ANTH340:

Method and Theory in Archaeology

Spring, 2017

Professor Stephen A. Brighton

Office: Room 0132 Woods Hall

Phone: (301) 405-3700

Email:

Office Hours: Tues and Thurs 11:00 – 12:00PM

and Wed. 11:00 – 12:00PM, or by appointment

Lectures:

Tuesday and Thursday,12:30– 1:45,Woods Hall, 0104

Course Description:

Theory, method, and practice guides modern anthropological archaeology. The process of archaeology includes creating research design and relevant research questions structuring datacollection (i.e. survey and excavation). Finally, the application of theory provides a framework to interpret recovered artifacts (material culture) in order to reconstruction of aspects of past cultures and society, confront contradictions, injustices, as well as reflecting cultural change and meaning over time and space.

Course Policies

  • ALL UNDERGRADUATES ENROLLED IN THIS COURSE MUST HAVE TAKEN ANTH240 OR EQUIVALENT COURSE.
  • Office Hours

I will hold office hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays 11:00AM-12:00PM each week and Wednesdays from 11:00-12:00PM. It is expedient to email in advance to set up a meeting during office hours. You are also welcome to set up an appointment time via email outside of office hours.

  • Email Protocol

Email is the primary way in which we will communicate outside of class time or office hours. If you are writing regarding personal matters (i.e. grades, medical issues) and/or questions or issues concerning topics discussed, assignments, and readings, please consider whether email is the best medium. In short, if you’re seeking a response longer than a few sentences it is best to email to schedule a time to address the matter(s) during office hours.

Please use your UMD email account. Any missed email communication is your own responsibility. I usually respond to email in the mornings on workdays (M-F), so if your message arrives in the afternoon, after work hours, or during the weekend then you should expect a response from me the following workday.

  • Technology

No phones shall be used during class.

Computers and tablets are acceptable for notes. If used for other purposes then points will taken off each student’s class participation grade.

  • Academic Integrity (Required Honor Pledge)

The University of Maryland has a nationally recognized Code of Academic Integrity, administered by the Student Honor Council. This Code sets standards applicable to all undergraduate students, and you are responsible for upholding these standards as you complete assignments in this course. Make yourself aware of the consequences of cheating, fabrication, facilitation, and plagiarism. For more information see If any student is believed to be in violation of the Code of Academic Integrity, they will be reported to the Student Honor Council. The usual penalty is an XF for the course.

  • Accommodation for Students with Documented Disabilities

UMD guarantees appropriate accommodations for students with disabilities. I will make every effort to accommodate students who are registered with the Disability Support Service (DSS) and who provide me with a University of Maryland DSS Accommodation form which has been updated for the Fall 2014 semester. Only written DSS documentation of the accommodation will be considered. If you need further clarification, the link to DSS is:

  • Attendance Policies
  • Medical Excuses

If you will miss class participation or an assignment due to injury or serious illness then you (or a guardian) must email or call me prior to class to inform me. At the next class you must provide me with a note from the Health Center or medical doctor, otherwise you will receive no credit for the class participation or assignment in question. You must still complete the assignment for credit. For a description of the university’s Medically Necessitated Absences Policy, please visit:

  • Student Athletes

Please refer to the Maryland Student-Athlete Code of Conduct regarding expected class absences due to official intercollegiate competitions. Essentially, “Properly inform instructors (provide authorized team travel letter), by the 10th day of fall and/or spring semesters, of expected class absences due to travel to official intercollegiate competitions.”

  • Religious Observance

It is the policy of the University of Maryland, College Park that students not be penalized in any way for participation in religious observances. It is your responsibility to inform me of the specific religious observance and day you will not be able to attend class or turn in a particular assignment well in advance of the class missed and due date for assignments. For questions about the university’s religious holidays policy, please visit:

  • University Emergency Closing

In the event that the university is closed for an emergency or extended period of time because of inclement weather and campus emergencies, I will communicate with you via CANVAS or email to make schedule adjustments, including rescheduling of assignment due dates. Official closures and delays are announced on the campus website The snow phone line is 301-405-SNOW, or consult the local media stations.

Course Learning Outcomes

The goal of the course is to teach students how to define and understand theory in the social sciences, the types of theoretical perspectives in archaeology, and its relevance and application to material culture and archaeological investigations and interpretations. By semester’s end students will have developed a sense of archaeological theory and praxis as it exists today and gain the abilities in the following areas critical to all of the sciences:

  • Critical Thinking and Analytical Reasoning

This is NOT a lecture based course.

To gain a critical understanding of theoretical praxis in archaeology and how to apply a particular theoretical perspective is to actively participate in structured dialogue. The development of ideas and concepts are evaluated through each students class participation and developing knowledge of theory, archaeological methods of interpretation and data recovery, and its application to understanding culture and culture change over time. A student’s progress will be assessed by 2 position papers, a presentation of their research paper, and a final research paper. The semester is divided into two parts, although the ideas and concepts are inter-dependent between sections, and students will receive both a grade for writing as well as their active participation in class discussions for that section of the semester. The overall aim of the position papers and class discussion is to prepare each student to apply theory to practice culminating in a final research paper detailing theiry theoretical perspective, its use in archaeology, and the relevance of that theory in making archaeology relevant to the 21st century. It is expected that the papers, discussions, and final project will reflect a continually developing knowledge of the class materials, discussions, and its application to researching and creating an archaeological case study.

