The Human Past: Introduction to Archaeology

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The Human Past: Introduction to Archaeology

Fall 2006

Cave painting with intricate geometric patterns.

A Chumash cave painting in Santa Barbara County, California.
(Photo courtesy of Gyrus.)

Course Highlights

This course features an extensive list of readings, plus summaries of key terms, concepts and characters in the lecture notes section.

Course Description

This class introduces the multidisciplinary nature of archaeology, both in theory and practice. Lectures provide a comparative examination of the origins of agriculture and the rise of early civilizations in the ancient Near East and Mesoamerica. The laboratory sessions provide practical experience in aspects of archaeological field methods and analytical techniques including the examination of stone, ceramic, and metal artifacts and bone materials. Lab sessions have occasional problem sets which are completed outside of class.

Syllabus

This page includes a course calendar summarizing the lecture and lab topics.

Overview

Prior to 13,000 years ago all humans lived in relatively mobile small scale societies characterized by egalitarian social structures. Their subsistence depended on foraging for wild foods (often called "hunting and gathering") and reciprocity of exchange. The total human population at 13,000 years bp (before present) has been estimated at about ten million. In the last 13,000 years the human population has increased several hundredfold, and numerous diverse complex societies characterized by food production (agriculture), permanent settlements, hierarchically ranked social structures, and redistributive economic systems developed in most parts of the Old and New Worlds. The attainment of this degree of complexity is often referred to as achieving "civilization." The central theme of this class is the study of the processes leading to the earliest appearance of such societies in the Middle East/eastern Mediterranean region and Mesoamerica. We are interested in examining the similarity and difference in the trajectory of developments in these two regions to better understand the environmental contexts and the cultural processes involved with these changes.

Class Requirements and Mechanics

To fulfill the HASS-D requirements this subject includes two one hour lectures per week, one hour of recitation, and two hours of lab.

The required written work includes three papers (ca. 7-8 pages each), a midterm examination and a final examination as scheduled below. Weekly lab exercises and problem sets will be assigned in conjunction with the labs. Attendance and participation in all class activities (lecture, recitation/discussion and lab) will be considered in evaluating your performance in this class. (Students not fulfilling the HASS-D writing requirement will not receive a passing grade.)

Textbook

Lamberg-Karlovsky, C. C., and J. A. Sabloff. Ancient Civilizations: The Near East and Mesoamerica. 2nd ed. Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press, 1995. ISBN: 9780881338348.

Additional readings are assigned from journal articles, journal abstracts, and papers from books.

Grading

Grading criteria.
ACTIVITIES	PERCENTAGES
1st Paper Assignment	15%
First Midterm Examination	17%
2nd Paper Assignment	15%
3rd Paper Assignment	15%
Final Examination (Exam Period)	20%
Labs Assignments are Issued Weekly and Due the Following Week	18%

Calendar

The calendar below provides information on the course's lecture (Lec) and lab (Lab) sessions.

