ANG 6115 ADVANCED SEMINAR IN ARCHAEOLOGICAL METHOD

AND THEORY
SYLLABUS SPRING 2005
Required Books:
McGee and Warms, 2003 Anthropological Theory: An Introductory History 3rd Edition
Thomas Patterson 1995 Toward a Social History f Archaeology in the United States
Gosden, Chris1999 Anthropology and Archaeology: A Changing Relationship

SEMINAR TOPICS
1.

Jan 13

EARLY EVOLUTION THEORY

2.

Jan 20

THE BEGINNING OF AMERICAN ARCHAEOLOGY:

EXPLORATION AND SPECULATION

3.

Jan 26

SCIENCE, ANTHROPOLOGY, AND ARCHAEOLOGY

4.

Feb 3

BEGINNING OF CULTURE HISTORY

5.

Feb 10

METHODS: TYPOLOGY AND SERIATION

6.

Feb 17

FIRST INTEGRATIVE CONCEPTS

7.

Feb 24

MAJOR DISSATISFACTIONS

8.

Mar 3

CULTURAL ECOLOGY AND NEO-CULTURAL EVOLUTION

9.

Mar 10

PROCESSUAL THEORY

10.

Mar 17

POST-PROCESSUAL THEORY

Mar 24

NO CLASS: SPRING BREAK

11.

Mar

ARCHAEOLOGY AS ANTHROPOLOGY

12.

Apr

THEORY, PARADIGM, AND METHODOLOGY

13.

Apr 14

ARCHAEOLOGICAL THEORY TODAY

14.

Apr 21

ETHICS

Apr 28

FINAL EXAM

READING ASSIGNMENTS
1. Sept 3:

EARLY EVOLUTIONARY THEORY

Willey and Sabloff 1993, History of American Archaeology. Third Edition. Freeman Press.
Introduction. Pages 1-6 (on Reserve in Library)
McGee, R. Jon and Richard L. Warms, 2003. Anthropological Theory, Mayfield Press.
Commentary: Nineteenth Century Evolutionism (pages 5-10)
Spencer, Herbert, 1860. "The Social Organism (pages 10-26)
Tylor, Sir Edward Bennet, 1871. "The Science of Culture" (pages 26-40)
Morgan, Lewis Henry, 1877. 'Ethical Periods" (pages 41-5 1)
Marx, Karl and Friedreich Engle, 1845-6. Feuerbach: Opposition of the Materialist and
Idealist Outlook (pages 52-65)
Commentary on the Foundations of Sociological Thought (pages 83-85)
Durkheim, Emile, 1895. "What is a Social Fact?" (Pages 85-102)
2. January 20: THE BEGINNING OF AMERICAN ARCHAEOLOGY: EXPLORATION
AND SPECULATION
Gosden, Chris, 1999 Anthropology and Archaeology, Routledge Press. Preface and Chapter 1
Patterson, Thomas, 1993, Toward a Social History of Archaeology in the United States,
Harcourt, Brace & Co. Chapters 1 (Introduction) and 2 (Archaeology in the US before
1877). Pages 1-39
Willey and Sabloff, 1993, History of American Archaeology. Third Edition. Freeman Press,
Chapters 2 and 3 (in Department Office)
William, Stephen 1991, Fantastic Archaeology, University of Pennsylvania Press (on reserve in
Library)
Chapter 2 American Curiosity and the American Indian (28-60.)
Chapter 3: The Golden Age
Squire and Davis, 1848, Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley, Smithsonian Institution
Review whole book
Holmes, William H., 1914, Areas of American Culture Characterization Tentatively Outlined a
an Aid in the Study of Antiquities. American Anthropologist Vol. 16, No. 3, 413-446 (
Wright, John H. and others, 1909, Report of the Committee on Archaeological Nomenclature.
American Anthropologist Vol. 11, 114-119
Hrdlicka, Ales, 1907, Skeletal Remains suggesting or attributed to early man in North
America, Smithsonian Institution Bulletin No. 33, Bureau of American Ethnology

