This course will provide a developmental overview of theoretical and methodological issues in archæology.  The course will emphasize readings related to how we think about archæology as a social science, its concepts and methods, and its relation to history and anthropology.  The course will consist of fourteen lecture-discussion sessions.

An introduction to archaeology as a discipline.  Three major themes that deal with issues of the past will be covered:

1.  A brief history of the discipline, changing theories about various aspects of the past, and the role that the reconstructions of the past play in national and/or group identities.

2.  A survey of the development of human culture from its beginnings to the rise of civilizations and proto-historical cultures in most areas of the world.  Prehistoric cultures, archaeological sites, and areas of Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe , and the Pacific will be covered.

3.  Archaeological methods of recovery of information about the past.  Scientific procedures involved in excavation, dating, and preservation of the material record.

This course uses archaeological, anthropological and historical works to examine the development and transformation of African societies from the Neolithic through the slave trade and the beginning of the colonial period.  The course will discuss the historic and prehistoric foundations of contemporary African socieities south of the Sahara, focusing especially on equatorial and southern Africa.  The intention is to develop an understanding of the cultural dynamics of Bantu societies and traditions, and their transformations through time.  This provides an interpretive framework from which to examine emerging archaeological perspectives on the slave trade and its impact on the development of new traditions in the New World.  

This course uses archaeological, anthropological and historical works to examine the development and transformation of African societies from the Neolithic through the slave trade and the beginning of the colonial period.  The course will discuss the historic and prehistoric foundations of contemporary African socieities south of the Sahara, focusing especially on equatorial and southern Africa.  The intention is to develop an understanding of the cultural dynamics of Bantu societies and traditions, and their transformations through time.  This provides an interpretive framework from which to examine emerging archaeological perspectives on the slave trade and its impact on the development of new traditions in the New World.  

This course provides an overview of human biological and cultural evolution in Africa from approximately 6 million years ago to the colonial period.  The African continent is over three times the size of the United States and current evidence indicates that the ancestors of all humankind evolved there.  Today there are more than a thousand different languages spoken in Africa; ethnic and ecological diversity are great. Apart from Egypt, Ethiopia and North Africa, however, written sources only document the last two centuries or less – and most of these have been from non-African perspectives.  In this class, archaeological data will be used to expand upon anthropological and historical accounts in order to provide a less "Eurocentric" or outsider view of the continent and its historical development.  No prior knowledge of Africa or of archaeology is assumed.

This course will provide a developmental overview of theoretical and methodological issues in archæology.  The course will emphasize readings related to how we think about archæology as a social science, its concepts and methods, and its relation to history and anthropology.  The course will consist of fourteen lecture-discussion sessions.

An introduction to archaeology as a discipline.  Three major themes that deal with issues of the past will be covered:

1.  A brief history of the discipline, changing theories about various aspects of the past, and the role that the reconstructions of the past play in national and/or group identities.

2.  A survey of the development of human culture from its beginnings to the rise of civilizations and proto-historical cultures in most areas of the world.  Prehistoric cultures, archaeological sites, and areas of Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe , and the Pacific will be covered.

3.  Archaeological methods of recovery of information about the past.  Scientific procedures involved in excavation, dating, and preservation of the material record.

This course will provide a developmental overview of theoretical and methodological issues in archæology.  The course will emphasize readings related to how we think about archæology as a social science, its concepts and methods, and its relation to history and anthropology.  The course will consist of fourteen lecture-discussion sessions.

An introduction to archaeology as a discipline.  Three major themes that deal with issues of the past will be covered:

1.  A brief history of the discipline, changing theories about various aspects of the past, and the role that the reconstructions of the past play in national and/or group identities.

2.  A survey of the development of human culture from its beginnings to the rise of civilizations and proto-historical cultures in most areas of the world.  Prehistoric cultures, archaeological sites, and areas of Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe , and the Pacific will be covered.

3.  Archaeological methods of recovery of information about the past.  Scientific procedures involved in excavation, dating, and preservation of the material record.

This course provides an overview of human biological and cultural evolution in Africa from approximately 4 million years ago to the colonial period.  The African continent is over three times the size of the United States and current evidence indicates that the ancestors of all humankind evolved there around 4 million years ago.  Today there are more than a thousand different languages, belonging to 4 major language families, spoken in Africa; ethnic and ecological diversity are great.  For later time periods, data from archaeological excavations will be examined in order to expand upon anthropological and historical accounts to provide a less "Eurocentric" view of the continent and its historical development.  No prior knowledge of Africa or of archaeology is assumed.

Prerequisite: Upper-division standing.

This course provides an overview of human biological and cultural evolution in Africa from approximately 4 million years ago to the colonial period.  The African continent is over three times the size of the United States and current evidence indicates that the ancestors of all humankind evolved there around 4 million years ago.  Today there are more than a thousand different languages, belonging to 4 major language families, spoken in Africa; ethnic and ecological diversity are great.  For later time periods, data from archaeological excavations will be examined in order to expand upon anthropological and historical accounts to provide a less "Eurocentric" view of the continent and its historical development.  No prior knowledge of Africa or of archaeology is assumed.

Prerequisite: Upper-division standing.

This course will provide a developmental overview of theoretical and methodological issues in archæology.  The course will emphasize readings related to how we think about archæology as a social science, its concepts and methods, and its relation to history and anthropology.  The course will consist of fourteen lecture-discussion sessions.

Introduction to Archaeology

Ant 304/ Ary 301

Spring 2010

Prof. J. Denbow

Office 1.118 Schoch

Office Hours: MWF 10-11, and by appointment

Phone: 471-8512

Email: jdenbow@mail.utexas.edu

TA:

Carla Klehm: cklehm@gmail.com

This course provides an overview of world prehistory beginning with hominid evolution and including the rise of complex societies in the Middle East, North Africa, the Mediterranean, Europe, Mesoamerica and North America.  It also includes a brief introduction to archaeological methods and techniques.  Grades will be based on one mid-term exam (30%), a final exam (30%), a written 3-4 page film review on one of the archaeological films of your choice from the collections at the UGL or shown in class (15%), answers to your lab questions (15%), and attendance as measured by unannounced attendance “exams”(10%) given in class and labs.  Exams will be take home and include multiple choice and essay questions covering materials from your readings, class lectures, labs, and films. Dates for the exams will be announced in class one week in advance.  The typed film reviews are due on Friday, April 2nd.

Classes will meet on M and W in our regular classroom. On Fridays, at a time depending on your section, you will meet with your TA in Schoch 2.136 to answer questions, discuss lectures, go over lab materials, view films and other materials.

Textbook:

Chris Scarre  (2005) The Human Past: World Prehistory & the Development of Human Societies.  London: Thames & Hudson.

You can order you book online, or it will be available in a couple of weeks from the Coop. It will not be necessary for the first 3 weeks or so.

Your textbook has a web site at: http://www.thamesandhudsonusa.com/web/humanpast/index.html with chapter reviews, quizzes, and other information you will find helpful while studying.  A few questions on each exam will be drawn from these online quizzes, so it would pay to have a look at them.     

Lab exercises:

Virtual lab exercises related your class topics can be found at: http://www.utexas.edu/courses/denbow/index.htm.   I have included references to these in the syllabus.  They should be read in advance before quiz sections so that you will be able to ask questions. I have also put some supplemental materials for some of these labs in the Course Documents folder for the class in Blackboard. Answers to lab exercises on the web will be due the Friday after they are discussed in the quiz section. Some shorter films to supplement class lectures and labs will be shown in lab.  Some of these films can be accessed at: http://www.archaeologychannel.org/  Be sure to click on the “more videos” button at the bottom of the short list to find all the films we will use.  You can use either a Mac or PC to access these streaming videos, but you will need to have Windows Media Player or RealPlayer installed; they do not have any QuickTime versions.  The site has a link for a free download of these programs if you do not already have one of them.

Other Information: 

Class attendance is important as I will often show films, discuss examples and topics, or use materials not directly covered in the readings.  I encourage you to ask questions during the lecture by raising your hand and I will try to answer them as they arise.  If your questions require longer answers, I will ask you to come and see me during office hours, or defer the question until the Friday quiz section. I have not put fixed dates to the schedule because I prefer to work at a class speed on subjects to be covered.  The date for the mid-term exam, however, will be announced in class at least a week before it is given. This is generally either just before or just after spring break.

Course Schedule

Topic 1           Principles of Archaeology

                        Readings: Scarre: Preface and Chapter 1

                                    Week 1: film:  Pompeii: Buried alive                                                                                      Week 2:Lab 2: (survey methods)

                                    Film clips: radar imaging; electrical resistivity; proton magnetometer 

                        How do you know where to dig? What did they eat?

                        Class lectures

                                    Week 3: Lab 4: (Sampling strategies)

                                    Week 4: Lab 3 (Excavation Analysis)

                                    Film clips: fine excavation-beads; fine excavation-plaster wall; coarse                                   excavation-shovel scraping; soil deposition & stratigraphy

                        How old is it?

                        Class lectures

                                    Week 5: Lab 1 (Seriation, stratigraphy, absolute dating)

                                    Film clip: soil deposition & stratigraphy

                        What did they eat?  How was their health?

                        Class lectures

                                    Week 6: Lab 7 (Palynology)

                                    Week 7: Lab 8 (Caddoan archeology and dental anthropology)

Topic 2           The Evolution of Humanity

                  Early hominids

                  African Origins

                        Chapter 2: African Origins. (Nick Toth & Kathy Schick)                

                           Week 8: film: In search of human origins, part 2 (From UGL                                              collections)

                                    Week 9: Labs 5 and 6: Human origins & lithic technology (just read                                     over Lab 5).

Mid-Term Exam 

                  Pre-modern humans

                  Chapter 3: Hominin Dispersals in the Old World. (Richard Klein) 

                  Modern Humans 

                  Chapter 4: The Rise of Modern Humans (Paul Pettitt)     

                                    Week 10: film: Journey of Man, 1^st section

                  Symbolism and Rock Art

                        Class lectures

                           Film:  /Num Tchai

                                    Week 11: Film: Seminole Canyon

                        The Origins of Food Production

                        Chapter 5: The World Transformed: From Foragers and Farmers to                           States and Empires (Chris Scarre) 

                                    Week 12: Lab 9: Ancient Egypt: sex, gender and demography

Topic 3                North America and Mesoamerica

                           Chapter 9: Origins of Food Producing Economies in the Americas (David Bowman, Gayle Fritz, Patty Jo Watson)

                                                Week 13: film: Peopling of the Americas

                           Chapter 18: Complex Societies of North America; 5,000 BC-     1550 AD (George Milner and W.H. Wills)

                                                Week 14: Film:  Cahokia: America's lost city

                                    Chapter 16: Mesoamerican civilization; 5,000 BC- 1550 AD (David Webster and Susan Evans) 

                                                Week 15: Films: The fall of the Maya & City of the gods

Final Exams will be turned in according to the registrar’s schedule for exams announced toward the end of the semester                

Archaeology of African Thought

ANT324L; AFR 374; ANT380k

Spring 2010

Instructor: Prof. J. Denbow;

Email: jdenbow@mail.utexas.edu

Office: 1.118 Schoch Hall

Office hours: MWF 10-11 and by appointment

OVERVIEW

This course uses archaeological, anthropological and historical works to examine the development and transformation of African societies from the Neolithic through the slave trade and the beginning of the colonial period.  The course will discuss the historic and prehistoric foundations of contemporary African societies south of the Sahara, focusing especially on equatorial and southern Africa.  The intention is to develop an understanding of the cultural dynamics of African societies and traditions, and their transformations through time. This provides an interpretive framework from which to then examine emerging archaeological perspectives on the Atlantic slave trade and its impact on the Diaspora in the New World.

REQUIREMENTS

This course meets the requirements for substantial writing component classes.  Grades for undergraduate students in ANT 324 and AFR 374 will be based upon two short 3 page papers, a 5 page mid-term paper, and a final 10 page paper and class presentation on an African country, with a focus on the historical context of a problem of the student’s choosing. The first two papers will count for 15% each. A map quiz will account for 5%.  The mid-term paper will account for 25% of the grade, with the final paper and presentation making up 40% of your grade. One class period will be devoted to showing students how to make and use PowerPoint presentations.  Students should purchase a copy of Microsoft Office, which includes PowerPoint.  This is available to students at a discounted price at the Campus computer store.  The classroom is equipped with both Windows and Macintosh machines.

Initial sources for country information can be found by searching by country in UTCAT.  On the web you may find resources such News Africa at http://www.africanews.com, or on the BBC website, which has African pages and even a podcast: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/default.stm. Many African countries also have online newspapers and, in some cases, even television news broadcasts.  Summary information can also be found in the printed annual supplements to Encyclopedia Britannica. Paper grades will be based both upon comprehension of course content and written expression in the papers.  A guide to writing is included at the back of this syllabus.  Please pay special note to the systems of referencing and bibliography we will be using. 

Requirements for graduate students enrolled in ANT 380 include a 20 page term paper on an African topic chosen by the student in consultation with and approved by the professor, and a 20 minute presentation of this topic to the class. Several meetings outside class time will be scheduled to discuss topics in African history/archaeology in more depth.

TEXTS          

1. Mitchell, Peter (2005).  African Connections: Archaeological Perspectives on Africa and the Wider World. Altamira Press: New York.

2.Ogundiran, Akinwumi & Falola, Toyin (2007).  Archaeology of Atlantic Africa and the African Diaspora.  Indiana University Press: Bloomington.

3. A class reader for this class is available at Abel's copies.   Most of the readings come from this reader -- you cannot do without it.  Digitized CD versions may be available.  Discuss this with the people at Abel's if you think this will suit your needs better.

Recommended: Reader, John (1998). Africa: biography of the Continent.  Alfred A. Knopf or Penguin books.

COURSE OUTLINE

Week 1: Jan.20, 22, 25

                        Course overview and introduction to the physical geography of                                     Africa

Readings:

1)    Bohannan and Curtin (1995). In Africa and Africans. Waveland Press, Prospect Heights. Chapter 1.  Myths and Facts pp. 6-15.

2)    Mitchell, Peter (2005). Read Forward & Chapter 1: Introducing Africa.

3)    Dubow, Saul (1995).  Chapter 1: Introduction.  Chapter 2: Physical anthropology and the quest for the ‘missing link.’ In Scientific racism in modern South Africa. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Pp 1-65.

Film: Africa: Different but Equal.  Vidcass 1663, Vol. 1a

Assignment:  Choose a sub-Saharan African country that you will become familiar with and use to illustrate your short papers.  This country will also be the subject of your final paper.

Week 2: Jan. 27, 29, Feb. 1

                        African climates, rainfall, vegetation and economic resources

                        Readings: 

1) Bohannan and Curtin (1995).  Chapter 2.  The African Continent, pp. 18-32.

2) Reader, John (1998). Building a Continent. pp. 9-17.

3) Reader, John (1998).  Chapter 11.  On Home Ground. pp. 99-104.

4) Reader, John (1998).  Chapter 24.  Disease and Affliction. pp. 239–248.

                        Short paper #1: write a brief but formal paper outlining the physical                                    geography, climate and natural resources of your chosen country.  Include                            one major problem facing your country in terms of its natural resources or                                climate.  (Due Jan. 28th)

Week 3:   Feb. 3, 5, 7

                        Distribution and characteristics of African languages.  Social                                         context: gender, age, household, family, lineage, clan and                                      marriage. 

                        Readings: 

1)    Bohannan and Curtin.  Chapter 3.  Mapping Africa.  pp. 34-45.

