Anthropology 113:167, Fall 1998

NORTH AMERICAN ARCHAEOLOGY

MWF 11:30 AM, 132 MH

Instructor: Larry J. Zimmerman (Ph.D. Visiting Professor)
Phone: Office, 335-0006 (leave voice mail), 341-8175 (Home-leave voice mail if no answer).
E-mail: larry-zimmerman@uiowa.edu
Office: 418 Jefferson Building (most times), 219 Macbride (office hours)
Office Hours:  Generally, 10:30-11:30 daily or by arrangement. See me before/after class or call me. You may also make an appointment with the department secretary (335-0522) who will also take your phone number so I can confirm the appointment or change it.
Class Web Site: http://www.uiowa.edu/~anthro/webcourse/naarch

Objectives

Students should:

• learn the basic outline of North American culture history until the time of Euroamerican contact.
• learn the basic history of North American archaeology, emphasizing major methodological developments, research questions and theoretical approaches.
• learn major contemporary issues that concern North American archaeology, ranging from topical to theoretical to political.

Fundamental Readings

Books for the course are available at the IMU Bookstore. Required readings for the course are assigned from Brian Fagan's Ancient North America: The Archaeology of a Continent (1995, 2nd ed., London: Thames and Hudson), Sharman Russell's When the Land Was Young: Reflections on American Archaeology (1996, Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company), and Stephen Williams' Fantastic Archaeology: The Wild Side of North American Prehistory (1991, Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press).

Grading Policy

All undergraduate students will write two(2) 2-5 page essays, write one 10-15 page paper and take one essay final examination. Graduate students will do all undergraduate requirements but will write a more extensive 20-25 page paper. Essays: ¼ of the grade (average of the two grades). Paper: ½ of grade. Final Exam: ¼ of grade. All grading will use the plus/minus system.

Essays

Each essay should be 2-5 double-spaced pages long. Essays are not research papers, therefore need little or no outside reading and do not need bibliographic citation. Each should be your educated assessment of the topic you choose. It should be well organized with introduction, body and conclusion. Please spell-check it and otherwise proofread it, though minor errors will not reduce your grade.

Essay 1, Due Date: 9 October, start of class

Choose one of the following topics:

• Is American archaeology still in the Speculative Period in some ways? Why or why not? Consider the impact of speculation on American archaeology. Are there any benefits to speculation?
• What has been/is the impact of archaeology on American Indians? Consider both problems and benefits.
• What has been the most important technological or methodological breakthrough for American archaeology?

Essay 2, Due Date: 20 November, start of class

Choose one of the following topics:

• Why has the origin of American Indians been such a difficult problem for archaeologists? Consider impacts of time, technology and "politics."
• What are the processes that led to the beginnings of urbanism in prehistoric North America?
• If you were to "do" archaeology in one culture area, which would you choose and why? What major problems might you face in that area?

Paper

Your paper for this class should be 10-15 (Graduate Students 20-25) double-spaced pages long. This is a research paper and thus requires a References Cited section. The paper should use anthropological citation style and bibliographic format. Bibliographic styles differ even within anthropology, so the key is consistency. If you would like to use it, there is a citation and bibliography guide for anthropologists available on the world wide web at the URL http://www.uiowa.edu/~anthro/handbook/bib.htm. You may also use web materials for your paper, but please do not rely heavily on them for your research. Please organize your paper carefully, edit and proof read it. To be sure that you begin work on the paper soon and have enough time to complete it, you have the following deadlines (all due at start of class) for submission of parts/drafts of the paper:

• Selection and submission of topic-5 October
• Submission of a minimum of 10 bibliographic sources relevant to the topic-30 October
• Outline-16 November
• First Draft-2 December
• Final Version-11 December

Failure to meet any deadline may result in reduction of the paper's grade by a plus or minus factor for each missed deadline.

You should choose your topic from the list below. If you have a major interest in a topic not on the list, please seek approval from the instructor before the 2 October deadline for submission of topics.

1. The relationship between American Indians and archaeology
2. The repatriation/reburial issue
3. American Indian arrival in the New World: an assessment of current views
4. Current status of cult or fantastic or pseudoarchaeology in North America
5. Public education in American archaeology
6. Center and periphery: the relationship of Southwestern cultures to Mesoamerica
7. Fiction and American archaeology: an assessment of novels about ancient America
8. The Mississipppian tradition as chiefdoms or states
9. Impact of climatic change on prehistoric America
10. Cultural Resources Management vs academic archaeology in America
11. Origins and impacts of America Indian agriculture
12. Origins and spread of American Indian technologies (ceramics, bow & arrow, forms of shelter, etc.)
13. The development, use and impact of dating techniques on American Archaeology
14. The relationship of historic to prehistoric archaeology in North America
15. Tracing the development of a specific archaeological complex (such as Hohokam, Anasazi, Cahokia)

Final Exam

The final exam in the class will be comprehensive and take home. The exam will be a choice of several essay questions from a longer list of questions. The kind of questions asked will be much like those in the essay topics. The final exam will be due in my mailbox (114 Macbride) at 4:15 on Tuesday, 15 December.

