A History of Archaeological Thought

A History of Archaeological Thought is an intermediate level course intended to introduce students to the development of archaeological theory from the early 19 th century realization that the remote past could be reconstructed solely on the basis of the archaeological record to later developments, such as attempts to identify ethnic/linguistic groups exclusively from material remains. It will trace the emergence of archaeology as a sub-field within anthropology and its continuing close interaction with broader developments in anthropological theory. The course contrasts perspectives that emphasize internal social evolution and adaptation to local environmental settings with post-modern responses that stress multiple perspectives on a contingent past. Students will be introduced to different theoretical approaches to interpreting the archaeological record, such as cultural ecology and neo-evolutionary processual archaeology, archaeologies of identity and place and landscape, Marxist historical materialism and world systems theory, and so-called symbolic/cognitive archaeology. This course reviews different theoretical approaches for explaining the past, emphasizing the positive interaction between accumulating archaeological discoveries and their interpretation and analysis. Social theories, originally formulated in sociology and social anthropology, are evaluated for their adequacy in understanding the material culture record of archaeology. The suitability of these theoretical approaches for interpreting the archaeological record will be critically examined.