3. January26 SCIENCE, ANTHROPOLOGY, AND ARCHAEOLOGY

Patterson, Thomas 1993, Toward a Social History of Archaeology in the United States,
Harcourt, Brace & Co. Chapter 3: Professionalization of Archaeology
Gosden, Chris, 1999 Anthropology and Archaeology, Routledge Press. Chapter 4: Evolutionary,
Social, and Cultural Anthropologies.
Trigger, Bruce, 1989, A History of Archaeological Thought, Cambridge Press.
Chapter 3 Beginnings of Scientific Archaeology
Chapter 4 Imperial Synthesis
McGee, R. Jon and Richard L. Warms, 2003. Anthropological Theory.
Commentary on Historical Particularism
*Boaz, Franz, 1928. "The Models of Ethnology"
*Malinowski, Bronislaw, 1922. "The Essentials of the Kula"
*Kroeber, Alfred L., 1919. "On the Principle of Order in Civilization as Exemplified by Changes
of Fashion, American Anthropologist, 21(3):235-263.
*Thomas, Cyrus, 1894. Mound Explorations. 1985 reprint by Smithsonian Institution Press (on
reserve). Introduction by Bruce D. Smith (1-19); Outline, Preface, Introduction (17-35)
Field Operations section; Mound-builders section (595-722).
*Moore, Clarence B., 1901. The Northwest Florida Expeditions of Clarence Bloomfield Moore
(1852-1936). Reprinted by University of Alabama Press 1999. (Special Collections)
4. February 3

BEGINNING OF CULTURE HISTORY

Patterson, Thomas 1993, Toward a Social History of Archaeology in the United States.
Chapter 4: Archaeology and the Corporate State. Pages 69-78
Lyon, 1996, A New Deal for Southeastern Archaeology, University of Alabama Press
Review whole book
Willey and Sabloff 1993 History of American Archaeology, Chapter 4: Concern with
Chronology (1914-1940).
Reyman 1992, Rediscovering Our Past. Essays on the History of American Archaeology
*Pinsky, "Archaeology, Politics, and Boundary Formation: The Boas Censure and the
Development of Archaeology during the Inter-War Years". (Pages 161-188)
*Jackson and Thacker, "Cook and Figgins: A New Perspective on the Folsom Discovery
(pages 217-240)
Woodbury, Richard B.
*1973 Alfred V. Kidder, Columbia Press (on reserve)
*1960 Nels Nelson and Chronological Archaeology, American Antiquity 25(3):400-401

*Haag, William, 1985. "Federal Aid to Archaeology in the Southeast 1933-1942." American
Antiquity 50th Anniversary Volume 50(2): 272-279.
*Lewis and Kneberg , 1946. Hiwassee Island. University of Tennessee Press. (review whole
book)
*Webb and DeJarnette, 1942. Archaeological Study of Pickwick Basin in the Adjacent Portions
of the States Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee. Bulletin 129, Smithsonian
Institution Bureau of American Ethnology. (review whole book)
5. February 10

METHODS: TYPOLOGY AND SERIATION

Willey and Sabloff 1993 History of American Archaeology 108-125

Lyman and OBrien 1997. The Rise and Fall of Culture History. Plenum Press.
Chapter 5: Artifact Classification and Seriation (121-158).
OBrien and Lyman 1999 Measuring the Flow of Time: The Works of James A. Ford, Alabama
Press: Forward and Introduction (1-51)
*Krieger 1944 "The Typological Concept." American Antiquity 3:271-288 (on reserve)
*Ford, James A.
1952. Measurements of Some Prehistoric Design Development in the Southeastern
United States, Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural
History, Vol. 44: Part 3.
1954 Comment on A. C. Spaulding statistical technique for the discovery of artifact
types. American Antiquity 19:390-91
1954 On the Concept of Types: The Type concept Revisited, American Anthropologist
56:42-57
*Spaulding, Alfred C
1953, "Review of Measurements of Some Prehistoric Design Developments in the
Southeastern States by Ford". American Anthropologist 55:588-591.
1953: "Statistical Techniques for the Discovery of Artifact Types." American Antiquity
18:305-313
1954a Reply to Ford, American Anthropologist 56:112-14
19954b Reply to Ford. American Antiquity 19:391-93
*Rouse, Irving, 1939, Prehistory in Haiti; a Study in Method, Yale University Press
*Wheat, Gifford, and Wasley 1958 Ceramic Variety, Type Cluster, and Ceramic System in
Southwestern Pottery Analysis American Antiquity 24:34-47

