Historical Archaeology
ANT 412
Fall 2009
Fall Term
2009
Scott E. Simmons, Ph.D.
MWF 12:00-12:50
simmonss@uncw.edu; 910.962.3429
SBS Room 202, UNCW
Office Hours: T, Th
10:00-12:00 pm
http://people.uncw.edu/simmonss
Course Description:
Historical archaeology is the
integrated study of recent peoples using archaeological and historical research
methods. In this course we will study the variety of sources of information
historians use in their research and examine the ways in which this information
is integrated with archaeological data to better understand the recent past.
The geographic focus of the course will be the Americas, while the temporal
focus spans roughly four centuries, from the earliest European settlements in
the 16th Century to later colonial expansionism in the 19th
Century. This is an upper-level undergraduate course, and as such it will have
certain elements of a beginning graduate-level course, including seminar-style
discussions, oral presentations and student research. The course is designed
around topical and regional study units, each with specific case studies of
recent or on-going research projects that will demonstrate both the
methodologies used by historical archaeologists and the insights these kinds of
studies provide on the nature of the colonial experience in the Americas.
During the four first centuries of American colonization, Europeans and their
descendants devised a number of adaptive strategies to cope with the variety of
environmental challenges they faced. We will study various facets of colonial
life from an historical anthropological perspective, examining both the utility
of and insights provided by archaeological and archival data that are used to
illuminate the recent past in the Americas.
Class Sessions Topics of Discussion Assigned Readings
Week
1 What is Historical Archaeology?
none!
Aug 19&21
Brief History of Historic Sites Archaeology
Week
2 Historical Culture, Society & Historical Sites
Little pp. 1-58
Aug
24-28
Material Culture at Historic Sites: Deetz
(1996:1-23)
Week
3 No class Monday - Labor Day
Little pp. 59-70
Aug 31-Sept 4 What do the material remains tell us? Deetz
(1996:23-37)
Study Unit 1:
Anglo-American Colonialism
Week
4
Norse & Early Anglo Colonization
Little pp. 78-85 & 92-96
Sept 7-11
Early Eastern Colonial Sites
Loren & Beaudry*
Exam I –
Friday September 11
Week
5 In the Field:
Excavation Strategies
Deetz 1999*
Sept 14-18 In
the Lab: Small Things Remembered Deetz
(1996:165-186)*
Week
6
Jamestown: 400
years of Tidewater history Deetz
(1996:38-57)
Sept 21-25
Anglo-American house construction
Little pp. 97-101
Week
7
Study Unit 2: Spanish
Colonialism
Deagan 2003*
Sept 28-Oct 2 The Missions of La Florida:
Spaniards and Natives in the South
Week
8
No class Monday - Fall Break
Oct 5-9 The
Missions of La Florida: Spaniards and Natives in the South
http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/staugustine*
Week
9 Spanish-Indian
Interactions in the Florida Missions Loucks*
Oct 12-16
Larsen* Little pp. 86-91
Exam II – Monday October 19
Week 10 Study Unit 3:
Plantation Archaeology
Deetz (1996:212-252)*
Oct 19-23
Planters, Slaves & Rural Farmsteads Young
et al.*
Week 11
The Archaeology of Slavery:
Singleton*
Oct 26-30 African-American
Archaeology in the South
Little pp. 107-115
Week 12
Rural Farmsteads - 19th Century Country Life
Mascia*
Nov 2-6
Wettstaed*
Week 13
Study Unit 4:
Historical Archaeology of the 19th Century West
Nov 9-13 Boomtowns
& Bust towns: Archaeology of the Old West
Dixon Intro & Ch 1*
Week 14
Nevada silver & California gold – mining in the West
Nov 16-20
Poster presentations - Friday
Hardesty*
Week 15
Industrial Archaeology Little pp. 136-158
Nov 23-27
No classes Wednesday or Friday - Thanksgiving Break
Week 16
Why is Historical Archaeology Relevant?
Little pp. 159-172
Nov 30-Dec 4 Poster presentations - Monday &
Wednesday
Dec 4 (Friday) Final Exam 11:30-2:30 pm
Note: Readings with an asterisk (*) denote student presentation readings
Study Units in Historical Archaeology (ANT 412)
Unit 1: The Anglo-American Colonial Experience
– the 17th & 18th Centuries in
New England and the Mid-Atlantic States
Unit Readings: Becoming American: Small Things Remembered by Loren
and Beaudry 2006; Small things Remembered by James Deetz 1996; Archaeology
at Flowerdew Hundred, Deetz 1999; PBS Death at Jamestown 2009
http://wwwpbs.org/wnet/secrets/previous_seasons/case_jamestown/index.html
Unit 2: The Spanish Colonial
Enterprise – Saints & Soldiers in La Florida
Unit Readings: Colonial Origins and Colonial Transformations in Spanish
America 2003; St. Augustine and the Mission Frontier 1993, both by
Kathleen Deagan; Reading the Bones of La Florida by Clark
Spencer Larsen 2000; Spanish-Indian Interaction on the Florida Missions: The
Archaeology of Baptizing Spring by Jill Loucks 1993; Florida Museum of Natural
History: St. Augustine, America's Ancient City at
http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/staugustine/ 2007.
Unit 3: Plantation
Archaeology – Planters, Slaves & Rural Farmsteads in Antebellum & Postbellum
times in the South
Unit Readings: Perspectives on the early Nineteenth-Century
Frontier Occupations by James Wettstaed 2002; The African-American Past by James Deetz 1996;
An Introduction to African-American Archaeology by Theresa Singleton 1999;
The Role of Hunting to Cope with Risk at Saragossa Plantation by Amy Young et
al. 2001; The
Archaeology of Agricultural Life by Sara Mascia 2005.
Unit 4:
Historical Archaeology of 19th Century West
Unit Readings: Introduction and Opening Saloon
Doors by Kelly Dixon 2005;
Mining and Historical Archaeology by Donald L. Hardesty 1988.
Supplemental Readings:
The
supplemental readings will be on electronic reserve from the Randall Library.
Simply go to
http://ereserve.randall.uncw.edu/eres/ and follow the instructions to access
the reserve readings for the course. The assigned readings are an integral part
of this course, so it is important that you complete the assigned readings
before the end of each week.
Course Grading
Exams
There will be three exams in this class. Exams will cover all of the
material that is part of the class, including assigned readings, lectures,
slides and videos. Each exam will cover 1/3 of the material we’ve discussed in
class (see schedule above), and each is worth 100 points.
Oral
Presentation
Pairs of students will be required to make one
oral presentation to the class on a particular class reading assignment of their
choice. The students will then lead a discussion of the material they have
presented, and other students in the class will contribute significantly to the
discussion. The day’s presenters as well as each of the other students in class
should make a list of discussion points or topics related to the particular
reading assignment. A list of reading assignments will be posted on Dr.
Simmons’s office door and students will choose which reading they would like to
discuss (first come, first served!). Your oral presentation is worth 100
points.
Research
Poster Presentation
Each student will create a poster, measuring
roughly 2.5 x 3.5 ft in size (a bit larger is okay), that visually presents
information on a particular topic in historical archaeology of their own
choosing. CSURF (Center for Support of Undergraduate Research and
Fellowship), located on the second floor of the Randall Library, will print your
poster for free but you must schedule an appointment with them first.
There will be a schedule of sign-ups for poster printing. The research poster contains certain elements of a
research paper, namely the textual element. But the poster differs from a paper
in that graphic images are required as an integral visual element of your
research, and posters are larger-format presentations of your research, meant to
be read easily by others. Posters will be graded by fellow students and Professor Simmons on the
breadth of research presented, clarity of material & overall visual appeal. The
research poster is worth 150 pts.
Class
Discussion & Participation
Each student is expected to be an active
participant in this class. Remember, while this is not strictly a seminar
class, it is important as an upper-level undergraduate that you learn to
organize information and ideas and discuss them in a coherent way to others.
You are expected to prepare and turn in discussion points/questions for each
of the oral presentations your fellow classmates give (in other words, all of
the readings with an asterisk*), and you must be prepared
to discuss topics covered in the readings each week. Each students will
produce and turn in four questions or discussion points per reading. Class
attendance, discussion questions and participation are worth 150 points.
Grades are based on a 700-point system:
A = 630-700
pts D = 420-490 pts
B = 560-630 pts F = anything below 420 points
C = 490-560 pts
Professor Simmons’s Web Site
Periodically log onto
http://people.uncw.edu/simmonss for class announcements, extra credit
opportunities, current news about historic sites archaeology, the course
syllabus, and information regarding our course.
Attendance Policy
Your participation in class discussions is factored into your grade for the
course. If possible, notify me
ahead of the class you anticipate missing, and, of course, I will need a
legitimate (or at least very creative) reason for your absence. If your
attendance begins to slip and/or you cannot provide adequate reasons for your
absences I will start taking attendance each class and factoring attendance more
prominently into your final grade for the course. Generally my policy is to
reward good attendance so that it is reflected in your final grade for the
course.