Anthropology 455:Course Syllabus
Artifact Analysis
the University of Montana, Department of Anthropology
Spring 2015
Tuesday & Thursday 940-11am SS 254/244 H. A. Lab
Instructor: Dr. C. Riley Augé
Office:Social Sciences Building, Room 224
Email:
Office hours:To be announced and by appointment
Course Website:
Course Library Guide:
Course Description:Artifact Analysis (ANTY 455) is intended to serve as a hands-on introduction to interpreting artifacts from archaeological sites. The class consists of a mix of lecture, discussion, laboratory/in-classexercises, and writing assignments. It will cover all phases of artifact analysis including: defining problem domains, selecting attributes, cataloging data, analyzing the data, and interpreting results. While many in-class examples will addressartifacts from historic sites dating from the last 500 years, the class will not limit students to artifacts from this period. In fact, students with interests in other areas of study, such as North American prehistory, Egyptology, Classical Archaeology, and Ethnohistory can discuss developing special projects pertinent to those fields.
Prerequisite: Anthropology 250 (Introduction to Archaeology) or equivalent.
Required textbook:
Mark Sutton and Brooke Arkush, 2002, Archaeological Laboratory Methods: An Introduction (3rd edition), Kendall/Hunt Publishing, Dubuque.
Optional textbooks:
Jane Balme and Alistair Paterson (eds), 2006, Archaeology in Practice: A Student Guide to Archaeological Analysis, Blackwell Publishing, Malden, MA.
Robert D. Drennan, 1996, Statistics for Archaeologists: A Common Sense Approach, Springer, NY
Additional readings will be assigned as appropriate for artifact analyses.
Required equipment:You must have access to a computer with Microsoft Excel or Access and Word. Once we start working in the lab, you will need to purchase some other supplies (e.g., archival-quality “Micron” pens (size .01 or .02); fine pointblack “Sharpie” marker(s); mechanical pencil with a good eraser; and, if you really want, a magnifying glass - preferably 10x hand lens).
Grade Determination: There are four sources of grades in this course: (1) active participation in class exercises; (2) a proposal and bibliography for your project; (3) a class presentation of an article you have read; and (4) a writtenproject that demonstrates your ability to analyze a group of artifacts and that shows your ability to clearlypresent yourself in writing since this is an Upper-Division Writing Course(in addition, depending on the scope of your project, the written project may require an artifact catalog to outline your data).
1. Class Participation: Students are expected to be participants in the course, including class exercises. Students who miss multiple classes or do not work fully on the lab exercises will not receive full credit.In-class exercises will be given periodically for participation points.
2. Article Summary and Presentations: Each student will read an article about artifacts or faunal remains (not human osteology, site formation, monuments, etc.) from one of fourprofessional journals: Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory,Journal of Archaeological Science, American Antiquity,or Historical Archaeology. Alternatively, students can choose one of the reports related to the collections we will be analyzing in class. You will be provided with pdfs of these reports anyway, but for other relevant published literature, our class also has a Library Guide available through the Mansfield Library ( where you all can find easy access to these online sources. FYI, Historical Archaeology journals can be accessed by going to the following link on the Society for Historical Archaeology’s website:
You will all give a brief presentation of the article/report you chose. These will be due (and given) on March 19, 2015. Procedure: choose an article; bring the title to the instructor to ensure that no other student is already using the article. After reading the article, you will give a 10-minute presentation to the class, explaining the aims, methods, results of the article, as well as critiquing the strengths and weaknesses of the article from your perspective.In addition, you will write a doubled-spaced, 600-word prolusion of your article. Theprolusion will be reviewed and turned back to you all as part of our writing practice in this course. Instructions on prolusion writing will be provided as part of the writing lessons included throughout this course.
3. Written project: The report represents the completion of an analysis of a group of artifacts in class or an exploration of an artifact analysis issue or approach in detail. Papers should consist of 8-10 double-spaced, typewritten pages including the bibliography, and, for artifact analyses, all graphs, photos, tables, and data appendices. The final paper will be assessed in six areas: (1) goals and methods; (2) presentation of data; (3) interpretation of data; (4) conclusions and possible future directions; (5) use of references to the relevant literature (generally 6 for artifact analyses, while 8 or more for library projects are expected); and (6) effective language and appropriate archaeological style and presentation. A detailed grading rubric will be provided to you. Follow the Society for American Archaeology Style Guide or Society for Historical Archaeology Style Guide; NO handwritten assignments, please. For graduate credit, students will be expected to complete a longer (12-15 pages), more professional paper. Because this class fulfills the anthropological writing requirement, a draft of the paperMUST BE TURNED IN no later than April 14. The final version is due on May 7; also on this day, we will informally discuss everyone’s final paper/finding so that everyone in the class will have a sense of his or hers peers’ research.