2)    Schneider, Harold (1981).  The Africans: an ethnological account.  Chapter 4, Marriage, descent, and association, pp. 82-119.       

3)    Bohannan and Curtin.  Chapter 5.  African Families, pp. 64-75.

4)    Bohannan (1966).  Shakespeare in the bush. Natural History.

Film: Africa: Mastering a Continent.  Vidcass 1663, Vol. 1b.

Week 4:  Feb.  10, 12, 15

Tribes and Tribalism: imposed or indigenous?  Historical tradition, situational construction, western rationalization?

Readings: 

1) Reader, John. 1998. Chapter 44.  The Afrikaners.  pp. 487–498.

2) Southhall, Adrian (1970).  The illusion of Tribe. In Perspectives on Africa, edited by Roy Grinker and Christopher Steiner, Blackwell: Oxford.pp. 38-51.

3) Vail, Leroy (1988).Ethnicity in southern African history.  In Perspectives on Africa, pp. 52-68.

4) Ranger, Terence (1983).  The invention of tradition in colonial Africa.  In Perspectives on Africa, pp. 597-612.

Short paper #2.  Summarize the linguistic and ethnic diversity of your chosen country.  What is the difference between ethnicity and tribalism?  What problems facing your country are commonly framed in the international press in terms of ethnicity or tribe?  Is this point of view shared or contested by local people?  In what ways? (Due Feb. 13)

.Week 4: Feb. 17, 10, 22

                        Development and Spread of African Farming Systems

                        Readings:

                        1) Mitchell. Chapter 2, pp. 33-63. Spread of African Farming Systems.

                        20 Stahl, Ann. (2007). Entangled Lives: the archaeology of daily life in                                the Gold Coast hinterlands, AD 1400-1900

                        2) Denbow et al.  (1990). Congo to Kalahari: data and hypotheses                                        about the political economy of the western stream of the Early Iron Age.                                  African Archaeological Review 8: 139-175.

Week 5: Feb. 23, 26,  Mar. 1

                        African religion: status, authority and power.

Readings:

1) Herbert, Eugenia (1993).  Iron, Gender and Power: rituals of transformation in African societies.  Indiana University, Bloomington. pp. 1-40.

2) Ben-Amos, Paula (1994).  The Promise of Greatness: women and power in an Edo spirit possession cult.  In Religion in Africa, edited by T. Blakely, W. van Beek and D. Thomson.  Heinemann: Portsmouth, pp. 119-134.

3) Janzen, John (1994). “Drums of Affliction" real phenomenon or scholarly chimaera? In Religion in Africa, edited by T. Blakely, W. van Beek and D. Thomson.  Heinemann: Portsmouth, pp. 161-181.

4) MacGaffey, Wyatt (1986).  Religion and Society in Central Africa: the baKongo of lower Zaire.  University of Chicago, Chicago.  pp. 1-102.

                        5) Denbow (1999).  Heart and Soul: glimpses of ideology and                                              cosmology in the iconography of tombstones from the Loango coast of the                     Congo.  Journal of American Folklore 112 (445):404-423.

                        6) Fennel, Christopher. 2007. BaKongo Identity and Symbolic Expression                           in the Americas. In The Archaeology of Atlantic Africa, pp. 199-232.

Weeks 6 & 7: Mar. 3,5, 8, 10, 12                 

                        The Development of States in Eastern and Southern Africa

                        Readings:

                        1) Mitchell.  Chapter 3, African in the Indian Ocean World system, pp. 99-                          134.

                        2) Huffman, Thomas (1996).  Snakes and Crocodiles: Power and                                    Symbolism in Ancient Zimbabwe.  Witwatersrand University Press,                                 Johannesburg. Chapters 2, 3, 4 and 5, pp. 17-174

                        3) Denbow et al. (in press). Excavations at Bosutswe, Botswana:                                          cultural chronology, paleo-ecology and economy. Journal of African                                  Science (pdf file on Blackboard).

                        4) Kusimba, Chaps (2007). The Collapse of Coastal City-States of East                                Africa. In The Archaeology of Atlantic Africa, pp. 160-184.

                        5) (optional) James Denbow (2002). Stolen Places: archaeology and the                               politics of identity in the later prehistory of the Kalahari. Africanizing                           Knowledge: African Studies across the disciplines, edited by T. Falola                             and C. Jennings.  Summerset:  Transaction Publishers Rutgers: 345-374.

Spring Break: March 15-19

Week 8: Mar. 22, 24, 26

                        West Africa

                        Readings:

                        1) Mitchell. Chapter 5: Africa’s Other Sea: The Sahara and its Shores, pp.                            135-172.

                        2) Déme, Alioune & Guéye, Ndéye (2007). Enslavement in the Middle                                Senegal Valley: historical and archaeological perspectives. In The                                          Archaeology of Atlantic Africa, pp. 122-139.

                        3) Monroe, J. Cameron (2007). Dahomey and the Atlantic Slave Trade:                                Archaeology and Political Order on the Bight of Benin. In The                                             Archaeology of Atlantic Africa, pp. 100-121.

5 page mid-term paper due on Friday, 26th March: Using examples from your readings and lectures, discus how authority, power, gender, and religion are situational dimensions that come together to inform relations of status and power. You can use as an example either Great Zimbabwe, or situations of everyday action that would include traditional mechanisms for coping with sickness and health.

Week 9 Mar. 29, 31, April 2

                        Commodity production and indebtedness.  The African side of the                               slave trade.

                        Readings:

                        1) Mitchell. Chapter 6, Africa’s Opening to the Atlantic, Pp. 173-204.

2) Joseph Miller (1988).  Way of Death: merchant capitalism and the Angolan slave trade, 1730-1830.  James Currey, London: Chapters 1-4, pp. 3-139.

                        3) Ogundiran, A. and Falola, T. (2007). Pathways in the Archaeology of                              Transatlantic Africa. In The Archaeology of Atlantic Africa, pp. 3-48.

                        Film:  The Bible and the Gun, Vidcass 1663, Vol. 3a

Week 10& 11: April 5, 7, 9, 13, 15, 17

                        The Diaspora

1)    Mitchell, Chapter 7: Out of Africa 3: The Archaeology of the African Diaspora, pp. 205-226.

2)    Mark Leone and Gladys-Marie Fry (1999).  Conjuring in the Big House Kitchen: An interpretation of African American belief systems based on the uses of archaeology and folklore sources.  Journal of American Folklore 112: 372-403.

3)    Brian Thomas (1998).  Power and Community: the archaeology of slavery at the hermitage plantation.  American Antiquity 64(4): 531-551.

4)    Battle-Baptiste, Whitney (2007). “In This Here Place”: interpreting enslaved homeplaces. In The Archaeology of Atlantic Africa, pp. 233-248.

5)    Maria Franklin (2004). Archaeological and Historical Interpretations of Domestic Life at Rich Neck, ca. 1740s-1770s. Chapter 9, In An Archaeological Study of the Rich Neck Slave Quarter and Enslaved Domestic Life.  Colonial Williamsburg Archaeological Reports. Colonial Williamsburg Fouindation, Richmond, pp. 207-230.

6)    Osei-Tutu, Brempong (2007). Ghana’s “Slave Castles:” Tourism, and the Social Memory of the Atlantic Slave Trade. In Archaeology of Atlantic Africa, pp. 185-198.

Film:  Gulla: God’s gonna’ trouble the water.

Extra Credit paper: 10 points. Discuss how the archaeological record can be used in conjunction with historical and ethnographic sources in order to elucidate what happened in both Africa and the Americas during the slave trade period.  What advantages can archaeology bring to such studies.  What, in your opinion, are the drawbacks and how do you think they could be overcome.

Weeks 12 and 13: April 19 – May 7 Final papers for all sections are due on                                          Wednesday, May 2nd.

These 10 page papers will summarize student research into the country of their choice: its peoples, cultures, languages, history and problems.  You may incorporate elements of earlier essays in this final paper.  Students will sign up to present a 10 minute summary of their country and its problems during the final two weeks of class.  Facilities will be available for PowerPoint presentation and overhead projections.  Two to three minutes will be reserved after each paper for other students to ask questions of the presenters.

ANT 324L, AFR 322, ANT 380                                             Fall 2009

INTRODUCTION TO AFRICAN PREHISTORY                 

PROFESSOR:  DR. JAMES DENBOW

OFFICE HOURS: TH 2-3:30 and by appointment.

OFFICE:  1.118 SCHOCK

PHONE:  471-8512

E-MAIL:  jdenbow@mail.utexas.edu

____________________________________________________________

Course Overview

This course provides an overview of human biological and cultural evolution in Africa from approximately 6 million years ago to the colonial period.  The African continent is over three times the size of the United States and current evidence indicates that the ancestors of all humankind evolved there.  Today there are more than a thousand different languages spoken in Africa; ethnic and ecological diversity are great. Apart from Egypt, Ethiopia and North Africa, however, written sources only document the last two centuries or less – and most of these have been from non-African perspectives.  In this class, archaeological data will be used to expand upon anthropological and historical accounts in order to provide a less "Eurocentric" or outsider view of the continent and its historical development.  No prior knowledge of Africa or of archaeology is assumed.

Prerequisites:  None.

Required Textbook:

David Phillipson, 2005. African Archaeology.  Cambridge University Press. Make sure you have the 3^rd Edition, published in 2005, NOT the 2^nd edition first published in 1994. ISBN 0521832365. This book sells for $135, which is expensive.  Thankfully, one can also order an e-book version for $35.00 from this site: http://www.cambridge.org/us/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=9780511111846

Recommended:

[For all students]: J. Reader.  1999. Africa: biography of the Continent. Vantage Press. ISBN 067973869x. This book is an inexpensive (about $13) and highly recommended, though not required, book.  Many will find it easier to follow than Phillipson while providing a very readable, if slightly dated, account of Africa’s history and prehistory. It also provides useful information on geology, climate, health, languages and many other details not covered in depth in Phillipson. This is a book you would probably keep if you have a general interest in Africa.

[For Graduate Students]: Mitchell, Peter (2005).  African Connections: Archaeological Perspectives on Africa and the Wider World. Altamira Press: New York.  This is a good book that relates discoveries in African Archaeology to the history/prehistory of the wider world.  This book will also be used in the Spring semester in Archaeology of African Thought.

