Anthropology 681 - Archaeology and Anthropology - Fall 2008

Contact Information:

Telephone: 346-6076	Office: 327 Condon
email: mmoss@uoregon.edu	Office Hours: Mon & Wed. 4:00-4:30 PM

Objectives and Requirements
This course examines fundamental issues in archaeological theory, method, process, and practice--- and how all of these are interrelated. We sample various efforts by anthropological archaeologists to document, explain, and understand human cultures and societies over time. The readings consist of two single-authored texts and a selection of journal articles and book chapters (on Blackboard). Taken together these span the history of archaeology and illustrate how archaeology has moved from culture history into considering behavioral, ecological, processual, postprocessual, social, symbolic, epistemological, and political questions. The course should result in a growing understanding of the relationship between archaeology and anthropology and between archaeology and some of the other social and historical sciences. Please remember that this is a survey course, however, and it cannot cover all the archaeologies that exist on the contemporary scene.

The course is designed to foster your professional development as graduate students. I expect that each student has some background in archaeological methods and interpretation with a basic understanding of the differences between culture history, processual, and postprocessual archaeologies. If you lack this information, please read Matthew Johnson's, Archaeological Theory: an Introduction, as soon as possible. Each class member is responsible for all readings and for developing a personal perspective on the topic of the day. Starting Week 2, each class discussion will be led by a pair of students. These students will generate a set of questions raised in the readings that will be explored in the class discussion. Bring these questions on single page handouts for each of us. Students will sign up for class dates on the first day of class. I expect every student to actively contribute to discussion on each day of class. I intend to reserve class time near the end of each class to provide feedback on both the design of the discussion questions and the success of the discussion. Discussions should go beyond summary to critical evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of the arguments examined. The intent is to build up our cumulative and collective experience to make possible comparative analyses. By the end of the term, we will be able to understand the development of archaeology as anthropology and use what we've learned as theoretical resources for future study and work. This course should also strengthen your analytical skills, whether you are an archaeologist or not.

As a graduate core class, the success of the course relies heavily on your comprehension of the material, your preparation, and our discussion of the readings. My role is to select the readings, facilitate discussion, and evaluate your performance. In preparation for each class meeting, I encourage every student to take notes on every reading and bring these to class. Although I will not require you to submit these notes for my review, compiling such annotations is excellent practice for every graduate course you take. Think of this in terms of writing 100-word abstracts for each chapter and article you read. This will greatly assist you when it is time to prepare for your two exams in this course. For those of you who are archaeologists planning to work on a Ph.D., if you start this practice now, you will find that it will benefit you when you preparie to take your comprehensive examinations later.

I have found that disagreement about various topics in archaeological theory can be very enlightening. Each of us comes to this class from a different standpoint with different experiences. Developing constructive and respectful ways of talking and writing about different perspectives is essential preparation for a productive scholarly career, and essential to a successful seminar.

I encourage students to form study groups to share readings and discuss issues outside of class. Participating in a study group can help you better understand course content and study groups are a proven practice of serious and successful graduate students. Each student must produce his or her own independent written work on exams, however. Discussion of exam questions by study groups is prohibited.

Examinations
Two take-home examinations, covering class readings and discussions, will function as the qualifying examination for the archaeological core course portion of the departmental Master's degree requirement. One will be due at mid-term (week 6), the other during finals week. You should be prepared to take the exams before they are handed out in class, in other words, all readings should be completed according to the schedule, all notes and abstracts compiled, and study groups shall have met. Each exam will have a strict page limit of 10 pages (12 point font, 1-inch margins). The two exams have equal weight. I expect you will write multiple drafts of your exams to insure that each is concise, coherent, and within the page limit.

Be very careful to avoid plagiarism and learn how to quote and paraphrase effectively (see <http://libweb.uoregon.edu/guides/plagiarism/students/> for excellent advice). Class attendance and the quality of participation will also figure in determining individual letter grades for the course.

Attendance and Participation:  As in all my courses, and especially in this course, missing class will be detrimental to your understanding of the course content and that of other students. Your attendance and participation are required for the entire session of each class meeting. Be on time. Failure to be prepared for class will also impact the caliber of discussion. Please avoid talking in general terms in class, and focus on the readings. I expect each student to attend and productively participate in every class. If you have to miss class (due to an accident or for a contagious illness), please notify me before class.

High quality participation is judged by being prepared for discussion having completed the readings, making relevant comments, asking clarifying questions, moving discussion forward, using evidence to support a position, presenting factual information, making analogies, and recognizing and identifying contradictions. Negative behavior includes being unprepared for class, being late for class, making irrelevant comments, not paying attention, distracting others, interrupting, monopolizing discussion, or making a personal attack.

