New World Archaeology
ANT 307
Fall term, 2010 Scott E. Simmons, Ph.D.
T Th 9:30-10:45 am simmonss@uncw.edu; 910.962.3429
SBS Room 212, UNCW Office Hours: T Th 11:00-1:00 pm
http://people.uncw.edu/simmonss
Course Description
This class will provide you with an understanding of the prehistory of the peoples of the Americas as it is understood currently by archaeologists. You’ll learn how archaeology in the New World, which includes North, Central and South America, has been practiced and what has been learned about precolumbian cultures throughout this vast area so far. You will also learn how both past and current archaeological research continues to shape our understanding of how prehistoric native groups developed their own unique cultural histories and identities through time. We will survey broad geographic areas and various time periods, looking at key developments in the evolution of humankind in the New World. Much of the class will focus on chiefdom and state-level societies in the Americas and will consist of lectures, slide presentations, occasional videos, take-home activities, and in-class discussions. You’ll learn how and when people first came to the New World, the ways in which complex societies developed, grew, and then declined, and how archaeologists know what they know about the precolumbian past of the Americas.
Topics of Discussion Assigned Readings
August 18
Introduction to New World Archaeology – what this class is all about
August 23-27
What is Archaeology? How is it practiced? What can it tell us about the past?
Price & Feinman, Chapter 1
E-Reserve 1: Staeck pp 298-303
August 30-September 3
The Peopling of the New World – Beringia and early Paleoindians
Activity Paper 1 Given Sept 2 E-Reserve 2: Ward & Davis, pp 27-36; Price & Feinman, pp. 147-160
The Archaic Hunters and Gatherers – Cultural adaptations following the Ice Age
Price & Feinman, pp. 187-197
E-Reserve 3: Ward & Davis, pp 72-75
September 6-10 (No Class on Monday – Labor Day)
Coastal Carolina in the Woodland Period - Continuity and Change
Activity Paper 1 Due Sept 9 E-Reserve 4:Ward & Davis pp 76-78, 226-228
Humans grow their own food for the first time - Agriculture in the Americas
Price & Feinman, pp. 199-208, 218-220; 243-264
E-Reserve 5: Pringle, pp 73-76
September 13-17
Early farmers, community life, and the emergence of cultural complexity in North America: Poverty Point, Adena & Hopewell cultures
Price & Feinman, pp 266-282
September 20-24
Exam I on Thursday September 23
Tuesday - Early State development in Mesoamerica: San Jose Magote, Oaxaca Valley and the Olmec of Mexico’s Gulf Coast
Price & Feinman, pp 320-336
September 27-October 1
The roots of cultural complexity in the South America – El Paraíso & Chavín de Huántar
Price & Feinman, pp 385-397
Applying archaeological information to the present-day challenges: the raised agricultural fields of Lake Titicaca, South America E-Reserve 6: Erikson pp 289-302
October 4-8 (No class on October 5 – Fall Break)
Monte Albán, Teotihuacan, and the Mesoamerican Ballgame (part I)
Activity 2 Paper Given Oct 7th Price & Feinman, pp 341-348
October 11-15
Monte Albán, Teotihuacan, and the Mesoamerican Ballgame (part II)
Activity 2 Paper Due Oct 14th E-Reserve 7: Evans pp. 263-281
Price & Feinman, pp 349-356
October 18-22
The fluorescence of cultural complexity in southern Mesoamerica - the Ancient Maya and their monumental centers: Tikal and Palenque
Cerén, El Salvador – life in a small agricultural community 14 centuries ago
Price & Feinman, pp 337-340 & 357-370
E-Reserve 8: Roach, pp 74-80
October 25-29 (No class on Friday - Happy Halloween!)
Life in the Desert Southwest – the Hohokam and Ancestral Puebloans
Price and Feinman, pp. 300-310
E-Reserve 9: Gibbons, pp. 74-77
November 1-5
South America’s ‘High Cultures’: The Moche, Chimú, Tiwanaku, and Sipán
Exam II on Thursday Nov 4th Price & Feinman, pp. 390-422
November 8-12
The Inca: Machu Picchu, Cuzco and Huánuco Pampa
Price & Feinman, pp 417-428
Late precolumbian community organization in North America - Cahokia, Moundville & all things Mississippian
Price & Feinman, pp 283-294
November 15-19
The Aztecs of Mexico: Life in Ancient Mexico City
Activity 3 Paper Given Nov 16th Price & Feinman, pp. 378-387
E-Reserve 10: Smith, pp 179-183
November 22 (No classes on Wed 24 & Fri 26 - Thanksgiving)
Coastal Carolina at the time of Contact: Tribes, Traders & Turmoil
Activity 3 Paper Due Nov 23rd E-Reserve 11:Ward & Davis pp 229-233, 272-276
November 29-December 1 (Dec 1 - Last day of fall 2010 semester)
The legacy of Colonialism – class discussion
E-Reserve 12: Stein, pp. 3-17
Cultures in Conflict: Native American groups negotiating their autonomy after ‘the Conquest’
Price & Feinman, pp. 317-319
Final Exam Review (last ½ of class)
December 7
Final Exam TUESDAY 8:00-11:00 am
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Course Textbook:
T. Douglas Price and Gary M. Feinman
2010 Images of the Past. Sixth Edition. Mayfield Publishing Company. Mountain View, California. ISBN-978-0-07-353105-2
Supplemental Readings:
These are all on-line. Go to http://library.uncw.edu/web/customerservices/reserves.html and click on Reserves from the Randall Library home page. Type in either the course number or my name and you can then download and print the reserve readings.
Grading:
There will be three exams, including the Final Exam. There will also be three Activity Papers that will be due during the semester. Each Activity Paper is 4-5 pages, double spaced text, in length. Exams will cover all of the types of material that are part of the class, including assigned readings, lectures, slides, discussions in class, and videos. Each exam will cover material presented in each third of the semester. Attendance in this class is mandatory. You are encouraged to participate in class, and while points will not be deducted if you miss class, your good attendance and participation will be most favorably noted and rewarded.
Grades are based on a 450 point system:
Activity Paper 1 - 50 pts Activity Paper 2 - 50 pts Activity Paper 3 – 50 pts
Exam I - 100 pts Exam II – 100 pts Final Exam - 100 pts
A = 405 - 450 pts C = 315 – 359 pts
B = 360 – 404 pts D = 270 – 314 pts F = anything below 270 pts.
Office Hours:
My office hours are on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11:00-1:00 am or by special appointment. Feel free to come in during these hours – my door will be open. I am located in Rm 103, in the Social and Behavioral Sciences (SBS) Building. My office telephone number is 910.962.3429, and my e-mail address is simmonss@uncw.edu.
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Supplemental Reading List
ANT 307
Fall 2010
Reading Packet 1 – Read by August 20, 2010
Staeck, pp. 298-303 “CRM and the FAI-270 Project”
Reading Packet 2 – Read by August 27, 2010
Ward & Davis, pp. 27-36 “The Paleo-Indian: An Elusive Quarry”
Reading Packet 3 – Read by September 3, 2010
Ward & Davis, pp. 72-75 “The Archaic Period on the Coast and Coastal Plain”
Reading Packet 4 – Read by September 8, 2010
Ward & Davis pp. 76-78, 226-228 “The Woodland Period in the Piedmont”
Reading Packet 5 – Read by September 10, 2010
Pringle, pp. 73-76 “The Slow Birth of Agriculture”
Reading Packet 6 – Read by September 26, 2010
Erikson, pp. 289-302 “Raised Field Agriculture in the Lake Titicaca Basin: Putting Ancient Agriculture back to Work”
Reading Packet 7 – Read by October 13, 2010
Evans, pp. 263-281 “Teotihuacan and its International Influence”
Reading Packet 8 – Read by October 22, 2010
Roach, pp. 74-80 “New World Pompeii”
Reading Packet 9 – Read by October 29, 2010
Gibbons, pp. 74-77 “Archaeologists Rediscover Cannibals”
Reading Packet 10 – Read by November 19, 2010
Smith, pp. 179-183 “Life in the Provinces of the Aztec Empire”
Reading Packet 11 - Read by November 22, 2010
Ward & Davis, pp. 229-276 “The Contact Period: Tribes, Traders and Turmoil”
Reading Packet 12 – Read by December 1, 2010
Stein, pp. 3-17 “The Comparative Archaeology of Colonial Encounters”
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Reading List Bibliography
ANT 307
Fall 2010
Erickson, Clark L.
2000 Field Agriculture in the Lake Titicaca Basin: Putting Ancient Agriculture Back to Work. In Exploring the Past: Readings in Archaeology, edited by James M. Bayman and Miriam T. Stark, pp. 289-302. Carolina Academic Press, Durham. ISBN: 0-89089-699-2
Evans, Susan Toby
2004 Ancient Mexico and Central America: Archaeology and Culture History. Thames & Hudson, Ltd., London.
Gibbons, Anne
1997 Archaeologists Rediscover Cannibals. Science. August 1, 1997, pp. 635-637+
Pringle, Heather
1998 The Slow Birth of Agriculture. Science, pp 1446-1450.*
Roach, Mary
1997 New World Pompeii. Discover. February 1997, pp. 74-80.*
Smith, Michael E.
1997 Life in the Provinces of the Aztec Empire. Scientific American. September 1997, pp. 76-83.*
Staeck, John P.
2002 Back to Earth: An Introduction to Archaeology. Mayfield Publishing Company, Mountain View, California. ISBN: 0-7674-1108-0
Stein, Gil J.
2005 Introduction. In The Archaeology of Colonial Encounters, pp. 3-17, edited by Gil J. Stein. School of American Research, Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Ward, H. Trawick and R.P. Stephen Davis, Jr.
1999 Time Before History: The Archaeology of North Carolina. University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill. Pp. 1-6, 27-36, 47-49, 194-228, 229-233, 272-276. ISBN: 0-8078-4780-1
* Reprinted with permission in Archaeology, Annual Editions 2001-2002. Edited by Linda L. Hasten. McGraw-Hill/Dushkin,Guilford, Ct. ISBN: 0-07-243286-1
+ Reprinted with Permission in Archaeology, Annual Editions 2004-2005. Edited by Linda L. Hasten. McGraw-Hill/Dushkin,Guilford, Ct. ISBN: 0-07-294960-0