Introduction to Archaeology and Palaeoanthropology:

 

Humanity's Journeys

 

Dr. Kathryn Denning

 

Anth 2140, Sept 2005 - Apr 2006

 

 

20 Sept 2005... Welcome!

 

 

Plan for the day

 

1 Brief recap of last week, for those who missed last week... or can't remember it  ; )  

2 Course business/ announcements.

3 Class Discussion! What do you think about York as an archaeological site?

Break

4. Lecture: Archaeology: 10 principles

 

 

Course business/ Announcements

 

Our second textbook - the course kit - should be at the bookstore next week

 

First tutorials are tomorrow. n.b. TA switch - Anne and Joelle have swapped

 

Tutorial changes: (see policy here)

Are there any volunteers who can help some other students out by switching?

Times:

Tut 1- 9:30 \ Tut 2 - 10:30 \ Tut 3- 11:30 \ Tut 4 - 12:30 \

Tut 5 - 1:30 \ Tut 6 - 2:30 \ Tut 7 - 3:30 \ Tut 8 - 4:30

 

We have people in:                        Who want to switch to:

Tutorial 8                                        4 or 6 or 7                            

Tutorial 7                                         5 or 2

Tutorial 7                                         6

 

 

Reading to do for this class, Sept 20

For today, you should have read Fagan 2-29, and familiarize yourself with the general contents of the book.

 

Reading to do for next class, Sept 27

For next week, you should read Fagan 31-85, and continue to familiarize yourself with the general contents of the book.

 

How are your study skills?

As you read... think about how effectively you are reading, and how you plan to study. Do your existing strategies work well for you, or do you need to try some new ones? How will you mentally organize all the information you're learning in this course?

 

 

DISCUSSION

Your Homework for Tomorrow includes this... what do you think so far?

b) Go out in front of Vari Hall and have a good look around. Think back in time… what do you think was here 1000 years ago?  How about 2000 years ago?  Write a paragraph on what you imagine having been here then.

c) Go out in front of Vari Hall and have a good look around. Look back at Vari Hall, and at the fountain, York Lanes and the other buildings, the Common, the bus stops, the trees... and imagine what would remain in 1000 years if everyone left York today and it remained uninhabited. Write about what you think would still be visible above the ground in the year 3005. What would still be there? What would disappear? Would you be able to understand what this place was used for? Why or why not? Pay attention to details in what you see, and be specific in what you say! (If you want to keep going, think about what would be left in 2000 or even 5000 or 10 000 years.)

 

 

 

Lecture: Archaeology: 10 principles

 

 

1) Archaeology is about buried treasure…. but maybe not the treasure you think!

 

 

2) "Truth" in archaeology changes.  

 

 

3) Archaeology is rational but not perfectly so.

 

 

4) The past is powerful and should be treated with care.

 

 

5) The archaeological record includes a lot of "noise" but also messages -- messages meant for other people, but also for us.

 

 

6) “The past is a different country. They do things differently there.” 

 

 

7) They even think differently there. Even our most basic categories of thought can be completely transcended.

 

 

8) Literature and history can tell us what people wrote.  Archaeology can tell us what they did.
 

 

 

9)  We need to cultivate ignorance about the past, as well as wisdom.  We often have to unlearn what we think we know about the past. We have images…. they come from somewhere and they are neither neutral nor accidental.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Examples:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Where are these places?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 AN EGYPTIAN CITY IN CALIFORNIA??

“In 1923, pioneer filmmaker Cecil. B. DeMille built the largest set in movie history for his silent (and early Technicolor) epic, The Ten Commandments. It was called "The City of the Pharaoh."

When filming was completed, DeMille ordered that the entire edifice be dismantled... and secretly buried. And there it lay, forgotten, for the next 60 years.... the "lost city of Cecil B. DeMille."

In 1983, a group of determined film buffs -- inspired by a cryptic clue in DeMille's posthumously published Autobiography -- located the remains of the set.”

Text from: www.lostcitydemille.com/

Images from: www.lynnpdesign.com/classicmovies/demille/ten1.html

 

  

And.... the other image is a digital reconstruction of the Coliseum from the film Gladiator... populated with digital extras.
 

 

 

Similarly... this is not actually Troy!

 

 

 

 

And this is not actually Alexander the Great...

 

 

 

 

 

Point: we all have images in our minds of what these places and times and civilizations were like. Those images are not necessarily accurate, and they are not neutral. They are not accidental. And they are not easily dismissed ... thus we need to be very conscious of them.

 

 

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And back to our list....

 

 

10) Past people were… people.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tutorial change policy

Please simply attend your scheduled tutorial if this is at all possible.

If you absolutely cannot attend your scheduled tutorial, then you must:

a) find someone else to switch with

b) Go TOGETHER to see Betty Hagopian in the Dept of Anthropology, Vari 2054.
Mrs. Hagopian can do this switch for you.

Please note that you may NOT regularly attend a tutorial in which you are not
registered. You must attend the tutorial in which you are registered. Exceptions
can only be made on rare occasions.

 

Announcements/Reminders

1. If you missed the first two classes and are just reading this online, please pick up a course outline from the Anthropology Dept., Vari 2054, 9:30 am - 12:00 pm, 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm.