ANTL 207: Archaeology Lab

List of Possible Project Topics

Fall 2009

Your group project topic choice is due on Thursday, October 1, 2009. The group project may be a range of things—this is not an exhaustive list, but some ideas in case anyone is stuck.

You may do a group project by yourself, but I recommend that you have 2-4 people in your group.

1) A paper and presentation to the class on what we can learn archaeologically from inventorying done in your group and in class.

2) A paper and presentation to the class on what we can learn archaeologically from pottery analysis done in your group and in class

3) A paper and presentation to the class on what we can learn archaeologically from lithic analysis done in your group and in class

4) A museum exhibit in one of the department cases, which you then explain to the class.

5) Extra flotation sampling, with a paper and presentation on what we can learn archaeologically from flotation sampling, and what your group learned from the process.

6) Experimental archaeology—describing what you did and what problems you had. Here are some possible experimental archaeology subtopics:

a. Starting fire without matches, flint, or steel (for this topic, you should successfully start a fire without setting fire to the building or setting off the fire alarm!)

b. Constructing an atlatl and throwing spears with it (you may not hit any bystanders!!)

c. Making pottery that is particularly archaeologically authentic to a given time period.

7) Constructing or fixing equipment—our screens may need fixed, and the flotation machine probably needs tweaked to reach peak efficiency.

8) Survey or mapping of a site you are interested in. When doing this option, be sure you have landowner permission before surveying or mapping!

9) Mapping aspects of a site using Arcview. See me for extra data needing mapped, or do a special map from around campus.