Website:

A simple website with the approximate pdf copies of some of the files I use in class can be found at: http://www.utexas.edu/courses/denbow/ANT324intro/index_files/slide0003.htm

The password to download the files is: congo

Evaluation: This course meets the requirements for substantial writing component classes.  The final grade will be based on a map quiz (15%), class attendance and participation (5%), a 10 page research paper (40%), and two short 5 page essays (20% each).  Graduate students will also write a 15-20 page research paper on a topic to be decided in consultation with Denbow.  [Graduate students will also meet to arrange an evening each month when we can get together for in-depth discussion related to student projects.]

Grading Rubric

ORGANIZATION (10%)

o               Were the basic sections (Introduction, Conclusion, Literature Cited, etc.) adequate?

o               Did the writer use subheadings well to clarify the sections of the text?

o               Was the material ordered in a way that was logical, clear, easy to follow?

CITATIONS (20%)

o               Did the writer cite sources adequately and appropriately?

o               Were all the citations in the text listed in the Literature Cited section?

GRAMMAR AND STYLE (20%)

o               Were there any grammatical or spelling problems?

o               Was the writer’s writing style clear? Were the paragraphs and sentences cohesive?

CONTENT (50%)

o               Did the writer adequately summarize and discuss the topic?

o               Did the writer comprehensively cover appropriate materials available from the standard sources (e.g. readings, appropriate books and other sources)?

o               Did the writer make some contribution of thought to the paper, or merely summarize data or publications?

Because lectures will sometimes cover material not found in the text, or bring text materials up to date by discussing new findings, class attendance is important and will be spot-checked using “attendance exams.”  Please don’t think that you will be able to do well by simply doing the readings for the course. The research paper will be due the last class day.

Course Topics

(Please note that these dates are approximate)

Week 1 & 2:

                        Introduction to Africa and its Physiography

                                                Phillipson: Preface & Chapter 1.

Reader: Chapter1, Building a continent; Chapter 4, Origins & Climate

(You can also read my account of the social and political aspects of doing archaeology in Africa which is included under course documents on the course blackboard site.}

Week 3:

                                                The Emergence of early Hominens

                                                Phillipson: Chapter 2

                                                Reader: Chapters 5, 6, and 7

Week 4:            

                                                The Early Stone Age: Acheulean & Sangoan

                                                Phillipson: Chapter 3

                                                Reader: Chapters 8-12

MAP QUIZ: Sept. 17

Weeks 5 and 6:                       

Middle and Later Stone Age. 

Phillipson: Chapter 4

Reader, Chapters 13 -15

Paper 1:  (Due Oct. 9)

Use the archaeological record to discuss and critique the "Sudden/late" or "Rubicon" hypothesis of Richard Klein, Spencer Wells, and others that modern human cognition, language abilities, and the ability to construct and use symbols appeared well after the first appearance of physically modern-appearing Homo sapiens in Africa between 160 – 200 ka. 

Week 7:            

Rock Art and Transitions from foraging to food production

Phillipson: Chapter 5

Reader, Chapters 16-18

Weeks 8 and 9:

The Nile valley Early early farming communities in North Africa            

Phillipson, Chapter 6

Reader, Chapters 19 - 22

Paper 2:  (Due October 30th)  

Part 1: Discuss the origins of agriculture in North Africa. What role did changes in post-Pleistocene climate play in this?  How did these changes affect those living in the Nile valley?  What indigenous plants and animals were domesticated in Africa.

Part 2: What were the principle factors that enabled those living along the Nile to develop a complex political and economic system? What evidence do we have for relationships between Egyptian civilizations in the Nile Valley and those in other parts of sub-Saharan Africa?

Week 10:

Metallurgy and the first expansion of metal-working technologies and farming in sub-Saharan Africa

                                                Phillipson: Chapter 7           

                                                Reader, Chapters 23-26

Week 11:

The Chifumbaze Complex and the expansion of herding, farming, metal-working, and Bantu languages into eastern and southern Africa

Chapter 7 & class notes.

Week 12 and 13:

The emergence of Complex societies in eastern and southern Africa: The Indian Ocean trade, early Swahili states, Bosutswe, Mapungubwe, and Great Zimbabwe

                                                Phillipson: Chapter 8 & class notes.

                                                Denbow et al. 2008 (pdf on class blackboard)

Reader, Chapters 30 – 32

Week 14:                                     The African Slave Trade

                                                Class notes.

Term papers: (Due December 3). There is no final exam

Anthropology 392k      

     History and Theory in Archaeology

James Denbow

Office: 1.118 Schock, Ph. 417-8512

Hours:  TH:2:00-3:30 and by appointment.

E-mail: jdenbow@mail.utexas.edu

This course provides a developmental and historical overview of theoretical and methodological issues in Archaeology.  The course emphasizes readings related to how we think about archaeology as a social science, its concepts and methods, and its relation to history, anthropology, and related fields. 

Weekly Assignments: Each week we will discuss both theoretical essays and data- driven studies on processual, postprocessual, and other modern perspectives. Each week two to three people will be chosen as 'volunteers' to present a 5-10 minute summary of the weeks readings, and to lead class discussions with questions and issues raised in them.  These students are responsible for writing a short critique (about 5 pages) that should be a balanced and critical evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of the readings (including your reactions to them as well as, perhaps, where you didn't follow or agree with them). Both positive and negative appraisals of the ideas are to be included in the discussion; at the bottom of each critique, weekly presenters should provide two questions they wish to discuss in class. These papers (or summaries, powerpoints or notes covering the readings) should be prepared as handouts for other students to use as a reference. Critiques will be graded for balanced content, clarity, and style. 