6. February 17

FIRST INTEGRATIVE CONCEPTS

*Willey, Gordon R. and Phillip Phillips, 1958, Method and Theory in American Archaeology
University of Chicago Press. Reprinted 2001 University of Alabama Press. Introduction,
Part I (Operational Basis for Culture-Historical Integration), Part II (HistoricalDevelopmental Interpretation) and Chapter 3 (pages 1-78).
Lyman and OBrien 2003 W. C. McKern and the Midwestern Taxonomic Method, Alabama
Press Part I (3-195) OR Lyman and OBrien 1997. The Rise and Fall of Culture History.
Plenum Press. Chapter 6: Classification of Aggregates (159-205)
*McKern, W. C. (In Lyman and OBrien 2003 W .C. McKern and the Midwestern Taxonomic
Method, Alabama Press)
1939 The Midwestern Taxonomic Method as an Aid to Archaeological Culture Study,
American Antiquity 4:301-313
1940 Application of the Midwestern Taxonomic Method. Bulletin of the Archaeological
Society of Delaware 3:18-21
1942 Taxonomy and the direct Historical Approach, American Antiquity 8:170-721
7. February 24

MAJOR DISSATISFACTIONS

Patterson, Thomas 1993, Toward a Social History of Archaeology in the United States,
Harcourt, Brace & Co. Chapter 4: Archaeology and the Corporate State, Pages 78-86
Willey and Sabloff 1993, History of American Archaeology. Third Edition. Freeman Press.
Chapter 5: Context and Function, pages 152-164.
Taylor, Walter W., 1948. A Study of Archaeology
Steward, J. H. and F. M. Seltzer, 1938. Function and configuration in Archaeology. American
Antiquity 4(1)4-10.
Kluckhon, Clyde, 1940. The Place of Theory in Anthropological Studies. Philosophy of Science
6(3)328-344.
Bennett, John, 1950. Recent Developments in the Functional Interpretation of Archaeological
Data. American Antiquity 9(2)208-219.
Linton, Ralph, 1944. North American Cooking Pots. American Antiquity 9(4).
8. March 3

CULTURAL ECOLOGY AND NEO-CULTURAL EVOLUTION

Patterson, Thomas 1993, Toward a Social History of Archaeology in the United States,
Harcourt, Brace & Co. Ch 4: 87-100

Willey and Sabloff 1993, History of American Archaeology. Third Edition. Freeman Press.
Chapter 6: Modern Period: 214-220 (on reserve).
Gosden, Chris, 1999 Anthropology and Archaeology, Routledge Press. Chapter 5
McGee, R. Jon and Richard L. Warms, 2003. Anthropological Theory.
Commentary on Cultural Ecology and Neoevolutionary Thought (pages 237-240)
*Steward, Julian, 1955. "The Patrilineal Band" (pages 240-256)
*White, Leslie, 1943. "Energy and the Evolution of Culture" (pages 256-275)
Commentary on Ecological Materialism (pages 284-287)
*Fried, Morton F, 1960. "On the Evolution of Social Stratification and the State (pages
288-301).
*Harris, Marvin, 1966. The Cultural Ecology of Indias Sacred Cattle (pages 302-315)
*White, Leslie, 1959, The Evolution of Culture, McGraw-Hill Press.
Steward, Julian H., 1955, Theory of Culture Change, University of Illinois Press.
*Sahlins, Marshall and Elman Service, 1966, Evolution and Culture. University of Michigan
Press.
*Harris, Marvin, 1980, Cultural Materialism, Random House. Preface, Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4 (pp.
ix-114).
9. March 10 PROCESSUAL THEORY
Patterson, Thomas 1993, Toward a Social History of Archaeology in the United States,
Harcourt, Brace & Co. Chapter 5: New Archaeology and Neoliberal State (101-128).
Willey and Sabloff 1993, History of American Archaeology. Third Edition. Freeman Press.
Chapter 5: Modern Period: 221-297.
*L. Binford 1962, "Archaeology As Anthropology", American Antiquity (28) 217-225
*Binford and Binford 1968: New Perspectives in Archaeology: (on reserve)
L. Binford: "Archaeological Perspectives"
Spaulding: Explanation in Archaeology
*Deetz: "Inference of Residence Rules from Archaeological Data"
*Vincent M. LaMotta and Michael B. 2001, Behavioral Archaeology: Toward a New Synthesis.
In Archaeological Theory Today ed. By Ian Hodder, Polity Press, pp 14-64.
*Flannery, Kent, 1976. The Early Mesoamerican Village. Chapters 1, 2 & 11. (on reserve)
*Binford 1983 In Pursuit of the Past, California Press.