  1. Practical use of critical thinking is essential to the development of identifying, interpreting, and creating research problems and solutions.
  2. Critical thinking is a developed skill structuring theoretical and method praxis. It is formed through being able to distinguish between differing theoretical and practical perspectives and coherently employing specific schools of thought to complex issues of the material manifestations, for example of race and class disparities, in the formation of modern cities.
  • Research Methods

An understanding of the scientific method and theoretical praxis as it applies to gathering relevant anthropological and archaeological data. The student will develop a growing knowledge of material studies, critically evaluating site reports and scholarly works in the discipline, and demonstrate this developing scholarly practice by writing 2 position papers and a final paper and presentation concering the various aspects of theory concerning society, culture, and the meaning of material culture.

  1. Formulate hypothesis/theoretical or practical problem/or research questions that are testable through social/ethnographic, historical, and material data.
  2. Gather and test hypothesis through creating and interpreting social and material context/data.
  3. Form coherent conclusion drawing from theoretical position and material data to either demonstrate the validity of original hypothesis or provide statements or questions that provide new perspectives or reasoning for the limitations of original hypothesis.
  • Communication

Communication and expression is critical in material culture studies and archaeology. It is necessary to be able to articulate theoretical positions and promote clarity in stating problem sets and interpretations. Students will develop this skill through class participation and discussions. Both oratory and writing skills are inter-dependent skills and students will be graded for both on each position paper throughout the semester.

  1. Develop oratory skills to express theories or ideas to peers and collaborators.
  2. Develop clear and concise writing skills.
  • Content

Class discussions, position papers, and final projects will demonstrate the developing familiarity with the course content and the disciplines theoretical perspectives and trends, methods and applications of the disciplines data, and how these studies are relevant to contemporary social, political, and economic relations/processes.

  • Course Assignments and Grading

The overall of aim of the class is to develop growing knowledgebase concerning past and current trends in the multi-disciplinary structure of the development of modern cities and its study in archaeology. The class is made of 3 inter-related and inter-dependent sections that teaches each student how to think through and about objects holistically both in a contemporary and historical context. Thus grading and projects throughout the semester will reflect each students development and progress is critical thinking, research, and application of that knowledge in a practical archaeological setting of being part of a group research and writing an analytical and theoretical paper.

  • Grading and Assignments

Grades are based are numerous inter-related activities including:

  • Class Attendance and Participation(30%) - Graded by learning outcomes #1,2,3:

Each class should be considered a discussion period and NOT a lecture in the formal sense therefore everyone is expected to do the required readings and be prepared. Class participation, discussing and debating various topics, is vital to the learning process, as well as creating and defending one’s developing perspective of how a student theorizes the importance and relevance of material culture and how to apply that perspective to the practice of doing material research and analysis in an archaeological context. The student will receive a participation grade and suggestions for improvement along with each position paper grade three times during the semester.

  • 2 Position Papers (15% each) - Graded by learning outcomes #1, 2, 3, 4:

The two position papers will demonstrate the student’s intellectual development as the semester progresses. The position papers are scheduled throughout the course of the semester and reflect the topic(s) covered during that part of the course, but more importantly are cumulative in the sense that each paper builds on the perspectives established and written about in previous position papers. Questions will be assigned to each position paper assignment and is meant to guide the student to critically create his/her own theoretical and practical position. The purpose of writing these papers is to allow the student to locate his/her theoretical position concerning social theory, archaeology, and material culture studies to develop a knowledgebase to put into practice for the final research paper. The papers will also offer feedback and suggestions for improvement. The point of the papers is to create original positions and do so in a clear and concise manner. Most professional communication requires concise reports and positions. Therefore each position paper will structure thinking in a concise and articulate style. The papers should be NO LESS than 3 pages and NO MORE than 5 pages of text. Please do not exceed 5 pages as you should be able to provide a clear and concise, but detailed, answer. Do not use any direct quotes from any source. When you use outside sources and assigned readings as a reference in your paper you need to cite properly in text and have a complete bibliography at the paper’s end.

To succeed each student must do the readings at the time dictated by the syllabus and not only attend each class, but also be active in working out the problems and issues raised.

  • Position Paper 1: What is Theory?

Draw from the readings and class discussions to define to theory, its application, and relevance both in the social sciences and in archaeology. Please take a position structured by the questions below:

  1. What is theory? How is defined in a broad perspective? By contrast what does not constitute theory?
  2. How is theory defined in archaeology? How does theory building in archaeology fit with the definition of theory in the social sciences?
  3. Based on the readings and class discussions to date do you think theory is important to archaeological interpretation? If so, why? If not why not?