Because 2 to 3 students will act as presenters each week, it is good for you to coordinate your presentations and questions in order to lead the discussion effectively. All students must come to class each week having done the readings and prepared to participate in a critical examination and discussion of them. The professor will act as a facilitator of the discussions, but students must be prepared to contribute to discussions each week .

Peer Topics: Selected Readings and Discussions: During the last weeks of class (See schedule below) groups of 2 -3 students will be responsible for choosing a selection of  readings from those provided, and develop a discussion around a topic or topics of their choice..

Class Requirements: Your grade will be based in equal amounts on your class presentations, class preparation and participation, and a short (10-15 page) paper tied to your research interests due at the end of the semester. 

Books and Readings (Books can be purchased online at amazon.com, etc.)

1) Class Reader available from Abel’s Copies, 715D West 234d Street

2) Walter W. Taylor. 1983 (reprint). A study of Archeology.  S. Illinois

Press.  ISBN 0881040096.

3) Lewis Binford. 2002. In Pursuit of the Past: decoding the archaeological record. U. California press. ISBN 0520233395.

4) )  Ian Hodder.  2003. Reading the Past: current approaches to interpretation in archaeology.  Cambridge University Press. ISBN0521528844.

5)  Matthew Johnson. 1999.  Archaeological Theory.  Blackwell.  ISBN

063120296x.

6) Kelley Hays-Gilpin and David Whitley. 1998. Reader in Gender Archaeology. Routledge. ISBN 0415173604.

7) Bruce Trigger. 2006. A history of Archaeological Thought. Cambridge. 2^nd edition. ISBN-10: 0521600499; ISBN-13: 978-0521600491. [Note: be sure to get the new 2^nd edition.]

8) R. McGuire.  2002 (reprint). Marxist Archeology.  Percheron Press. ISBN 0-9712427-4-7; ISBN-13: 978-0971242746

9) Tilley and Shanks. 1993. Reconstructing Archaeology.  ISBN 0-415-08870-4; ISBN-13: 978-0415088701

10) Marcia-Anne Dobres and John Robb. 2000. Agency in Archaeology. Routledge. ISBN 0415207614.

Reading Schedule

Note: items marked with an * are found in a reader available from Abel's copies.  Other documents marked as .pdf can be downloaded from the course blackboard web site. Some of these papers are included in case you have a particular interest in one of these topics and would like more information.

Week 1: Introduction (Varieties of writing)

In Press  James Denbow, Morongwa Mosothwane, Nonofho Mathibidi.  Finding Bosutswe: archaeological encounters with the past. History in Africa. [pdf]

2008            James Denbow, Jeanette Smith, Kirsten Atwood, Duncan Miller.  Archaeological excavations at Bosutswe: cultural chronology, paleo-ecology and economy. Journal of Archaeological Science 35: 459-480. [pdf]

White, Hayden. 1980. The value of Narrativity in the representation of reality.  Critical Inquiry 7 (1): 5-27. [.pdf document]

Week 2: Paradigms, Politics, Evolution, and Representations of the past

*Fabian, J. 1983.  Chapter 2, Our Time, Their time, No Time: coevalness denied.  In Time and the Other, pp. 37-69.  Chapter 3, Time and Writing About the Other, pp. 70-104.

Lucas, Gavin. 2005.  The Archaeology of Time. Routledge, London.  Chapter 1, Beyond Chronology & Chapter 5: Conclusions. [.pdf document].

*Dubow, Saul (1995): Scientific Racism in modern South Africa.  Chapters 1-3, pp. 1-128.

Week 3: Introduction: Archaeology’s past

Trigger, Bruce. 1995.  A History of Archaeological Thought. Chapters 1-4,  pp. 1-164.

*Kluckhohn, Clyde.  1939.  The Place of Theory in Anthropological studies.  Philosophy of Science 6(3):328-344.

*Patterson, Thomas. 1986.  The last Sixty Years: Toward a Social History of Americanist Archaeology in the United States.  American Anthropologist 88: 7-26.

*Kehoe, Alice (1992): The paradigmatic vision of archaeology: archaeology as a bourgeois science.  In J. Reyman, ed. Rediscovering our Past.

Week 4: Conjunctive Archaeology and culture. "New" perspectives.

All of Walter Taylor. 1948. A Study of Archaeology.

Week 5 :  Early archaeological approaches to "scientific" archaeology.

Trigger, Chapter 5, 6, 7 (pp. 165-385).

*Clark, Grahame.  1953.  The Economic Approach to Prehistory.  Proceedings of the British Academy, 39: 215-38.

*Julian Steward.  1955.  Ecological approaches to the concept and method of cultural ecology.  In Theory of Cultural Change, pp. 30-42.

Week 6:  "New" Archaeology

Trigger, Chapter 8 (pp. 386-483)

Johnson, M. 1999.  Archaeology Theory.  Chapters 1, 2, 3; pp.1-47.