Chapter 1: Translating the Archaeological Record (19-30)

Chapter 5: Archaeological Odyssey (95-108)
Chapter 6: Hunters in a Landscape (109-143
Chapter 7: People in their Lifespace (144-193)
10. March 17 POST-PROCESSUAL THEORY
Patterson, Thomas 1993, Toward a Social History of Archaeology in the United States,
Harcourt, Brace & Co. Chapter 6: Archaeology and Multiculturalism: 129-144
Gosden, Chris, 1999 Anthropology and Archaeology, Routledge Press. Chapters 6, 7, 8
Deetz
Glassie
Whitley, 1998. Reader in Archaeological Theory: Post-Processual and Cognitive Approaches,
Routledge Press. (on reserve)
*Ch 1: "New Approaches to Old Problems: Archaeology in Search of an Elusive Past" by
Whitley
*Ch 2: "Cognitive Archaeology" by Flannery and Marcus
*Ch 3: "Symbolic, Structural, and Critical Archaeology" by Leone
*Ch 16: "Return of the Sacred: Spirituality and the Scientific Imperative" White Deer
*Barrett, John C., 2001, Agency, the Duality of Structure, and the Problem of the
Archaeological Record, In Archaeological Theory Today, ed. By Ian Hodder, Polity
Press, pp. 141-164.
*Yentsch, Anne and Mary C. Beaudry, 2001, American Material Culture in Mind, Thought,
and Deed. In Archaeological Theory Today, ed. By Ian Hodder, Polity Press, pp.215-240.
11. March 29

ARCHAEOLOGY AS ANTHROPOLOGY

*Gillespie, Susan D. and Deborah L. Nichols, Archaeology is Anthropology. Archaeological

Papers of the American Anthropological Association, No. 13. Read and annotate all 25 papers.
*Anderson, Models of Paleoindian and Early Archaic Settlement in the Southeastern U. S.,
In The Paleoindian and Early Archaic Soutneast, ed. By D. G. Anderson and K. E. Sassaman,
pp. 1-26. University of Alabama Press.
*Moore and Mosley, 2001, How Many Frogs Does It Take to Leap Around the Americas?,
American Antiquity 66(3):526-529.
*Anderson and Gilliam, 2001,*Paleoindian Interaction and Mating Networks: Reply to
Moore and Mosley, American Antiquity 66(3):530-535.

12. April 5

THEORY, PARADIGM, AND METHODOLOGY

*Trigger, Bruce 1989, History of Archaeological Thought, Cambridge Press. Chapter 1:

Relevance of Archaeological History (pp. 1-26)
*Kluckhohn, Clyde, 1940, The Conceptual Structure in Middle American Studies. In The
Maya and Their Neighbors: Essays on Middle American Anthropology and Archaeology,
ed. By Clarence L. Hay, et. al., pp 41-51. Appleton-Century Co., New York.
*Phillips, Phillip, 1955, American Archaeology and General Anthropological Theory.
Southwestern Journal of Anthropology 11:246-250. (Journal changed name to Journal of
Anthropological Research)
*Binford, Lewis, 1977, For Theory Building in Archaeology, Academic Press. General
Introduction, pp 1-10.
*Meltzer, David J., 1979, Paradigms and the Nature of Change in American Archaeology.
American Antiquity 44:644-657.
*Binford, Lewis R., and Jeremy A. Sabloff, 1982, Paradigms, Systematics, and Archaeology.
Journal of Anthropological Research 38(2):137-153
*Schiffer, Michael, 1988, The Structure of Archaeological Theory. American Antiquity
53(3):461-485.
13. April 14 ARCHAEOLOGICAL THEORY TODAY
Prucel, 1991. Processual and Post-Processual Archaeologies. Center for Archaeological
Investigations, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale.
*Chapter 3: "Archaeology and the Current Debate" by Hodder
*VanPool, Christine and Todd, 1999. "The Scientific Nature of Postprocessualisim."
American Antiquity 64(l):33-54
*Hutson, 2001, Synergy through Disunity, Science as Social Practice: Comment on VanPool
and VanPool, American Antiquity 66(2):349-260.
*Arnold and Wilkens, On the VanPools Scientific Postprocessualism, American Antiquity
66(2):361-366
*VanPool and VanPool, Postprocessualism and the Nature of Science: A Response to Hutson
and Arnold and Wilkens, American Antiquity 66(2):367-375.
*Binford, 2001, Where Do Research Problems Come From?, American Antiquity 66(4):669687.
8

