Athabasca University: Course Syllabus, Anthropology 277

Anthropology (ANTH) 277
The Archaeology of Ancient Peoples

This version of ANTH 277 closed Jan. 13/05. To current version.

Delivery modes:	Individualized study or grouped study. Video component.* *Overseas students, please contact the University Library before registering in a course that has an audio/visual component.
Credits:	3 - Social Science
Prerequisite:	None
Precluded course:	ANTH 277 cannot be taken for credit if credit has already been obtained for ANTH 276 or ANTH 207.
Centre:	Centre for Work and Community Studies
Challenge for Credit:	ANTH 277 has a Challenge for Credit option.
Learn more online:	Course home page

Overview

ANTH 277: The Archaeology of Ancient Peoples is an introductory level course designed to provide students with an understanding of world prehistory, from the earliest origins of human beings to the first development of states and civilizations. The course is divided into five parts and begins with an introduction to archaeology as the study of the cultural evolution of humankind, based on the material remains of past human behaviour. Part Two documents the spread of anatomically modern hunter-gatherers and their diverse lifeways throughout much of the Old and New Worlds. Part Three covers the development of farming and archaeological explanations for its success. Part Four describes theories developed to explain the rise of complex states and urban civilizations, and documents their growth in Asia, Africa, and Europe. The course concludes with an overview of early states and civilizations in the Americas.

Outline

The course consists of the following twenty-two units.

Unit 1 Introducing World Prehistory
Unit 2 Human Origins: the Emergence of Early Human Ancestors
Unit 3 Homo erectus and Homo sapiens sapiens
Unit 4 Europeans and Northern Asians
Unit 5 Intensification and Complexity
Unit 6 The First Americans
Unit 7 African and Australians
Unit 8 A Plenteous Harvest: The Origins
Unit 9 The Origins of Food Production in Southwest Asia
Unit 10 Early European Farmers
Unit 11 Early Farmers of Africa and the Nile
Unit 12 Asia: Rice, Roots and Ocean Voyagers
Unit 13 The Story of Maize: Early Farming Societies in the Americas
Unit 14 The Development of Civilization
Unit 15 Early Southwest Asian Civilizations
Unit 16 Ancient Egypt, Nubia, and Sub-Saharan Africa
Unit 17 Early States in South and Southeast Asia
Unit 18 Shang Civilization in East Asia
Unit 19 Anatolia, Greece, and Italy
Unit 20 Temperate Europe Before the Romans
Unit 21 Mesoamerican Civilizations
Unit 22 Andean States

Evaluation

In order to receive credit, students must obtain a grade of at least 50 percent on each exam. The passing grade for the course is "D" (50 percent).

3 Telephone quizzes	Research paper outline	Research paper	Midterm exam	Final exam	Total
10%	10%	30%	25%	25%	100%

Course Materials

Textbook

Fagan, Brian M. 1998. People of the Earth. 9th ed. New York: Longman.

Other Material

Course materials include study guide, student manual, and forms.

The course is also accompanied by a set of videos, available from the AU library. Two of these videos are required viewing with optional readings available for students who are unable to watch the videos.

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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