Archaeology of College Hill 2012

Arch 1900: The Archaeology of College Hill
Fall 2012

Class Meeting: Monday 3-5:20

Section: Th 8-9 am, Section in Rhode Island Hall (mandatory!)

Locations: Rhode Island Hall, Carriage House Lab (137 Waterman Street), others TBD

Instructor: Alex Knodell
Email: [email]
Office: RI Hall Graduate Studio
Office Hours: Thursday 1-3 pm

TA: Linda Gosner
Email: [email]
Office: RI Hall Graduate Studio
Office hours Tuesday 4-5 pm, Thursday 9-10 am and by appointment

Course Description

This course is an introduction to archaeological practice and process. Students will learn the foundational methods of archaeological research design and fieldwork, including techniques of survey, mapping, documentation, excavation, artifact identification and artifact interpretation. The remit of the course also extends beyond excavation trenches. Students will engage with issues of presentation and representation, interact with non-professional audiences, become familiar with political and ethical challenges, and integrate data from other sources into their research (e.g., documents, oral histories, museum collections).

The goal of this course is to introduce students to a variety of archaeological field methods and research strategies, as well as stewardship issues and sub-specialties within the discipline (primarily survey and excavation, but also including geophysics, spatial analysis, faunal analysis, and heritage management). As part of the course requirements, students will maintain a wiki, complete written assignments and a final project, and participate in community archaeology days. Ultimately, this class will prepare students to navigate the process and dynamics of fieldwork, no matter where in the world they may wish to practice archaeology.

Course Structure

This course is designed to expose students with little or no archaeological experience to the hands-on aspects of being an archaeologist, from the planning stages of survey and excavation, to the recovery of data in the field, to its processing and analysis in the lab, to the final stages of interpretion, research and publication of results. The class has a capped enrollment, and preference must go to upper class undergraduate concentrators in the Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology and the Ancient World or the Department of Anthropology. Permission to register for students who have not pre-enrolled may be given by the instructor after the first class meeting.

Class activities and assignments are designed to take students through the full spectrum of the archaeological process, beginning with preliminary research and site selection, then moving forward to assessment and surface survey, excavation, and interpretation. The first two weeks of the course will involve students in project design from the very outset. After a brief introduction to research and field methods in archaeology, students will conduct research on places of historical interest on the Brown University campus. Based on this research, a number of places special interest will be selected for surface survey and exploration, which will occupy the second two weeks of the course. Based on the survey results, one site will be selected for further study, through excavation, to last a further four weeks. The remainder of the course will be dedicated to work in the laboratory and archives, recording and analyzing the recovered finds.

The class will meet in room 108 on the first floor of Rhode Island Hall for the first two weeks, then at locations to be determined until the excavations are completed in November; following the conclusion of fieldwork, we will convene in the Archaeology Lab at the Carriage House, 137 Waterman St.

In addition to the normal meeting hours of the course (Mondays, 3:00-5:20 pm) there will be a mandatory 1-hour section each week, which will involve discussions about the readings, fieldwork, and student research. The time and location of this section meeting will be determined during the first week of class.

Assessments

Students will be evaluated based on the following criteria: three written response papers, a final project, a wiki blog, and attendance and participation.

Papers (3): 30% (10 points each)

In lieu of weekly quizzes, students will submit 3 papers over the course of the semester. The first of these will be a site report on some place of potential archaeological interest on the Brown University campus. The others will address the topic(s) for a particular week, and can be written for discussion sections of the student’s choice (though be warned, do not leave these until the final weeks!). Students should draw upon that week’s readings to address the relevant topic(s), as well as other works they have found relevant. These papers will be due online before the section meeting. Late postings will not be not accepted. Papers should be 1000-1500 words in length.

Final Project: 25%

Final projects will be discussed during Week 6. Students will conduct independent research using data and materials acquired collected during survey and excavation, as well as archival materials. During the course of the final project research, students will be required to meet with the instructor and TA at least once, and will submit one rough draft of their work to date by Week 10. The results of the final projects will become part of a volume presented to the Rhode Island Historical Society and posted on the wiki upon completion of the course. In some cases, the results may also become part of an exhibit displayed in the John Brown House Museum galleries or in the Joukowsky Institute.

Wiki Maintenance: 15%

Each student will maintain an individual fieldwork blog on the wiki, which they are expected to update with a short entry weekly. Additionally, each week one to two students will be assigned responsibility for maintaining the project wiki. This will involve updating the excavation and unit summaries.

Attendance and Participation: 30%

Participation requirements for this course are more stringent than in other courses, due to the hands-on nature of our work. Archaeological fieldwork is a team effort, and everyone relies on your regular attendance in order to meet the goals of the fieldwork in a thorough and timely manner. A student with more than one unexcused absence will be required to withdraw from the course. An excused absence is acceptable when accompanied by a note from a doctor, coach, or other appropriate authority.