*Binford: “Archaeology as Anthropology.”  American Antiquity 28, 2, pp. 217-225 (1962).

*Binford, L. Archaeological systematics and the study of Culture Process, In New Perspectives in Archaeology,  ed. by Sally and Lewis Binford, Aldine: Chicago, pp. 195-205 (1968).

*Hill, J.  Broken K pueblo: patterns of form and function.  In New Perspectives in Archaeology,  ed. by Sally and Lewis Binford, Aldine: Chicago, pp. 103-140. (1968).

*Binford, L. “Smudge pits and hide smoking: the use of analogy in archaeological reasoning.”  American antiquity 32(1): 1-12 (1967).

*Munson, Patrick, 1969, Comments on Binford’s “Smudge pits and hide smoking: the use of analogy in archaeological reasoning.”  American Antiquity 34: 83-85 (1969).

*Stahl. Ann. 1993.  Concepts of Time and Approaches to Analogical Reasoning in Historical Perspective.  American Antiquity 58(2): 235-260.

Week 7: New Archaeology II. Middle Range Theory, Ethno-archaeology

Tr;igger, Chapter 9 (pp. 484-528)

*Binford, L. 1983.  In Pursuit of the Past: Decoding the Archaeological Record.  Chapters 1, 6, 7, 8, 9. Thames and Hudson: New York.

Johnson, M. 1999.  Archaeological Theory.  Chapters 4,5,6; pp. 48-97.

Week 8: Responses to New Archaeology: varieties of post-processual archaeology

Shanks, Michael and Tilley, Christopher. 1987.  Reconstructing Archaeology: Theory and Practice.

Asad, Talal. 1979. Anthropology and the Analysis of Ideology. Man 14 (4): 607-627. [.pdf document]

Week 9: Marxism & Archaeology

Randal McGuire.  Marxist Archaeology,  Chapters 1-6. Academic Press: San  Diego.

*Thomas, B.  1998.  Power and Community:  The Archaeology of Slavery at the Hermitage Plantation.  American Antiquity 63(4): 531-551.

Buchli, Victor, 2000. An Archaeology of Socialism.  Berg, Oxford. Chapters 2 & 3. [.pdf document]

Week 10: Hermenutics, Structure, History, and Memory

Trigger, Chapter 10, pp. 529-548)

Ian Hodder.  2003. Reading the Past: current approaches to interpretation in archaeology.  Cambridge University Press. ISBN0521528844..

*Comaroff, John and Jean.  Introductory sections from vols. 1 and 2, Of Revelation and Revolution: the Dialectics of Modernity on a South African Frontier. Vol1, pp. 7-32; Vol 2, pp. 1-53.

Week 11: Gender and Archaeology

Kelley Hays-Gilpin and David Whitley. 1998. Reader in Gender Archaeology. Routledge. ISBN 0415173604.

*Franklin, Maria.  2001.  A Black feminist-inspired archaeology?  Journal of Social Archaeology 1(1):108-125.

Wylie, Alison. 2003. Why Standpoint Matters.  In Rigueroa, R. and Harding, S., eds., Science and Other Cultures. Routledge, London. [.pdf document]

Some additional readings & perspectives that might interest you (pdfs on class blackboard.

Miller, Daniel. 2002.  Consumption.  In Buchli, Victor, ed. The Material Culture Reader. Berg, Oxford. Chapter 9. [.pdf document]

Miller, Daniel. 1998.  Coca-Cola: a black sweet drink from Trinidad.  In Miller, Daniel, ed., Material Cultures: Why some things matter. University College London Press, London. [.pdf document]

Ingold, Tim. 2000. Building, dwelling, living: How animals and people make themselves at home in the world. In The Perception of the Environment: essays on livelihood, dwelling and skill.  Routledge. [.pdf document]

Bill Hillier and Julienne Hanson. 1984. Introduction and Chapter 1. In The Social Logic of Space. Cambridge. [.pdf document]

Pierre Bourdieu. 1977. Structures and the habitus. In Outline of a Theory of Practice. Cambridge. [.pdf document]

Michel de Certeau.  1988. Selected chapters from The Practice of Everyday Life. University of California Press. [.pdf document]

Pierre Lemonnier. Introduction. Elements for an Anthropology of Technology. [.pdf document]

An introduction to archaeology as a discipline.  Three major themes that deal with issues of the past will be covered:

1.  A brief history of the discipline, changing theories about various aspects of the past, and the role that the reconstructions of the past play in national and/or group identities.

2.  A survey of the development of human culture from its beginnings to the rise of civilizations and proto-historical cultures in most areas of the world.  Prehistoric cultures, archaeological sites, and areas of Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe , and the Pacific will be covered.

3.  Archaeological methods of recovery of information about the past.  Scientific procedures involved in excavation, dating, and preservation of the material record.

An introduction to archaeology as a discipline.  Three major themes that deal with issues of the past will be covered:

1.  A brief history of the discipline, changing theories about various aspects of the past, and the role that the reconstructions of the past play in national and/or group identities.

2.  A survey of the development of human culture from its beginnings to the rise of civilizations and proto-historical cultures in most areas of the world.  Prehistoric cultures, archaeological sites, and areas of Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe , and the Pacific will be covered.

3.  Archaeological methods of recovery of information about the past.  Scientific procedures involved in excavation, dating, and preservation of the material record.