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This page contains content from the Summer School 2009. For current information, visit the Harvard Summer School website at www.summer.harvard.edu.
ANTH S-1011
The Road to Discovery: An Introduction to Archaeology (32367)
(Website)
Mary Elizabeth Prendergast
(4 credits: UN, GR, NC) Mondays, Wednesdays, noon-3 pm. Tuition $2,475. Limited enrollment.
More than 99 percent of human history happened before the advent of writing, leaving only the archaeological record to tell us about our past. How then do archaeologists "make silent stones speak"? In this class, students learn about the process of discovery: how archaeologists find, excavate, date, study, and interpret ancient (and not-so-ancient) sites and their contents. By the end of the course, students have knowledge of the methods used to understand the past, and the ability to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of those methods. To this end, the class uses case studies that cover the globe and span more than two million years of human history. Though not a comprehensive survey of world prehistory, this course imparts to students a better sense of world timelines, human origins, and the development of major civilizations. The class also tackles ethical issues, such as the excavation of Native American graves, the use of history to promote political agendas, and the illegal looting and trafficking of antiquities.