ANTH 272 or ANTH 277. Students who have completed introductory courses in other disciplines may request permission to register from the Course Coordinator.
Anthropology 377: Ancient Cultures of North America is designed to provide the student with an understanding of the precontact cultures of North America, from the first peopling of the continent to the arrival of Europeans. The course has three major objectives:
To foster an appreciation for the dynamic field of North American archaeology, particularly the gathering of information and interpretation of past cultures
To furnish an understanding of the general historical sequence of North America’s past and an appreciation for the diversity of the peoples and cultures that thrived here
To provide the ability to evaluate the ways in which contemporary archaeologists consider and communicate with other stakeholders in North America’s past
Outline
Part I: Introducing North American Archaeology
Unit 1: The Nature and Practice of North American Archaeology
Unit 2: The Culture and Environment in North America’s Past
Part II: The North American Past
Unit 3: Peopling of the Americas
Unit 4: Foragers of the North
Unit 5: Paths to Complexity on the Northwest Coast
Unit 6: Rivers, Roots, and Rabbits—The Plateau
Unit 7: Diversity and Complexity in California
Unit 8: Mobility, Flexibility, and Persistence in the Great Basin
Unit 9: Foragers and Villagers of the Southwestern Mountains, Mesas, and Deserts
Unit 10: Bison Hunters and Horticulturalists of the Great Plains
Unit 11: The Eastern Woodlands, Part 1—Tribes and Chiefdoms in the Southeast
Unit 12: The Eastern Woodlands, Part 2—Foragers and Farmers of the Midwest and Upper Great Lakes
Unit 13: The Eastern Woodlands, Part 3—Fishing, Farming, and Foraging in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic
Part III: The Future of North American Archaeology
Unit 14: Modern World and North American Archaeology for the Twenty-First Century
Evaluation
To receive credit for ANTH 377, you must complete a map quiz, an essay assignment, a research paper outline, a research paper, and a midterm and final examination, and you must achieve a minimum grade of D (50 percent) on both the midterm and final examinations, and an overall grade of D (50 percent) for the entire course.
Activity
Weight
Map Quiz
5%
Essay Assignment
15%
Midterm Exam
25%
Research Paper Outline
10%
Research Paper
20%
Final Exam
25%
Total
100%
The midterm and final examinations for this course must be taken online with an AU-approved exam invigilator at an approved invigilation centre. It is your responsibility to ensure your chosen invigilation centre can accommodate online exams. For a list of invigilators who can accommodate online exams, visit the Exam Invigilation Network.
To learn more about assignments and examinations, please refer to Athabasca University’s online Calendar.
Materials
Neusius, Sarah W., and G. Timothy Gross. Seeking Our Past: An Introduction to North American Archaeology, 2nd ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2014. (Print)
Other Materials
All other materials are available online through the course home page.
Challenge for credit
Overview
The challenge for credit process allows you to demonstrate that you have acquired a command of the general subject matter, knowledge, intellectual and/or other skills that would normally be found in a university-level course.
Full information about challenge for credit can be found in the Undergraduate Calendar.
Evaluation
To receive credit for the ANTH 377 challenge registration, you must complete a map quiz, an essay assignment, a research paper outline, a research paper, a midterm exam, and a final exam and receive at least a D (50 percent) on each of the exams and an overall course grade of D (50 percent). The weightings of each activity are listed below.
Activity
Weight
Map Quiz
5%
Essay Assignment
15%
Midterm Exam
25%
Research Paper Outline
10%
Research Paper
20%
Final Exam
25%
Total
100%
Midterm and final exams are each three hours long and written at an invigilation centre.
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.