Final grades: A = 100-90%; B = 90-80%; C = 80-70%; No Credit = 70-0%

Fieldwork Preparation

Archaeological fieldwork is physically demanding and can involve heavy lifting, shoveling, and prolonged periods of working outdoors in squatted or bent postures. Students should be in a fit condition to excavate. ANYONE WITH HEALTH CONDITIONS THAT MAY LIMIT THEIR RANGE OF ACTIVITY IN THE FIELD IS REQUIRED TO NOTIFY THE INSTRUCTORS ON THE FIRST DAY OF CLASS. It is most important that students recognize their physical limits to prevent causing or aggravating existing injuries; there is always a wide range of important fieldwork activities, not all of which are as strenuous as others.

Likewise, archaeological fieldwork and labwork demands careful attention to detail, and, above all, patience. Archaeology is a destructive process, and it is extremely important that each detail of the excavations is recorded thoroughly and accurately. We are never in a rush to excavate soil or materials from the ground before they are properly documented in situ. Students must follow the excavation instructions given by the instructor or TA. Anyone who does not follow the proper pace of field documentation and labwork procedures will be withdrawn from the course.

This should be a fun experience for all involved, but we also must be mindful that we are representing Brown University to the public, to visitors, and to various historical interest groups, such as the Rhode Island Historical Society. Please treat one another with respect and take the time to speak with visitors courteously. Foul language, inappropriate behavior, and tampering with the excavation areas unaccompanied by the instructor or TA will not be tolerated. It should go without saying that Brown University is our host institution, as well as private property, and that any behavior that conflicts with its policies is unacceptable.

Finally, some basic, universal rules of field behavior apply. Students must be dressed appropriately in order to participate in fieldwork. Open-toed shoes and partial clothing are not allowed. As is often the case in archaeology, we have limited time and will work in all weather conditions, rain or shine. Be prepared with appropriate rain gear, boots, sunscreen, hats, water bottles, etc. Keep track and take care of equipment at all times, and keep in mind the location of the excavation units in order to prevent injury. Never, ever, lean or sit on the sidewall of an excavation unit, or sit on the ground within a unit. Always take the initiative to ASK QUESTIONS, even if something seems rudimentary – IT IS MUCH BETTER TO ASK A BASIC QUESTION THAN MAKE A BASIC MISTAKE. Also be sure to pick up after yourself, and to stow equipment in the storage location after the day’s work is completed. Everyone must contribute equally to cleaning up the site after each day of fieldwork before anyone can depart – archaeological fieldwork is first and foremost a group effort, and no one is done until everyone is done. Finally, have fun! What we want most in this course is for students to be team players and enjoy themselves!

Background: the archaeology of College Hill

Over the last several years this course has been offered through the Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology and the Ancient World, and has conducted archaeological fieldwork at two locations on College Hill: at the First Baptist Church and at the John Brown House. The results of these courses, written-up by the students who took them, can be seen on the course wiki: [link]. They offer an impressive model to follow, and students enrolled in the course this year should expect to do no less.

This year, for the first time, we are planning to conduct fieldwork, if not necessarily excavation, on the Brown University campus itself, which has an extremely rich and diverse history. Focusing on the urban landscape that has hosted thousands of students, faculty, and visitors since the university was founded in 1764, this semester’s archaeological excavations will unearth many exciting traces of past buildings, people, material culture, and landscape transformations. Because students will be involved in all aspects of the archaeological process, we encourage you to get as early a start as possible. Think about the history of the campus as you walk around it, browse through the Encyclopedia Brunoniana (http://www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau/Databases/Encyclopedia/) and other books and websites about the history of Brown. Also begin thinking about and researching Brown in its wider landscape and urban context – what has its relationship with the city of Providence been like over the years? For all of these questions of historical interest, think first and foremost about how these things might be reflected in the material, archaeological record? On a final, related note, we hope to show that archaeology is not just about distant times and places – as we will see in this course, it can involve all material aspects of the past, which could be just outside the classroom and have originated at any point from several hundred years ago to several days ago.

Required Readings:

(these books should be purchased, though copies of theses and other readings will be available on reserve in the Joukowsky Institute Library on the second floor of Rhode Island Hall; other articles and chapters will be posted as PDFs on the course wiki)

Renfrew, C. and P. Bahn. 2004. Archaeology: The Key Concepts. New York: Routledge.

Roskams, Steve. 2001 Excavation. Cambridge Manuals in Archaeology, CUP: Cambridge.

Deetz, James. 1996 [1977] In Small Things Forgotten: An Archaeology of Early American Life. New York: Anchor.

Articles: posted as PDFs on the wiki (see below)

click here for Schedule of classes and readings

Home / Syllabus / Schedule of classes and readings / Readings (password protected) / Sample Field Forms / References & Resources / Student Wikis / Weekly Research and Fieldwork Summaries / Response Papers