Course information

This course takes a broad, introductory look at archaeology, the cultures that we study, the methods that we use, and the ethical issues that we face. We will briefly survey the history of archaeology, fundamentals of fieldwork, material analyses, and the ethics of our practice considering examples ranging from the first humans to the origins of civilizations across the globe. I invite you to consider ethics and the social impact of archaeology. These issues include repatriation, indigenous and community involvement, and heritage conservation (e.g., artifact collecting and looting). I employ case studies and active learning exercises meant to clarify the concepts examined. We emphasize how archaeologists reconstruct past societies out of fragmentary evidence.