Anthropology (ANTH) 476
Archaeology: Principles in Practice

>> Overview | Outline | Evaluation | Course Materials | Course Fees | Course Availability

Overview

Archaeology and archaeologists have been romanticised and popularised as daredevil explorers of the exotic. In actuality, modern archaeologists constantly confront new ground as they devise a variety of unique tools and solutions to illuminate the actions and beliefs of extinct societies.

ANTH 476 explores the processes and goals of archaeological research. Both excavation and non-excavation techniques are examined to reconstruct ancient lifeways: subsistence, social systems, and religious beliefs.

Workbook problems and written assignments are designed to take the student through the steps of excavations, analysis, and interpretation.

Outline

The course consists of the following five units.

• Unit 1 Archaeology
• Unit 2 Recovering Archaeological Data
• Unit 3 Establishing Chronological Controls
• Unit 4 Reconstructing the Past
• Unit 5 Challenges to Archaeology

Evaluation

To receive credit for ANTH 476, students must achieve a composite course grade of at least 50 percent and a grade of at least 60 percent on each of the examinations. The weighting of the composite grade is as follows:

Course Materials

Textbooks

Patterson, Thomas C. 1983. The Theory and Practice of Archaeology: A Workbook. Toronto: Prentice-Hall.

Thomas, David Hurst. 1989. Archaeology, 2d ed. Holt, Rinehart, & Winston.

Other material

The course materials include a student manual and a study guide.

Athabasca University reserves the right to amend course outlines occasionally and without notice.
Courses offered by other delivery methods may vary from their individualized-study counterparts.


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This page was updated by G. Zahara