Disability Accommodation
If you have a documented disability and anticipate needing accommodation in this course please contact me soon. Please also request that the Counselor for Students with Disabilities send a letter verifying your disability. 

Required Texts - available at the UO Bookstore
Trigger, Bruce G. (2006) A History of Archaeological Thought. (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press.

Smith, Laurajane (2004) Archaeological Theory and the Politics of Cultural Heritage. Routledge, New York. 

Recommended Text - Johnson, Matthew (1999) Archaeological Theory: an Introduction. Blackwell, Oxford, UK.

Please note: These readings are listed alphabetically by author, not in the order in which we will read them (see course schedule below).

Bamforth, Douglas 2002 Evidence and Metaphor in Evolutionary Archaeology. American Antiquity 67:435-452.

Benavides, Hugo O. 2001 Returning to the Source: Social Archaeology as Latin American Philosophy. Latin American Antiquity 12:355-370.

Binford, Lewis R. 1962 Archaeology as Anthropology. American Antiquity 28:217-225.

Binford, Lewis R. 1964 A Consideration of Archaeological Research Design. American Antiquity 29: 425-441.

Binford, Lewis R. 1967 Smudge Pits and Hide Smoking: the Use of Analogy in Archaeological Reasoning. American Antiquity 32:1-12.

Binford, Lewis R. 1977 General Introduction. In For Theory Building in Archaeology, edited by L. R. Binford. Academic Press, New York.

Binford, Lewis R. 1980 Willow Smoke and Dog's Tails: Hunter-Gatherer Settlement Systems and Archaeological Site Formation. American Antiquity 45:4-20.

Bird, Douglas W. and James F. O'Connell 2006 Behavioral Ecology and Archaeology. Journal of Archaeological Research 14:143-188.

Brumfiel, Elizabeth M. 1992 Breaking and Entering the Ecosystem - Gender, Class, and Faction Steal the Show. American Anthropologist 94:551-567.

Condori, Carlos Mamani 1989 History and Pre-History in Bolivia, What about the Indians? In Conflicts in the Archaeology of Living Traditions, edited by R. Layton, pp. 46-59. Unwin Hyman.

Conkey, Margaret W. 2007 Questioning Theory: Is there a Gender of Theory in Archaeology? Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory 14(3)285-310.

Conkey Margaret W. and Sarah Williams 1991 Original Narratives: the Political Economy of Gender in Archaeology. In Gender, Culture and Political Economy, Feminist Anthropology in the Post-Modern Era, edited by M. Di Leonardo, pp. 102-139. University of California Press, Berkeley.

Fogelin, Lars 2007 Inference to the Best Explanation: a Common and Effective Form of Archaeological Reasoning. American Antiquity 72(4):603-625.

Fritz, J. M. and F. T. Plog 1970 The Nature of Archaeological Explanation. American Antiquity 35:405-412.

Gero, Joan M. 2007 Honoring Ambiguity/ Problematizing Certitude. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory 14(3):311-327.

Gifford, Diane P. 1981 Taphonomy and Paleoecology: a Critical Review of Archaeology's Sister Disciplines. Advances in Archaeological Method and Theory, vol. 4:365-438.

Gifford-Gonzalez, Diane 1993 You Can Hide, But You Can’t Run: Representation of Women’s Work in Illustrations of Paleolithic Life. Visual Anthropology Review 9(1):23-41.

Hegmon, Michelle 2003 Setting Theoretical Egos Aside: Issues and Theory in North American Archaeology. American Antiquity 68(2):213-243.

McGuire, Randall 1992 Introduction. In A Marxist Archaeology, by R. McGuire, pp. 1-19. Academic Press, San Diego.

McGuire, Randall 2006 Marx, Childe, and Trigger. In The Archaeology of Bruce Trigger, Theoretical Empiricism, edited by R. F. Williamson and M. S. Bisson, pp. 61-79. McGill_Queen's University Press, Montreal & Kingston.

McIntosh, Roderick, J, Susan Keech McIntosh, and Tereba Togola 2006 People Without History. In Archaeological Ethics, 2nd edition, edited by K.D. Vitelli and C. Colwell-Chanthaphonh, pp. 125-134.

Mihesuah, Devon 2000 American Indians, Anthropologists, Pothunters, and Repatriation: Ethical, Religious, and Political Differences. In Repatriation Reader: Who Owns American Indian Remains?, edited by D. A. Mihesuah, pp. 95-105. University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln.

Moss, Madonna L. 2005 Rifts in the Theoretical Landscape of Archaeology in the United States: a Comment on Hegmon and Watkins. American Antiquity 70(3):581-587.

