Course Syllabus
The University of Montana
Department of Anthropology
Fall 2011
Wednesday 9:10AM-12:00 NOON SS 252
INSTRUCTOR: Kelly J. Dixon
Office:
Social Sciences Building, Room 232
Email:
kelly.dixon@mso.umt.edu
Office hours:
Wednesdays 1-3 pm.
PH.D. STUDENT CO-INSTRUCTOR Jeff MacDonald thenightskye@yahoo.com
M.A. STUDENT TEACHING ASSISTANTS: Rose Campbell roselyncampbell@gmail.com
Ph.D. Student Guest Instructors: Tim Urbaniak, Sara Scott
Course Description Archaeological survey is the process of looking for archaeological sites. This is an introductory course in archaeological field methods that will provide exposure to general survey techniques, map-making, excavation, historical research, laboratory analyses, and report write-up. At the conclusion of this class you will have acquired the ability to:
- Locate, survey, document/map, and interpret prehistoric and historic cultural resources
- Identify the elements of a completed site form
- Locate/place cultural resources on a 7.5 minute USGS map
- Understand how a GPS (Global Positioning System) unit works
- Maintain a field notebook
- Understand the methods of various types of archaeological sites and investigations
- Get a sense of archaeological technology such as laser scanning, digital imaging applications, GIS, etc.
- Explore archival resources in the Mansfield Library
- Understand basic methods for cleaning, cataloguing, and curating artifacts
- Explain the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) Section 106 process for survey in the U.S.
- Understand the basic tenets of Egyptian Archaeology as an example of international survey
- Understand the steps involved with researching historic buildings and mining landscapes in western Montana
- Identify the elements of a completed site form (MT CRIS form and MT Historic Property Record)
CRISform.doc and
HistoricPropertyRecord for MT SHPO.doc
REQUIRED TEXTBOOKS:
Archaeology: Basic Field Methods, 3rd Edition, by R. Michael Stewart (2002), Kendall-Hunt Publishing Co., Dubuque, Iowa.
REQUIRED ARTICLES:
Fox, Richard A., Jr. and Douglas D. Scott
1991 The Post-Civil War Battlefield Pattern: An Example from the Custer Battlefield. Historical Archaeology 25(2):92-103.
Hardesty, Donald L.
2003 Mining Rushes and Landscape Learning in the Modern World. In Colonization of Unfamiliar Landscapes: The Archaeology of Adaptation, edited by Marcy Rockman and James Steele, pp. 81-95. London: Routledge.
Melnick, Robert Z.
1980 Preserving Cultural and Historic Landscapes: Developing Standards. In Cultural Resource Management (CRM), National Park Service Technical Bulletin, Volume 3, Number 1. U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Cultural Resources, Washington. D.C.
1985 Landscape Thinking. In Cultural Resource Management (CRM), National Park Service Technical Bulletin, Volume 8, Number 1. U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Cultural Resources, Washington. D.C.
Others to be assigned during the semester.
RECOMMENDED READINGS::
Archaeological Lab Methods: An Introduction, 3rd Edition ,by Mark Q. Sutton and Brooke S. Arkush (2002), Kendall-Hunt Publishing Co., Dubuque, Iowa.
Cultural Resource Laws and Practiceby Thomas King (1998), Altamira Press, Walnut Creek, California.
NOT AVAILABLE IN THE UM BOOKSTORE, BUT GOOD TO ORDER FOR YOUR LIBRARY:
A Field Guide to American Housesby Virginia and Lee McAlester (1984), Knopf, New York.
Introduction to Rock Art Researchby David S. Whitley (2005), Left Coast Press.
Geology in the Field by Robert Compton(1986), John Wiley and Sons.
FYI: Directory of archaeological societies and journals: http://archaeology.about.com/blsmokedir.htm
You need the following materials for this course:
- Directional Compass
- Field Notebook
- Tape measure – be sure it is metric AND English (i.e. centimeters/meters and inches/feet)
- USGS topographic map of project areas (to be announced)
ATTENDANCE:
As this is an upper-level class, complete attendance is expected, and attendance will help make decisions about a student's final grade in borderline cases. Also, there will be some in-class projects and participation exercises AS WELL AS WEEKEND FIELD EXPERIENCES/FIELD TRIPS that require attendance to get full points.
| GRADES: | |
| You will be assessed on the basis of the following assignments: | |
| 1. Project 1: Group Building Survey/Map | 50 points |
| 2. Project 2: Individual Artifact Illustration & Research | 50 points |
| 3. Project 3: Methods Report/Final Exam (due finals week) | 200 points |
| 4. Your field notebook (due last regular class) | 100 points |
| 5. Participation | 100 points |
| TOTAL | 500 points |
I will assign +/- grades and final grades will be based upon the following average scores for the journals, exam, research paper and in-class, exercises and participation: A (100-95), A- (94-90), B+ (89-88), B (87-83), B- (82-80), C+ (79-78), C (77-73), C- (72-70), D+ (69-68), D (67-63), D- (62-60), F (59 or less).
STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES:
The Department of Anthropology is committed to equal opportunity in education for all students, including those with documented physical disabilities or documented learning disabilities. University policy states that it is the responsibility of students with documented disabilities to contact instructors DURING THE FIRST WEEK OF THE SEMESTER to discuss appropriate accommodations to ensure equity in grading, classroom experiences, and outside assignments. The instructor will meet with the student and the staff of the Disability Services for Students (DSS) to make accommodations. Please contact Jim Marks in DSS (243.2373, Lommasson Center 154) for more information.
