Enrollment in the course is competitive. This course provides students with an introduction to theory and interpretation in the practice of contemporary archaeology. Archaeological theory is the conceptual basis for interpreting and explaining the past using the archaeological record. We examine the role of theory in shaping our questions about the past, the role of theory in governing the methods that we devise to answer such questions, and the role of theory in guiding our interpretations of the past. We also study and evaluate different applications of archaeological theory from different perspectives including cultural historical, processual, and post-processual.
Students acquire an in-depth knowledge of how archaeologists construct and use theory.
This graduate seminar focuses on theoretical and methodological issues that concern past economies from the perspective of anthropological archaeology. The bulk of the seminar, however, centers on critically evaluating the utility of different theoretical frameworks and archaeological models that have been proposed to explain ancient economies. Throughout the seminar we explore the social and ecological factors that governed the production, circulation, and consumption of material means, and established points of articulation between subsistence economies and political economies. A diverse array of topics are considered including, economic intensification and craft specialization, household organization and labor deployment, and resource allocation and exchange.