Muller 2003:32).
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