Course Information
Instructor: Prof. Keith Kintigh
Teaching Assistant: Tiffany Clark
Course Objectives. Archaeology is the primary source of information about many of the most spectacular cultural achievements of the Americas. This course introduces archaeology through an examination of several of these ancient civilizations as understood through their architecture and artifacts. Subjects covered for Middle America include the Aztec, Teotihuacan, the Maya, and the Olmec; for South America, the Inca, the Moche, the Nasca Culture, and Chavín; and for North America, Chaco, Hohokam, and Casas Grandes in the Southwest and the Mississippian mound builders in the eastern US. More generally, the course leads to enriched understandings of social inequality and cultural difference and how the past, in important ways, structures the modern world.
Course Information, Including Lecture Outlines, on the Web: http://www.public.asu.edu/~kintigh. These notes are intended to permit you to pay closer attention to the lectures. Experience shows that they are not a substitute for class attendance. They provide the outline of what we discuss, however much material (including visual material) is presented in class that does not appear in the web notes or in the text. An understanding of the concepts will require attendance at the lectures.
Level, Prerequisites, and General Studies Requirements. This course is intended as a general introduction to archaeology for interested undergraduates. There are no prerequisites and no background is expected. The course fulfills the following four general studies requirements, Social and Behavioral, Humanities, Global Awareness, and Historical Awareness. It serves as a springboard to more intensive and advanced courses in anthropology, such as Principles of Archaeology (ASB 330), Prehispanic Civilizations of the Middle America (ASB 337), and Prehistory of the Southwest (ASB 335).
Text & Readings. The text for the course is Images of the Past, by T. Douglas Price and Gary M. Feinman, Mayfield Publishing Company (second edition). It was ordered for the bookstore and should be available both new and used. While this book covers both Old World, and New World topics, we will focus on the New World portion (a bit less than half the book).
Course Format. The course consists of lectures frequently illustrated by slides and, occasionally, movies. A few lectures will be provided by guest speakers. While much of the information conveyed in the course will come through lectures, attendance is not taken. If you are ill or for some other reason will not be able to attend class, it is not necessary to call the instructor, the TA or the anthropology office to let us know. However, you should get make-up notes for the classes you miss.
Examinations, Assignments, and Grading. The exams will cover both lectures and readings. They will include multiple choice, true/false, and matching questions (including slide and map questions). The first two exams cover sections 1 and 2 of the course, respectively and are each worth 50 points. The final exam emphasizes section 3 (about 50 points) but also includes questions pertaining to the first two sections of the course (about 50 points) for a total of 100 points.
Occasional assignments, each worth 20 points, will be passed out during the semester. You will have one week to complete each assignment. Late assignments will generally will not be accepted (see below). There will be a total of 5 assignments, each worth 20 points. The text of the assignments must be typed and must be less than a page in length. Otherwise acceptable assignments will receive at most half credit. (Assignment titles and dates listed in the course outline are tentative.)
Grades will be curved based on a total of 300 points. There will no extra credit offered; you must keep up with the assignments.
Please Note: No grades of "incomplete" will be granted. All students must take the final exam to pass this course. Under ordinary circumstances, there will be no make-up exams and late assignments will not be accepted. If truly extraordinary personal circumstances affect your academic performance or make it impossible for you to do an assignment or to take an exam, contact Prof. Kintigh with written documentation of the circumstance at the time the problem arises (not at the end of the semester) in order to make appropriate arrangements. The TA cannot make exceptions to these guidelines. You should keep copies of all the assignments you turn in and keep the graded assignments until the end of the semester, in case there are any questions about the grades.