Anthropology (ANTH) 272

Overview

This introductory-level anthropology course is designed to provide background in the history of archaeology and the methods and theories used by archaeologists to interpret material remains from distant and recent pasts. It is a foundation course for students interested in taking senior-level archaeology courses.

Outline

The course is divided into an Introduction and twelve units, each of which examines a specific question related to locating and recovering material remains and interpreting and understanding their meanings in context. The following course outline lists the units and the topics covered in each:

• Unit 1: Searching for the Past—the History of Archaeology: Provides a brief history of archaeology from its antiquarian roots through its emergence as a modern science. Subdisciplines such as ethnoarchaeology, public archaeology, garbology, feminist archaeology, and Indigenous archaeology are explored.
• Unit 2: What Is Left? The Variety of the Evidence: Examines the basic categories of archaeological evidence and the impact of natural and cultural formation processes on the archaeological record.
• Unit 3: Where? Survey and Excavation of Sites and Features: Discusses how archaeological sites are located using ground and aerial surveys and how material remains are excavated and recorded.
• Unit 4: When? Dating Methods and Chronology: Reviews relative and absolute dating methods and other procedures for reconstructing environmental and cultural chronologies.
• Unit 5: How Were Societies Organized? Social Archaeology: Reviews the social, economic, religious, and political attributes of different types of human cultures and describes methods of social analysis.
• Unit 6: What Was the Environment, and What Did They Eat? Environment, Subsistence, and Diet: Examines extant environments and climate change on both a global and a local scale through the reconstruction of plant and animal environments and the human use of these resources.
• Unit 7: How Were Belongings Made, Used, and Distributed? Technology, Trade, and Exchange: Examines the past use of unaltered and synthetic materials, as well as trade and exchange.
• Unit 8: What Were They Like? The Bioarchaeology of People: Focuses on the increasingly controversial use of human remains as empirical evidence for reconstructing physical attributes, disease, deformity, diet, and nutrition.
• Unit 9: What Did They Think? Cognitive Archaeology: Explores the cognitive aspects of people of the past as it relates to symbolizing, particularly in social, religious, and political realms, as well as the memory of place.
• Unit 10: Why Did Things Change? Explanation in Archaeology: Reviews the frameworks, models, and paradigms that archaeologists have used to explain the past.
• Unit 11: Whose Past? Archaeology and the Public: Deals with archaeology and the public as regards the meaning of the past, ownership of the past, and the responsibility of individuals and institutions.
• Unit 12: The Future of the Past—Managing Our Heritage: Discusses local, national, and international management of tangible heritage resources through conservation and mitigation. Building a career in archaeology is also explored.

Learning outcomes

After completing this course, the student should be able to achieve the following learning outcomes:

1. Describe the structure of archaeology and discuss the contributions of its various subdisciplines to interpreting material remains.
2. Examine the methods used to locate archaeological sites, to recover their material remains, and to reconstruct human behaviour and human thoughts.
3. Explain archaeological chronologies and how and why cultures change over time.
4. Discuss the development of archaeology and describe the factors responsible for its ongoing evolution.
5. Recognize that cultural remains are finite and discuss the role of archaeologists in their preservation and presentation.
6. Debate the lessons of the past to help humankind understand the present and deal with the future.

Evaluation

To receive credit for ANTH 272, you must complete ten discussion activities; two quizzes; two assignments; and a closed-book, comprehensive final examination. To receive credit for this course, you must complete all discussion posts, quizzes, assignments, and the final exam and achieve a minimum of D (50 percent) on the final examination, as well as an overall grade of D (50 percent) for the entire course. All work must be submitted or completed by the end of your course contract.

Activity	Weight
Discussion Posts 1–5	5%
Quiz 1 (open book, no time limit)	7.5%
Assignment 1: Critical Thinking Essay	15%
Discussion Posts 6–10	5%
Assignment 2: Garbology Project	30%
Quiz 2 (open book, no time limit)	7.5%
Final Exam (invigilated, timed)	30%
Total	100%

The final examination for this course must be requested in advance and written under the supervision of an AU-approved exam invigilator. Invigilators include either ProctorU or an approved in-person invigilation centre that can accommodate online exams. Students are responsible for payment of any invigilation fees. Information on exam request deadlines, invigilators, and other exam-related questions, can be found at the Exams and grades section of the Calendar.

To learn more about assignments and examinations, please refer to Athabasca University’s online Calendar.

Materials

Other Materials

All other materials are available online.

Important links

• Academic advising
• Program planning
• Request assistance
• Support services