Course Schedule:
Week 1
Readings
Wednesday, August 31 Course Intro, Site Types (PPT created by Tim Urbaniak), Student Experience Poll,
Field Notebooks and Technological Forms of Documentation
MT SHPO Bulletin 3: What is a Site?
Lecture 01 regional SITE TYPES
Week 2
Readings
Wednesday, September 7 Topo Maps, Compass, UTMs Stewart 2002:108-129; 143-153; 205-218
Transects, Grids, Site Forms, Sanborn Maps
Notetaking/Field Notebooks
National Historic Preservation Act Stewart 2002:341-343
Trinomial and Postal Abbreviations
Lecture 02 Topo Maps UTMs Compass
Lecture 03 Survey Field Notes Remote Sens
Week 3
Readings
Wednesday, September 14 Historic Structures: Documentation and Preservation (set up for Project 1)
Peruse these sites:
http://www.cr.nps.gov/hdp/
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/habs_haer/
PRESERVATION BRIEF 43 PREP AND USE OF HISTORIC PROPRETY REPORTS http://www.nps.gov/hps/tps/briefs/brief43.htm
Campus Tour, Jeff MacDonald
Begin Field Notebooks
Week 4
Readings
Wednesday, September 21 Landscapes and Environments Melnick 1980, 1985
CASE STUDY: Coloma Other readings to be assigned
Marta A. Timmons will present
Be Prepared to Take Notes in Your Field Notebooks
Saturday-Sunday, September 24-25
WEEKEND FIELD TRIP: COLOMA "Ghost Town" Tour and Building Documentation, Linear Feature Survey, Comet Mine
BE SURE TO HAVE YOUR FIELD NOTEBOOK AND COMPASS WITH YOU!
Week 5
Readings
Wednesday, September 28 Discuss/examine each other's field notes and maps from previous weekend
Locating a Lewis and Clark Camp: Field Trip to Traveler's Rest
YOU WILL NEED your field notebook!
Week 6
Readings
Wednesday, October 5 In-Class Field Trip: Urban Cultural Heritage
Missoula downtown tour; Missoula County Courthouse
OR Discuss Heritage Issues in Western Australia
Week 7
Readings
Wednesday, October 12
Lecture from the field, Pictograph Cave,
Tim Urbaniak, Sara Scott will report "live"
Videolink of broadcast:
mms://rss.vision.net/Alter_111012151551bb54300hi.asf
Take Notes in Field Notebooks
Videolink of broadcast to elementary school classrooms:
mms://rss.vision.net/AE_1pm_11101219004189ffbfb0hi.asf
mms://rss.vision.net/AE_2pm_111012201037871fcea0hi.asf
OCT 15-16: WEEKEND FIELD EXPERIENCE: Egyptology/Egyptian Archaeology Workshop
Week 8
Readings
Wednesday, October 19 Debrief Egyptology Workshop
Week 9
Readings
Wednesday, October 26 Rock Art Survey and Interpretation AND
Archaeological Technology: total station demo, small scanner, landscape scanner, digital imaging applications, multimedia, GIS/GPS applications, field radios, etc.
Tim Urbaniak will present
Urbaniak's Archaeological Technology lecture
Readings: http://www.arara.org/Recording_Manual.pdf "...the best free textbook on rock art students can have…" - Tim Urbaniak
Also: http://archive.cyark.org/(info source for 3D scanning)
Week 10
Readings
Wednesday, November 2 Archaeology of Battlefields Fox and Scott 1991:92-103
Tentative: Special Guest Lecture, Tom Milter and co., Rosebud Battlefield
Special Guest Commentary, Sara Scott, FWP
Week 11
Readings
Wednesday, November 9 Architectural Elements Conservation
Field Visit to the Region 1's Historic Preservation Team Office/Workshop
Special Guest Hosts, Kirby Matthew, Cathy Bickenheuser (USFS)
Week 12
Readings
Wednesday, November 16 Artifact Identification, Treatment (PROJECT 2, Artifact Illustration)
Artifact Cataloguing and Curation and the UMACF
Tour of the UMACF, Bethany Hauer Campbell
Special Guest Lecture, Damon Murdo, Shannon Vilhene (MT SHPO)
Site Records, GIS, and the Proper Care and Feeding of your SHPO
Week 13
Readings
Wednesday, November 23 THANKSGIVING
Week 14
Readings
Wednesday, November 30 Project 2 DUE: Artifact Presentations
Special Guest Lecture, Carl Davis, USFS Regional Archaeologist
(USFS Heritage Program, ARPA, Shoshone Archaeology)
Special Guest Lecture, Ed DeCleva, Lolo National Forest
Week 15
Readings
Wednesday, December 7 Principles of Excavation Stewart 2002:239-275
Survey methods on battlefields, obscure sites (e.g., Donner), and beyond
Synthesizing archaeology, history, preservation, technology, etc.
Case Study: VC, MT
Final Presentations Begin
Week 16: Final Exam Time Slot
Wednesday, December 14
Project 3 Due 8:00 am -10:00 am
FINAL Report/Papers Due!
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