Archaeology
Courses
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Arch 101. ARCHAEOLOGY I
This course examines the methods, goals, and substantive results
of contemporary anthropological archaeology. It traces the evolution
of human culture from its genesis 2.5 million years ago through
the rise of the first state level societies in the Old World against
a continuously fluid background of plant, animal, and climatic
change.
Corequisite: Arch 102 Lab.
3 credits.
Arch 102. ARCHAEOLOGY I,
LAB I This Laboratory course provides the student basic exposure
to contemporary archaeological field methods from both a theoretical
and "hands on" perspective. Topics include: Archaeological survey
techniques; mapping; excavation procedures; screening and data
retrieval; field-lab processing and documentation.
1 credit.
Arch 150. BIBLICAL ARCHAEOLOGY
This course examines the later prehistory and early history of
Palestine and immediately contiguous areas. Emphasis is placed
on the archaeological elucidation of extant historical documentation
and biblical references.
Prerequisite: Arch 101.
3 credits.
Arch
186A. /Arch 186B.; Arch 386A/Arch
386B.; Arch 486A. /Arch 486B.
Archaeology Field School Participants
will be exposed to the latest methodologies in archaeology,
geoarchaeology, excavation techniques, field photography, mapping,
laboratory procedures, artifact analysis, human osteology, computer
applications, and many other techniques employed in contemporary
archaeological excavations. Students will be taught the techniques
of open-site excavation and will be able to witness firsthand
the ongoing interpretation of the natural and cultural history
of archaeological sites.
Prerequisites: Arch 101, Arch 201.
3/6 credits.
Arch 201. ARCHAEOLOGICAL
FIELD METHODS This course is designed to expose students to
the full spectrum of field methods now in use in contemporary
anthropological archaeology. The rationale, technical details,
and expected results of a wide array of field methods are presented
in the context of location, characterization, and full-scale data
recovery of prehistoric and historic archaeological sites.
Corequisite: Arch 202.
Prerequisite: Arch 101.
3 credits.
Arch 228. ANALYTICAL LAB
METHODS IN HISTORIC ARCHAEOLOGY This course will introduce
students to the analytical and classificatory methods used in
the treatment and processing of historic materials recovered from
archaeological investigations. Emphasis will be placed on colonial
and nineteenth century materials of the eastern United States.
Students will assist in the analysis of materials from ongoing
Mercyhurst Archaeological Institute field projects.
Corequisite: Arch 229 Analytical Lab Methods in Historic Archaeology
Lab.
Prerequisite: Arch 101.
3 credits.
Arch 230. ANALYTICAL LAB
METHODS IN PREHISTORIC ARCHAEOLOGY This course is designed
to acquaint the student with the methods and techniques of processing,
classification, analysis, curation, and documentation of the
major classes of prehistoric artifactual evidence. The specific
classes of data to be examined include, but are not limited
to, lithics, ceramics, evidence. The specific classes of data
to be examined include, but are not limited to, lithics, ceramics,
perishables, macrofloral remains, pollen and phytoliths, and
biomolecular residues. Analysis of these materials will also
involve addressing a number of anthropological themes such as
dietary reconstruction, paleoenvironmental reconstruction, and
construction of chronologies. The laboratory component of the
courses is designed to allow students to employ the methods
and techniques of artifact analysis using various "live" collections
curated by the Mercyhurst Archaeological Institute.
Corequisite Arch 231 Analytical Lab Methods in Prehistoric
Archaeology Lab.
Prerequisite: Arch
101.
3 credits.
Arch 250. and Arch 251. PREHISTORY
OF EASTERN\WESTERN NORTH AMERICA These two courses are designed
to thoroughly introduce the student to the grand sweep of North
American Prehistory. From the initial peopling of the New World
to the rise of settled village life and the evolution of non-state-level
societies, the prehistory of North American is presented against
an ever-changing backdrop of flora, fauna, and climate with an
emphasis on the complex interplay between humans and their environmental
matrix.
Prerequisite: Arch 101.
3 credits each.
Arch 270. RISE OF CIVILIZATION This course
addresses the development and evolution of state level societies
in both the Old and New World. It examines the environmental and
socio-technological background from which state level societies
emerge and attempts to isolate and define similarities in the
process of the emergence of so-called civilizations. This course
will also explore the origins of agriculture, particularly as
it relates to the rise of state level societies. Explanatory models
and archaeological evidence will be used to illustrate these developments.
Prerequisite: Arch 101.
3 credits.
Arch 271. PREHISTORY OF THE
NEAR EAST This course examines and summarizes the prehistory
of the Near East from the initiation of human occupation in the
Early Pleistocene ca. one million + B.P. to the rise of state
level societies, ca. 5,500 years ago. The course emphasizes the
complex and fluid interplay between a constantly changing paleoenvironmental
paleoclimatic, and geoarchaeological stages and the prehistoric
populations who "acted" upon it.
Prerequisite: Arch
101.
3 credits.
Arch 272. MESOAMERICAN PREHISTORY
This course treats the prehistory of the area lying between the
southern borders of the greater American Southwest and the northern
borders of South America. It examines the archaeological sequence
of the study area from the initiation of human occupation ca.
12,000 + years ago to Euro-American contact. The course emphasizes
the interdigitation of human activity with a constantly changing
panorama of paleoclimate and paleoenvironment.
Prerequisite: Arch 101.
3 credits.
