ANT 365 - Archaeological Theory and Method

Credits: 3

Prerequisite(s): ANT 220
The purpose of this course is to provide an overview of the main theoretical and methodological approaches used in archaeology. While we will occasionally read material from the Old World, the course will focus specifically on theoretical issues within Americanist Anthropology. We will try to achieve three goals during the semester. First is to identify and define the major theoretical paradigms currently in use in archaeology. This basic knowledge is necessary for you to comprehend the trajectory of contemporary research and to formulate feasible research problems of your own. Second, the course will examine some of the methodological approaches used to operationalize anthropological/archaeological theory.

Because the focus of this course is theory, discussion of method will be highly selective. Third and finally, the course will provide a sense of the history of archaeology– how ideas have originated and developed– and how investigators are debating, applying, or addressing theoretical issues in the current literature.