ANTH 2349 / HONR 2303 Honors Principles of Archæology

Prof. Karl Petruso, Program in Anthropology
Spring Semester 2005

CONSPECTUS

      Archæology is the branch of anthropology which seeks to elucidate past cultures through their material remains. ANTH 2349 will provide an overview of archæological theory and method, as does ANTH 2339. This new course, however, will be explicitly problem-oriented; students will work several open-ended problems based on fictional archæological databases, on such topics as stratigraphic interpretation, stylistic evolution in artifacts, reconstruction of ancient environments and subsistence, settlement pattern, interpretation of religious ritual, and management of the finite archæological record. The main objective of this approach is to develop in students the ability to think critically about and bring meaning to ancient material remains despite their very fragmentary and often ambiguous nature.
     Discussion will be emphasized over lectures, in an interactive seminar-like atmosphere. Enrollment is limited.
     This course is designed for Honors College students, but others will be admitted on a space-available basis with permission of the instructor. Students will be evaluated on the basis of the quality of their written work and contributions to classroom discussion.

CONTACT INFORMATION

TEXTS (all are required)

• Brian Fagan and Christopher DeCorse, In the Beginning (11th ed., 2005)
• Nicholas David and Jonathan Driver, The Next Archæology Workbook (1989)
• A customized reader containing relevant problems and essays, available for purchase at Bird's Copies, 208 South East St., Arlington (tel. 817.459.1688).
  
  There are thousands of websites on archaeology, not all of which are reliable. An excellent resource is Archnet, hosted by Arizona State University. It contains hundreds of useful links on archaeological topics, and is an excellent starting point for students who want to explore the discipline on the web.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

1. Eight written workbook problems (due approximately every other Friday; details below). Each problem is worth 10% of the final grade.
2. Midterm (objective), worth 10% of the final grade.
3. Final exam (objective and essay; analytic and synthetic), worth 10% of the final grade.
4. Participation in classroom discussion. While not quantified, your (intelligent and pertinent) participation is encouraged, and can raise a borderline final grade.

Students enrolled for the Honors section of this course will complete the above requirements as well as an additional project (a paper, presentation or creative endeavor), the nature and weighting of which be determined in consultation with me in January.

COURSE POLICIES

• Reading assignments are to be completed before associated lectures.
• You are responsible for all material presented and discussed in class even if you are absent. If you must miss a session, be sure to arrange to read a classmate's notes.
• No make-up exams will be administered except under the most unusual and dire of (documented) circumstances. A missed exam will receive a grade of zero.
• No incompletes will be granted except under the most unusual and dire of (documented) circumstances. It is to your advantage to finish this and all courses at the end of the semester, with an earned grade.
• Completed problems are due at classtime on the Fridays indicated on the syllabus. On those days, we will spend much of the class session examining various approaches to the problems, and your solutions will serve as the basis of our discussion.
• Any problem submitted after the class session at which it is due will be docked one letter grade.
• Aside from the eight problems and two exams, no other written work will be necessary, and none will be accepted for extra credit or in lieu of missed assignments.

CELL PHONES AND PAGERS ARE TO BE TURNED OFF DURING CLASS

• Although this is primarily a lecture course, interruptions in the form of questions and discussion relevant to the topic under consideration are invited at any time.
• Although I do not keep regular office hours, I am in my office every day. I am happy to meet with you at your convenience, but I would request that you call or email me beforehand instead of dropping in unannounced.

     As should be clear from the way grades are weighted, the heart of this course is the problems rather than the exams (this is a writing-intensive course). Successful students will apportion their time accordingly throughout the semester on the written assignment; little advantage is to be gained by cramming for the midterm and final exams.
      You should make an effort to keep up with the reading, which is primarily from a venerable and well-written college-level textbook. I am not particularly interested in lecturing on archaeological methods and techniques (which are, truth be told, fairly dull), and I will expect you to master the nuts and bolts of methodology through careful reading of the textbook. Rather, class sessions will concentrate on how these methods and techniques contribute to what can be learned about the archaeological past (often in the context of selected case studies) and, equally important, the limitations of these methods and techniques.