Tentative Topic and Reading Schedule

The following units are planned, but may be altered for a variety of reasons. If there are major changes, you will get ample notice. Slides and videos are abundant in this class. Each has a small study guide to help introduce you to the topic. These are available only from the world wide web site. You should look at the guides before you see the video or slides.

August 24: Introduction; Constructing the Past

• Readings: Begin reading Russell

August 26: The tasks of archaeology

August 28: Video-The Ancients of North America

August 31- September 4: The Social Context of American Archaeology

• Readings: Finish all of Russell

Sept 7-16: A history of American Archaeology

• Readings: Fagan 1-3, Williams Intro, 1-2

Sept 18: Video-Myth America

• Readings: Williams 3-5

Sept 21: Fantastic Archaeology

• Readings: Williams 6-8

Sept 23: Video-Vikings in America

• Readings: Williams 9-12

Sept 25: On the edge with the psychics

Sept 28: Back to Reality or, the Real Fantasy?

• Readings: Williams Epilogue

Sept 30: Can archaeologists get it wrong? Indian views...

Oct 2: Video-Myths and the Moundbuilders

Oct 4: Indians, Culture Areas, North American Geography.

Oct 5 SUBMIT PAPER TOPIC

Oct 7: 15k years in 50 minutes-culture history overview

Oct 9: FIRST ESSAY DUE

Oct 9: Ice Age Climate in NA

• Readings: Fagan 4

Oct 12: Video-Seeking the First Americans

Oct 14: The Clovis Barrier, Pleistocene Extinctions

Oct 16: Video-In Search of the First Americans

Oct 19: Video-Ice Age Crossings

Oct 21: Settling in

• Readings: Fagan 5-6

Oct 23-28: Archaic foragers everywhere, slides Ozette

• Readings: Fagan 9-14, 17-18

Oct 30 TEN BIBLIOGRAPHIC SOURCES DUE

Oct 30: paper consultation and/or makeup day

Nov 6 Video: In Search of the Lost Red Paint People

Nov 2-6 Hypertrophic foragers: Woodland Peoples, slides Ohio Mounds

• Readings: Fagan 19-20

Nov 9-13 Agricultural origins and spread

• Readings: Fagan 15, 8

Nov 16 PAPER OUTLINE DUE

Nov 20 SECOND ESSAY DUE

Nov 16-20 The Southwest & Puebloan Peoples

• Readings: Fagan 16

Nov 23 Video: Chaco Legacy

Nov 24 Chiefdoms? Mississippian and Iroquois

• Readings: Fagan 21-22

Dec 2  The Problems with Farming: Crow Creek

Dec 4 Video-Cannibals!

Dec 4 FIRST DRAFT PAPER DUE

Dec 7 Contact and Historic Archaeology

• Readings: Fagan 23

Dec 7 Video-Secrets of the Little Bighorn

Dec 9 Why are Indians so angry with archaeology?

Video: Bones of Contention

Dec 11 Accountability to our publics: A new and different archaeology?

Dec 11, FINAL VERSION OF PAPER DUE

Dec 15, 4:15, Take Home FINAL EXAM due in Zimmerman mailbox, 114 Macbride

Additional General Information

For additional assistance contact the Department of Anthropology, 114 Macbride Hall, Telephone: 335-0522. The department DEO is Virginia Domiguez.

Students with Disabilities: I would like to hear from anyone who has a disability which may require some modification of seating, testing, or other class requirements so that appropriate arrangements may be made. Please see me after class or contact me during my office hours.

Complaint Procedures: Any student complaints or concerns about this course should first be brought to the attention of the instructor first. We will make effort to resolve the matter. Should that not happen, the matter may be taken to the department DEO. Students may also examine the Schedule of Courses or the Liberal Arts Bulletin.

Plagiarism and Cheating: If I detect plagiarism or cheating, you will be notified in writing when the incident is discovered. Procedures discussed in the Schedule of Courses or the Liberal Arts Bulletin will be followed. Academic misconduct may result in severe penalties ranging from reduction of grades and probation to expulsion from the University for repeated offenses.

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larry-zimmerman@uiowa.edu
University of Iowa Anthropology
08.20.98