Arch 273. SOUTH AMERICAN PREHISTORY This
course examines the archaeology of South America from the earliest
occupation of that continent until the arrival of the Spanish
and Portuguese. The course emphasizes the transformation of migratory
hunting and foraging economies into sedentary societies, some
of which ultimately evolve into political states of great complexity.
Prerequisite: Arch 101.
3 credits.
Arch 274. EUROPEAN PREHISTORY I This course
summarizes and examines the archaeology of Europe from its initial
colonization ca. 500,000 years ago until the appearance of horticulture
in the early Holocene. The course stresses the environmental matrix
of nearly one half million years of human socio-cultural evolution
and compares and contrasts it to adjacent areas.
Prerequisite: Arch
101.
3 credits.
Arch 275. FAR EASTERN PREHISTORY
This course is designed to introduce the student to the prehistoric
archaeological record of Northeast Asia. The course will examine
the initial peopling of the region during the Pleistocene and
will emphasize subsequent Paleolithic and Neolithic adaptations
in North China, Japan, Eastern Siberia, and the Korean Peninsula.
Prerequisite: Arch 101.
3 credits.
Arch 276. HISTORIC ARCHAEOLOGY This course
provides students with the basic methods and protocols of contemporary
historic archaeology. The focus of the course is on Post-Columbian
archaeology in North America with an emphasis on the initial settling
and early development of the mid-west region.
Prerequisite: Arch 101.
3 credits.
Arch 280. EUROPEAN PREHISTORY II This course
will chronicle the history of human occupation in Europe for 8000
years, from the Upper Paleolithic to the emergence of state societies
and Roman expansion. Particular emphasis will be placed upon regional
cultural variability, the relationship between human communities
and their landscapes, culture contact and trade, the development
of social stratification and political centralization, and recent
theoretical conceptualizations of various periods and regions.
Students will have the opportunity to concentrate on particular
regional, cultural, and temporal problems.
Corequisite: Arch 274.
Prerequisite: Arch 101.
3 credits.
Arch 310. ARCHAEOLOGY OF
GENDER This course explains the identification of gender and
gender roles in the often times opaque archaeological record of
prehistoric and early historic societies. Specifically, it focuses
on the activities of females and other non-traditional "actors"
in the reconstruction of past cultures and these human-land interactions.
Particular attention is paid to the role of females in Late Paleolithic,
Mesolithic, and Neolithic contexts.
Prerequisite: Arch 101, Anth 110.
3 credits.
Arch 325. PERSPECTIVES ON THE PLEISTOCENE
This course focuses on the Pleistocene geological period as an
event not only in the evolution of the planet but in terms of
the development of human culture. It addresses the Pliocene/Pleistocene
boundary, Pleistocene climatic models, glacial and periglacial
processes and products, and the dispersal of humankind across
the landscape of the New and Old Worlds. The "end" of the Pleistocene
and the onset of the Holocene are also examined in terms of timing,
character, and consequences.
Prerequisite: Arch
101, Arch 430/Geol 430, Anth 110.
3 credits.
Arch 350. FUNERARY
ARCHAEOLOGY This course will have several aims. The first
is to expose students to how archaeologists and anthropologists
have conceptualized death and what effect this has had on the
contribution of funerary material/activities to particular studies
of social and economic development and change through the years.
The second aim is to introduce students to the diversity of funerary
practices in both the past and in the present, and more specifically,
to explore the role of funerary rituals within the economic and
social reproduction of particular communities. The third aim is
to address how death has become politicized in the ongoing conflict
between indigenous peoples and scientists over the ownership and
control of human remains and their past.
Prerequisite: Arch 101, Anth 110.
3 credits.
Arch 360. PRIMITIVE TECHNOLOGY This course
provides the rationale and protocols for the analysis, documentation,
and interpretation of both durable and perishable artifactual
remains from prehistoric and historic archaeological sites. The
analysis of lithic material, bone and wooden artifacts, cordage,
basketry, and textiles are emphasized. A treatment of prehistoric
and historic ceramic analysis is also provided.
Prerequisite: Arch 101, Arch 230.
3 credits.
Arch 370. THE ANTHROPOLOGY OF RITUAL This
course is intended to introduce students first to the variety
of anthropological theories which have attempted to make ritual
practice intelligible to observers, and second, to the kinds of
rituals in which humans participate during the course of their
lives. Particular attention will be paid to how material culture
and space are manipulated within ritual practice, in an ongoing
discussion of how archaeologists explore rituals in the past.
Prerequisite: Arch 101, Anth 110.
3 credits.
Arch 430/Geol 430. GEOARCHAEOLOGY
Geoarchaeology (archaeogeology) examines in detail the interface
which exists between the fields of geology and the anthropological
subdiscipline of archaeology. The purpose of this course is to
acquaint the student not only with the history of the interrelationship
between these academic specialties but also to document and illustrate
the range of geological techniques which are useful to the contemporary
archaeologist. More specifically, via lectures and laboratory
work, this course will detail how geological methods may be employed
in the location, excavation, and interpretation of archaeological
sites and materials.
Corequisite: Arch 431 Lab.
Prerequisite: Arch 101, Arch 201, Geol 110.
3 credits.
Arch 431/Geol 431. GEOARCHAEOLOGY LAB This
laboratory course exposes the student to contemporary analytical
methods in Geoarchaeology. Specialization topics include geoarchaeological
sampling procedures; sedimentological analysis, data processing
and interpretation; compositional analysis; thin-section proportion;
and paleoenvironmental reconstruction.
1 credit
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