ANTH 208 Excavating Theory: Interpretation in Archaeology
This course examines the history of archaeology from the perspective of theory and interpretation. All human behavior leaves behind traces which can be analyzed from different perspectives and scales of analysis. Over the past century archaeologists have employed a variety of approaches, including chronologies of artifact types, scientific and positivist approaches, a focus on the subjectivity of interpretation, and an attention to the relationships between archaeological research and stakeholder communities. The course's overarching theme is how the social, political, and historical context of successive time periods impacts how archaeologists have investigated the past, and what archaeologists can offer society today and into the future.