I urge all students to read and understand the plagiarism warning contained in the general catalog.If you do not clearly indicate the source of sentences and/or ideas taken from the articles, you are committing “plagiarism,” an activity that, at a minimum, will result in a zero for the paper and a notification of the Dean of Students.
4. Final Exam. We will discuss how you will prepare for this final throughout the semester.
Grading:
A total of 300 points are possible for the class:
Participation100points
ArticleSummary/Presentation 50points
Final Written Project100points
Final Exam (to be held in the Historic Archaeology lab) 50points
The plus/minus system will be used and will be based upon the following average scores for the 300 total points you will earn: A (100-95%), A- (94-90%), B+ (89-88%), B (87-83%), B- (82-80%), C+ (79-78%), C (77-73%), C- (72-70%), D+ (69-68%), D (67-63%), D- (62-60%), F (59% or less).
Disability Accommodations:
The Department of Anthropology is committed to equal opportunity in education for all students, including those with documented physical disabilities or documented learning disabilities. University policy states that it is the responsibility of students with documented disabilities to contact instructors DURING THE FIRST WEEK OF THE SEMESTER to discuss appropriate accommodations to ensure equity in grading, classroom experiences, and outside assignments. The instructor will meet with the student and the staff of the Disability Services for Students (DSS) ( to formulate a plan for accommodations. Please contact DSS directly for more information: 243.2243 (voice/text); (email).
Incompletes: An incomplete will be considered only when requested by the student. At the discretion of the instructor, incompletes are given to students who missed a portion of the class because of documented serious health or personal problems during the semester. Students have one year to complete the course; requirements are negotiated on a case-by-case basis.
Course Schedule:
Date / Day / Topic / Readings27-Jan / T / Course Introduction; Visit SS 244 Lab; introduction to final project
29-Jan / Th / Defining Problems, Selecting Attributes, Measurement / Sutton and Arkush, Chapter 2 (Browse)
3-Feb / T / Metal Artifact ID; Firearms Analysis / Sutton and Arkush, Chapter 9; Fox and Scott 1991; Merritt et al. 2011, 2012
5-Feb / Th / Guest Speaker: Matthew LaRubbio
Moon-Randolph Homestead Project
Nail Identification Exercise
10-Feb / T / Library Visit: Scholarly Databases
12-Feb / Th / Artifact Analysis: Ceramics, Faunal / Sutton and Arkush, Chapters 6, 10
17-Feb / T / Visit to UMACF; Naja Typology Exercise
19-Feb / Th / Artifact Cataloging, Analysis, & Interpretation
PastPerfect UMACF database (1015-1100) / Sutton and Arkush, Chapter 3
24-Feb / T / Artifact Analysis: Bottles, Glass / Historic Bottle Website:
26-Feb / Th / Inferring Alcohol Usage from Artifacts Exercise
3-Mar / T / Lithics (a brief overview)
Writing Instruction (prolusions and reports) / Sutton and Arkush, Chapters 4; other readings to be annc’d
5-Mar / Th / Dating Methods / Sutton and Arkush, Chapter 13; Adams 2003
10-Mar / T / Pipe Stem and Mean Ceramic Dating Exercises
12-Mar / Th / Article Summary Discussion (Due Next Week)
Analyzing Plant Remains / Sutton and Arkush, Chapter 11
17-Mar / T / Artifact Illustration/Photography / Sutton and Arkush, Chapter 14; other readings to be annc’d
19-Mar / Th / Article Summaries/Presentations DUE, with relateddiscussion.
24-Mar / T / Analyzing non-movable/collectible artifacts
Cemeteries and Rock Art / Readings to be annc’d
26-Mar / Th / Laboratory Time/Project Research Time
30-Mar /23-Apr / Th / SPRING BREAK – NO CLASS
7-Apr / T / Archaeological Statistical Analysis / Readings to be annc’d
9-Apr / Th / To Be Announced
14-Apr / T / Laboratory Time/Project Research Time
ARTIFACT ILLUSTRATIONS DUE, Discussion
16-Apr / Th / TURN IN PAPER DRAFTS
Laboratory Time/Project Research Time
21-Apr / T / To Be Announced
23-Apr / Th / To Be Announced / Readings to be annc’d
28-Apr / T / Laboratory Time/Project Research Time; discussion of comments on final paper drafts. / Readings to be annc’d
30-Apr / Th / Laboratory Time/Project Research Time
5-May / T / Written Papers Due (to be discussed/presented in class)
7-May / Th / Written Papers Due (to be discussed/presented in class)
12-May / T / FINAL MEETING – 8:00-10:00 am
Photo:
1. Spiritual Midden exhibit at Museum of London. See Merrifield, Ralph. 1987. The Archaeology of Ritual and Magic. Guild Publishing, London.
______
Artifact Analysis 1