Teaching

Expertise: Plains, Subarctic & Great Basin Archaeology; Archaeology Kinship & Social Structure; Dene Society and Prehistory, particularly Apachean Migration; Public Archaeology

Courses Offered in 2016-17

ANTHR 396: Archaeological Field Methods

Most of the 2017 University of Alberta Archaeological Field School (May 23-June 23) will take place on the Mattheis and Kinsella Ranches owned by the University of Alberta and managed by the Rangeland Research Institute. Student activities will involve surface survey, mapping and subsurface testing in native prairie settings, conduct of archaeological impact assessments for mock pipeline and well pad exercises, and excavation of stratified deposits with a focus on the Avonlea to Old Women's Phase transition. There will also be opportunities to learn from and work with Treaty 6 and Treaty 7 ceremonialists and to visit significant nearby sites such as the Viking Ribstones and Sundial Medicine Wheel, and to interact with members of the general public through "Stones & Bones" collection events. We will also work with the Strathcona Archaeological Society on survey for new Paleoindian era findings in the Brazeau Reservoir. Learn more about the field school settings at: Rangeland Research Institute, University of Alberta .

This is an introductory course covering basic archaeological field methods and techniques. The three principal components of the course will concern:1) Field survey and site assessment strategies; 2) Intensive site excavation; and 3) Lab work and cataloguing of excavated materials. The course consists of lectures coupled with direct experience in field and laboratory techniques, preparation of collections and their analysis, methods of intensive ground survey, and assessment and excavation of the site under investigation. Intensive site excavation will be the primary focus of student activities. Initial lectures will cover the basic framework on northern Plains prehistory, familiarization with typical tool types, raw stone material, ceramics and faunal remains. Duties will include maintaining accurate field notes, level records and profiles. Students will be responsible for simulated impact assessment and mitigation studies of actual sites, and for ensuring that artifacts they have collected or excavated are cleaned as appropriate, and accurately catalogued for use in subsequent analysis.

ANTHR 256:A1 Alberta Archaeology

What was the first product to be used from the oil sands? When did the great communal bison hunts begin in Alberta? When does the archaeological record reveal traces of First Nations ceremonial activity in Alberta? Why are the Kootenay Plains called by that name? What is a serpent side-plate? If you would like to know the answers to these questions, these and many other topics will be covered in this treatment of the province’s archaeological record. We will review the archaeological sequence for Alberta, from the earliest traces of First Nations presence through to the Fur Trade era, looking at environments and important sites in the Plains, Boreal Forest, Parkland and Eastern Slopes regions. We will also discuss current issues in Alberta archaeology, among them regulatory processes, needs for consultation with FirstNations, and balanced approaches to the formation of Alberta’s cultural landscapes. Next offered in Fall 2017.

ANTHR 311:B1 North American Archaeology

This course is a survey of the archaeology of North America, ranging in time from the earliest occupations of the continent to the time of European contact and colonization. The basis for our exploration will be archaeological data, so a consideration of how archaeologists gain knowledge about past societies and critical evaluation of the theories and methods they use will be important aspects of the course. In addition, we will consider a number of issues that North American archaeologists are debating today. These include: the peopling of the Americas; the nature and variation of hunter-gatherer societies; the origins and consequences of agriculture; the emergence of complex societies; the roots of social inequality; the collapse of cultural institutions; and the impact of European colonization on Native American communities. We will explore archaeology as an alternative to written histories concerning First Nations peoples. The archaeological record itself, while biased, allows for the possibility of multiple interpretations and new appreciations. We will also consider the importance of working collaboratively with descendants of the people whose past we study. The course will include lectures, discussions, and a variety of assignments.

Anthr 481:B1 Development of Anthropological Archaeology

A survey and historical examination of the approaches and practices used in archaeology from earliest times to the present, with a particular emphasis on the changing relationship between anthropological theory and archaeology. We will begin with the 18th and 19th Century roots of archaeology in antiquarianism and the rediscovery of the Classical world, then proceeding to the impact that concepts such as evolution and uniformitarian geology had on expanding the time depth of human prehistory. The course will cover various schools of thought concerning culture historical reconstruction as well as taxonomic procedures and schema, and the emergence of chronometric dating. In the remainder of the course, we will examine the “New Archaeology” and attempts to model past human behaviour, processual and post-processual archaeology, and issues in archaeology today (such as ideology and nationalism). We will also devote time to bodies of work provided by individuals who have had a substantial impact on archaeology, such as V. Gordon Childe and Lewis R. Binford.

Courses Offered in Other Years