Course calendar.
SES #	TOPICS	KEY DATES
Introduction
Lec1	Introductory Remarks - Overview and Class and Lab Logistics
Lec2	Archaeology: Nature and Goals; Historical Development as a Discipline
Lab1	Chronology and Dating Techniques
Unit 1 - Earlier Prehistory: A Brief Overview
Lec3	Becoming Human: Early Hominids and the Earliest Technology
Lec4	Becoming Human: Early Humans and Emerging Cultural Behavior
Lec5	Becoming Human: Modern Humans and the Advent of Modern Behaviors
Lab2	Chronology and Dating Techniques (cont.)
Unit 2 - The Near East Case Study
Lec6	Theoretical Perspectives; Variables to be Considered in Comparative Studies. The Environmental Setting for Domestication and the Evolution of Social Complexity in the Near East
Lec7	Pre-Neolithic Adaptations and the Natufian in the Near East
Lab3	Site Documentation - Map Reading, Site Location
Lec8	Domestication: Recognition, Processes and Impact
Lec9	Origins and Expansion of Agriculture and Pastoralism in the Near East Context
Lab4	Site Documentation - Mapping
Lec10	Early Village Farming Communities: Geographic Expansion, Emerging Class Stratification and Centralization of Religion	First paper due
Lab5	Stone Technology Lab: Manufacturing Techniques
Lec11	The Earliest Stages of Urbanization: Ubaid and Eridu
Lec12	Urbanization and City States: Uruk, Civilization and Writing
Lab6	Stone Technology Lab: Debitage Identification / Classification
Lec13	Urbanization and City States: Ur Political and Social Environments, Material Achievements, the Critical Factors Interacting in the Development of Stratified Society in the Near East
	Midterm Examination
Lec14	Refocusing on the Comparative Theme: Eurasia - The Americas
Unit 3 - The Mesoamerica Case Study
Lec15	Peopling of The Americas. The Mesoamerican Environmental Setting: Lowlands and Highlands
Lab7	Stone Technology Lab: Artifact Identification / Classification
Lec16	Plant and Animal Domestication and the Emergence of Settled Village Life: Tehuacan and Oaxaca
Lec17	Plant and Animal Domestication and the Emergence of Settled Village Life: Comparing Processes in Mesoamerica and the Near East	Second paper due
Lab8	Ceramics Lab: Ceramics as Archaeological Materials, Forming and Firing Ceramic Vessels
Lec18	The Emergence of the Olmec and Early Lowland Civilization - La Venta
Lec19	Olmec Accomplishments
Lab9	Ceramics Lab: Analysis of Ceramics as Materials
Lec20	The Maya: The Rise of Tropical Rain Forest City-states
Lec21	Maya Achievements and the Decline of the Classic Maya
Lec22	Prof. Dorothy Hosler: West Mexican Metallurgy and its Importance in Interregional Contact	Third paper due
Lab10	Faunal Analysis Lab: Bone / Element Identification
Lec23	Teotihuacan: The Rise and Fall of a Highland State: Its Social Consequences
Unit 4 - Decline and Collapse
Lec24	Decline of Early Civilizations - Social, Political, Economic - An Examination of Potential Causes in Mesopotamia and Mesoamerica
Lab11	Faunal Analysis Lab: Bone / Faunal Identification
Lec25	Decline of Early Civilizations (cont.)

Readings

The following table lists readings associated with the lectures, along with a few "extraneous" background readings. Some additional readings are also given on the labs and assignments pages.

Readings for this class fall into two categories, 1) required readings that provide a basic framework for and amplification of the lecture materials, and 2) optional supplemental readings which provide direct exposure to the primary specialist research that archaeologists undertake or utilize in their research. The required readings include a textbook, a modest number of journal articles/papers and a larger number of abstracts from scientific papers.

The optional supplemental readings are, for the most part, the original scientific papers from which the abstracts were derived.

Textbook

LK&S = Lamberg-Karlovsky, C. C., and J. A. Sabloff. Ancient Civilizations: The Near East and Mesoamerica. 2nd ed. Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press, 1995. ISBN: 9780881338348.

Unit Abstracts and Notes (with Citations)

These files are referenced in the following table. The abstracts are required readings, while reading the complete papers are optional.

Unit 1 - Early Prehistory (PDF)

Unit 2 - The Near East Case Study (PDF)

Unit 3 - The Mesoamerican Case Study (PDF)

Unit 4 - Societal Collapse (PDF)