O'Brien, M. J., R. L. Lyman, and R. D. Leonard (1998) Basic Incompatibilities between Evolutionary and Behavioral Archaeology. American Antiquity 63:485-498.

Patterson, Thomas C. 1990 Some Theoretical Tensions within and between the Processual and Postprocesual Archaeologies. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 9:189-200.

Patterson, Thomas C. 2003 Marx's Ghost: Conversations with Archaeologists. Berg, New York.

Raab, Mark and Albert Goodyear 1984 Middle-Range Theory in Archaeology: a Critical Review of Origins and Applications. American Antiquity 49:255-268.

Salmon, Merilee 1975 Confirmation and Explanation in Archaeology. American Antiquity 40:459-464.

Schiffer, Michael B. 1996 Some Relationships between Behavioral and Evolutionary Ecologies. American Antiquity 61:643-662.

Schiffer, Michael B. 1999 Behavioral Archaeology: Some Clarifications. American Antiquity 64:166-168.

VanPool Christine S. and Todd L.VanPool 1999 The Scientific Nature of Postprocessualism. American Antiquity 64:33-53.

Villa, Paola 1982 Conjoinable Pieces and Site Formation Processes. American Antiquity 47:276:290.

Watkins, Joe E. 2003 Beyond the Margin: American Indians, First Nations, and Archaeology in North America. American Antiquity 68(2):273-285.

Willey, Gordon R. and Philip Phillips 1958 American Archaeology and General Anthropological Theory, Archaeological Unit Concepts: Archaeological Integration. In Method and Theory in American Archaeology, pp. 1-57. University of Chicago Press.

Wylie, Alison 1992 The Interplay of Evidential Constraints and Political Interests: Recent Archaeological Research on Gender. American Antiquity 57:15-35. 

Wylie, Alison 2002a Heavily Decomposing Red Herrings: Middle Ground in the Anti-/Postprocessualism Wars. In Thinking from Things: Essays in the Philosophy of Archaeology by Alison Wylie, pp. 171-178. University of California Press, Berkeley.

Wylie, Alison 2002b Ethical Dilemmas in Archaeoalogical Practice: the "Trans)formation of Disciplinary Identity. In Thinking from Things: Essays in the Philosophy of Archaeology by Alison Wylie, pp. 229-246. University of California Press, Berkeley.

Schedule of Readings and Discussion
In the schedule below, names with dates refer to articles and excerpts; Trigger and Smith are your textbook readings.

Date	Topic	Readings
9/29	Introduction
10/1	Studying the History of Archaeology	Trigger, preface, pp. 1-39
10/6	Intellectual Foundations & Antiquarianism	Trigger, pp. 40-120
10/8	Early Archaeology - Colonial Origins	Trigger, pp. 121-210
10/13	Culture Historical Archaeology	Trigger, pp. 211-278
10/15	Culture Historical Archaeology	Trigger, pp. 278-313; Willey and Phillips 1958
10/20	Early Functional-Processual Archaeology	Trigger, pp. 314-385
10/22	Marxism in Archaeology	McGuire 1992; Patterson 2003:1-32; Benavides 2001; McGuire 2006
10/27	Processualism	Trigger, pp. 386-444; Fritz & Plog 1970; Salmon 1975
10/29	L. Binford's Early Work	Binford 1962, 1964, 1967, 1977
11/3	NO CLASS - Midterms Due	Midterm Exams due, November 3 at noon
11/5	"Middle- Range" Theory	Raab & Goodyear 1984; Binford 1980; Gifford 1981; Villa 1982
11/10	Postprocessualism	Trigger, pp. 444-483; Patterson 1990; Brumfiel 1992 ;
11/12	Feminism & Archaeology	Conkey & Williams 1991; Wylie 1992; Gifford-Gonzalez 1993; Conkey 2007, Gero 2007
11/17	Hegmon's typology of Three "Self-Identified Perspectives"	Hegmon 2003; Bird & O'Connell 2006; Bamforth 2002; Schiffer 1996, 1999; O'Brien et al. 1998
11/19	Revisiting Hegmon - Pragmatic Synthesis?	Trigger, pp. 484-528; Hegmon 2003; Moss 2005; Van Pool & Van Pool 1999; Watkins 2003; Wylie 2002a
11/24	Politics of the Past	Smith, pp. 1-80; Mihesuah 2000; Condori 1996
11/26	Archaeological Theory in CRM	Smith, pp. 81-155
12/1	Contested Heritage	Smith, pp. 156-203
12/3	Looking back, looking forward...	McIntosh et al. 2006; Fogelin 2007; Wylie 2002b
12/12	Final Exams due at noon