Archaeology

Chair of the Committee on Archaeology: McGuire Gibson,Or 215, 702-9525

Archaeology is the study of the material remains brought about by or related to past human activity. These material remains, the archaeological record, are the focus of archaeological research. However, research problems, interpretations, and associated analytical approaches vary widely across the many disciplines involved in archaeological research. As such, archaeological research is doubly interdisciplinary: first, archaeologists use perspectives and techniques from fields as diverse as geology, history, geography, biology, physics, art history, and literature, among others; and, second, theoretical approaches range widely across both the humanities and the social sciences. Archaeologists at the University of Chicago work in every part of the world on time periods from those of very early human ancestors to the last several hundred years.

Although the Committee on Archaeology does not offer a concentration in archaeology, courses with archaeological content are offered by a number of departments and include theoretical, analytical, and area-specific courses. In addition, archaeological field schools offer training in excavation and other fieldwork (New Mexico) and training in Paleolithic art history (Spain) through the Department of Anthropology. Students should seek advice from their College adviser and from the faculty counselor in their area of concentration in putting together groups of courses. In addition, College students with an interest in archaeology are encouraged to attend the Interdisciplinary Archaeology Workshop.

Faculty

ABBAS ALIZADEH, Research Associate, Oriental Institute

RICHARD BEAL, Research Associate, Oriental Institute

MICHAEL DIETLER, Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology and the College

OWEN DOONAN, Visiting Scholar, Department of Classical Languages & Literatures

LESLIE G. FREEMAN, Professor, Department of Anthropology and the College

ELIZABETH GEBHARD, Research Associate, Department of Classical Languages & Literatures; Director, University of Chicago Excavations at Isthmia

MCGUIRE GIBSON, Professor, Department of Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations and Oriental Institute

JONATHAN HALL, Assistant Professor, Departments of History and Classical Languages & Literatures and the College

ALAN L. KOLATA, Professor, Department of Anthropology and the College; Director, Latin American Studies Center

MARK LEHNER, Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations and Oriental Institute

MARK LYCETT, Lecturer, Social Sciences Collegiate Division; Research Associate, Department of Anthropology

KATHLEEN MORRISON, Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology and the College

INGRID ROWLAND, Associate Professor, Department of Art History and the College

DAVID SCHLOEN, Assistant Professor, Department of Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations and Oriental Institute; Committee on Jewish Studies

DONALD WHITCOMB, Research Associate, Department of Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations, Oriental Institute, and Center for Middle Eastern Studies

TONY WILKINSON, Research Associate, Department of Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations and Oriental Institute

ASLIHAN K. YENER, Associate Professor, Department of Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations, Oriental Institute, and the College; Committee on the Ancient Mediterranean World

Courses

Anthropology

Anthro 212. Intensive Study of a Culture: Colonial New Mexico. In an area with a rich documentary and ethnographic record, indigenous communities have often been viewed as coherent, bounded, and persistent units of social, political, and economic organization whose ethnographic present can be unproblematically transposed onto an archaeological past. Using primary ethnographic, documentary, and archaeological source material, this course examines substantive and methodological issues raised by this claim. Beginning with the premise that the ethnographic/ethnohistoric present is a contingent outcome of historical process, we examine the development of novel and integral economic, political, and social networks that have defined colonial society in the region over the last five hundred years. M. Lycett. Spring.

Anthro 262. Logic and Practice of Archaeology. This course offers an overview of the concepts and practice of anthropological archaeology. We discuss the varied goals of archaeological research and consider the range of ways in which archaeologists build inferences about the past from the material record. Throughout the quarter, the more general discussion of research logic and practice is situated in the context of detailed consideration of current archaeological projects from different parts of the world. K. Morrison. Autumn.

Anthro 293. History, Ethnohistory, and Archaeology. During the quarter, we critically examine both the intellectual history of and the recent renewal of claims to historical perspectives in archaeology. The goals of this course are twofold: first, to examine the many uses of and understandings of history as evidentiary source, subject matter, and conceptual framework in the archaeological literature; and second, to assess the logic and methods used by researchers to incorporate documentary, ethnohistorical, and archaeological evidence. M. Lycett. Autumn.

Anthro 364. Archaeological Field Studies: Southwestern Archaeology. PQ: Must be taken together with Anthro 365. Consent of instructor. Class limited to sixteen students. Students participate directly in an ongoing scientific research project while pursuing studies in archaeological theory, method, and data collection. These courses are set in the context of a long-term research project investigating the organization and transformation of indigenous and colonial societies in the late prehistoric and early historic Middle Rio Grande Valley of New Mexico. Current archaeological, historical, and paleo-environmental research in the North American Southwest and beyond are introduced through direct field experience and evening seminars and lectures. M. Lycett. Summer.

Anthro 365. Archaeological Field Studies: Design and Method. PQ: Must be taken together with Anthro 364. Consent of instructor. Class limited to sixteen students. This course provides practical experience in the design and implementation of archaeological fieldwork and basic lab procedures, as well as an introduction to the analysis of chipped stone, ceramic, floral, and faunal materials recovered from archaeological contexts. Students receive closely supervised instruction in the basic skills needed to conduct archaeological research, including surface documentation, transit mapping, excavation, artifact processing and preliminary analysis. Advanced students also have the opportunity to pursue a directed research project under the guidance of the instructor. M. Lycett. Summer.

Near Eastern Archaeology

NEArch 201. The Archaeology of Mesopotamia. This course introduces the culture of Mesopotamia from the Neolithic period to the introduction of Islam. Because Mesopotamia was the area in which civilization first came into being, the theoretical and artifactual aspects of this process form a major part of the course. The subsequent oscillation between development and collapse of complex society in Mesopotamia is presented in relation to settlement pattern, demographic shifts, artifactual change and tradition, and evidence from written records. Although geographically centered in modern Iraq, Mesopotamian archaeology touches upon parts of Iran, Arabia, Syria, Anatolia, Palestine, and Egypt. M. Gibson. Autumn.

NEArch 202. The Archaeology of Anatolia. This lecture series focuses on the archaeological heritage of Anatolia within the context of important technological, territorial, and cultural changes taking place from the Palaeolithic period through the preclassical Iron Age. A survey of the major theoretical issues in the rise of agricultural production, the origin of complex states and, the rise of empires is highlighted. The sites of Çayönü, Çatal Hüyük, Hacilar, Alaca Höyük, Troy, Kültepe, and Bogazköy are explored within the greater context of Near Eastern developmental trajectories. The archaeology of the Assyrian trading colonies, Hittites, Phrygians, and Urartians are some of the topics and places we cover. A. Yener. Winter.

NEArch 203. Introduction to Islamic Archaeology. This course surveys the region of the fertile crescent from the ninth to the nineteenth century. We aim for a comparative stratigraphy for the archaeological periods of the last millennium. The primary focus is on the consideration of the historical archaeology of the Islamic lands, the interaction of history and archaeology, and the study of patterns of cultural interaction over this region, which may also amplify understanding of the ancient archaeological periods of the Near East. D. Whitcomb. Spring.