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ANTHROPOLOGY/ARCHAEOLOGY ANTH 120. Physical Anthropology Physical anthropology examines the “human animal” from a biological and cultural perspective. It is the study of human origins and our contemporary and past physical and genetic diversity. Corequisite: ANTH 121. 3 credits. ANTH 121. Physical Anthropology Lab This lab course will provide an opportunity for students to obtain “hands on” experience with human bones, fossil human casts, primate observation and forensic anthropology specimens. Corequisite: ANTH 120. 1 credit. ANTH 130. Archaeology This course examines the methods, goals, and substantive results of contemporary anthropological archaeology. It traces the evolution of human culture from its genesis 2.5 million years ago through the rise of the first state level societies in the Old World against a continuously fluid background of plant, animal, and climatic change. Corequisite: ANTH 131. 3 credits. ANTH 131. Archaeology Lab This laboratory course provides the student basic exposure to contemporary archaeological field methods from both a theoretical and “hands on” perspective. Topics include: Archaeological survey techniques; mapping; excavation procedures; screening and data retrieval; field lab processing and documentation. Corequisite: ANTH 130. 1 credit. ANTH 200. Prehistory of Eastern North America The course is designed to introduce students to the prehistory of our continent’s eastern “half,” from initial occupation to European contact. We will survey the cultural history of this vast and varied region and focus on specific issues, problems, and debates that currently dominate research in this field. Particular attention will be given to the archaeology of the Great Lakes region and Pennsylvania. Prerequisite: ANTH 130. 3 credits. ANTH 201. Prehistory of Western North America Anthropology 200 and 201 are designed to thoroughly introduce the student to the grand sweep of North American Prehistory. From the initial peopling of the New World to the rise of settled village life and the evolution of non-state-level societies, the prehistory of North American is presented against an ever-changing backdrop of flora, fauna, and climate with an emphasis on the complex interplay between humans and their environmental matrix. Prerequisite: ANTH 130. 3 credits. ANTH 202. Indians of Eastern North America This course addresses the diversity of Eastern North American Indian cultures at the time of and immediately subsequent to Euro-American contact. Particular emphasis is placed on differences in technology and material culture, subsistence strategies, settlement patterns, and environmental variability. Prerequisites: ANTH 130, ANTH 112. 3 credits. ANTH 203. Indians of Western North America This course addresses the diversity of Western North American Indian cultures at the time of and
immediately subsequent to Euro-American contact. Particular emphasis is placed on differences in technology and material culture, subsistence strategies, settlement patterns, and environmental variability. Prerequisites: ANTH 112, ANTH 130. 3 credits. ANTH 204. Cultures in Contact This course examines the interface between Native American and Euro-American cultures from the arrival of Leif Ericsson in coastal Canada in the A.D. 990s through the better-documented landing of Columbus on 12 October 1492 to the progressive expansion of the frontiers and the ultimate displacement, transformation, or extinction of aboriginal eastern North American societies. The course focuses on the nature of the contact period as it is documented both historically and archaeologically and employs models and theoretical constructs from both Old and New World archaeology to elucidate the issue of cultures in collision. Prerequisite: ANTH 130. 3 credits. ANTH 205. Historic Archaeology This course provides students with the basic methods and protocols of contemporary historic archaeology. The focus of the course is on Post-Colombian archaeology in North America with an emphasis on the initial settling and early development of the Midwest region. Prerequisite: ANTH 130. 3 credits. ANTH 206. South American Prehistory This course examines the archaeology of South America from the earliest occupation of that continent until the arrival of the Spanish and Portuguese. The course emphasizes the transformation of migratory hunting and foraging economies into sedentary societies, some of which ultimately evolve into political states of great complexity. Prerequisite: ANTH 130. 3 credits. ANTH 207. Mesoamerican Prehistory This course treats the prehistory of the area lying between the southern borders of the greater American Southwest and the northern borders of South America. It examines the archaeological sequence of the study area from the initiation of human occupation ca. 12,000 + years ago to Euro-American contact. The course emphasizes the interdigitation of human activity with a constantly changing panorama of paleoclimate and paleoenvironment. Prerequisite: ANTH 130. 3 credits. ANTH 208. Early European Prehistory This course summarizes and examines the archaeology of Europe from its initial colonization ca. 500,000 years ago until the appearance of horticulture in the early Holocene. The course stresses the environmental matrix of nearly one half million years of human socio-cultural evolution and compares and contrasts it to adjacent areas. Prerequisite: ANTH 130. 3 credits. ANTH 209. Later European Prehistory This course chronicles the history of human occupation in Europe for 8000 years, from the Upper Paleolithic to the emergence of state societies and Roman expansion. Particular emphasis is placed upon the regional cultural variability, the relationship between
ANTHROPOLOGY/ARCHAEOLOGY human communities and their landscapes, culture contact and trade, the development of social stratification and political centralization, and recent theoretical conceptualizations of various periods and regions. Students have the opportunity to concentrate on particular regional, cultural, and temporal problems. Prerequisite: ANTH 130. 3 credits. ANTH 212. Biblical Archaeology This course examines the later prehistory and early history of Palestine and immediately contiguous areas. Emphasis is placed on the archaeological elucidation of extant historical documentation and biblical references. Prerequisite: ANTH 130. 3 credits. ANTH 213. Prehistory of the Near East This course examines and summarizes the prehistory of the Near East from the initiation of human occupation in the Early Pleistocene ca. one million + B.P. to the rise of state level societies, ca. 5,500 years ago. The course emphasizes the complex and fluid interplay between a constantly changing paleoenvironmental paleoclimatic, and geoarchaeological stages and the prehistoric populations who “acted” upon it. Prerequisite: ANTH 130. 3 credits. ANTH 214. Far Eastern Prehistory This course is designed to introduce the student to the prehistoric archaeological record of Northeast Asia. The course will examine the initial peopling of the region during the Pleistocene and will emphasize subsequent Paleolithic and Neolithic adaptations in North China, Japan, Eastern Siberia, and the Korean Peninsula. Prerequisite: ANTH 130. 3 credits. ANTH/BIO 216. Plants and People People depend on plants for food, clothing, shelter, medicines, and a host of other daily needs. This course examines the varied and complex interrelationships between plants and people. Major topics include domestication processes, the Green Revolution, intentional and unintentional modification of plant communities, and an examination of those plants that provide drugs, food, beverages, and fibers necessary to daily life. 3 credits. ANTH 220. Native Americans in Contemporary Society This course is intended to introduce students to the diverse lives and livelihoods of Native Americans in contemporary society with an emphasis on the range of issues facing Native peoples today. The course is not an historical survey summarizing the rich cultures of the several hundred-plus indigenous nations of North America. Rather, it provides an overview of the salient issues affecting contemporary Native peoples’ social, cultural, economic and political activities. Lecture topics include, but are not limited to, colonial legacies, popular culture and stereotypes, indigenous identities, tribal-federal relationships, sovereignty, cultural survival and revitalization, research issues and ethics. Prerequisite: ANTH 112. 3 credits. ANTH 224. Archaeological Field Methods This course is designed to expose students to the full spectrum of field methods now in use in contemporary
2013-2014 Mercyhurst University Course Catalog • www.mercyhurst.edu