Paper 1 Due Thursday, March 9th

  • Position Paper 2: Application of Theory in Archaeology

The second paper is based on each student’s evaluation of archaeological theory over time and its application to archaeological knowledge and its relevance. Please answer the questions below:

  1. How has theory changed in archaeology throughout the 20th and 21st century? What are the major changes, arguments, issues between competing theories?
  2. How has your perception/thinking changed since the first paper? Has it, if so why? If not, why not?
  3. What theoretical perspective have you adopted? Why?

Paper 2 Due Thursday, April 20th

  • Final Paper and Presentation (20% each): graded by learning outcomes #1, 2, 3, 4
  • Defining Theoretical Perspectives in Archaeological Practice: Interpreting Theory and Theoreticians

The final project is both cumulative and original research in its structure. You must provide clear and specific examples to support and explain your position. Please blend your theoretical position from Position Paper 1 and your insights and application of theory from Position Paper 2 with the class discussions and readings relating to real archaeological examples from the last third of the semester to successfully complete this project:

  1. Choose a theoretical perspective discussed in class and class readings.
  2. What is the theoretical perspective? (define it and go beyond the references and readings from class to explain it thoroughly)
  1. Pick one archaeologist that you feel represents this theoretical perspective.
  2. Who is the person (bio)?
  3. What kind of archaeology do they practice?
  4. How do they define their thinking?
  5. Who do they draw from to structure and/or explain their theoretical perspective? (What theorists do they draw from in archaeology, but more importantly outside of archeology in disciplines such as anthropology, history, sociology, economics, geography etc – such names may include Giddens, Bourdieu, Marx, Harvey, Geertz, Levi-Straus etc…)
  6. How well do they use such works? (One must do research on those scholars framing the archaeological theory by reading the original works and describing them)
  7. How do they use this theory in practice? (To do this one must research the work of the chosen archaeology thus must get as many of the scholar’s readings as possible that may also include writings from other archaeologists espousing or critiquing the archaeologist’s thinking).
  8. How well is theory applied by the archaeologist? Its impact?

We will NOT have doubles when it comes to the research of archaeologists, so it is first come, first serve in choosing the archaeologist.

Papers should be between 15 and 20 pages not including references. An abstract detailing the archaeologist and his/her archaeological theory is due April 6th. A student is not be permitted to present his/her final project nor be able to submit a final paper without submitting an abstract. The use of proper reference/citations is expected. Please refer to the American Anthropological Association’s website for proper citation and referencing.

1)Abstract Due by April 6th

2)Final Paper Due Friday, May 18th

3)Presentation final weeks of class and schedule TBA – presentation is based on your research topic for final paper.

Course Texts

Shanks, Michael and Christopher Tilley

1987Social Theory and Archaeology. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.

Trigger, Bruce G.

2006A History of Archaeological Thought (Second Edition). Cambridge University Press.

Other readings will be available on Canvas filed in the folder marked for the week assigned.

ANTHROPOLOGY 340: Lecture Schedule

Week 1:

Jan. 26What is the aim of Archaeology? : Introduction to Course Content and Procedures

Week 2:What is Theory?

Jan. 31Garver, What Theory Is; Sutton and Staw, What Theory is Not

Feb. 2Klejn, On the Building of a Theoretical Archaeology; Lowther, Epistemology and Archaeological Theory.

Week 3:What is Theory in Archaeology

Feb. 7Binford, Archaeology as Anthropology

Feb. 9Schiffer(a), Taking the Pulse of Method and Theory in American

Archaeology; Schiffer(b), The Structure of Archaeological Theory

Week 4: What is Theory in Archaeology

Feb. 14 Shanks and McGuire, The Craft of Archaeology

Feb.16 Shanks and Tilley, Chapter 1, Chapter 3, and Chapter 5

Week 5:Theory and Practice before the New Archaeology

Feb. 21/23 Trigger, Chapter 5 and 6

Week 6:Theory and Practice before the New Archaeology: V. Gordon Childe

Feb. 28 Green, V. Gordon Childe: A Biographical Sketch; Orenstein, The Evolutionary Theory of V. Gordon Childe

March2Gathercole, “Patterns in Prehistory”: An Examination of the Later Thinking of V. Gordon Childe; Thomas,

Childe, Marxism, and Archaeology

Week 7:New Archaeology: Processualism

March 7 Trigger, Chapter 7, Chapter 8 – pp. 386-443

March 9 Trigger, Chapter 9 – pp. 508-518

Position Paper 1 Due (March 9th)

Week 8:

SPRING BREAK – 14th and 16th

Week 9: New Archaeology: Processualism

March 21Shanks and Tilley, Chapter 2 – pp. 29-45

March 23South, Pattern Recognition in Historical Archaeology; Kelly, Why Did Binford’s Middle-Range Program

Outcompete Schiffer’s Formation Process Program?; Kosso, Method in Archaeology: Middle-Range Theory as

Hermeneutics

Week 10: Post-Processualism

March 28Trigger, Chapter 8 – pp. 444 - 483