Assigned Readings for Lectures

Course readings.
SES #	TOPICS	READINGS
Introduction
Lec1	Introductory Remarks - Overview and Class and Lab Logistics	Renfrew, C., and P. Bahn. Archaeology: Theories, Methods and Practice. 2nd ed. London, UK: Thames and Hudson, Ltd., 1996, chapter 1. ISBN: 9780500050798. Feder, K. "Epistemology: How You Know What You Know." Chapter 2 in Frauds, Myths, and Mysteries. San Francisco, CA: Mayfield Publishing, 1990. ISBN: 9780874849714.
Lec2	Archaeology: Nature and Goals; Historical Development as a Discipline	Renfrew, C., and P. Bahn. Archaeology: Theories, Methods and Practice. 2nd ed. London, UK: Thames and Hudson, Ltd., 1996, chapter 1. ISBN: 9780500050798. Feder, K. "Epistemology: How You Know What You Know." Chapter 2 in Frauds, Myths, and Mysteries. San Francisco, CA: Mayfield Publishing, 1990. ISBN: 9780874849714.
Unit 1 - Earlier Prehistory: A Brief Overview
Lec3	Becoming Human: Early Hominids and the Earliest Technology	Ambrose, S. H. "Paleolithic Technology and Human Evolution." Science 291 (2001): 1748-1753. Unit 1 Abstracts and Notes for papers #1-6. Optional Readings The complete papers #1-6 cited in Unit 1 Abstracts and Notes.
Lec4	Becoming Human: Early Humans and Emerging Cultural Behavior	Ambrose, S. H. "Paleolithic Technology and Human Evolution." Science 291 (2001):1748-1753. Unit 1 Abstracts and Notes for papers #7-15. Optional Readings The complete papers #7-15 cited in Unit 1 Abstracts and Notes.
Lec5	Becoming Human: Modern Humans and the Advent of Modern Behaviors	Unit 1 Abstracts and Notes for papers #16-17. Optional Readings The complete papers #16-17 cited in Unit 1 Abstracts and Notes.
Unit 2 - The Near East Case Study
Lec6	Theoretical Perspectives; Variables to be Considered in Comparative Studies. The Environmental Setting for Domestication and the Evolution of Social Complexity in the Near East	LK&S. pp. 1-48 and 341-369.
Lec7	Pre-Neolithic Adaptations and the Natufian in the Near East	LK&S. pp. 49-61. Bar-Yosef, O. "The Natufian Culture in the Levant, Threshold to the Origins of Agriculture." Evolutionary Anthropology 6, no. 5 (1998): 159-177. Henry, D. O. "Preagricultural Sedentism: The Natufian Example." In Prehistoric Hunter-Gatherers. Edited by T. D. Price and J. A. Brown. Orlando, FL: Academic Press, 1985, pp. 365-384. McCorriston, J., and F. Hole. "The Ecology of Seasonal Stress and the Origins of Agriculture in the Near East." American Anthropologist 93, no. 1 (1991): 46-69. Unit 2 Abstracts and Notes for papers #1-2. Optional Readings The complete papers #1-2 cited in Unit 2 Abstracts and Notes.
Lec8	Domestication: Recognition, Processes and Impact	Diamond, J. "Evolution, Consequences and Future of Plant and Animal Domestication." Nature 418 (2002): 700-707. Zeder, M. "Central Questions in the Domestication of Plants and Animals." Evolutionary Anthropology 15 (2006): 105-117. Unit 2 Abstracts and Notes for papers #3-6. Optional Readings The complete papers #3-6 cited in Unit 2 Abstracts and Notes.
Lec9	Origins and Expansion of Agriculture and Pastoralism in the Near East Context	LK&S. pp. 61-79. Legge, A. J., and P. Rowley-Conwy. "Gazelle Killing in Stone Age Syria." Scientific American 257, no. 2 (1987): 88-95.
Lec10	Early Village Farming Communities: Geographic Expansion, Emerging Class Stratification and Centralization of Religion	LK&S. pp. 80-115.
Lec11	The Earliest Stages of Urbanization: Ubaid and Eridu	LK&S. pp. 119-151. (skim section on Egypt)
Lec12	Urbanization and City States: Uruk, Civilization and Writing	LK&S. pp. 151-191.
Lec13	Urbanization and City States: Ur Political and Social Environments, Material Achievements, the Critical Factors Interacting in the Development of Stratified Society in the Near East	LK&S. pp. 227-233.
Lec14	Refocusing on the Comparative Theme: Eurasia - The Americas	LK&S. pp. 237-238 and 342-369.
Unit 3 - The Mesoamerica Case Study
Lec15	Peopling of The Americas. The Mesoamerican Environmental Setting: Lowlands and Highlands	Unit 3 Abstracts and Notes for papers #1-4. Optional Readings The complete papers #1-4 cited in Unit 3 Abstracts and Notes.
Lec16	Plant and Animal Domestication and the Emergence of Settled Village Life: Tehuacan and Oaxaca	LK&S. pp. 239-255. Flannery, K. "Archaeological Systems Theory and Early Mesoamerica." In Anthropological Archaeology in the Americas. Edited by B. J. Meggers. Washington, DC: Anthropological Society of Washington, 1968. Zeder, M. "Central Questions in the Domestication of Plants and Animals." Evolutionary Anthropology 15 (2006): 105-117. (see Required Readings Unit 2, #6). Unit 3 Abstracts and Notes for papers #5-9. Optional Readings The complete papers #5-9 cited in Unit 3 Abstracts and Notes.
