ARCHAEOLOGICAL THEORY
Throughout its history, archaeology has been characterized by spectacular discoveries, ingenious methodological innovations, charismatic and eccentric scholars, and sometimes irresponsible and dangerous interpretations. As with all social sciences, archaeology has been significantly influenced by the broader social and intellectual contexts in which it developed. This course traces the history of archaeology from its antiquarian past to the present focusing on the theoretical developments of the field and the social and intellectual contexts in which those developments occurred. As a student in this class you will learn how archaeologists from different times and places have interpreted past human behavior, you will explore the origins of various schools of archaeological thought, and you will critically examine current theoretical approaches to archaeological interpretation. In so doing, you will gain perspective on how the discipline of archaeology has gotten to where it is now, and you will acquire an awareness of the factors that color your own interpretation of the past.
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Week |
Topics |
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1 |
Introduction |
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Why Study the History and Theory of Archaeology? |
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2 |
Antiquarian Beginnings |
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Scandinavian Contributions and the Development of Paleolithic Archaeology |
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3 |
Establishment of Archaeology as Science |
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The Imperial Synthesis |
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4 |
Culture-Historical Archaeology |
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EXAM I |
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5 |
Functionalism in Anthropology and Archaeology |
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Functionalist Archaeology in the Americas |
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6 |
Neo-Evolutionism |
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Archaeology as Anthropology |
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7 |
Culture History vs. Culture Process |
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Behavioral Archaeology and Systems Theory |
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8 |
Spring Break |
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Spring Break |
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9 |
Reflections on the "New" Archaeology |
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EXAM II |
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10 |
Post-Processual Archaeologies |
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-The Feminist Critique |
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11 |
-Symbolic, Structural and Critical Archaeology |
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-Interpretive Archaeology |
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12 |
Archaeology, Anthropology, and History and Their Social Context |
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Contemporary Theory in American Archaeology |
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13 |
EXAM III |
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Archaeological Theory - Revisited -Archaeology as Science |
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14 |
-Processual Archaeology |
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-Cognitive and Post-Processual Archaeology |
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15 |
-Archaeology and Postmodernism |
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-Death by Theory |
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16 |
FINAL EXAM |