THE USUAL DISCLAIMERS

• Americans with Disabilities Act: If you are a student who requires accommodations in compliance with the ADA, please consult with me at the beginning of the semester. As a faculty member, I am required by law to provide reasonable accommodation to students with disabilities, so as not to discriminate on the basis of that disability. Your responsibility is to inform me of the disability at the beginning of the semester and provide me with documentation authorizing the specific accommodation. Student services at UTA include the Office for Students with Disabilities (located in the lower level of the University Center) which is responsible for verifying and implementing accommodations to ensure equal opportunity in all programs and activities.
•  Student Support Services: The University supports a variety of student success programs to help you connect with the University and achieve academic success. They include learning assistance, developmental education, advising and mentoring, admission and transition, and federally funded programs. Students requiring assistance academically, personally, or socially should contact the Office of Student Success Programs at 817-272-6107 for more information and appropriate referrals.
•  Bomb Threats: Anyone tempted to call in a bomb threat should be aware that UTA will attempt to trace the phone call and prosecute all responsible parties. Every effort will be made to avoid cancellation of presentations and/or tests caused by bomb threats. Unannounced alternate sites will be available for these classes. I will make you aware of alternate class sites in the event that our classroom is not available.
•  Drop Policy: If you decide not to complete this course, it is solely your responsibility to drop (faculty cannot initiate this action). The drop deadlines are February 25 (without penalty, i.e., an automatic "W") and April 15 (final drop date).
•  Finally, it is assumed that all students understand what constitutes scholastic dishonesty (essentially the representation of another person's work as one's own). "Students who violate the University's rules on scholastic dishonesty are subject to disciplinary penalties, including the possibility of failure in the course and dismissal from the University" (Regents' Rules and Regulations). Scholastic dishonesty will not be tolerated in this class. Suspected incidences will be turned over to the office of the Dean of Students for adjudication. Further information may be found at the UTA Academic Integrity website.

SYLLABUS

      The following is an ideal outline for this course, subject to modification. Assignments consist of readings from the textbook (Fagan and DeCorse, In the Beginning, abbreviated here as "F"). All readings should be finished before the day of their associated class sessions.
      Whether or not modifications are made to the lecture schedule, the due dates for submission of the problems are firm and will not change.
      You will be provided with hard copy of this syllabus. Please note that it is printed from the course website, and that it contains links which are not evident on paper, some of which are assignments. Since the syllabus will be updated periodically throughout the semester, it is recommended that you bookmark the website (http://www.uta.edu/anthropology/petruso/2349syl.htm) and refer to it frequently.

     The workbook problems are open-ended. Few have absolutely correct answers; rather, your solutions will be more or less compelling, more or less defensible analyses and interpretations of the evidence you are provided with. Logic and common sense—rather than a sophisticated understanding of archaeological method and technique—will be your main tools in tackling them. It is hoped that these exercises will give you the flavor of archaeological fieldwork and especially of inference, inasmuch as archaeological data are always fragmentary, often ambiguous, and occasionally contradictory. In the process of working them, you will develop an appreciation for the problematic nature of the archaeological record and an ability to live with ambiguity. Experience shows that students get progressively better at doing them over the course of the semester.
     Your answers are to be word-processed on white 8 1/2 x 11" paper, stapled at the upper left (no report covers, please). They are not to be emailed to me. They should be composed as essays (i.e., in paragraphs and complete sentences). Illustrations (sketches, tables, graphs) should be included as necessary to explicate your answers. Most essays, if not all, will benefit from composing some kind of chronological chart to make the data comprehensible (chronological charts should read from the bottom up, in the manner of archaeological stratigraphy). Your illustrations need not be fancy, but they should be clear and readable, and their purpose should be obvious.
     Be sure to proofread your essays carefully (or have someone else do it) before you hand them in. Organization, syntax, spelling, and overall clarity of presentation are important, and will be taken into account when assigning grades. Outside research should not be necessary to complete these exercises (except for the poopsheets I will provide and pertinent sections of your textbook), but if you wish to consult other sources, they should be referenced appropriately and cited in a bibliography.
     Please be advised that completing these problems satisfactorily requires some cogitation, reflection, trial and error, and attention to organization and production. The problems are not particularly difficult, but they will require some investment of time. Experience has shown that the more time students allot for them, the better the results are. Some problems require a considerable amount of of busywork (cutting and pasting, as "Petristan," or construction of a spreadsheet, as "Arak"). Be sure to get started on them at least a week before their due date. These assignments are not collaborative projects; it is expected that your submissions will be your work exclusively.
     The problems have been assigned such that the tools you will need to solve them will be covered in class at least a week before the problems are due. You are encouraged to read the problems over in advance (together with the associated poopsheets) so that you can ask questions about them at that time. We will spend much of the designated Friday class sessions analyzing them and comparing results.
     Please visit me if you need guidance on these exercises, and feel free to send questions at any time by e-mail.
     

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