Lec17	Plant and Animal Domestication and the Emergence of Settled Village Life: Comparing Processes in Mesoamerica and the Near East	LK&S. pp. 239-255. Flannery, K. "Archaeological Systems Theory and Early Mesoamerica." In Anthropological Archaeology in the Americas. Edited by B. J. Meggers. Washington, DC: Anthropological Society of Washington, 1968. Zeder, M. "Central Questions in the Domestication of Plants and Animals." Evolutionary Anthropology 15 (2006): 105-117. (see Required Readings Unit 2, #6). Unit 3 Abstracts and Notes for papers #5-9. Optional Readings The complete papers #5-9 cited in Unit 3 Abstracts and Notes.
Lec18	The Emergence of the Olmec and Early Lowland Civilization - La Venta	LK&S. pp. 255-276. Coe, M. "Gift of the River: Ecology of the San Lorenzo Olmec." In The Olmec and Their Neighbors. Edited by E. P. Benson. Washington DC: Dumbarton Oaks, 1981. ISBN: 9780884020981. Unit 3 Abstracts and Notes for paper #10. Optional Readings The complete paper #10 cited in Unit 3 Abstracts and Notes.
Lec19	Olmec Accomplishments	Hosler, D., S. L. Burkett, and M. J. Tarkanian. "Prehistoric Polymers: Rubber Processing in Ancient Mesoamerica." Science 284 (1999): 1988-1991.
Lec20	The Maya: The Rise of Tropical Rain Forest City-states	LK&S. pp. 276-287. Rathje, W. "Praise the Gods and Pass the Metates." In Contemporary Archaeology: A Guide to Theory and Contributions. Edited by M. Leone. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press, 1972. ISBN: 9780809305346. Unit 3 Abstracts and Notes for paper #11. Optional Readings The complete paper #11 cited in Unit 3 Abstracts and Notes.
Lec21	Maya Achievements and the Decline of the Classic Maya	LK&S. pp. 288-303. Haug, et al. "Climate and the Collapse of Maya Civilization." Science 299 (2003): 1731-1735.
Lec22	Prof. Dorothy Hosler: West Mexican Metallurgy and its Importance in Interregional Contact	LK&S. pp. 304-314. Unit 3 Abstracts and Notes for paper #12. Optional Readings The complete paper #12 cited in Unit 3 Abstracts and Notes.
Lec23	Teotihuacan: The Rise and Fall of a Highland State: its Social Consequences	LK&S. pp. 314-336.
Unit 4 - Decline and Collapse
Lec24	Decline of Early Civilizations - Social, Political, Economic - An Examination of Potential Causes in Mesopotamia and Mesoamerica	LK&S. pp. 167-169, 288-296, and 313-314. Weiss, H., and R. S. Bradley. "Archaeology: What Drives Societal Collapse?" Science 291, no. 5504 (2001): 609-610. Jacobsen, T., and R. McC. Adams. "Salt and Silt in Ancient Mesopotamian Agriculture." Science 128 (1958): 1251-1258. Gibson, M. "Violation of Fallow and Engineered Disaster in Mesopotamian Civilization." In Irrigation's Impact on Society (Anthropological Papers No. 25). Edited by T. Downing and M. Gibson. Tuscon, AZ: University of Arizona Press, 1974. ISBN: 9780816504190. Unit 4 Abstracts and Notes for paper #1. Optional Readings The complete paper #1 cited in Unit 4 Abstracts and Notes.
Lec25	Decline of Early Civilizations (cont.)	LK&S. pp. 167-169, 288-296, and 313-314. Weiss, H., and R. S. Bradley. "Archaeology: What Drives Societal Collapse?" Science 291, no. 5504 (2001): 609-610. Jacobsen, T., and R. McC. Adams. "Salt and Silt in Ancient Mesopotamian Agriculture." Science 128 (1958): 1251-1258. Gibson, M. "Violation of Fallow and Engineered Disaster in Mesopotamian Civilization." In Irrigation's Impact on Society (Anthropological Papers No. 25). Edited by T. Downing and M. Gibson. Tuscon, AZ: University of Arizona Press, 1974. ISBN: 9780816504190. Unit 4 Abstracts and Notes for paper #1. Optional Readings The complete paper #1 cited in Unit 4 Abstracts and Notes.

Optional "Extraneous" Background Readings

Waal, F. de, "Bonobo Sex and Society." Scientific American 272, no. 3 (March 1995): 82-88.

Wynn, T., and F. Coolidge. "The Expert Neandertal Mind." Journal of Human Evolution 46 (2004): 467-487.

Molleson, Theya. "The Eloquent Bones of Abu Hureyra." Scientific American 271, no. 4 (1994): 70-75.

Tiesler, Vera. "Head Shaping and Dental Decoration Among the Ancient Maya." Proceedings of the 64th meeting of the Society of American Archaeology, Chicago 1999.