*Hegmon, 2003. Setting Theoretical Egos Aside: Issues and Theory in North American
Archaeology, American Antiquity 68(2) 213-243
*Politis, 2003, The Theoretical Landscape and the Methodological Development of
Archaeology in Latin America, American Antiquity 68(2) 245-272
14. April 21 ETHICS
*Owsley and Jantz ,2001, Archaeological Politics and Public Interest in Paleoamerican Studies:
Lessons from Gordon Creek and Kennewick Man, American Antiquity 66(4):565-576.
* Ethical Issues in Archaeology by Zimmerman, Vitelli, and Hollowell-Zimmer, 2003.
Introduction
Wylie: On Ethics, pp 3-16
Lynott:, Development of Ethics in Archaeology, pp 15-27
Brodie and Gill: Looting: An International View, pp 31-44
Bass: Ethics of Shipwreck Archaeology, pp 71-84
Watkins: Archaeological Ethics and American Indians, pp 129-142
Chippendale: Ethics of Research Knowledge pp 239-249
-Davis: Code and Standards (251-260)
Archaeological Ethics, Vitelli, Karen D., Altimara Press
*Fagan: Bad Day at Slack Farm pp 39-46
*Harrington: Looting of Arkansas pp. 90-105
*Harrington: Bones and Bureaucrats: New Yorks Great Cemetery Imbroglio pp 221-236
Ethics in American Archaeology 2002 Edited by Lynott and Wylie
Lynott: Ethical Principles (26-35)
Watkins et. al.: Accountability (40-44)
Murphy et. al.: Commercialization (45-48)
Chippendale: Comemrcialization (87-92)
Lipe: In Defense of Digging (113-117)
Goldstein: Potential Future Relationships (118-126)
Professional Codes of Ethics
Society for American Archaeology http://www.saa.org/aboutSAA/ethics.html
Society for Historical Archaeology http://www.sha.org/About/ethics.htm
American Anthropological Association http://www.aaanet.org/committees/ethics/ethics.htm
American Institute of Archaeology
http://www.archaeological.org/pdfs/AIA_Code_of_EthicsA5S.pdf
Register of Professional Archaeologists http://www.rpanet.org/

ORGANIZATION OF ADVANCED SEMINAR IN METHOD AND THEORY

SEMINARS
Seminars will be critical review and discussion sessions of assigned readings on specific
concepts and information. Readings are assigned for each week and a student discussion
leader will conduct the discussions and review of the readings. Each student must lead at least
one seminar and some students will lead two. Student discussion leaders will be graded on a 20
point scale based on preparation, organization, leadership, and knowledge. The use of handouts,
chalk board, overheads, projected images, and bringing additional outside information to the
seminar is encouraged. The grade for the discussion leadership makes up 20% of the grade for
this course. Students who lead more than one seminar will have their points averaged for this
portion of their grade. General participation in the discussions of readings is also important to
this seminar. Ten percent of your grade will be determined by your level of participation as a
discussant in the seminars.
PREPARATION
Every student must be prepared every class period to discuss the assigned readings. This means
taking notes on every reading and bringing them to class. Volunteerism has not worked and as of
the January 21st, I will require you to email me a brief synopsis (ca 100 words) of each assigned
reading by 5:00 PM on the Tuesday preceding class. This will give you Wednesday to review
your notes rather than the articles to prepare for discussion, and will alert me ahead of time of
any difficulties in the readings. It will also get you in the habit of preparing annotations. Your
synopses account for 15% of the class participation grade; the other 10% being your performance
in class.
Suggestions for annotations:
What is the authors main point(s)?
What are the key concepts? How are key words defined?
What are the authors assumptions, both explicit and implicit?
How does this author criticize (or less often, praise) other authors works?
How does this author propose to overcome perceived shortcomings?
With what other readings/authors would you align this work?
To what other readings/authors does this author seem to be opposed?
RESEARCH PAPER
A research paper will be required for the course. It will make up 40% of student's grade in the
course.
Topics and Questions: General topic area is archaeological method and theory Specific
research topics should be of interest to you and for which there is sufficient information available
to do thorough research.
Required paper sections:
1) a specific research question
2) methods developed to address the question
10

3) both historical and archeological information must be used

4) conclusions must be made
Paper Submission Milestones::
Submission of proposed research paper topic with your research question clearly stated,
proposed methods, and a basic bibliography
First draft of papers due
Final draft of paper is due at beginning of class
FINAL EXAM
A comprehensive final exam will be required in this course and it will make up 40% of the
grade
GRADE DETERMINATION
25% Preparation and participation
35% Research Paper
40% Final Exam

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