Fundamentals of Archaeology

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

This course is an introduction to the methods, goals, and theoretical concepts of archaeology, with a primary focus on anthropological archaeology practiced in the Middle East, North America, and Europe. The field of archaeology is broadly concerned with material culture (at times combined with textual information) that can be employed to generate interpretations about past human societies. The challenge of this social science is to interpret past societies and anthropological behavior using the fragmentary, but nonetheless rich and complex, data base of the archaeological record. Lecture topics will include the methods and goals of archaeological excavation; analytical techniques employed in material studies; and the problems and challenges in the interpretation of past human behavior. Case studies of survey, excavation, and analytical techniques will focus on recent or on-going investigations of archaeological sites in North America, Central America, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.